Sewing Cast Covers

 My gymnast, who has never sustained an injury, broke her fibula at the ankle height.  Our first week after the fracture involved 2 splints and 3 casts.  When she received her first cast, she chose blue and had her friends all sign it.  The second cast could only be black and she used silver to decorate it with stars and new signatures.  The third cast could also only be black and at this point she decided to just leave it black.  The many reasons for different splints/casts were swelling, numbness relief, first cast, better cast placement, then needed to replace a cast due to shower cover (garbage bag/elastic) fail.

Once we stopped running to the doctor's every other day, I was able to look at more cast options.  We had ordered a shower cast cover to help keep the cast dry and I saw some cute covers.  The fun covers seemed to fulfill a few purposes:  give the cast personality, keep it cleaner, and give the cast a softer outside.

When I first brought up the idea of a cast cover, my daughter was not interested.  But as she put together all the events that she planned to attend along with a cast, she started to think a cast cover might be fun to have too.  Having a softer layer was an added bonus too.

We visited JoAnn's and checked out all their knits.  Many have great stretch and would fit really well over her cast.

Making a Pattern

I first traced around her cast on the side, but then decided to think of it as a sock.  I had made polar fleece socks a long time ago and knew the pattern for the sock might be a better fit.  I found some instructions online which included how to measure for the sock.  This instructable had great tips for a pattern.  I took papers and measured for the front - top to the tip of her cast, back- top to the heel, and foot - heel to where the cast ends near her toes.

My first attempt was not with her silky, stretchy new prints.  I first used an old ribbed knit I had which is stretchy, but has more bulk to it.  We got a working pattern down.  It all needed to be longer, curving in at the ankle fit better, and I decided not to finish the edges, but just tuck them over against the cast.  The silk, stretchy print hugged her cast even better and didn't bunch where the foot meets the leg.  

This fabric is temperamental as stretch knits often are.  I had the best luck using my serger first and then going over the seam with a tiny zig zag stitch.  I still left the edges unfinished and she has a 3/4"-2" extra to tuck.  I could see adding a band, but it looks better this way and it shouldn't go anywhere.  The fabric works well against her cast shoe which is a nice bonus.

Showers are going better over here too.  We start out with Glad Press and Seal over the cast, then add a fleece cuff at the top of her cast and finally slide on the commercial cast cover.  The press and seal gives the cast an easier surface for sliding on the cover and added insurance.  

Cast Cover Tutorial & Instructions

1/2 yard of fabric worked well for 2-3 covers.  My cover's greatest length is just under 18".  The actual cast length from top to toe is 14.25".  I wanted the greatest stretch along the width of the cover.

A stretch needle works well for stretch fabric.

Figure out the pattern and do a trial cover.  I made many adjustments along the way such as making the whole thing longer at both ends for folding over, narrowing the ankle area, and taking in the heel to make it fit better.  There are three pieces.  The front, the back, and the bottom.  The toe area was left with a straight edge because it is going to the edge of the cast, not creating a sock.

Determine where the bottom piece will connect and mark. 

Sew the front to the back to the marked point.

Pin or clip the bottom piece to the top and back.

Sew around the bottom making sure to close up the section where the front and back connect.  Leave toe area open.

One cover finished and inside out.

I used a serger and then reinforced the edges with a small zig zag.

The raw edges at the top and toe I decided to leave unfinished.  They tuck in and stay well because I left extra length for that purpose.  She can't really feel any of the cover, except at the top because the fabric is primarily on the cast and even the raw edges are tucked along the cast.

GF Chocolate swirl lower fat cheesecake

In order to repeat recipes, I often blog about them.  Everything is in one place and searchable.  I made this cheesecake last August for my parents' anniversary and didn't blog about it.  Fortunately, I had written myself some notes and was able to repeat what I had done.

I'm always looking for ways to make healthier desserts.  I did not change the sugar content for this recipe, but I did try to reduce some of the fat content.  This goes against most cheesecake recipes.  The recipes often specify using full fat cream cheese and sour cream.  I have had success making mini cheesecakes with the neufchatel before and knew it would work out.

I found recipes by Sally's Baking Addiction which were similar to what I wanted to try and I just made a few changes along the way.  Additionally, I needed to make the cheesecake gluten free for some of our family members.

