It was tough, really tough… But it’s finally done. I have to say I am absolutely in love with Amy Butler’s patterns. I never once was confused by her direction in this one. I had trouble with the lining tucking around the corners, and the bag definitely didn’t turn out perfect, but better than I imagined it would for my second time sewing! I cheated big time with the cording and attaching the lining (used Fabri-Tac glue – hope it holds up!). I’d love to make myself one of these, but maybe over an extended period of time. This one took me 25 hours in 5 days! I’m exhausted…

Now I want a nice Janome machine for my birthday! I can sew everyone’s Christmas gifts this year. Purses all around! (Easier ones!)

Again, it took a rainy day to start on the Weekender Bag – yesterday, and I suppose the arrival of most of my supplies last week. I’m making it as a birthday gift for my cousin Jessica (I don’t think she reads my blog – *crosses fingers*) and it has to be done by Friday!

This pattern, as stated in earlier posts, intimidated the crap out of me. All the reviews I’ve seen list it high on the difficulty scale; one experienced seamstress gave it a 9/10. And I’ve only sewn ONE thing, the nappy bag.

Two hours of cutting out the patterns and prepping and I was ready to start. One of the first steps is to work on the outer pockets, lining them with stiff interfacing, and fusing together with lightweight interfacing. Easy. Creating and attaching the handles to them was also fairly easy.

I did have a heck of a time making the piping! Yes, this bag has freaking piping, 15 feet of it to be exact. Instead of sewing the fabric around the cotton cording, I cheated. I picked up 2 rolls of 1 1/2″ matching ribbon, the cording, and some 1/4″ Stitch Witchery iron-in bonding tape (should have gotten 1/2″). While I’m 100% certain this way was much easier for me as a beginner, it left me with a few burns and was truly a pain in the butt. It took me about 1.5 – 2 hours to do the cording.

At this point, I think I am about 65% done. I am still waiting for my zipper foot and a decent seam ripper to arrive tomorrow, then I can finish… I stupidly seamed one of the small pockets upside down, and mismeasured the position of one of the handles to the bag – both of course my fault. So that should be about an hour of seam ripping (job for the boyfriend). Once those are done, I basically just have to sew in the zipper, and assemble the pieces of the bag, hooray!

Overall, I have to say, being roughly halfway done, this pattern is about 100 times easier than I expected. I have yet to get stuck, and after taking a glance at the future steps, I don’t think I will. I love Amy Butler. I just ordered the fabric to make my own after this one. Jessica and I are going to Isla Mujeres Mexico for a few days in November and these will be perfect!

I don’t have any in-process pics yet other than the heavy-weight fabric used for the exterior. But will post some soon – perhaps after I give the gift?

Mom found this recipe in some magazine a few years ago. It’s a little expensive to make with 4 different kinds of cheeses, but I’ve made it many different ways, with 2 cheeses, 3, etc. and always turns out fine. You can alter the spiciness by removing any jalapeno seeds or just cutting back the jalapenos altogether. This is baked but I’m going to attempt to make it in a crockpot for a work potluck, I’ll report back with my findings.

My version is vegetarian, the original recipe uses a chicken velouté. It also makes a ridiculous amount so my version below cuts it in half.

Velouté:

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 c. flour
• 4 cups water, with 2 vegetable bouillon cubes dissolved in it
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Mac & Cheese:

• 1 box (1 lb) penne pasta, cooked al dente
• 2 cups of the velouté (freeze the rest)
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1/4 c. brine from the jalapenos
• 1/4 c. jalapenos, diced finely
• 1/2 c. grated mozzarella
• 1/2 c. grated white cheddar
• 1/2 c. grated swiss
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• bread crumbs for topping

To make the velouté: In a large heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour a little bit at a time while stirring with a whisk or wooden spoon. Make sure the vegetable stock mixture is at room temperature and slowly add to the pot while stirring. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Your velouté is done!

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place 2 c. of the velouté in a saucepan and add the cream and jalapeno brine. Bring to a simmer and stir in the diced jalapenos and grated cheeses. Whisk until melted and smooth. Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine, season with salt & pepper.
3. Pour into a casserole dish, top with bread crumbs and bake for 20 minutes until bubbly.

I’m sorry to the 2 people who read this blog for being MIA (Hi, Mom!). I’ve been very busy, it turns out a 3 year old needs just as much attention as a 2 year old. Along with that, I’ve been working very hard to save money for a vacation this fall, and trying to keep up with the weeds that seem to grow anywhere and everywhere in my yard/mulch/rocks/concrete/porch.

I’m not sure why (maybe because of all this talk about an ‘Internet Kill Switch’) but I’ve been thinking lately about all the things I’ve researched and learned on the internet since I discovered hourly-charged AOL on my Mom’s work computer. Well, back then I learned how to type away in chatrooms all night long… But in the past few years, there’s been a lot of projects I’ve taken on thanks to help from the vast amount of knowledge online.

Here’s my ever growing list of things I wouldn’t have been able to do (at least quite as easily) without my dear friend, the internet…

• Install a glass tile backsplash in my kitchen (for less than $80 I might add!)
• Sew a useable diaper bag having not seen a sewing machine since I was in 8th grade
• Create a mold and pour myself some silicone Leeloo suspenders (Fifth Element, come on!) for Halloween
• Buy a house!
• Pollinate my zucchini plants
• Cut my child’s hair into a super adorable pixie cut
• Get cheap airfare, maps, restaurant reviews, to places I’ve never been
• Learn everything there was to know about pregnancy
• Purchase LOADS of things I’ll probably never use, like 3 exactly alike AeroGardens
• Well, I wouldn’t have the degree or job I have now
• Propagate a clipping from my Crown of Thorns plants
• Install our own water line and consequently save at least $1,000
• Find the BEST sales for Christmas shopping (I love you, slickdeals.net)
• Write this pretty pointless blog post
• Earn extra money from home in my spare time for any reason, whenever I want (I love you too, oDesk.com)
• Learn that I have Raynaud’s Disease, ie. poor circulation and that the cure is to wear mittens
• Install a pellet stove and that if there’s smoke in the house, it’s not a good thing
• Grow plants without killing them

The list goes on and on. It’s hard to say where I’d be without the internet, but I know it’d be vastly different from where I am now… How did we even manage without this? [hugs computer]