i made another scarf for my dear friend, tessa. however this one was made with a woven fabric instead of a knit jersey so i made a few changes re: the sizing and construction...
the tube is still the same size - 22" x 60" *** please remember to sew the long side first!*** :) (i didn't!)
the size of the strips are as follows:
3 strips - 2" wide x 30" long
3 strips - 4" wide x 40" long
3 strips - 6" wide x 60" long
re: construction - because the strips didn't roll up i folded them right sides together and sewed... turned them inside out.... and then braided... they still braided to about the same width as the jersey braids... :)
i have to make two more braided knit scarves... i will post pics of them as soon as possible. thanks for stopping by and reading! hope you're having a productive monday! :)
next up in a long line of refashions.... :) i have two dkny rib knit tees... they were samples i had made overseas when i used to work on the dkny account at a multinational t-shirt maker....
i love the fabric, but the cut of the tees was always too boxy for me... enter my favorite tee... one that i thrifted. it's from arden b (i know, i'm NOT their target demographic) & it's a size L (of course). it's a flattering fit on me and i will cry and cry and cry the day it sprouts a hole that can neither be mended or hidden.... and then i will make a pattern from it... >:)
ennyhoo... i started with the grey one.... i turned it inside out & traced the shape of the arden b tee (sideseams & neckline) onto the grey tee (adding a 1/2" seam allowance). pictured below is the blk tee which isn't as big as the grey tee...
then i cut and resewed the sideseams... and staystitched the neckline....
i made some bias tape out of this checkered yellow remnant i had... this is exactly why i shop the remnant bin at joanns - even little bits of a complicated or simple print can boost something plain... and i chose the yellow because really, what is the opposite of grey? :)
the length of the tee was also an issue for me... i like tees slightly longer than most - almost to my hip...
and then, i made the applique balloons... i have no idea why... they just seemed so cheerful at the time... :) the embroidery is by my machine... although i may consider doing it over by hand in the future... the thread doesn't seem "heavy" enough to me... :) i'll be playing around with the black tee sometime soon, will post updates re: that one as well... :)
the final product:
it just occurred to me that i was listening to some coldplay when i was sewing... it's more than likely, i was under the influence of this song:
thanks for stopping by & reading! hope you are carpe-ing this diem!!! :)
a few months ago, a friend of a friend (this is chicago, mind you...) was giving away all these home dec fabric remnants (and i mean remnants, random shaped pieces really) that she was given by an interior designer friend who was retiring.... i scored pretty hard.... bags and bags of fabric & trim - of course, i had no idea what i'd do with this stuff... (i ended up making my spring coat with some of the pieces...)
ennyhoo... the other day, i was sitting on my very plain couch:
and it occurred to me that it was, in fact, a very plain couch.... and it was clearly causing a disturbance in my creative force... so i made pillows... welll, pillow shams really... lotsa pillow shams... :)
it turned out that some of the random pieces were large enough for sham fronts or that they were graphic enough that i could piece a front/back together w/o it looking too odd/off... and i'd picked enough neutral colors that they actually worked together despite being very different stylewise... :)
ergo.... my creative force is satisfied... for now... :) i have a whole pile of remnants awaiting me! i sincerely hope you're having a lovely lovely friday!
on that note, i dunno why (maybe because they just had their baby) but this song has been stuck in my head:
a few months ago, a dear friend of mine asked me to knock off a skirt she purchased in paris. from her description of it, it sounded like a new species of animal from the amazon... i was really curious, so i agreed...
here she is dancing (beautifully) in it at the 5:12 mark:
so it's a gored skirt, made of a stretch denim, but it has this flouncy hem:
she wasn't sure if the length of the skirt was flattering or not... personally, i loooove the movement of the skirt, but i think it should be shorter. so, my job was to knock off a shorter version of the skirt to see if she would prefer one or the other and if she did like it, she may make more...
so, i know there are other and probably more accurate ways of knocking off garments, but here's mine:
* first off, you need muslin and a tailor's wax (i lost mine, so i used a crayon aka poor mans tailoring wax. lol!) pin the muslin over the piece of the garment that you want to copy. with a little pressure, swipe the wax over the seam so that you see it transferred onto the muslin. click on pic to enlarge:
* after you transfer the piece, you can fold the garment up and put it away... place a piece of pattern paper (i use packing paper. you can use newspaper, butcher paper, etc...) on top of a self healing cutting mat & place the muslin on top of the pattern paper. using a pattern wheel (i have a blunt one, but it would be best to use a professional one, trace the seam transferred marks you made with the tailor's wax.
* after tracing with a pattern wheel, you can put the muslin and the cutting mat away. you will need a french curve and a see thru ruler at this point. pencil in the marks the pattern wheel made and add your desired seam allowance. i used a 1/2".
* right about here, i took a step back and geeked out.... and did a patternmaker dance. and yes, it is in fact imperative and for your good health that you dance at this point. i'll wait.... :)
* when i was done dancing, i cut out eight gores from some cotton/poly shirting i had. and sewed them up. i also drafted a facing for the inside top part of the skirt and bias tape strips for the hem. however, you could finish both top and bottom with (store bought or handmade) bias tape strips. i put in on gladys just to see... i was so curious...
* i also installed a 7" invisible zipper on the left side. here's the finished *test* skirt. i'm very happy with it. i hope she likes it...
as you can see, the skirt fits me too!!! double bonus points!!!! i'm totally making me some skirtage... stripes & border fabrics here i come!!! :)
more pics at david homes photography... here and here.
Update 5/7: Lindyfest finally posted a video of the instructor jam! Steven & Virginie dance at the 6:02 mark:
if you have any questions about this knock off, please let me know via comments or email.... :) hope you had a productive wednesday! thanks for coming by & reading! :)
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! :)
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:
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... :)
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...
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!
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 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... :)
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...
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!
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.
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!
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!
