Month: January 2023

learning to sew and loving my new pajama shorts

Published by fairfaxhill

Today I thought I would show you what I made a few weekends ago… I am quite proud of my little project. At first glance, my new p.j. shorts may not seem all that special. Making pajama shorts must be one of the easiest projects in the world — especially if you know how to sew. I have watched several videos on YouTube, where, in a matter of minutes, people cut, sew, boom, done! A perfect pair — just like that. My original plan was to sew pajama pants, but as I prepared to cut the pattern pieces, I realized I didn’t have enough fabric. (I also didn’t think of folding the fabric in a different way; something I learned later that day.) So, I decided to make the shorts. In retrospect, I wish I had made the pants, even if they had been a tad shorter than they were supposed to be — I love this fabric. The pattern I used is McCall’s “EASY” M8056. It’s funny that I even own this pattern. There …

potato-leek soup: perfect for a rainy day, plus some project ideas for the new year

Published by fairfaxhill

Happy new year! Like a miracle, the sun came out on January 1 and we welcomed 2023 with sunshine and delicious, homemade pizza made by Patrick.  By Monday, though, we were back in winter mode, with rain and heavy fog, the kind of weather that makes you want to stay in your sweatpants all day reading books under the covers.  The office was super quiet (I think some people thought Monday was a holiday, as it was for many), so I came home a bit early to make myself something warm to eat. I was craving potato leek soup, and was too hungry to look up a recipe, so I just made it up as I went. My goal was to make a hearty soup, with chunks of potato and bits of leeks you could actually see, not like my last attempt when I used the immersion blender before I served it and accidentally ended up with a gooey mess. This time I loved the result.  This is the simplest potato soup you will ever …