Shortbread Fantasies recipe (SSSOOOO Good!)

Shortbread plain

Ok, so I have a little admission ~ I LOVE shortbread!  It all started when ....  no, it actually all started when I was a little girl, & my mom made all these awesome homemade goodies ~ granola, pickles, bread, jam, fruit leather, you name it, she made it, and in GOURMET style. 

Amongst all those tasty delicacies, was melt in your mouth shortbread. 

Fast forward many (many....) years to last week. 

There we were, My son & I , standing in the cookie isle, while he tried to decide what sort of cookies he wanted for a scout trip.  As my eyes wandered about, I saw a package of Lorna Doone's.  And then I remembered with fondness (much, actually) the delicious taste of my mother's shortbread.

That sort of started something in the two little OCD brain cells I have left.  In fact, it sparked a long-held-off desire for that heavenly buttery goodness.  I've been eating so righteously for years...surely one little bitty bit of shortbread wouldn't kill me off, right?

I sort of denied the desire to have shortbread... thought. oh no, not a wise choice.  But then ~ my son ALSO decided he wanted to try it.  He said " Wait, what?  Shortbread is a cookie that tastes of butter & sugar?  Can there be anything better?  Can it include chocolate & carmel?"

Being a ~ love to cook for those who will appreciate it ~ type of cook, I immediately began mulling over just WHAT sort of shortbread to make.  (Yes, yes, I know.. but if my son was WANTING to eat it, why I could justify 1 pound of butter shorbread immediately ~ no qualms about it!)

Since I couldn't find my mother's recipe, I started searching the net, basically researching shortbread.  I found several tasty looking recipes, & lots of commentary on different recipes ~ thought I might make one recipe, then would find yet another, seemingly better one.

Finally, however, I decided to just make up my own.

Shortbread with caramel & chocolate on top

Since my husband likes things a little less sweet, I kept half of the pan plain, & on the other half I spread caramel, Ghiradeli's extra dark, semi-sweet, & butterscotch chips.  I reccomend serving these with vanilla icecream, as they are soooo good, but soooo powerfully rich!

Close-up of the shortbread, you can see the flaky nature of the cookie, you must cook them long enough, cut while warm, & then CHILL them before serving.

I served these up for dinner tonight, and literally, an entire 18"x12" pan was gone (GONE) in 7 1/2 minutes!  So I guess they turned out allright.  ;-D

Ok, so get to the recipe already, right?  ;-D

Carol's Best Shortbread Ever (humble, I know :-D)

Oven: 325*F

Bake Time: 20 - 30 minutes, depending on desired crispness

Yield:  18"x12" pan, when baked as bars, 72 thumbprints as cookies

Ingredients:  2 cups (4 sticks, or 1 pound) GRADE AA Butter ~ room temperature

3/4 Cup packed Brown sugar

1/4 cup powdered confectioner's sugar ( also called icing sugar)

1 tsp REAL Vanilla extract

1 tsp REAL almond extract

1 cup cornstarch

2 3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour for board to knead

A few words about the ingredients ~ as all good chef's & cooks know ~ there is NO SUBSTITUTE for butter, & the higher the grade, the better the butter.  Shortbread simply should NOT be made with anything else.  The butter is a huge contributor to overall flavor, flakiness, & melting point.  Another NO SUBSTITUTE ingredient is the vanilla & almond extracts.  Also, yes, I know, the one whole CUP of cornstarch looks wrong, but it isn't.  Cornstarch is a type of flour, & in this case, it contributes to the lightness & texture of the shorbread. 

Process:  Put the four sticks of butter into a bowl with the packed brown sugar ( I only like to use the Dark Brown from C&H, it's real cane sugar) & powdered sugar.  Use a pastry cutter to mix up the butter & sugar.  Once you have mixed in the butter & sugars, scrape off the cutter ( & your hands! ;-D) & add the vanilla & almond extracts.  Fold in with spatula a bit.

