Feeling so CapeAble

Throughout my web browsing/pinning, I've been seeing cute capes or cape-like jackets popping up.  I have a few on my wish list to make, including the Anthropologie belted, plaid cape. So drool worthy.

Anyways, I went on the hunt for a cape pattern and stumbled upon Simplicity 5359.  The pattern includes two cape options (one with a collar, one without) and a wiggle dress.  I love the dress too, so I've put that aside for a future project.  But I knew the cape would be perfect for a light, California fall day.

I decided to go with the collared cape as I didn't want it to look like a poncho, and I like that it then became almost coat like.

I used a brown wool for the outside and lined it in a light brown satin.  My poor, sensitive skin can't handle the chafing from the wool, so the delicate lining was a necessity.

I love how this turned out! It's so simple but adds a nice elegant touch to my Fall dresses.  I only received on 'you should be carrying as basket of apples' comment, and only in jest, but many compliments on my little cape.  

Fabric: Brown wool for exterior, tan satin for lining

Pattern: Vintage Simplicity 5359

Notions: Bias tape for a loop closure at the neck and a little hook and eye closure for extra security.

The pattern was so easy to put together and just a few pieces overall.  I had to do a bit of trimming at the collar area of the selvage as it was getting really thick with the wool, and then I under-stitched it to keep it in place.  I also did top-stitching around the edge of the cape, because I liked the look and it helped to minimize the bulk and the fabric shifting around.

I would love to make this again if another fabric 'called out' to me.  In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for a pattern similar to the Anthropologie jacket.  That can be my 'late Fall' project.

Self-Stitched September Recap and a Giveaway Winner

Oh Self-Stitched September! How glad I am that you're over. Just kidding.

Overall, it really wasn't bad.  In the year of blogging/sewing, I've made up quite a wardrobe for myself. And it was nice to revisit some of the garments that have been tucked away in the back of my closet.

Of the 30 days in September:

• I only missed one day, because I really didn't even leave the house.
• I photographed all days, except for two. I actually think it was only just one, but for the life of me I can't find my picture for day 29. I wore my grey Rooibos dress with the matching plaid belt.
• I only wore a handful of repeats, usually separates.

My last day of Self-Stitched September was spent camping.  I didn't really have anything that I had sewn for those kind of conditions, but I did wear a cowl that I crocheted.

With the end of Self-Stitched September, also came the end of my month of giveaways.  I hadn't had a chance to pull the winner for the Whimsical Ornament Giveaway.  A few people submitted responses after the deadline so I unfortunately had to turn them away.  But the chances were pretty high for the two participants (3 entries) on the post.  And the winner is...

Yara!  

Congratulations Yara, I'll be reaching out to you to get your details for your prize.

Sweet Treats Saturday: Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

I've been wanting to make more coffee cakes. It's such a nice treat to have on the weekend with your morning cup of coffee, or when you have guests over for brunch.  When I found this recipe, I tucked it away for a nice Fall day to try it out.

Yes, this tastes as good as it looks

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Cinnamon Sugar Topping/Filling
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set the dry ingredients aside.

3.  Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, beat until smooth.  Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract.  Mix until well combined.

4.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined.  In a small bowl, make the cinnamon sugar topping/filling.  Stir together sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Pour half the batter into the prepared cake pan and sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar and half the chocolate chips.  Spoon the remaining batter over the filling, spreading gently.  Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.

Ready to go into the oven

5.  Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.  Cool to room temperature and serve.

This post will be participating in the following Linky parties:

Tatertots & Jello * Think Pink Sundays * Sundae Scoop * Sunday Showcase Party *Watcha Got Weekend * Family Ever After * Nifty Thrifty Sunday * Making the World Cuter * Home Savvy * Just Something I Whipped Up * Made by You Mondays *Sew Cute Tuesday * Talent Tuesday * We Did It Wednesday * Hoo’s Got Talent * Look What I Made * The Trendy Treehouse * Thrilling Thursday * It’s a Hodgepodge

Self Stitched September Days 21 - 28

Whew! Backlog of Self-Stitched September posts.  Here are days 21 through 28.

Day 21:

What I wore:
My new Colette Crepe dress.  I know this dress is going to get a lot of use. I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Day 22:

What I wore:
My brown, polka dot dress. Perfect for work with a nice cardigan, and so comfortable.

Day 23:

What I wore:
My Summer Sails dress. I spend a lot of time in the sewing room working on more of my Fall items.

Day 24:

What I wore:
My Amy Butler dress that I made last October.  I think I've only worn this once or twice since I made it, but pulling out of the closet reminded me how much I like it.  I think it'll be going back into circulation.

Day 25:

What I wore:
My Sew Weekly inspired dress.  It looked like it was going to be a nice day outside but it became a bit grey and dreary - though luckily still warm.  I wore this out to lunch with a girlfriend and received some very nice compliments on it.

