How to Tailor a Hoodie

I found a huge hoodie in the "permanently lost" bin while taking a studio painting course. The hoodie became a key piece of my studio experience: I wore it inside-out over a wool sweater to stay warm and to protect my clothes.

But after the course was over, the hoodie's gigantic proportions no longer made sense. I wanted to keep it, but realized I needed to learn how to tailor a hoodie if I wanted it to actually fit me.

How to Tailor a Hoodie

My mom, a sewing expert who runs her own custom sewing and upholstery shop, taught me how to tailor a hoodie in the most basic way possible. Tailoring a hoodie requires the same approach I've described in my related post, "How to Tailor a Sweatshirt": http://www.bakergal.com/2009/11/tailoring-sweatshirt.html

Check out the tutorial there, and please leave me a comment if you have any additional questions about how to tailor a hoodie specifically. If I can't answer it myself, I can always tap into my mom's massive knowledge base on your behalf!

How to tailor a hoodie? Check and check. I hope you also save some old hoodies from destruction or restore your old faves to wearable status!

Have fun!
BakerGal

DIY Laptop Case: Easy Laptop Case From Spare Parts

This DIY laptop case helped me get the last life out of some old clothing and a ruined duffle bag.

Why make my own laptop case? I wanted to keep my fancy new MacBook from getting scratched while I carried it on short trips. But I didn't want a big case that added too much weight and bulk. I wanted to keep things as minimal as possible.

I came up with the pictured solution for a DIY laptop case. It uses stretchy cotton-spandex fabric from an unwanted piece of clothing for the main body of the bag. Straps from an old ripped duffle bag provide support and structure. I also added a spare shoulder strap in case I wanted to get mobile. The shoulder strap attaches to the bag by clips, so I can still use it with its intended piece of luggage. Finally, I used some spare velcro to make a secure closure for the bag.

I used an old soft shirt for the case material and two straps from an old duffle for support.

Want to make your own laptop case? It's not that hard, and if you're looking for a way to re-use old items that you're otherwise ready to toss, this is a good project.

DIY Laptop Case

1. Make sure you have enough fabric to cover your laptop. Check by roughly covering the laptop with it as if you were wrapping a gift.
2. Cut the fabric to size, leaving about 2 inches of extra material on all sides for your hems.
3. If the fabric is thin, stretchy, or not very sturdy, sew on two or three supporting straps as pictured.
4. Decide which edge of the case will be the opening. Hem that edge by folding a 1/4 inch of the fabric over twice and sewing it flat. This will protect the raw cut edge of the fabric from unravelling.
5. Now turn the fabric *inside out* and wrap it around your laptop. Use pins to mark where you want the seams to be.
6. Use a sewing machine to go over the pin-marked seams while the case is still inside out.
7. Turn the case right side in. Ta-da!
8. Determine your preferred approach for closing the case. Velcro worked for me!

I used leftover velcro from other items as my case closure mechanism.

If you're interested in checking out an elaborate DIY laptop case, I made an awesome Monster-themed one, posted here: http://www.bakergal.com/2010/02/monster-laptop-case.html.

Enjoy!

BakerGal

Dobos Torte Cake Recipe (Hungarian Layer Cake)

My rough first try at making a dobos torte cake didn't win any pageants, but it tasted great.

Dobos torte (Hungarian: Dobostorta) is a delicious Hungarian cake that was invented by József C. Dobos in 1884. It is comprised of five to seven thin layers of sponge cake, a coating of chocolate buttercream frosting and a final caramel-coated cake layer that is divided and arranged atop the cake.

I hope you'll be able to look beyond my messy first attempt at this complex layer cake and still be able to accept that I have some wisdom to share from the experience. My first piece of advice is to not approach the task lightly: making a dobos torte cake is an ambitious undertaking for a beginner baker, which I was when I attempted it. It could even be a bit of a challenge for an intermediate baker. Be sure you start the task on a day when you have a large reservoir of good will in your heart and a lot of time to spare. Baking those seven layers will require both.For the daring bakers out there who aren't deterred by my warning above, take heart: even if your Hungarian layer cake looks more like a messy chocolate cake with ambiguous caramel shapes on top, it will probably still taste delicious! Mine certainly did.

Dobos Torte Cake Recipe (Hungarian Layer Cake)

For the cake recipe, I used a combination of two dobos torte cake recipes: One from All Recipes that provided everything but the frosting recipe, and one from Cafe Chocolada that filled that need. I selected the All Recipes recipe because it looked fairly authentic, was in US measurement units, and had lots of visible reviews that I could learn from in order to make my own cake attempt more likely to succeed.

The caramel layer came out a bit uneven and needing more caramel. To avoid this, you'll need to make the top cake layer as thin as possible, coat it with a little more caramel than All Recipes suggests, and work as quickly as possible so the caramel can even out before it cools and sets.

This delicious Hungarian cake may be a little rough around the edges, but still tasted heavenly!

Dobos torte cake is a 5 to 7 layer Hungarian pastry topped with a caramel-coated cake layer cut into spears.

A closeup of the dobos torte cake's caramel-coated top layer.  

A closeup of the thickness of a single dobos torte cake layer

If you decide to try it, good luck with your own dobos torte cake! If you have any questions about my experience making one, please feel free to leave a question for me in the comments section.

BakerGal

Light Bulb Terrarium with Moss: Fun Light Bulb Project!

A light bulb terrarium is a great use for old bulbs.

I found myself with a lot of spare light bulbs after helping with an incandescent to compact florescent lightbulb exchange in 2007. It seemed wrong to just toss all those bulbs. I wanted to try to give them a little more purpose and let them live to their full potential, so my friends and I made a few different light bulb crafts: light bulb vases, a creepy spider, and my latest light bulb project: a light bulb terrarium with moss.

Hollowing out the light bulb isn't a big challenge; it takes some needle nose pliers, hand protection, and patience. Team Droid offers a great tutorial. Making sure you don't break the bulb later in the process is a bit tougher, though. It didn't happen to me, but the glass does feel fragile.


After filling the light bulb with pebbles, I used a thin bamboo skewer to deposit and arrange bits of moss.

It's important to note that moss does very poorly in a sealed environment. Many people will try to sell you a light bulb terrarium with moss or teach you how to make a moss terrarium without sharing this information. I sealed my terrariums with removable corks before learning this tidbit. Mosses do best in open air, and so will yours. Ideally, keep your moss open to the air to prevent the growth of mold and mildew.

If growing a finicky moss in your light bulb terrarium is too daunting, consider growing epiphytes, also known as air plants. These plants are hardier, tolerate low-moisture environments, are easier to keep happy in an enclosed environment, and don't require soil. Simple gravel will do fine, along with an occasional misting of water.

Step 1: Remove Lightbulb Contact

Light bulb terrarium in the making.

Finished light bulb terrarium with moss

I hope you find this post helpful for your own moss terrarium or light bulb crafts!

Happy light bulb terrarium times,
BakerGal