Sewing for Late Summer

I know it's not late summer yet, but just recently I have been making more summer items and currently I have no problem wearing me made everyday because I do tend to sew more for the summer. There are more items in my winter wardrobe that are from charity shops or ebay especially along the lines of knit cardigans.  I also find it is more fun sewing  for the summer as everything is so bright, in the winter we all tend to wear darker colours.

As I want to be able to extend wear of everything I am making I thought I should plan for later in the season when it is not quite so warm, or in this country that may be just next week, who knows.  I have seen a few ideas for cardigans that could be made with jersey or other soft knit fabrics.  There are some lovely styles but they also have to be wearable. The ones I have seen that are cocoon in shape or too floaty I feel would end up getting the sleeves dipped in the sink when I'm washing up or something.

Here are  a few styles that I intend to copy, as a cardigan is on my sewing to do list for this season.

This is from the next website, I like the tie front as it would go with dresses but perhaps make the sleeves straight.

This one is a more traditional shape it would be just a case of finding the right fabric, this particular one is quite expensive so I would not be buying it , copying it is definitely the way to go.

Has anyone else already began planning their sewing beyond this current heat wave, I am loving it but I also realise it will end at some point.

More Boudoir Shorts

It is so hot! I love sunny weather and like any typical English person I moan about the fact that it rains an awful lot here in England, or it's overcast most of the time.  As  a result of this we are not made for these sudden changes in temperature and I feel like I want to have a nap all the time.  The Spanish have the right idea and everything closes in the afternoon at the hottest part of the day for a break. As a result of this I have made more of the boudoir shorts from the free pattern I downloaded here, I had some jersey left over from making  dress a few weeks ago so it was an ideal way to use that up.

These were quick to make up just now after tea because I have made them before and made an adjustment to the pattern by taking a small pieces off each side.  The first pair were a bit wide so I had to alter them once finished.

That is it just those three pieces, I didn't do an elastic casing as I found last time there is enough room at the top to just do  a turn over and put the elastic in there.
They are so comfy because they are jersey so I am wearing them now, this is a really good way to use up small amounts of fabric and I am sure that you could even do two fabrics together and they would look good.  I only had enough lace to do the fronts on this pair, also it is elastic lace whereas flat trim lace would have been better, but it does the job.

Turmeric Cauliflower Salad

I just thought I would share this salad with you today as it took me completely by surprise how tasty it was from such a simple thing.  After reading quite a bit of the book, How not to Die there appears to be a lot of little things that we can  eat everyday that offer protection against diseases.

 Now I know that this is nothing new to hear, but some of the things are so small that it makes them easy to add in, that is without the need for juicing and consuming large amounts of superfoods to the point where you are going mad.  I had always thought of herbs and spices as flavouring but many help us fight off disease and boost the immune system, turmeric is a good one to eat everyday and a teaspoon is noted in the book to give us a boost, cinnamon can be added to oats and marjoram and oregano provide us with more than an Italian flavour to our food.

While I was making a salad I thought I would give it a twist by adding two of the key foods for health one being cauliflower (which can be a trigger for me so only in moderation!) and turmeric.

So all I did was slice the florets into discs, so that they would lie flat in the pan, then I added a little olive oil and a teaspoon of turmeric to the pan and lightly fried the florets.  This was on a low heat, more to colour and cook them a little rather than heavily fry.  The rest of the salad was, spinach, grated carrot, red pepper, tomatoes, cucumber and a tablespoon of nutritional yeast.  It was so tasty I will definitely be making it again.

This must serve as a little reminder to myself to keep trying different things with familiar ingredients, it can be tempting to make the same things when tired or in a rush.