to patch or not to patch...

sometimes, i'm very conflicted about patches... i mean really, the reason why you have to patch something in the first place is because it's usually something so well loved that you wear it too much... and in a sense, that's something i don't mind showing off... with pride. :)

however, as a mom, i wonder what other moms must think of my children running & screaming willy nilly on the playground with their wonderfully scabby knees poking out of their well loved & holey jeans... (click on pics to enlarge)



most times, i err on the safe side (& maybe to ensure a playdate invite) and make patches... so i thought i'd share my method... just in case you want to try it out....

it's near valentines day so, i made a heart patch for paloma's pants. and for the porkchop... what else? a train. :)

first off, i don't throw old jeans away for this very purpose... the thin man has offered up many of his *holey* (a hole the size of a pencil eraser) jeans to the fabric stash... which i am eternally grateful... personally, i don't mind when the blues don't match... well, it IS a patch, so it's not going to be invisible... :)

i start by cutting out the shape of the patches... i used a plastic lid to cut out the circle for porkchop's train... and ye olde "fold, eyeball & cut" for the heart shape:



for paloma's patch, i decided i'd embellish it with a small daisy chain machine embroidery... you'll see the pic later...

for the porkchop's train patch, i googled & printed out a silhouette of a train... you may or may not have to size it up or down... using a lightbox or just taping it to the window, trace/transfer the image onto a contrasting fabric using a water soluble marking pen... (as a side note, the *proper* way to do this would also require you to add some interfacing to the back of your contrast fabric BEFORE you trace/cut... i was too lazy to do so... :) but it does help with any future fraying...)



after you trace the image, cut it out...

at this point, i started to embellish the patches. i machine embroidered the daisy chain around the heart. and i zigzagged the train image to the patch and also added a stitch that looked like a monorail track around the outside.

to attach the patch to the pant, you will need to use a seam ripper and rip out the OUTSIDE seam & merrowing/overlock stitch of the legs... only about 3" from the midpoint of each hole. this should give you enough room to maneuver around...



i pin the patch on top of the hole and attach it with a zig zag stitch all around the outside of the shape... when the patches are in place, resew the outside seam and re-overlock/merrow it if you have a machine - you can also just zig zag over it too... and before you know it, you're done! :)



when the kids get home, i'll make sure to update this post with a pic of them wearing their patch improved jeans! :)

thanks for coming by & reading!

friday dance - dancing box

i'm slightly buried (again) in (self inflicted) works in progress... one of them is this spring coat i just made from some beautiful home dec fabric i had in my stash... the blue print is from ralph lauren and the cream colored woven lining micmics tree branches in winter... i used vintage simplicity pattern 7936. i've worn it out a few times without the hood and LOVE it! i worried about the sizing but it fits perfectly and i can even wear a sweater underneath on cooler days...

i'm trying to finish up the detached hood:



i've been hearing & reading that auditions for the new season of ABDC have started... very exciting news... in the meantime, i'm trolling youtube looking up a lot of crews who are auditioning and what's going on elsewhere in the hip hop dance world... like this amazeballs crew from japan:



the track is dancing box from modeselektor:



ennyhoo.... happy friday!!!

bonzo for braids!! (& dance friday!!!)

so excited to share my new project with you... this scarf was SOOOO easy and so quick to make... about three hours or so..

like many bloggers, i just recently joined pinterest. and found it to be the MOTHERLOAD of DIY tutorials in one handy dandy spot!!!! it's amazeballs, i could (have) pin(ned) away in there for hours... :)

ennyhoo... one of the first things i pinned was this scarf:



however, when i clicked on it, it wasn't a tutorial, but an actual product for sale, but i thought, "it can't be that difficult to make could it?"

so i did a search for DIY braided tshirt necklace and found this easy to follow tutorial on the i still love you blog.

i pretty much followed the same instructions, but used different measurements that i guesstimated...

first off, i had a printed crinkly jersey 60" wide fabric in my stash... you'll need about a yard and a half... it was just begging to be made into this scarf... :) the scarf i made is actually two separate scarves.

the large piece is just a big tube - 22" x 60". right sides together, stitch up the long side... i used a 1/4" seam allowance. turn inside out and stitch the short sides, right sides together... eventually, you find you can't stitch anymore. i just pressed that seam allowance down and topstitched close to the edge... (or you can use that iron on seam adhesive...)

the second piece is made with 9 strips... (these measurements you might have to take on yourself making sure the smallest necklace fits over your head... depending on how long you want to wear the necklaces... also, not sure if this is true with all printed jerseys, but mine started to curl inward so the print wasn't showing. so, while braiding i had to fold the strip back so that the print would show periodically...

3 strips - 2" wide x 30" long

3 strips - 2" wide x 40" long (i braided this one looser than the shorter one to make them look a little different... or i suppose you could just make the middle one a little wider - 4" perhaps?)

3 strips - 6" wide x 60" long

again, i followed the instructions linked above and within a few hours i was finished... :)

to style it, i put the tube scarf on first, doubled it. then the braids... the longest braid is doubled. :)

i swear, if you can sew a straight seam, you can make this!!!

