For my sister

My dear oldest sister used a purse I made for her years ago until it was literally in tatters.  I made her a new one with one of my uncle's fabric samples.  With any luck, this one will last her a while.  I hope she likes it just as well!  

Three billy goats gruff story quilt

For my little niece, a play quilt with a troll and 3 goats.  The bridge has a pocket, as does the scenery on either side.  The project was made completely of old fabric samples and scraps... Except the goats-  I made the goats out of discarded gloves from the bin at school.

Tentacle Scarves

IA twirly, easy gift! I made 4 of these this week.  The folks I gave them to were so pleased. I love the organic, floaty, vaguely Steam- punk look they have.

Just cut outa bunch of 10 inch circles  (I used a lid as a pattern) from old t-shirts.  1-3 t-shirts must be killed to make this project, depending on how big the shirt is, and if it has sleeves you can cut up.  I used 2 women's size smalls, and the sleeves from 1 child's shirt.   Stack up the circles (you will need about 20 circles total)  and cut them into spirals:

Pull the strips apart, overlap the less curly ends by about 6 inches, so they form a gentle arc, then sew together like this:

Pile up all the strips at the sewn spots, aligning the arcs.  This will be the back, behind the wearers' neck. About 5 inches from the sewn stack. Sew across the tentacles.  Sew across the stack again 5 inches further ...

this makes a liittle spot to loop the other side through. At this point, the scarf is done, but I like to sew a few buttons and ornaments on the last seam for decoration.

Loop the tentacles from one side through the opening in the other, and voila!

A terrible picture, taken with my phone... I really must learn to use the thing.

De-Motivational Stones

So I'm sure everyone has seen the stupid rocks with warm, fuzzy words on them (seems like a visual oxymoron to me) What are they even for?

As a sort of geological rebuttal, I made my own version for a friend this Christmas. She is always posting inspirational quotes and other touchy-feely stuff on FaceBook, so I thought these would bring her back to earth a little.  Get her a little more grounded, so to speak...  all weak puns aside, it was fun to come up with a bunch of depressing words.  It was also fun stealing the stones from the nearest commercially-landscaped business.
I can hardly wait to gift them to my rose-colored-glasses friend.  I hope she strews them about her office, to help set the tone for her workplace.  

Absinthe Fairy

Who would have guessed Absinthe was so damn expensive?  I had no idea.

I've been wanting to make a gift set for my uncle for a few years, so I bought a bottle, an Absinthe spoon, and made a Green Absinthe Fairy.  He'll have to buy his own sugar cubes.

His body is made from 2 pipe cleaners encased in fabric.  His head & hands are Fimo (I embedded 2 glass beads for eyes).  His skirt is gathered tulle, and his hair is wool roving.

 I made his wings out of a gift wrap package container, tracing the wing pattern ( thanks, google image search) and then adding some green sparkly fingernail polish. I found out that the nail polish will smudge the permanent marker lines, so next time I'll remember to paint on the opposite side of the plastic

Three Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf Fairytale Quilt

Two little piggies just hanging out in the straw house.

My darling niece is expecting her first baby in March.  We had a shower for her on Saturday, and I made the baby this goofy blanket.  Each of the houses is a pocket. The big bad wolf and the 3 little pigs can go in and out.

The quilt was made entirely of fabric scraps I had on hand, except for the largish piece of fleece I used for the backing.  The project was a quicky... If I had more time it would have been a little less primitive, but it is cute nonetheless.  Now I am inspired to make more interactive story quilts.

The not so big or bad wolf is house-sitting the stick house.  I don't think he's terribly hungry, although he is gritting his teeth something horrible!

The smart piggie made his house out of bricks.  Doesn't he look smug?

The finished quilt thrown over the back of the sofa

A Few More Costumes

I came across some pix from costumes that I didn't post before...

The bumblebee suit-  initially made for my darling nephew, who was moonlighting as a pollen collector (really)!  the costume has since had a lot of use for school events and Halloween parties.  I have no idea where it is now!

The fox suit was made because I found orange fake fur at the fabric store on sale for practically free.  it went on to live in Spokane and go to lots of arena football games.  The fox is the mascot for one of the teams.  The BoPeep outfit was also made just because I was trying to use up some fabric.  That is my long-suffering dog wearing the sheep suit.  He was adorable, but felt more than a little sheepish (haha) wearing the costume.

 

This is the Tattoo on the arm of my son's Sock Monkey costume.  He is about 6 and a half feet tall, and with the head on, closer to 7 feet tall.  It is a rather disturbing sight to see.  He was inspired by this Kia commercial to have me make the costume:

Monte and Mo, the cutest mascots ever.

For Halloween this year! my little nephew wanted to be "Monte" the University of Montana's grizzly bear mascot.  He wanted his little sister to dress the part of little "Mo", the mascot's small companion. The costumes turned out really cute, and the fake fur I found was super soft, I didn't feel like I had to line the suits at all.  Little sister wore her costume to one of the Grizzly football games, and was a big hit with the crowd.

