McCalls 8574 Dinosaur Fleece Jumper Sewing Project

Little Miss loves the jumper she has in this fabric so I'm making one for Little Pickle.  This time I'm making it with an envelope style neckline as I find them easier on little babies.

I struggled with these at first.  The key is to clearly mark the placement from the pattern.  Once that's done right the rest comes together really simply.  

For starters I've finished the neckline edges with the overlocker.  The edges are then turned under and pressed.  I've top stitched them in place with a twin needle - at least I should have done, I foolishly didn't bother to change the needle.

The back of the top is laid over the front and pinned in place.

The sleeves next, pinned 

and the edges finished with the overlocker.

I've also overlocked and pressed the ends of the sleeves and bottom as it's easier to do now than later.

Then the sleeve and side seams in one continuous seam.

Finally I've finished the hems with a double needle.

Fleece fabric form my stash.

Polkadoodles Ballerina Card Making Project

Tools and Materials:

Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato & Basil Chicken Recipe

Please excuse the diabolical photography!  I usually prepare meals at lunchtime when the light is perfect but this week things didn't go to plan - also known as Little Pickle is teething.  This is also why I've choose a very quick and easy dish for this week.  Seriously it took like 15 minutes to prepare and it was delish!!

Ingredients:

Chicken

Double Cream

Basil

Sun-dried Tomatoes

Chicken Stock

Flour

I've started buying pre-diced chicken so that just gets slung straight into the slow cooker.

I don't use my herb chopper much but on this occasion I'm so glad I had the option, it is sooo much quicker than dicing herbs by hand.

I also chopped up the sun-dried tomatoes.

They all went into the slow cooker including the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and four chicken stock cubes.

A tub of double cream too.

And a good sprinkling of flour.

Enough water to just cover the chicken and a good stir.

Cook on low for about 4 hours.

For a super quick and easy dinner I stirred it into some cooked pasta and frozen sweetcorn.  It would be awesome with mash and veggies or chips or rice, noodles or couscous . . . 

Change Mat Cover Sewing Project

Why aren't change mat covers more popular?  Do people really change their babies on these cold pieces of plastic?  And what about cleaning up?  The plastic is slightly porous so a wipe down with antibacterial cleaner isn't going to get it completely clean - yuk!

So here's my very simple solution made form an old towel that would otherwise have ended up in the bin.

I've started by cutting the towel and backing fabric to a size a little larger than the change mat.

I've hemmed one of the short edges - the towel's edge has saved me a job so I've only had to hem the backing fabric.

I've pinned the towel and the backing fabric, right sides together and sewn around the remaining three sides.

I've finished my edges with an overlocker to keep them neat.

The change mat is simply placed inside the cover like a pillow case.