SewThankful Blog – There's sew much to be thankful for…

Using the Loop Turner Tool to Load Drawstring in a Cord Stop

Sometimes it can be tricky to figure out how to do something that seems like it should be super easy. One example of this (for me) was loading a drawstring through a cord stop, as is required in my Got Sudz soap bag pattern.

There are lots of different ways of doing it, but the fastest way I’ve found is to use my Loop Turner Tool by ToolTron to pull the drawstring through. If you don’t have the Loop Turner Tool by ToolTron but you do have a tiny crochet hook, that will work as well!

To do this using the Loop Turner Tool, first, hold the cord stop in your hand and squeeze down the top push tab several times to warm up the spring.

Next, hold the tab down while you insert the latch hook end of the Loop turner through one of the cord stop holes. Release tab gently and load drawstring onto latch hook as shown:

After you’ve done the above, press the cord stop spring tab down again then pull the loop turner latch hook back through the hole of the cord stop, like so:

Now, repeat this with the other hole of the cord stop using the other drawstring end. Once both ends are loaded, press the spring tab and slide the cord stop up and down a few times while you even the length of the drawstrings and position the cord stop where you want it.

Trim drawstring to the length you desire then finish by tying the drawstring ends together in a knot and trim ends again, fairly close (about 1/2 inch or closer) to knot.

And that’s all there is to it! Have you used this method with either the Loop Turner or a tiny crochet hook? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy 2021 Quilting & Sewing Friends!

SewThankful Pumpkin Granola

When you’ve grown lots of baking/cooking pumpkins, you find lots of ways to use the flesh…and the seeds. I love this recipe because it uses both the pumpkin flesh and the seeds.

This pumpkin granola is soooo flipping delicious. It never lasts more than a couple of days in our house and the house smells absolutely wonderful as it’s baking. It’s fantastic to snack on plain, eat as cereal or sprinkle on yogurt or ice cream.

If you are using your own pumpkin puree and haven’t seen my post on how to puree fresh pumpkin, you can find it here.

If you’re using your own fresh pumpkin seeds, be sure to check out my post on brining pumpkin seeds and the one on toasting pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients:

6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (“quick” variety is NOT recommended for this recipe)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) Butter OR 4 tablespoons Butter + ¼ cup Coconut Oil OR ½ cup Coconut Oil
1 cup Nuts, coarsely chopped. Suggested: pecans, walnuts, almonds, pinons or blend recommended
1 cup plain, lightly toasted seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, etc. or a blend)
1/2 cup Maple Syrup OR Honey
1/2 cup Pumpkin
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ginger (optional—if you don’t like ginger leave it out)
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/8 teaspoon ground Cloves (optional—if you don’t like cloves leave it out)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients (oats, nuts, seeds), Cinnamon, Ginger, Ground Cloves and Sea Salt in an X-large mixing bowl. Stir and mix well until all dry ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside.

Melt butter (or butter/coconut combo or coconut oil) until just melted and pour into small mixing bowl. Add remaining wet ingredients (maple syrup or honey and pumpkin) and mix well making sure the mixture is evenly combined and smooth.

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients. Stir and mix well, making sure wet ingredients are evenly distributed and coating all the dry ingredients.

Divide mixture evenly between two regular size baking sheets (or one extra large baking sheet if you have it).

Bake in 250 degree oven for approximately 2 hours, stirring every 20 – 30 minutes. If you prefer chunkier granola, be more gentle and leave larger chunks when stirring.

When time is up, remove from oven.

Cool completely, stirring periodically.

Once completely cooled, this granola should store quite well in an air tight container for up to a couple weeks (not entirely sure as it never lasts that long in our house).

Toast Fresh, Clean, Brined Pumpkin Seeds

Once you have cleaned, brined & air dried your fresh pumpkin seeds you’re ready toast them. If you haven’t read my post on how to brine fresh pumpkin seeds, you can find it here.

There are many recipes out there for seasoned pumpkin seeds and truly the possibilities are endless (a quick internet search will turn up tons of results).

These instructions are for plain/brined, toasted seeds. They are delicious to snack on as is or to use in other recipes such as granola where you may not want certain other seasonings to interfere.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Place your seeds on a clean baking sheet.

Toast seeds for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, stirring at least once at the half way point.

Remove seeds from oven when they are beginning to turn golden brown around the edges (at approximately 25 – 30 minutes from when you first put them in the oven).

Allow to cool.

Enjoy snacking on as is or store in an air tight container until you’re ready to snack again or use them in a recipe, such as SewThankful Pumpkin Granola.