Puzzle Bouse

I have recently become intrigued with a pattern for a Puzzle Blouse that I found in the book Simple Serger Sewing by Julie Johnson.  You can also find a variation of it by Suzy Seed on the Alice's House blog.  Basically it is a square piece of fabric that gets 3 serged seams and serged edges on the hemline, armholes and neckline. The finished blouse is on the bias. When I made my first one, the tangerine shown below, I realized that it makes a great bathing suit cover-up. So I proceeded to make a few for friends. The ones I like best are made of silky prints from Joann fabrics; they hang quite nicely.  The key to the size is making the square either your hip measurement or high bust measurement, whichever is greater. However, a 38 inch square makes a nice cover up for most sizes.  If you use the pattern for a blouse, you have to shorten it appropriately.

After you make the first one, it takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.  On the first one, it is truly puzzling to figure out how to make this serged blouse.  I actually do a rolled hem on the armholes, neckline and hemline.  The pink one is made from a soft cotton and instead of using a rolled hem stitch, I just serged around the openings. What I have learned is that I need alot more practice serging curves and probably need to take a serger class.

Zucchini and Potato Casserole

As I looked at the garden today, I saw that I had a zucchini and many small tomatoes.  I was having breaded Parmesan chicken with a salad and knew I needed a carb side dish.  Many times I have made a gratin by layering whatever vegetables I had on hand, so I proceeded to cube the zucchini into 1/2 pieces, cut the small tomatoes in half and sliced the potatoes in 1/2 inch slices.  I sprayed an 8x8 casserole dish with olive oil spray, threw in the zucchini cubes followed by the tomatoes.  I layered the potatoes ontop and seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with 2 tablespoons of margarine.  I popped it into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  By this time it was starting to bubble but I saw that it had produced a little more liquid than I liked.  So I stirred in a tablespoon of Acini De Pepe and figured it would soak up the extra liquid from the vegetables. I baked for 15 minutes more and then topped with some shredded Parmesan cheese.  I let this cheese bake for a few minutes and my casserole was just the right consistency.  In addition, the little pasta beads had soaked up the additional liquid and were just yummy.  The vegetables were glazed with a delicious sauce rather than sitting in liquid.  This is so easy to make and bakes while you prepare the rest of your meal.  Experiment with various vegetables and different cheeses.  I am even thinking of layering some barley in my next casserole.