Ruffled Ribbon Christmas Tree Applique Tutorial

For those of you who followed the Hip for the Holidays series, you may remember this teaser photo.  I had originally intended on creating a ruffled ribbon Christmas tree applique, but became distracted with sequined snowflakes.  I figured that rather than shelving the project for next year, I'd show you the finished product.

Holiday Recipe and Blog Swap: English Trifle with Bella Before and After

I love having visitors on my blog.  Today I am pleased to have Bella of Bella Before and After.  She is sharing a delicious recipe for an English Trifle.  I have never attempted a trifle, but they are sure to impress any holiday guests.  She has been kind enough to share this family recipe, and take us through it step by step.  Tutorials are sure a lot of work, and I really appreciate her kindness.  She has a fantastic blog of her own.  She is always working on a new and impressive project.  In addition to her great creative talent, she is a sweetheart.  I always look forward to hearing from her.  Here's Bella.

Hey everyone, today Tricia is hanging out at my place Bella Before and After sharing an awesome simple sewing tutorial, just perfect for the holidays. I love Tricia's sewing tutorials so much, because they are simple, and easy to follow, and so very cute. I love her style, and visit her often, and I know you love her too.

Oh man, am I excited to be GUEST posting on this awesome blog.

Thanks Tricia for giving me the opportunity.

Well guys my name is Bella, and my blog is called

How very original right? The reason I picked this for my blog name is simply because the kinds of projects I like to make usually involve an ugly before, and a better after, lol. My favorite kind of crafts are the ones

I can do for free, or make for really cheap. I really hate spending money on new things, and get much more satisfaction from saving something that would otherwise go to waste.

I also LOVE to cook, and do it every single day, he he. For the moment, this seems to be what I do most often, and I love anything Indian, Romanian, Mexican. What a combo right?

I am also on a mission to get in shape, be healthy, get organized, and have a clean house, for more than a minute. I blog about all these things, and more, and always have some challenge set up for myself.

Please come by every Tuesday for my weekly party **Amaze me August** and keep on coming, this party stays open all week until the next one starts. I've had a lot of fun, hosting this party, and hope that you will join us, and share your creations too.

Today I am sharing a quick recipe for an English Trifle. I grew up around cakes, and pastries my whole life. My mom has been doing this for over 35 years. Way back in the day, when I was a little girl, my mom worked at a German Bakery in California, and they used to make this Trifle every Christmas. While this dessert is English, apparantly the Germans, Romanians, and Americans all like it too, lol.

I certainly am not known for following rules, or recipes, and of course this is my very own creation. My mom would be horrified, but here goes.

This recipe can double as two, I am using one of my favortie cakes from childhood (grandmas cake) as the sponge cake, instead of a regular sponge cake. My version has sour cherries in it, and it's so dang good.

Then to cut back on time spent in the kitchen, and to make it easy for you to do at home, I used simple jello vanilla pudding (not instant) instead of making a real custard, like this recipe calls for.

Alrighty then let the pictures begin!!

Hip For the Holidays Favorites

Well, it is finally here.  Some of you are probably relieved that I am wrapping this series up, but I have had a lot of fun sewing for my family.  I want to give a big thank you to everyone that linked up their holiday apparel projects, and of course thanks to Terra for guest posting.

Now it's time to share my link party favorites....

For the Babes....

I love these twelve days of Christmas onuses from Me Sew Crazy.  The embroidery is precious.

This adorable elf costume, from Sew Can Do, is ridiculously cute.  Oh I wish Clark would endure wearing a costume like this.

For the Kiddos...

I love this Manhattan Dress from Innocentia, she is crazy talented, and always impresses me.  She recreated this 50 piece pattern for her daughters dress.

And how about Stephanie's ( double equis) swing coat?  I love this. She made it using a Heidi and Finn pattern (do you remember the shop from my post on Wednesday?).

How about some adorable floral leggings to keep those little legs warm during the winter months.  Terra from Mama Says Sew offers a great tutorial for these little leggings.



For the Ladies....

This halston inspired dress is stunning. Tamara from Etcetorize has some impressive skills, I'd love for her to share them with me.

This flirty skirt from Therapeutic Crafting is perfect for the holidays.  I think that it's all about the sheen.  I love the length of the skirt as well, very appropriate for the winter (because I don't believe in ankle length skirts).

Oh how I love polka dots.  Cindy, of Cindy's Custom Creations, make this fantastic skirt for herself.  I love it when women take the time to make things for themselves.  I need some tips from her on fitting patterns. Her skirt fits her perfectly.

Thanks again to all who participated.  I've had fun. 

Hip For The Holidays- I'm Biased and Bow Tied

Well you didn't think that I'd make it through the series without a project for myself did you?  It was really hard for me to decide what to make, because I have a long list of projects that are either bouncing around in my head, or borrowed from other talented bloggers.

Some day I'll learn to take photos prior to church, that way my outfit won't
be totally wrinkled from wrestling a toddler for three hours.

For this project I decided that I'd make my life a bit easier, and follow a tutorial for this very biased skirt from Katy at No Big Dill.  You know that I love Katy and all of her sewing goodness.  She is always coming up with original projects and tutorials.  When I saw her tutorial for the very biased skirt I knew that I wanted to try it, but it was a matter of gathering the material, and setting aside the time.

 I ended up finding all of my materials at Wal-Mart.  Our local wal-mart will occasionally have sale for five yards for five dollars.  The fabric selection is always a bit random, and isn't usually carried in the store.  I found three lightweight neutral fabrics for the skirt, and some lightweight knit for the shirt.

I'm quite pleased with how the outfit turned out.  I followed Katy's tutorial fairly closely.  The shirt was my own creation, and if you are interested you can find a tutorial for the pintucks below.

I ended up making pintucks at the base of the sleeves, and just above the "hem" of the shirt. I used two layers of knit fabric because the material was a bit sheer with just a single layer.

I was tempted to create an embellished neckline, but after finishing the shirt I could bring myself to embellish it.  I like that the pintucks repeat the rows of the bias cut fabric on the skirt.  I also like that it is pretty plain, that way it can be dressed up with a necklace, or in this case a sash.

I decided to add a sash using an extra strip of bias cut material.  I have a relatively shapeless figure, and the sash is just what I needed to break up my straight waist.

Now that the shirt is finished I really wish that I would have added a third pintuck at the hem of the shirt,  I think that it would have given it a bit more visual balance.

As you can see, I didn't hem the sleeves or the bottom of the shirt. The material curls up a bit, and I quite like how it looks when worn.

Here's a close up of the pintuck treatment on the sleeves, yep that's my marking pen that still hasn't disappeared.

Want some tips on making a pintucked top?  Click read more below.