An oldie but goodie

I started using tracing paper again, along with my original "vintage" 1970 tracing wheel. The patterns I've been sewing lately have lots of darts, that's good. But sometimes my pin and chalk-marking can get a little off. The last thing you want is a wonky misdirected arrow. I picked up a package of the Dritz Double-Faced Wax-Free Tracing Paper for grins at the last Jo-Ann's 50% off notions sale. This isn't your tracing paper from yesteryear. Remember the big, thick sheets you'd have to refold to use? These are double-sided 3" x 19 1/2" strips you can easily insert and mark your darts and dots. The colors (white, yellow, orange, red and blue) are softer, not as deep and bright, which can be a good thing as we all take a moment to recall brightly colored dots showing through for washing eternity. The only thing you have to be careful of now? Not picking up the rotary cutter instead of the tracing wheel. Whew! I caught myself in time! Save yourself and your project and move the cutter away from the table when marking your fabric.

More Ike photos (new added)

This piece of paper was stuffed into my pocket during Hurricane Ike's landfall. My husband knows I like timelines and these were the predicted sustained winds and estimated time duration for our side of Ike and part of the county. 58 mph winds from 10:30 to 1:47. From 1:47 to 2:30 75+ mph winds. Then the eye would pass over, with the wind picking up again from 3:30 to 6:00. An hour at 70, then tapering off. The 30 with the left arrow was the plus or minus 30 minutes. It was comforting to tell myself and L that "it's almost over"...

These were the shingles I gathered, carried and dumped near the curb. Look at the nail sticking out! I just noticed that after I took the photo.

Some roof shots... hard to tell from the photos, but the adjuster determined the entire roof needed to be replaced.

Here is our hiding place in the hallway. The mattress was too wide, which turned out to be a good thing. At this point the power was out and there was a lull in the storm until I took the photo...that's why L looks so nervous - things started crashing into the house again!

The Women - Brought to you by Dove

L and I went to see "The Women" this afternoon with our free AMC passes, a remake movie sponsored by a fine selection of Dove products. Talk about product placement, there was even a commercial for Dove soap shown on the tv in the movie! I did enjoy seeing the ensemble of great actresses and their wardrobes. But the movie dragged on a little too long (almost 2 hours) and the editing was choppy. Definitely a chick flick...I felt badly for the count-on-one-hand number of guys in the packed theater audience. Our verdict - OK for a free movie, you'll enjoy it and will pay to see it if you are a mid-to-late baby boomer and read More magazine, otherwise add it to your Netflix queue.

Get back to the sewing room

I finally cleared off the sewing table and hopefully my mind. I've been so skitzo since the Hurricane. Perhaps I'll sew a no-brainer to get back into the fun things in life. I found some stash fabric to make Sandra Betzina's Vogue 2945 again. It's pretty and lightweight, yet with the sleeves more substantial to transition into Fall on Monday.

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Pattern Sales

September 25/27 --

Vogue - $3.99
McCall's - $1.99

Penzeys Coupon Codes - Minced Garlic & Granulated Garlic Powder

Free 1/4 cup jar of either Minced Garlic (44534C) or Granulated Garlic Powder (44439C). If you are on Penzeys mailing list, the coupon is attached to the cover of their Fall 2008 catalog. There are lots of garlic recipes featured in this catalog -- Garlic Black Pepper Steaks, Garlic Pork Tenderloin, Bill's Spaghetti, Quick Garlic Bread, Tasty Garlic Shrimp, Frittata, Fried Rice, Quick Chicken Cacciatore, Pizza Tortillas, Pork Noodle Soup. And be sure to check out the (garlic-free) chocolate dipped Pecan Sugar Cookies recipe on page 21!

