Floppy Dog

This is one of my first sewing projects after getting pregnant with my first child. My husband and I knew that we would be moving the same month the baby was born and I wanted to get rid of as much clutter in the house as I could before we started packing. I had a bunch of scrap material that I decided I didn’t really need. Nevertheless, as an artist, it is sometimes hard to part with things that you have collected for future projects (whether or not these projects ever occur) and so I decided to sew up a few things first.

The idea for Floppy actually came from my childhood and memories of my Grandma Hilda who used scraps to make everything from blocks to stockings. I decided that a stuffed animal would be a good gift for me to give my child and that using the old material would be a sentimental way for me to remember my pregnancy and the anticipation of things to come.

Here is the how to:

1. I first drew a picture of what I wanted to make. I decided on a dog (although it has some similarities with a cow as well). You can use any animal, just make sure that you keep it simple. My dog basically has 3 parts: a rectangle for a body, a rounded rectangular head, and limbs/tail/ears plus your extras like eyes/pockets. Once you have drawn your animal, make patterns for each of these parts, making sure to leave about a half an inch of material anywhere you will sew.

2. Now decide what material you will use. Cut out the pieces according to your patterns, and then arrange them on a table so that you can see what your animal will look like from the front and the back. I like to really mix my fabrics, making sure that at least one piece of each fabric is on the front and the back of the animal.

3. Now you can start sewing. I prefer to start with the limbs/tail/ears. They are really easy, as you only need to lay the two pieces of material with the good sides facing each other and then sew around the edge leaving the limb open where it will connect to the body. Turn back right-side-in and then stuff with polyester filling. You may need to use a pencil to really get the filling into every corner of the limb.

4. Once all of your limbs/tail/ears are finished, it’s time to work on the head. First add your eyes. You can either sew these on by hand, or you can do them with the machine. I usually fold the edges of the material first and iron them flat. Then I sew around ¾ of the eye using the machine, stuff in some polyester filling, and then sew the eye shut. Finally, I sew the pupil using dark thread. If you do other accents, like making the head out of two different pieces of material, or adding X’s for nose/mouth, then you will also need to do this now. Now you can lay your two head pieces together, using stick pins, place the ears where they should go, sew around the whole head, and stuff it like you did the limbs. Since I sewed my head directly on the front of the body, I made sure to finish the head completely, hand sewing the final hole shut, where I had added the stuffing.

5. Now, it is time to get the body ready. I have added a pocket accent to my Floppy dog. This is just a pocket from a pair of jeans. You can often buy loads of them at your second-hand store. I like to use them on projects for fun. After sewing on the pocket, you will need to use stick pins and pin the head on where it should go. I sewed the head onto the body by hand, since I wanted it to lie on the front of the body (If you have a neck on your animal, this won’t be necessary, as you can sew it directly into the body). I made sure to sew it on really well, as I wanted to make sure that my son wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

6. Finally, I took the body and using stick pins, I placed all of the limbs/tail where they should go. Then sew around the whole body leaving only a little opening about an inch to an inch and a half wide. And, now for the fun part. Once you turn your animal back right-side-in, it is almost finished. All you need to do is stuff the body, and sew up your remaining hole and you are done. Yeah!

In the end, although it may seem like a long process, you will be amazed just how fast everything goes. I made Floppy in one weekend and was surprised just how easy it was.

If you have made similar stuffed animals, please post them. I’m always excited to see what others are creating!

Yummy Spring Apple Salad with Yogurt Dressing

This is now my favorite salad. It’s so crunchy, healthy, and yummy and you can eat as much of it as you feel like without ever feeling guilty (not like I would at the moment, being 8 months pregnant, but I’m thinking of you readers out there, too). The tangy yogurt dressing gives it a great kick and has no added oil or mayo, like most conventional salads you get at restaurants, and the other ingredients harmonize wonderfully giving this salad a nice spring flavor.

