Hoppy Easter!

Posted on April 8, 2012 by cristinahuynh

Spring break = more time to craft!!!  ….  oh, and special family time too…

 

I bought this rabbit flannel on an impulse-driven Joann stop one day after work.  Josie recently inquired longingly about the fate of the “bunny fabric”.  I decided to make the girls simple Easter nightgowns.  I chose this pattern because it uses the least amount of fabric out of all the pajama patterns I have.  Dang pajama patterns need too much material!  And why do I have so many pajama patterns anyway?!?

 

 

Pay no attention to the extension cord in the background

 

 

Here’s how it turned out.  A little long in the sleeves, but maybe the girls will grow into them by next Easter.

 

 

 

 

 

I also got it into my head that I wanted to make myself a Tiffany blue/ robin’s egg colored Easter dress.

 

Funny thing is, being from southern California, when I think robin’s eggs, I think of….

THESE

NOT THESE

 

 

 

 

 

 

I once did a project in college about the foraging behavior of robins in varying environments and at different times of day.  I monitored the quantity and efficacy of their pecks, and the number of robins feeding at each given time.  I grew to loathe those poor little creatures.  I much prefer the candy; it’s much yummier than the actual bird (so I assume, at least).

Anyway…back on topic…

 

I used Butterick 5708

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s how the dress turned out.

I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either.  The bodice doesn’t lie very well and I can’t shake the feeling that I have two overgrown mutant flies sitting on my shoulders.  Too bad I’m not a fabulous 50′s fashion sketch; the dress looks much better on her.  That, and she looks like she has somewhere super fun to go.  I, on the other hand, am off to fold the laundry.

 

 

And finally, this was the beverage for today, and comes HIGHLY recommended by me.  It’s from the food network website and can be found here.  Have a happy Easter all and enjoy!!!

 

 

 

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Promenade

Posted on April 2, 2012 by cristinahuynh

As a mother of two, work is pretty much the fanciest place I ever go…but I just had to buy this Simplicity pattern anyway.

 

 

 

Well, at least I would be prepared if I ever got invited to a fancy-pansy party….

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to make it in a dark purple sateen, and here’s how it all turned out.

 

 

(No makeup= decapitated photo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love how it turned out!  My husband, on the other hand, was a tad concerned about the length and then asked me where the prom was.  I’ve never been to a prom, but I did go to winter formal once:

 

Yes, my date is wearing jeans with his tailed-tuxedo jacket.  I thought about blurring out his face, but, for those who know me well, you will know that I have a hard time getting over certain things…I must say that it was a fabulous night that culminated in a near fist fight with another group of teenagers in the parking lot of our local Dennys.  Oh, to be a teenager again….

 

 

 

 

 


and a side by side comparison…haven’t aged one bit…if you cut off the part of the picture where my face is…

 

 

 

 

I think I’ll wear this dress to an upcoming retirement party we’re going to since I’d look pretty stupid wearing it to the grocery store.  Hopefully I can manage to have myself a brawl-free evening this time around…

 

 

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Emerald green

Posted on March 11, 2012 by cristinahuynh

For some reason, in my mind, the color emerald green equates to old Hollywood glamour. There is probably a perfectly reasonable explanation behind this that has to do with how they colorized film at the time, or fashion trends, or that I’m just crazy…  but these are the images emerald green evokes to me:

Emerald City-Wizard of Oz

Curtain dress-Gone With the Wind

MGM Grand Las Vegas

I wanted some of that old Hollywood glamour for myself.  Why do I need Hollywood glamour, you may ask?  So I can be glamorous in my own mind, which is very important when you work with elementary and middle school children.

V1084

 

 

So a while back I bought this pattern and decided to make it in…emerald green.  I snuck off to the fabric store, bought the supplies, and hid them in a corner so my husband wouldn’t have tangible proof that I need to stop going to the fabric store.

 

 

 

"she had man hands!"

 

 

 

I courted this pattern for quite some time, but not unlike the Jolie-Pitts, was unable to commit.  It was this one piece.  I’m sure it’s a very nice piece that you can grow to overlook once you get to know the dress better… I just didn’t feel like taking the plunge.

 

 

 

Then I came across this fabulousness on lunch break while attending a conference in San Diego.  The Bettie Page store has (drool, gasp, choke, die…) some of the cutest clothes on earth.  This managed to satisfy my green dress need through the fall and winter seasons.

 

 

B4919

 

 

With spring approaching, I began to court Vogue 1084 again, but then Butterick 4919 came into my life.  It was retro, wrappy, modest, and best of all, rated “easy”!

