$400 Back To School Giveaway!

Treasure Box Tuesday 30

Welcome to Treasure Box Tuesday!


Travel Pillow


One of these little pillows makes any trip more pleasant. You can use one to catch a few winks on a plane or put behind your back when it's tired from driving.

They're not just for travel, of course:
  • Send your college student off with one. Make the pillow case in school colors. 
  • These smaller pillows are just the right size for kids to take to day care for nap time. 
  • Expectant mommies love these to prop legs and knees to get comfortable at night.
The finished size of these pillows is 18" X 12", and the pillow cases are made to fit them. This size pillow is also a common size that you can purchase ready-made, so you can make the pillow case to fit a purchased pillow form if you'd like.

My mom wanted one. I put a ruffle on hers...

...and used pink gingham for the body of the pillow.

Pillow
You'll need about a little less than a half yard of 45" fabric for the pillow.

1. To make the pillow, cut 2 rectangles, 19" X 13" each.
2. Right sides together, and using a 1/2" seam, sew three sides together, leaving one 13" side open. Finish the raw edges of the three sewn sides with zigzag stitching if desired.
3. Clip the two sewn corners. Press seams open. Press under 1/2" of the unsewn edge.
4. Turn pillow right side out, and stuff to your desired firmness with polyester filling. I use about 6 ounces per pillow.
5. Your open seam should have 1/2" pressed under from step 3. Put these edges together and pin. Stitching close to the edge, sew the edges together. You could also slip stitch this closed by hand if you'd like. Your pillow is done! Now make a cute pillow case for it.

Step 5: Stuff pillow, then sew the open end closed.

Pillow Case
You'll need about a half yard of 45" fabric for the pillow case.

1. Lay out your fabric and fold with selvages together (this is probably how it was cut from the bolt). Cut a piece 13.5" wide:


How your cut will look with actual fabric. You can get 3 pillow cases from about 1.25 yards of fabric.

2. You now have a piece of fabric that is 13.5" wide and about 44" long. Fold with right sides together.
3. Using a 1/4" seam, sew the two longer sides closed. Finish the raw edges with zigzag stitching.
4. You now have one edge open. This is where the pillow will go in. Press under 1/2", then another 1". Stitch close to the edge. Turn right side out and press. You now have a great new pillow case for your travel pillow!

Finished side seam and hem, steps 3 and 4.



Goin' out west?

Pack your bags!

Travel Pillow may have been taken to some of these fun parties.


Subscribe to Yesterfood by email:

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YesterfoodCreatingConnectionsThroughTimeWithFood


Bib and Burp Cloth Set


Another grandbaby is coming in a few months, and I am sewing a few things for him. When his big brother came along almost two years ago, I sewed several burp cloths made from cloth diapers (I'm sure you've seen ones like them all over Pinterest). They were his mom's favorite ones to have handy- bigger and more absorbent than many of the others she had tried.



This time, I added a matching bib to one of the burp cloths. I love the way it turned out, and I thought you might like to see it, too.

I found the bib pattern at Haberdasheryfun.com, and the template for the tie at Freetimefrolics.com. Both are free printables. Thank you, ladies!


Wash and dry your fabric and diapers- you want everything to shrink now, not after. Make the bib according to the directions at Haberdashery.com (I used flannel front and back), then cut out a tie shape from a contrasting color. You can sew it to the bib like Freetimefrolics sewed hers (hemming the edges and attaching with a straight stitch), or I attached my tie with a small zigzag stitch around all the raw edges.



For the burp cloth:
You'll need prefolded cloth diapers and flannel fabric. Wash and dry all.

  1. Cut a long rectangle of flannel, 4 and 3/4" by 18 and 1/2". 
  2. Press under 1/4" on all sides. 
  3. For the applique (in this case, a dump truck!): Cut a 2 and 1/2" by 2 and 3/4" piece of flannel and sew it on to one end of the long flannel rectangle, stitching around all sides of the raw edges of the applique with a small zigzag stitch. (You could make this applique any size or shape or color you want. I have done squares, circles, hearts, and even owl shapes).
  4. Center the flannel rectangle, right side up, onto the middle of the diaper. Cloth diapers tend to vary a little around the edges, so you may have to fold the short ends of the rectangle under a little more. Stitch around all edges of the flannel rectangle with a small zigzag stitch. You can do this without a walking foot, but it goes more easily and smoothly with a walking foot. 
Once you start making these, you can't stop :)

Bib and Burp Cloth Set may have been taken to some of these fun parties.




Bib and Burp Cloth Set was featured at Threading my Way~
Threading My Way_Featured


You may also enjoy:

Subscribe to Yesterfood by email:

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YesterfoodCreatingConnectionsThroughTimeWithFood



Treasure Box Tuesday 27

Welcome to Treasure Box Tuesday!


Almost Sourdough


Hungry for sourdough bread but lacking a starter, I was happy to run across this recipe. It does not produce a true sourdough bread, but it's a great substitute. There's just enough of a slightly tangy flavor to satisfy that particular taste, yet mild enough for everyone. The dough is easy to work with, and produces a tender, hearty, pleasantly chewy loaf.

The originator of this recipe called it "Quick Sourdough Bread." Yes, compared to creating your own starter and waiting for five days until it's ready to use, it's "quick", but you still have to start this bread the day before you want to bake it. Totally worth it, by the way- my family really enjoyed this bread.


The day it was baked, it seemed a little sweet, but by the next day, the flavors had melded and balanced. That said, I will cut back on the sugar a little the next time I make this, just to see which version we like best.

You may not want to bake during these warmer months, but pin this one for later- you'll love me for it this fall.



Almost Sourdough Bread  Print Recipe
Makes 2 (9X5) loaves

2 and 1/2 cups warm water, divided use
3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes
3/4 cup sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon salt
6 to 7 cups bread flour

1. The day before: heat one cup water until warm, about 110-115 degrees. Mix it with potato flakes, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. It should start foaming a little within a few minutes. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. 
2. The next morning, heat remaining 1 and 1/2 cups water until warm, about 110-115 degrees. Mix it with the oil and salt and stir into the yeast mixture. Stir the flour into this mixture until smooth and well-combined (I did this with a stand mixer, using the dough hook, and used all 7 cups of flour).
3. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, about one hour or until double in size. Stir or punch dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Lightly knead each half 6 to 8 times, shape into loaves, and place in two 9X5 loaf pans that have been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
4. During the last few minutes of rise time, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover loaves and place in preheated oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown, rotating loves about half way through baking. Place pans on wire cooling rack for 15 minutes, then carefully turn loaves out of pans onto wire rack to finish cooling. Let cool completely before slicing or wrapping to store.

Cook's notes: I used a dark metal loaf pan and a glass Pyrex loaf pan. The bread in the metal pan was done in 35 minutes. The bread in the glass Pyrex pan took 40 minutes.


Recipe from Gooseberry Patch

Almost Sourdough may have been taken to some of these fun parties!



Subscribe to Yesterfood by email:

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YesterfoodCreatingConnectionsThroughTimeWithFood