Sunday with Juliet

Katie and I met today for some coffee and knitting. What a great way to spend a windy Sunday afternoon! I'm working on the Juliet. This pattern is the reason I wanted to learn to knit. Thank goodness it is easy enough for a beginner like me.

Can you guess what this pile of fabrics will be? Here's a hint.

Tomorrow they announce the winners of the Amy Butler Sew Inspired Bag contest. I can't wait to see who won!

New (old) book

"Sewing is an art and, as such, demands the discipline of an art. Bring to it desire, enthusiasm, and imagination, and it will give you in return a satisfaction that is unique: the joy of creating something that is truly yours." - Singer Sewing Book, 1972

I couldn't have said it better myself. I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Wrap shirt inspiration

I'm taking a little break from sewing this week, but that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to getting behind the foot pedal again. I'm just allowing a little time for all my inspiration to build up and burst out in a explosion of sewing productivity. Well, one can hope anyway.

I was inspired by this top from the February Anthropologie catalog as soon as I saw it.
With a little tweaking, I think I might be able to pull this off using McCalls 5323.

Searching the Anthropologie website, I came across another great wrap shirt.
Oh, the inspiration is definitely building up! Thankfully the weekend is almost here!

Edited: Oops! I just uploaded the pics again. I hope they show up this time.

Painted Briefcase Tutorial

I have to admit, I first set out to find a vintage suitcase to fill with dress up materials for my niece. But, alas, a cute vintage suitcase was not be found. I knew the hard briefcase I found at Goodwill had some potential though. So after a quick brainstorming with my sister, the arts and craft case was born.

Here are the materials you need for this project:

Hard vinyl briefcase or suitcase
Primer
Acrylic craft paint
Pretty scrapbook paper
Decoupage medium
Waterbase Satin Varnish (found near the craft paints)
Paint Brush

Steps:
1. First, thoroughly clean the outside and inside of the case with some soap and water or cleaning spray. You don't know where it's been!

2. Prime the case for painting. I used two coats on each side. Make sure you cover every inch (the handles, bottom, etc) and allow to dry between coats.

3. Paint the case. I used my tried and true paint: Acrylic craft paint...the kind that's less than a dollar a bottle. I have a large plastic bin filled with these paints in a myriad of colors. Do most crafters have these paints on hand or is it just me? It might be easier to just spray paint the case. Personally I love painting with a brush. If you use spray paint, let me know how well it works out. Make sure you cover every inch of the case, including the handles and the locks. I used two coats of paint. Let dry in between each coat.

4. Now it's time to get creative. Pick out some coordinating paper. Cut strips of paper to size for the trim and for the locks. Use decoupage medium to glue down the paper. Slather the medium onto the bottom of the paper, place it where you want it, then brush more decoupage medium on top of the paper to ensure it's not going anywhere anytime soon (or ever, for that matter. Use this method to decorate the front and back of the case as you wish: the recipient's name, polka dots, flowers, cars, butterflies, the possibilities are endless. Let the decoupage medium dry.


5. Next, apply the satin varnish. This seals the paint and gives it a pretty satin finish. I used two coats of varnish. This also comes in a spray which would probably be easier to apply. Let dry between coats.


6. Fill the case with goodies that the gift recipient will enjoy.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment. Also, if you use this tutorial, please let me know! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Catching Up

Wow! Thank you so much for all of your comments on my last two posts. You all are too kind. Each of your responses made me smile. I'll post information about how I painted the suitcase later today. For those of you who inquired about selling the Barcelona bag or making a pattern, watch this space.

Last Thursday Peter and I left for a long weekend in Puerto Rico. It was less than thirty degrees here when we left, so the eighty degree weather in Puerto Rico was a very welcome change.

I can't say I was ready to come home. I did miss my sewing machine, though. If only I could bring my sewing machine with me on vacation.

My Amy Butler Inspired Barcelona Bag

If you've been reading my blog for a while, it will come as no surprise to you that I am a huge fan of Amy Butler. I'm constantly inspired by her fabrics and patterns, and so when Craft magazine announced their Amy Butler Inspired Bag contest, I had to jump on the opportunity to let Amy inspire me yet again (but really, when am I not inspired by her?). Browsing her site, I was drawn to this picture of her Barcelona skirt:

I was really drawn to the lines of the skirt and how it shows off three of her fabrics. I thought the design would translate really well into a bag. So I designed a bag using her Barcelona skirt as my inspiration. I call it my Barcelona Bag. I used fabrics from her Nigella and Lotus lines.

Amy's bags are not only beautiful, they're functional too. I wanted a larger tote with many pockets to easily find all the things I carry around every day. Both sides have "hidden" pockets. One side has three smaller pockets:

The other side has one larger pocket for magazines or sketchbooks:

I made sure the inside was super roomy and added a zipper pocket and two slip pockets.