*All ingredients must be room temperature*

Recipe

for the crust

20 gluten free Oreos crushed

3 TB butter

After combining the oreos and the butter, press mixture into a greased 9" spring form pan which is also wrapped in 18" wide heavy duty aluminum foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

Cheesecake recipe

3 - 8oz blocks of neufchatel cream cheese 

1 cup of sugar

Mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium for 3 minutes

Add 

1 cup of plain fat free Greek yogurt

2 tsp of vanilla

Mix until just combined.

Add eggs one at a time and mix on low.

2 eggs

2 egg whites

Separate out 1-1.5 cups of batter and add 2-3 squares of melted Ghirardelli baking squares.  I used 60% semi sweet Ghirardelli baking chocolate and followed the microwave melting chocolate.  The chocolate batter is a light chocolate color.  Today I used 1.25 cups of batter and 3 squares of chocolate.

In order to get the swirled pattern, I added blobs of both kinds of batter and swirled them with a knife.  My pattern today was different from last time.  There may be a better method to creating swirls.

I did follow the baking instructions with the water bath and used a 10" x 14" glass baking dish.  The pan rocked a bit inside the baking dish,  I simply created a small wedge out of extra foil to place under one edge.  The extra wide foil is very important in order to cover the sides of the spring form pan.  The cheesecake baked 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven and then I turned off the oven and opened the door slightly for another 60 minutes.  When the baking is done, the center still has a 2"-3" wobble.

To be served along with the cheesecake, I provide a cherry sauce using 2 cans of unsweetened canned cherries.  I followed the recipe from Oregon Fruit for cherry pie filling.  Whipped cream in a can was also available.

The next week I made some minis and swirls the chocolate itself in the batter.  Different effect and slightly different taste.  I think adding chocolate to a smaller amount of batter might be worth trying.

Mini spring form pans, set of 3 - baked 30 mins, then added some time and lowered temp

Mini 12 cavity cheesecake bites - baked 17 minutes

Baked them together at 350 degrees.  The mini pans were wrapped in foil and in a water bath.  The bottom of the mini pan was wrapped in foil (may be unnecessary) and probably benefited from the water bath next to it.  The recipe from above was the right amount for 3 mini pans and the 12 cavity pan.

Center mini cake wrapped in plastic wrap on a small cardboard circle.  Minis from the pan placed in regular sized cupcake liners for presentation only.

4/8/2023 - Made graham cracker crust and strawberry swirl cheesecake

I used one 7.5 oz box of Pamela's gluten free graham style crackers processed in a food processor with metal blades adding 5 TB of melted butter at the end. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

For the strawberry swirl, I used about 

4 cups of frozen organic strawberries

4 tsp of cornstarch

2 tsp lemon juice

2 TB of water

Cooked on the stove until soft and mashed with a potato masher.

After baking the graham cracker crust for 10 mins, I added half the cheesecake batter and some dollops of mashed strawberries and swirled them. Then I added the other half of the batter. The second half did not cover the swirls. I then added more swirls on top. The large glass pan and water bath worked well again.

There is more than a cup of mashed strawberries leftover to add as topping or to eat with yogurt.

Flower clips from leis

My daughter and her team are participating in a Hawaiian themed meet.  One parent purchased leis for everyone and had some extras.  I offered to make flower hair clips out of the extras.  

I had followed a tutorial in the past for making hair clips.  They used different sized flowers, pulled apart and then hot glued together.  To cover the center hole, a coordinating gemstone was stuck on.  

When I received the leis, it was clear I would need to use a different technique.  These leis have beautiful flowers and they're quite big.  I wasn't able to get a 3D effect layering them.  I decided to make two sets of layers and then fold them together.  I liked the look of them, but it didn't seem like hot glue was going to be the best medium for these.

I created two sets of 4 flowers layered and slightly off-set.

I then put the two sets together and sewed the folded edge together. 

The final step was to sew a metal hair clip to the flower.

FACS bread recipe

 

FACS (Family and Consumer Science) is the new version of Home Ec.  Due to the pandemic and still not eating together in the classrooms, they have become very creative with their cooking and baking.  Bread was the latest project for 6th grade.  First my daughter needed to fill our a survey about what ingredients we might have at home.  I imagine if we were lacking items, they would be sent home as well.  We have a well stocked pantry and received a gallon sized ziplock bag with the recipe, two small foil pans and a packet of yeast.

