Mozzarella Tuna Biscuit Bites

A combination of a sick family and a broken microwave makes from some interesting lunches. We're leaving for a vacation next week so the goal has been to eat through whatever we have in the cupboard and fridge so we don't have a lot of leftovers sitting around and spoiling. Today, however, I wanted something more than a sandwich and pretzels, so I had my eye on a can of biscuits in the back of the fridge. About five minutes of rummaging later, these were in the oven...

Mozzarella Tuna Biscuit Bites and Mozzarella Turkey Biscuit Bites

You will need.... 

1 muffin pan
No-stick cooking spray

1 can of 10 biscuits
1 can tuna in oil
Slices of ham 
Mrs Dash Tuscan seasoning
Shredded mozarella

 You can substitute whatever you have on hand. I'd like to add veggies next time.

To make...

 Preheat the oven to 400 or whatever your biscuit can indicates. Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine the tuna, seasoning, and some mozarella. I drained some of the oil but left some to help mix everything together and add flavor. Here's where I would have liked to add some veggies-- peppers would be yummy. Or broccoli, for my girls. Once the mixture is to your liking, open your biscuits. 
I divided each one in half and pressed one half into the bottom of the muffin tin. I added a spoonful or two of tuna and sprinkled a bit of cheese then pressed the other biscuit half on top. More sprinkling of cheese.

 I repeated this with half of the biscuits, at which point I ran out of tuna. I also suspected my girls may not be as thrilled as I was with the tuna, so I decided to do the rest with turkey slices.

The rest of the prep went like this: half biscuits, press into muffin pan, add cheese and turkey slice, press remaining half on top. Sprinkle cheese. When all that was done I shook a bit of the seasoning on top of the biscuits for a bit of flavor. Into the oven!

The added ingredients increased the cook time by 5 or 6 minutes. The cook time for the biscuits alone was 6-10 minutes and I think I cooked them 15 or 16 in all.
By that time the entire kitchen smelled awesome and my girls were curious, which is always good when new foods are involved.

Pop them out of the muffin pan, and enjoy! We certainly did. They even liked the tuna version :)

Rockin' Romper Tutorial

T

I have never done a tutorial.

I leave that to the Real Craft Bloggers, the gals who sew beautifully and take gorgeous pictures all while engaging their little ones in happy, stimulative play. 

That said, I was asked for a how-to on the Vintage Linen Romper  (Which I have now renamed the Rockin' Romper because it's got some attitude and because I like alliteration. I am dorky like that). My camera doesn't exactly like me or the light in my dining room, where I sew, so these pictures aren't pretty. The threads aren't even clipped in most of them, because I was trying to see how much of it I could finish while the older girls were out swimming. 

But if you can stumble through the bad photos and the sometimes awkward directions, you can have yourself a cute summer romper in no time.

As I mentioned in my sewalong post, this was the result of failed toddler shorts. I didn't exactly set out to make a baby romper until I held the shorts up to my daughter and thought hey, that might work.....

The simplest way to describe the romper design is that it is a a too-big pair of bloomers with elastic straps and ruffles. For my eight month old (who still can fit most 3-6 month clothes) I used a 12-18 month size bloomer pattern.) It's that easy. If that's all the information you need to go dig through your pattern stash and start experimenting, go for it, you super seamstress you.

If you are scratching your head, hold on. I'll try to go into more detail. 

This tutorial is for a 0-3 month baby but you can upsize it for older babies. I also chose not to do snaps because I wanted a quick-sew and because the version of the romper I made for Tiny Girl comes off and on easily because of the elastic straps.

The Rockin' Romper

What You'll Need

Fabric: ½ yard should do it

Elastic-- I used ½ inch for the chest and legs and ¼ inch for the ruffle straps.

Thread

Paper and marker for drafting

Tape Measure

Optional: newborn onesie for guidance or cute baby for measuring. I didn't have a cute infant so I had to go with the onesie.

Step One: Draft The Cut-out

Don't be scared! This is friendly drafting.

Take your paper and measure a 3 “ horizontal line.

