16
Jul

The Cottage Mama Sewing Pattern Blog Tour: Day 1

Today kicks off Day 1 of The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns Blog Tour!

Throughout the next two weeks, there will be 24 blogs sewing up the new The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns (www.thecottagemama.com). These are all bloggers that I absolutely adore and have become friends with over the last several years. A few of them are newer bloggers or ladies in the online sewing community who don’t blog too often, all of which I have a tremendous amount of respect for their sewing technique and design abilities.

I encourage you to check out their blogs for the full post on each pattern review and while you are there, poke around………you are sure to be inspired! I don’t know about you, but I love seeing different takes on the same pattern design. I hope you do too.

Georgia Vintage Dress:


Crystal was actually one of my pattern testers and tested the Miss Matilda and Daphne pattern. I was so impressed by her work that I asked her to be part of this tour. Her blog is absolutely adorable and you will be seeing Crystal again here on The Cottage Mama when she guest blogs a back to school tutorial in September. Head over to her blog to see her darling version of the Georgia Vintage Dress. Click HERE.
Miss Matilda Dress and Top:

I have gotten to know Caila over the last year and her blog is a ‘must-see’. I think you’ll really love her classy style with modern details. Her photography is beautiful, her fabric selections are unexpected and she also blogs some really great boy designs as well. Check out her version of the Miss Matilda Dress and Top Pattern. Click HERE.
Daphne Wrap Dress and Top and Skip and Play Pants and Capris:


How do I love thee? Let me count the ways……….I am a big fan of Frances Suzanne, two sisters that create. Their style is classic with heirloom quality details. Do you know that feeling when you happen upon someone that has similar taste and style like you do? Yep, that’s Frances Suzanne. Go over and check out their version of the Daphne Top and Skip and Play Pants and Capris……you’re going to love it! Click HERE.

All patterns are available in print and instant download PDF and can be purchased at www.thecottagemama.com
Check back tomorrow for three new versions of the new The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns!
15
Jul

So Today I’m 32 Years Old

So today I’m apparently 32 years old. I kind of already thought I was 32, so it doesn’t really come as much of a surprise. I think somewhere halfway into 31, I decided I was 32. It’s hard to keep it straight once you start getting above 21.

The three new photographs of me in this post were taken by my friend and book photographer, Amy Tripple.

I love birthdays. I know some people dread them and don’t like to celebrate; however, I definitely feel they are a day to be celebrated no matter your age. I have always felt like I was many, many years older than I really am. And I truly look at age as simply a number. But if I am looking at it in terms of age, I feel quite proud of all that I have achieved at the age of 32. If the next 32 years look anything like the first, I am excited for the ride!

So since I’m writing about my birthday, I thought I would share 32 things about myself. Some are kind of personal, some are things you might already know, but here we go……….