Can I just say I love this bag?

Many thanks to my sister Kathy for taking these pictures. I had a lot of fun on this photo shoot.

Every briefcase should be pink with polka dots

My niece, Elissa, had her fifth birthday party this weekend. Not one to show up empty handed, I brought her this briefcase.


Oh don't look so concerned! Of course I beautified it before actually giving it to her. Whatever life this briefcase had in the past (I think Wall Street, no?), it was destined for a pink polka dotted future. I primed, painted and decoupaged it.

I made sure every inch was covered and pretty.


Then I filled it with all kinds of craft goodies.

Including this special notebook.

Not bad for an old briefcase, eh?

Slow going but getting there

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to spend the morning with awesome Katie learning how to knit. How much fun we had! It soon came out that we both had craft/sewing blogs to which the response was a big "No wonder you two are picking up knitting so quickly!". Well, I think Katie is picking it up a lot more quickly than I. While she has since completed this masterpiece, all I have to show is this:

Maybe, just maybe I'll have a finished, albeit wonky, dishcloth to show by the next class.

Changes

Hello friends. Well, I've gone and done it. I've cut off my hair. I almost had a panic attack as the scissors met my hair but I feel good about it now. I needed a change. I think the hair might just be the beginning.

See that messy desk in the background? It's been seeing a lot of action but unfortunately I have nothing to show for it yet. I've been busy designing a new bag pattern but I'm still working out a few kinks. I'll have something sewing related to show soon though. In the meantime, I have some non-sewing related projects in the works that I'll share this week. I told you the hair was just the beginning, didn't I?

Happy President's Day!

P.S. The necklace I'm wearing in this picture is one of my most favorite necklaces ever. I bought it from Sheny Designs at the Crafty Bastards Fair in DC this past fall but she also has an etsy shop here.

You make my day

Lara from Thornberry recently gave me a "You Make My Day" award. I'm so honored.


I'm supposed to pass the award on to another 10 people whose blog brings me happiness and inspiration and makes me feel happy about blogland. Well, everyone who stops by here and leaves a comment brings me happiness and makes me feel happy about blogland. But in the spirit of passing on the torch, here are some people who make my day:

Christina
Cidell
Katie
Regina
Kate
Mari
Sugar City
Lulu
Kelly
Oh Fransson

It was hard to narrow this down to ten as there are so many other blogs I'm constantly inspired by!

Up to my neck

It's been a little quiet lately because I've been up to my neck with non-crafty stuff. It's all good though. I apparently thrive when I'm super busy. I don't really like having a lot of time on my hands. Can anyone else relate?

Speaking of being up to my neck, here is my finished Simplicity 4111 top with a raised neckline. I wanted to make this top since last summer but just got around to it. All of the reviews I read warned about an extremely low neckline. I decided to raise the neckline so that I could wear it by itself without flashing my goods to the outside world.

I'm happy with the neckline but I'm not sure how I feel about the shirt overall. I think it just needs to grow on me. Anyways, here is how I raised the neckline:

First, tape your bodice pattern to some paper. Measure the amount you want to raise and mark a dot. Then draw a straight line down to the original point. Here I've raised it about an inch.


Next, draw a curve from the dot you just made to the side neckline using a french curve (like the one pictured) or do it freestyle.


Make sure you transfer all markings from the original bodice neckline to the new neckline. Once that's done, it's time to adjust the neckline facing. If your bodice pattern doesn't have a facing piece, then you can skip the next step. Remember to use your new bodice pattern piece for the lining if applicable.


Put tracing paper over your new bodice pattern. Measure the width of the original neckline facing pattern piece. Here, the amount I raised the neckline happens to be the same amount as the width of the facing pattern piece. On your new curve, measure and mark that amount along the entire neckline (represented by the dotted line in the picture above). Connect the dots and you have your new facing piece. Prepare your garment following the directions with your new pattern pieces.

There might be a more professional way of doing this, but this is the method I used which worked for me. I hope this helps at least one of you out there.

Amy Butler Anna Tunic

Check out my review of the Amy Butler Anna Tunic today at Sew Mama Sew. I was really excited to be able to do a review for them.

I had a lot of fun making this tunic and definitely plan to make another one.

My favorite part of this tunic: the buttons on the back!

Mama's got a brand new skirt...

...and it's fire engine red.

Materials used: red corduroy, big black buttons.

I'm currently toying with the idea of selling some skirts on etsy. I'll keep you posted.

