Designing Once Again

I have pumped out another garment! I just adore my knit fabrics. I remember when I was deathly afraid to even touch them, but now I can't stay away! It's quite amazing what a little bit of practice can do!

Costume Success!

I actually finished my dress on time! And had just enough time to make my friend Lisa's Medusa dress!

I put a lot of time and effort into mine and well, Lisa's took only about 3 hours from drafting to finishing it up. It was definitely a quick and dirty job.

This is my dress right after I dyed it with darjeeling tea. I absolutely adore the color, and it took very well.

And the finished products!

Lisa's dress was fairly easy. I just took her measurements and cut out a bunch of rectangles. It was made from costume fabrics, trim and elastic and the cost was a whopping $20!

I'm pretty excited also because I get a Martha Stewart necklace in return! Woo! :)

Costume Progress

Well I have the heart and pins done. I'm still working on the dress, and that has been quite a task...

The pattern that I used is the Coffee Date dress from elainemay on BurdaStyle. I found all kinds of sizing and proportion issues with this and then realized how thankful I was to have taken some pattern drafting classes at my local community college.

I made the necessary adjustments to the bodice and it is now fitting perfect! I also decided to use a full bodice lining instead of the facings since the fabric is pretty sheer. I will just be wearing a slip under the skirt though, there is no need for a fully lined dress.

That said, I'm almost done! I have both bodices sewn and just need to sew them together, attach the skirt and install the zipper. I can't wait to see how this all comes together!

Halloween 2009

Halloween has always been a fun time for me. My mom always made costumes for my brother and me and that soon turned into me making costumes for myself.

This year I have decided to go with Voo Doo Doll. I saw it here on Craftster and just thought it was the cutest idea and perfect for Halloween, which unfortunately has turned into a reason for women across America to dress like a hooker in costume.

I have already bought my fabrics which include an eggshell silk dupioni for the dress, a brown polyester shantung for the obi belt and gauze for accents. I have already made my "needles" with a wire coat hanger and am using felt for my heart.

As for making the whole costume come together, I will be wearing fishnet stockings with my black patent wedges, using black eyeliner on my eyes for the X's and wearing bright red lips. My hair of course, will be a huge mess!

I cannot wait to see the way that this one comes out and I am super excited for this costume!

In the meantime, here are some blasts from the past!

My Fairy costume from Kindergarten

The closest thing I've had to hooker, French Maid

The Corpse Bride

Happy Halloween everyone!

Eh-hem...

It's been a while...

I must say this summer, I have been having way too much fun. So that's my excuse, reason, explanation or whatever one may call it, for being missing in action. I have been going to the beach and swimming in the Pacific, it's warm because El Nino is acting up.

I have done a little bit of sewing and cooking. Sadly though, there has not been very much baking or knitting. Unfortunately our oven isn't working right and it has just been too darn hot to knit!

Here are some pictures of what I have been up to! Any questions about my sewn projects, please see my profile on BurdaStyle's website, my member name is sweetpadee. :)

This is the braided tank I made out of a brown jersey I had laying around. It has a fabric belt but the top is made from a tutorial found on BurdaStyle.

Another tutorial that I found online for a knit fabric scarf/necklace.

Coasters I made with muslin and an iron-on transfer printed from the computer.

French Onion Soup from "Martha Stewart's Cooking School." Delish!

White peach tart made from peaches from our backyard.

Chicken Parmesan with tomato.

And the follow up on my yellow post.

My Summer of Yellow-y Goodness

Two posts in one day? What is the world coming to?

Well, I had to post about my obsession with yellow. It's not quite my favorite color, but it is definitely my favorite color to wear.

I have been buying certain articles of clothing that are of a yellow-y nature for about two years now, and I can't quite get over the color yet!

So imagine my excitement when this dress showed up on the May 2009 cover of Lucky Magazine!

Super cute, but a bit out of my budget considering my current work schedule... :/

To my good fortune, my BFF Tessa directed me to an awesome website called Lulu's that had a very similar dress. Even better yet, she had a coupon code, so I got the super cute dress for super cheap! I was super impressed that the dress was well lined also, something that you don't find in cheaper quality, RTW clothing nowadays. Thanks Tess!

And now I have a pretty extensive collection of yellow clothing items including a dress, shoes, sweaters, a button up shirt, tanks and even a hair bow from my friend Lisa.

And so I will be trying out this dress for the first time on Saturday for a friend's birthday in Pasadena, with my black leather jacket and black patent wedges. Hopefully this outfit turns out to be a hit!

And a yellow flower that I received to put in my hair while in Hawaii! It smelled so yummy!

I'm Back!

Okay well I've been back. For a while, from Hawaii anyway. Not so much to blogging...

But I've been looking at the craft sites again such as CraftZine, WhipUp, Ravelry, BurdaStyle, and I'm finding a lot of cool stuff!

I will have a little more time to do stuff this summer since I am only working a measly ten hours a week and only taking one summer school class. And because of this, I think I have found my next project! I found it via WhipUp on the blog this old dress. What a wonderful blog! There are a few tutorials and many wonderful fashion/trend pics, which definitely make me drool.

