Design for Shabby Apple

Here it is!! My entry for the Shabby Apple Dresses contest for their Spring 2012 collection. It's had a lot of tweaking over the last couple of weeks, but I'm really happy with it.
I'm making it out of high quality woven cotton because I like how easy it is to wash and is pretty wrinkle resistant.

It will have hidden side pockets and a back zipper. The button down front is faux and I just realized that I left off the 4th button. The sleeves will also be button closure, but they will be adjustable. The top of the dress is being done in a dark gray or black and the skirt in a print that compliments. I have a yellow and grey toned print to go with the grey and for the black I am using a floral print.
I like the ideas of the paper-bag skirts and just made it longer.

So, who says a house wife can't look like Audrey Hepburn?

The entry deadline is the 15th and the top 15 designs will be available for voting on. Please, please, please!! vote for me!! If all this does is teach me more about my work than it has been worth it.

My thanks to all :)

 ~ Claire ~

More Cooking…

I promise that I do more than just spend all of my time in the kitchen! I've got some really great stuff to share with you about my sewing, but not right now… sorry.


We had a luncheon after church today and I made this Free-Form Blueberry Tart verbatim as well as gluten and egg free because of some of the food allergies at my church. I also made a gluten/egg free apple one as well. I just used two apples, one of which was peeled, and left out the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. 
I didn't have any candied ginger so in one crust I used ground ginger, in another cinnamon, and in the other coarsely ground nutmeg. They were ALL delicious!! Yes, I tried them all ;)


I of course didn't think until after they were finished to photo journal the process, so here's the one I pulled from the Food and Wine® website:

p.s. Mine looked just about as good as this one ;)

~ Claire ~

- - - 

Free-Form Blueberry Tart

PASTRY
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon minced candied ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water

FILLING
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 egg white, beaten

PREPARE THE PASTRY In a food processor, combine the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the candied ginger and salt and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of small peas. Sprinkle on the ice water and pulse just until the pastry starts to come together. Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a 14-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the pastry in half and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Unfold the pastry and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

MAKE THE FILLING Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl, mix the 1/4 cup of sugar with the lemon zest and flour. Fold in the blueberries and lemon juice and let stand for 15 minutes.Spoon the blueberries in the center of the pastry, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border all around. Fold the pastry border up and over the blueberries, pleating it as necessary. Brush the egg white on the pastry and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 55 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the tart cool to warm. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

I've been cooking again…

I've been sewing too, and I finally got my new camera! However, finally in this case has nothing to do with a delay on the part of the camera company, just a delay in the purchaser making her mind up about which one she wanted ;) 

I keep forgetting to take pictures of stuff while I'm doing it though, so I have a stack of things that I need to photograph.

- - - 

Alfredo Casserole.

I made a Chicken Alfredo Casserole with fresh spinach for a luncheon last week and was really pleased with the results.

For a single batch, which will feed 5-6 people: Cook about ¾ of a pound of thick Italian pasta until el-dente so that it wouldn’t be too chewy. If you have a Costco membership, I used the 1 1/2” tube pasta that comes in a multi pack, but just about any thick pasta will work.

Cook 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of ground chicken with some Italian seasoning and added a little pepper, but not salt because the sauce has quite a bit in it.

½ a bag of fresh baby spinach, torn in half.

To make the sauce:

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.

Add 2 cups of heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in a pinch or two of grated nutmeg, 1-½ tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp fresh-ground black pepper.

Add 1 clove of minced garlic and 1-½ cups grated Parmesan cheese and whisk quickly.

To assemble the casserole just mixed everything together in the baking dish.

Cover with tented foil if your dish does not have a baking lid and bake for about 45 minutes at 350˚F.

» I made this up ahead of time and froze it. If you do this just make it longer, for like an hour and a half but at the same temperature.

It’s done when the edges are bubbly.

You could top this with breadcrumbs or cheese if you wanted.

I made a triple batch and it served about 16 people, so I think the next time I make it I’ll still make the triple batch (same work basically) and freeze it in pie plates or small 8x8 casserole dishes to save some work later on.

Enjoy!

~ Claire ~

Anyone heard of Shabby Apple?

Well, if you haven't, now is the time to do so… because I am entering a design contest and will need lots of help with votes! Shabby Apple and I have pretty much the same mission in our clothing, and I'm hoping to get in on the 3% royalties!  The winner of this contest will have their piece (dress, shirt or skirt) featured as part of the 2012 Spring Collection :)


I have one design finished, but have to work out a couple of kinks and another as a preliminary sketch. Unfortunately my two completed designs are not enterable because they are my version of some of their existing pieces, but it's been fun working on new pieces and in fabrics that I've not used before.
So in a week or two check back and see what I've been working on. The contest will be open for voting from August 17 until September 10 and I will of course have a link on both my blog and my facebook so that you can check out all of the cool stuff that will be on the ballot.