 

The inspiration:

My uniform : McCalls Dress Pattern 6074

In the library, it gets extremely warm for 4 reasons:

1.  it's elevated by 3 feet above the ground floor

2. 30 computers and 370 little patrons put out some serious BTUs

3.  It's got amazing huge skylights

4.  The librarian is menopausal

Anyway, I wear the same nightgown-maternity-like dresses every day, all year long for its comfort factor.  The pattern I use is extremely easy as well. I have one in maroon, black, grey, blue, and several prints.  One of the best parts of teaching little kids is that they DON'T CARE what I wear. Here I am, looking considerable sturdier than the sketches on the pattern envelope:

Once Upon A Mattress - black

I am still busy crafting costumes for the upcoming play in Spokane.  This is actually avoidance behavior for me, as there are about 10 things that I really NEED to get done, but it's way more fun to sew.  I spent a whole $7 on this one, buying ribbon and the chain at the bodice front.  So far, I've made 4 gowns, all with cast-off prom dresses and bits and pieces I had stashed away.  I love making something from nothing. It appeals to my tight- wad nature.  I'm a little worried that black may be to somber for a musical comedy, but I didn't want to waste the dress.  Now, I only have one prom dress left to remodel.  It' s purple... Stay tuned!

Once Upon A Mattress Costumes

Well, the play hasn't been cast yet, but the idea of making a bunch of "princess dresses" was too much to resist.  I had several old prom dresses that I refashioned for the event.  They should fit most girls, since they all have lacing to adjust the sizing. 

      

T-shirt Skirts

Have a few old Tshirts with interesting images on the front or back? You can easily make them into groovy skirts.  I've been making tons.  Once the pattern is made, you can knock one of these out in less than an hour. You will need 2 tee shirts.  Nice to have but not essential: a serger, rotary cutter, cutting mat.

This is my attempt at a tutorial...

Make yourself a pattern out of a folded piece of newspaper or something else (I like to use cheap plastic tablecloths because you can see through them). The dimensions for this pattern will give you a skirt sized small-ish, good for hips up to about 38 inches.  The length is about 20 inches, give or take.

Unfold the paper, and lay your pattern out flat on a large Tshirt. If your Tshirt is too small,  you will have to sew extra on the sides.... But it's all good.

After you've cut out these 2 main pieces (front & back of your skirt), take another t shirt and cut according to the diagram below.... You will see that all my strips are different colors, it's because I cut up a lot of different shits, so I have lots of random strips.  When sewing, go right along the edge... No more than 1/2 inch seam allowance is provided!

Lara's Crazy Skirt

Lara found a blog that she loves,  Cotton & curls

The blog features lots of refashioned items of attire, which appeals to her sensibilities.  We are planning on trying out more of the ideas found there.  

For this project, we actually started with a new piece of fabric, as Lara really wanted stripes.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find any striped fabric that she liked, and ended up with this crazy print.  I like it!

When we first put it together, we had a yellow zipper, but I thought navy would give it more punch.

Both Lara & I are thinking this would also be cute with a vintage zipper, one that has brass teeth and an interesting toggle, perhaps.  The project only takes 1 yard of fabric, if you can tolerate an asymmetrical seam down the back.

Two Dollies

This sweet girl WOULD NOT smile for me, but she would let me take a picture to show her dress with the matching dolly outfit I made for her. Lots of BLING, and the blue matches her pretty eyes.

Skeleton Poodle Skirt

My good friend's daughter decided that she wanted a new poodle skirt for the spring sock hop, and that she wanted a Zombie Poodle, or Skeleton Poodle. I am wondering if this is an example of costume irony, and isn't it funny that a little girl would want such a thing? I love it!

This photo shows detail from the skirt, a little matching pocketbook I made to go with her outfit, and the crinoline I made for underneath. The crinoline actually took more time than anything... All those gathers!

Heidi Costume

I got to make a darling Tyrollean style dress for a little girl's Christmas gift this year. I do love a good excuse to use lots of trim!
I was able to make the entire thing with just stuff I already had. The black calico is older than I am (part of my Mother's stash). The trim is all from my extensive "karma collection" meaning that I inherited it from some friend's deceased relative who was as bad a packrat as I am.
Dolly got a Heidi dress too!

Vintage Zipper repair kit...

One of my darling coworkers needed the zipper slider on her favorite jacket replaced. I happened to have this funky old kit that I inherited from a deceased tailor. I went ahead and used it on the jacket, and it works like a charm. I love the slogans on the packaging and the promises to repair galoshes, rubbers, and girdles with failed zippers.

Conrad thought it was just terrible that I used the thing, he thought I ought to keep it as a curiosity, but I have so MUCH crap, I just can't hold onto stuff if I have a chance to get rid of it. I guess I'm just not as sentimental as he is.