 

 

 

 

And here is how it all turned out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe not as glamorous as in my own mind…but a pretty good turnout for a weekend in front of the sewing machine.  I think it would look better if I was more…um…bosomy.  I wonder if they have a “do it yourself” tutorial for that online?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Leftovers

Posted on February 17, 2012 by cristinahuynh
I am trying to use up my fabric stash.  Not because I want to use up my fabric stash, but because I want to be able to answer “no” when I come home from the fabric store and my husband asks me “Don’t you have enough fabric in your stash already?”.

 

First up… bird fabric.  I bought this when I first started sewing and never knew what to do with it.  On my sleep-deprived maternity leave, I attempted to make this purse with it.  It has never been used because there is NO WAY that it would fit all of the super very important things I carry in my purse…like lollipops, cell phone, receipts from 2011, old shopping lists, breath mints that have rolled out of their container, pens that no longer work, and very occasionally, cash.

 

Josie liked the fabric and I decided to make her a dress similar to her cousin Jade’s using this pattern.  She changes into it every single day after school

(I think she likes it).

 

Man, I need to learn to take better pictures!  I guess that photography class in high school  didn’t quite cut it for me-That must be what happens when your teacher teaches photography by showing you the latest release on video, Sister Act…

 

I then dug this classic out of the stash.  Here is the fabric’s before…

You mean you are actually going to make me wear this someday?!?

 

 

and after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The love birds were Josie’s idea and were shamelessly pilfered from this image:

 

So I now have a miniscule amount of space in my stash!  I think that justifies a trip to the fabric store this weekend….

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Entering the new year with a bang

Posted on January 28, 2012 by cristinahuynh

My dreams of full-skirted polka dots and pink belts evaporated when I heard the crunch.  The crunch, it turns out, was my husband’s car crashing into my sister-in-law’s van.  Oh, did I mention I was pulling into the driveway at the time?  It was my sister-in-law’s birthday too.  Happy birthday by the way.  And happy new year to you spent at the auto body shop.  Oops.

Oh my god guys! I can drive!

 

I guess that’s why in high school I passed my driver’s test by a narrow margin of one point.

 

 

 

So, down the cost of a deductable, I had to think functional not fancy.  I decided to try to make the vogue full-skirted dress with the super cheepie fabric in the WAAAY back of the store.  Big mistake.  Maybe not a fabulous enough mistake to post on craftfail, but enough of one to roll it into a ball and stuff it far out of sight for awhile.  :(

supposed to look like...

reality

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn’t it look like I’m going to dance in my district’s next folklorico performance?

 

 

I then moved my sights on a birthday gift for my obsessive cat/animal skin print-loving co-worker/friend.  What better way to tote your lunch to work than in a hybrid animal lunch bag?  Awesome free pattern here, and a selection of 30+ free lunch bag patterns here.  Ok, that’s better…

 

The most recent endeavor was an attempt at polka dots, with inspiration from this dress idea on the awesome sew weekly website (“make this dress” section).  This time I went more towards the front of the fabric store.  I also picked a pattern that did not require 6+ yards of material.  It rained ferociously day after finishing it, but darn it, I wore it to work anyway! (Vanity, thy name is Cristina)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hoping to continue to stay away from accidents for the rest of this year…both car and crafting.

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the workshop’s latest…

Posted on December 31, 2011 by cristinahuynh

I made my 7-year old little lady niece a comfy dress for Christmas this year.  Since she lives in the hottest place on earth outside of the equator (Arizona), a summer dress in the dead of winter seemed a fitting gift.  Here is the end result (huge on a 5-year old) as modeled by Josie:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used Simplicity 2193 and added a flower (great tutorial found here).  I finally managed to finish up the rest of that pink floral fabric too.

 

Where's my makeup Auntie?

 

And here is the best picture I could get of the dress on Jade.  She probably would have preferred make-up, Zoobles, or Little Pet Shop toys, but was gracious enough to say that the dress was pretty.  She also didn’t put up too much of a fight when her uncle forced her to wear it out to the museum yesterday.

 

 

 

So now onto dreaming up a funky dress for myself…  here are some ideas: Vogue paterns are on sale a Joann’s until 1/2/12!!!

 First up: Vogue 1094 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always thought this dress looked very ballgownish on the pattern cover, but I think the checkered version on the Vogue website is kind of cute and maybe even work-wearable.  When I looked the pattern up on sewing pattern review and saw this version…

 

 

 

 

 

I was hooked!  (This is the same lady that made the “Mrs. Kent” dress I liked.)  I’m going to go back to my favorite place to look for a white fabric with big black polka dots for this one.

