January Crafts, Sewing, Baking, Cooking, Etc.

ziggymama06

Come on girls... Let's see your latest creations!

samsonator

I wish I was into crafting and sewing! Maybe I will this pregnancy while lounging. I did get a new cookbook for Christmas (Isa Does It) so I'm excited to cook through that. I made olive angel hair pasta the other day and it was delish. My hobby is to cook healthy plant-based foods

ziggymama06

@samsonator That angel hair pasta sounds delish... I love how angel hair holds the flavor!  Are you vegetarian or just incorporating more veggie meals?  I made these portabello tacos before Christmas that were amazing...

samsonator

@ziggymama06 Yum that looks amazing! Is that pineapple or mango? I need to experiment with more taco recipes because I usually just do refried beans which gets boring. And I'm vegan. Are you vegetarian?

ziggymama06

@samsonator No, I'm not vegetarian but like to have lots of plant based dishes.  Hubs and I actually planned on going vegetarian at the new year, then with getting pregnant I felt a bit nervous and like too much was going on.  It's pineapple on the tacos, but mango sounds like it would be good too.  Below is the recipe if you'd like to try them... they were very lime-y.  I'm not a fan of jalapenos so I skipped them.

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/asada-mushroom-tacos-with-lime-smashed-avocado/

 MH made sweet potato tacos a few weeks ago that was pretty good too.  I love tacos of any kind lol

coldlife

I'm working on sewing a new maternity dress! It has short sleeves and a lightweight fabric, and the color is dark but also neutral and classic, so I think it will look great both the rest of the winter when I start to need it (I don't need maternity clothes yet, but within the month, probably) and for summer. The hardest part is always fitting around the bust. I don't want that to be baggy what with the rest of the dress being flowy. I really want it to be nice, so I basted the sleeves on and the neckline so I could see how it looks, and then totally undid that so I could take the side seams in a little bit more. 

Lasagna tonight! Yum. One of my favorites. Also on the menu this week is tacos and meat loaf. 

WishesSheCouldCook

@coldlife that dress sounds fabulous be sure to post pictures! 

ziggymama06

@coldlife Yes that dress sounds amazing!!  Post a pic when its finished!

samsonator

Thanks @ziggymama06, I'm going to try that recipe

jdl330

@coldlife I wish I was better at sewing clothes! The only clothes I’ve done were two Christmas dresses for my daughter. They turned out okay, but I’m intimidated to do anything for myself. Do you follow patterns or design from scratch?

I sew baby blankets, personalized burp cloths, and I use my cricut machine to make cute onesies. I started the burp cloths when I was pregnant with my son and I pulled out my sewing/embroidery machine to learn how to use the embroidery part of it. Just recently I started an Etsy shop selling my baby things! 

coldlife

@jdl330, the only clothes I've done from scratch were clothes for my daughter's doll, and the one was too short and too big all at the same time , and the other was ok, but the neckline was horrendous. 

So, I always use patterns for clothes. I use all sorts of patterns. Mostly from established pattern companies like McCall's, Vogue, Simplicity, etc. (these are ALWAYS on sale at Joann's, sometimes for $1-$3 a pattern. I've also found them at thrift stores for 50 cents.) I have also used free patterns from random bloggers I find on Pinterest. 

I will modify patterns slightly, but only if it's easy. Raising a neckline, lengthening or shortening a dress or blouse or sleeves, adding snaps/hook and loop tape/hook and eyes instead of sewing something down so it will be breastfeeding-friendly, adding extra buttons or reverse button holes to avoid gapping between button-holes, etc. 

jdl330

@coldlife $1-$3?! I must’ve missed the sale patterns when I bought the ones for my daughters dress because I swear they were like $8 each. I’ll have to go back and look again. I love Jo Ann’s, I could spend hours in there if I didn’t have two kids haha!

coldlife

Not all of them, perhaps, but Simplicity is the one that I know will sometimes have $2 sales. I just looked back in my texts to check because I texted my mom pictures of the patterns and jubilantly told her I got them for $2 apiece the day I bought them. 

WishesSheCouldCook

I’m working on a cross stitch Stitch People pattern for our announcement. Dd is almost done just need her mouth and cowboy boots