In a separate bowl, measure in the 2 3/4 cups flour, salt, & cornstarch.  Whisk together, then add to the sugars, butter & extracts mixture.  Make sure you have that little 1/4 cup of flour in a measure cup waiting for you to use, because you will need it to flour the counter/board.  This is where it gets fun.  CAREFULLY stick your hands in the bowl, & start squishing away!  If you aren't careful here, you will poof flour all over.  Moosh & goosh till you have worked it into a dough. (There may be a bit of flour left on the sides or bottom ~ scrape this all out & work it in when you knead the dough.) 

Now is the time to sprinkle some of the flour onto the counter ~ then dump your dough onto the floured counter.  Knead the dough for a few minutes.  This is really quite fun, & it makes a beautiful workable dough. 

This is where you have to decide ~ what am I going to do with all of this lovely dough?  Should I pull off little balls, shove my thumb into them, dump some of that tasty spiced pear jam into the middle & bake them?  Or should I press the whole thing into an 18"x12"x1" cookie sheet, prick randomly with a fork, & go for the bars?

In this instance ( as you can see from the pics), I went for the bars, & then added some more tasty goodness after they finished baking.  By the way, the cookies should only have the lightest of browning on the bottom & edges.  Here's what to do for carmel:

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

A little bit ( maybe 1/4 cup) of whipping cream

Heat the milk up slowly, on low heat, add in the cream a little at a time, once it has darkened some ( it won't be the dark color of store-bought carmel, if you wait for it to get that dark, you will have rock hard carmel that is difficult to spread.) test it for taste, & spread it across the top of the shortbread.  One can spreads nicely over half the pan, so if you want to cover the whole shebang, you'll need to double the recipe.

Don't worry if the top of the shortbread pulls up in a few places, the chocolate will cover it.

Speaking of the chocolate, here's my easy cheesy way of doing it ~ sprinkle chips ( I used Ghiradeli's extra-dark, semi-sweet, & butterscotch chips) evenly over the top of the carmel.

Now pop the whole thing in the oven ( still at 325*F) & let it sit in there for about 5 or 6 minutes.

To test if the chips are melted enough, take an icing knife and spread the edge.  If it spreads, its done.

Take it out, spread it, & then cut the squares.

Make them smallish ~ these are DEVASTATING! ;-D

Now, if you can resist, only cut a few out for tasting ~ they will crumble.  Put them in the fridge to chill for a bit.  This GREATLY helps relieve the crumble issue.  But don't let them sit there too long, or they will be hard to get out (we are talking butter fats here ~ fats harden in cold temps...;-D... yes, I learned the hard way...)

 If you can possibly handle it, wait till the next day to eat these ~ they will make you sigh with sweet happiness.... oh, and you will likely need a glass of water nearby, cuz, again, VERY RICH!

Enjoy!

Pear Rhubarb Jam

from left to right ~ pear rhubarb jam, peach butter, spiced pear jam

This jam turned out so tasty & delicious, I decided to share it around.  I originally got the idea from a recipe on the Hitchhiker to Heaven blog, & had indeed intended to make the very recipe she posted.  However, that wild little creativity hair got loose again, & well, this is the end result.  Oddly enough, though the vanilla bean portion was the original inspiration & draw to even google a recipe with that ingredient, in the end, once again, I diverted.  ( Is this starting to sound like one of my crochet stories?....)

Wood Genius claims the issue is that I have a difficult time taking instruction / orders / direction from anyone.  Period.  I don't necessarily think that is so,  I just seem to have a ..... digression.. issue.  ;-D

But I digress.

:-D

If any of you would like the peach butter or the spiced pear jam, I will post those recipes as well. 

I have half a box of pears left, so I still do have a chance to make the vanilla pear jam......