 

 

 

Also dreaming of making a Frankendress…Those dang vintage patterns use up way too much fabric on the full skirts, so I’m thinking of combining:

 

 

this top

 

 

 

 

 

with this bottom in black with a light pink belt.  Now I just need to figure out how to make a decent belt…

 

 

 

 

Then maybe onto some more dresses for the girls… 

 

 

To a happy, crafty 2012!!!  Whoo hoo for buzzed crafting!

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Happy Holiday

Posted on December 25, 2011 by cristinahuynh

I’m currently suffering Christmas-mania withdrawal….Today I miss my sewing machine terribly, but cannot find it in me to get my butt out of the chair I’m sitting in.  The problem is that I decided to craft most of the children in my life’s Christmas gifts.  Not sure of the exact motivation: homemade gifts are thoughtful, I’m feeling unusually thrifty, I felt up for a crafting-challenge, or I’m totally crazy…..  Here’s what I managed to turn out after a sleep-deprived week of vacation.

First up: Cinderella dresses using this pattern.  One for Josie, one for Penny, and one for Roxy, a sassy little lady in our lives.  I give the pattern a 7 out of 10.  I didn’t love it; it’s not the cleanest looking dress on the inside, but I think the end product turned out pretty nice:

 

 

Here is the trio of dresses hiding out in the garage/ wrapping station.  Unfortunately my very naughty daughter decided to sneak into the garage and saw everything…at least she had the good sense to look surprised when she opened her gift.

 

 

And here are the dresses in action:

with a crinoline

without crinoline

Penny!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josie has been asking for a few crocheted items lately…a pink elephant I made her cousin Jade about 2-3 years ago, a baby pear with a pacifier, and a duck wearing a Santa hat.  I decided to make her something I knew that she would like, and if anything, would be in her two favorite colors: pink and purple.  I used a pattern from this book (one of the co-authors is Josephine and the other is Lan which are Josie’s first and middle names-so weird).  Josie got a bunny and Penny got a giraffe.  Here’s how they turned out:

peek a boo!

where's my acacia tree?!?

Josie’s play apron broke recently, so I made a replacement non-plastic replica for her and Penny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the aprons in action.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, for Gavin, a little gentleman in our lives…who is 6 going on 40 and has betrothed himself to Penny (although I hear he is having second thoughts after meeting all the stylish girls in his kindergarten class….), man-wear.

Mustache pajamas for his birthday (as modeled by Josie):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please note that Josie selected the fabric for these pajamas with the knowledge that Gavin’s favorite color is green.  I figure she has the perspective of youth on her side, but all I see is a mustached Kermit the frog….

 

 

Finally, for Gavin’s Christmas present, a tie-shirt.

 

I can’t claim credit for this one…I was in a boutique shop in Claremont and saw a onesie with this same tie applique on sale for $18.  I have the exact same fabric in my stash…and voila.  I really can’t claim credit for the idea of the mustache pajamas either…Gavin’s mother is the brainchild behind those.

 

 

Well, that is all.  My next project is a belated Christmas present for my niece in Arizona, and then something funky for myself.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and I will leave you with a recipe I found for the most DELICIOUS hot chocolate (especially with an added shot of Kahlua or Grand Marnier-live it up-it’s the holidays!)

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring the milk, cream, cocoa powder, and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Off the heat, stir in the chocolate and the vanilla. Cover, let the chips melt for about 1 minute, then whisk smooth before serving.

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Cafe Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2011 by cristinahuynh

Some days, my work environment feels like Cafe Disco.  Thank goodness for the co-workers who help make my job fun!

For those of you who are Office fans… laugh hysterically at the “cafe disco” quotes below.

For those of you who are not fans…you should be!

 

Michael: When I am breaking all the rules, I’m break dancing.

Michael: Rules be damned, I want to have lunch with these people.

Michael: I am accounting on you to go to lunch with me.

Pam: If you don’t take out his battery, he just keeps going all day.

Oscar: Please don’t refer to yourself as our daddy.

Michael: Funk is the problem. And the solution.

Stanley: I would like the memory of a day uninterrupted by this nonsense.

Michael: You all took a life here today. The life of the party.

Kelly: Cafe Disco. More like Crappe Disco.

Dwight: It’s the most annoying thing. It’s like children singing Christmas carols.

Andy: I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure I’m in a dance-off.

Michael: Cafe Disco is dead, but I can still hear the music in my head.

Angela: I didn’t come here to get wet and wild.

Michael: A lot of people doubted Cafe Disco at first, but it is a magical place.

—-

Novelty gifts for my cafe peeps were definitely in order this year!  Aprons all around!

