Pin It
I bought a couple kiwis at the store and I realized that I didn’t know how to peel them. Usually I buy them pre-cut so I have never thought about how to do it. My husband showed me a quick an easy way to peel a kiwi. It was so clever I thought I’d share.
First cut the fruit in half.
Next, take a soup spoon and wedge it between the flesh and the skin and move it around the fruit to separate it
.
Peel back the skin from the fruit.
Slice.
Enjoy!
Pin It
I had this strapless dress and although I like it and love the color, I hardly ever wore it. I decided it needed a make over into something I’d actually wear. I made it into a high-waisted skirt and kept the pockets. I worked on the fit in the waist of the skirt before I moved on to the length of the skirt.
How I did it:
1. Removed the hook and eye and zipper.
2. Next I removed the top part of the dress being careful to keep the seam stitching on the top part of the band that is in between the top part and the skirt part.
Close Up of the Seam
4. Next I put on the skirt to figure out how much I needed to take in on the waist because it is going to sit at a different spot on my body.
5. Seam rip the side seam. Mark and pin it together with the new measurements. I left the seam allowance to be quite large to be cut down a bit with pinking shears later if I needed to let out the seam a bit.
6. It’s time to sew the new seam and install the zipper! It is important to note to TEST your FABRIC and USE the CORRECT NEEDLE in your machine. I’m sure you all know that, but I had a blonde moment and didn’t test my fabric first resulting in my universal needle poking/ripping some major holes into the material.
blurry picture of the holes that need repaired
The jersey/knit needle worked much better. Mark on the skirt where the zipper will begin. At that point, you’ll back stitch a couple of stitches and then change to a longer or basting stitch on the machine. The basting stitch is where the zipper will go.
7. Press the seam open, and carefully pin the zipper onto the seam making the teeth directly over the seam line. Make sure the pins can easily be removed as you sew the zipper on and that you changed to a zipper foot on your machine.
8. After the zipper is installed, it’s time to finish the top hem. Because I cut the top to where there was stitching at on the top band, I simply folded over ¼inch pressed and pinned. I then sewed it and pressed again. The only thing I wish I had done differently with this side seam and zipper would have been to leave space for the hook and eye. Rookie mistake on my part.
9. I put it on to make sure it fit and to figure out the length I wanted. I pinned it to the desired length. I needed to remove about 3½ inches. I marked the skirt to just below the desired length, and cut with my pinking shears. Folded up ¼inch and pressed and pinned.
10. Sew that seam! Press! Try on!
11. Enjoy!
Finished skirt and bonus flip flop tan lines!
Pin It
I recently bought a shirt dress to wear with boots as a fun fall work outfit but of course it is too long, about 2 inches too long. I knew I needed to shorten my shirt dress. This was going to be tricky for me because of the curves at the bottom. I usually only work with straight lines because my lack of patience usually gets the better of me when trying to work on a curve. But after a long afternoon with Rusty whining behind me from lack of attention I managed to get it to my desired length.
Here’s what I did:
Stood in front of a mirror and figured out how much fabric needed to be taken off the bottom. I pinned the length and then stood up straight to make sure that was my desired length.
chalk marks
Next I unbuttoned the shirt and laid it out, right side down, and with my chalk pencil, I marked a lot of spots up to the desired length of the dress. Then, I also marked about an inch below that to serve as a cutting line.
two rows of chalk
It’s now time for my most time-consuming part, the hem! I needed to clip a couple of spots on the curves in order for the fabric to lay flat. Little by little I rolled over a ¼inch of fabric and then another ¼inch of fabric and pinned. I made sure to put the pins in to where I could sew with them still in the fabric so I’d have one less thing to worry about. And after all of that work, carefully, put the dress back on to make sure it is at the desired length.
lots of pins
Sew time! Slow and steady with some patience, wins the race because it is a tiny hem and there are curves, it’s best to go slow.
Try on one last time. Good? Press. Now I have a dress that will be perfect with flat and boots this Fall!
Pin It
I love soft shell tacos and love to make tacos at home. I decided I wanted to learn how to make tortillas. I’ve made these flour tortillas with two different types of flour, all-purpose and bread flour. Whichever flour I have the most of, that’s the one I use. All-purpose flour tends to be a little stiff but still good choice. Bread flour is chewier than all-purpose so it really depends on what you have on hand and what you prefer. My husband can barely tell the difference between the two so I don’t think it really matters.
Makes around 6 tortillas.
Ingredients:
Directions:
I like to make my tortillas before the rest of the meal, when I’m done making them I wrap them in tin foil so they stay warm while I’m making the rest of dinner. These can be refrigerated for a couple of days but are best when eaten on the same day.
Pin It
This always happens when I buy new pants. They’re too long and these new yoga pants are no exception. I was a little worried about altering them because my experience with stretch fabric is next to zero. There was that one time when I used lycra for Rusty’s lions mane. But these pants needed to be about three inches shorter if I was ever going to get any use out of them. And let’s face it, when I say use, I mean lounging around my apartment, not working out in a yoga studio.
