Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sewing FOPs (for other people)

I have been true to my word. I have been sewing for others all November.

I have

1) hemmed 2 pairs of trousers for my husband

2) made 3 aprons. A word about the aprons. Aprons make great gifts, I've discovered. Like socks and underpants, everyone needs them but they never get around to buying them often enough. Aprons are all occasion gifts, saying "I care" from birthdays to bereavements. Aprons require no fitting, can be made in under an hour and can be made from offcuts making them very cost effective.

I have made just one change to Simplicity 2824 - removed the D-rings and added a slider. The D rings mean that the strap hung awkwardly upside down but the slider enables it to drape itself gracefully.



3) Made a bolster for our cleaner. This shows how I've matured as a person. 3 years ago, I told her "no way" when she asked me to do some alterations for her. Now 3 more years of selfishness has been drained out of me by a child.

This was not an easy project - the fabric, a synthetic upholstery grade polyester was left over from her curtains. It did not want to ease and could not be folded. It hugs the lumps of the bolster like lycra on an overweight gym enthusiast. The ends then had to be fitted, which is difficult with circles even with easy fabric, and even more tricky when you factor in the piping. I hope she likes it because it was about as far from fun to make as, well, any of the other projects above.

And if she asks me for another forget it. Maturer, yes, an idiot, no.



And finally some GF/DF cooking. I have been experimenting with the best way to present my findings - I tried an extra page but it's not easy to update since you can't make separate posts. In the end I decided I would just tack it on at the end of a post and those who are interested can read on.

This is the best recipe for GF/DF bread I have found so far.

I have tried 5 internet recipes - 3 of them were inedible, and immediately binned. Absolutely vile. If a recipe goes on about its health content you know you are in trouble.

To make this bread in a bread maker you have to reduce the water content. Instead of 3/4 cup, I found 1/2 cup with 2 extra tablespoons of water to be just right. I also add 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds and 1 tablespoon of chia seeds. It tastes really nice and keeps well.



Righty ho, we are only half way through the month, so half a month more of FOPs to go!

12 comments:

  1. Your sense of humour is amazing!
    Loved these:

    "It hugs the lumps of the bolster like lycra on an overweight gym enthusiast."
    and
    "If a recipe goes on about its health content you know you are in trouble."

    Thank you for always making me laugh!

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  2. Boy, was I groaning on your behalf reading your bolster-making description. Lucky cleaner! I really love the apron fabric :o)

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  3. I am very impressed with your sewing FOP. A little of the goodnes must have rubbed off as I have made two pair of togs for some of the men in my life :)

    Cute apron BTW!

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  4. Love the apron fabric. Such a lovely gift idea. I was only wondering today what I should sew for my daughter's teacher. Maybe an apron is just he thing!

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  5. I definitely want to see apron photos. Is that some of the vintage estate sale fabulous fabric?
    Sewing a bolster is true awfulness. I hope the corners in cleanliness match the effort in those dratted circle ends.

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  6. A whole month? Really? Surely you deserve a little "you" project as a breather in the middle.

    The slider on the apron was a really good idea.

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  7. So glad you found a good bread recipe. That's no easy feat. We tried bean flour breads at the beginning. Some people like them, but I won't be doing that again! My kid doesn't eat grains or starches, so we've been using almond flour.

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  8. Hello!

    You have sewed lovely pieces and with such fine quality.

    I am overjoyed to read your comments about Ottobre, because I seem to sew most of my clothes using it's patterns. Lately , I mean this and last year,I have found their patterns really wide or opposite, which has made size chosing an annoying task.

    Anu from Finland

    ps. May I your your blog to my favourites?

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  9. Congrats on all your successes! I like your explanation of sewing FOP very much. After 3 kids, that must explain why that seems to be all that I do, rather than sewing for myself :( And why I haven't posted on my blog in awhile because all of my recent sewing has been gifts FOP! haha!

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  10. What a good idea about the slider on the aprons.

    Thanks for the tip!

    I saw the upside down strap on the apron I made a year ago this weekend for a friend (and yes it was lovely to see it still being used, and no, she didn't specially use it because I was there, well at least I don't think so...). It really would've been much better with a slider, but I wasn't clever enough to think of that.

    Thanks too for reminding me that aprons make great gifts. Now you know what my kids teachers will get as end of the year gifts!

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  11. So glad to hear you're enjoying my bread recipe! All the best xx

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  12. Aprons are a fab idea - I'm going to add that to my to do list! You are so right about the tastiness (or otherwise) of food that goes on about how healthy it is for you - I was once given a cook book along those lines and it was absolutely dire; even glossy photos couldn't make any of it appealing. My mum is GF and has been tinkering about with recipes - she's had some real successes with cakes but has been forgoing bread so I'll pass this on to her.

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