1. My favorite food is shrimp followed closely by pasta and bread.
2. I am very domestic. Would definitely choose spending time indoors rather than out and I feel a sense of pride being able to make our house a home.
3. I am not a night person. I usually head to bed around 10:00PM.
4. I don’t do well during the day without coffee. Coffee with just a little bit of milk. No sugar.
5. My toenails are painted fushia-y pink right now.
6. I like reality telelvision. I am fascinated by how some of these people live. Like can’t believe that it’s even real (and it probably isn’t……but I still pretend).
7. I prefer red wine to white wine.
8. We have three children and I truly cannot decide if we should have a fourth. I had a miscarriage in between Savannah and Matilda and it has changed the way I view pregnancy.
9. I had postpartum depression after the birth my oldest and was treated for it through my second and third children’s births. The itty bitty baby phase is always a tough one for me. But I am completely fine now. Yay!
10. My parents got divorced when I was 19. My mom is remarried (to Pepo…..who we love) living in Texas and my dad has retired to the tuscany region of Italy. I wish they all lived closer.
11. My mom is my best friend.
12. I need my creative space to be organized before I create. And then it looks like a bomb exploded when I’m finished. It’s a vicious cycle. Organize. Clean. Create. Repeat.
13. I love writing my blog, but work very hard to balance at all. I do my best, but it is hard and I do get overwhelmed.
14. I am passionate about most things in my life……family, home, business……pretty much everything.
15. I am Catholic. I believe in God. And He has become more and more my rock as I get older. I find myself communicating with Him often.
16. My brother lives in Boulder, CO and is a professional chef. I miss him.
17. I have short hair, but I used to have really long hair. And I just got highlights for the first time ever a few months ago.
18. As much as we love our cottage home, we are hoping to move in a couple years. The hubby and I are ready for a new adventure!
19. I am very sensitive and get my feelings hurt easily.
20. I am really enjoying my children getting older. The conversations we are able to have are such special moments to me. Although, I still enjoy rocking my baby and singing to him each night before he goes to sleep.
21. My favorite movie is ‘You’ve Got Mail’. No it’s nothing super deep or intellectual, but I think it is so sweet and I love Meg Ryan’s life during that movie and the love story involved.
22. I married my high school sweetheart and he is pretty darn awesome. We have been together since I was 17.
23. I don’t really like baths. I prefer showers.
24. I love spending time with friends. I am definitely a people person.
25. I do not like when people rearrange things in my house. A place for everything and everything in it’s place…….that’s a good motto.
26. I thought I was going to grow up and be a broadway star. I spent my whole childhood training for it.
27. I went to Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and majored in Musical Theater. Then reality hit and I moved to Chicago, IL and got a degree from DePaul University in Finance. I decided stability and family life was more important than stardom. But I can still belt out a tune.
28. I used to work in commercial banking and real estate prior to having children.
29. I try my best to have positive energy and encourage others.
30. I love my life. I know people don’t always love to hear you say that. It seems as though, they would prefer to hear the negative. But it’s true. So there, I said it……I love my life.
31. I am by no means perfect. I just try to do the best that I can every day. And when I mess up, I always say I’m sorry.
32. I work very hard. Every. Single. Day.

So there’s 32 things about me…..good, bad, boring, ect. But I don’t always have the opportunity to come on here and talk personally with you, so I thought maybe those things would show you a little bit more about the woman behind this blog.

This past weekend I got to go out to dinner with my husband and kids, got to sleep in a little bit, they brought me some beautiful flowers (that you maybe have seen over on Instagram -@thecottagemama) and take a nap. This mama is pretty happy, so I’ll say that having a birthday on a Monday isn’t so bad since you have the whole weekend before to celebrate.

Thanks so much for reading and have a great day!
12
Jul

The Cottage Mama Paper Patterns Now In-Stock

I just wanted to let you know that all the new paper patterns are now in-stock and available for sale in the shop. I decided to print in full-color booklet format this time and I think you all are going to really like it! All the instructions and step-by-step photos are nice and compact and easy to have right by your side as you are sewing any of the patterns. And of course, each printed pattern comes with the full-size pattern sheets as well.

Here is a little peek inside the Georgia Vintage Dress pattern, so you can get a better idea of the color printing.
You can find all the new patterns over in the shop (click HERE), just make sure you are purchasing the printed version, not the PDF. For pattern wholesale inquiries and for a list of The Cottage Mama distributors, please email Lindsay at thecottagemama@gmail.com.
By the way, even though you can’t tell yet, The Cottage Mama is getting a makeover behind the scenes as we speak with a brand new e-commerce shop and a freshened up and more organized blog. I’m pretty excited about it and I think it’s going to make your life easier regarding ordering patterns, kits (yes, there are fabric and trim kits coming), and finding past tutorials and recipes. It should be ready to launch at the end of the month. Yay……I can’t wait!
11
Jul

Mermaid Under the Sea 4th Birthday Party with Free Printable

Miss Matilda knew exactly what kind of birthday party she wanted this year……..Mermaid Under the Sea. She said the birthday was for all mermaids, not just Ariel (the Little Mermaid), but that she could come too. She said all mermaids and sea creatures were welcome. She’s an inclusive type of little girl.

