Custom made straight jacket...with upcycled materials!! :-D

 SO, it took a couple of weeks using all of the spare time I had but I did it.  The canvas was a freecycle find and the buckles were from a couple of thrift stores.  I had fun working on this because I got to get out and hunt for the buckles. 
The straight jacket was a request made months ago that I was finally able to get around to do. It needed to be finished by Thursday March 28 and I am so happy to say that I finished early! 

Anyway, check it out and tell me what you think!

Here is the back view >> 

The Process:
I knew that I was the approximate size that the jacket needed to fit so I was lucky there.  I just used a shirt that was a little loose on me and started tracing out the shape onto the canvas so I could get started. 
I then took apart a dress shirt that I got at the dig and save thrift store so I could use it as a pattern for the sleeve.  The dig and save thrift store charges by the pound so it can be a cheap way to get materials for projects.
I measured the length of my arms and added several inches so I knew the sleeves would reach wrapped around. 

I was about to be lazy and not make it into a turtle neck, but then I changed my mind because I NEEDED to prove to myself that I COULD do a turtle neck with a buckle on it.  I am glad it worked. 

After I got all those pieces cut out and assembled with pins I measured and cut the bottom piece that is sewn all along the bottom.  I originally was going to just roll it up and hem it but I figured that adding a piece would match better with the turtle neck.

After I got all these main pieces together I started on all of the straps.  The straps were pretty easy once I figured out exactly how I would do them.  I just measured the space in between the buckle and multiplied it by 2 so it could be folded over, making for a nice thick strap. 

My machine really had a huge hand to play in this because without the extra features I wouldn't have been able to complete it.  Specifically monogramming and the button hole features.  To make the holes on the straps I monogrammed an "O" so that the holes would be secure and not stretch out.  On the sleeves I used the buttonhole attachment and set it the size of the largest possible button hole.  I pretty much got lucky that it was the perfect size for the strap. 

Anyway I am going into to too much detail and this isn't meant to be a proper tutorial.  :-) 


**UPDATE**
Many many many thanks to my husband for trying this on multiple times so I could place everything!  He was completely integral for getting it right!  :-D

Floor cushions

 I haven't been able to post in forever since it seems like it has taken me forever to finish my set of 6 floor cushions. 
They are made just from stuff that I had around.  I don't really buy fabric unless it is used or given to me so this is made up from thrift store, garage sale, and free cycled finds.  Even the zippers.  Anyway, without further adieu, I would like to show you. 

Here is the tops.  The patterned fabric is from a garage sale.  I only had a small piece that I hoped to get 2 pillows out of but I am glad I let it sit and marinate in my mind until I came up with this project.  Now it's on 6 pillows!

 Tea party?  This is completely staged, if you can't already tell. :-P 

Anyway, the blue fabric I received from someone on freecycle and the pale yellow was from a shalwar kameez pants that I was using as pj's.  I took them completely apart and doubled up the yellow because it's a pretty thin fabric.  Finally the foam was from some floor cushions that I used in a previous project.  I drew a circle, traced that circle onto the foam and went at it with a knife. 

 Since I used that I had around, one cushion has 2 zippers that close in the middle instead of a single zipper closing to one side like the cushion below.

 Zipper closes on one side.

And the pièce de résistance!  They are stacking, perfect for small places but still decorating enough to be a piece of art on their own.  :-) 
This picture is a vintage craft project where you are to make the picture filled in with yarn.  So all over the design there are letter and number combinations meant to be a "color by number" sort of thing.

I absolutely love how this project came out and I hope you do to.  :-) 

Leave a comment and let me know what you think :-D

Here is the before cushions.  That time I did actually purchase the fabric.  I now regret doing that, but in my defense, I haven't built up the fabric stock I currently have.  On the up side.  The fabric I have from these are currently on use on another project which will be to come.



 Going after the foam with a knife.  It definitely was a stress relieving activity.

Well said...

"Life with a child is nuts.  It's a sweet madness."

No Bake Granola bars and keeping fresh herbs, FRESH

A good friend of mine recently told me about no bake granola bars she makes for her family on a regular basis.  She raved about them because of a) how good they taste b) how much money she saved not having to buy granola bars and c) there is no baking involved! 
I have to admit c) is what piqued my interest the most, since I can't bake very well at all.  So if I can just mix up some ingredients, put them in the refrigerator over night and eat in the morning then I am definitely there.
I tried it out and they are amazing.  The best thing about this recipe is that it's so flexible that you can put really anything you like in them.  :-D I'm not keeping track of how many wins these bars have tallied up so far, but it's A LOT!

All you need is:
1cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup of honey
3 cups of oats

Then from here it's all up to you.  My last batch had almonds, cranberries, walnuts, flax seeds, sesame seeds and cinnamon.

This current batch has Chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries. 