You can't uproot a sense of humor

A few things I learned this past weekend --

Stock up on UNSCENTED votive candles -- they last longer than tealights and won't make you nauseous. A fat pillar candle is even better for a windowless bathroom. A radio with the TV channel band using 4 C batteries is much easier on the ears than one running on AA batteries. Listening to the the local TV news audio feed is also more comforting and calming in the midst of it all. At 3 AM, people calling in saying they were scared and hearing Bill Balleza, anchor turned storm therapist, on KPRC-TV Channel 2 telling them it will be OK and it would be almost over soon made us feel we were all in this together and not alone. I also liked his telling us, "Of course your house is making strange noises, it has probably never been in wind this strong this before and it will creak for awhile afterwards, too." (True!) (And true again I'm switching my local TV news allegiance to KPRC nowafter) The $32 we pay Verizon every month was worth every cent having our land-line hooked up to an "old fashioned phone"...with a 24 foot cord able to reach into the hallway. Keeping old towels on hand, even the hand/face size, to shove against the window and window sills. Some did get damp, and I'd rather deal with washing them afterwards instead of wet carpeting. Buy small jars or packets of mayonnaise to mix with canned tuna or chicken. Also purchase an Oscar-Mayer size slim packs of ham to slip into the cooler. Next time I'll get those cheese dipper stick packages, too. We craved salty and savory more than sweet afterwards. Adrenaline is a powerful drug -- As Hurricane Ike approached, the early rain band winds knocked down one of three panels of our front cedar panel fence door gate. To keep the gate from swinging or worse detaching and blowing away, I hoisted a 6 foot by 4 foot section and jammed it against the door and remaining section. Then I stepped back, concerned about its placement so close to my gardenia bush and repositioned it again. After the storm, I collected a lot of the shingle sheets in our front yard into a 8" pile and carried them all in a pile towards the curb grass. I wanted to move them later and couldn't even nudge them with my foot. Texas women are strong and capable. I hope my daughter learned that, too.

We are OK!

Power just came on for us. There's still 2.3 million without electricity, down from 3.2 million. We put up a good fight against Ike...some fences down, lost a few sections of roof shingles, a couple little leakies. Truly random damage -- Our next door neighbor's house lost its brick covered chimney with the bricks scattered all over their yard and the cap mangled and spinning crazily in the wind afterwards. I got back inside in a hurry! It was the scariest eight hours of our life barricaded in the hallway hearing noises never heard before and hope to never again. Truly, truly fortunate as we are seeing for the first time on TV all the destruction. Words cannot express what we saw as we ventured to Arby's for our first hot meal since Thursday. Please keep Texas in your thoughts and prayers.

I Blame Dr. Neil Frank

Dr. Neil Frank became the chief meteorologist at KHOU after Hurricane Alicia hit Houston back in 1983. During his tenure...until he retired earlier this year...no hurricanes near Houston. Now we have Ike heading straight towards us. The current track shows the eye going right over my neck of the woods, unless it changes course PDQ. It's interesting to observe the behavior contrast of our citizens and the newscasters. I had to stop watching Channel 13 especially, they were trying to scare the bejeebers out of me. Here's a cedar fence at 100 mph! Here was a cedar fence now turned into javelins. But -- you go to the grocery store, there's no panic. People are calmly buying a case of water, Doritos and other fine Frito-Lay products. The Weather Channel needs to get a commercial sponsorship with Frito-Lay! Texas-made, Texas-eaten for Texas weather needs. I went to Lowe's for some plastic sheeting to cover the windows in case my fence decides to come inside and then to use afterwards for Burda WOF pattern tracing. Not crazy there. There are some lines at the gas stations - gas jumped 10 cents per gallon overnight - and then a few that are out of gas already, or so they say. But even then, everyone was and is still behaving themselves. Which is why I think the TV stations are doomsdaying to the nth degree. My MIL calls to tell us to come to the Ranch. But it is practically impossible right now. Galveston and other coastal cities are going to Austin. First, I'm in a "shelter in place" county and I don't want to take up space on the road which other people more deserving need. And I'm not repeating my Rita evacuation stunt. Suffice to say I now have a different car and no longer have to shield my face when driving along I-10. Instead of miles per hour, it was hours per mile. It took us 10 hours to get to Brookshire 55 miles away until I snapped and busted through the police barricades and turned around going 90 mph right before they finally decided to contraflow I-10. So we'll be in the hallway, waiting out Ike. Please keep us and Texas in your thoughts and prayers.