Pear Rhubarb Jam

1/4" to 1/2" headspace
12 minutes waterbath  (10 minutes for most folks, I am at a higher altitude)
yeild : 7 pints

4 cups rhubarb ~ rinsed, cut into 1" pc's ( I had put mine in the freezer to keep it while the pears ripened, so mine was frozen)
16 - 20 ripe pears ~ peeled, cored & halved
1/3 cup water
1 c brown sugar
2 c white sugar
1 heaping full tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
optional ~ a bit of red food coloring

*Take your rhubarb & the 1/3 cup of water & cook down in a saucepan, till rhubarb is quite soft. Set aside, with lid on to keep warm.
*In the meantime, peel, core & halve the pears. Put into your large kettle & mash. ( I used one of those awesome 5-spined mashers from Pampered Chef that my mother in law got me ~ I think it's meant to break up hamburger, but it works perfectly to mash up fruit without pulverizing it, & makes it so that you don't have to chop finely. Thank you Delora!!)
*Heat the pears up till softened, then mix in the rhubarb.
*Let this mixture simmer, stirring frequently.
*While that is simmering, measure all of your sugars, spices & pectin into a bowl, & mix thoroughly.
*Once you have done that, bring your pear/rhubarb mixture up to a boil for a full 2 minutes.
*Add red food coloring here if you desire. About 10 drops makes a very pretty rhubarby color, especially once the brown sugar & o.j. get added in, but some folks don't go for fake colors, & it really isn't necessary ~ just looks pretty.
*Now that your mixture is up to a full boil for 2 minutes, you are ready to add in the sugars & spices.
*Fold those in quickly, making certain everything is dissolved & bring your jam back up to a boil.
*Add in the heaping tablespoon of frozen orange juice concentrate.
*Maintain the boil for another minute or so, then remove from heat.
*Fill jars, wipe rims, cap & water-bath process 12 minutes.
        Enjoy!!

Harvesting the Bounty (or Fall is the Color Orange)

I love Autumn!  And I love the color orange.  It seems the two go hand in hand so well.  Take this beautiful bowl of peachcots, for instance.  Beautiful (free!!) fruit makes canning a joy!  Yes, it takes all day, (sometimes all week) & I am usually swearing off ever canning again by the end of it all, but ohhh... how lovely all that beautiful fruit is!  It just begs to be put up & brought back out again in the depth of dreary winter ~ to remind you that indeed the sun will shine again, earth will give up her bounty, & you will once again know the flavors & scents of fresh produce, straight from either your own backyard or your neighbors.

In this instance, my neighbor has a lovely peachcot tree that she no longer can harvest, so myself & another neighbor went & picked all that we could, canned it, & then went & shared some of the results with that neighbor.  That's how we do it around here.  If you happen to come across a tree that is just dropping produce on the ground, you find the owner, ask if you could maybe pay to pick some of the fruit ( this is the polite thing to do), they of course will deny that & just give you the fruit for free ( that's also the polite thing to do), & then once you've made up some of the goods, you of course return & give the kind neighbor some of the tasty end results.  It works out well for all involved. 

Here are some of the peachcots all halved & ready to go in the top of my Nutri-steamer.  Once again, I must pronounce happiness upon the heads of the Nutri-steamer manufacture'ers (sp?).  This product is one of my awesomest & most beloved pieces of canning equipment EVER!  I'm putting it right up there with the pressure cooker.  Seriously, if you can ever put enough away to get one, DO IT! They are worth every penny & then some!  This one cost me $120 or so ( it's been a few years) & I bought it off of eBay.  The stainless steel pot on the bottom of the set-up alone is worth it.  It just makes canning so EASY!

You have minimal preparation, stick the fruit in the top of the juicer, ( fill the bottom pot with water & a few tbspn's of vinegar to retard hard water staining), let it go a few hours on simmer, & VIOLAA!, the middle section fills up with juice or nectar, ready to drain off ( has a handy dandy drain hose & pinch) at 220+ degrees F right into your hot jar, pop on the dome & lid, & it's done, baby!

