Odds And Ends

All you pizza makers out there have you noticed your dough is WAY to sticky to work with now that it's summer? I have.

I now just stand at the bread machine with and extra cup of flour and add it in while it's kneading until I like the way it looks. Last night I needed an additional 3/4 of a cup. Also, by accident, I used bread flour instead of all purpose... and... it was the best pizza I had ever made. The crust was not as puffy & soft. I'll be sticking with it from now on.


I made Kid a dress yesterday. She loves it. It took me a total of 30 minutes start to finish. You can do it too. Seriously. I don't really know how to sew anything but a straight line and I have no patience for patterns and whatnot. If I can do it, you can do it.
I found a dress of hers that fits well.

I laid it on top of some knit jersey fabric (my fabric wasn't wide enough so I just adjusted the dress skirt to the width of the fabric).

Then cut out a dress back following the outline of the original dress.

(I intentionally used a jersey knit with the idea of NOT hemming the arm holes, neck line, or bottom. The jersey won't unravel it will just roll a little. You know? Sometimes you actually buy clothes with a rolled hem.... or remember back in the flash dance era... it's fine it will work out... bonus MUCH less work to make. And if your kid has weird seam and fabric issues, like Kid, this is their dream come true.)See the raw edges?

So you have cut out one piece of the dress by just cutting about 1/2" around the dress, except at the arm holes and neck holes. When you get to the arm and neck holes just cut those as close to the dress as you can.

Take your dress back and fold it in half. This will check how symmetrical it is. If it isn't, and since you just eyeballed it it won't be, just trim up the bits that are uneven. The side edges don't have to be perfect because those are going to be inside seams but you do want a smooth cut for the bottom, arms, and neck.

Take your back and put it on some of your fabric. Cut it out EXACTLY as big as the back. It is actually faster if you take your fabric and fold it in half and lay your dress back folded in half on top. Put the folded edges together and cut out along the cut edges. You will only be cutting out one half of the dress piece but when you unfold it you'll have the full piece. This saves the step of trimming it up to make it symmetrical. If you have never sewn clothes before and just read that and thought "this is getting too complicated" just lie it flat and cut it out just like you did the dress back. Then fold it in half and even it up.

Now you have to identical pieces of dress. To make one the "front" fold it in half and make the neckline scoop a little bit bigger. Look at your original dress for a guide.

Place your dress right sides together. Pin your dress edges together. Always place your pins for easy removal at the machine with the point UP and the head down. Using a straight stitch sew the shoulder seams locking your stitches and the sides of the dress.
You are done. It probably cost you $1. Which is good, because, if your daughter is like mine she'll get pen on it in the first 10 minutes of wearing it.