And I Thought I Was Done!

So I forgot that I have a bunch of things to mention! I believe that they are all sewing/craft related. Exciting isn't it?

First up. I just received the new issue of Craft! It's looking promising. I was a bit disappointed in the last issue... This one has a lot of paper crafts in it, personalizing your own quilt, and making a t-skirt among many other crafty things.

I also just ordered a new Sew Stylish magazine! It's Sew Stylish Embellishments, I can't wait to get it! I just received Sew Stylish Gifts to Make this week. Believe me, I'm using that magazine to make quite a few things for my loved ones for Christmas. I already bought a hide of leather from Fabric Mart, at a sale price of only $10! I'm making the slippers for my gramma and auntie.

I also found out that Interweave Knits has their new issue preview up on their website and the new issue of Adorn should be showing up in my mailbox soon! I am so excited!

Now on to other things...

I think I have decided to do a little feature or two. I'm going to have a Helpful Craft/Sewing Tool of the month, every month. I also want to do a Technique of the Month as well. If only I could do a Technique of the Week, it sounds so much nicer! I just don't have the time to dedicate to this every week. We'll see if I will be able to stick with this new thing. It will be helpful for myself and hopefully for others as well. I will start at the beginning of November, since October is almost gone...

Corpse Bride Costume Completed... Barely!

So I finished my costume for my honey's party. Boy was it the most stressful 3 days ever! I just wanted to be a French Maid again, but my honey wouldn't let me do it... He insisted I be the Corpse Bride. Ha ha... Crazy guy. He was Tommy Lee, although everyone else was calling him Nikki Sixx. Whatever, it's the same band, right? And for good measure I am also putting up a picture of my brother and his girlfriend. They were Prince and Bettie Page.

The man and myself:

Full Length Pic:

Bettie Page and Prince:

Doesn't my brother have a slight resemblance to Prince???

So I wasn't able to do everything that I said I wanted to do... I couldn't appliqué the ribs onto my corset. I was not able to sew a ruffle onto the skirt, and no blue dye. I forgot to get lavender from my backyard to put in my veil. I didn't make the yarn wig. We had to buy a purple one, that we noticed was a child's wig when it was too late. That thing was moving around all over the place!

But I was able to wear the main costume and it did turn out to slightly resemble the Corpse Bride! Everyone who had seen the movie knew exactly who I was. So that is really all that counts.

I made the corset from Vogue 8325, combining the front of view A with the back of view C so that there were no ties and grommets to deal with. The skirt, which I do not have any good pictures of, I drafted myself about 2 hours before the party started. It was a cinch to sew up. I just took my skirt block and drafted a trumpet flare on the fronts and back. I also made sure to extend the center fronts so that it would have a wrap effect. I also drafted a straight waistband to hold everything together.

So in the end I was able to finish the important parts of the costume and I think that I can say it turned out to be a success!

In other news, yesterday we had some rain in So Cali, the weather definitely did work in the firefighters' favor.

'Tis the Season for Pumpkins and Fires in Southern California

Every week I get an e-mail from Better Homes and Gardens for new recipes. I always find something that I love in this e-mail. Even better, BHG has a feature that you can register your e-mail for and bookmark your favorite recipes! I absolutely LOVE this. I've actually used it quite a few times now. As a matter of fact, I used it today...

I came home from work a bit late today, about 5:30 and checked my e-mail, as I always do. I got the weekly recipe e-mail from BHG and found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes. I decided that I needed to make dinner for my dad and thought I should make these to include in a nice fall meal. I went to the store and got the ingredients and some butternut squash soup, Cannellini beans and carrots.

We definitely had lots of the color orange in our dinner tonight. I made the pumpkin pancakes with whole wheat flour and they were absolutely delish! I, of course, added some cinnamon and nutmeg as well. The butternut squash soup was the Campbell's brand in a box with some sour cream, paprika, pepper and the beans added in.

I wish I had taken a picture of everything. Oh well... It was an awesome dinner and I very highly recommend BHG.com. You will definitely find a wide variety of recipes for any meal, and even better is that you can save your recipes and rate and comment on them as well. BHG gets my two thumbs up!

In other news... It seems that Southern California is amongst another firestorm. It's really quite sad, so many people have lost their homes now... I must say that I am thankful that we haven't had another fire by our house again. There was one in 2003 and then again in 2004 in the mountains behind our house. It was really quite nerve racking. The fire in the mountains in '03 was the conglomeration of two fires, one from the West and the other from the East. They both met up at the same time behind our neighborhood. The fire was so hot and close that I remember feeling the heat on my skin, and it was really hot! Even with it that close they didn't feel a need to evacuate us. The following year the fire was a few miles away and the firefighters went around to all the houses telling us to prepare to evacuate if they came around a second time. I'm so glad that those firefighters never came again.