 

Starting at the right hand end of that line, draw a vertical line 7”down from the top line.

Now you'll mark the points for your curve.

I am horrible at drawing, so I give myself lots of points to help me stay on track.

 

Once you have something that looks reasonably like a bloomer cutout, grab your scissors and cut along your line.

Yay! You have drafted your own pattern piece.

 

Step Two: Cutting The Fabric

 

Pieces required:

Romper body: Two pieces 10.5” l by 17.5 “ wide

Straps: Two pieces 9.75 inches long by 2.5” wide

Ruffles: Up to you! I chose to use some ruffle-edged ribbon I had in my scrap stash, which was 1.5” wide, and I cut it 17.5” long. You can play around with the dimensions depending on how many layers of ruffles you want and how ruffle-y you want it to be.

Position your body pieces so that the 10.5” edge is at the top and the 17.5” edge is on the side and fold them right sides together. Align your cutout so that the straight edge lines up with the side edge of your body piece. Make sure you don't place it on the side with the fold :)

 

Cut along cutout.

You can cut your straps and ruffles now too or you can hop right to sewing

Step Three: Sewing

Romper Body

  Sew the legs together.

Finish the edges according to your preference. I like zig-zagging.

Turn one leg inside out and place it right-side-together inside the other leg, lining up the seams.

Pin around the crotch curve.

Sew together.

 
Finish seams.

You could turn it right-side out now or leave it wrong-side out and head to your ironing board.

Iron the elastic casings for the chest and legs. I just eyeballed it at a little more than .5 inches but not quite 1”. So maybe I should say .75” ? 

Pin your casings in place and sew them, leaving a space for you to insert the elastic later. You've reached Romper Stage One! Right now it looks like a pair of shorts....

 

Ruffles

 

Gather your ruffle strips. You can find great tutorials on gathering here and here.

I only used one strip for this version of the romper.

I used my onesies as a guide for where to place the ruffles....

After you have sewn your gathering stitch, pin it to the romper, one end to each side. 

 

Tug on the long threads gently to gather, then pin in place and sew down.

You've made it to Romper Stage Two! It's getting cuter by the minute

Elastic

Now it's time to cut and insert your elastic. I used my newborn onesie as a guide and cut the chest piece 15” and each of the leg elastics 8.5”.

 Using a safety pin, thread elastic through casing, being careful not to twist. Sew ends together. You can choose to sew the casing shut or leave it open in case the fit of the elastic needs to be adjusted once you try it on the baby.

You're almost there!

Yes, they still look like oversized bloomers.

Let's put on the straps so we'll be done :)

Straps

Fold your straps right side together and sew along the long raw edge.

Leave each short end open.

Turn right side out.

Create a channel for your elastic by sewing two straight lines down the center of your strap. You'll want it wide enough to actually fit your elastic through. I made mine a bit small and had to go to plan B, which was to insert it through a side casing created by one of the sewn lines. This changed the look of the straps. If you want ruffles on both sides, the elastic should definitely go down the center.

Mama Sewing Moment: At this point I was distracted because I was trying to keep the eight month old happy long enough for me to sew the straps in and be done. :) I sewed mine to the back by mistake, so for the romper you'll see in the rest of these pictures, the ruffle is in the front. Yours will be the back. Unless you want it in the front too....there are really no rules here.

Once you've sewed the straps in the front, bring them to the back at an angle so that the ends meet under the center back seam. Sew in place.

You are done!

I didn't have an infant handy, so if you make this and the sizing turns out to be horrible, please let me know and we'll tweak it. In fact, any and all ideas on how to make this tutorial better are welcome, in case I should ever attempt another.

Now go find a baby who needs cute, comfy summer wear :)

Sunday Stitches: Corduroy and Tulle

Sundays are a big deal. We know this. But I want my family to see it. To celebrate it. I've been mulling over ways I can emphasize the special, wonderful First Day of the week and my thoughts (of course) came to sewing. I decided to sew each of my girls a special Sunday Dress of their own.

