Surviving the Storm, McCall 6656 & Chicken Pot Pie, Oh My!!!

Well, the power is finally back on and everyone is safe, sound and warm.  When I think about all the families that are still not back in their homes or have suffered greater loss, I realize how lucky we really are.  Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.  It meant so much.

Since I could not get any sewing done during my few days off from work, I got to get some reading done and cut out a jacket to get me through the cold weather that is slowly starting to move in.  I purchased a faux shearling from London Textiles sometime ago and there was barely a 1 yard and 5/8 left.

 The shearling had fur on the inside of the jacket so I knew that I would not have to put a lining inside the jacket but I wanted a pattern that would work well with the shearling.  Then I saw McCall 6656 which is one of the new McCall patterns.

I knew it was the perfect pattern for this piece of fabric and I saw the yardage needed, I knew at once it was kismet.  It didn't hurt that there were princess seams to boot I might add.  I made View A.

This pattern was pretty straight forward and I was able to sew it together in only a few hours.  I did my cutting on Wednesday while we had light and when the power came back on Thursday afternoon, I did my sewing.  In my head I was not going to be off for 4 days and not have any sewing to show for it.

In trying to give my jacket a more finished look, I tried to pay attention to the fine details.  Since I wasn't using a lining due to the fur lining, there was a seams everywhere.

I didn't not mine that inside the coat because of course, no one sees that and it's fine in a faux shearling, but this jacket has a shawl collar and in putting the collar together, there is a seam straight down the middle of it.  I was not liking that at all.  I toyed with sewing an extra strip of fabric on as a design element or putting a leather strip on then just by chance as Lola was modeling the jacket for me I happened to just fold the seam over and it laid pretty flat so I opted to just sew it down making the seam less noticeable. I drawn a circle on the next picture to show you where the actual seam is.

Here is the same picture again without the circle.

And now a full view of the back.

The pattern calls for you to sew 2 inch pieces of elastic on the jacket to loop over buttons as closures.  I was not keen with that idea so I placed a toggle button closure with leather strips on the front of the jacket.

Right now I only have one closure on and I'm still deciding where I want to place the other one or even if I need it at all.

I also rounded the bottom edge of the jacket instead of leaving it square as the pattern dictates.  I thought it looked a little nicer that way.


I wore my jacket to work yesterday and got quite a few compliments. My knitting buddies saw it Thursday night and thought I had purchased the jacket, then they proceeded to tell me that I made them sick.

I smiled and stated I'd be more than willing to teach them but they are of the mindset right now that one craft is enough.  By the way there is enough shearling leftover to make a coat for Jack.  When it done I'll take pictures so you can see him in it.  I had him running around in it last night for a fitting.  He looked like a little doggie pimp.  All the lady dogs in the neighborhood do love him.  The collar on the coat reminds me of Little Lord Fauntleroy.

I can't wait until it's finished. 

As promised, Linda and Adelaide here is the chicken pot pie recipe I promised.  The original recipe is on Cooking.com here.

Chicken Pot Pie

For the Filling:

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 skinless, boneless whole chicken breast, about 1 1/2 lb total cut into strips

Salt

Pepper

1 to 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

3 tablespoons of fresh chives

3 tablespoons of chopped parsley(I use the Italian one)

2 ½ cups of carrots (about 3 or 4 carrots cut about an inch thick)

3 celery stalks cut about an inch to an inch and half thick

10 oz pearl onions, peeled (I cut each onion into 4 pieces

1 cup of peas

3/4 cup of corn

½ cup of frozen mixed veggies (optional but I like it.)

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter

7 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of milk ( I use 1% but whatever you have in the fridge will be fine)

1 egg lightly beaten to use for coloring (place to the side.  This will be used at the end.

For the Crust, you can make your own or be like me and just buy pie crust from the store.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a simmer. Add the chicken and simmer, uncovered, until opaque throughout, 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the chicken cool in the liquid. Remove the chicken, and place the stock to the side to be used later. You should have about 2 1/2 cups stock. Set aside.

Bring a saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil and salt lightly. Add the carrots and cook over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes. Add the celery, pearl onions and peas, corn and mixed veggies and cook until all are barely tender, about 3 minutes longer. Drain well; set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until the mixture is gently bubbling and smooth, 2-3 minutes; do not brown. Gradually add the reserved stock, whisking constantly, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until smooth and slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes. Add the milk and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce coats the back of the spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and pepper to taste, the thyme, chives and parsley.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Add the chicken and vegetables to the sauce and stir to combine. Spoon into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Brush the edge of the dish with some of the beaten egg.

Unroll your pie dough and place it on the top of your baking dish covering the pie mixture.  Make sure to press the edges firmly so that the mixture does not bubble out.  Trim away the overhang. and use the scraps to decorate the top if you wish.  Brush the top with the rest of the beaten egg mixture and cut three slits into the center of the pie.

Bake until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes then spoon into bowls.

The first time I had this I liked it a lot but wished there was more pastry so the next time I’m going to try it with pastry on the bottom of the baking dish as well as on the top.

Have an awesome weekend!!!