Sunday stuff

Well, I promised pictures of the outfit I bought yesterday, so here they are!

The colors are so great! I think I may do shorts out of the skirt (because how awesomely 80s would high-waisted, pleated floral shorts be?!!), and then cut the top apart and use the bottom half of it to make a tank dress. Sort of like this:

But with buttons down the front, and shorter, since I'll be using shirt remnants. And a black shirt. Anyway, you get the idea.

And this is a sneak peek of the other project I'm hoping to get done this week! It's something Josh asked me to make for him. I'll elaborate more once it's done. (In other words, I'm not 100% sure of how I'm going to pull it off, but I'm determined.)

and just for good measure, here's a picture of Belle making a crazy face. She gets ridiculous when I have a camera. Such a vain little cat.

Anyway, not much else to report. Today we stayed home, did our kettle bell workout outside, then came in and watched the Super Bowl. Oh we did make a midnight (or 2 am, whatever) run to walmart. I had some money left on my gift card, and I needed chap stick...so of course I also got new eyeliner and mascara. I had to use up all the money! I got a really awesome three eyeliner pack from Physicians Formula - black, dark grey, and silver. They're sparkly and awesome.The end.

More winter crafts

Finally got back into the groove and made some more winter the hats over the past few days...started with an ivory one that I slapped a sparkly maroon bow onto, then a really soft yellow angora one, and then my favorite, a grey cashmere one with black leather bows, and fingerless gloves to match! Glad to be back in action, I think I'm going to use the rest of the yellow angora sweater to make a little cat sweater for Belle...I want to make one for Orion too, but I'll need a whole sweater, and a big one, so that may not happen until I make another trip to Restore.

Here are the hats I made this week...(the ivory one was really hard to photograph, so forgive the blurriness, and the brightness.)

I made the fingerless gloves using the same idea I used to make my last ones (which I ended up giving to my mom while she was here; she liked them and wanted them as driving gloves), but it was a lot less work this time because I used the end of the sleeves for the hand part, and just cut a little hole to sew in the thumb part (which I cut out of the bottom of the sweater), and also used the neck of the shirt (cut into two parts) for the wrist. They look a lot more professional, I think, and like I said, it was a lot easier. The bows are mostly to cover up stitching, but I really like them. :)

Today Josh and I spent some time outside working on clearing the two huge branches that fell next to our house. We made some pretty good progress, but it's slow going since we don't have a chainsaw (or even an axe - we were taking turns using a machete). I think we're going to go to Lowe's tomorrow and get an axe, before we tackle it again. Orion tried to help drag away branches as we cut them off at first, but then got bored and resorted to eating a pumpkin that I threw out.

I have plans to post a lot of words tomorrow, regarding the new year and reflections of this past year, but if I don't get around to it, everyone have a safe and happy end to 2012, and beginning of 2013!

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November musings

I think I need to set a goal for myself regarding November: make things using only materials I already have on hand! I mean, I have a few skirt ideas in mind that will obviously require me to buy elastic (I cannot install a zipper to save my life) but other than that, no more buying things from re-store! My fabric bins (yes, more than one) are overflowing, and my floor, desk, and coffee table are covered. As in you can barely see what color those things are through all the fabric that's spread out everywhere.

Belle doesn't complain though, she thinks that the craft room is her room and she is the Queen of the Fabric and gets to lay on whatever texture suits her mood at the moment.

I have so many materials already, so much fabric, and too-small or too-big items that need to be altered or just cut up and used as fabric, but I get distracted so easily. I think what I need to do is go through my 'Craft Ideas & Sewing Projects' board on pinterest, pick out some stuff, set up my laptop in the craft room with 5 or 6 project ideas open, and then cut off the wireless so I can't open up anything else!

I do have to make sure I put everything away for the week of Thanksgiving, though, because my in-laws will be here! So I guess minus the half week I've already wasted spent not doing much of anything (well except painting the Coolest Doll Ever) I've got three weeks to work with this month.

Anyway, here are a few pieces I'm wanting to wok on specifically this week:

Ivory/gold brocade skirt. It's a really nice skirt, but it's like one size too small, and I'm not sure whether I should hold out and hope I can fit into it soon, or just go ahead and make something out of it. If I do, I'm thinking a clutch.

This dress is also really nice, but it's an XS and I know I'll never be that tiny so it's destined for re-purposing. Just not too sure what it will turn into...

They're both gold (and sparkly!) which makes me think of winter and Christmas, which is kind of why I'm trying to work with them first.