Day 26:

What I wore:
Well, Day 26 was crazy busy and I didn't end up getting a picture of my dress.  By the time I remembered, I had already changed out of it and did a whole bunch of dance practice, so I would have been too gross to get back into it.  But I wore my plaid summer dress.  This is one of my favorite work dresses that I like to pair up with a brown belt and some brown heels.

Day 27:

What I wore:
My new grey, Ginger skirt with a store-bought blouse.

Day 28:

What I wore:
The plaid, Vogue dress that I made last November.  I paired it up with a brown cardigan and belt.

You made it all the way to the end? Well, only two days left! Woohoo!

Yarn Giveaway Winner and Final Giveaway Reminder

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the delay in choosing the winner for the yarn giveaway.  Things have been crazy busy, but I pulled the random number today.  The winner is...

Commenter #1! Jennifer!  Jennifer, please send me an email with your contact details.

Also, don't forget that there is still one last giveaway for the month of September!  You can still win an ornament of your choice from OneHotTomatoe.  Check out the giveaway post here.

Vintage Roses Dress

I've been wanting to make the Colette Crepe dress again for some time now, but haven't had the five yards of fabric that just called out to me.  I picked up a Groupon for a fabric shop in San Francisco that specializes in vintage fabrics.  I waited until the last minute to use it, so of course, I ended up making a frantic trip to the city to check out the store, Urban Burp.

The store had a great selection of fabrics - most of which had been part of the owner's personal collection.  The prices ranged from moderate to pretty pricey, but with the Groupon, I felt a little better spending the money.  I ended up getting a little over five yards of a beautiful blue, cotton fabric, with a pink and yellow floral print.  I knew just what to make with it.

Fabric: Vintage, floral cotton
Pattern: Colette Crepe
Notions: Zip, zero, nada! Gotta love Crepe.

I love this version of Crepe! Second time is definitely a charm, especially because the first time I made the pattern, I was still pretty new to sewing garments.  But as usual with Colette patterns, the fit is great and it was easy to assemble.

Our heat wave is only going to last for so long, but I think it'll still work for the rest of the Fall season.

 

Parading around in polka dots

My latest Fall dress is all about the polka dots.  Since the fabric itself had a lot going on, I wanted a simple design to display the fabric.  I've had Vogue 8473 in my collection for a while and it looked like the dress was simple enough, with just a few darts in the front.

Imagine my surprise when I found that the dress itself only had five pattern pieces.  I think I actually let our a cheer.  The only problem was that the lining was basically repeating the pattern twice. Eh. But I'd rather do that then deal with facings, hand-basting, etc.

Fabric: Brown and white polka dot cotton. Internal lining is a plain brown cotton.
Pattern: Vogue 8473, just the dress for now
Notions: Just a zipper

I love that this pattern only had a few darts on the front bust pieces, and no gathering. So easy!  Assembly was really fast and the directions were very easy to follow.

I'll definitely make this pattern again and I can tell the dress will be one of my Fall staples.

Sweet Treats Saturday: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

As much as I love apples and fruit based desserts, the hubby was begging for blondies.  I couldn't do the same ol' thing, so it's time for another twist on a classic recipe.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13 inch pan and set aside.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, until creamy and combined.  Set aside mixture to cool.

Peanut butter mixture, cooling.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4.  Add the eggs, one at a time to the peanut butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.  Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.  Pour the mixture into the prepared dry ingredients, and stir until the batter is smooth.  Fold in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips, reserving the rest for sprinkling on top.

*My peanut butter mixture was still a little warm, so some of the chocolate chips melted into the batter.  I think it actually had a cool effect (swirling the batter), and still tasted delicious, so I didn't mind.  If you do want to keep your chips whole, make sure the mixture has cooled completely before mixing in.

5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading the batter evenly to the edges of the pan.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and lightly press them into the batter.

6.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden and the edges are slightly browned.  Remove blondies from oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.  Once cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Whimsical Ornament Giveaway

Well everyone, this is it! The last giveaway of my blogiversary 'month of giveaways'! This Etsy shop is special to me, as it's owned by my good friend, Danya.  She created One Hot Tomatoe several years ago, when I was also starting out my cupcake business.  

A wise old owl...

One Hot Tomatoe specializes in adorable felt ornaments and other whimsical products.  She's also done baby onesies, stockings, and much more, but her Etsy shop focuses on her ornaments.

So now my friends, here's how you can win one of her whimsical felt ornaments!

First things first, be a follower of this blog. You can do this by clicking on ‘Join this site’ from Google Friend Connect or on the What’s Up, Cupcake? Blog Facebook page. Both links are on the right side toolbar. Then, leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite item is from One Hot Tomatoe.

For an additional entry, follow me via both methods. If you already do follow me, just leave a comment for each method.

Meow

The contest is open now through Saturday, October 1st. Make sure to leave your entry before then (and include your email address in the post) and I will announce the winner, chosen at random, shortly afterwards. 
Thanks again, and I look forward to hearing what you think about One Hot Tomatoe!