With three girls five and younger, my first thought for Sunday dressing is practical, not pretty. Can it survive the snack in Sunday school and our pizza-and-play after church family tradition? Can I change a diaper in under two minutes? Most of their church clothes as dual use-- worn with sparkly shoes on Sunday and with scuffed sneakers on Monday. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But my new sewing goal, over the next few weeks, will be to make each of the girls something different. Something a little more special. A little fancier. Clothes for my girls to wear when they worship, clothes to remind them that they are unique and lovely daughters of a King. Twirling optional.



I know we're not scoring fashion points with our Father on Sunday morning.
The idea of "dressing up" for church is a bit stuffy for our jeans-and-t-shirt culture, but I'd like to offer in its place the idea of dressing deliberately. To use our clothes as a visible sign of the invisible reality that we are meeting our God. Our Hope, our Redeemer, our King! We should select clothes that emphasize not the stuffiness of starched shirts and itchy lace but the specialness of something Not Ordinary. This isn't a dress my daughter will wear to dig in her dirt pile or go to Wal-mart. It's a dress with a purpose, and that purpose is to worship her Creator in her own tiny two-year old way. When I sew with that in mind, the domestic act becomes deliberate worship. One tiny way I can help my young ladies learn to rejoice in Sunday, and one way I can refresh my heart to rejoice with them.

With that in mind, I started sewing. I thought I'd make Ember a skirt out of some deep purple corduroy I'd found on sale. And throw in a tulle ruffle for fun. I love the idea of the folksy corduroy against the frilly tulle. What followed was, perhaps, a comedy of errors. Sorry I don't have more pictures to prove what a crazy process this was. You'll have to take my word for it.

I cut what should have been a basic two-tiered ruffle skirt, the second tiering lined with cotton that ended in peek-a-boo gathered tulle. And yes, I blame baby brain for the fact that I cut the fabric wrong and ended up with something more like a strapless dress. I thought I'd throw straps or cap sleeves on it and whip out a cute shrug.

Cue the inspiration. Owly Baby offers a super-sweet baby shrug pattern that I thought I'd up-size for Ember. After a minor (cough) pattern cutting error I ditched the idea of a matching corduroy shrug and decided to use some black cotton knit from my stash. Then decided again that rather than a shrug I'd use the pattern as the upper part of the bodice and cover both cozy and cute all at once. The knit bodice was slightly smaller than the corduroy so I did a little snipping. Okay, more than a little. After extracting Ember from the results, I decided to try it on River. The dress must have wanted to be hers all along. After a few tweaks, some hemming and neckline finishing, and chasing her down for a final fitting, we had a finished garment! Though I did break a needle trying to sew on the bow.

This was the rare still moment...

...followed by bouncing, which means the dress must be comfortable enough for her. 

And the grin! We have a winner! 

Pardon the poor quality. By now the baby was crying so photo time was over.

I wouldn't exactly call this next part a tutorial....more like design notes. A guide for someone to follow should they like this look and want one for their little girl.

The corduroy part was constructed from simple rectangles. The top corduroy panel on this dress is 4" x 23" and the gathered panel is 12"x38". Those are the finished measurements. For your pattern pieces you'll want to add extra for seam allowances and hems.

The bodice, as I mentioned, is based off Owly Baby's shrug. All awesomeness goes to her...I just tweaked it for my own use. I used her sleeves, and I used the back piece of her shrug to cut my front and back bodice. I cut my pieces just a bit larger than her template so that it would fit my corduroy panel.

Once I'd completed the bodice, I simply attached it to the skirt then finished my neckline and sleeve hems. The bow was from one of the girls' rejected hairbands and was quite stubborn. I broke an embroidery needle and a machine needle before reaching for the hot glue gun. Maybe I got enough stitches in before the needle broke so that it will hold if the glue washes out in the wash.


You can learn how to make your own bow here via Sutton Grace's free tutorial.

Another great ideas for embellishment would be a fabric flower. Hop on over to Tip Nut for a list of over thirty different kinds. Have fun :)