I also have a black maxi that I grabbed at restore that I'm debating turning into asymmetrical hem skirt...I really don't know! I kind of want to just go ahead and do it because it's a $2 skirt so what's the harm? But at the same time nice flowy, not-faded-one-little-bit thrift store maxis are hard to come by!

Also this month: I'll be getting (and restoring!) a table and six chairs from my in-laws. That will definitely be a learning experience. I might even paint them. We'll see how it goes.

I'll probably also be baking and possibly sharing a few gluten-free ideas. I'm still getting used to this, and finding new things to eat can be hard. Partially because I'm picky, and partially because Josh doesn't have to eat gluten-free, so it can be difficult to find things for both of us to eat, and that still taste good to him. I'm still trying to not eat out the rest of this month, so hopefully embracing the eating at home thing will lead to us finding a balance.

And on a final note, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS ALREADY NOVEMBER.

31 Days Series: Another hat.

Alright, I know, I've made a lot of hats already. BUT! This one is different. And by different I mostly just mean more complicated. Part of this stems from the fact that it was made from the arms, and didn't have a nice, snug, trim around the bottom like the other hats I've made so far did. (Told you I wasn't going to let a single piece of that sweater go to waste!) This meant I had to come up with a way for it to fit my head without flying off into the wind. Because I started this late last night with no real objective, and without really knowing if it was going to work, I didn't take pictures. I did, however, draw an amazingly accurate picture to show you how to start off if you want to recreate this. (Which I only recommend doing if you have random sweater arms laying around and no other way to use them. Otherwise, just cut your hat pattern from the bottom; it's much easier.)

Like I said, this is constructed from sleeves. Two of them. If you're using a shirt with short sleeves you may be able to skip the second half of this, but in my case I was using the top half of sweater sleeves, so I had to pick my brain and figure out how to finish it off. But we'll get to that in a sec.

Eh, you like that? ...ok, sorry. I tried. Follow the diagram, if you can. First you want to cut the sleeves off, and then open up the seam that closes the arm together. You'll have two pieces that are shaped like the third picture. Cut about an inch off the top (keep in mind; my sleeve pieces were about 8 inches long before I cut that off, so if yours are shorter you may need to cut less. If they're longer, cut some off the bottom too.) Put them right sides together and sew up both sides. Then finish off the top the same way we've done before.

Now you should be left with something like this:

Alright. Here's where it gets hairy.

We're going to add elastic! If you've ever made a skirt with an exposed elastic waistband, then you know where I'm going with this. If not, good luck! (Just kidding. It's not hard, but it's definitely going to test your patience if this is your first go at it.)

Start by cutting a piece of elastic that will fit comfortably around your head; tight enough to stay on, but loose enough to wear for long periods of time without getting a headache. Once you have the elastic cut, measure it, and mark the quarter, half, and three-quarter points on it. Then, sew those points to the corresponding points inside your hat. (Fold the edge over about ¼ inch, and just sew a zig-zag line across the width to keep the elastic in place; see the top picture.)

Now you finish it up by sewing the elastic all the way around the inside of the hat. Use a large zig-zag, and sew the ¼ inch piece of the hat that folded over to the edge of the elastic. It's a little easier if you work in fourths, going from one of the points you already sewed to the next, while keeping the elastic stretched all the way out. (This is the hardest part, and it may take some trial and error, so if you're not comfortable with the process, practice on some scrap fabric first.)

And now you are the proud owner of a scrap hat, that can be worn pulled down over your ears on cold days, and pushed back like a head band inside. :) Woo!

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31 Days Series: Angora sweater accessories

I finished my sweater accessories!! One $3 thrifted angora sweater turned out a hat, a set of leg-warmers, and a pair of gloves! Ready for the breakdown?

Hat.

Again, this is a fairly simple project, but if you need some guidance, Kirsten has an easy to follow step-by-step here.

I was also inspired by her post here to make a few other things and not let a single piece of this gorgeous sweater go to waste! But I did want to change it up a bit. Instead of simple hand warmers, I went all out on gloves. But first, I made leg-warmers! (Which are even easier than the hat!)

For these I simply cut the sleeves off from about half-way down and then sewed the tiniest of hems (about ¼ inch) since it won't be seen anyway. The bottom part will be tucked into boots. :)

And last but certainly not least, the gloves! I really wanted them to be comfortable and easy to wear, but also to look nice. I chose to use my alpaca gloves as a pattern. I half traced/half free-handed a simple two-piece pattern based on those gloves.

I cut the thumb part out from the bottom of the sweater (next to wear the hat came from) and the hand piece from the top to cut down on the amount of seams I would have to sew. (I didn't take a picture of how I cut the hand part, so I used my super-professional photo-shop skills to draw it out for you.)