The recipe is called Bread in a Bag.  I discouraged my daughter from using the bag for mixing, but it's a creative idea.

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour, we used bread flour

3 TB sugar

1 package of rapid rise yeast (2.25 tsp)

1 cup warm water

3 TB oil, we used olive

1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Combine 1 cup of flour, 2 TB of sugar and the yeast.

Add 1 cup of hot tap water.  Mix.  Allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup of flour, 3 TB of oil and 1 1/2 tsp salt.  Mix well.

Add last cup of flour and mix well.

Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5-10 minutes or until smooth.

Divide the dough and place in the 2 greased mini pans. 

Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Both times, our loaves were done closer to 20 minutes.

The recipe calls for all the mixing to be done in the ziplock bag as squishing.  That would work, but we used a stand mixer with a dough hook.  She did enjoy kneading the bread by hand.

This recipe is quick and very easy.  My daughter was able to make this bread by herself.  I only supervised her taking them out of the oven and checking for doneness.  The mini loaves went pretty fast and it was determined that she would need to repeat this project.  For round 2 I suggested she try braided bread instead.  This recipe worked very well again in a braided form on a flat pan.  Kudos to the FACS teachers for providing a simple, quick, and tasty recipe!

Scrunchies

 

In 2020, we planned to attend a Hawaiian themed gymnastics meet where the girls wear fun leotards, grass skirts, and leis.  I had suggested our level 3 girls all wear the same "fantasy flowers" leotard from Amazon.  It didn't come with a scrunchie.  I found mystique Hawaii blue which matched the flower in the leo nicely and offered to make some matching scrunchies.  The meet was cancelled along with many other things in 2020.  

Fast forward to 2022.  There is another Hawaiian themed meet and because some of the girls still have the fantasy flower leotard and I still have more mystique Hawaii blue fabric, I offered to make some more scrunchies.

What is surprising is that I did very little sewing outside of mask making since that time and no scrunchies at all.  I momentarily forgot what method I used for sewing and what dimensions I had settled on.  Fortunately, I did find a note on the sizing and I had my daughter's scrunchie to measure and verify the construction.

The whole reason I keep a blog is to remind myself of past projects and all the little details I am sure to forget.

Scrunchies

Cut 3.25" x 20"

Cut 8" strip of 3/8" elastic

Sew right sides together the long way leaving the first and last 1"+ unsewn.

Turn right side out.

With the short right sides together, sew the ends together. I saw one blog do this with the scrunchie half way turned out, but I did it all the way turned.

Install elastic and pin to hold.

Sew through elastic.  I use a 3 step zig zag.

Smooth out the side opening and topstitch closed.

Done!  Or in this case, almost done with 21 scrunchies made assembly style.

Zippered Pencil Pouch

  

I wanted to make a simple pencil case as a gift. I've made many of these over the years, but it seems like the last two years I've only made masks. I forgot what dimensions work well and overdid how much I took off the corners. My second attempt was too big and too floppy.

The second attempt

My goal of being quick and simple was long lost. I decided to use one of my favorites as a guide, but smaller. I cut 8" x 10" of heavyweight cotton, thin batting and a cotton lining, slightly smaller on the batting.  It's a tight fit for pencils. A bit longer would be better. I used a zipper foot and ½" seam allowances.

My goal of being quick and simple was long lost. I decided to use one of my favorites as a guide, but smaller. I cut 8" x 10" of heavyweight cotton, thin batting and a cotton lining, slightly smaller on the batting.  It's a tight fit for pencils. A bit longer would be better. I used a zipper foot and ½" seam allowances. 

First I took the three layers and sewed lines through all the layers. 

Then I installed the zipper right sides together on the right side of the heavyweight cotton using my zipper foot and adjusted the needle position. After doing both sides of the zipper tape, I topstitched. 

This style of bag is nice because of the way the seams incorporate the zipper. 

With the zipper half way open, center the zipper over the bottom with right sides together. 

Sew across the two ends and then create the corners.  I boxed all four corners and took 1” off.

Just big enough for a new sharpened pencil.

Finished size is about 8”.