This salad is a healthier mix of two well-known salads, the Waldorf and the Cobb. Being pregnant, I can’t have the yummy blue cheese on the cobb salad and I love the dressing on the Waldorf, but didn’t feel like mayo and I wanted to have this salad as a main course and not a side. I remembered how much I loved the yoghurt dressings they make over in Europe, and thought I might put together something similar. In the end, the salad above is what came out of all this recipe daydreaming.

Recipe:

Salad
½ Iceberg lettuce
2 apples (I used Gala)
½ C chopped walnuts
½ C raisins
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 C diced grilled chicken (optional)

Dressing
Juice of 1 lemon
3 T plain yogurt
3 t sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley

1. Dice all salad ingredients and add to a large salad bowl.

2. For the dressing, I like to use a jar with a lid. Any medium sized jar is fine, including old jars from pizza sauce or jam which have been thoroughly washed in the dishwasher. You can shake the dressing, which is far easier than stirring, and if you have any unused dressing left, you can just pop the jar in the refrigerator.

3. Add all dressing ingredients to your jar, add lid and shake well. Your dressing is ready. You can either pour the dressing directly on the salad and mix it all together, or drizzle it on the salad directly before eating. Remember, because your salad contains apples, if you do not eat the salad immediately after preparing it, you may want to coat your apples in some lemon juice before adding them to the salad so that they don’t brown.

4. That’s all. Super easy, super good. Enjoy!

Baby's First Pillows

At 15 months, I decided that it was time for my son to get his first pillows.

He already had a blankie that he would keep wrapped around him no matter where he traveled in his bed. He loves his blankie and other than his comfort rag, it was the only thing allowed in his bed at night. Nevertheless, I had to admit, he was getting older and maybe it was time to pimp his bed a little.

I wanted to get him some pillows that fit his personality, but that weren’t too high or fluffy to make them unsafe. Most standard kid pillows are still too big for a child under one. Therefore, I decided to make them myself. The first night I gave Jonas his new pillows, he was so thrilled. I checked on him a few times and no matter where he was in his bed, his head was either on the pillow, or tucked under his arm. Often when he wakes up, he’ll look at his pillow and start babbling about all of the different cars and trucks on it. Now, he can’t go to bed without them anymore!

Since Jonas loves anything with wheels, I used some material I had which was covered in different vehicles, some racecar material, and some neutral material for the back of the pillows. The easiest way to make a pillow is to sew a square or rectangle and then stuff it with polyester backing. Nevertheless, polyester backing can start to clump when it is washed too often. Therefore, I decided to use polyester backing strips (You can buy it in a roll) which I could sew into the sides of the pillow, thus preventing clumping.

Here’s the how to:

1. Cut out two squares or rectangles of material into the size you would like plus a quarter to a half inch on each side. My pillows are 12 x 18 inches. Then cut out polyester backing strips the same size as your pillow. I used 4 layers of backing. Finally, cut out a piece of newspaper also the same size.

2. Layer the items as follows: First lay your two material pieces with the good sides of the material facing each other. Then, add the polyester backing over the material. Finally, lay the newspaper on top. It is much easier to sew over newspaper than polyester backing, which will catch on everything and snag. Now use stick pins all the way around to hold it all together.

3. Finally, sew around your pillow leaving about 6 inches on one side. Turn your pillow right-side-in. Using a needle and thread, sew the 6 inch opening shut. Your pillow is finished! Super easy.

Asian Butternut Soup

Here’s a really easy recipe for a delicious butternut soup.
Originally, I when I started making this soup, I had an entirely different soup in mind. However, I managed to get one of the least tasting butternuts at the store and had to rethink my soup.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced the same thing with pumpkin, but there is a big difference between a good one and a bad one. I’ve pureed butternut before, where you could eat it pure and it was delicious. This one, however, tasted like nothing with a hint of butternut. Therefore, I had to get creative.

