It's still so hot in Texas and it's a shame that I'm no where near thinking about taking out my fall/winter clothes.  *Sigh* I guess this could be used to my advantage to sew more clothes for the upcoming chillier (not cold) months.  Since I'm still wearing all of my summer handmade garments I thought I would feature this pretty pull over dress by Very Easy Vogue (pattern V8968).  The material I used is challis and found it at...you guessed it, Hancock.  It has an abstract, tropical vibe and I love the colors.  I believe this is the second dress I've made for myself and I didn't have any problems making it.    The only part that could have turned out a bit better is the slit in the neck line.  The point at the bottom of the "V" has a small hole because I didn't sew the slanted line far down enough.  Also the flaps of the "V" hang forward rather than staying up.  I also think I could have gone down one size in the pattern.  This dress is so easy! Throw on some wedge sandals and statement necklace and you're good to go.

Family Dinners: Weeks 3, 4, and 5

I'm already behind on posting our family dinners for the week and I've also slacked on taking photos of the meals.  Gonna try to be better at this.  There have been some hits and misses with some of the recipes which I'll talk about below.  I'll also try to link the recipes when possible:

Week 3
Sun. - St. Louis Style Pork Ribs w/ Mashed Potatoes, Corn Radish Salad and Grilled Zucchini
Mon. - Leftovers
Tues. - Rosemary Chicken Thighs w/ Parmesan Asparagus and French Bread
Wed. - Beef Fajita's

The rosemary chicken thighs were not a hit with the kids.  I got the recipe from an Everyday Food cookbook but tweaked it.  I think I put too much rosemary so the flavor was too intense for everyone.  But on the bright side, the corn radish salad recipe is delish and was a hit at our Sunday BBQ!

Week 4
Mon. - Marinated Skirt Steak w/ Mac & Cheese and Spinach Salad
Tues. - Turkey Tacos w/ Charro Beans
Wed. - Lemon Pepper Chicken w/ Green Beans and Buttered Rice
Thurs. - Raviolis w/ Meat Sauce and Pesto, Roasted Cauliflower

I've been using this Rachel Ray mac and cheese recipe for a few months now and I love it!  The white cheddar makes it so I recommend getting a high quality cheese.  It'll be totally worth it!

Week 5
Mon. - Baked Salmon w/ Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Spinach
Tues. - Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken w/ Pasta and Garlic Green Beans
Wed. - Ground Beef Red Enchiladas w/ Mexican Rice
Thurs. - Baked Cheddar Egg and Potatoes w/ Spinach Salad

The balsamic chicken recipe did not work out for me.  First of all, I got the recipe from the All Recipes magazine (not the website) and I guess there was a misprint.  It said to cook it on low for 2.5 hours.  The chicken was not done and the onions were still raw.  So I had to give more snacks to the kids and hold out a bit longer for it to finish cooking (no fun).  Many of the onions were still under cooked.  But this dish has potential.  I would probably brown the chicken and sauteed the onions for a little bit on the stove before putting in the slow cooker.  Despite the mess that it was, the kids actually loved this dish!

Front Slit Maxi Dress

One of my first dresses that I sewed is this beautiful and easy to make maxi dress from Mimi G.  For those that don't know, Mimi G is a seamstress and stylist based out of LA.  She has lots of video sewing tutorials posted on YouTube that are great and easy to follow.  Mimi also has created a pattern line with Simplicity and sometimes will film a video tutorial to sew along with them.  So cool!  I found this front slit maxi dress pattern and video tutorial for sale on her website and thought it was so cute and versatile.  Depending on the fabric is could be a casual day time dress or and beautiful date night dress.  The fabric I used was from Hancock Fabric's clearance table (I'm telling you, this place was my jam) and it feels like a rayon/poly blend, but I'm not too sure because it wasn't labeled.  The bodice pattern was created from an old t-shirt and the skirt part was measured out.  The video tutorial was awesome - very clear and detailed.  I didn't have enough fabric to make the dress a little longer so I wear flats with the dress.  The only alteration I made was adding a snap to the front where the bodice crisscrosses, otherwise it would be wide open and show my bra and business!  I've worn this dress quite a few times over the summer for nights out on the town and always get compliments.   I still want to make this dress with a solid color.

 

Open Back Swing Top

Earlier this year I started started diving in to sewing a few easy tops for the summer time.  I came across Simplicity's pattern 1589 just browsing the web and it checked a lot of boxes for me.  Cute, flow-y, back cut out....yes, yes, yes!  Plus it's a pattern to help learn some basic sewing techniques, double checks!!  And yes this was a super easy top to make.  I cut out size 14 but I really could have gotten away with the 12.  I do need to wear a small bra so you can't see it through the arm holes and back cut out.  The fabric was purchased from the clearance table at Hancock Fabrics (RIP *sad face*), so I'm not sure of the fabric type but it feels like a rayon blend.  I love this top and will be wearing it with jeans through the early fall.