Month / May 2022

by princesshotflash

Three Whales

I’ve been working on several upcycling projects, and I’m proud to show you what I’ve done. I worked with a couple of jeans and a batik print dress. I started out with the jeans, one dark, and one light denim. I decided to try out the denim whale I’ve seen on Pinterest. I got the pattern from FourSixtyTwo.

The Denim

Mom’s capri jeans

I had two pairs of jeans, mom’s capri jeans and old pair of acid-washed ones. Yes, acid-washed, and it had a high waist and pleats. It was straight from the 80s. The first task is to take apart the clothing. I cut the legs off on the jeans, getting as much of it as possible. I’ll save the top of the jeans for later for another project. I then rotary cut the seams and put them aside to see if I could come up with a use for them. I also took off some buttons from the darker jeans.
I used the darker jeans for the top of the whale and the acid-wash for the belly. I started out machine sewing, starting with the tucks on the stomach. So far, so good. Then I started on the fins and tail. It was a no-go when turning it to the right side [for all the non-sewers, you sew the pieces together with the right sides facing together, stitching on the wrong side]. The pointy tips looked bulky and bumpy because of the thickness of the denim. Boo!
Instead of fighting with the seams, I ripped out the stitches and decided to hand-stitch the tail and fins [for the hand-stitching, it is sewed right side out]. Then I continued with the hand-stitching with the top-stitching on the tail and fins, and to be consistent, the body, once I attached it to the body.

tail pinned for hand-stitching
top-stitched
ready to be stuffed
Tah Dah! Whale #1: with pleats on the belly

Wow! I liked the look of the finished product. I decided to do another whale because I had enough fabric. I made a few adjustments to the pattern to help the points of the tail and fins lay better. I also decided to try eliminating the pleats on the belly and machine-stitched the underbody instead. And for Whale #2, I hand-stitched the entire whale except for the top-stitching on the underbody.

Closeup of the machine-stitched underbody

Batik Dress

batik dress from the 80s

I thought the whale would look great in a print, maybe an aloha print. I liked the gray and navy section of the dress for the whale and thought the bleached pattern looked like marks on the whale. The fabric was rayon; it was soft and flowy. I lined all the pieces with some lightweight material to give them stability.

The lined pieces were lighter than the denim, so I decided to use the machine on the larger sections of the whale. I added top-stitched the underbody where the pleats should be, then stitched the underbody together. I handstitched the fins and tail together to keep the points sharp, lay flat, and added top-stitching.

machine top-stitching on underbody
stuffed whale and Orange the cat

Hand-stitching

I took a stitching workshop in May through Zen Stitching to get inspired. It was five days of classes. I was able to take almost every session I wanted to. I loved that I found others who combined upcycling, boro, and hand-stitching.

I added a few techniques to the whale. I added groups of running stitch using a bleached print to inspire the pattern. I also added French knots. I like how it came out. Now, if I can only get these posted on my Etsy shop.

Adding hand-stitching to the underbody
Hiding the ends
handwork
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by princesshotflash

Remember when . . .

I was a crazy baking lady. I was going through some old pictures and found these pictures when I made 100+ cupcakes for my office event. I think I did it twice. I don’t think I could do it again, especially without any ac.

Naked
Frosted

These days I’m not so much a crazy baking lady. I’m usually making something an occasion, birthdays, getting together with friends, or when I’m craving something. My last bake was for mom’s birthday, Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I liked the cake, should have added zest and juice from one more lemon. (my bad habit not reading the recipe through before I start). It still have a nice lemony taste and good crumb.

The frosting was too sweet for me. But no one else thought so. If I adjusted this recipe for my taste, I would take out 1/2 c of powder sugar, add a teaspoon of lemon juice and some lemon zest to up the lemon taste. Note to anyone making frosting in hot and humid climate, it will be very soft and needs to be chilled before frosting or after frosted.

Or if I had lemon curd available, I’d add it as a filling between the layers.

cooling
frosted
sliced
by princesshotflash

Fav Pics: Sketching

I’ve forgotten to post a Fav Pics. I have the time and should be posting; I guess I’m just distracted. But I found one for this month.

Lying upside down

I should be sketching more as I don’t want this skill to disappear. But picking up a pencil to draw doesn’t come naturally to me. But then I realize I do sketch without a pencil. I do this by laying out my fabric pieces to inspire new projects.

Here’s an example of my textile sketching. I found a bunch of vintage crocheted doilies at the thrift shop. They are stunning, and I couldn’t pass them up. I knew I could do some brilliant with them.

This piece needed the background to make the intricate pattern pop. I looked for a large enough scrap of fabric (in my evergrowing scrap pile), and after several fabric changes, I found this beautiful orange piece. And once I placed it under the doily, I knew I had found the perfect fabric for my beautifully antique doily.

Finding the perfect fabric leads me to what I will make with this doily. I’m turning it into a foldable clutch. I’ll probably add some trim to the solid crocheted edge. Oh no, now I need to find the trim. Haha.

by princesshotflash

What I’ve made so far

This is what I’ve made so far this first quarter of 2022. I wanted to keep track of what I’ve done. Trying to keep myself busy.

Food

Top to bottom, left to right: Laurie’s pear cake, chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles, cheese biscuits, pickled veggies, chichi dango, roasted sweet potato pudding, Costco rotisserie chicken broth, tuna tofu patties, fig and orange jam, caramelized onion and zucchini quiche, pad see ew, roasted tomato salsa

Craft

Top to bottom, left to right: stitch and mend sampler, denim whale with pleats, Feather and fan scarf, denim whale with topstitching, Hawaiian quilt pillow, Aloha shirt blanket, Year of Hat March hat, garment cover with upcycled aloha shirt

by princesshotflash

Around Cora’s Garden: Pakalana

Pakalana is related to the milkweed plant, and it is also called Chinese Violet. It’s a woody vine with heart-shaped leaves. The flowers bloom in clusters of yellow-green flowers with a beautiful fragrance. Bees and ants love these blossoms. They bloom from April to September.

What I read about pakalana, it’s not the most beautiful vine, but the blooms and scent make up for that.

I added three pakalana plants to the old cucumber trellis this winter. Cucumbers have stopped growing well in this area, and it has been sitting empty. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they like their new home.

Only one of the plants of blooming. I hope the other two will come in later.

Pakalana is my favorite Lei. It is usually worn in several stands. And I’m trying to see if I can make on strand from what I’m getting this season. Mom said to pick the open blossoms, sprinkle them with water, and put them in the refrigerator till I have enough for a lei.

What I’ve gathered