Today's Costco Find

Kirkland Queen and King sheet sets (including the pillowcases) for only $29.88! They had lots of dark red and a few chocolate brown left, but probably not for long at that price. I had looked at Lands' End yesterday and couldn't believe the high prices. So while most people were stocking up on water, etc. -- and someone bought every single one of the pretzel barrels !?!? -- I waltzed out of there with a deal, albeit pretzel-less.

I Miss Ann Taylor Loft

I really do. How can you miss a store? For the past almost three years, 90% of my clothes had the Ann Taylor Loft label sewn inside. Everything mixed and matched together, it was fun to get dressed and look and feel good doing so. I was basically on a personal sewing vay-cay as I could find clothes ready to wear cheaper there than the money and effort sewing practically every little thing as I'm forced to now. I ordered from their wide selection of tall clothes online and at any given time I could sweep in and find something nice, usually at a great price. I even had the $25 off card promotion timetable in my PDA. But as my previous purchases are wearing out, I got a little sad and nostalgic. I haven't bought anything, anything in there for almost a year. Are they going for a younger market? Looking at their sale and discount postcards, you think they are. Yet you go into the store and you see women my age scouring the racks, also coming up empty handed. As I enter nowadays, I'm barely greeted and acknowledged as a potential customer. I look at the clothes -- Their prices are higher. The fabrics, not as nice - quality wise. Polyester, thin knits, even starting to fuzz and pill from just being handled in the store. You can tell they are trying to cut costs by cutting fabric - literally shorter. I thought I wandered over to the Petites by mistake. The styles are also skewed younger. I don't mind trendy, but at a certain point, you don't want to look like mutton dressed as lamb. With your tummy showing because it's not long enough to keep it covered. I don't know what store I'll gravitate to next -- I've done the Talbots, Banana Republic, and will even admit a brief Chico's fling, evidence quickly sold on eBay. And shoot me before I fall into Coldwater Creek. Currently I'm J.Jilling, but I really don't fit their size and cut too often. I'm hoping ATL gets right with herself and tries to win me/us back. Please go back to your rack-worthy ways and all will be forgiven...

Whoa! Look at what just posted within the past hour!

Hurricane...ICKY?!

It's Hurricane IKE! Long i, silent e. Someone on the radio just pronounced it "Icky."

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

Reel 2 Real, "I Like to Move It" (Radio Mix) 3:43

New Hello Kitty Finds at Target Dollar Spot!

In the colorways of apple green, pink and purple. . .

New Hello Kitty mini plushies, 10-pencil packs, tote bags (they measure 10"x9 1/2"x2 1/2"-- perfect size to carry your Today's Fit Vogue patterns!) and more. There are also colorful 4" x 4" metal and plastic baskets - I found one in the Hello Kitty colors. Grab a bunch now to use for upcoming holiday gifts.

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

The Ting Tings, "Shut Up and Let Me Go" 2:54

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours" 4:03
We Sing, We Dance. . .

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Pattern Sales

$1.99 each --

September 7/13 -- Simplicity
September 18/20 -- Butterick

One of my favorite Banana Bread recipes

From the September 2003 issue of Cooking Light. Click here for the recipe link. My doctored version is to use 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1 3/4 cup regular flour, fat-free plain yogurt, add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of Penzeys Baking Spice. This recipe makes enough for 3 small loaf pans, 2 1-cup Chantal ramkins and 2 small loaf pans, or 5 ramkins and 1 small loaf pan. Or following the recipe, one big loaf pan. If you use the smaller containers, start checking for doneness at 20-30 minutes.