I plan to make the knit fabric necklace from the tutorial that she provided since I have a ton of knit fabric laying around.

So that's my one plan for the summer of craftiness... Ha ha. Let's see if I follow through.

And by the way, my trip to Hawaii was pretty awesome! I learned tons about Hawaiian culture and love it! I am considering moving there for grad school, but that is probably far-fetched. I can dream, right?

As a traveler I don't really go to party or relax or just say I've been to another place. I am always really interested in educating myself about the history and culture of the place that I visit. And I am super thrilled about the Hawaiian culture and attitude. Hawaii may still be a part of the United States, but I found it much different than living in LA, or even visiting other parts of the U.S, much of the native culture is still somewhat preserved and intact and I find it amazing! I cannot wait to go back and learn more!

Here are some pics from Hawaii for good measure!

This is me on Waikiki Beach with Diamondhead Crater in the background.

The sunset from my room!

Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri.

The view from Nu'uanu Pali where a battle took place in the late eighteenth century to unite the Hawaiian Islands.

My favorite part of the trip, the Memorial Day Lantern Floating.

Hmmm...

Here I am, neglecting this poor little blog of mine. But it is kind of just there... I don't HAVE to write a blog and I don't HAVE to maintain it.

Sorry blog! I'll try to pay more attention to you in the future.

As for me, I'm going to two schools, working and volunteering at a local hospital. Not to mention trying to keep up with my family and friends, it's all a total workout. I think I have mentioned this previously. But I do have to make this brief...

I have been trying to be crafty... Working on that Asherton Scarf, knitting baby beanies, making food. Sadly though, no sewing or baking.

I was able to go to a live art show last weekend, where they had models dress and pose as in the paintings. My friend Lisa was a sponsor and provided the flower hair pieces. This is her and me at the show and yes, I am wearing one of her flowers! She's also starting to dabble in jewelry and is wearing one of her own. I will be getting an Edgar Allen Poe necklace soon!

Good thing is I am going to Hawai'i next Tuesday! I'll be back and very tan on May 27th. I cannot wait to have my vacay! Will post pics... One day. Ha ha!

I'm Knitting Again!

Yep, it's true! I have started knitting again! I decided to pull out the scarf I started for my dad and I knit a few rows each day and I must say it is coming along quite well.


Sorry the picture isn't that great, I used the camera on my CrackBerry. I made a point to pull out this unfinished business because I have been very stressed out at work and on top of that I am going to start attending two different schools at the end of the month. I will definitely be needing a way to channel my stress and I find knitting so relaxing anyways. I hope I don't get too overwhelmed, it's a good thing I'm going to Hawaii at the end of May! :)

Just a Few Things

So I've been cooking, just a little. Unfortunately I have had no time for crafting. I'm trying to get motivated to knit something, but most of my free time is spent studying for my classes. I am going to school full time and working full time so there isn't much left after that.

As far as the baking and cooking goes, I've been keeping on top of that. I learned how to make Arepas from my aunt who is from Venezuela. These are really a no-brainer to make and are a good source of grains.


And there they are! These are great to make ahead of time, then you can just throw them in the freezer to save for the rest of the week. And the best part is you can stuff them with beans, rice, cheese and veggies.

I have also found some cool websites lately. My favorite right now is Wordle. I made one from my blog and must admit that it's kind of fun!

Alexander McQueen for Target

Yep! They finally did it at my favorite mega-retailer! They got a BIG time designer. Not that they haven't before with Isaac Mizrahi, Mossimo, Luella, etc, etc. But Alexander McQueen??? That's amazing. I love the advertising/modeling with the Blythe dolls as well. So cute! I may buy some leggings but the clothes aren't actually looking too flattering for me. Nonetheless, I'm still super excited! Go Target!

Still Liking the Shiny/Leather Leggings!

I was perusing the Craftzine Blog and came upon this wonderful tutorial for latex leggings. These leggings are reminiscent of the tight pants that Olivia Newton John wore at the end of Grease, but since they are stretch latex we have the luxury of stepping into them rather than having them sewn on to our bodies. The leggings look pretty awesome and I would love to make them myself, but I'm pretty sure that I am allergic to latex since my skin gets super red and irritated using the gloves in my classes.

This blog, Making Latex Clothing is really interesting and informative. I am definitely going to be following it to gain some extra knowledge.

I have been wearing the leggings that I bought last fall, but only very occasionally. I need to find, or make some tunics that go with them since I only have a few. I did get a chance to wear the leggings last Friday with my awesome leather jacket (that I also never wear) and my new red patent platforms and a grey tunic that I have. It ended up being super cute and I can't wait to wear the leggings again! I don't have a picture of the outfit which is a bummer.



And just because...

I finally had my hair cut and re-dyed last week. I hadn't done it since September, yikes! But it's looking pretty awesome too!


Side bangs, layers and a flower that my friend made me for my birthday. I'm pretty excited!