Matilda’s birthdays are always so fun because she is a July birthday (just like me), so we can have her parties outside! As I shared with you yesterday, we used her mermaid birthday outfit as a jumping off point for the party decor, but tried to stick with pink and blue as per the birthday girl’s request.

The table decorations are my absolute favorite part! I love a good tablescape.

I had this old frame sitting in my studio that I bought for 25 cents at our local thrift shop. I used a piece of burlap that I already had around from when I made some Burlap Covered Lamp Shades a year or so ago. I taped the burlap to the back of the empty frame. Then I took a star fish that my mother-in-law had brought the kids back from the beach and hand sewed it around the center to the burlap. I love how this turned out. Rustic and beachy………and less than $1.00!

I found a lot of the party decor at the Dollar Tree store. I bought a bunch of bags of glass beads that are meant to go inside of vases for the table. My intention was that they would look like sea glass. I bought some bags in aqua blue and some in a mixture of blues and greens.

I have about a gazillion mason jars around the house, so I grabbed one of my favorite blue ones and filled it with sand and some seas shells.

I took a hurricane vase that usually has pinecones inside it and filled it will sand and put more seashells on top. I purchased the bags of seashells also from the Dollar Tree store. Who knew they had so much beachy decor?

For the ‘Welcome Mermaids’ sign, I took an old school house chalkboard that I purchased several months ago at our local flea market and simply wrote the words on there with a blue chalk marker. The flowers and beads around the sign are leis that I purchased again at Dollar Tree and gave them to the ladies to wear at the party.
I also purchased 10 grass hula skirts from the dollar store and put them around the bottom of the table and hung them from the top of the canopy.
I made a simple and easy pennate banner with fabric from Matilda’s birthday outfit. I didn’t even finish the edges on the triangles, I thought if it frayed that it would add to the rustic, beachy feel. I attached the triangles to some rickrack trim I already had. This took me about 20 minutes to make, but I love how it incorporates the fabric into the look of the party.

These were little striped favor boxes with a seashell foam sticker added to the front of them that I used to serve pirates booty for the kids. It seems like all the kids love that stuff!

You can’t have an under the sea party without fishies, right? For the food labels, I designed the main label on the computer, cut them out, backed them with some scrapbook paper and added a toothpick.
We called the pink lemonade ‘Mermaid Juice’. It was a big hit.

My husband gave me a hard time about these because he said they looked like jello shots. But I found these little cups and just thought they were the perfect size for kids jello at a party. I filled the blue cups with blue raspberry jello and set them on top of brown sugar (to look like sand).

Here is the fruit that we served. I just called it ‘Paradise Fruit Salad’ because that sounded beachy and mermaid-like to me. The shell of the pineapple was kept together to use it as kind of a boat for the fruit salad. My mom (Grandma Jane) who was visiting from Texas helped me with this one. Isn’t it pretty?

I was pretty excited about this little food project. We took two vanilla wafer cookies, spread strawberry frosting on each side and put a yogurt raisin in the middle to look like an oyster with a pearl inside. I just thought these were so cute. We also drew some lines with a blue frosting gel pen on top of the cookies to look kind of like a shell. So fun!

We served spinach dip and some different chips and called it ‘Seaweed Dip’.

I made some rice krispie treats and cut them out in the shape of fish. Our little guy, Caspian, could not get enough of these!

We picked up some wraps from Costco and called them ‘Seaweed Sprials’. You could definitely make these yourself, but sometimes I just like to make my life a little easier and go with a few store-bought items.

The girls picked out these chocolate gold coins at the party store. They chose pink and blue and one orange one for the birthday girl. I told them to count out 30 to put in their bag. When I gave them to the cashier and told him I didn’t know exactly how many they got……..it turns out 30 turned into 73. Oh well…….we are rich in chocolate around here!

And the most popular party food…….the Shark gummies! The kids went nuts over these and they were a fun addition to the Mermaid Under the Sea Party.
How about some salt water taffy to go with the ‘sea’ theme?
Here is the pretty Little Mermaid birthday cake and here is what happened right before Miss M. blew out the candles……

Little brother had to put is three fingers in the cake………do you see his finger marks in the picture above. That guys loves his sweets, so I guess he couldn’t wait for cake. Oh brother.

