Refashion - linen top for me

I have been stashing this long sleeved 100% linen shirt for ages intending to make a summer top. I had wanted a wee capped sleeve but the armholes on these shirts are huge. When sewing under the arms it was still too big for a sleeve and I even had to put a little facing in to make it decent.

The linen shirt I started with

So I took the main collar off as it was really large and on a summer day when the back of my neck is sunburnt I like my collar to stand up. Using some cute patchwork material I made a much smaller version.

The side view - with a high low bottom

Fixed the arm holes and took the arms off altogether. One arm ended up being the binding for the armholes. I was going to use my quilting material but could not bring myself to cut through my metre of fabric to make a bias strip!! So I did a square cut and put it around the bottom, after I had changed the shirt tails to a high / low look. A bit of a cheat really.

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Perfect iced coffee

Put ice in the glass you want to use. Make a double espresso shot. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Put the espresso over the ice and immediately start pouring in trim milk to suit (my bottle is quarter pint or 150ml). 

All ready to go. I love this in the summer on the deck. I am not fond of the iced coffees with all the cream and icecream and this just keeps it simple.

Linking to these places.

First outdoor swim of the summer

We went camping for the long weekend and the weather one day was amazing. We all jumped in the river for the first swim of the summer.  

It surprised us as it was not the biting cold we were expecting. Gorgeous

We also went on a walk and to a beach I had never been too. Fossil beach.

I was a bit worried standing at the top of the cliff that I would not get back up but I did OK. It helped that the day was cool. 

Climbing up the cliffs to find the fossils. Fossilised shells, crabs etc. Amazing. I was not prepared to go up the cliff so pottered on the beach.

A bit of doggy competition

We had Meisha, Aaron's parents dog to stay. It created a bit of doggy competition. Where one went the other had to go!!!

Annabel Langbein - Domino Potatoes

This was my attempt at Annabel's Domino Potatoes. I have never had a flop from her recipes but these did not go brown and crispy at all. Was disappointed. I think because they did not brown up they tasted a bit buttery for me too.

Annabel Langbein - Rhubarb tart

Eli and I have been watching the latest series of Annabel Langbein - Free range through the Seasons.  She had made an amazingly easy pastry case and then just stood up fruit in it. If you wanted this could be sugar free but would be very tart. Just change the fruit.

She served it with Orange scented cream which was a mixture of yogurt and sour cream, but I just made it with normal cream. The pastry held together but had texture and then melted in your mouth.

Annabel Langbein Fruit Tart

Pastry  - into a kitchen whiz put 

1 3/4 cup plain flour

200g chilled diced butter 

whiz until it looks like bread crumb and then add

1/2 cup sour cream.

whiz until it combines. Put it on the bench and bring all the pastry together. Wrap in cling film and put in fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Cut pastry into 8 pieces. Roll each out on floured board and then turn it in all the way around to make an edge. Place your fruit in the middle and sprinkle on 1 tablespoon sugar per tart.

Bake at 180 for 20 minutes (I had to bake it about 30 minutes to get colour and make sure it was cooked)

Orange Cream

Whip 150ml of cream which has the fine zest of 1/2 orange and 3 tablespoons sugar.

Serve

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A bit of late night secret sewing

Last week Svetlana from s.o.t.a.k. advertised for pattern testers for her first ever pattern. I quickly put my hand up as I have been following her blog for a long time and love her aesthetics.

Last night I was busy cutting cutting and being very careful to follow the instructions and make sure that I did not race ahead as I normally do!!

I was very pedantic about pre cutting everything and within an hour I was whizzing along. It's looking gorgeous but can't show you anymore until Svetlana has published it all on her blog. Another 30 minutes will have it all done.

Drama in our house

getting loaded into the ambulance

Well we had loads of drama last friday night. Jakob came home from school having had an accident at the gymnasium. He had hurt his back (and was treated at the time) and travelling on the school bus had him in agony. I was concerned so took him to the Dr only to be told he needed to be treated as a spinal patient and the ambulance got called.

Goodness me. So off we went to A&E and had back xrays. Thankfully he only had severe bruising to his spine. So a quiet weekend. He is getting better.

Minky dressing gown for my son

Recently Eli and I had a mum and son day. When we were in one of the shops we spied the most amazing soft cuddly minky fabric. Eli had been wanting a soft dressing gown so we bought it home and whipped it up. It was really quick to make as I used satin bias binding that was premade to finish the edges and I did not line the collar area.

One of the many poses

I had an adult dressing gown pattern but it was far to large, so I used the general gist of the pattern and drafted my own. All things considering I am quite happy with it. The photos are not the best as Eli insisted on giving me all his modelling poses!!!

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The satin bias used for edging.

Birthday afternoon tea.

Oh yes, gorgeous fresh strawberries covered in glossy delicious dark chocolate. Tasted as good as they look.

How to deal with different food likes and dislikes.

When it comes to salads our family all like different things. So when I make a salad there is a lot of food swapping on plates when it is dished up at the table. So having a BBQ dinner I decided to make individual salads according to preference. Worked so well.