To make the gloves you put the pieces together right sides in, and sew the side that will be on the outside of your hand closed. Then, you sew the thumb part to the other side, starting about an inch below the top edge. Sew half of the thumb piece to one side, and the other half to the other side. Then, sew the rest of the front and back together. (You should have approximately one inch on top, which will be between your pointer finger and thumb when you wear these, and two to three inches below the thumb part, depending on how long your gloves are going to be.)

Repeat for the other glove and you're done! Cute matching accessories, all from one cheap sweater!

Personally I still have a little bit of sweater left so I might make something else...just not too sure what yet. :)
And if you have any trouble understanding anything, let me know and I'll try to clear it up! I'm not the best at explaining things in detail. I would make a horrible teacher.

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31 Days Series: Halloween costumes

Halloween costumes!!

As much as I looove Halloween, I've really been slacking the past few years. Two years ago I threw a pumpkin carving party a couple of weeks before Halloween, and was still recovering from that on Halloween. Last year we had just moved here two weeks before Halloween, and were still in the process of unpacking, getting settled, and we really didn't have any idea of what to do. But this year I am determined to do something, even if it's just dressing up so that I don't look crazy (or creepy) when I go walk around downtown and take pictures of everyone else in their costumes.

I chose my fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood) and assigned parts. Obviously I was going to be Little Red Riding Hood, and it was easiest to give Josh the part of the huntsman who saves me (and granny), which left Orion to play the part of the wolf dressed as granny.

At Re-store I collected the pieces for our various costumes: a plaid flannel shirt for Josh, a night gown, scarf, and granny glasses for Orion, and a red circle skirt (to be converted to a cape) for me. I didn't really want to make everything from scratch, so I bought basic stuff that could be easily altered to fit our needs. I think Orion's costume ended up needed the most alteration (Duh, I guess, I did buy people clothes to dress a dog as a wolf dressing as a granny.)

(As usual, these photos were taken over the span of like 24 hours, so the lighting is pretty random. Sorry!)

Ok. Here's the breakdown. For our wolfy-granny I started with a long pink nightgown. I tried it on him, then cut off approximately ten inches. Then, I cut a huge, upside down V out of the front (don't want him peeing on it!) I didn't want to hem anything up so I just stitched a piece of pink lace across the bottom. (I just happened to have a piece the perfect length. It was fate!) Next I had to work on the neck. It was a little tight across his back so I cut another V out of the top. Then I pulled out so that it was straight across, and used a piece of fabric from the bottom to make a matching ruffle to fill in the gap.

His accessories were much easier. For the glasses I simply attached a cheap pearl necklace to them, then put a dot of hot glue on each end to keep the chain from sliding around. I made 'wolf ears' out of some black furry fabric and brown suede. I stuck a few pieces of jewelry wire inside them (after sewing them) to keep them standing up, then I hot glued them to the top of his scarf. Easy peasy.
Here's his whole outfit.

Mine was actually much more simple. I took a circle skirt I'd found at Re-store, and cut off the elastic waistband. Next, I cut it open, right up the middle. (I guess. I didn't measure.) I folded the top down and stitched it closed. (For whatever reason, I apparently took no pictures during any of this.) Then, I took a red t-shirt (same color, same fabric) and cut a hood out of it. (I cut it out of the bottom and the side so I only had to sew one seam.) Then I attached that to the inside of the cape. I strung a piece of ribbon through the top of the cape, but I kind of like it better with a broach instead.

I'm like 90% sure of what I'm going to wear under my cape tomorrow, but I am really going to have to wait and see what the weather is going to be like. Anyway, we'll be heading downtown to walk around and gawk at other people, and take pictures so hopefully I can get someone to take one of us at some point and then you can see a (well lit!!) picture of us all in costume. :)

Being productive

Woke up feeling much happier today, and ready to tackle a few things! First off, here are the galaxy shirts I made. Mine is the tank, Joshs is the tee, and they're just waiting to hit their 72 hour mark so I can wash them and we can wear them!

These I made for us today...we bought a 4 pack of Hanes shirts for me to make Josh the galaxy shirt, and this is how I used up two more of them...

cut them in half...

sewed them back together...

and we have matching shirts! Well, sorta. The one on the right is mine, and I'm going to make some adjustments to it, I think (cut off the collar, and stitch up the sides a little because it's very long on me).

This is what I'm working on next...updating these converse that I've had for...oh, 7 years now. I think it's time for them to glow...and sparkle. :)