Of course, some of those peachcots & some of the apricots that another neighbor brought over got put into the dehydrator.  They will make great additions to trail mix when the family goes hiking next summer.  I also made up about 10 sheets of peachcot fruit leather.  ( For every 1 cup of fruit, add 1/2 cup of honey.)  One thing about fruit leather, however, don't forget to put a very thin sheen of olive oil or saffola oil onto the dehydrator sheet, or you will be cursing every little tug & tear of that leather! ;-D

Here's another awesome thing about that Nutri-steamer ~ if you love fruit leathers, you can simply use the left-over pulp in the top of the steamer for your fruit leather. (provided you pitted the produce, otherwise, you'll have to pick pits first.)   Easy sqweezy!

More peachcots ~ they were just so beautiful!

This is some of the peachcot nectar produced in the Nutri-steamer.  Have you ever bought apricot nectar from the store, in that big old can?  Have you ever looked on the back & been dissapointed to find out that it's only a stupid 20% juice?  The rest of it is high fructose corn syrup & crap?  Well, this home canned golden treasure in the bottles is 100% true nectar, & I would even say somewhat of a concentrate, as you can water it down some & STILL get a better flavor & healthfulness at HALF potency than that horrid store-bought excuse for fruit juice.

This is the pureed peachcots just before I added some other goodies to make a very unusual & yet highly delicious mixed fruit jam.

As it happens, I had some leftover strawberries in the freezer from last year ( I usually freeze berries, since we make a lot of smoothies) that I wanted to use up, so I decided to make up a jam after my daughter's favorite smoothie combination.  I used about 2 lbs of frozen strawberries, 1 can of orange juice concentrate, & probably 12 to 18 cups of peachcot puree, all blendered together, then sugar (5 or six cups) & 2 or 3 tablespoons vinegar.  Cook till thickened, & waterbath process for 10 minutes.

I called it strawberry peachcot surprise.  My kids said "what's the surprise?"  I said "It tastes divine!"   They said " good point".  ;-D

This is a whole counter full of peachcot goodness.  We put up 28 quarts total! 

Aren't they lovely?

Hehehe, had to insert a pic of the eggs in here.  We got a whole new flock of hens this year, & they finally ( finally!!!) began producing!  I was so thankful, I just had to take a pic to show you all.  Note the very large brown egg on the right, middle ~ yes, it looks larger because it's sitting next to a fart egg, but it really

IS larger as well ~ we have a buff orp consistently dropping doubles every other week. I love it!  Twinner eggs rock!

Here is a pic of some of the delicious peach butter my daughter & I canned today.  We put up 14 pints!  My daughters are doing canning as part of their home ec classes, & tomorrow my 14 yr old will be passing off her canning requirement by putting up another 14 pints entirely by herself!  I am really proud of her, because today she answered all of the questions correctly, she knew what to do, & tomorrow ( although I will be right there for just in case) she will be doing it herself!  I know, I know, I just repeated myself, but I am really quite proud of her.  I'm a bit of a stickler on asepsis, produce, & process, (you know, botulism,  flat-sour, & all that.. death.. nothing much..), so she actually has had quite a bit to learn, but I guess they HAVE all been canning with me ever since... well, since they were old enough to use a sharp knife.  ;-D

AHHH, & here we have the last ( so far!) little orange-ish gem.  It's actually more amber.  ;-D  This is honey that I cold processed into smaller, more use-able quantities.  What it WAS was a giant ( I am talking SIXTY [60!!] pounds!!) tin of pure raw honey from 1958 that we have been lugging around for Lo, These Many Years.  But in that form, it just wasn't very usable (obviously, still in the original square tin!).

I was a little nervous about it to begin with, but I did a TON of studying on the matter, & honey just doesn't go bad if it's pure. Also, I didn't want to heat it up, because I didn't want to ruin any of the beneficial enzymes & properties, so I wasn't quite sure how to proceed.  But here is where I had a stroke of genius ~ ok, ok, so it wasn't me, it was divine inspiration ~ I just bi-passed the whole idea of pouring it out or heating it up or anything, & got a can opener & rolled it around the top, & it came off beautifully!! 