Here is the birthday girl blowing out the candles on her cake!
Matilda has been asking for a bounce house for about 4 months now, so we decided to surprise her with one for her birthday. It was a present from my mom (Grandma Jane) and Pepo. You should have seen the look on the girls face when the folks delivered this and started blowing it up. They could not even contain themselves. It was a lot of fun and even I (and Daddy, Grandma and Pepo) did quite a bit of jumping the day before the party. Talk about a fun workout! And it was ‘sea’ themed……..of course.
I made an easy appliqued shirt for Savannah to wear at the party as well. I didn’t want to make her a full outfit since this was Matilda’s special day, but she was really excited to have a little something mermaid to wear at the big party!
And in case you missed my other post about Matilda’s Birthday Outfit……..here is the big 4 year old on her birthday!
All and all it was such a great party and I had so much fun putting this together for little Matilda. Luckily my girls get just as into all of this as I do and love helping out! We gave the kids that came to the party a stuffed dolphin, a blue and silver hula hoop and a mermaid coloring / sticker book.
Here are some of the printable labels I made, if you want to download those for your own Mermaid Under the Sea party!
And here is a blank set if you want to add your own text for whatever fun party food you might have at your own child’s party.
Again, Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!
I’m so blessed to have these children and it is such a pleasure to get to spend this time making their birthdays as special as can be!
10
Jul

Matilda’s Mermaid Birthday Outfit

So as I mentioned before, Miss Matilda wanted a ‘Mermaid Under the Sea’ birthday party this year for her 4th birthday. Sounded good to me! I love all things nautical and beachy, so I thought this party would be pretty easy to pull off and it turns out that it was just that. I’ll share the party details with you tomorrow, but for now, I wanted to share the little birthday party outfit I made for Matilda.

For me, every good party starts with fabric inspiration. Matilda wanted to focus on blue and pink since those are her two favorite colors. I have been so busy this summer that I did not have time to order any fabric for her dress, I had browsed around online, but hadn’t found anything that was just right. So one Saturday afternoon I headed over to our local Joann’s and just really hoped that they carried some type of mermaid fabric that I liked or that was the proper colors for the party. And low and behold, there was the perfect fabric……..’Merry Mermaids’! I was so darn excited. It had kind of a salmon pink, but I was pretty sure we could make it work. Most importantly, I knew Miss M. would love it and I just thought the mermaids were darling. Plus it was 40% off……can’t beat that!

When I brought the fabric home, I knew we needed some other prints to go with it. You know I can’t just have one single print on an outfit. I started playing around in my fabric stash and found this great salmon pink from Art Gallery Fabrics to pull out the reddish pink in one of the mermaid’s hair and then this multi-sized dot from one of Sandi Henderson’s earlier lines pulled it all together.

I wanted to make a longer top for her party since we were surprising the girls with a bounce house. I thought jumping around in a dress might be a little difficult, but a top with leggings would work just great!

This top is a combination of two of my sewing patterns. The bodice is from the Charlotte Apron Dress and then I extended the strap piece to make it a knot style dress. The skirt is from the Miss Matilda Dress and Top cut at the top length, but with a 2″ band of fabric added at the bottom. The bodice on the Charlotte dress is shorter than the Miss Matilda, so that’s why I needed the extra added length.

As a side note, all the new patterns have arrived as printed patterns and are available in the shop.

I also used the side sash pieces (the shorter length for the top) from the Miss Matilda pattern, but cut them the same length, sewed them into the side of the bodice and had them tie in a bow in the back of the top.

The bodice is my favorite part since I got to play with trims and embellishing. Have I told you how much I love rickrack? Um……yeah, you already know. All the embellishing on the bodice was done prior to dress construction. I just drew out a curved pattern piece for the front. First I added the trim down the center, then added the outer rickrack and finally added the blue, tiny rickrack on top. So easy, but such a sweet detail.