In Stitches Apron

This is a late birthday present for Peter's mom. Better late than never, right? It's my first apron. The pattern is from Amy Butler's In Stitches with a few modifications: a shortened waistband width and shortened overall length. The pattern was very easy to follow. I used fabric from Heather Bailey's Freshcut line. At first I wasn't sure about these two fabrics together, but now I love the combination. I'm almost jealous that this apron will be headed down to sunny Sarasota while I brave out the freezing weather here. Spring will be here soon though. I can't wait.

What I did on my winter vacation

No, I didn't volunteer for the crossing guard.

With the help of my sister, we made duct tape doubles of ourselves. I had been wanting a dress form for a while. It's hard to check a garment's fit on one's self and the boyfriend never quite grasped proper tailoring techniques. Thankfully my sister was excited about the idea of making duct tape dress forms so we slotted out a time during the holidays when we both had a few free hours.

Here mine is in her spot in my sewing "room". We used this tutorial but also learned a few tricks along the way through trial and error. If you try this at home, here's my advice:

1. This is a two person project. I assume that's obvious, but just in case...
2. This project took much longer than we both anticipated. Plan to be standing straight and still for at least two hours. Go potty beforehand and wear comfortable shoes (kind of like the advice people give to brides, no?).
3. Scissors are no match for duct tape. It's much easier to just rip and tear it.
4. Use smaller pieces of duct tape. They're much easier to manage and go on smoother over curvy areas.
5. To make the process quicker, rip a bunch of pieces off at a time.
6. To stuff the dress form, use fiberfill. We used newspaper at first but found that it didn't stuff well at all. My dress form took 104 ounces of fiberfill to stuff.
7. We used a wooden curtain rod cut to size and a Christmas tree holder as the base for our forms (the rod goes all the way through the dress form).

I'm so glad to finally have a custom fit dress form. I've already used it on the two projects I've worked on so far in 2008. Here's hoping my shape and size don't change anytime soon!

The Red Duster

I've talked before about the amazing things my Mom crochets. For my birthday this year, she made me this beautiful red duster.


I love this duster and will wear it for many years. She saw the pattern in Crochet magazine (I think) and just "had to make it" (in her own words). Don't we all know what that feeling is like! She claims it is the most beautiful thing she has made. I'm honored she made this for me. Thanks Mom!

First dress of the new year

How is it possible to feel va-va-voom yet warm and cozy in these cold winter months? By wearing this dress, Burda 8771, that's how.

This dress might look very familiar to some of you folks. That's because it's an almost exact copy of Christina's awesome dress. I was floored so much by hers that I wanted to make one of my own. Christina graciously lent me the now out of print pattern so I could make it happen. I even used the same fabric but in a different color (I didn't want to seem too much like a copy cat). It's a washable organic wool from Fabric Mart. Any wool that can be washed and looks this amazing is a keeper in my book.

I'm still amazed at how easy this dress was to sew up and how great the end result is. I feel like this is a dress that will never go out of style and one that can be slightly modified for many great looks.

Handmade Holidays Recap: For the girls

Puppet theaters for my nieces using the pattern in Amy Carol's Bend the Rules Sewing:

These were so much fun to make. My sisters tell me the girls think they are so much fun to play with. A win win situation, no?


For my friend, Catherine, a crochet scarf. She kept telling me how much she loved my scarf so I crocheted one for her too. This was super easy and relatively quick to make. I just did double crochet using Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It's so soft, just like mine. I've had mine for three years and love it:


For my Mom, the crocheter, a crochet hook holder made from linen and Heather Bailey's Freshcut fabric:

Handmade Holidays Recap: Applique Skirt

My sister gushed about the applique skirts I made last month so it was pretty easy deciding what to make her for Christmas. This is my favorite of the skirts I've made so far. I almost couldn't give it away! It's made of burgundy denim. I think I have enough fabric to make another one to keep this time.

Here's looking at you, 2008

I hope you all had a fabulous New Year's. As I look toward the year ahead, I have many things I want to accomplish, both professionally and personally. Included in the list are some sewing goals. In the hopes of being more motivated to do what it is I say I want to do, I give you my sewing resolutions for 2008:

1. Sew a quilt. I've been wanting to do this for a while but couldn't decide on a pattern. I've finally decided.

2. Sew pants. I shouldn't be scared to do this. Finding pants that fit well is probably a lot more difficult than sewing well fitted pants. Right (she asks nervously)???

3. Finish what I start (or else don't start it at all). Enough said.

4. Sew with a plan. I am completely guilty of sewing random items that don't coordinate well with other pieces in my wardrobe. This is a shame on many levels but especially so because I don't end up wearing the garment that often.

5. Make at least one pattern on my own. This will be challenging but I am very excited and optimistic about the experience.

I hope 2008 brings you all much love and happiness.