Snickerdoodles

A vintage Texan cookie - I found this recipe in "Cooking Favorites of Denton, Texas" a circa early 1960's cookbook from the Altar Society of Immaculate Conception Church. It makes a lot - 72, so you may want to cut the ingredients in half. I also use Smart Balance shortening instead of Crisco. And I substitute Penzeys Cake Spice for the cinnamon.

SNICKERDOODLES

1 cup Crisco (Smart Balance or a healthy shortening version)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Topping: 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cream together Crisco, sugar and eggs. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Make small 1" balls, roll in sugar/cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will have a sort of crackle-like look.

Netflix Stars - Bonneville

2/5 stars - Despite a star-studded marque of excellent leading ladies --- Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Joan Allen and Christine Baranski, Bonneville went flat and we put it back in the envelope after 20 minutes.

Folds of Honor

Patriot Golf Day will be this Labor Day weekend. Since 2007, this event has raised over $1 million for the Folds of Honor Foundation, helping to support the families of veterans who were injured or died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Click to read more about Major Dan Rooney, who was ABC's Person of the Week.

Sandra Betzina Today's Fit Vogue 2945 - Redemption!

If you just keep winding the bobbins, eventually you'll succeed. Vogue 2945 was Sandra's second chance and I really wanted it to work. But after sewing so many Burdas, I had forgotten that - 1) I need to go down a size than what I usually measure, as Sandra's patterns are pretty generous and forgiving in the bust area, 2) her patterns also tend to run short in the torso, so I need to add 2". I remembered to add the length but forgot to decrease the size. Another for the Goodwill bag.

But I loved this top! Again, another cool engineered pattern design. And Sandra takes you through step-by-step to a successful finish. What I liked about this was the flattering squared and draped neckline with a neat shoulder pleat. Different and not cowl-drapey. Score one there. Then the front lining - genius. Perfect for this onion-skin knit print. No worries about see-through in the front and it provided weight and finish.

I'm glad I have enough fabric left over to give this another go. It is another $1/yard Wal-Mart wonder from back in the day when I would buy 5 yards at a clip. (Did I buy yards of fabric? More like pounds of fabric!)

Tah-Dah!

Sandra Betzina Today's Fit Vogue 2980 - Booby Trapped!

I finally got around to sewing this favorite of the sewing clique who made 2980 earlier. Looks great on the hanger, but not so great on me. If you are small busted, you'll love this top (and will want to make a Jo-Ann's run this weekend to grab it for $3.99). If you are larger, you'll be embarrassed. Or not, depends. Me, I didn't want the double-take. I wish the collar "bolero" was a little bit longer and wider to cover more of the front. I even tried tacking the edges to the front, but it really didn't help or stay put - it kept bunching under the arms.

But I can say that Sandra's directions are impeccable and this was fun to sew - especially when you see how the collar merges into the design. The fabric was two $1/yard remnant pieces of crinkly knit from Hancocks. I used a contrasting color for pieces #1 (collar) and #4 (sleeve), to give it more of a bolero/shrug look from the front. This is a very cool top, I had high hopes for it and am sad it didn't work for me.

Burda Young Fashion Teen 7997 View B - Hello Kitty shorts

L needed shorts to wear under her uniform skirt and even though I have and have used other Burda shorts patterns, they didn't have a bunny (View E) like 7997! Plus, the shorts were more economical yardage wise to sew - you need just a little less than 7/8 yard. Two yards each of Jet Set light-weight knit in olive night and sapphire and four spools of Hello Kitty ribbon all from Jo-Ann's equaled six pairs of shorts, with enough in reserve for two more pair. The shorts were originally designed for wovens and for skanky-ness. Seriously, we went up two sizes and added 2" in length. The center back seam also seemed off, sloping in practically diagonally towards the waist, most likely fitting a booty girl better. I ended up adding 1 1/2" to make it somewhat straighter and more comfortable for L to wear. She also found two different Hello Kitty ribbon rolls to add as hemline trim. What we also liked about this pattern, besides all the other view goodies, it actually gave the elastic for the waist measurement in the directions and it was spot-on.