I just absolutely love this little peanut! I can’t believe she is 4 years old. I’m looking forward to sharing the details from her birthday party. She had a ball!
8
Jul

Happy 4th Birthday, Matilda Jane!

 Dear Matilda,

Today you are four years old…….how is that possible? It seems like only yesterday, your came into our lives to grace us with your beautiful presence. Today on your birthday there are some things I would like to remember about you and some things I think you might want to know about what you were like when you turned four years old.

1. You love mermaids. You had a mermaid birthday party.
2. Your favorite color is still blue, with pink following a close second.
3. You still take a long afternoon nap (thank you for that!).
4. When you wake up from your nap, you give me a big hug and wrap your legs around me. I call you my ‘Tilda Monkey’. And you call me your ‘Mama Monkey’. It still makes me feel like you are my baby girl.
5. Your favorite foods are hot dogs, french fries and all kinds of berries.
6. You sleep with your ‘Geo’ (Team Umizoomi) doll.
7. You really wanted a ‘Diamond Princess Tiara’ for your birthday. It is plastic and sparkly, but you think it is really diamonds. Mommy and Daddy got that for you.
8. You like to play dress up.
9. Your favorite TV shows are Dora, Team Umizoomi, Princess Sofia and Doc McStuffins.
10. You love playing with your brother and sister.
11. You will wear any clothes that mommy makes for you and are SO excited when I sew for you.
12. You love to color and paint.
13. You love your gymnastics class.
14. We saw ‘Seussical the Musical‘ and now you are trying to learn all the words to the songs from the show and love acting out the finale of the show.
15. You are sweet and very kind.
16. You love going canoeing and camping with Daddy.
17. When we go out to restaurants, you love to order chocolate milk.
18. You like ice cream more than cake.
19. You perform ‘Mr. Knickerbocker’ by singing and doing all the moves and it is truly one of the cutest things I have ever seen.
20. You are a such a bright light in our family and bring joy into every day.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, Matilda Jane!

Love,
Mama

1
Jul

Filming Sewing DVDs in Cincinnati and a Little Book Preview

I feel like the last three months, or rather the last year, have been a whirlwind of busy. It might not have seemed like it here on the blog, since I’ve definitely had to pull back online for work / life balance, but behind the scenes there has been so much going on.

As most of you know I signed with a publisher (F & W Media) last June and wrote my first sewing book. The book is now complete (though it’s been out of my hands for quite awhile) and will be sent print any day now. My book, Sew Classic Clothes for Girls: 20 Dresses, Outfits and Accessories from The Cottage Mama (Size 12 month – 10 Years) will be released October 7, 2013. And let me tell you……..I cannot wait!

My publisher, F & W Media, owns the Martha Pullen Company which has led to many new and exciting opportunities, one of which was filming two sewing DVD’s in Cincinnati last week. The DVDs will be available at the same time as my book releases. Each one will be approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes and they will be available as regular stand-alone DVDs or available to watch through Martha Pullen Television (MPTV) or downloaded from the Martha Pullen website.

The first DVD is a companion to my book, Sew Classic Clothes for Girls. In the picture above, you are getting a tiny sneak peek as to what’s in the book. All the pieces in the picture are patterns found in the book, but there are many more that aren’t shown here…….we need a little element of surprise, right? The book is 95% garments in size 12 month – 10 years and let me tell you that there is not another children’s sewing book on the market that contains this many full garment patterns for girls with so many different variations. I really wanted to give you a lot of content and patterns that you could mix and match to create many different, truly one-of-a-kind pieces. I hope you really like it!

The book companion DVD is where I walk you through step-by-step through many of the techniques shown in the book. The techniques are illustrated really beautifully within the book, but if you are a visual learner, you are going to love being able to see these techniques done right before your eyes. It’s kind of like having a private, one-on-one sewing lesson! I take you through gathering, how to make your own bias binding, how to apply bias binding, how to make your own custom piping, how to insert piping into seams, lined garment construction techniques and the list goes on and on. Let’s just say I didn’t have a hard time talking for well over an hour.