The fire from the West:

The fire from the East:


I guess that no matter where you live, there is a price you pay. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, earthquakes... I feel so lucky that at that time we had enough firefighters to protect us. It doesn't seem to be the case this time around. The winds are just so powerful and strong and the brush so dry from the lack of rain this past year. It's so strange though, up here it's been perfectly still and clear, you look down into the surrounding valleys and the sky is so orangey-brown-grey from the smoke from the 14+ fires. We've called in neighboring states for help, but they just cannot get here soon enough. I just wish and hope for the best of luck for those people affected this time around, I pray that they are at least safe.

Halloween Is Coming!

I haven't dressed up for Halloween in 3 years. So this year is my chance to take advantage of the costume fun. I decided on the Corpse Bride. I have to make a corset, skirt and wig. But I have everything planned out perfectly. Now I only hope I can get it done... Ha ha. It needs to be done by the 26th for my Honey's party. If not, I have a backup costume... The one I was 3 years ago, a French Maid. I know, how boring.

Here are my plans for my costume:


I have the pattern for the corset top. I'm just going to make it out of Halloween satin and some blue tulle around the edges. I want to sew on an appliqué just below the right breast for her ribs that show through. I think I will draft the skirt myself, as well as paint and dye it. I'm dying my thigh-highs blue and am going to buy cheap white satin shoes from Payless Shoes. The wig I will make out of yarn and some old nylons.

I'm hoping this costume works. Knock on wood!

In other sewing news. I bought some fabric (on sale!) from Reprodepot for my first dress! It's a cute pink cotton graphic print that's subtle yet fun!


Cute, huh? Anyways, I am working on my next design. It's very cute also. I am considering entering it in the Alice in Workingland Contest at BurdaStyle. However, I'm not so sure about my drafting abilities quite yet... But we'll see.

I must now be on my way to JoAnn's. I hope I find what I need, that store has been severely disappointing lately. Wish me luck!

My First Very Own Garment!

I had an assignment in my Pattern Making class to make a dress from my princess torso block that I had drafted. I decided to make something similar to a dress that Go Fug Yourself posted on Cameron Diaz.

I fell in love with this dress when I saw it, and I would go back and look at the picture every once in a while, wishing I had this dress! It's so simple, but the design lines and pleating make it a bit sophisticated while still keeping a cute, mod look.

I had a hard time at first with the waistband, but after I got past that point it was smooth sailing on out. This dress is a tiny bit different than Cameron's, but I feel that it captures the same idea. I love the waistband, neckband, pleated front and attached hems. I totally forgot to put in the pockets at the front seams, but those aren't really necessary. The one that Cameron was wearing has a bit more of an A-Line cut on the skirt, the front pleats are wider, the waistband is a bit higher up and well the dress is a lot shorter than mine. The original dress' sleeves are raglan and that may be beyond my abilities at this point in time. I just drafted regular old sleeves.

So here is mine, in muslin of course:

Please excuse my jeans, I was too lazy to take them off....

Pleated front detail:

Now, my muslin came out great and my instructor loved it. I just hope that the paper pattern matches up and is notched correctly!

I cannot wait to buy some fabric for this and make a real dress out of it! I am contemplating a large plaid for fall or maybe a nice jewel toned silk for the holidays. Not too sure though.

Doing the Sewing Thing.

So today I was working on my Torso Block a little. Transferring the block to tag board and making some minuscule changes and adjustments.

I also spent some time going through my practice patterns from last semester, I threw most of them out. I figure if I need to refer to them again I should learn how to do them.

I then worked on the dress that I was supposed to make for the wedding... Ha ha. It will get done... eventually.

And lastly, I traced Onion 2017 for the fabric that I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics. I must say, I love Onion patterns already! They are so much easier to trace than other patterns because they are printed on a sturdy white paper with nice, dark, thick lines. I also like that fact that I get to add my own seam allowance, I'd much rather sew with 1/2" than 5/8", because let's face it, all that seam allowance is just "in case" I screw up and cut out the wrong size or even gain a few pounds... I haven't cut out the wrong size yet, and well forget me gaining a few pounds... I just feel it's a big waist of fabric, no matter what the reasons for it all being there.

