belle and burger at Thai fresh!

~I recently added my aprons to the wonderful Thai fresh! Sustainable Thai cooking

"Our goal is to provide Austin with the freshest Thai food and ingredients. We will try our best to support local farmers and businesses."

....I was asked by Jam one of the masterminds behind Thai fresh, to put a few aprons in their super fabulous store and I jumped at the chance!



~This place is quite amazing and if you are a local yokel you need to be over there already! Thai fresh pulls out all the stops; They have terrific food that you can just eat and be lazy....... or you can buy specialty groceries and cook your own ...or you can hang around and They will teach you how to cook what they make! Shoot they will teach your kids to cook!....If she can catch them....(did I mention they are so kid friendly that they even have a little play kitchen area! love that)
~A little biography blurb from their site states....
"Bruce has been in the food business scene in Austin for almost 30 years. His experience in restaurant business and Jam's love for cooking has grown into a store that incorporates delicious meals, groceries and cooking classes. Jam and Bruce hope to bring Austin the finest quality Thai food."...Jam the creative genius behind the dishes has a lovely blog, Cooking with Jam, where she shares her insight and talent(you just cannot stop this lil' mama).

~My lady Friend and our beasts grabbed a lunch to take to the park which included, the chicken coconut soup and veggie egg rolls among other delish-ish-ness.
...Both of these recipes can be found on Jam's blog
"This soup has all the flavors in Thai cooking; sweet, salty, sour, spicy and bitter. It is a perfect balance of all the flavors that exist. That is why this is a world renowned soup, it is hard not to love the flavor of Tom Kha."



"These vegetarian egg rolls are not only easy to make, they are delicious. Make a bunch and freeze them for those party nights or a surprise visit from a friend. Fry them or bake them"


~SO anyway! I will keep a few half aprons and full aprons stocked in their store frontThis way, if you cannot get by the Farmers market on Saturdays, you can stop by Thai Fresh, they are open everyday, 11-9.

~This is the apron I made for Jam ...Jam gave me a vintage apron that was too teeny but the fabric was beautiful(that is the navy with birds and flowers and such) It is a hand dyed heavy canvas weight material...stunning. .....I used alot of recycled shirting for this as well (the skirt gingham and the pale green of the pocket and ties)I loved the combination of fabric weights. I just love this apron and can't wait to hear what she thinks.
oh yeah,Yay Thai fresh!!!!

Scrappy, Stuffed, Heart Tutorial; ‘ Scraps of my love’

~These stuffed hearts are made mostly from my scrap pile. They are a little bigger than an open paw…measuring at about 7” across the heart at its widest part. Mine are stuffed with fluff and I had someone in mind for each as I pieced each one together using tiny bits of love and thought to make it as special as it’s recipient.

Another fun and cool option is to add a pocket to hold reading glasses a valentine treat (sexy or chocolaty), a remote control, or even baby teeth for the toothsome fairy!

Yet another idea you might try is stuff with rice add a few drops of essential oil to make a hot/cold pack (microwave/freezer) for someone’s aching head or crampy muscles.

Tools and Materials for this variation
Scraps of fabric
Buttons
Ribbon and random bits of
Loveliness that need homes
Thread
Needle
Iron
Pins (optional)
Interface (optional)
Sewing machine (optional)


1. Cut and iron two hearts from my pattern (or make you own heart pattern (sew easy!!) If you want to use mine just print it at 100% on an 8.5”x11” paper. The pattern uses 1/4’ seams.

2. Design and apply the layout of your embellishments, pockets or what have you for the top and a bottom of your heart (if you used two different fabrics; which I did on all mine). I used appliqués as sort of my main theme (I like to use fusible interface with my appliqués) Then I added buttons and bits of fabric and ribbon here and there to move your eye around. Remember to attach your embellishmets from the bottom up , ...with buttons and bows being attached last.

Iron after each layer is attached. Ironing will help keep it clean and make it easier to attach the next layer in your design.



3. Sew your heart out! With wrong sides together, sew a 1/4” seam around the heart ... leaving about a 2.5-3” opening to turn out of. Start your seam about and inch or so from the bottom of the point of your heart so your opening will be on the bottom side of your heart.(about where my scissors are lying is where I started sewing down)
4. Turn your heart out carefully. Using a pointy stick (knit needle, chop stick, etc) check all your seams and poke out your point.

5. Iron your heart. Shape it up and tuck under the opening and iron it making it even with the rest of the heart.

6. Stuff your heart. Use fluff or whatever you like. I used fluff combined with serger scraps.

7. Sew up the opening. I like to use a blanket stitch for this and I use doubled thread for a nice thick stitch. You could also use embroidery thread for this.

8. Fluff your heart and give it away! Give it to your valentine and feel the waves of appreciation and love roll over you…

I love green gingham! and some new aprons

~I had a tiny piece(half a yard or so)of this green gingham. I made three aprons, bouncing off this sweet gingham.....The other apron not shown was the second version of a cross back apron design I have been working on . Somehow I forgot to photograph this apron. I think it was because I actually made it for myself (so I would photograph it later...right). I took lots of crazy chances and used some favorite irreplaceable vintage fabric, it was a little shorter and made to be used as a craft apron ... BUT the market was slow Saturday and I really like the gal who wanted my lil treasure....it is a little embarrassing really! I cannot believe I took no photos of it ~pine pine pine......

~ anyway this is the first version of the Tie-less apron
It has a cross over back. .... it has all kinds of little flaws but the fit is good and I like the pockets a lot .I also love the vintage edging I used ...I just love this tape that my Cinda found for me......She has the sharpest eye and terrific taste(she also supplied many of my buttons and the beautiful rose table cloth I used in several aprons seen here today....thanks cinda)


~This apron was made later and echos some of the design ideas from the lil' treasure apron, but it is a half style and would move smoothly from the kitchen to the Kraft room. This is an apron design I have been thinking of for my self (although this particular one is not for me).

...the skirt is an embroidered linen(lalalalaove it)


....I used the tiny bit of green gingham I had left to make the ties.I found the beautiful rose button amongst my new vintage buttons and thought it made the perfect little "belt" buckle for the skinny ties waist.
....the rose button echos the pretty rose on the pouch style, three panel pocket .... I really love this apron. I have been wanting to make some simpler aprons with skinny ties.

~I made this one with the tiniest scrap of that farm table cloth I use for several aprons last spring. ....pretty Czech glass button



......the very last scrap...So long little farm. You are loved
~I also made this chili lady apron. ....It uses all new fabrics... and some cool vintage buttons from my replenished stash.
....I think it is a sass-a -frass, cowboy eye catching, lil' #



~So I am trying to set up a new online store and having a heck of a time trying to figure out what will work for me. I am trying out typepad for a little, but I am not excited about the store thru paypal option. tell me what you think it is here.

Another option is using Big cartel. That is what I have added to this site at the top right. This is their free version so I had to sort of jank up a store front that I created using a flickr slideshow. If I were to actually go this route I would (hopefully) have a better (More accessible storefront) as well as have more photos of each item. Anywho, any and all feedback is desperately sought. All this cyber research, has got this crazy southern belle as confused as Georgia swamp gator in an Alabama lake