Wednesday, December 23, 2009 - Kitchen Towel Re-Post

Nevermind me.  I'm just sneaking in here to re-post my updated kitchen towel entry. 

I first posted this tutorial on making a dressy oven door kitchen towel more than two years ago. Since then I have made many of them, and they just get easier! This is by far my most visited page, so I have updated the photos and added a video to demonstrate sewing the underarm seams.  Yesterday I looked at Etsy.com to see what these towels are selling for.  Wow!  Some crafty ladies are asking $20 for them!  I could do ten hours' work for $100... if they'd sell for that. Would you spend $20 for a kitchen towel??

These cute kitchen towels are relatively inexpensive gifts, especially if you have a stash of buttons and a bunch of extra trim lying around. And once you get the hang of it they don't take very long to whip up.

Next, cut your towel in half and set it aside.  I found several of these nice quality Laura Ashley towels at Big!Lots! for $2.50 each.

Now take your bodice pieces and pin them together around the neck hole, matching all the sides and corners.  Sew around the neck hole using a 1/4" seam.

Clip into the seam about every 1/2", or less, so that when you turn it right side out, the circle will be nice and even and not shaped like a multi-faceted polygon.  Be careful not to cut into the stitching.

Take one of the layers, either one, and stuff it through the neck hole.

 Now lay the two pieces together nice and flat, matching the sides, and press the neck seam.

The next part is easier to show than it is to explain. Watch. 

Turn up a 5/8" hem on the sleeves, turning both the bodice piece and the lining piece to the inside of the fabric, matching the edges at the fold.  Press, then top-stitch close to the edge. 

Now for the towel/skirt. Using your longest stitch length (basting), make a row of stitching 5/8" from the cut edge of both towel pieces, leaving several inches of both spool and bobbin thread at both ends.  Do this again 1/4" inside the first stitching line. 

You are going to gather the towel so that its width will match the width of the bodice. Anchor the bobbin threads down at one end by inserting a pin and then wrapping both threads around the pin in a figure eight. At the other end of the stitching, pull both bobbin threads together with one hand, and with the other hand slide the fabric along the thread so that the towel edge gathers.  When the towel width matches the bodice width, anchor this end of the thread the same way you did the other.

Adjust the gathers so that they are even across the top of the "skirt".  Now pin the towel to the outside front piece of the bodice, right sides together, keeping the lining clear. Set your stitch length back to normal and sew from one side seam to the other, backstitching at each end. This is easier if you have the gathers on the underside. Repeat these steps with the back pieces.

Lay the "dress" out flat so the the inside is face up. Trim the seam to 3/8" (don't cut the facing) and press it towards the bodice.  Your facing should be loose. Turn up the bottom edge of the facing 5/8" so that the pressed fold lies on the stitching line, and hand-sew it down across the bodice on the inside of the seam.

Here is how your "dress" should look now.  Sorry, I got tricky and added some eyelet to the bodice/skirt seam, and I didn't tell you how to do that.  But you can figure it out.  I have confidence in you.  

You're almost done!  Now you can decorate with trim around the neck edge, sleeves, and/or bottom of bodice.  Just stitch the trim on over the fabric, wrapping the trim ends around the back side.

The final step is to cut four pieces of 1/4" or 3/8" cross-grain ribbon to about 8", and tack one piece to each side of the front and back of the bodice. I use a bit of FrayCheck on the raw edges of the ribbon to keep it from raveling.  Snaps would be good, too, or Velcro. Use your imagination.

Hang the dress over your oven door handle and tie both sides. Voila!

Happy sewing and giving!

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009 - Well Hello there old friend.

WoW...Its been awhile since i"ve been on here. And I dont think I"ll be on here much anymore. It was great the 3 years I spent on here. But I"M not moved to face-book. So sorry guys. I"ll try to update this once a month..if "yall" really care. Or if anyone reads my blog anymore...Until then..Enjoy some of these pictures...

 Good old me. haha

 Gotta love the gummm!

Here's some photography photos.....

 My kitty Pixie

Thats all the pictures i have for you now...

Well, I alot can go on in a year. I dont know if I"ve told you or not. I've started back piano lessons. It's been fun. I love my piano teacher. Shes amazing. I played in church for the 1st time ever last Sunday. I felt like I could like probably pass out. Since I'm the kind of person that doesn't like people looking at you. But it went well. Most of the people at my church didn't even know i took lessons..lol I played "The First Noel"  

So not much has really went on in my world.....

Hope Everyone HAS a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

Over and Out,

~*Smiley*~

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Thursday, December 17, 2009 - Best Cookies in the Whole World

Chocolate Peppermint Cremes

Combine these and set aside:
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Beat together in separate bowl:
1 1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 C softened butter
2 T water
2 eggs

Stir in
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted. 