The empty ribbon spool also makes a safe place to discard used sewing machine needles. By, buy, bye!

Deja vu! New Burda counter catalog!

The new Burda Fall/Winter store catalog is in...so were apparently some Burda World of Fashions (BWOF). Recognized immediately, in the same fabric no less, were the kimono-style PJ top, shorts and pants from December 2007, #125, #126 and #127B, on pages 67 and 69, now representing as 7765.

Then I saw 7758 - such a cool, unique style - it was in my memory bank and in October 2007 #115A/#115B on pages 19 and 77.

I have no qualms about repeats - I always thought BWOF styles were ahead of their time, obviously now literally. And if you couldn't find these issues, it's a great way to catch up with the others who have already sewed, loved and worn these designs earlier. I'm sure others have snuck in; amongst all the coats (!) - I have never seen so many coat/jacket patterns before. Without a foreseeable op to wear many of these until at least November, I left Jo-Ann's Burda-less and hit the BWOF magazine stack for something new...or old to sew.

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "You Make My Dreams Come True" 3:07
Rock 'N Soul, Pt. 1

Who are you wearing? Why are you watching?

Did anyone catch "Who are you wearing?" on TLC last night? It sounded good, L and I had high hopes for it.

Each week on WAYW, four ordinary sew-ers from all walks of life compete to dress a "celebrity" client for a red carpet event. The first episode's celebrity was Alison Sweeney, not familiar to me and introduced as being on The Biggest Loser and a soap opera, neither of which I watch. The host is Keisha Whitaker, another unknown to me, looking painfully anorexic. There are four contestants -- this episode had one guy, three ladies all from little towns in California. Each episode is self-contained with a winner at the end of the hour. One designer is eliminated at each section - the design drawing, the shoping/sewing, the fitting and the final selection. This group seemed to have a lot of potential to create something wonderful, but they stumbled. I thought I saw Alison's face fall when the choices were presented; they looked terrible, despite her telling them what she wanted and what she didn't like earlier at each point along the way.

Hopefully upcoming episodes will be better. . .

Novus Ordo Seclorum

Donde esta, Amazon? We ordered the Intellectual Origins of the Constitution on August 13 (it's not exactly a title flying off the shelves at the bricks and mortar stores nor requested often unless you are married to a history major and/or taking AP Government) and per the order tracking it was "missent" to Baytown! Baytown?! To-date it is still flopping around therein the US postal system. Threw myself a nice little hissy fit to the overseas Amazon help person and we'll either get our copy or several on Monday.

International Quilt Festival - Long Beach, California

Almost 19,000 people attended the debut of the West Coast edition of the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California. Watch and enjoy the event online with Quilts Inc.'s webcast "Quilt Festival @ Home" at www.quilts.com until September 15. Mark your calendars now for next year - July 24/26, 2009 at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.

Jo-Ann's Labor Day Weekend Sale

Friday, August 29/Monday, September 1:

50% off notions
McCall's Patterns - $1.99
Vogue Patterns - $3.99

More guilty pleasures

Thank you, Karen -- L and I are now hooked on Bravo's Million Dollar Listing 2 (we love Chad!) and Flipping Out. We were watching the repeats this afternoon. Suddenly a $1.5 million house seems like a bargain now!

