Week 8 Project

       My youngest brother, Cy, is smart. He heard I was sewing more seriously and a light bulb went off in his head. Ah, free labor. My sister wouldn't charge me. I'm only 17. Around Christmas he asked me to turn his jeans, which were a standard boot cut (is that what normal dude jeans used to be?) into straight leg (almost skinny) which is sooo cool these days. He asked if that was something I could do. Trying to impress him with my mad skills, I said yes without thinking about it. Way harder than I thought but I did it and he liked them. I should have never started this.

     I went over to the house two Sunday's ago for dinner. We were watching TV and Cy casually sat down next to me, he waited a few mins and then "Hey Laura, do you think you can fix my jacket?" His basketball jacket, which I'm sure is worn a lot, needed the cuffs repaired. They were holding on for dear life.

Before

After

I fixed the jacket and wrapped it up for his birthday this past Sunday. I'm pretty sure I'm funny most of the time!

Now, my aunt Julie is the queen of garage sales and thrift stores. She has the patience and keen eye that make her a hawk in those places. I  keep telling her to quite her job and shop. Put the stuff on eBay or open a store or become a personal shopper for people. She found her granddaughter, Grace, white furry Gap boots at Vally Thrift for $3. She's really good at thrifting. The last time I was at her house, Liz showed me some shoes that were in new condition that her mom got her. They would have retailed for over $60 and Julie was a little shocked by a thrift price of $14! So she gave me a pair of $3.99 pants she got that she needed hemmed. She needed 2" taken off the bottom. I returned them to her without taking a picture (oops) They aren't perfectly even, but hopefully she won't be able to tell when she's wearing shoes.

A week of mending. Done.

Week 7 Project

            A few weeks before Christmas my mom hands me a newspaper clipping. Its a picture of the Obamas sitting around a table. Barak, Sasha, Malia and Grandma are sitting and Michelle is serving a turkey. My mom says "You know Laura, if you wanted to you could make me an apron for Christmas like the one Michelle is wearing in this picture." You know, if I wanted to.

  Now, this says nothing about my mother's political views, but it does say two things about her personality. 1. I wouldn't say my mom is trendy, but she is very much always on trend, if that makes any sense. Aprons are very much on trend these days. 2. For as long as I can remember (probably since grade school when I had to bring in a weekly newspaper clipping to school) mom has been notorious for clipping articles. She sent them to me in college and every time I go to her house she has some waiting for me.

                  So, I set out to make her an apron. I wanted a fabric that had a vintage feel. I was even thinking something with a very tiny pattern, maybe of strawberries. I thought and I planned. I schemed of things to try on the apron I haven't done. I started shopping. My vision of the fabric I wanted never came to fruition. I regrouped.  (Side note, my dad has always liked his girls (mom, my sister and I) in bright colors)  I found two different fabrics at a non chain fabric store that I love! The store and the fabrics.

 

The belt I made by lightly gathering the fabric and attaching to the body of the apron.

I added a ruffle to the bottom and trimmed almost the entire apron an moss green double bias tape. I have never used bias tape for anything. I think i did fairly well, except for the ends.

I watched YouTube videos of this and still didn't quite get it right.

 

                        I liked the way the apron turned out even though I didn't use a pattern. I'll change a few things with the next apron I make. Honestly the hardest part of the whole project was the neck ties. When I sewed the fabric good sides together in long narrow strips, I didn't even think about the process of turning them right side out. Poor planning.

Mom on Christmas morning and at my brother's birthday party this past weekend.

Newspaper clipping inspired apron for mom "if I want to" Done.  

Headquarters

I had originally taken this photo to show everyone the space where all my creative energy would be spent. My mental gym if you will. I staged it. I made sure everything looked nice, the chair was just so, the stripes on my wall were at a nice angle. I wanted to show off the stripes. They took me three weekends and I'm very proud. My house is 80 some years old and the walls are plaster and faaaaarrrr from plumb. Getting those lines that straight took a lot of taping and re-taping

I had just gotten the desk. It's been in my parents bedroom for many years and my mom was kind of done with it. It was the desk my dad's great grandfather's used when he first opened his law practice. It has a huge flat working surface and really long drawers. I love it.

Let's be honest. Here's how the room normally looks....

  

Watching that show Hoarders, gives me panic attacks. I like to think I'm pretty anti-clutter and while it's organized, my growing fabric collection is starting to worry me.

Week 6 Project

Maybe 5 months ago I leaned how to do ruffles.

I recently learned a second way to do ruffles.

Wanna know where I put these pink tulle ruffles?

On the bum of this pink onsie!

 

I wanted to do ruffles on the bum of a onsie for a girl that would be crawling.

I've been around kids and babies my whole life, but I had to call my cousin Liz to be sure of the age

that those squirmy girls start crawling before I bought the onsie. 

I can hold my hands out to about "this big" to know when they crawl, but I didn't know how many months they are when they are "this big".

I made Grace's Princess Halloween costume this past fall. Liz and I were astounded at the price of tulle (it was supper cheap; I'm talking like $1.50 a yard) and over bought and now I have a full bag of tulle left!

Simple project that I might do many more of.

Ruffle bum Onsies, Done.

Week 5 Project

Postponing Posts....

So occasionally my weekly project will be in preparation for an upcoming event, say a birthday, so I won't be able to post until after the event, but I don't want you to think I didn't fulfill my promise to create each week. I do, I did, I promise, honest.

Back Story

One of my dearest friends is my R.A. from college. Kim is generous and kind. She is thoughtful and sweet and has the biggest heart. I think the main reason we're such good friends is that no matter what, we have fun. I probably don't tell her often enough that I really value our friendship.

I went to visit her this weekend. Saturday evening, Kim and I went  to to grab some groceries and for no real reason, we laughed the whole time we were at the store. We have fun when we're talking on the phone, riding in the car or when we stay up all night crafting with her sister, Mindy. (Mindy, by the way, is my craft buddy extraordinaire. Love her!)

Mindy and her other sister, Angie, had a baby shower a few months ago when Kim had her second baby. We were told not to bring gifts, but who follows those rules?!? So I didn't "buy" her anything but I did craft her something.

 

I made the tie shirt for Jake and for Jake's new little sister, Lilly, I made the onsie. I had originally planned on just the ruffles on the bum, but I played around with some fabric and the flower happened. I sewed that sucker on soooooo well. I was a little terrified Lilly would rip it off and choke on it. There is NO way she will, unless she's a super hero. I used like, a whole spool of thread.

Anyway, the reason this post got postponed is that Lilly and Jake's cousin, Adam (Mindy's son) got a tie shirt for his birthday last weekend. A bow-tie! (and a truck)I couldn't blog about it before he got it. I mean, he could have read it. He did turn 2.

Mindy did me a huge favor and took some pics of the kids in their shirts.

Jake and Adam at the window, possibly looking at the actual fire truck that showed up at the fire truck themed party. The truck's appearance wasn't planned,  it just happened to be in the neighborhood, but seriously, how awesome?!

Jake at Adam's birthday party.

  

                              

Adam's looks like a little crooner in that center photo..

Thanks for the photos Mindy!

Cute Tie Shirts, Done!