I knew that I had some coconut milk in the cupboard for a Thai dish that I like, and I figured Asian spices would help to pep any bland soup, so I went from there. I decided on a bit of coconut, peanut butter, ginger, and Asian spices. In the end, my husband loved it and I was pretty impressed.

Here is the recipe, if you would like to have a go at it. I’m sure you could also add garlic, or coriander, Tabasco, or other spices of your choosing. Enjoy!

Butternut soup

1 whole butternut, cut into squares
1 red onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 large apple, chopped
1 t ginger, chopped fine
Spices: paprika, garlic salt, curry, salt and pepper (teaspoon each)
2 T creamy peanut butter
1 can coconut milk
2 T brown sugar

1. Add all ingredients in a large soup pot, add just enough water to cover. Boil about 15 minutes or until tender. Puree smooth.

2. Add all other ingredients and mix well. You may need to add more or less spices depending on how ripe your butternut is. A good butternut hardly needs any spices at all, but a bad one doesn’t taste like much of anything.

3. Garnish with green onions or chopped peanuts.

Haircuts, Bathtubs, and Nutella

I finally cut my son's hair not too long ago. It was the first time ever, and I hadn't realized how difficult it would be. I know he looks cute on this picture, but, trust me, he really needed a haircut. His hair was really long in back, almost non-existent on the sides, and very different lengths on the top. My family was always referring to it as his baby-mullet. Nevertheless, the 80's are over. Thank goodness!



Jonas
before

and
after
haircut









My neighbor, whose son is a couple months older than Jonas, took her son to the hairdresser to get his haircut for the first time a couple weeks ago. He has stick straight hair. It didn't look like it would be hard to cut. She came back with his haircut only on one side. From what I heard it was a disaster. I guess, one and a half year olds are just not ready to sit still while a stranger takes a scissors to their head.

I also read a couple entries on Facebook from friends of mine who wrote how they dreaded having to cut their child's hair again. They said their kids screamed, moved their arms around, or just plain refused. Sitting on mama or daddy's lap didn't seem to help either.

I tried to take their advice and realized I had to have a plan. I knew that if Jonas saw the scissors, i.e. me standing in front of him, he would want to have them so that he could explore what a scissors is. That would definitely not work. And, if he sat on daddy's lap and I moved around him, it probably wouldn't be much better. I decided I would need to distract him with what he loves best. I remembered a friend of mine in Germany, who would give her son a spoon full of Nutella so that she could cut his nails. Not a healthy route, but it did work. So what does Jonas love more than anything? Water!

I decided to cut his hair in the bathtub. I got in with him and sat down behind him. Right outside the tub, I had a few papertowels and a large bowl. I put in plenty of bubbles and gave him lots of toys. It worked! I was able to work on his head for as long as I needed. He didn't care as long as he could play in the tub. I used a comb and then pulled the hair between my ring and middle finger (like I saw the pros do), but had the palm of my hand facing me so I could catch most of the hair when I cut. I then dumped this hair in the bowl next to the tub. Alright, I'll admit, a certain amount of hair landed in the tub, but it didn't matter because I was actually able to give my child a decent haircut and save some of those glorious curls for an album.

The tub haircut worked for Jonas, but I have another baby on the way. He might not be so easy to fool. So I'm curious, how do or did the rest of you cut your child's hair? Any success or horror stories?

Teething Scarves

Pics:

Various
Teething
Scarves

Jonas at
7 and
15 months

Most people think of scarves as something that you wear to be warm or fashionable. I’ve now come to the conclusion that there is another great use - as a teething scarf.

The moment Jonas turned seven months and started getting teeth, his salivary glands began working overtime. At that point, I decided to sew up a few handkerchief-sized scarves in my sewing class to help catch a bit of the downpour. I had seen kids in Germany wearing little scarves, but had never thought of them having any practical purpose other than for added warmth since German homes are kept at colder temperatures than American ones. Nevertheless, as teething scarves, they worked wonderfully and looked cute as well.

