About Tricia

I am Tricia. Momma of nine, homeschooler, artist, foodie and maker of all kinds of things. It's a pleasure to share here our family homesteading adventures, the things we make, and what inspires our days. Read more about my family and work here. Thanks for visiting!

Author Archive | Tricia

Men’s suit shirt to baby pinafore dress refashion

By Tricia on March 14, 2011 in Refashion, sewing

I found this today and realized that I never shared this refashion project with you. I do that ALOT. I promise to share more of my projects with you from now on. Anyhoo…I made this dress for Livie back in the fall for her Thanksgiving outfit. The pictures are not the best, they were taken at sundown but you get the idea.

Poppa gave me this Nautica shirt which did not fit anymore but was practically brand new and I loved the fabric (which is why I bought it for him in the first place).

He handed it to me and said “see what you can make with this”. Ummm…Yes Sir! Did you just ask me to embark on a new refashion project..swoon! The shirt is way wrinkled, sorry but its the only one I took. I did not really expect to like the end product so…there you go.

In my stash I found some stretchy cotton velour which felt like velvet which I used to make the pinafore top. The shirt fabric reminds me of a pique weave. The body of the dress was so easy. I just cut the shirt straight across just below the shirt pocket, ran a gathering stitch along the cut edge and attached it to the brown velour top portion. I then serged the raw edges in the inside (if you don’t have a serger you could zigzag the raw edge on the inside). The hem is already done for you unless you don’t like the curved bottom of the shirt. I wanted it to be all the same level so I cut it straight and rehemmed it but if you leave it you can really see that it is made from a man’s shirt which is really cute.

The pantaloons are made of the sleeves which were really easy to cut off and sew together to make the legs and bottom portion. Livie has a big bottom so I needed more fabric so I cut the sleeves including some of the fabric from the shoulders as you can see in that seam there. I made a casing and threaded some elastic thru..done.

I made another casing from the brown velour, sewed in onto where the white ruffle meets the shirt fabric and left the ends open to thread some satin brown ribbon through and tied a bow.

to finish the Autumn look I drew an acorn and embroidered the design on which I sewed to the front of the pinafore. This was the perfect Thanksgiving outfit and so easy to make. Next time your hubby hands you a shirt that he does not want (or you make a great find at a thrift store) get your refashion on.

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Meatless friday meal- Rice and salmon fritter burger with Joi Choi slaw

By Tricia on March 12, 2011 in Meatless Friday, Recipes

So I missed posting the Friday meal because we are up to some major projects around the house which I will be posting in two weeks so stay tuned but I am posting this on Sunday and cheating by post dating with Fridays date.

This is a super cheap and delish recipe. I made it with just whatever I had in the fridge and garden but will be making it again intentionally. You can substitute any fish you have on hand or even tuna if thats all ya got. This is actually a big fritter but works great as a burger patty.

Heres what you need:

Fritter patty
2 cups cooked rice
2 pieces of fish about the size of your palm, cooked and flaked
Cup of corn
2 eggs
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk (I am not sure but I think you could substitute some other liquid here if you do not drink milk)
1 tsp baking powder
Thyme (we used fresh because we have it in the garden but I suppose you could use dried) or just grow some herbs, you will use them.
Salt
oil for frying

In a bowl, mix everything together. In a frying pan add enough oil to cover the sides of your pan about an inch. On medium high heat, drop your mixture into the hot oil as if you were making pancakes. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

Joi Choi slaw

You may not be able to find this anywhere, it is one of the staples in my garden here in Moss Flower farm but you might be able to find some Bok choi and that would work the same way

2 handfuls of raw Choi
Extra virgin olive oil (because I really hate saying or reading EVOO haha)
2 cloves of garlic minced
half an spanish yellow onion finely chopped
3 tbsps pomegranate red wine vinegar (you could use any type of red wine vinegar)
salt

Chop all your veggies slaw style, season salt , pour a little (we used a few tablespoons) olive oil in your hot pan, and sautee the onions and garlic, add the choi and vinegar. Sautee it all up until wilted but still crunchy. Be careful not to burn your garlic or choi because it will become bitter.