The second DVD is all about pairing pattern fabrics and trims…….my favorite! Also, I show you how to transform my Charlotte Apron Dress pattern into this darling embellished knot dress. I walk you through constructing the entire garment as well as how to apply and make your own trims, how to use bias binding and so much more.

I thought you might like to see what the set looks like from a little farther back where you can see the cameras. There were three different cameras filming and moving at all different angles.

Here you can see how the three cameras are filming different angles. Kathy McMakin from Martha Pullen Company watched these screens as I filmed to make sure all the details of the instructions were caught on film. If something was missed during filming, the crew would go back and film it again without me saying anything to have the proper footage for editing. I don’t know what I would have done with Kathy (and her side-kick Charlotte), they truly made this such a lovely, stress-free experience.

Here is a trim board where I talked about the different types of trims and how to use them.

Here is a super-cheesy picture of me with the lovely Baby Lock Ellisimo Gold Sewing and Embroidery Machine that I got to use during the show. This machine is such a dream. And I adore the folks over at Baby Lock……such a great company!

I had a truly wonderful time filming. I use to be a musical theatre major (singing, acting and dancing) and actually attended school at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, so it was strange to head back to the same city to be in front of the camera again. I finished my degree in Chicago as a finance major, but theatre, acting and stage will always have a big part of my heart.

I can’t say I wasn’t nervous to film these DVDs…….I was nervous, for sure. I wondered if I would choke under pressure or would stumble over my words? I tend to be a worrier and can get myself so worked up over things that are out of my control. So I tried to take a very relaxed approach. I had an outline for each one of my DVDs, but didn’t have a script or use the teleprompter that was provided. I simply pictured myself in the classroom teaching a sewing class and told the camera everything I wanted the students to learn. It felt natural and organic and not at all rehearsed or forced……..let’s just hope it comes across that way on screen. I haven’t seen any of the footage yet, so fingers crossed!

Martha Pullen herself flew in to film with Joan Hinds (author ‘All Dolled Up‘ and many other doll clothing books) who was filming right after me and Kari Mecca (Sewing with Whimsy) flew in the day before I left too. It was a special time to get to visit with all these women who share the same passion and love for sewing as I do. To even be considered as part of their circle was just such an honor. I found myself at dinner the night before I left taking a moment to take it all in and be truly present in the moment. I thought, wow, I want to remember this night and experience forever.

26
Jun

Scalloped Envelope Clutch ~ Free Pattern and Tutorial

This was a project I shared a while back over at Riley Blake Designs and in case you missed it, I’m bringing it home.
When I came across this printed cross-stitch fabric, I just new it would be perfect for some type of bag. It’s from the ‘Hipster‘ cotton line and I’m absolutely in love with these prints. Envelope clutches seem to be all the rage right now and I have a thing for scalloped edges, so put them together and what do you get? A Scalloped Envelope Clutch Tutorial. Let’s get started…….
Scalloped Envelope Clutch Tutorial
by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama
Supplies:
1 yard exterior fabric
1 yard lining fabric
**if you have a non-directional print you can get away with only a half yard of each print and cut the pattern on the horizontal.
1/2 yard fusible interfacing
1 button
Free pattern piece found HERE

Instructions:
ALL SEAM ALLOWANCES 1/2″, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
Step 1: Assemble your pattern. This pattern is very easy. All you need is 8.5″ x 11″ sheets of paper. Print out your scallop piece from the free pattern included above in the supplies list and cut it out. Then place two 8.5″ x 11″ sheets with the longs sides flush next to each other and tape them together, then place the straight edge of the scallop piece flush up against one of the sheets of paper and tape them together. Now you have your Scallop Envelope Clutch pattern. You may need to angle cut the paper attaching to the scallop piece depending on how your printer prints out the pattern piece.
Step 2: Apply fusible interfacing to the back of the two fabrics you are using. Do so according to manufacturers instructions. You can use any interfacing you would like, but just remember that the thicker the interfacing, the sturdier this will be as a clutch.
Also, if you would like to use this as a case for a kindle or other electronic device, you could apply fusible fleece to the backsides of the fabric as well. 
     