Threw it all in my stand mixer and mixed until it was blended, because I am lazy.  She suggested heating up the honey and peanut butter to make it easier to mix by hand.  If you don't have a stand mixer or just want to put some extra love into it, then go for it. :-)




I put it in a non greased glass pan, packed it down and left it in the refrigerator over night.  As soon as morning arrived, I cut it into rectangles and enjoyed!  I hope you will too :-)

Counter top garden can also utilize all
the extra jars and containers that you
are done with too!

My apologies for the picture quality.  I admit I took these picture with my phone because of my above mentioned laziness.  My camera was upstairs and yeah...

On a different note all together I wanted to show you my "counter top garden".  If you buy fresh herbs to use in your cooking then you probably already do this, but for those who don't, give it a try.  I never really bought fresh herbs because I didn't like how fast they would go bad.  Finally it occurred to me to treat them like flowers!  Bring them home, cut a bit off the stems and put them in water, switching out the water every other day.  I also keep trimming the stems if they are darkening at the bottom.  I have read that some people add a drop of bleach into the water to help the stems from getting "infected" which reduced their ability to suck in the water.  I haven't done it though.  With cilantro, I do this and put them in the refrigerator and they last for weeks.  With Basil, I left it on the counter and it actually grew roots! ROOTS!  There is no window in my kitchen, or the fridge for that matter but that doesn't seem to matter to the herbs, because they just keep on living. :-D  Give it a shot and you can have delicious fresh herbs to use until they are completely used up. 

Vintage wool slippers! Freecycle put to awesome use :-)

So I still have a good amount of wool left so I am trying to keep on using it for sewing projects before the season for wool is over.  It's now a race. 
Here are the plans. 

So far only Dad and Little Sugar have theirs made.  I will get to mine soon.












When I was planning out my slippers I realized that I picked my note book up at the Salvation Army for $0.49.  Isn't it awesome?  It was made in a time before plastic, the coil is made from some kind of metal and it was made in the U.S.A.  The original price tag is also still on it.  :-) Even with the original price I still saved! ;-P

Sorry for the upside down!

82 cents is still a good deal :-P

     
Anyway, back to the slippers.  Here is the prototype.  This is the second, but first successful version.  The first version was a high-top type slipper and I realized that it just was going to be too complicated so I changed it but it's still cute.

After I made the prototype I did trim some of the fabric off the top to make it a more snug fit.

Daddy and baby in their new cozy slippers :-D

Remember, this is still the fabric that I got from a freecycler a few months ago.  I picked up the buttons from a thrift store and they came in a back with assorted colors and sizes.    Even for the fabric used for the prototype was from freecycle.

Make your own spice mixes.

Since my sewing projects were stalled due to taking care of my sick baby, I thought I would post a couple of my favorite spice mix recipes.  Spice mixes are awesome because they allow you to make several meals with little ingredients that always come out tasting great.  Best of all, you can avoid msg, food colorings, preservatives and other unspecified additives that the companies are not required to list, eeeek!  This will also give you a chance to use some of those glass or used spice jars you couldn't get rid of because it hadn't yet served more then one purpose..... no? That must be just me. 




First off, Adobo.  It can be used on any kind of meat, fish or vegetarian dish, I especially love it with stewed beans or lentils.  It is hands down, my go to spice mix.  Best of all, you can make this with spices you probably already have in your pantry.  Here is what you will need.




3 table spoons of salt
3 table spoons of garlic powder or granules
2 table spoons of oregano
1 table spoon of onion powder
1 table spoon of turmeric
1 table spoon of black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a little container, shake well and enjoy!  This can be stored for a good 6 months.  I make it in this size batch and it is gone.  If you love it and use it a lot just double or triple the amounts and you are good to go.

I was first introduced to Adobo because I married into a Puerto Rican family.  From the recipes I learned, Adobo, Sazon and Sofrito were key spice mixtures used in a bevy of delicious dishes.  If you specifically want to substitute these mixtures for the store bought ones, just keep in mind that you will have to use more Adobo and more Sazon then you normal would to achieve the flavor you are used to.  These mixes will be more subtle because they do not have any flavor enhancing additives.  :-)

Secondly, Sazon.  This spice mixture is known for the red color that it gives to the dishes that it is used in.  With the home made mixture the color is also more subtle so yellow rice is actually yellow, instead of red like it is with the store brought packets.  The only ingredient in this recipe that might not be readily available in your pantry is ground annatto.  I have been able to find it at a Mexican market here in my city. 

1 table spoon of ground coriander
1 table spoon of ground cumin
1 table spoon of ground annatto or paprika
1 table spoon of garlic powder
1 table spoon of salt

Put all together in a container, shake well and enjoy!

I make this is a much larger batch because I use about 3 table spoons minimum whenever I make a dish with sazon. 

