when fiber arts go wrong...
Oh. My.
November 04, 2007
November 02, 2007
The Great Pumpkin Night
20+ hours
$50+ dollars
AUGH
Here he is, Mr. Dragon Lord and his friend, Squire:
And here is Minnie Mouse, who trick or treated for the first time without us, but with her friend across the street and her dad.
Here's the sugar rush aftermath:
and I have no pictures of the next day's "candy hangover" but I promise you it wasn't pretty. Oh well.
September 25, 2007
Another xmas present made
No pic yet... pink stretch panne velvet shrug for dd :-)
September 05, 2007
Robe all ready
Now I have just a bit more sewing (kind of like the Titanic sort of sunk) before I can do anything medical that will put me out of commission. Which is fine, since I can't seem to get an appointment with the surgeon...
I used purple very soft fleece I bought with a gift card my aunt gave me last year for xmas, and some purple crepe backed satin trim I just got. I need to finish a neck pillow, a headband, and some spa gloves with flax seed so if I have a post op thing, I can be more comfortable. I think I'll buy slippers though, those new memory foam ones look good!
Oh and my sleeve is not too long (mom); I had my hand curled up inside it.
August 28, 2007
fabric stash organization (FSO)
Tonight I worked on a spreadsheet of fabric and organized by color and type. I now have my cabinet having most of my general fabric stash, organized by color, and the bins are better organized too. I can't get away from the fact that I have about 2 rubbermaid bins full of fabric scraps...oy.
Here is the geeky spreadsheet (with thanks to Trillian 42 for the idea):
I have interfacing, linings, etc to try to work on tomorrow. I really need clear bins for that...
Now if I could get the foam "dog beds" for by daughter (yes, my children enjoy sleeping on dog beds...) done, a few pillows for the living room, and my unfinished but begun projects done, I'd have space.
Oops, I forgot about the fleece I ordered, on its way. EFQ, curses to ye! (Not sure why I turned into a pirate, chalk it up to being peg-legged and enjoying a lovely visit with my dear friend Jason and his son, being wrapped up like a mummy, and trying to fix this messed up space aka craft/living room)
If I could sew my robe (which would be good, pre surgery) that would get a load of fabric out of the bin...hmm...
I think that'd be a good plan, start sewing the stuff with the bulkiest fabric first.
pinks, and holiday fabrics
blacks... oops, don't fit in the cupboard, guess I better get sewing
whites and purples
flannels (yes, in Seattle they are a sep category) and blues
and a few presents:
felted purse for my cousin (NO PEEKING EMMY!)
renaissance princess crown
Oh, and for Daniel: the red lining I purchased to line my red hairpin lace dress:
July 16, 2007
But wait, there's more!
ds's tshirt (Jelly Legs jinx)
I think the feather is a bit off... sigh... perhaps I'll give this one to my less busty sister...I made two, not sure if the other is as bad...
June 26, 2007
prison work skirt
Ok not really, but it's from a burda pattern from the stack of magazines mom gave me last summer, and part of the new summer wardrobe. Yay! It has box pleats (I had to move the ones on the back) and I added a pocket on the side for my cellphone. Sorry, but I need pockets...
June 15, 2007
and here she is, lil miss "native garden"
whatever the hell that meant... again, don't ask.
She's cute though
Oh, and here she is onstage:
btw, she got to be, along with a few of the older kids, in the "first" group which meant she often knew what she was supposed to be doing, and did it! Her only regret? "I wish there were spotlights"
Ham for sale, cheap!
March 16, 2007
Blue Tunic
Here are some terrible pictures of my blue tunic. Took me over a week. AUGH! Lesson learned, I did three muslins but didn't do the bottom tunic part, just the bodice, and it needed much futzing to make it fit. These pics are before the final futz, so forgive lumpiness and know that in real life, it looks better.
this is the pattern
this shows the embroidery I did on the neckline, cuffs, and bottom
on my not-so-double duct tape double (she's not quite as endowed as I am, and her tummy is way poochier than mine)
the back is gathered in the center... dtd's back isn't really a good approximation either. Rats.
February 17, 2007
boo hoo. fringey coat sucks
well, the sleeves do, thanks to my freakin rolled shoulders
I just can't rip it out--yet.
January 23, 2007
woobie number two, plus more
well, headless... or bodyless, depending on which way you look at him.
Here is my fleece coat--the sleeves and hem didn't go the way I wanted so I need to re-do them. Sigh. But it's warm!
Dh's hat:
big sister dress for a friend (whose new baby is getting the 1st woobie)
dd's skating bag:
my hat
January 12, 2007
Footstool
This is a Christopher Lowell design... foam cube footstool. I've moved this tapestry fabric two times. Isn't it cool though? :-D
I want to make me one now but sadly I don't have enough of the tapestry--so I think what I'll do is do the reverse pattern and fake that the whole underneath is the tapestry.
December 30, 2006
jammies
for xmas eve (the pic I took of ds he's in his spongebob undies getting the jammies on, and dss is too cool for pictures of jammies...so dd is it!)
December 18, 2006
this one, clearly, still being worked on
it's going to be a door stopper. How, you ask? This is totally my own mcgyver invention. I have no idea if I spelled that right, I never watched... but once at an icebreaker someone said (who just met me) that he would be my ideal guy. Huh? She had no idea really but interesting, huh?
