All posts filed under: Make

vegetarian shepherd's pie recipe, vegan shepherd's pie recipe

Recipe: Vegetarian (and easily Vegan) Kate Sheppard’s Pie

Lots of you (and absolutely everyone who attended the dinner) asked for the vegetarian shepherd’s pie recipe I used to make Kate Sheppard’s Pie for A Feminist Thanksgiving. Here it is! To be honest, the first time I tried this I was a bit surprised it worked. First, I looked at a bunch of vegetarian shepherd’s pie recipes, and then didn’t follow any of them and just winged it with what I had in the fridge. Second, my track record making anything casserole-y, or traditionally British comfort-food based is pretty poor. I just didn’t grow up eating or making those kind of foods! So I expected a repeat of my fish pie/cheesy potatoes/macaroni & cheese experiments (basically inedible). Instead, I got amazing! And it’s not a fluke. Every time I make it its delicious. This recipe makes a rich, filling, pie. Most vegetarian shepherd’s pie recipes use celery, but I use parsnips instead. Their warm, sweet, earthy flavour adds an unexpected element to the pie, and keep it from getting watery and bland, as …

1910s Tricorne Revival Hat thedreamstress.com

A 1900s-1910s tricorne revival hat

Published by The Dreamstress

The Research: About this time last year I became slightly obsessed (as I do) with the early 20th century bicorne and tricorn hat revival: The tricorne revival was part of the overall 18th century revival that happened at the end of the 19th century, and flowed into an Empire revival in the late 1900s and early 1910s. (more examples are on my pinterest page for the topic) What’s not to love about it? It’s 18th century meets my favourite timeperiod, it’s wacky and quirky and a little bit pirate-y! There are mentions of tricorne & bicorne hats being fashionable as early as 1897, and the tricorne revival lasted until the mid 1920s. Within the period there are definite changes – early tricorne revival hats, are generally very large, like turned-up picture hats, and are overflowing with feathers and flowers. As the 1900s progress, the hats become smaller and more streamlined. Mid-1910s examples are often quite severe, with only one upstanding feather tuft, or a sculptural bit of ribbon. Asymmetry is another major trend in mid-teens …

Scroop Henrietta Maria with a drawstring waist thedreamstress.com

How to add a drawstring waist to the Scroop Henrietta Maria Dress

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve already shown how to add an elastic waistband to the Scroop Henrietta Maria dress, but there is another way to add waist definition (other than the simplest of all: wearing a belt, of course!): with a drawstring. Here is how to create a drawstring on the Henrietta Maria. This technique will work on any loose, straight-cut dress, so feel free to adapt it for other garments. You’ll be marking the waistband, working buttonholes for the drawstring to enter and exit through, sewing a casing channel, and then threading the drawstring through. Easy! You’ll need: Ribbon or twill tape for a drawstring – under 1/2″ wide, and long enough to go around your waist, tie in a nice bow, and hang down an attractive amount. 2.5cm/1″ wide single-fold bias tape, as long as the finished waist measure of your Henrietta Maria (measure around your finished dress, or refer to the Finished Garment measurements in the pattern) + 15cm/6″. Chalk or fabric markers for marking A french curve or ruler. A scrap of lightweight fusible interfacing, …