Tutorial and Pattern: Cashmere BatBaby Hat & Beddy-Bye Beast

As promised, I am back with another little tutorial for you--this one on how to make a cashmere BatBaby Hat and accompanying Beddy-Bye Beast. This is from a very early design I made when I very first started making plushies--of course, the design has evolved and been improved upon about 143 times since that first attempt (yes, 143--some of us just cannot seem to get it right the first time or about 142 more times thereafter...).

And one of the loveliest things about both of these designs is that they are made with cashmere--and not just any old cashmere, but cashmere gleaned from reclaimed sweaters. What do I mean by reclaimed? Well, for me that generally means thrifted--or sometimes, old sweaters my lazy friends dump on me so they do not need to bother with the GoodWill donation. Also, what you should know about the hat is that it is reversible--and it will fit a 6-18 month old baby. And what you should know about the Beddy-Bye Beast is that I put a little packet of calming herbs inside of it (equal parts chamomile, lavendar, roses, and hops)--but that is optional really. And also, I have included the designs for all 5 beasts pictured above in the tutorial .
And now you should go make your own. For sure. This makes a superduper baby gift and the hat really is freakin adorable on a baby. Like, squeal-worthy adorable. Get your own copy of the tutorial with patterns right here:
DOWNLOAD TUTORIAL

And one other thing? I started a Chez Beeper Bebe Flickr group where you can show off your own interpretation of one of my designs/projects--but mostly I started it because I am nosey and would love to see what any of my readers out there are doing with these tutorials and stuff. Humor me. Please. You can find the Flickr group here.

Shamelessly Soliciting Your Votes

Dear and Lovely Chez Beeper Bebe Readers,
Did you know that right now, as we speak, that Sew Mama Sew is asking people to vote on their very favorite tutorials from the Scrap Buster contest I entered my plush alphabet tutorial in? You can vote for up to 8 different tutorials that were featured on the site this month, but you need only pick 1 if you really want to--like, uh, me.

So, would you, could you, vote for me? There is free fabric at stake here--and think of it this way--the more fabric I have in my coffers, the more likely you are to see more tutorials because it does take fabric to make things, and fabric can inspire all new creations than one might be inclined to share with one's readers...hypothetically, of course. Not that I am suggesting I would actually pay my readers off for voting for me...

Is that the crafting ethical conduct committee I hear calling? Excuse me, gotta run...

Oh, and you can vote for me here--if you really want to. (wink, wink)
Democratically Yours,
Holly

Recycle Your Food: Roasted Tomatoes & What to Do with Them

I've been wanting to do this for a while--share some of the ways I use up food that might otherwise get tossed out into the compost or trash. I love the notion of recycling your food, that you can suddenly create something not just merely edible, but something delicious with over-ripe fruits, a glut of end-of-season-not-quite-ripe tomatoes, the heels and left over bits of breads, and old chicken bones. So, I bring you installment number 1 in Recycle Your Food: What to do with all those less than ideal tomatoes you might have sitting around ripening on your window sills.

The answer is simple and a snap to prepare--make some oven-roasted tomatoes. What I love about this technique is that the tomatoes are SO lovely tasting this way--even those less than ideal tomatoes that did not ripen on the vine or those lackluster mid-winter grocery-store tomatoes. You can also include tomatoes just slightly past their prime, gone a bit wrinkly and a little mushy, if you must. And what I love about this technique even more than how lovely tasting they are is the fact that with little fuss you can prepare loads of tomatoes in this way, and simply package them up and freeze them for later enjoyment. I mean with winter setting in, I so dig hoarding food likeI am a squirrel. There is comfort in knowing you have 8 bags of roasted tomatoes in your freezer. Or maybe that's just me.
Anyway, here is the recipe for oven-roasting your own batch of tomatoes:
DOWNLOAD OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES RECIPE

And then, if you want something to actually make with those lovely little roasted tomatoes--well, this is one of my favorites--a pasta made with roasted tomatoes, feta and pesto. It is so much flavor in your mouth make sure you have some nice red wine to offset it with. Really. I'm serious. It would be a shame not to.
And here are the recipes for the pasta, as well as for the pesto you will need to make the pasta dish:
DOWNLOAD ROASTED TOMATO PASTA RECIPE
DOWNLOAD PESTO RECIPE
Happy food recyling and roasted tomato hoarding.

What to do in Washington DC when it rains and rains and rains...

Every single friggin' day we were in Washington DC it was rain, rain and more rain. Each morning we would wake at our lovely hotel, and eagerly part the curtains, smiling optimistically to the sky, thinking maybe today...but no. We were served up with a cold and steady downpour each day--except when it was blowing sideways into our faces and turning our umbrellas inside out (in which case I cussed under my breath at the weather gods--and even ended the trip by tossing the damn umbrella in the hotel's trash before hightailing it to the airport).

