Corduroy Peasant Top and Dancing with the Stars

Well the "star" in this case is the Cat in the Hat. Coco hates getting her photo taken but I bribed her with an episode on PBS. She broke into song and started dancing. "Here we go go go go on and Adventure!"
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So viola! The the new peasant top in corduroy. This will go really well over a turtleneck sweater when it gets colder. I love the colors and with the fine wale, it was surprisingly easy to work with. The last time I tried corduroy was when I first got my sewing machine and had NO idea what I was doing. I purchased a thick wide wale corduroy skirt at a thrift shop with the plan to upcycle it into a cute dress for Coco.

Well it was awful to cut and worse to sew. I was getting the fluff out of my hair and off the floor for days. And forget about getting the needle through several layers at the hem. It was easier to get the needle though my thumb (which I did.)

Coco took one look at the finished project and started crying. The little rat critic was only 2.5 years old...

By the way, I only used half a yard of Patty Young for Michael Miller. With a size T3 it was tight - some of the selvage made it into the seams but I have improved my skills to the point that all the seams are enclosed so that you would never know. Next time I'll buy a full yard and make a skirt with the left overs!

Linking up to:

The Halloween Peasant Top and Spiced Bulgar, Chickpea and Squash Salad

Today is the first day of fall classes with my three year old, otherwise known (at least for this day) as the demon. We've got art, tap / ballet, gymnastics, children't theater and "Adventures in Storytelling" which I think is another theater class. Coco is a very social child but I didn't want to send her to preschool yet so we're taking lots of classes together. Art is tough because I want to play, too! I have to sit on my hands a lot. Today we played with air drying clay and it was just impossible not to dig in but the demon wasn't having it. She took great joy in destroying everything I touched. Makes a mommy rrreally look forward to quiet time!

So I've decided that mid September is not too early to get our Halloween crafting and decorating on. Am I wrong? Never mind that I made Coco's Halloween peasant top back in August(!!) This is the first time she wore it.


Can you see the little ghosts and gravestones? The sleeves are spiderwebs! I have a ton left of both and I don't know what to do with it. I'm thinking skirts for my "someday" Etsy shop...

This isn't the first peasant top, I've made. I can't help myself, these are so much fun! I just picked up some corduroy I want to try next.

[caption id="attachment_188" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Patty Young for Michael Miller"][/caption]

I've only ever worked with light cotton so it should be interesting. I'll gladly take any tips!

Finally, gotta post about dinner last night. This is from a BBC cooking mag called Good Food.

[caption id="attachment_189" align="alignnone" width="440" caption="Spiced bulghar, chickpea & squash salad"][/caption]

This tasted just like Fall. For the Americans, instead of Harissa paste, you can you Siracha sauce (the red Asian sauce with the rooster on it!) Also, 140 grams of bulgar wheat equals a cup and I used two cups of hot broth. I added lemon zest to the yogurt. Any Greek style yogurt will work. I didn't have any spinach handy so I skipped it. This really was beyond easy!

New Peasant Style Top

There are inexpensive patterns and free tutorials bouncing around the web for the peasant top I've been making since I first bought my sewing machine last fall.  It's got to be the easiest thing ever to make but the payoff is great. I get tons of compliments and even suggestions to sell them on Etsy.  This summer I made them for birthday gifts using fat quarters from coordinating bundles: one each for the back, front and sleeves.  I wanted to keep them all for Coco!  This is the first one I did.



Here's one I made yesterday from fabric I bought at Marden's in Maine. Marden's is a super discount everything store I want to live in whenever we visit my husband's family near Bangor.  All the fabric is $2.99 a yard or less. Tulle, which I uses TONS of for tutus and princess dresses was fifty cents a yard.  This top cost less than $3.00 to make and I love it!


Can you tell how much my daughter loves to pose for photos?