Burda 7940 - View C Blouse

Burda 7940 View C blouse turned out great for L in a navy blue silk with Fiskars-orange buttons, inspired by a $49 Urban Outfitters top. The pattern called for almost 6 yards (!) of 3/16" wide elastic - I found and used 1/4" instead. I tried the 2 rows of elastic in the arms, but it felt too tight and the sleeves looked too blouson-y on her. You may want to cut the pieces a little bit longer and adjust for comfort. The neckline was supposed to have 4 rows of elastic, but I went with 2 rows in the middle. Sometimes it is difficult to get more than two rows inserted and shirred together without getting torqued and floppy. I still had the channels above and below, which even unused, added dimension and the upper one created a tiny ruffle. Surprisingly it didn't call for any interfacing because the front folds over on to itself. But if you are using a silky or lightweight fabric, you'll want to add a 1 1/4" piece to support the buttons and buttonholes. She loved the sash. I think if she wanted another top from this pattern, I would add a little extra length to the sleeves and have them be more 3/4 length instead of just below the elbow or narrow just a bit and shorten. This could just be her height differential, but you may want to precheck the length, too. L loved the sash - it was the perfect, flattering width and length.

Torched by an angel

For over the past three years, the oven dial and the thermostat have not been simpatico. I have used an oven thermometer and placed bets if I set it at 350, would I get 425? or 275? Although this added a little extra time, it added extra money in my wallet avoiding a repair call. There was also extra play in the dial as it turned it would go in and out. Yesterday the control connection finally broke inside the stove - with the outside dial spinning around...and not turning off! On a Sunday. When it was 90+ outside. What temperature was it stuck at? Considering I was dialing for 450, who knew? (at least it wasn't Broil) Service person/service call at least 24 hours away. Pulled it away from the wall and tried turning off the gas. Still saw the orange flame. Gave it some time to burn off. Still glowing. Tried unplugging the electrical connection - finally that seemed to work. Decided to go oven shopping. For a few hundred more than the repair would have been for an oven I've hated for years (the burners sat too high and when the a/c was running, it would take more than 30 minutes to boil water), we found a super great deal at Best Buy - they even arranged delivery for the next day and comped the charges. It matches the rest of our appliances, no oven dial - it's digital, and has a Speed Bake convection setting, amongst other goodies I love (broiler on top, storage drawer, self-cleaning)...And the oven has a 12 hour safety shut off feature!

New Laura Bennett Case Clothed Episode

Click here for the latest episode of "Case Clothed - The Sweatsuit Substitute"

8 IS a lucky number!

I think the back is cool, too, with the jade ----->

Yay Michael!!!!!!!!

Burda Young Fashion Teen 7871 - View A Dress

Well, maybe we could both wear this dress except -- L decided she didn't like it and said it felt too "old" despite the designation as a Burda Young Fashion Teen style... and I liked the style but not the fabric color/print. It might be wearable a few times with a tank or cami underneath...and maybe a pair of leggings? But with a little front tweaking, I would definitely make 7871 again for me (in a black or dark colored knit instead) as I have been on a quest for a wrap dress pattern and had given up finding one until sewing this pattern. I like how it wraps, there's a right side seam opening to thread the tie through, and how the front skirt stays securely closed. I redid the ties and added 8" to the length as the pattern size sewn was 4 sizes smaller (!) than what I wear and sew in Burda. I also like the back waist seam. It makes it fit just a bit better back there without adding bulk. Because L tops me at 6' 1" and this was originally supposed to be for her, right out of the envelope I added 1 1/2" to the sleeves, 1 1/2" above the waist to get that back waist seam to hit where it belongs, 3" below the waist and 1/2" at the hem for extra length. I didn't use piece #4, the back facing, and instead just turned under and topstitched right along with the front opening. I Stay Taped first along the neckline opening and skipped the fusible interfacing; Steam-A-Seam 2 held it all together during double-needle topstitching. This went together really fast, definitely earning Burda's 1 dot easy pattern rating.

Best Burgers!