Sofrito! I love sofrito.  I saute with the above mentioned spice mixtures as base for alot of soups, and rice dishes.  I even use it as a marinade!  I throw it in my eggs and sometimes use it as a spread on sandwiches.  If you love cilantro, this one is for you.  Now I know there are several different recipes out there for sazon depending on who you ask, but this one I learned from my lovely mother in law so I am partial to it.

Besides the ingredients you will need a blender or food processor.  The ingredients are:

2 green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled  *I use THIS method.  It's like magic!
1 large bunch of cilantro
1/4 - 1/2 a cup of olive oil. 

First add 1/4 of a cup of olive oil with the bell peppers and blend.  You want to try to blend softer items first so the blending goes more smoothly.  Then add the onion and blend until smooth.  Add the garlic and cilantro.  If the blending is not going so well, go ahead and add that other 1/4 cup of olive oil.  Sometimes the extra liquid will help things move along quicker. 
Put it in an air tight container and store refrigerated until used up.  I don't have a best used by date because I use mine until it is gone, giving it a quick sniff first.  Some how, it always smells fresh!

Fajita mix.  For this, I basically use my pre made sazon and add:

2 tablespoons of Sazon
1/2 a teaspoon of chili powder
pinch of cayenne pepper or to taste

Last one!
Super easy Stir Fry mix.
I always try to have fresh ginger around but I have also used ground powdered ginger and it worked okay as well.  If you have ginger garlic paste this also works well.

1 teaspoon of ginger, grated or powder
1 teaspoon of garlic, fresh minced preferred or powder
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar, I use organic cane sugar
OR tablespoon of ginger garlic paste instead of ginger and garlic listed above

separately mix 1 teaspoon of corn start in 1/4 of water for thickener.

Whisk ingredients together and set aside while cooking meat and veg so the flavors can come together.  Add when meat and veg are cooked to desired consistency and stir around to coat.  Then I add the cornstarch mixture after the veg and meat have been coated and cook for just a minute or 2 before serving. 

You can also make this just to marinade meat in as well.

For the dry spice mixes mentioned earlier I reused my sons old baby food jars that I could not bring myself to just simple recycle.  I saved up about 20 before I realized I had to do something with them so I completely reorganized my spice pantry.  I also buy spices in bulk bags so I was able to finally organize from the shoe box they were in. :-O  Since I kept collecting baby food jars I ended up offering the rest up on freecycle.  Some went to a crafter and the majority went to a pre-school where they used them for making butter! It's so awesome to know that these little, seemingly insignificant jars can go on and have another life then what they were destined for and bring little preschoolers some joy to boot.  :-D

More thrifty sewing

BEFORE

AFTER

Another one bites the dust!  Well, kinda.  I just finished up modifying my past project, which was the wool jumper I made for my son.  The wool was freecycled, the bottons thrifted and the lining was from a recycled shirt.  The snaps kept popping off so I just decided to make separate pants instead.  I wanted to continue with the cute details so I added a cute butt detail which, amazingly, worked out with a single try.  Yay.  The elastic band was tricky because I cut the elastic too short so I ended up needing to sew it to the pants instead sewing the seam and stringing it through.  I didn't have any spare elastic band because I took it off a pants, so I had to make it work.  Anyway, I think it did work out in the end.

   

The back

Wearing the outfit

 It seems like the little guy had a fun few minutes wearing and his Dad even said it looked almost like a uniform and that I should make him a Battlestar Galactica uniform ^.^  Maybe I will look into making a uniform for my little viper nugget!

My Machine!

Let me introduce you to my current love. Brother XR9500PRW, internet, internet, XR.  So far, out of all the machines I have had the pleasure of owning, I would whole heartedly recommend this one to anyone who is interested in learning how to sew.  I would say it is a really great machine for beginner to intermediate skill level.  It is a computerized machine so you don't need to turn any dials and it tells you if there is an error.  So far I have sewn a wide variety of fabric thicknesses and I haven't had a single problem.  The first machine I used was literally a vintage singer that still had the pedal that needed to pushed back and forth to run the machine.  I didn't do much on that machine because it was a single stitch only.  Then next was one my mother still has but it was also pretty old, maybe for the 90's?  It wasn't until the past 2 years that I really started sewing and learning proper ways to do garments.  Learning I used the Brother 2600i I believe, and that was an okay machine. It served it's purpose, which was practice.  However it met it's end when I tried to seriously sew some upholstery fabric.  Turns out, it is not a good machine for thicker fabrics.  Sure it was inexpensive but it couldn't cut it for serious, everyday sewing.  Now with my new Project Runway machine, I don't have any issues!

On an end note, if anyone who knows me is interested in learning some basics, please let me know and I can show you how to set up your machine and get you started.  :-)

Being sick and having a sick baby hasn't left me much time for finding new music.  Maybe next time!  Although, I have been digging Wire, but I'm too tired to look for a video on youtube!