Thanks for the sweet comments on yesterday’s post! You are all so nice not to give up on me when I disappear for nearly a whole week without warning.

Today I got back to the business of crafting, with a pattern I’ve been meaning to use for awhile now. I love inverted pleats, and when I was down in LA a few weeks ago saw the dearest drop-waist dress at the shop of one of my very favorite designers, Megan Kinney. I’ve signed up for another 6 months of Wardrobe Refashion, making it a no-no to even consider buying the dress, so to cheer me up, my kind friend Mikah said to me “Hey! You could definitely make that!” And so at the earliest opportunity (i.e. today) I broke out the pattern nearest to what I wanted, Vogue 8020:

There is a lot to love about this dress. It goes together easily, the pleats are just pleaty enough, i can’t resist a boat neck… but, this thing is HUGE. You can’t really tell in the picture (I think), but it is definitely the wrong size, even though I usually fit exactly into the size I cut out, which, incidentally, is the smallest size in this particular envelope, making cutting the pattern down a size a scary and daunting task for me. Boo. I didn’t want the dress really fitted, since the one I loved at Meg had a slouchy feel, but I do wish that the princess seams were more in the right place and it wasn’t quite so wide across the shoulders. I used my serger for a lot of it, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m not reading the seam measurements right on it (i.e. perhaps I was sewing .5 inch seam allowances by accident?). Anyway. It is comfy and I will wear it happily, but when there is a 99 cent pattern sale at Joann I will get it in the smaller sizes and try again.

Something that did work out perfectly today was a healthy little salad I threw together at lunch, so I thought I’d share. My new favorite grain (yes, I have one) is red quinoa. I like it better than the paler kind, though I can’t pinpoint why. I had a bunch left over after dinner last night, so I made it into a cold salad for lunch, which was delicious and very satisfying:
Red Quinoa and Feta Salad
1 cup cooked red quinoa, cooled (roughly 1/2 cup uncooked if you don’t have leftovers, just follow the directions on the box)
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 sweet grape tomatoes, halved or quartered into bite-size pieces (you don’t really have to count, and you can use one big tomato if you want)
4 T crumbled feta cheese (I like the kind with mediterranean herbs from Trader Joe’s), add more to your taste and need for protein
4T balsamic vinaigrette (i make mine thusly: 2T balsamic vinegar, 8T olive oil, 1t dijon mustard, 1t sugar, 1/2t salt, 1/2t pepper, all in a screw-top jar and then shaken until emulsified), you can use more or less as you like.
*Optional: baby spinach leaves or arugula for a little bit of green
Mix the first 4 ingredients in a big bowl, pour over vinaigrette, toss until nice and combined, then eat! You could add roasted or grilled zucchini, eggplant, asparagus– whatever veg. you have on hand, and also substitute mozzerella or tofu for the feta if you wanted.

I have homework to do tonight (!), so I’d better get to it.