I folded and pinned the pants so they were the proper length while they were still on me. I changed and then measured the in-seam and the folded part to make sure that the lengths of each pant leg were even. Also, to see how much length, 3 inches, needed to be taken from each leg.
Next, I removed the pins and turned the pants inside out. I then carefully measured and cut 2 inches from each pant leg.
I then folded over ½ inch of fabric and pressed and then another ½ inch and pressed. Then I pinned the folds into place.
Rusty was not impressed by my cutting and ironing skills. I gave him a stretchy collar but he was even less impressed with that.
I placed my pins so they could be quickly and easily removed as I was sewing. I realized that although my machine can use a double needle, I don’t have two spools of thread in the same color. So that option was thrown out and instead I used a stretch stitch function my machine, a triple zig-zag stitch. I definitely had to pull out my user’s manual to make sure I was doing it correctly, very glad I kept it.
I stitched both legs using the edge of the folded fabric as my seam guide. I then pressed the seams.
I have crazy flip-flop tan lines on my feet. :/
I turned the pants right side out, put them on, and enjoyed my shortened yoga pants by watching TV and cuddling with Rusty.
Pin ItEvery time I want to make hard boiled eggs I have to call my dad and ask how to do it. It really is a simple process but for some reason I can never remember how to do it. Well, I finally wrote it down and decided to share.
Get a sauce pan, with lid, large enough to put the eggs in a single at the bottom of the pan.
Put enough room temperature water in the pan to fully cover the eggs.
Place on stove and add a dash of salt and vinegar. I usually add rice vinegar but I’m not sure if it really matters what kind of vinegar you use.
Carefully place the eggs in the pan and put the lid on.
Put the heat on medium and bring water to a rolling boil.
Turn the heat off and leave the eggs in the pan with the lid on for 15 minutes.
Remove lid and carefully remove eggs from pan with a slotted spoon.
Let eggs cool down and then peel and enjoy!
Pin It
A few summers back when my husband and I spent a couple of days in Miami we ordered a shrimp ceviche and the waiter politely told us that was fine but a shrimp ceviche isn’t a real ceviche because you have to cook the shrimp with heat, as opposed to traditional ceviche where the acidity in the juice cooks the fish, before you put into the vegetables. I’m not sure why it needs to be cooked first but it’s not a big deal because it actually speeds up the time from making to eating which is always a good thing.
Ingredients:
Directions:
1. In a glass bowl with lid, like a Pyrex, combine equal parts tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper. Next add the jalapeño. Mix well with a spoon.
2. Add cilantro and mix. Then add the salt to taste and a little bit of lime juice. The salt is to take some of the sweetness away from the lemon and lime juice.
3. In a small saucepan on medium heat, bring the lime and lemon juice to a soft boil.
4. Add the shrimp and cook until it goes from clear to white.
raw shrimp
cooked
5. Add the shrimp and a little bit of the juice to the veggies and mix.
6. Enjoy! With tortilla chips, crackers, pita bread and/or guacamole.
Pin It
I decided Rusty needed another piece for his work wardrobe. So I decided to make his a shirt collar. I have a pattern for it. But the easiest way, I think, for someone to make it at home is to use an old collared shirt you don’t want anymore and take apart that collar for the pattern. Or if you use my pattern, please note the sizing of 14.5inch neck and adjust the printing size accordingly. Also there is a lot of ironing for this pattern. Yes, it is annoying but taking the time to properly press each piece will end in much cleaner results and make sewing much easier.
Things you need:
1. Place, pin and cut out fabric and interfacing pattern pieces.
2. Apply interfacing B to Fabric A leaving about ¼ inch of fabric at the top of A.
3. Apply interfacing D to fabric C leaving about ¼ inch of fabric at the bottom of C.
4. On pieces, A and B fold over and press raw edges on 3 sides, leaving the bottom as is.
5. Pin together A and B, right sides out, and sew with a ¼ inch top stitch and the 3 sides you’ve pressed the edges.
6. On pieces C and D fold over about ¼ inch and press all four sides.
7. Center AB in between C and D and pin all the layers together, right sides out.
8. Stitch around all four sides of C and D, encasing AB in between the layers making one piece.
9. Position and mark where the button-hole should be, and use your machines button-hole foot to create the button-hole. If you don’t have a machine that can do that click here to learn how to do it by hand.
10. Sew on the button.
11. Put it on your pooch and enjoy!
Hopefully your dog will enjoy it more than Rusty because he looks scared in these pictures 🙁
Pin It
I bought a gigantic eggplant from the store the other day. I bought it with no idea how I was going to cook it. I decided to try an eggplant sandwich, burger type thing. I did add bacon to it but it can easily be omitted to make this a vegetarian option. I liked it and my husband even enjoyed it! Now what to do with the rest of this thing, eggplant parm?
Ingredients:
Pin It
Shredded chicken is a very versatile food. You can cover it in barbecue sauce, taco seasoning or anything else you can think of; there are endless possibilities. This makes it a great meal starter and it’s super easy to make!
How I make shredded chicken:
Serves 1-2
Ingredients:
Directions:
