Butterfly's on a Clock

Recently (OK, not so recently) I had ordered a mirror finish clock off a shopping website. It's a simple round clock face, with a few butterfly's flying out of it. It fit in perfectly with the minimalist/classic/natural theme of my attempts at decor. The only problem was, when it got delivered, it had a crack. Right in the middle, and eminently noticeable, thanks to the clear glassy surface.


The website I had ordered from was nice enough to try and replace it, failing which they provided me with a generous voucher which I have since used to buy some awesome dinnerware. But the clock still sat in a corner, since we had no idea what to do with it (and I HATE throwing stuff out). Then the other day I suddenly remembered that Aparna had sent me some adorable butterfly cutouts. So They were dug out to see if any would cover the crack properly. And what do you know?? One did!









The clock had come with a number of double sided sticky dots. Using one, I managed to secure the butterfly flat to the clock-face. Thus "repaired", the clock promptly went up on the wall. I decided to add a couple more of Aparna's butterfly's along with the mirror finish ones just so there's some color; and voila! Awesome time-telling wall decor was in action.

Flared Cotton Top

My fascination with clothes continues. As does my desire to try stunts. The biggest issue I had with the previously made Kaftan Top was that it bellowed around the belly. Now I wanted to make something that was simple, but comfortable and flattering. So a basic flared top like the one shown here was the chosen victim.

The original tutorial was written with jersey fabric in mind, but I (the one with abundant foolhardiness) decided to experiment with a soft cotton instead. 'Why, Why when you are just learning?' you may ask. Well, for one, I love using cotton and for another, finding jersey or other soft knits in my area in a pain in the brain! The question of the day now was: Would the flared hem fall as gracefully in cotton, or would it stick out comically?

I am glad to say that it sits reasonably well. It's a li'l flared and fun, and thankfully, not comical.

I chose to use some prudence, and cut the sleeves without any flare. With my not-at-all-slim frame, I really can't carry off floppy sleeves; particularly in cotton. This gave the whole thing a rather simplistic look, but I like that.

The one mistake-ish I made, is that I tried to fold over the edges and stitch for the armholes, neck and hem. While this works perfectly for the armholes and the hem, it's not the best idea for a curved neckline! Cotton does not feel happy about being folded and stitched over... so I got a really narrow hem (and may just have skewed the neckline a bit at that).






 At this point I tried the top on, and it kinda floated around me a little funnily.

To ensure that it fit, I put in darts at the back. This image and tutorial supplied by Melanie Rose gives an idea of the various ways to use darts in different locations. I put in two darts in the back (the orange markings for the back in the diagram), and suddenly the thing looked just purty!







And so, the top was ready for use. I did a library run in it, and it felt really comfy and felt good. Happy days!

Simple Kaftan Top

When I study, I crave shopping for clothes.
How reading about the theories and applications of Psychology connects to the desire to go forth and buy items of clothing is, and probably shall always remain a mystery to my simple mind. But there does exist a connection. So when I started preparing for my PhD., there came that inane desire to go into a shop filled with clothes and get confused. May I point out here, I presently have neither the patience nor the energy required to try out a gazillion clothes to find something that fit me and looked kinda-sorta pretty at the same time!

A disaster in the making you say? The husband to deal with an academically saturated and shopping frustrated monster? May have been.... Except, this time I was prepared with a healthier solution! For some time now, I have been collecting sewing patterns and techniques to try out. So I decided to pull out cloth stowed away, and make a few muslins and see if making clothes was a real option (for the uninitiated, a muslin is a trial item made with simpler / less expensive material before making something with a really expensive material). A little sewing every couple of days has kept me mostly out of the shops for a good 2.5 months now. :)

Kaftan top's seem very 'in' apparently, so i decided to try making one. I followed this really simple pattern, but cut the material to a little below Hip - length. Once I'd made the basic top, I decided to try my hand at shirring as well.

That is where I learnt a VERY important lesson: Shirring gathers the cloth in a LOT. So I snipped the elastic thread in a little over half the back. But thanks to the gathers in the front, the back actually fits pretty decently too.

The arm - holes were just right, and the fit is very comfortable. I also like to pretend that my waist feels flattered (no no, don't disillusion me). But the most fun is the wide boat neck. The next photo show's off the neck 

(The mania - like expression is not real. Shri demanded I 'keep my eyes open'. This is what happened!)

The next time, I'm going to add some width to the front piece, and let the extra material form a slight cowl at the neck. It'll feel more comfy; and may even look more classy!

This one's pretty decent for a simple day out though. I wore it out just yesterday, and it was comfortable, and with the right jewelry, looked quite stylish, I thought. :)

Gingerbread Cake for a Monsoon B'Day

B'day season in our home is the Monsoon. Shri's birthday coincides with the beginning of the monsoon, and so it is usually an indoors event. When I say event, I use the word very loosely. I happen to be a pro at making up crazy plans, and managing shindigs. But I also happen to be married to an individual who is emotionally allergic to being celebrated.


Q: So how does one celebrate the birthday of someone who likes to pretend that his birthday doesn't exist? 

A: Do something he doesn't want to ignore! (In this case, it's make him something he'd like to eat.)


No party, no 'Birthday cake' needed. So, I kinda cheated. I took the recipe for the Gingerbread Cake from www.joyofbaking.com and made cupcakes out of it. I didn't use liners, since I planned to make the glaze suggested, and i wanted nice drips down the sides. I figured a man who loved ginger cookies would not be able to question the making of a gingerbread cake. And was I right!!! Once he smelt the  batter, there was even excitement about the proceedings!

This cake is both fragrant and scrumptious, and light as air. It melts in the mouth, and can be eaten both warm and cold (I would recommend warm if made on a cold day). the Lemon Glaze looks adorable; and adds a lovely freshness to the cake. Oh, and yes, easy to make :)
Variation used: I added a handful of cut up candied ginger to the batter just before pouring into a silicon cupcake mould. Worked better than I'd hoped :)

And yes, the flavors intensify the next day. So this is a cake that should be made a day or two before eating time. The only warning I have is to HIDE it away, or it will disappear.

The drips on the cupcakes (the Lemon Glaze) look SO adorable, I saw no need for any more decoration. Also, This way they look simple and elegant. :) 

The speed at which these were polished off, i'm guessing it was a Very Happy B'day, Shri! Muah!

Lets Craft Small-er (Jeans)

Jeans. One of the most comfortable pieces of clothing. You can buy 'em and wear 'em right out of the shop - unless you are petite, curvy and not really in shape, like me. Then there's always something that needs to be fixed. So when it was time to buy a new pair, I was not all sunshine in spite of the promise of a shopping trip (still, was mostly sunshine). Once I found a lovely pair of light blue jeans, the positive effects of retail therapy kicked in. Yeh! Once the initial euphoria wore off, I realized that there was no wearing the pretty new pair of jeans till the length was altered (it had a good many extra inches in the leg). Also, while the waist fit me really well, I could do with a little more tailoring to ensure it stayed fitted when sitting down.

And then I found two tips that made my life all happy. The first came from here. This method requires one to fold the leg in, and stitch the original hem bit to the point which is one's required length. The flap of extra material can be either cut away, or hemmed up. I could definitely do that at home!! And so, I did. Because the original hem was retained, and none of my stitching was at all visible, all the detailing was just the same.

This is how much I needed to fold the jeans.....

This is how they looked when finished. This technique would work much better with a softer material, of course.

Now to make the waist fit.
This second tip was even simpler. This idea is genius, it is!! And I found it here. A tad bit of elastic, thread that blends in with the denim and the zig-zag setting on the sewing machine. I haven't done this, but I hope to try it on a low - waist pair of jeans soon.

All that's left to do is wear my newly shortened jeans and go meet some friends. :)

Simple Sweetness

So, first thing that Gauri makes! May this be noted as the ONE time I fall back on tradition, and start a new venture (this here blog) with something sweet. .... Or at least something that is a necessary ingredient in making a whole lot of sweet baked stuff. And to honor the lazy in me, this is something of absolute, elegant simplicity.
Enough build up. I give you .... Vanilla Extract!



Exceedingly easy to make... take a nice and clean bottle, add plain vodka, slit a few vanilla pods and bung them right in. Then let it sit on a shelf for a few months, and bingo! Vanilla Extract, ready for use. I found this technique on a blog hop for recipes that led me here.

And yes, even with a simple bottle, it looks fabulous. Which makes it the perfect pretty little thing to keep on a shelf in the kitchen. Dr on the dining table, so long as it doesn't come into direct sunlight. This is one that I am making for a friend, which is about two weeks old. I'm almost sad mine doesn't look as purty anymore; but on the flip side, cookies!! :)



Qualifies as an evolving piece of art, no?

Ancient Beginings

So, I craft. I sew, and bake, and make. 

It's a family thing on the maternal side, I'd say.... but far too many of the ladies of the parental and grand-parental generations of our time are known to have made sweaters, shawls  clothes and other sundry items of love and utility. The Maharashtrians even have a tradition of displaying their daughters' ability to craft stuff at a young lady's wedding. Thusly, it would seem that another reason is required to explain away my almost obsessive need to craft.

I am now going to blame a little thing called childhood. I spent about half of mine being sick, and the other half having my tastes and likes molded by lovely people who worked in a museum (where also my said maternal parent did). Now that in itself would not be significant, but it needs to be said that all these lovely people were trained to seek the unique, classic and folksy - a trait that they encouraged in all potential minds that they could influence. Compound this with the plethora of craft and art workshops that they hosted to entice children to the museum (workshops that yours truly was always plonked in) and there stands the correct mixture to create a Kooky Crafter.

OK OK, so the kooky is just me. But this blog is about the crafts, and I claim that the said history lesson in the life of this oddball is still a valid first post. 

Now that the story is told and the relevant persons have been blamed, let us proceed with the tales of crafting! I will try to post pictures of the stuff I make, and the inspirations for the said items. Where available, links shall be provided to the original blogger who posted the recipe / pattern / inspiration. Where I have used my own head - and these will be fewer by far - I will try to provide a coherent tutorial for whomsoever is interested. If you happen to land of some such grueling post, just ignore the blabber, and gimme feedback on the item. :)

Somebody asked me if I will sell stuff that i make. While I do torture people I know with it, I cannot imagine anyone volunteering to be tortured thusly. But if someone does, drop me a line, and I will try my very best to help.

Toodles for now!