Bread is life

Haven’t posted food here in ages, have I?

This is the ol’ classic New York Times no-knead bread, except I kneaded a bit. So, last night dissolved ¾ tsp yeast in 1½ cups water, mixed with 3 cups flour and 2½ tsp salt, and left on the counter overnight. Around lunchtime I gave it a quick knead, let it rest 10 or so minutes (maybe longer, I wasn’t paying attention), shaped and put in the claybaker to rise, covered with a tea towel. The last few times I made claybaker bread I forgot and overproofed it, so this time I paid attention! When it looked nicely risen, I removed the towel, covered the claybaker, and put it in the fridge for 3 hours. Then, I slashed the top, put the cover back on, and into the cold oven. Turned heat to 450°F, timer to 70 minutes. 

Looks so good but I am resisting temptation and letting it cool before I try a slice!

All in one day!

I bought this fabric last summer, in a fit of ill-advised retail therapy. I had the idea for this dress in my mind, and couldn’t find the exact fabric I wanted (this ain’t it) and was on the verge of ordering something expensive from far away when I saw this $5/m 100% mixed fibres jersey at Fabricland. Flimsy to the point of being see-through, no body at all, but whatever it was a $7.50 investment in not spending $75.

Then because it was crappy and unsatisfying I just packed it away with my stash.

I’m getting ready for a charity bike rally this summer, and planning to make cycling bibs (long rides need comfortable clothes!). I’m not a big stretchy fabric person so I thought I should practice before I break into the fancy technical fabrics I bought, so I thought “I’ll make that dress.”

Then it occurred to me—I had leftover beige jersey from the leggings I made for my Megumin costume ($5/yard at Fabricland, I bought ½ yard). Maybe I had enough to sort of line it halfway? At least the parts that matter? Doubling the fabric would give it more body too on top of being no longer transparent.

I sketched a pattern onto the fabric with a washable marker, starting with the back piece of a dress I’ve made three times (here's a flowered version and plain black version, I also made it in grey fleece-backed jersey), adjusting the shoulders as I went, and tweaking the front pice to include a dart. Couldn’t find the sleeve piece so I just traced it off a dress, freestyling the cap (this is what I did for the Megumin dress too).

I am so pleased with the result!

If you look too close you’ll see the seams are a bit poor, being just a zigzag (I experimented with the stretchy cam on my Supermatic but it only wants to go backwards?) but overall it looks exactly how I envisioned! I will probably tack down the lining in a few spots to prevent the raw edges rolling, but will totally wear this as-is (when the weather improves). Not bad for about four hours of effort and a total cost of about $12!

Red jeans

I wanted red jeans for ages. 

I got this nice cotton twill years ago—for nursery projects—and cut and even pinned everything months ago. Finally did the sewing part this weekend!

Red jeans!

The pattern is one I drafted years ago from a pair I got in a swap. That was back in 2017 I think—middle of a 4-year posting drought. Here’s a pic of them from a few years ago. They’re the pants I use to make sure my weight isn’t changing too much. Rigid denim is not forgiving! That said I kinda wish I’d gone with a more contemporary wide-leg cut for these, but oh well. They’ll be in style again eventually and I’ll wear them then.