Back to the project...
Does this look like a buffalo? Roaming, even?
ain't this cool?
I think this is very cool--a fabric bowl
November 20, 2006
I saw this in a magazine
so I wanted to try it. It was easier on a small scale, so I made dd a skirt. It does have an added bottom flippy ruffle thing (I'm still half-asleep, so leave me alone)
Isn't it cute? I want to do it on a skirt for me now.
November 05, 2006
A better Belle pic
Here he is, Mr. Puritan?
Doesn't look like it to me... but he's revolutionary, anyway. I pointed out he could milk this costume for years, next year he could bring a giant feather quill and go around signing John Hancock in big letters, then the year after that he could don a tri point hat and yell the regulars are coming and have two lanterns, and then he could prance around saying "give me liberty or give me death!" etc.
Brown moleskin fabric, $4 a yard on sale. Revolutionary war pattern that needs serious alterations for my tall-freak of a husband, $1.99 on sale. Listening to him bitch about hairy legs and pantyhose--priceless
In other news, I have a DPN blister. I'm cabling. Shouldn't be, I should be writing...
October 29, 2006
Link
Here's Ben Franklin (not yet in costume) slaving over cardboard to make the world's best halloween accessories. Past projects have included a stradivarius fiddle, and pop-out buzz lightyear wings (yes, actual working ones)
October 28, 2006
pictures
Girly ones ;-)
FWIW, sewing corsets SUCKS EGGS
Boy pictures later...
September 29, 2006
Let's admit it.
We all have our jammies. You know them. The comfy jammies, the ones that are sexless. The ones that are soft like the cloth diapers those guys rub their ferraris with.
They've seen better days, these jammies. Yet you keep holding on to them. Maybe you think about throwing them out, but trembling, your hand goes away from the trash and back into the wash they go. Mmm, jammies. Maybe you know your dh hates them. Maybe he's said so, or maybe it's because you tend to wear them when you want him to keep hands off. Maybe it's a combo of the two.
But there's nothing like those jammies.
Ok, so maybe you decide to throw dh a bone (stop that joke RIGHT now, young lady!). Maybe you compromise--you get new fleece bottoms, and you make a pretty top, maybe even a silky sexy top. Maybe dh won't be mad, then, that you have those big ole boxy tshirt dress jammies, occasionally. Because you don't want to throw them out, right?
Many thanks to folks on patternreview for the bust alterations. Many NOT thanks to nature for making them necessary. And much, much lower than they should've been.
Oh and I used a blouse pattern and that worked out just fine until I realized I didn't want to sleep on a zipper. So I wound up stitching the seam as if to put in a zipper, and then I got some stretch lace and sewed the sides to that instead of a zipper. It gives just enough to get it on (conan o brien stop snickering) and yet keeps its shape. Hopefully. We'll see.
September 04, 2006
yoked skirt
All righty, then, my mom sent me some fabric a while back and I've been procrastinating, since our summer is nearly over, but I really wanted to try a yoked skirt. Although you'd think I'd need more of a waist (or is that less of one?) to make it look nice... well, here it is on my "pants with nobody inside them" as my daughter calls them. Sorry Suzy, it's pink!
August 23, 2006
I want to make this before next year's renfaire
Naturally, I'm a geek!
August 09, 2006
second place? Pah.
They must all need eyeglasses. Perhaps that humidity has fogged theirs up?
This is mom's second place jacket, shown here with ribbon at the Greater Houston Quilt Guild Show. :=D
Clearly I carry the genes of geniuses...
August 07, 2006
Yay Mom!
Mom won first place at the quilt show! YAHOO! I'm not sure which show, I'll have to ask her, she also won 2nd place in wearable art, but I will have to dig that pic out later. She wasn't at the show since she was in CO, but my dad (yay dad!) went and took this picture.
July 11, 2006
it's pink! it's sparkly! Suzy, avert your eyes!~
Ok so the idea was to make something I could wear a bra with, but still fun summery and haltery. This isn't it. Well, it might be but the bra I kept trying it on with wouldn't work, and I sewed the lining in and should've shortened the straps more--but good news, I can wear my strapless with it. Because I can tell you are all worried and need that kind of detail about my wardrobe to make your lives complete.
Here it is, pink, sparkly, hopefully not tacky. No gold lame pants, Suz.
And Bessie, my duct-tape non-double, doesn't approximate me very well. For one thing she seems to be pregnant. I suspect the treadmill, he's been eyeing her appreciatively.
The slut...
May 14, 2006
can you guess what this is?
Cute, isn't it? C'mon, guess!
Here's a hint... half the world wear 'em. This one may be donated for an auction for breast cancer. Oops, gave it away! ;-P
April 15, 2006
Wedding Cake Skirt
Oh Sew News, you've failed me
Mediocrity in sewing, I hail thee
Trim the sides you say, with no guide
From my scissors I should've shied;
Alas, white eyelet, tiered and ruffled
With my serger I did scuffle
Woe is me, no wedding in sight
To Easter brunch I shall alight
When I return, seam rippin I'll be
For all eternity.