A Succesful Clothing Piece

For a long time now I have been attempting many garments...but they never work out. The piece may turn out great, but it never fits me. It's either to small (apparently I think I'm smaller then I really am) or looks horrible on me. I get very disappointed with it but I can't seem to give up on it! Well this weekend I decided to take a stab at a skirt pattern, and once again, it didn't work out. So instead of tossing in the towel like I usually do, I took it and made my own pattern out of it. I made up my own pattern and turned it in to this wrap skirt below. It was out of a plaid wool blend I got on clearance at Hancock's. What a treat! Maybe with some more practice I can master this garment sewing.



So on to my next project. Well my next project of many. I was hunting around on blogs today and came across Quilt Dad's blog and there is a Block-A-Palooza that has started today! I'm definitely not a quilter-I leave that up to my mom, but decided this would be a great way to learn some techniques. Below is my first block that is all cut out, and just needs to be sewn up. Click on the icon to the left to find out more about it. Join in on the fun! I will be posting my blocks as they are completed.

Snow Days

It has been doing a lot of the above outside so that means staying home and staying warm! People from North Carolina are not aware of how to drive in these conditions so there is a lot of time spent on the couch when this happens.

My big crochet project is this Sardinia sweater I have been working on for awhile now. It's come quite a long way but I still have a lot to due. I was first inspired to make this sweater when I saw it here. The book is the Summer Crochet book by Rowan that you can get here.

This is a crochet hook holder/book that my mom surprised me with at Christmas. It's amazing! I used to keep all my hooks in a little cosmetic bag but here it is organized and it carries scissors, ruler and all my hooks. She is so creative and knew what I needed!

Here is a shot of it open. She chose great fabrics from one of my favorite fabric collections!

New Happenings

A lot has been happening with little posts around here! Recently I have been trying to spend less money and make more in my sewing room. I love going in to stores, getting ideas from merchandise and then trying to recreate that product. My weakness is Anthropology and recently I saw some fabric necklaces there. So below is a picture of what I created. They were made with voile fabric and glass beads. Easy and quick to make


Below is what I have been most excited about! At the end of last year I was asked to sew a raincoat from Amy Butler's pattern with laminated fabric for Sew News magazine. It was a challenging project but I was determined to get through it. Usually you send in the sewn garment and they produce their own photography, but since my brother is a photographer I decided to take my own pictures. They must have liked our photography because they are showing a 'sneak peek' for the upcoming issue with our submitted photos! So my brother's photography is in the magazine and my friend Haley is the model! It could not be more exciting. So watch out for the next issue because the entire article will be there!

New Years Resolutions

So besides the most common New Years Resolutions of losing weight and saving money, the real resolutions are focused on my sewing addiction. I mean really,I'm only trying to focus on the important things here.

So I would have to start with my sewing table. Now I am a very clean and orderly person...almost to the point of OCD. BUT, this sewing table is organized, only in my mind though. It consists of two aprons I have to finish, a Messenger Bag that I want to finish before I start classes in two weeks, a button down dress that I can't wait to complete so I can wear it with my cowboy boots, and a few other random things.



Next comes the pile of my fabric that is overtaking this shelf. Notice how the shelf is bowing? One day a huge crash is going to give me my first heart attack and it will be this shelf crashing down. But really, is there any good way to organize fabric? By the way I blame my addiction on my mother.

And not to mention all of the projects in my books I have not yet started but I am dieing to.
Oh and then there is this shirt that has been sitting on my mannequin for a few months that is yelling at me to finish.
And finally, my first crochet project. There have been many crochet projects since this one has began, but this particular project has not yet been finished. It consists of 12 skeins, and might be the slowest stitch of my life. But it's very pretty and matches my living room, so it will/must get finished.

So there you have it, my project resolutions. And no matter how busy I am with my job and school, oh, and that part-time job I felt I needed to add to my list, there is always time to sew, and they will get done! What are your project resolutions?

Christmas come and gone

Can you believe that Christmas is already past?? I still can't believe this year is over. It seems when you stay busy, the time can just fly by. Once I finished my finals for the semester, someone mentioned at work that Christmas was the week after and my jaw dropped. I thought for sure I had an extra week in there! I am usually ahead of things when it comes to Christmas presents, but this year I was just on time! Many great presents I received will be shown on later posts when I can get pictures of everything. Below is a picture of the family on Christmas Eve. We went to go see 3 miles worth of lights and to our wonderful surprise, there was a petting zoo. A somewhat odd petting zoo that involved a zebra and a porcupine (um, we didn't pet that one) but much fun to say the least!

This is a project I have been meaning to show for a while. It is a lampshade makeover that I did for my apartment. I was given this lamp from a girl at work that was moving out of her house, so I snagged this lamp. It came with a lamp shade that was red that didn't go with my stuff. So I came across this lamp shade tutorial and loved it. I got a cheap white lampshade from Wal-Mart and began the project. I think it turned out great and really transformed the lamp. Now i just have to make sure mom doesn't steal it out of my apt!

Gino and his New Toy

So during the craziness of school and getting ready for a work trip, I came across this tutorial here and thought I had to whip this up for Gino. I always am getting him a new toy and didn't even think how easy it would be to make until I came across this blog. By the way, this is a great blog to follow-good ideas and great tutorials. With the way he went crazy about this toy, I decided I might have overdosed it with the catnip. Excuse the high pitch voice on the video, I tend to talk to him in the crazy cat lady voice...

A QUILT!!!

You had to see the pictures first right?? Can you believe it, I finished my first quilt! With help from my mother, and some co-workers, I finally completed this! Gino was even impressed with it. I'm going to have to keep that fur ball away from this. I created this quilt from Valori Wells Urban Flannel collection. It's a very large quilt (about a queen size) and very heavy due to it being flannel, but it's going to be cozy in the winter!

After creating my first quilt, I have a greater appreciation for all of those crazy quilters out there! And I mean that in the best way ever!