Recently, Jonas started getting his first year molars, and I have had to sew up a few more. There were days when he went through 3 or 4 scarves. If I forgot to put a scarf on, his shirt would be soaked with drool in no time. A wet shirt in the winter can’t be very comfortable, so I always try to remember to put one on. With the scarves, every time one got too wet, I would just take it off and put on another one. Now, my boy could stay warm and relatively dry.

How to:
I’ve made quite a few scarves over the last few months (I posted only a few to this page). The majority of them were triangular. This is a very simple scarf to make. All you need to do is cut out a square piece of material. Then fold over the edges with the nice part of the material on the inside and sew all the way around leaving only a little hole to turn the material back right side in. Then once you have turned the material from inside out to right side in, fold and pin the hole shut and sew a nice border all the way around. Finished!

You can also make a long rectangular scarf out of fleece or flannel for winter; however, without the added triangle in the front, it doesn’t catch as much drool.

If you would like some added fun, add an iron on to the front of the scarf, some strings on the edges, quilt the material first, or embroider the child’s name on the front. Let your creativity lead you!

No Cabbage, Cheesy Bierrocks

I came up with this recipe, because my husband wanted bierrocks and I didn’t have any cabbage. Also, I love the bierrocks concept.

In comparison to a hamburger, you can actually get some veggies in a bierrock that your kids will eat (you could trade zucchini in this recipe for about any other green vegetable). I actually like this recipe better than the traditional cabbage one, because the inside is a bit creamy and cheesy. My fifteen month old also loved it, so you could call it a great family dish.

Don’t worry, if you have never made a yeast dough before. It’s really easy, and you’d be surprised how good it turns out even if you are not skilled at kneading. I’ve given a few tips in the recipe on how to make things quick and easy. The main thing you need with a yeast dough is a couple hours to make sure the dough has time to rise. The dough itself, only takes about 5-10 minutes to make.

No Cabbage, Cheesy Bierrocks

Dough:
1 C warm water
1 pkg yeast
2 T sugar
½ t salt
¼ C olive oil
1 egg, beaten
3 C flour (2 C whole wheat/1 C white)

Filling:
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
¼ bell pepper (any color, depending on taste)
1 zucchini
1 T honey
1 T flour
1 T butter
Circa ½ C milk
1 /c shredded cheese
Spices: celery salt, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper

Makes 12 bierrocks.

1. In a large bowl, add water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy.

2. Add salt, oil, and beaten egg. Mix well.

3. Add 3 cups flour. First mix with a spoon until you can form it into a ball with your hands. Then knead for a few minutes in the bowl (adding a little more flour if necessary) until you have a nice ball of dough that is uniform. Tip: to knead dough, punch down and forward with the bottom part of the palm of your hand, then take the dough that has been pushed forward, fold it over towards you, and punch it down again…

4. Let dough rise until double in size. Roll out on a floured board until the dough is about ¼ inch thick. Cut into 12 squares with a butter knife.

5. While the dough is rising (beginning point 4), brown hamburger in a frying pan. Drain grease if necessary. I prefer to drain grease and add butter for flavor, but don’t forget, I am pregnant. Add vegetables and cook until slightly tender. Add spices to taste. A tablespoon of honey also really helps to pull the flavor together.

6. Sprinkle flour over meat mixture and mix in well. The flour should attach itself to the fat particles, so that when you add milk it doesn’t get clumpy. If this doesn’t happen, you will need to add more fat. Then add milk, adding more if necessary to make a thick sauce which just covers the meat. Finally, add the cheese, mix well and let your meat mixture cool.

7. Spoon meat mixture onto dough squares (see picture above right). Pull up dough from all corners (see picture left) and pinch shut. The dough doesn’t always pinch shut well, but don’t worry, because this part of the dough goes down on the pan and bakes together later. Place bierrocks on a greased cookie sheet.

8. Let bierrocks rise for about 15 minutes and then bake for about 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. All bierrocks taste great with ketchup, but I’m sure you could eat them plain as well. Enjoy!