Then I carefully inspected the honey ( it was quite granulated, as was to be expected), and I VERY carefully scooped away all the parts that had touched the top of the tin & seemed to be in any way tainted by rust.  (Although I later determined that it was just darker honey, not rust)

Then, I just used a flat, heavy-duty icecream scoop ( NOT the ball kind) & proceeded to scoop out the honey & put it into pint jars, put a dome & a ring on them, washed them all up with a cloth, & called it good.

I will also say, I was very careful to cover most of the honey while I packing it, with a piece of plastic wrap pressed right down on top of it, to keep off any yeasts or molds that might settle on it.  ( I guess yeasts & molds float around invisible in the air all the time... who knew?)

Cool thing about this honey ~ the flavor is SOO delicious!  Very intense, & the honey is a beautiful dark amber.  I have not ever heated it up enough to completely de-crystalize it, because I don't want to destroy any enzymes, but the grains are very tiny, so it's not a problem.  It has a look of dark creamed honey, or maybe a honey/butter, but it is just pure honey.

Another cool thing about this honey ~ Several times now, we have been getting sick with a cold, & have eaten this honey, & the cold has gone away.  Headache, sinus issues, cough... all gone.  Even the allergies!  How cool is THAT? ;-D

Yorkipoo Madness (or Why did I say yes... to THREE???!?)

These are our three Yorkipoo's (yorkie poo's, yorkiepoo's, yorki poo's....sp??)

I know, I know, they aren't real dogs... they are too small to do any good, they can't be potty trained.... yada yada yada. 

Or so says Wood Genius.  (Secretly, however, I have seen him cuddling & playing with them too! ;-D )

However, I have to say this:  these little dudes are sooo sweet, they love us, we love them, they cuddle, and they ARE potty trained.... well, kennel trained, anyway.

Wood Genius calls them yapper rat dogs.  We call them adorable!

Who can deny this cuteness though? 

This is Gustaf, or Guss, or Gussguss.

He is a  merle yorkipoo.  That means that he has one blue eye & one black eye.

It also means he looks a little dorky from time to time.  But he is SOOO cute!!!

He looks like a chinchilla or something.  Whatever a small furry rodent would look like. 

Here he is in a teacup.  No, it isn't a real teacup, it's one of those planters, but it still LOOKS cute as heck, doesn't it? 

Here is Gussguss just chillin' in the teacup~ these pups are a yorkshire terrier x miniature poodle cross, so I think they will likely get a little larger.  We think they are about 4 or 5 months old right now.  Story is, we found them at the pound, & they are all siblings.  We couldn't just take home one......oh no, I just couldn't do it.... so, we now have all three.

Typical Guss look ~ that little black nose is just so ADORABLE!  And my daughter just loves the fact that he has that one blue merle eye.

Here we see that Guss actually mans up once in a while.  These three siblings play very well together, but they also rough house very well together.  Jack is clearly the alpha amongst them, & believe it or not, the little girl Penny is the next one, and then there's poor Guss at the bottom.  But he does man up from time to time.

This is Sir Giacomo, or more commonly, Jack.  Like I said, he is the alpha.  And he takes that role very seriously.  When we found them at the pound, they were in a long cold cell, & he & Guss were protecting the little sister, Penny.  When he thought they were being accosted, he literally stood over the other two, ( while they hid under his belly) & snarled at the pound warden.  It took several days of constant loving to bring these three little sugars back to feeling like happy, playful pups. 

He is now a very happy, well-adjusted pup, however.  And I think I favor him over the other two just a bit.  He is a very good dog, & has learned to share the dog dish much better, as well as being the first to potty train.  In fact, if the other two make a peepee mistake, he really gets after them.  But he is also loving towards his siblings, and licks them & cuddles with them too.

