Tag Archives: homemade

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Double Double Toil and Trouble; or, Making Apple Jelly

I had Monday off from work, so I only did things that made me happy!

It was lovely.

I teach fitness classes, so I substituted for a class on Monday morning. It was nice to get up and get the blood pumping early in the morning. Plus the extra cash will be nice.

I came home, made some delicious oatmeal, and got started on my apple jelly.

I used Honey Crisp apples from a local orchard. They’re delicious.

I had a lot of fun with it, until my apple juice boiled over. Yikes!

I think I saved it. Maybe.

The last step is to boil the jars so the lids seal. I love the pop sound the lids make! It makes me happy to know my little jelly jars are sealed properly.

After I made jelly, I watched some Mad Men, bought new towels for the bathroom, and made dinner.

I enjoyed my day off.

So here’s my only apple-jelly-making hitch. My jelly hasn’t set yet. :( It’s been 48 hours. Should I let it go and hope it sets? Or re-boil it and re-can it? I know some of you out there know what to do!

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Fabric addiction: Part 1

If you’ve been keeping track, you will remember that I was planning to go fabric shopping on Sunday.  Well I did go shopping.  Boy, did I. 

For this challenge I really want to improve my sewing skilz, especially for wardrobe basics.  I know what I like, and I want to be able to have some essential patterns that I can rely on to make my wardrobe staples.  So half of the clothes that I am making for the Spring Palette Challenge will be wardrobe basics.  But I want to have some fun too, so I am also planning a couple of funky, bold pieces too.

This will be a skirt.  A basic, not-quite-knee-length grey skirt.  I have a black skirt that I wear all the time, so I know I would get a lot of mileage out of another skirt.  But I didn’t want another black one.  It’s going to be spring!  I could honestly wear this with almost every shirt I own.  I am excited to get this one all done because I will be able to start wearing it right away.

I am a very tactile person.  I love to touch fabric.  I can’t wait until you can touch things online.  Because you people would love this.  It’s silk knit, and it feels AMAZING.  AMAZING.  I plan on constructing tank tops out of this.  Since these will be close to my skin (and I wear tank tops all the time underneath my shirts), I wanted something soft.  This was love at first touch.  AMAZING.  It was a little pricey, but since the fabric is for tank tops, I didn’t need a lot.  I am so happy I bought this fabric.

Last, but certainly not least, is this beautiful Japan-esque print.  I have been drooling over similar fabrics at the quilting store, but I didn’t have a proper pattern that was worthy of such a fabric.  On Sunday, the stars aligned, and I bought this fabric to make into a tunic top.  

The pink fabric will be the waistband, and the green fabric will be the trim.  I am thrilled to start this project, but I want to give myself plenty of time to focus on it and give it proper attention.  Maybe a nice, snowy Saturday…

You will notice that my colors didn’t quite go as planned.  Here’s the palette I had put together:

I usually wear a lot of purple.  For Winter, I have been wearing the Eggplant color a lot.  For Spring, I was intending to shift that to Lavender.  The Fabric Gods had a different idea.  The pinker fabrics were what I found, and I am ok with that.  There is some purple in the Japan-esque fabric, and the pink and green tank tops will layer nicely with the purple shirts I already have.  So it all worked out in the end.

On Friday, I will share with you the last fabric that I bought.  I can’t wait for you to see it!

What do you think?  Is anyone else doing this Challenge?  How’s it going so far? 

Are you ready for Spring yet?  Because I certainly am!