In the Clutch - Pretty Bags and a Giveaway

My Girl's Night Out pattern has only been out a few weeks, and already it's popping up.  Here's a beautiful version that showed up in the Flickr group belonging to Jill at Homemade by Jill.  A-maze-ing to have such a great sewist and blogger make one of MY patterns.

This version comes from my local friend Sarah.  Teacher extraordinaire and mommy to 2 beautiful girls.  

And if you aren't a follower of Roselee at Jane of All Trades (why aren't you a follower?) now's the time.  She's my dear friend, busy super-mom of 2, Daisy leader, blogger, and oh yeah, she tested my pattern and made 5, yes 5 clutches! 

She'll be posting them, each with a twist, with a pattern giveaway at the end.  Check out this super springy version. 

I've been super grumpy this week because it just doesn't feel very Spring-like.  Looking at this bag cheers me right up.  Hard to feel blue with such a pretty bag tucked under your arm.

Coconut Banana Nut Muffin RECIPE

Here's an easy, yummy recipe, for your Sunday morning.  

I love coconut and there's some evidence that coconut oil might have better fats than butter.  Truthfully, I just love the flavor.  You can subsitute an equal amount of vegetable oil if you don't have coconut oil, but you won't get that subtle, yummy coconut flavor.

 Coconut oil is generally solid at room temperature, so just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to liquify it.

 Combine the wet ingredients.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Gently fold the wet into the dry.

 This is a fairly thick batter, so I use a cookie batter scooper to transfer the batter to the oiled muffin tin.

Makes for even muffins.

 Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

 Eat them while they're still warm.

 Yum.

My New BFF - In Duck Tape!

Ever since my last Washi Dress, I've been thinking that having a dress form might be useful.  I've been looking at all the options and thinking....and finally decided to try the duck tape route.  There are a million different tutorials for making a duct tape dress form, so I won't add another.  But, I will my general advice based on my experience.

Here are my tips in a nutshell:

• buy quality tape - and you probably only need 1 roll
• wear something thin and fitted underneath
• I used fiberfill to do the chest area and wasn't happy with the results so I went back and filled with plastic bags  
• don't be afraid to cut her open and refill areas - I did this A LOT
• take measurements as you fill - my rib cage ended up being too big after filling, so I added more tape to cinch it down
• use cardboard to stabilize areas - I used cardboard at the base, neck, and armholes 

Overall, I think she came out pretty good.  I'm not thrilled with the chest area, but that's true in real life too, so I guess she's accurate :)  

 I haven't used her for much yet, but I'm happy to have her around, even if it's just for taking pictures of finished garments.  The kids enjoy hugging her too.  It's pretty funny.

 I used this tutorial from Crafterhours to make the cover.  I did mine in a cream color first, but you could see the duct tape through the fabric, so I went back and made another cover out the brown.  It's a little closer to my own skin tone too, so I guess that might be helpful.

My favorite part is the stand.  I bought a 1 inch dowel and some PVC pipe that the dowel could slide in to.  I put the PVC pipe up through the form, slid the dowel in, and used an umbrella stand from Home Depot for the base.  The great part is, it all comes apart for easy storage.  When all was said and done, it cost about $30.  Perfect for my budget.  It didn't take much time either, which fit my needs as well.  I've had my eye on a Uniquely You form, but felt like I wouldn't have the time or patience to really customize it as it requires.

So, do you use a dress form?  

I'm curious to hear about what other sewists are using.