—

Sylvia is a funky-stylish lady with multiple admirers within the school setting.  She has an affinity for anything animal print, and is a self-proclaimed cougar.

 

My Inspiration: The lady from Bitchin’ Kitchen-Who doesn’t love to cook in 5-inch high lace-up patent leather  stilettos?  This show really intrigues me…it’s like an accident and impossible to turn away from.  Nadia G. is such a caricature of….I’m not quite sure…your typical Russian Jersey bad-ass sorority girl?  Regardless, I have to admit, the lady has style.

 

 

 

I had my eye on this pink leopard fabric for the apron however, there was less than a yard of it left when I finally made my way to the fabric store.  Who the heck would buy this, and why would they need a whole bolt of it?

 

 

 

The Reality: This was the alternative to pink leopard fabric.  Not quite as funky, but equally….animalistic.

 

 

 

 

Here is the back of the apron.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the front.  I went to grab Josie’s stuffed  jaguar because I felt so…..

 

Cruella De Vil
Cruella De Vil
If she doesn’t scare you
No evil thing will
To see her is to 
Take a sudden chill
Cruella, Cruella De Vil

 

 

Lorena, on the other hand, is a more serious soul.  I think some days she likes me, and other days she barely puts up with me.  Despite the deep sighs, eye rolls, and thinly veiled tolerance, I adore her anyway.  The inspiration for her apron was something teal and earthy.

I wanted to make potholders too.  After looking at purchased patterns, I finally came to my senses and realized that there must be something free on the internet instead.  I found this awesome potholder tutorial.  I LOVE the internet!!!

 

Here are the girls in action:

And for the truck-driving, wilderness-loving, yarn-spinning, child-wrangling male in the group…cowboy ties,

 

 

Maybe I’ll make him a manpron next year so he doesn’t feel left out.

 

(He wouldn’t let me take his picture.  What a curmudgeon.)

 

 

 

 

And finally…amigurumi Christmas ornaments.  This is what would happen if this snowman had a baby with this….rabbit-deer (why does that reindeer have bunny ears anyway?!?  I don’t get it.)


to make a hydrocephalic Rudolph.
Well, at least I think the cookies that came with it tasted good anyway…
And now that these have all been gifted, I’ll be moving on to showing my children I love them by using my winter break to ignore them while I make their Christmas presents.  How ironic.
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Forgetful frock

Posted on November 27, 2011 by cristinahuynh

It’s not that I’m a tad socially inept and didn’t realize that your baby shower was back in September and then saw the announcement on the staff notice board that you had a baby girl…….

it’s that I wanted to wait and see what you named your baby so that I could make her a monogram dress.  That’s right.  Yep.

Same old pattern, with new fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, new to those who haven’t received one already…

Look familair?

 

 

Watch out those of you who have a birth or birthday coming up…you may get one too…. (cue music from Jaws)

 

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It’s not that I like to cook…

Posted on November 25, 2011 by cristinahuynh


It’s that I LOVE to eat!!

 

Time for the first dinner!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday… because I love stuffing myself into oblivion, then laying on the couch semi-comatose only to be revived by the thought of consuming a second dinner.

 

Upieeee!!!!

 

In days long gone, I would take a stab at making a fancy-pansy dinner…the more of a culinary challenge the better.  Now that I have to cook with a little person who spends her time either trying to climb into the refrigerator or clinging to my leg whining “uppie”, I try to look for recipes that give me a good effort-to-taste ratio.

 

 

 

 

the best!

Post-children, my favorite cooking magazine has become Cooks Illustrated.  It is a humble magazine (and no advertisements!) geared toward the home cook.  The fun part (or at least how crazy people define fun…) is that it reads almost like a science experiment.  The articles describe the trial-and-error process behind the recipe development and then explain the plausible scientific/chemical rationale for the outcome.  They also have their online recipe archive which, for a well spent cheaper-than-a-magazine-subscription-fee, gives you access to their entire database.  If you feel like dorking out even more, you can TiVo “America’s Test Kitchen from Cooks Illustrated” on PBS.  (Contrary to how it may seem, I am not getting kickbacks from Cooks Illustrated.)

With my extra time I can whip up even MORE things to eat on my favorite holiday.  (As I attempt to brag about being such a great cook and wifey, I feel compelled to confess the bloody, undercooked turkey…)  But let us focus instead on the cookie trio; pumpkin whoopie pies, pecan bars, and chocolate chip cookies…all recipes from Cooks Illustrated.

Which one to eat first?

All this blogging has made me begin to feel un-full.  I think it must be about time for another dinner.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!!

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