We took a drive to Austin yesterday and grabbed burgers and frozen custard at Sandy's (603 Barton Springs Road). LBJ liked to eat there, too. Be forewarned, it's cash only...but all three of us had burgers, fries, drinks and cones and barely broke a $20 bill. On the way home it was raining towards Houston and we found --

Shopping With The Bag Ladies

...Lady bugs, that is! I stopped at Another Place in Time while running errands. They sell a bag of 1750 lady bugs for only $9.95. Usually they are sold out by now or otherwise I order them from Planet Natural. I still have places to stop before getting home to release them on my oak tree, so I am discretely taking them inside the stores with me instead of leaving them in the hot car.

Burda 7871 Young Fashion Teen - View A Dress

Back to Burda again! This morning, it is the long sleeved View A wrap dress of Burda 7871. All basted together, waiting for Sleeping Beauty to awaken and try on. I used an orange tiny floral knit found buried in Jo-Ann's Red Tag section a few months ago. It's "peached" with some nice springy weight to it -- Not a bad deal for $3/yard. You never know what you are going to find back there.

Burda 7968 - View C Camisole

This Burda pattern dog just won't hunt! I now know why the camisole was not shown on the envelope models, and you won't be seeing a photo of it on me either. This is a family blog!

How can View B be so large and fuddy-duddy and View C be so tight and skanky? I made the same size for both, in fact even added a little to the sides of the camisole for fitting insurance. The pattern drafters were snoozing on this one. Maybe I can count the hours spent on 7968 towards my ASG community service sewing? One, don't buy this pattern....two, if you do, plan on donating the outfits made to Goodwill.

Burda 7968 - View B - Coming soon to a thrift shop near you!

A bad fabric, style and (so far) pattern choice for me! I was hoping for a cute short-sleeved top to wear over a tank top. Ank! View B with the short sleeves looks dowdy, frumpy and "old." Even shortened to different lengths. It also runs very large across the front, the upper shoulders are wide and the sleeves are falling off the shoulder. You could easily go down one or even two sizes from your usual Burda size. So many of the catalog Burda patterns I've sewn turn out better than they look and photograph, I thought for sure this was another one of them.

Perhaps the long sleeves of View A, a different size and fabric could rescue 7968. Before I throw in the pattern along with the shirt, I may give the hidden View C camisole a shot.

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Pattern Sales

August 15/17 - Simplicity 5 for $5
August 21/23 - Butterick $1.99 each

And kudos to Jo-Ann's for finally upgrading from the 1980's Fred Flintstone registers! Sheesh, I could have gone home and sewn what I was buying before it finished dot-matrix printing the receipt.

Which Olympics has the cutest gold medal-winning athletes?

Michael Phelps or the puppies in Puppy Games 2008? (Though I think the goldfish judges are a little more biased towards the water events.) Check Animal Planet for the next showing.

The Cow has Prana!

WTH?! Here I am at the chi-chi Chick-Fil-A with granola moms and their litter of kids. One just popped out a newborn. The newborn is the best behaved, and that statement is including the mothers. Each one has 3+ kids and I am trying very hard to check my gag reflex. But I just about spit out my iced tea when the Chick-Fil-A cow strolled by. First the kidlets were pointing and waving and as soon as he/she approached, then burst into tears and screams of terror. "It's OK, it's OK, the cow has Prana! Prana!" Bad breath? Gas? Life sustaining force? Please tell me these kids aren't into yoga yet. I'm not sure. . .

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

The Stampeders, "Sweet City Woman" 3:39

Sew Green - Burda 7793 again

We lucked out again with Edouard - mostly light or a steady rain and breezy by us...and 75 degrees! A nice break in the temperature and for the A/C.

Our hurricane pantry was fully stocked, but last night L and I went to Super Target to lay in a supply of readable-by-flashlight People, OK, etc. magazines. It was entertaining to see what people were buying. The couple ahead of us bought lots (over $100 worth!) of Beef-A-Roni, Progresso soup, turkey bacon, and Fiber One bars. The cart behind us -- Blue Bell chocolate ice cream and Doritos. Is it survival of the fittest, or survival of the fattest?! We weren't totally guilt free, we got a Red Baron pizza and baked it last night in case the power went out. Cold pizza is better than cold Beef-A-Roni, yes?

