And now for something glitterly different...

One day while perusing the many craft sites I frequent, I came across a DIY for glitter heels, and not just any heels. Dorothy heels. As a typical girl, I grew up in love with the Wizard of Oz. I had the dolls, the outfits, etc. I even broke my collarbone while wearing my ruby red slippers by slipping down the brick steps in front of our house when I was... 4? So this project had my name written all over it. I promptly went out on a rainy day and grabbed some $7 heels from Savers, some Mod Podge and a container of red glitter.

I slapped a coat of mod podge on and generously sprinkled red glitter on. Once that dried I did it again. After that dried I sprayed them with a glossy waterproof acrylic spray and let them dry overnight.

Voila! Now I just need somewhere to wear them to... (also, beware, my kitchen was sprinkled with red glitter for quite sometime despite my own-and Dana's-attempts to clean it up.. it traveled to the living room area and the bathroom as well..)

(I wish I saved the link I used for this project.. alas, I didn't. I've come across many, many tutorials online since though!)

New Space!

Way back in October I decided to take the cluttered mess of a desk I had and turn it into usable space. Before this I had used my kitchen table as my sewing area, having to totally pack everything up everytime I finished a project-or even mid project if we needed the space. This was a pain, and definitely a deterant for creativity. Dana hates clutter and I would consistantly just leave all my stuff spread across our table. Not cool.

So now I have a place, already set up and ready to go whenever! I created an inspiration board to help organize the list of things I want to make (and now I'm on Pinterest which just makes the list grow and grow and grow...).

And the most wonderful part about this space are the new toys my fantastic husband gave me for my birthday. A new sewing machine- Singer Stylist 7258 and serger, a Brother 1034D. And now our kitchen table is only used for cutting out fabric and ironing.

An update to say I'll be updating?

I have not forgotten about this blog!! I have been very busy. Relearning to be less of a slob and more productive is hard work! I have quite a few updates to do, I'm thinking a relaxing Sunday at home might do the trick. Maybe that Sunday will be tomorrow... I hope so. In the mean time here is a preview of what's to come...

 

 A new, neat and organized (also slightly cramped, we do live in 1 room you know!) sewing area. This sewing area also includes 2 new additions from my lovely husband. I received a brand new sewing machine and serger for my birthday from that wonderful man!

An inspiration board and two recent clothing projects. The patterns used are New Look 6723 (dress) and Simplicity 2154 (top), both of which are basically my new favorite patterns and I just want to keep using them.

 

Quick, easy clutches thanks to Keyko Lou. (http://www.keykaloupatterns.com/ ) A glitterful, childhoodesque project and a delicious Disney inspired dessert. I mentioned I've been busy.

An exciting new adventure I'll be taking is giving crocheting another shot. There was so much hand cramping and nondirection the first time it's no wonder I hardly gave it a chance. I have, what appears to be, a great beginners book I'll start taking with me to work for those hours I have after the little man goes to sleep. 

I also have a very strong desire to have handmade amigurumi ornaments for our Christmas tree next year, that should motivate me!

Super Success!

So, right here is a project I actually wasn't too psyched about in the beginning. I wanted to sew, but I didn't know what, and I had some cute fabric kicking around so I decided to dive right in and hope for the best. What a pleasant surprise!

 

Originally I was going to make the yellow ruffley dress, however, I didn't have enough fabric for the skirt. So I used the bodice-sans belt and bow-and then just cut 2 rectangles out and added some pleats. I was very surprised with the results!

 

I made the bodice in a size 8, and skipped the boning because I didn't have any. I probably could have gone with a size 6 because I did take a bit in. This was my first strapless endeavor and it was a success! (The skirt is very snug above my hips so I'm sure that helps hold everything up.)

I wore this dress out last weekend on dinner date with Dana and the Harv-Guilars. It is pure cotton so the top, that fit so perfectly, did start to stretch out and I did spend the later half of the evening hoisting it back up. That's no different than any other strapless dress I've ever worn though, and I never feared that it would slip so low that I would be giving a show. 

I am going to use that ruffley pattern on some nice dark purple fabric soon for a fancy girly evening dress... it will go wonderfully with some black leopard print tights I bought on Sunday...

Cynthia Rowley (Simplicity) 2497

I love this dress. My love for it was refreshed when I put it on this morning to take pictures. Love it.

I made view A but went sleeveless with it.

I loved this pattern and I loved the polka dot designed fabric. So.. while this is more of a fancy pattern I made it more casual by using, once again, a printed quilting cotton. I'm quite pleased with the results. It is a bit tight around the tush but very comfortable! This dress has only been worn once, to the lovely Nicki Watson and Pat Gorman engagement party. However, I'm going to wear this baby a bit more often-it looks super cute with a cardigan and I'm sure tights will just complete it!

Modified Vogue 1158

So... its been a few months since I've updated. My laziness and that I can be easily distracted can be blamed for that. I have been sewing.. I just haven't been blogging-I regret this. Trying to go back months to remember details of a project isn't the ideal situation here. Anyway...

I fell in love with this fabric design but I am a bit disappointed in my use of it.

 

The fabric is a quilting cotton, so it's rather stiff and doesn't drape appropriately for the pattern. I used the Vogue 1158 pattern bodice but the skirt is just 2 rectangles that I added pleats to.

I can't recall what size I made, but it was too big. I either made an 8 or 10. The sizing may have been great if I used an apparel fabric that would allow the dress to hang on me like it's meant to. (It continuously falls off my shoulders.)  My main gripes with this dress is that the fit is off on the top and the skirt ended up too short. 

 (super cute cross back)

However, I have worn this dress out a couple times and I think if I wear tights under it I'll feel more comfortable about the length. I'm going to continue to wear it just because the design on the fabric is so cute!

I plan on using this pattern again with a drapey fabric, because I do love the bodice-even if it is quite low cut (I have a grey tank top on under it in the pictures and I've had a tank top on under it every time its been worn out!)

Two very similar BUT different sundresses.

Coincidentally my Fourth-of-July-Four-Days-Off projects are patriotic in color. This IS a coincidence, I've had the fabric kicking around for a month. I tried out two different patterns with two very similar results. Two cute sundresses that fit so well I don't even have to wear a bra-woohoo!!

Project 1: Simplicity 2362

LOVE this dress. Insanely comfy. I made view D but instead of two shoulder straps I made it a racerback with big buttons.

It was pretty easy, but once more-I made the size I should based on the 'finished garment size' and I still needed to take it in about 2 inches-on EACH side. It's a bummer because that threw off the placement of the pleats on the back skirt. I plan on making this dress again, and this time I'll make it in an 8. I love the fabric I picked for this, just a cotton with little flowers. I think the total cost of this project was around $10!!

Project 2: Maryy Dress from Burdastyle.com (free patterns for the win)

 So, I have made a dress before from a pattern I got from this site. You print them at home and put them together-fairly easy. However, I always get confused by their instructions. SO, I actually started this dress about a month ago, got frustrated and confused within 20 minutes and put it away. Last night I decided to whip it out and give it another go. I breezed through it! I didn't even need the directions after a point because it was so straight forward. As easy as it was, I'm not a huge fan of the end result, but I think that's because it's so similar to the Simplicity one.

Basically the difference is in pleats versus gathers and I like the pleats better. So, this will probably be the only Maryy dress I make. (sizing was spot on though!) This project was also about $10!!