I just can't believe that someone left these little guys in a box & then called the pound to come get them. We are pretty sure this must have been what happened because the box that the pound warden said they came in didn't have any urine or poo in it at all, nor was the puppies' hair dirty with it, or even leaves or dirt.  Their hair WAS matted, but it wasn't filthy, so I think that whoever had these little guys must have called the pound right away. 

I guess I should start from the beginning ~ The pound warden said that somebody called & said there was a box of puppies in a factory parking lot.  He went to pick them up, & put them in a cell at the pound.  The very next day, I happened to come along asking if they had any dogs in that I could take a look at. 

My daughter had been begging... I mean BEGGING!... me for a dog for some time (about 5 yrs), & so we had gone to the pound in our town to look for one, but the one that she wanted had already been spoken for.  She was rather heartbroken about it, so I told her that I would be going to my mom's town with the 3 younger kids to help out with some yard work, & that while I was there, I would stop by their pound to see if they had any dogs that might look a little like that one she had wanted so badly.

When I got there, the pound warden told me that he only had three pups in, so I asked if I could take a look.  Well, when I went into see them, I saw that there were some other dogs being boarded there as well, & it was plain that one of those boarded dogs had parvo, as there was a mess of dark red bloody diarrhea stool in it's cell.  The three yorkipoo pups, however, had absolutely nothing in their cell, so I figured that if they DID have parvo, it would have been only just barely.  At any rate, I saw the little girl, Penny (Miss Penitence), & I knew immediately that my daughter would just love her.  So we bought her & took her home.  Well, those other two dogs were just eating away at my conscience & my heart.  All night long I couldn't help but think how cold it was in that pound cell, & how that other dog  a few cells down had parvo, & SOOOO ~

the very next day,  I called my dad, & asked him if he could please go get the other 2 pups for me, & I drove the 2 hours back to my parents' town & picked them up! 

Am I a sucker??  OOOhhhh yeah!!  Here is Jack all washed up.  We waited a few days for them to feel comfortable, and then gave them all a bath & a nice brushing to remove the matted hair.  Of course, they all acted like new pups then!  It was also sooo sweet to see Penny meet her brothers at my folks' house.  (Yes, I took her back with us, so that she could help them feel better on the ride back home.  Which she did.  I think because they saw that she trusted us, they did too.)

Another pic of Guss.

And this is Miss Penitence, or Penny.  She is just such a sweet-natured doll. 

Isn't she precious?  I honestly can't imagine who or how they managed to end up in a pound cell on the very day that I actually consented (finally!, my heart wasn't ready to commit to a new dog after Amadeus, our Standard poodle.) to get another dog.  The only possible explaination I have is that God blessed us.

This is her sassy pose, & she does look like this a good deal of the time!  ;-D 

Now you are probably wondering how we could know that these are Yorkipoo's if they were just some mutts in a pound?  Well, I will tell you, first of all, we did a lot of research as to what various terrier cross pups looked like, then we took them into a groomer, to have their coats examined.  Now, having owned a poodle before, I can tell you that I was positive that these pups had to be part poodle, because their undercoats are curly, don't shed, and are soft as silk.  And looking at their faces, you can clearly see that it is Yorkshire terrier that has to be the other half. 

Also, since they are larger than a real teacup, or a teacup poodle or a teacup yorkie, I am certain that they had to be at least crossed with a miniature poodle, other wise they would have been smaller.

All of that aside, they are now happy, well-adjusted, kennel-trained pups, they have clearly put on a little weight, & even grown a little ( & we've only had them 3 weeks!), they DON'T have parvo, ( hallelujah!, I was SO worried about that!), & though they have added to the complexity of our lives, they have also added to our hearts, & we are so happy with them!!

So, yes, I said yes... to THREE ( & at the same time we are raising our new set of layers, too!), but in the end, I AM glad.  ;-D



1920's Doll & Children's Clothes ~ Again!

All right, here are a few of the promised outfits.  This is the 1929 Panty Frock.  I used a vintage cotton print fabric with cotton broadcloth contrast, vintage bias, and small pearl shell buttons.