Anyways, I took the opportunity today to whip up another Burda 7793, in the olive green knit eyelet. Since raising the back, it was just a little difficult to tell which was the front or the back. I saved the cool black and white woven tie strings from a pair of Liz Claiborne capris and attached a small piece to the back neckline.

Coming up next -- Burda 7968 View B

Burda 7793 - View B Tank Top (for me!)

From the stash, a $1/yard Wally-World find, which actually sewed like a dream. I didn't even need Steam-A-Seam for the armhole and neckline edges. I wanted to do a trial run before cutting into a cool olive green eyelet knit to wear under my Burda 7967 dress I just made. While sewing this out of the envelope is fine for a teenager, I wanted to raise up the front neckline 1/2 inch, the back neckline almost 3 inches and the shoulder straps 1/2 inch. Burda 7793 has become a one-yard wonder favorite for both of us.

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

The Fortunes, "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" 2:48

Burda 7967 - View B Dress

Burda 7967 has a dress (View B), plus a short-sleeved jacket (View C) and long sleeved jacket (View A). The size range is 10-22 (36-48), so it will fit and flatter just about all sizes. I liked the shirt-dress with the longer elbow-length sleeves and fold-back cuffs, which I'm glad to report prevented flashbacks to the pink (!) summer uniform shirt dress of Cardinal Mooney High School..or looking like a waitress.

I did my usual tallie girl alterations -- adding 1 1/2" above the waist, moving the bust dart upwards 1.5 cm, adding 1" to the sleeve length and 1 1/2" to the bottom edge. These numbers seem to work for all the current Burda patterns, they are consistent from pattern to pattern, style to style. So once you know what works for you, no more worries.

The dress called for 15 buttons, spaced 1 1/2 inches apart. It looked a little too button-intense, so I spaced out 14 buttons 2" apart. Much better!

The buttons are actually recycled from a $1 thrift store dress. It was long sleeved and buttoned from collar to hem - a great harvest op! I'll check out the bargain racks not for the clothes, but for the buttons and trim. Even at retail stores - Kohl's has these incredible end of season 60-90% off markdown sales and I confess I was tempted by a Size 2 Petite jacket just for the buttons...and the look on the clerk's face!

This is a one-dot Burda Easy pattern with three great wardrobe options. With some neat fabric, you can have a lot of fun with them through the seasons. I'm eyeing that View A jacket with the drawstring waist and sleeve hems for whenever it cools down here, or maybe View C with View A's longer sleeves, or maybe even View C for the interim. . .?

It's so hot a person could pop!

Chocolate Raspberry Fudge Pops!

This recipe was in the June 18 Houston Chronicle Food section and they were originally called Chocolate Cherry Fudge Pops, but I couldn't find cherry jam. I used Polaner All Fruit Seedless Raspberry and Land O' Lakes Fat Free Half & Half.

They tasted just as yummy as a full-fat, full-sugared frozen treat without the icky chemicals.

I found these popsicle molds at the Target Dollar Spot. They weren't that large, but good enough for a few bites, so I cut the original recipe in half. I've made these twice so far and the second time around, determined you could easily skip the blender step by using a whisk to melt and blend the jam in the saucepan.

(This is the smaller, halved recipe)

3/4 cup fat free half-and-half

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/2 teasoon vanilla extract

tiny pinch salt

In small saucepan over low heat, combine the half-and-half and chocolate chips. Heat, stirring constantly, until chips are melted. Transfer the mixture to a blender, add the jam, vanilla and salt, then puree' for 30 seconds or until smooth. Divide mixture amoung the frozen pop molds (number will vary by size) then insert sticks according to mold directions. Freeze at least several hours.

Yesterday's Favorite iPod Workout Song

Beck, "Timebomb" 2:50