Oh the Cuteness!

I have been sewing away these past few days and been averaging a shirt a day or so, making good headway through the big pile of knit fabrics I got on sale at Beverly's a long time ago. I was on a strict budget back then and I remember I bought 3/4 of a yard of each one, which turns out to be more than enough for a shirt. And at about $2.50 a yard you cannot complain, right? I think I could have gotten away with a half yard. But I am using the scraps to piece together sleeves and ruffles for a few more tank tops in the works, and I may even turn some of the larger ones into socks and undies. I was thinking it would be really fun to explore shoe and undergarment making and see if I could have a completely handmade outfit by the 31st. No promises there though. Anywho... Making t-shirts seemed the obvious place for me to start since I like to wear different ones all the time and therefore need a lot of them. Also, from what little I had read on the net it seemed like one of the easiest

I wanted to show off the last two pieces of clothing I had made pre-crazy-decision. I will show off new pieces on hangers instead of on me so it will be interesting to see my portraits every day through the month! Last summer I made a cute little tank top and I'm not sure why I never posted it on here: It is made from a vintage pillowcase I had in my stash for a long time. I even left the old pillowcase care tag inside the shirt for giggles. I love the colors and the pattern, and while the fit is not the most perfectly flattering kind for my body shape, it is hands-down one of the most comfortable tops I have. I made it using a tutorial over on Betz White's blog , so thanks to her for sharing it. Her blog is full of a million wonderful ideas and she is all about using recycled materials, so if you have not seen it yet go check it out and get inspired! And the last piece of clothing I have had finished for a bit is my crazy 1950's skirt: This came out slightly different than

In one of my first major efforts for the upcoming Me-Made-May, I have learned a lot about what it takes to make a pair of pants. No, I have not sewn a new pair from scratch (though I plan to sew at least one pair), but what I did is still pretty cool. I took a pair of my boyfriend's size 40 pants and remade them to fit me. I am actually really proud of this project: On the left are my boyfriend's jeans, and on the right are my favorite pair from the gap. Now, I have seen tutorials online for how to make boot-cut jeans into skinny jeans and things like that, but I have never seen anyone try to convert the top half of too-big jeans without taking them completely apart, which was not the way I wanted to spend an evening of sewing. I am more of an instant gratification kind of person really. You may be wondering why Dennis let me scavenge this pair of jeans... He buys them long and then wears out this perfect semi-circle at the back of both legs. He was going to throw them away but

Alrighty , big announcement! I have officially decided to participate in the Me-Made-May Challenge. I was wandering around the internets and stumbled upon the blog of the woman who hosts the whole event, So Zo ... , and I thought it was an interesting idea. Then I found a link to the blog of Canadian fiber artist/clothing designer Natalie Purschwitz and her amazing MakeShift project , and I was absolutely smitten with what I found. She runs an art space called Make Shift, and she has taken on the hugely daunting task (to me at least) of wearing nothing but handmade items for an entire year. And I'm not just talking about clothing: she made shoes, bras, undies, socks, hats, everything. Her style is undeniably beautiful and somewhat quirky, and I completely love it. I think I love the way everything is slightly asymmetrical but evokes an almost proper Victorian-Era feel as well: After looking at every last picture and speaking about it with my ever-inspiring and ever-encourag

A few days ago I got the most ridiculous surge of energy, perhaps because I had a cold for about a week and a half and was finally feeling better, or perhaps (and this is my favorite theory), because I have a chemical imbalance like the one that makes people depressed except mine works in the opposite way, lucky thing. Who knows. But I got more done in one day that I have gotten done in the previous weeks of the month altogether. I have been finishing a lot of projects lately, and also utilizing my newfound energy to start some big new ones (more on that next post). Anywho, I started my morning off by making laundry soap because I had to do some laundry and we finally finished the old bottle. I found the recipe through the Glenn Family Gardens blog. You can find it here . All you need is washing powder, borax, and a good laundry soap like Fels-Naptha. I read about the process from the instructions and a few other blogs, and they said that grating the soap was the hardest part. But my

Well, I thought since the produce bag was something I just made up real quick I should post the pattern. I am sure there are way better ones out there, but most of them end up decreasing at the end to get a smaller opening, but I wanted mine large so leafy stuff that I buy in multiple little bunches could poke out, like baby broccoli or bok choy. So here is the pattern, just in case you want to make a couple as well. Materials: 1 skein Lion Brand Organic Cotton Yarn (#680), or similar worsted weight yarn Size I-9 Crochet Hook Little scrap of fabric (optional) Rnd 1: Begin with an adjustable loop , and crochet 12 double crochet (dc) into the loop and pull tight. Rnd 2: *Chain 7, skip 1 dc and slip stitch in next dc.* Repeat around. It should look like a little flower: Rnd 3: Chain 7, Slip stitch (slst) into 4th chain (ch) of round 2. You will ch 7 and attach it to the center of every little petal of the flower you created in round 2. At the end of the round ch 3 and slst into the 4th

Well, here I am. My bosses at the toy store have had me working on the internet social networking part of the business, including Facebook , twitter , and a new blog that I am authoring. It's been swell, but the swelling's gone down, and I have finally found time to finish a few projects. One in particular that I am very proud of is a little bar I put together for Dennis. He was thumbing through my old book of cocktails and he said he has always wanted to learn to make a few basic ones for when we entertain friends. I am not much of one for alcohol but I do like a sweet cocktail every now and again. So I rearranged the little printer stand that sits next to the dining table and put our ice crusher, martini shaker, alcohol, and cocktail books inside. And my mom and dad came up to visit yesterday and brought me a very cool old bar measure. I absolutely love clear glass that is so sold that it is starting to discolor, and the bar measure is just starting to turn pink. I liked th