Step 3: Cut out your pattern pieces. You need one in the exterior fabric and one in the lining. Fold up the bottom of the clutch so that it comes up to the bottom of the scallops with the right sides together.

Step 4: Sew along both straight sides. Do this for the lining and exterior pieces. Clip the corners at an angle to remove bulk.

Step 5: Turn the interior lining piece right side out and press.

Step 6: At this point the exterior piece is still wrong side out. Take the lining piece and tuck it down inside the exterior piece. This will make it so that the right sides are together.

Step 7: You’ll need to leave a little part open across the front of the clutch so go ahead and mark this with your fabric marking pen so you won’t forget.

Step 8: Sew the exterior and the lining together all the way around the scallops. Start where the side seams end and go all the way up, around and back down to the other side seam.

Step 9: Clip around the scallops. Use pinking shears or scissors and clip the seam allowance down and cut each dip in the scallop. You need to cut almost to the stitching at the dips of the scallops, otherwise they will not turn out nicely. If they aren’t laying flat when you turn your clutch right side out, that is probably the problem.

Step 10: Sew across the front of the clutch, making sure to leave that one section open that we already marked. Your stitches across the front should meet up with the stitches you did for the scallops. Clip out the extra fabric in the corner so that it turns out nicely. Cut down to the stitches, but making sure not to go through them. Make sure to move the back of the clutch out of the way so you don’t catch it in your seam.

Step 11: Turn the clutch right side out by pulling the fabric through the opening. Tuck the lining down into the exterior, making sure to neatly tuck in the corners.

Step 12: Press out the scallops. Sometimes you really have to ‘work out’ the scallops with your iron to make them look nice. Try rolling the seams out with your fingers……that always works well for me. And press, press, press!

Step 13: Press under the little section you left open so that it is in line with the center front of the clutch.

Step 14: Run a row of topstitching across the front of the clutch to close the opening. You could also topstitch around the scallops as well, but make sure you go slowly because if those stitch lines don’t look good, they will definitely show on the front side of the clutch.

Step 15: Make a buttonhole on the center scallop based on the size of your button and according to your machines instructions. Open the buttonhole.

Step 16: Close the top scallop piece and mark for your button placement. Hand or machine sew your button in place.

 And now look……you have a completed Scalloped Envelope Clutch!

Feel free to adjust the measurements. Wouldn’t this make an adorable case for your ipad using fusible fleece for padding? So many options!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!
24
Jun

Slow Cooker Strawberry Rhubarb Jam ~ Recipe

So last week the kids and I went strawberry picking. We picked a ton of beautiful strawberries and I have really been wanting to try my hand at making some freezer jam. I was searching around for some recipes and couldn’t quite find what I was looking for. Many recipes called for fruit pectin, which I didn’t have on hand and some of the others required you to cook the jam on the stove-top all day. Nope…….I don’t have all day around here with three little ones. And then it dawned on me…….how about using my trusty slow cooker! So that’s what I did………

Slow Cooker Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

 
Ingredients:
3 lbs. fresh strawberries
2 lbs. rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Directions:
Step 1: Grab your strawberries and rhubarb and start cutting them into large chunks. The farm where we went strawberry picking sold rhubarb as well so it worked out perfectly for this recipe.

Step 2: Place half the strawberries and rhubarb in your slow cooker and sprinkle with half a cup of sugar. Then add the other half of the strawberries and rhubarb and sprinkle with the remain sugar and cinnamon.

Step 3: Set you slow cooker on low for 6 – 7 hours. After four hours of cooking, remove the lid but allow the mixture to continue to cook. This will cause some of the liquid to evaporate out.

Step 4: Around 5 hours cooking time, get out your potato masher and mash up the mixture as best you can. I like the jam to be nice and chunky, but if you prefer a smoother consistency then you could always transfer the mixture to your blender.

