EASTER VEST

I thought I would share this oversized vest I made when my son was little to wear around Easter and I thought I would share as I have gotten lots of compliments on it over the years.

This is a vest made out of pre-printed fabric and fabric, but the pictures are simple and the ideas could easily translated using fabric scraps and fabric paints.  Use an existing vest as a template for the sizing (or make it bigger if you like (be sure to add 1/2 inch all the way around for the seams.  


For the pink flower on the front just use a piece of fabric around 10 inches long and four inches wide, sew a gathering stitch at the bottom, gather and roll into a flower and hand sew where you would like.  

The 2 ties in back are about 10 inches long by 3 inches wide.


I chose to line mine using an old sheet, but you could leave it unlined.  Before sewing the vest together I used the pieces cut out for the front and the back, pinned them to the sheet and then cut out.   I then sewed the vest then and then lining then put the right sides together and stitched all the way around the vest (except for the armhole) leaving an approximate 4 inch opening at the bottom.  I then turned right sides out and hand stitched the edges together at the bottom. 

For the arm holes I pressed the seams under 1/2 inch on each arm hole and hand stitched together, but you could machine stitch 1/4 inch from the edge to save time.

Free Pattern Month at Grosgrain - new free pattern daily

If you are into sewing, Grosgrain is featuring a new free pattern each day for a month from several different bloggers. 

The above "Sunny Resort Blouse" by Sew Convert, which has a sunny 70's sort of vibe and going on my project list.

To check out more click here.

Inspired by Starbucks - Chocolate Cake with Salted Carmel Icing

This is based on a recipe over at Salsa Pie made using a chocolate cake mix, canned frosting and carmel topping made from scratch.   It is super-rich - I was not able to eat this entire piece and a good serving size for this would be about 1/4 of the above piece and delicious accompaniment to serve with tea or coffee between meals.   I think this would also be good with smashed pretzels sprinkled on the top instead of the sea salt to give it added texture.

Over at  Salsa Pie she also has instructions on making everything from scratch.

Ingredients:

• 1 boxed chocolate cake mix (I used a Fudge Chocolate cake mix)
• Ingredients required to make the cake (mine was 1/4 vegetable oil, 3 eggs and 1 cup water)
• 1 can white frosting
• Carmel topping or Homemade Carmel topping

 Ingredients for Carmel Topping

•  1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup cream or milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp sea salt

Bake cake according to instruction on the box and allow to cool..

 Once cake has cooled, frost with canned frosting.

Mix together brown sugar and cornstarch in saucepan.  Turn on heat to medium -high.

Slowly add milk to mixture a little at a time mixing the entire time then add butter and continue to stir until melted.

Bring to boiling then turn heat down to medium and cook for 8-10 minutes stirring regularly.  Allow to cool before putting on the cake.

Use a large spoon and drizzle the carmel topping on top of the cake.

I put 1 Tbsp of sea salt in a bowl and started to use the spoon to shake over the top, but it went on too heavy and I ended up using my thumb and forefinger and pinching a bit and the sprinkling on the top for better control.

SODA CAN EARRINGS

See Soda Can Earring and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

These are fun to make and wear and fairly inexpensive to make.  I have posted the tutorial over at Cut Out + Keep here.