Good morning, friends - today is the last stop of the DoGuincho Bubble Shorts blog tour, and it's my turn! Before I dive in to describe the shorts, let's take a moment to pretend that it's summer. Instead of torrential rain we've been experiencing here in Seattle, in blogland K is enjoying a balmy day fit for tank tops and shorts. Now that we've established the virtual weather, I want to gush about this pattern. When Marta of DoGuincho contacted me to test her sweet bubble shorts, I was ... Read more
Happy Friday + Randomness
Happy Friday! A few days ago, as K and I were walking back from school, we started talking about fairies as we are wont to do. K: Mommy, you know that fairies aren't real, right? Me: What? What do you mean? K: They're fiction. That means made up. Just like mermaids and Santa. Me: What makes you think that, sweetie? K: I saw it in the Tinkerbell movie - at the end when all those names start showing up, it said "this is a work of fiction". So they're not real, right? Me: ... Read more
Sewing for Me: Navy Plaid Simplicity 3835
I'm crazy about plaid, especially in the fall. When this sweet Built by Wendy pattern came out a few years ago, it was all over the sewing blogosphere. I attempted my own version at the time, but as a newbie at sewing, the dress looked like a train wreck. It was humongous, and I couldn't figure out how to construct the neck facing so I ended up trying a contrast binding that is completely frayed and awfully stretched out now. The hem is uneven, the gathers...well, you get the idea. If ... Read more
Japanese Pattern Books – Part 2
Many months ago, I posted a round-up of my japanese pattern books for kids. It's proven to be very helpful for me to have it listed in one place, and I have to include a few more books I've added to my library since then. I've made a lot of clothes for K from these books, but I still have so many more patterns to try! For today, I thought it would be fun to list the Japanese pattern/sewing books I own for adults. I don't have nearly as many -- just four, if I don't count the Simple Modern ... Read more
Easy California Rolls
On days when I want a light dinner, I turn to California Rolls. The typical California Roll is what I would call "inside out" with the rice on the outside; however, that involves using plastic wrap around the sushi rolling mat, and that's just too much work. My version is a cheater style, and it requires just seven ingredients and 10 minutes if the rice is ready to go: Japanese rice (short-grain sticky rice) Sushi vinegar Imitation crabmeat English (or Japanese or Persian) ... Read more