This little apron is the 1927 Slip-On Apron with Pleat Detail.  I am not altogether happy with the total length, and so will alter the pattern again to make it longer.  It is made of vintage pink broadcloth and calico, with vintage blue piping, and pearl shell buttons.

This little 1927 Polly Ann Apron is made of vintage yellow cotton, cotton broadcoth contrast, and vintage bias.  I think I would prefer this to be a little fuller as well. 

 And here is a knitted cap, in vintage sport weight wool, to match her Panty Frock. 

I am working on making the Coat right now, as well as some spat tights with buttons on the sides.
I am also making some new patterns up for some other dresses, coats, bonnets, and such.

Lately I have also been looking into vintage swimsuits.  As my daughters all need some cute modest swimsuits for this summer, I have decided to make up some cute 1940's to 1950's styles for them.  I have been researching them, obtained a few vintage catalogs with pictures, and I think I can reproduce some very cute examples for the girls.  I believe I will make them more of a sunsuit, out of light cotton, lined for modesty, and so that they won't drag unattractively when wet. 

Pictures of those coming soon.

1920's Children's Patterns!

So some people think I might be a bit OCD ~ but really, this is how I deal with long, dark winters and 3 SAD's people in my home.  And I might have a touch of OCD...    ;-d
Regardless, check out what the latest venture has brought about! I decided to pick a special few of these pictures and make patterns for them.  In order to make it easy, I started with patterns that would fit 18" dolls ( Like American Girl, Daisy Kingdom Pansy Doll, etc.) ~ I will graduate these patterns to fit actual children soon.  I think I will put them up on eBay or Etsy, just to once again justify my pasttime.  Wood Genius may naysay, but in the end, hah! ~ these little pursuits do pay for themselves.  But enough of this ~ on to the fun stuff!
And by the way, the line art is my own rendition of the actual item, sooooo, the last picture on here, you can see that uh, faces aren't my strong suit ~ at all. 

This pattern is a little apron with a pleat detail, from 1927.  I do not include the embroidery design with the pattern, for several reasons ~ first, these are doll's clothes, and I have yet to see very many people put the effort into dolls' clothes; second, they look just as cute without the embroidery; and third, maybe I will when I graduate the patterns to kid-size (I probably will),  but for now, I am just too lazy.  (Plus, you can always look up Aunt Martha's or VogueArt on eBay and get some cool old designs that way, and put them wherever and whenever you want.)

Another thought on these patterns, if you are really set on embroidery, get some old doilies or dresser scarves, lay the patterns out so that the embroidery lays where you want it to, and voila! Cute dolly clothes out of nice old fabric, complete with embroidery!

This is a cute little Bubble Romper, with pockets & button tabs, & can be used for both boy or girl dolls.  These are what you see the Little Rascals wearing sometimes.

I love this little Panty Suit, circa 1928!  The original picture says that the collar & cuffs are to be blanket stitched, but bias tape, or picot edging would look just as good.

This little 1927 Dress Coat  and Hat is probably my favorite of all the patterns I made so far.  I love the period detailing and the hat!  I am making this one out of real fur and leather, as well as out of a fine wool chambray and faux fur.  Now I just have to figure out how to make those boots!  (Every 1920's Doll needs a pair of button-up leather spats!)

This pattern is somewhat simple, they used to call slips "white gertrudes" back then ~ I really don't know why ~ but aren't they so cute??

And here is a 1929 Panty Frock ~ it is suitable for both boys and girls ~ oddly enough, little boys wore dresses too, until about age 3 or so!  The original ad for this said it was made out of flannel, which I think will make an interesting look.

And this final apron is so cute, love it, but WOW ~ I hate the way I messed up the face.  How cheesy is it that I left it like that?  Would it help to know that I redid the face 4 times, and that THAT was the final awful end?

 

Next post I will show pics of the finished items. 