UPDATE: so i wore this scarf all day today... it kept me warm and was just lovely! however! i looked rather ungraceful taking it off at home this evening... will have to practice... :)

hope you had a wonderful friday!!!

if you're coming from sew can do blog's monday link party or better life bags pinterest challenge, thanks for coming by & welcome! please take a look around! :)





for dance friday - i leave videos of one of my fave dance crews - the s*** kingz from japan... dancing to OLD school black eyed peas... woot!





p.s. if you're on pinterest, please let me know! you can follow me here:

work that skirt - restyle #2

contrary to what i post here... i really do wear skirts, i don't restyle every single one i find... :)

but every once in a while, a really lovely skirt will end up in my "well, that was an unfortunate purchase" pile... this one had been sitting there for a very very long time:



it's a really cute corduroy skirt, labelled "polli says...", perfect for the fall... it's slightly big and i'm too lazy to take it in... with all the beading it would take some time & effort that i haven't had the ability to schedule in... also, the beading was always hidden by whatever i was wearing because i don't usually wear anything that shows my waist...



thankfully, i saw this courduroy pant into bag restyle on refashion co-op blog.

i immediately thought of my skirt... :) i bought some plain army green webbing/cotton belting at the fabric store. then, i sewed some decorative ribbon on each strap...



i cut off about 7" from around the hem of the skirt, sewed that seam, along with two corner seams for a good four inch bottom...



love my new tote! :)

thanks for coming by & reading! hope you're having a relaxing wednesday!

mamazilla vs 2011

so everyblogger and their aunt sarah blogger are posting all these really inspiring recaps of 2011... i started to get all kinds of glum thinking about all my personal failures this year, but for some reason, i took a quick look back at the blog and some unpublished pics & realized, "hmmm... it (i) wasn't all that bad!"

*pats self on back*

turns out i made a whole lot of stuff!!! and despite not reviewing nearly as many books as i read - it turns out i read 15 books in 2011!! *insert rekkid scratch*

i KNOW, right!!?? :)

january:



restyled brown skirt, restyled jean skirt & house slippers

february & march:



restyled brown dress, violet dress, restyled sweater into cowl scarf, more girl n doll dresses...

april/may/june:

i didn't make anything but i think it was because we had just moved to our new apartment. we'd also gone on a spring vacation in april.... in may, we were preparing for paloma's first communion, end of the school year parties/performances and porkchop's kindergarten graduation... we were busy bees... :)

july:



restyled shirt into skirt, bunnies!

august:



restyled t-shirt, restyled bike helmet

sept:



market bags for my very first craft table, another restyled tee...

october:



halloween costumes - spider princess & harry potter

november & december:





made some aprons & girl n doll dresses...

lastly, i read (& reviewed some of) these books in 2011:

1) the girl with the dragon tattoo by steig larsson - i waited so long to read this book. i was worried it was overhyped. i wasn't disappointed. a very compelling read... i even sat thru the new movie... yowza. not for the faint of heart...

2) angel in my pocket by ilene cooper. & my goodreads review.

3) fresh off the boat by melissa de la cruz - i really should write a review of this lovely YA book about the filipino immigrant experience viewed from the eyes of a pinay teen.

4) city of fallen angels by cassandra clare. although i love this series, this book was actually a disappointment to me... hoping, clockwork prince, from the infernal device series, is better... #TEAMJEM WOOT!

5) girls for breakfast by david yoo. & my review.

6) norwegian wood by haruki murakami. & my review

7) thanks for the memories by cecilia ahern. i read this hoping it would help me to restart a book i was writing... it's a heartwarming love story, much like her other book, p.s. i love you.

8) the radleys by matt haig. i think this book about a modern vampire family blew me away so much. i was rendered speechless.... fer realsies.

9) battle hymn of the tiger mother by amy chua. & my review.

10) the anybodies by n.e.bode. & my goodreads review.

11) where the mountain meets the moon by grace lin. & my review.

12) the graveyard book by neil gaiman. & my goodreads review.

13) naamah's blessing by jacqueline carey. i was so sad to see this series come to an end... i think i'm in denial about writing a review... :'(

14) naamah's curse by jacqueline carey. & my goodreads review. by far, one of my fave books this year... i am a HUGE fan of the (HOT) chinese warrior, Bao!

15) the girl with glass feet by ali shaw. & my review

for 2012, besides the obvious (challenging myself to be a better me, friend, mother, wife, etc...) resolutions, i would like to continue to challenge my creative process by sewing more (and altering less - i find i've been altering more clothes (not recycling, restyling or upcycling) for friends & friends of friends. i hope to cut back on that...), crafting more, writing more and drawing more.... being more consistent about these challenges, stopping the procrastination & ignoring the fear of failure....

i don't really have too many other resolutions... i'm rarely at a loss for finding fault with myself... so, maybe another resolution should be to reflect and find more things about myself to be proud of...

best wishes to you dear reader for a bright and memorable 2012!

dance friday - happy holidays from california!!!

ugh... it's been so long since i posted to the blog... :( i got slammed with some sewing work before i left for vacation:

i made a few outfits for a friend's daughter and her doll... for the girls a line jumpers i used a vintage simplicity pattern 7783. for the doll a line jumpers, i used simplicity pattern 4271. for the girl's corduroy dress, i used/modified butterick B5631. for the doll's corduroy dress, i used simplicity pattern 3936.



and i was also asked to make some aprons for christmas prezzies. i used the top of simplicity 3803 dress pattern and draped the rest of the apron myself:



and i also had/have some alterations to do.... ennyhoo....

we're on vacation in southern california with the thin man's family and having a BLAST.... we started off with a day at disneyland and hanging out with some very dear friends in LA... we're in the palm springs area now. we hung out in san diego yesterday... and we might be headed to the salton sea for a day trip too next week... :)

but i wanted to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! and wish everyone a peaceful and bright new year... i often think of the heartfelt sentiments in Exile's song - I Wish For You:



but since i've already posted this song - i add along a BONUS!!! apparently, they've released a new (to me) album... here's This is My Life:


EX_ILE / This_is_my_life by Danseryu

see you in 2012!!! XOXOXOXOXOX!!!!