I may need this is an ornament for my dog on the Christmas tree.

Don't forget, the yarn giveaway is open until tomorrow, September 24th.  Get your entry in for the chance to win a skein of some gorgeous Little Red Bicycle yarn.

*Every effort will be made for the winner to get their 'favorite' ornament, but if it is sold out, I will contact you for an alternate option.

Self-Stitched September Days 19 and 20

Day 19:

What I wore:
My Peggy dress with it's red bow belt.  It's been a while since I've worn this one but I still love it.  The red pleats are hard to see in this picture, but they're there.


Day 20:

What I wore:
My Pendrall blouse with some grey slacks.  I wore this to the office and then as I was making my tasty pear and prosciutto pizza for dinner.

MTL: Rally the Loops...

Minus the loops.

As usual, when I saw the Sew Weekly Make This Look feature a few months ago, I wanted to make the featured dress.  This time, it was the Rally the Loops Dress.

I ran out and picked up the pattern and fabric.  I wasn't really sure how I was going to do the pockets, but I was so eager to start on the dress that I really didn't even want to think about it.  By the time I got to the pockets, I decided to just do them as they were shown on the pattern.

Fabric: Tan and black synthetic blend

Pattern: Simplicity 2588

Notions: Zipper

The good thing about the design, was that I could just do the basic pattern with the smaller neckline.  I omitted the optional side tabs and went with the full skirt.  I just cut out some extra black fabric to make the black bow, that I then stitched to the front neckline.

This dress is the first of my Fall palette challenge.  I didn't put a little montage together like I did the Colette Spring challenge, but I picked out my fabrics and have pulled aside potential patterns.  Overall I hope to make:

- 3 dresses

- 1 skirt

- 1 blouse

- 1 jacket/capelet

Possibly: 1 pair of pants (Clover)

Oh, and this was Day 18 of Self-Stitched September.

Vintage Pattern Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to...

Commenter #19 is Tracy!  She wins the vintage pattern giveaway for Simplicity 4920.

Thanks to everyone who entered and spread the word for the contest.

There's still time to participate in my yarn giveaway, going on through this Saturday!

Enter now at the Fiber Fun, Giveaway post!

Sencha and Self-Stitched September Days 14, 15, 16, and 17

Whew, half way through Self-Stitched September! It hasn't necessarily been hard, it just forces me to really think about my wardrobe.  I'm trying to really use all of the garments that I've made.  I'm going to hit some repeats, but I have made enough that I shouldn't have to do too many of them.  It also helps that I'm still making garments during this process.  So here's my newest one, and day 14!

Day 14:

What I wore:
I made a new Sencha blouse! I'm really on a Colette kick right now, and remaking a lot of the patterns that I've already done.  It makes for the ability to really 'whip up' new items, and is such a satisfying feeling.

Fabric: Leftover orange blend from my off the shoulder dress from August
Pattern: Colette's Sencha blouse
Notions: Button, button, who's got the button? (Sorry, was finishing off the last season of Buffy while I was making this one)


Day 15:

What I wore:
My green Ceylon dress.  Love it - so cute and it fits great.  I don't know why I haven't made another one yet, but maybe that'll be part of my Winter collection.


Day 16:

What I wore:
My Colette Sorbetto top with some jeans and a cardigan.  Went out to the movies with friends.  We saw the movie, Jig, which FINALLY came to the Bay Area.  It follows the journey of several young Irish dancers as they participate in the World Irish Dance Championships.  It was pretty inspiring though I don't even dance in the same plane as those dancers.  A fun movie, and I highly recommend it.  It comes out on DVD in the US in just a couple of weeks, and I believe it's already out in the UK.


Day 17:

What I wore:
I finally had a Highland dance competition that required my full kilt outfit.  This was the 'grand unveiling' of my Highland jacket.  This puppy was a lot of work.  It didn't take long to assemble the base - I just had to make sure that I had the right fit with my muslin.  Once that was done, I put together the main base with my mom's assistance on the boning and front zipper.  I wanted to make sure that it couldn't be seen when the jacket was closed, so she gave me some tips and showed me how to insert it with a bit of an overlap.

The most time consuming part of this jacket was the trim.  I had to hand baste it into place, as there are a lot of curves and points in the edge of the jacket.  The buttons were also a bit of a challenge, as I had to be precise in their location and the fabric was pretty thick to cut through.  Normally you thread a ribbon through all of the buttons along one edge, but the new buttons that I had came with a smaller hole that really only allowed for thread to go through. It was easier this way as I don't have to worry about the buttons turning while I dance (a problem I had with my vest), though it was time consuming sewing in all of the buttons.

I'm really happy with the jacket and did a decent job at the competition.  I had fun dancing with the other ladies in my group and enjoyed a cool day (for Fresno).  Wearing a full velvet jacket might have been a completely different experience if the weather had been a few degrees hotter.