a far breton for Mardi Gras

Next Tuesday will be Mardi gras or Fat Tuesday. For me, it is always a fun holiday. As a kid in France, it meant dressing up and eating a lot of cakes (kind of like Halloween here)  
And now, it is an excuse to make some cake or drink some hurricanes! This year, I made a traditional cake from Brittany: Far Breton quite easy, something you would eat at home. (even if you can buy at the bakery!) This is not a fancy cake, but it is delicious.

recipe:

4 eggs

5.3 oz of sugar

4.3 oz of flour

1.5 tsp of baking powder

1 2/3 cups of milk

pitted prunes

some butter to grease the pan

First heat up the oven to 375, it is so fast to make,

you will be done before the oven is hot!

Grease the pan with some putter,

and put down some prunes

I love prunes so there are quite a few,

try to distribute them evenly.

Warm up the milk (not boiling, just hot),

in the meantime whisk the eggs with the sugar, 

then with the flour and baking powder.

Add the hot milk slowly and whisk constantly.

I like to put the mixture through a mesh strainer

to remove any egg particulate that might have formed.

Pour gently over the prunes to avoid moving them too much.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.

It will rise in the oven,

and collapse when it cools down,

totally normal,

this is not a souffle!

It tastes best cool or even cold,

so the waiting part is the hardest!

Over the years for Mardi gras, I also choose to make:

rum cakes

gratin dauphinois

galettes

and cheese pancakes.

Happy Day!

tea bag carrier

I sewed the perfect present for tea lovers on the go:

a little pouch that carries 3 tea bags,

so one could have a cup of tea anytime!

I love having a cup tea at the end of day

 (which is why I made a tea cosy last year)

The pattern is from "Patchwork, Please" of Ayumi (aka Pink Penguin),

I have made so many things from this book,

like the placemats 

and the pepper coasters!

It is an easy project, that requires just a little bit of fabrics, a small piece of  ribbon

and a button. Instead of interfacing, I used some ironed-on fleece.

I also made 3/4 inch longer, it seems to fit my tea bags better,

maybe it depends on the brand of tea bags!

Of course I could not stop at one little carrier,

I had to make a few more:

It uses so little fabric, it is fun to play with a mix of print and solids,

and of course a little linen!

I made a special one for my sister, in linen and Liberty of London!

so cute and springy!

We still have a lot of snow on the grounds,

so a little warmth from a cup of tea is just what is needed!

Happy sewing!

felt heart box

I sewed this cute little felt heart box

with conversation hearts for Miss C.

It is much sweeter than the actual conversation candies...
I followed 2 tutorials from Wild Olive: the heart box and the conversation hearts.
I hope Miss C. enjoyed them as much as she has enjoyed the previous Valentine's day heart projects I made for her over the year:

1-Heart pillows, 2- Pipped heart pillow, 3- Heart coaster, 4- Valentine day doll bedding, 5- Love pillows.
Happy sewing!

a new stationery kit

I sewed a super cute stationery kit,

perfect to carry a few cards

and write outside.

While it is a simple design, I added some details with a layered applique tag.

It complements nicely the Tilda Cottage fabric,

that I used previously to make a jewelry bag:

(same print but in red!)

For the inside, I used more of the blue print collection:

with large pockets to store note cards, stamps....

I made a few simple cards with some pretty scrapbooking paper,

it is fun to play with paper too, even if fabric is my favorite media!

Sewing this kit was quite easy,

I cut 2 identical rectangles from inside and outside print,

I ironed on fusible fleece to the outside print

and appliqued the tag.

Then I cut a piece of fabric for the pocket,

same width as the other rectangles

but twice the height of my desired pocket.

I folded it in half and topstitched at the fold.

Then I stitched it to the outside print

(the opposite of where you want it in the end!)

on all the sides, so totally stitched to the front!

Then I put the inside rectangle on top with right side facing each other,

and stitched all around except for a few inches,

this opening needs to be at the bottom of the pocket.

Then I turned everything right side out through the opening

 at the bottom of the pocket.

I pressed everything nicely

and hand stitched the bottom,

but it does not need to be done perfectly....

because, when the pocket is flipped to the inside,

it hids that seam!

Just like magic!

I love that trick, so much neater.

Then I topstitched all around and in the middle

to finish making it a little booklet!

Happy sewing!

ninth anniversary and a sew illustrated scooter

Today marks the ninth anniversary for this little blog, 9 years, it seems impossible. It has not grown much (which suits me just fine) it is like a "petite" blog (with 717 posts so far!) still a place where I share most of my creations.
So here is today's work:

another sew illustrated picture, from the book "Diary in stitches" by Minki Kim  just like the card I made earlier this year:

I had had seen the scooter on Instagram, so I knew I wanted to make it  right away:

I followed the pattern, using a mix of prints, and a border of Liberty of London.
It makes me feel like winter will be over soon....
Happy sewing!