Stir in the dry ingredients until mixed well.  If the dough is stiff enough, roll into 1" balls and flatten each ball slightly. If not, refrigerate the dough until it is. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, on greased cookie sheets.  Do not overbake these.  The centers should be soft.  Cool completely.

To make the filling, beat until smooth:
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C butter
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3 T + 1 tsp milk
dash of salt
1 drop of red food coloring, if you like pink. 

Spread liberally on the bottom side of a cookie, and sandwich together with a second cookie.  Makes about 48, but they don't last.  Better make a double batch!

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - PLEASE TELL ME THERE IS HOPE FOR THIS CHILD

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Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Dressy Oven Door Kitchen Towel Update

A couple of years ago I posted a tutorial (here) for making these "dressy" kitchen towels that tie over the handle of your oven door.  That page is the most often viewed on my entire blog!  There must be lots of crafty ladies the world over who are looking for instructions.  That old post really needed updating, and as I am now in the process of making another towel (See, Julie?  I am keeping my word!), I am re-photographing each step as I go along.  Since the step involving the underarm seam is difficult to explain verbally, I added a video that shows how to do it.  So... I guess the point is that in case you're interested, the old tutorial is being fixed.  Or if you want to hear what I sound like, you can just go watch the video for fun.    Hm... Someone else I know hinted that she would like another purple dressy towel.  Might have to go shopping for supplies again soon!

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Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Sunday Only

Are you a Sunday-morning-only Christian?  What if your pastor were to take the bold approach and ask you personally the reason for your absence on Sunday evenings and at the mid-week service?  Would you be offended?  See what happened when this pastor did just that with his non-100% church members. 

Aren't people funny?  We think, "Oh, God understands..."  Yes, he sure does.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;
(for he is faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is;
but exhorting one another:
and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:23-25

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Dec. 11, 2009 - Just the way you look at me :)

I thought ya`ll might like to see a pic of Me and Jake a year later.. weelllll here we are :)

:) rAcHeL ♥

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Thu 10 Dec 2009 - No Nonsense, no tears math with Math Mammoth

We have been using materials from Math Mammoth for about a year now. All products can be downloaded, with many being available in print or CD format now also. Our family's preference is for the light blue series, which is sort of equates to a textbook in that it is a worktext that covers everything the child needs to know for a certain grade level. we find the explanations are usually enough for our children to do the work, but once in a while need a little more in the younger grades, but it's very easy to explain with what the author has already laid out. I especially like the links to online games the author has diligently placed for extra *time* with the topic each chapter. We use it as a reward for when the text work is done.

There is a dark blue series that covers only one topic per "book" They are very inexpensive and can be used as we did, to work on gaps in the children's education, instead of making them repeat a whole book or grade as we made the switch. These mini worktexts give explanations so the child can really focus and learn the topic. They are a good niche product I think is great!

The golden series are just worksheets to use if you want to double-check, for tutoring, or for those "documentation" requirements when your system doesn't provide it, etc. My son told me the algebra ones were reasonable and correctly on level with the math. They are great products, but I'd like to see Math Mammoth keep building the Light Blue series to include worktexts for these older/higher math skills.

Overall we were quite pleased to try out Math Mammoth and I think we will be customers now .

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Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - Giving Thanks Always for ALL Things?

My own dear husband has never been guilty of giving me anything like a vacuum cleaner, toaster, or electric shaver for a special occasion. For those of you whose husbands might be prone to do such a thing, invite him to view this funny video with you.  He will appreciate knowing about the "doghouse" before his next opportunity to be exiled to such a place.  

Alizona feels sorry for the guy who was sent to the doghouse for getting his wife extra RAM memory for her computer.  She thinks that would be a perfectly wonderful gift! (She's not married yet, lol!)

 

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Dec. 5, 2009 - Long time.

Hey guys it's been awhile, I don't even remember how all this works haha. Anyways that isn't the point. I thought i would let everyone know what has been going on with me lately.

Lets see where to start... um... well first off I graduated in April!!! I have already started college and i am enrolled in the Fireman/EMT training i am about to finish my first quarter and get all the core classes out of the way. Then in Jan. I start my fireman training.

Also I bought a brand new car 3 months ago and have already paid it off!!!! Which means i got rid of my red truck that was falling apart  but hey it was free lol.

Lets see what else... I was in 3 bands, but i slowly worked down to just playing in  the one at my church so that is cool. We finally have a building for our church. Me and my dad built one, it cost to much to rent a place.

I guess the last thing that happened to me in a year is I started dating a wonderful girl named Rachel , you guys know her as babyrach91. I met her years ago then we got back to talking 2-3 years back. Now i go to school with her. So all and all i would say it has been a great year!

I will try to be on more guys so just message or comment and i  will do my best to reply.

Later guys

Jake Cashon

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