On the camera end of things… it's not back yet. I finally got an update from the repair shop and it is supposed to be in by the end of next week.


Thank you all for your support of my endeavors. God sure knows what he is doing when he surround us with people who are pursuing Him.

~ Claire ~ 

Busy! Busy! Busy!

It has been a long time since I posted, and I do apologize to anyone who has been following and waiting for pictures of my work. Well, you're going to have to wait a little longer. Sorry. Our camera is out of commission. I grabbed the ones below from Facebook…

I have been rather busy the last several weeks. Not quite as productive as I would have liked, but I finished a second pattern. (YAY!) Here's a brief synopsis of my crazy, but fun life:

Life has been… trying, and there has been heartache and joy intermixed with all of the "normal".

Some very good friends of mine lost an infant in their family to SIDS only 4 days before my twin sister had her first baby. 

My nephew, Caleb Hezekiah, was born 5 weeks and 2 days before his due date and spent 9 days in the NICU but is healthy and happy now and we all love him dearly.
This was taken the day he came home from the hospital and I was privileged to be the first one other than his parents to hold him. So, don't tell the rest of my sisters, but I will forever be his favorite aunt… because I said so.

We also had his baby shower this weekend and I always forget how much work those things are until about 2 days before the event… 

Being the over-achiever that I am however I couldn't just stick with sewing and all of the other craziness. I made jam this past week! With help from my friend and her children we picked almost 40 pounds of strawberries and made LOTS of really yummy freezer jam and pancake syrup. I usually make jam every 2 years but because of my sister getting married last year I didn't make any and our supply, although painstakingly rationed, was finally finished off this winter.

We had a lot of fun making the jam and the kids were eager to learn as neither they nor their mom/my friend Emily had made jam before. I think the best part (well, other than watching them scoop mashed up strawberries into their mouths with their fingers) was seeing their faces when they got to taste the finished product!

And… I was finally able to quit my job at the hospital to work for myself full time! My last day was this past Thursday and it was really bittersweet. I was blessed to work with some really great people and made some friends that I hope will be life long.

~ Claire ~

Progress Report!

Well, I did it!! I finished a pattern and wore the dress to my friends wedding this weekend… then made it do double duty and wore it to church on Easter :)
Not only did it turn out really well, but I should have 2 of them listed to sell by this weekend! No, no pictures yet, sorry. But I'm so excited to share it with all of you… and start making money so I can pay off all of the fabric that I bough on my NY/PA trip :P

~ Claire ~

Inspiration

I am constantly amazed at my stupidity! I have been s…l…o…w…l…y… working on the stuff that I need to for Laudably Lizzy, pushing just about every deadline back, procrastinating, and getting very little finished. I have been working on several dress designs and have lots of beautiful fabric to create some really great stuff… I just didn't seem to like any of it tonight, which is bad as I decided that deadlines can wait no longer and I have to sew like a mad woman over the next week and a half to get done what I need to. I have a wedding this weekend and have been pushing myself to finish one of my dresses so that I can debut it at the wedding. I finally finished the pattern!!!!!! … than all of the sudden didn't like any of the fabric on my shelves. After playing around with different ideas for a while, ok, like an hour and a half, I actually thought to ask the Lord for some much needed inspiration. HE gave me the gift to sew in the first place, HE gave me the ability to design, and HE gave me the very breath that I was wasting on the woe-is-me/complaining about my lack of creativity tonight! So I did what I should have done in the beginning, I asked the Lord to show me the fabrics that I should use for this dress, and He did!! I even have shoes that will go with it, which is good because I don't have time or money to go shoe shopping between now and Saturday :)
This got me thinking about all of the other times throughout my days that I fall into these frustrating ruts. How many of them I know could be gotten out of much or avoided all together if I would just humble myself before my Creator and stop trying to pr quicker ove that I can do it on my own, because ultimately I know that I can do NOTHING on my own and every ability that I have is from Him.
The book of James has always been one of my most, and least, favorite books in the New Testament. Most, because it is so practical and there is SO much packed into five short chapters; and Least, because I often feel as if I am looking in a mirror when I read it. Js. 1: 5-8 " If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."(ESV) - OUCH! How often I do this though! Asking without faith because of my own stubbornness and pride.
"Jesus, I know that I need you in the big stuff, please help me to see how much I need you in all of the seemingly little stuff too."
It's the thread that holds the fabric together.

~ Claire ~