Spread your strawberry rhubarb jam on toast or serve it warm over vanilla ice cream or add it to your favorite yogurt and granola.

I put some of the jam in our refrigerator in glass jars (it will save for 1 – 2 weeks) and the rest of it I put in freezer safe containers in the freezer.

Also, I really love the tart and sweet taste of strawberry rhubarb jam; however, if you prefer things on the sweeter side, then you will definitely want to add more sugar to this recipe. My oldest daughter Savannah tried this and she said it was ‘JUST right!’. She’s a pretty tough critic, so I’ll take that to mean that it’s pretty darn good.
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Slow Cooker Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Serves: 36
 
Ingredients
  • 3 lbs. fresh strawberries
  • 2 lbs. rhubarb
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Grab your strawberries and rhubarb and start cutting them into large chunks. The farm where we went strawberry picking sold rhubarb as well so it worked out perfectly for this recipe.
  2. Place half the strawberries and rhubarb in your slow cooker and sprinkle with half a cup of sugar. Then add the other half of the strawberries and rhubarb and sprinkle with the remain sugar and cinnamon.
  3. Set you slow cooker on low for 6 - 7 hours. After four hours of cooking, remove the lid but allow the mixture to continue to cook. This will cause some of the liquid to evaporate out.
  4. Around 5 hours cooking time, get out your potato masher and mash up the mixture as best you can. I like the jam to be nice and chunky, but if you prefer a smoother consistency then you could always transfer the mixture to your blender.
  5. Spread your strawberry rhubarb jam on toast or serve it warm over vanilla ice cream or add it to your favorite yogurt and granola.
Slow Cooker Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - The Cottage Mama
Enjoy!
20
Jun

A Trip to the Strawberry Patch: 2013

It’s strawberry season here in Chicago. On Monday I was trying to decide what the kids and were going to do for the day and I thought……’I bet it’s strawberry picking time.’ I called our local berry farm to see if they had berries this year (since the weather has been so strange) and it turns out Monday was the first day they were open for picking! Well that sealed the deal. The kids and I were going to go strawberry picking and get the first pick of the season!

Miss Savannah was really into making sure she picked the very best strawberries she could find. This girl has high standards when it comes to berries………she passed over many berries before she picked just the right one. She was our quality control manager.

This is what Mr. Caspian did the entire time. He had a feast and didn’t get a single berry in his basket. I tried to look past the fact that the berries weren’t washed and just let him have a good time. He really enjoyed himself since he absolutely loves berries. You could just see his eyes light up when he realized what we were doing. He was in hog heaven.

Miss Matilda was kind of in between girl. She spent a good amount of time eating and a good amount of time picking berries for her basket. When I told her we were going strawberry picking she said ‘I know what shirt I’m going to wear!’ And it was just perfect.

We spent about an hour picking our berries and then went and had a picnic lunch under a nice shady tree. It was such a gorgeous day out and I just spent the whole time we were out there feeling so incredibly grateful for all these little blessings in my life. Nice weather will do that for you.

We got a really good amount of berries, but I will tell you that a majority of them were gone by the end of the day. I seriously think strawberries are one of the greatest little treasures……so sweet and delicious!

And this is what the kids looked like after our picnic and strawberry eating fest. And this is why we never wear fancy clothes to pick strawberries……..it always ends with a strawberry face or strawberry body.

A nice man saw me trying to take pictures of the kids and offered to take a group picture of us. Don’t you just love when that happens? So here’s our strawberry picking crew…….it’s a miracle that everyone’s faces are pointing towards the camera……seriously……..a miracle.

A couple years ago I made some really delicious Cinnamon Strawberry Muffins (recipe found here) and this year I decided to try something new. If you follow me over on Instagram (@thecottagemama) you might already know what it is……….it turned out so yummy……I can’t wait to share!

Strawberry picking has become an annual tradition for us. I took the girls picking when I was pregnant with Cass, we went last year when he was just a baby and I carried him on me in the Ergo carrier and now look at the three of them. It’s amazing how time flies!