But we are Minneasotans afterall, so cold nail-gun-like driving rains really do not deter us too much--I mean, we live in bitchass freezing conditions 6 months of the year. So we put on our boots and slogged through the puddles en route to the King Street Metro station each morning, and boarded our subway car, and then rode the escalators up from the underground, triumphantly holding our cheap umbrellas high over our heads like battle swords as we emerged into downtown, determined to see some new piece of DC we had not yet seen. And as it turns out, Washington DC is perfect for the rain-weary, what with the gazillions of museums and galleries lining the mall, which make perfectly lovely storm shelters, opening their free arms to the weather embattled each day. God bless America, I tell you.

So, anyway, we managed to make it round to several museums where we spent long afternoons, and ate exhorbitantly expensive cafeteria lunches and took ridiculous amounts of photos of museum displays in lieu of taking photos of the monuments most people come to DC to see. See for yourself...

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ...The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum...The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian The United States Botanic Garden and Conservatory (for when you are tired of dioramas and want something a little greener)And if you are not just being nice, and politely feigning interest in this blog post, but actually feel like you would like to see more...well, you can do that because I have uploaded our DC photos to my Flickr site and you can see those right here, you lucky reader, you.

Hotel Monaco

Hm, yes. I suppose you are asking yourselves, what is this place? Why, the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, VA, of course. This is where we stayed on a recent visit in Washington, DC. And yes, it is completely a gauche grandeur sort of decor--but we were so loving it. In fact, it may well have been the highlight of the trip (in close tie with the animal skeleton display at the Smithsonian--more on that later). Let me show you around... Now you see what there is to love, no? The blast of color and patterns are like Marie Anotinette and Keith Richards got married and birthed a hotel. And during a week of solid gray and eternal rain, well, I found myself smiling everytime I strolled into the hotel. All those patterns are enough to give you baroque acid-trip flashbacks...

(the ottoman and carpet in our room) (lizard embossed wallcovering in our room)(paisley velveteen upholstery in the lobby)(wallpaper in our bathroom)(kaleidoscope upholstery on a chair in the lobby)Yes, and then there were these in our room's closet--1 adult leopard-print robe, 1 adult zebra-print robe, 1 child-sized leopard robe. All we were missing were the complimentary half-drunk bottles of champagne strewn around the room.And you should also know that this hotel actually prides itself on being KID-FRIENDLY (hence the leopard robe for kids). This is Beeper with the companion goldfish named MariNero who was delivered to our room upon arrival. Our pet for the week. (and also, you can bring your own pet, if you have one. Cats and dogs are welcome and they even have a doggie happy hour with treats and bowls of water for the doggies and cocktails for their humans). The service was warm and gracious, the food from room service was delivered up from the delightful Jackson 20 restaurant adjacent to the hotel, and there is even an indoor pool, dimly lit the color of absinthe (and a life guard on duty!). I have been converted. Praise, Klimpton Hotels (the company that owns the Hotel Monaco)--for their cool and happy style, friendly service, fun features, eco-friendly commitment, and being something different than all the rest.

Tutorial: How to Make a Plush Alphabet

So, here it is--my plush alphabet magnet tutorial. This is a bit of a quick and dirty project--and I think it lends itself to inexactitude--so when I say things in the instructions like that you should cut 26 8x4 inch pieces of fabric--please, save your self the trouble and just eyeball it and cut the fabric out. Same with the cotton batting--eyeball and cut. Who's going to care if you the hole you cut out on the letter "O" is a little wonky? I won't--I mean, look at that hole on my own letter "O" above. This pot will not be calling any kettles black.

I meant to make a little drawstring bag with an "ABC" applique on the front to store all the magnets in--but ran out of time since I had to leave for Washington DC for work yesterday...but I may just come back and edit this post later to include a little drawstring bag--but I'll have to get back to you on that one.
So, here is where you can grab the tutorial:
DOWNLOAD PLUSH ALPHABET TUTORIAL

Now, go make some plush alphabet magnets for yourself or the kiddos in your life.

Later: A reader and Meg (whose blog I absolutely ADORE) left a note about Sew Mama Sew's Scrapbuster contest (who knew?)--so I decided to go ahead and submit this tutorial for the contest. Loads of brilliant ideas over at the Sew Mama Sew blog about lovely things to make with all those scraps overtaking your craft space...click on the image below for instant scrapalicious fun:Really--all the good stuff over there has me wondering how many holiday gifts I could manage to make solely from my scraps...the mind reels with possibilities....

So Much WIP Around Here...

Lots of work in progress going on around here. This is why I am not over here, at Chez Beeper Bebe, quite as often right now...because I am tethered to my scissors and awash in felted sweaters and hunched over my sewing machine. And I'll let you in on a little secret: I am getting ready for a nice big shop update in early November. And one more thing--I have several tutorials I am working on to share with you--yep, that's right, you. Just because you are so worth it and because once I get an idea in my head like, gee, it sure would be swell to share a new tutorial every other week leading up to the holidays, the idea positively consumes me like a bad rash--well, my husband likes to say I am cursed with vision (and I know what he really means is that he is the one cursed with having a wife who has vision). Anyway...so that is what's up around here. Just in case you were wondering.