A New Obsession: 1920's Children's & Babies Clothing

Oh Dear ~ Wood Genius says I have too many new obsessions..... But noooo ~ Besides, my obsessions are so much cheaper than his! For instance, it will take a LOT of eBaying, internetting, & specialty shopping to equal up to his one SINGLE purchase of an original vintage Morely wood stripper canoe.

Besides again, this is a very cool obsession!

Check it out, I am researching 1920's ( & 30's & 40's, but that would be a different post ~ ;-D ~) children & baby clothes, so that I can make some correct period clothing for my nieces or nephews, or even for those as-yet non-existant grandchildren. And while I am at it, I am also researching vintage aprons, because, well, I just LOVE them! Vintage aprons are like great-grandma's who let you help them make cookies & such, & smell of Sweet Honesty & make homemade soap & grow gardens & kill chickens & all.

Naturally, research takes actual imagery acquisitions... you know, so that proper references can be made, so that I can properly draft the patterns. Well, that's my story & I'm sticking to it!

Besides yet again, think of all the uses I can put these awesome ephemera to once my research has come to an end ~ I can frame them & hang them all over my sewing room walls for instant inspiration! ;-D
So here are some of the images that I have aquired thus far. I will add more as I get them.
The ones I am listing today come from a 1927 - 1928 Herrschner Needlwork Catalog.

I found some fabric at one of our local upholstery shops that I believe will be perfect for one of these little gentleman's pea coats.  It is a fine waled chevron tweed, in gray, brown & a sort of gold-ish undertone, made of what looks like a wool/cotton blend.  The fabric was a bit thinner than I would have cared for, except that it has a sort of light backer on it, as you would expect from upholstery yardage.  Which I think is going to be perfect, because then I won't have to line it for stiffness.  Naturally, I will still make silk liner for the inside of the coat.   

I also found some rather adorable small diamond design jaquard at the same upholstery store, again a very light (as far as upholstery goes, rather perfect for coating) weight, in gold on gold diamonds, with cream mixed in there as well.  I will use this for the little red smocked child's coat shown up in the corner.

  Aren't these old apron patterns just delightful!?  I have drafted several patterns based on the ones shown here, and I am just going to make them out of old percale sheeting.  I happen to have a few old pink 100% cotton percale sheets, which I believe are the correct color, I think I will probably bind them in either a vintage green or a vintage blue bias tape.  I don't know if I will be able to get them embroidered, however. 

I simply love these adorable baby bubbles, and I have a pattern from my "Grandmother's Hope Chest", by Martha Pullen, that I believe will work well for adapting to these sweet 1920's styles!!  I have yet to figure out what type of fabric they are referring to when they say "Indian Head", however.  If anyone knows, please do let me know.  

I also managed to find some batiste & a bit of lovely lawn at a little fabric shop in Bountiful Utah, which I intend to use for making several lace-embellished baby day gowns, complete with the pin-tucking & light embroidery work.  Again, I think some of the patterns in "Grandmother's Hope Chest" can be adapted to these daygown styles.  Just in case, however, I do have a nice vintage (1920's!!) daygown pattern coming from eBay, so I guess we'll see just how the two compare, and whether or not my adjustments give the right look.  I'm mostly worried about the yokes, as they look to have been separate from the rest of the gown, attached with entredeux to the fullness of the gown body.

Check out the awesome knee-length booties on this page (middle upper right hand)!! I believe I shall have to try to make some!  A matching sweater & close-fitting baby cloche shouldn't be too difficult, either.

These aprons in unbleached muslin should be quick & fun!  Quilt backer is cheap, too. 

I love the kimono type sleeves that these little dresses afford, it is an entirely different look from a raglan or  fitted  or gathered cap sleeve.  The pattern from this type of dress is often quite simple, with a front & a back placed on the fold, sleeves & fullness of the skirt all inclusive to the one pattern piece. Sizing can be a bit tricky, however, if you don't have a baby or toddler right handy.