FO: Lady in Red

"Lady in Red"

Just the Facts:
Fabric:  1 yard of red 95% rayon/5% spandex knit from JoAnn's  $7

Notions:  Thread from stash, clear elastic

Pattern:  Lady Skater
Year:  modern ~2013
Time to Complete:  probably 4 hours because I mistakenly bought the wrong length of fabric and I had to get really creative when cutting the pieces.  That took probably 2 hours by itself.  I was NOT buying more fabric for this dress.

First Worn:  March 9, 2014
Wear Again:  yes again and again and again
Total Cost:  $7 not including the pattern

Lady Skaters are, in fact, taking over my closet.

 

I decided to try a different place in my yard for photos this time.  The sun is right there first thing in the morning.  Directly on my right shoulder is my crab apple tree and a bit further to my right is an apple tree.  Those were here before I got here and the branches are all kinds of unruly.  I do what I can to get them back in shape each year.  I have a few more baby fruit trees behind me too.

 

Enough about the trees.  This dress was quite a challenge for me to make because I didn't buy the right amount of fabric.  In order for me to fit everything, I had to get incredibly creative with pattern placement.  Nary a scrap of fabric was wasted.

 

This is my Victoria's Secret shot.  I love the sunspots on some of these photos!

 

I don't have much to say about the construction of this dress that I haven't already said before.  It gets easier ever time.  I don't think I referenced the instructions at all.  I'm still using the size 3 for the bodice and sleeves and size 2 for the skirt, grading down to the 2 at the waist.

 

I got so many compliments wearing this dress.  Well, I still get compliments every time I wear this dress.  Someone told me I looked stunning in my red dress.  

 

I think it's the perfect shade of red for me.  The higher hem is growing on me.  I love the shape and silhouette of this dress.

 

This is quite literally all the fabric left of my yard after cutting the pattern pieces.  I cut the long sleeve cuff pattern piece because I thought it would simply leave me with a narrower cuff on my 3/4 length sleeve.  I was mistaken.  The cuffs are the same height with a narrower horizontal width on the long sleeve.  I had to S-T-R-E-T-C-H the cuff when I was sewing it on the sleeve.  That was my only true construction problem once I had all the pattern pieces cut out.  I could have cut the cap sleeves, but I don't like that style as much on this dress.  I'm glad it worked in the end!

MMM 14: Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of Me Made May!  Nothing fancy this week. 

 

On Tuesday, I wore my "Third Time's the Charm" Colette Parfait with an orange Express cardigan (circa 2004) and Delman Marli shoes.

 Wednesday saw another appearance of my Little Black Lady Skater with my gold Charles & David shoes.

Me Made May is fun!  I seem to be planning out my outfits in advance now, so I feel I wear more of a variety of my wardrobe.  It's great!  :)

I keep waiting for the rain to start at home today.  I'm planning a 10 mile run and I don't want to get stuck in a downpour at mile 6.  Hurry up and rain so the rain can hurry up and GO AWAY!

Food Friday: Chicken & Chorizo Paella

I made my delicious paella for thesnarkyllama's knit-in last weekend and I wanted to share the recipe with you.  I was so surprised at how quickly the paella went.  Everyone loved it!  Makes the nurturer in me feel awesome!  Paella as I make it is a really easy dish to make.  Paella in Valencien Spanish means pan and the dish as it originated was a wide shallow pan layered with rice, rabbit, seafood, and vegetables.  I don't eat seafood and vastly prefer a Mexican style paella.  This dish isn't the most aesthetically-pleasing out there, but it's flavor more than makes up for that.  This is my recipe and when I was making it, I was all "it's my food; I do what I want."  So in went this and that.  You can use this as a base and customize it as you prefer.

Chicken and Chorizo Paella

Ingredients:
1 pound Mexican Chorizo
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or your preferred section of chicken)
1 large yellow onion
2 tomatoes
2 green bell peppers
3 large cloves of garlic, minced or 1 Tbsp
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups rice
1/2 cup quinoa
4 cups chicken stock (16 oz box)

Cooking instructions:
Cook chicken until no pink remains; set aside to cool.  In the same pan, brown chorizo sausages.  Depending on the brand you buy, your sausage may end up in crumbles.  This is totally fine.  While the chicken and/or sausages are cooking, chop the vegetables into approximately 1/2" squares.  Keep the tomatoes in a separate bowl from the peppers and onions.  In a big pot, combine the rice, quinoa, and chicken stock and bring to a boil.  At the same time, break the chicken up into smaller pieces.  Once the rice is boiling, add everything else except the tomatoes, lower the temperature to medium-low, and cover to simmer. When the edges of the onions start becoming translucent (about 10 minutes), add the tomatoes.  Stir occasionally to keep the rice from sticking.  It's done when the rice is cooked through and all the chicken stock is absorbed.  This usually takes about 45 minutes.

You could also make this in a crock pot.  I'm very inexperienced when it comes to cooking in a crock pot, but this is my guess on how to make this recipe that way.  Follow all the instructions above except cook the rice, quinoa, and chicken stock on their own in the crock pot for about an hour on high.  Then add everything else and allow to cook for probably 4 more hours.  There is a lot of moisture in the vegetables to cook away.

Quinoa was something I added just because I had some sitting there.  You could easily skip that or add more rice in it's place.  You could also use water instead of chicken stock.  The flavor won't be quite the same, but it will be tasty anyway.  I also hear people love shrimp in their paella.  You would want to add those in the last 8-10 minutes of simmering so they don't get balloony.  I forgot to add a bay leaf to this latest paella.  Those add a good flavor especially if you use water instead of chicken stock.

Helpful tip about chorizo:  That stuff is GREASY.  Drain that meat before you add it to the big pot.

Try it.  Love it.  Tell me all about it!  The printer-friendly version is here.  (link will open in a new window)