I am making view C with the short sleeves. It's supposed to be tunic length, but when comparing it to my short stature it turns out to be pretty much a knee skimming dress
I cannot wait to buy my next Onion pattern. I am thinking that the featured pattern for September will be my next. I discovered this one about a year ago in a review on Pattern Review. I love it! The jacket looks so warm and cozy.

Torso Blocks, Wooo!

I know... Excited over little things. But hey better to be excited about little things than big things that are unlikely.

Now that I have my personal front and back torso blocks I can make dresses and coats and the like! An I absolutely adore dresses and coats... I can't wait for winter!

Working Hard? Or Hardly Working?

I think I may actually be hardly working... Tomorrow is the wedding that I mentioned last month. Boy does time fly! Sheesh.

And here I am distracted by Fashion Fanatic, hosted by Stacy London of TLC's What Not To Wear. I must say this show is awesome and EVERYONE who is even a little bit interested (or obsessed) with fashion and particularly shoes and bags should watch this. It's actually quite informative and educational. But let me tell you, it makes me green with envy!

Enough of that, back to work!

Oh How Knitting Has Slipped My Mind

But, I decided to organize my small yarn stash last night/early this morning, since I could NOT sleep. I'm happy to know that most of my yarn has good intentions, unlike my fabric stash... I am working on a scarf for my dad, the Sesame sweater from Magknits, Danica from Knitty, a Patons felted needle holder, and the Dream Swatch from Wendy of Knit and Tonic.

I also have eight balls of Laines du Nord's Linea Merino left from this project. I plan on using this on Norah Gaughan's Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I have some other yarn as well, but thankfully, not much of it!

Just Kidding!

Okay, so I remembered that I do not have a torso block for my body. And yes, I could make one for myself, but, I'll save myself some time and just do some major alterations to the Butterick and Simplicity patterns.

To be honest, I only made a torso block once and I don't think I had it checked by my instructor. I'll wait to make my own in my Advanced Patternmaking class next semester, I don't quite trust myself on the amount of contouring that is required.

But not to worry, I've already started tracing. I cannot wait until I get to make my muslin!

One more thing... I got the August issue of Burda in the mail and just as I noted earlier, the cute, modified trench look is everywhere!


I want to make one in navy! I'm quite taken by navy at the moment. We'll see, I really need to slim down my fabric stash...

My Very Own Dress! Well Sorta...

So I am going to my good friends' wedding at the end of August. I bought a dress in January for it, but I decided I wanted a new one. Which I knew was going to happen... But hey, I will have 2 cute dresses now!

Here's the one I bought from Nordy's:

So cute isn't it? I am actually going to wear this to another wedding in Vegas at the beginning of August.

So my idea came to design and draft my own pattern when I was looking at dresses on Nordstrom's for my mommy. I saw a very adorable Calvin Klein dress in a pretty muted blue color. I had to have a dress in that color! Or near that color anyways. So I went straight to Fashion Fabrics Club because I knew they were having a sale on silk and got this silk blue shantung to make my dress.

I'm still nervous about drafting my own pattern from my blocks, but of course I will make a muslin beforehand. In the picture below I have taken a picture of my drawing and the inspirations for my dress. I have SewStylish's Summer issue and the Simplicity's SewStylish pattern 3735. I absolutely love how they altered the skirt on the dress to a full bubble. I also have Butterick 4918. I love this dress also, but it's a little much for a summer wedding so I plan on using the bust detail as inspiration.

As soon as I'm done writing this post I think I'm going to get down and dirty on my dress.

But before I do this. I have found some cute fall fashions that I could definitely draw more inspiration from and some patterns to match!

First of all are these coats from, of course, Nordstrom's BP:

I am just loving the fresh white and cool plaid! And just as I laid my eyes on these trench like styles I thought of pattern number 115 in the May issue of Burda World of Fashion.

Just a bit of tweaking to the pattern and anyone could have that cute plaid jacket! And just a hint, JoAnn's has just put out their fall fabrics. Lots of plaids! And if you want something more like the white wool coating, Gorgeous Fabrics has some solids and so does Fabric Mart!

I think I finally figured out what I'm going to do with the Bird on a Wire fabric I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics. It was between McCall's 5388 and Simplicity 4119.

I was going to layer the sheer silk over some white dot flocked cotton I bought at JoAnn's for the dress, but finally decided to just make a sheer top from the McCall's pattern. I'm going to make view D, the puff sleeved top because I just love to layer!

Last but not least! I've been cleaning up and organizing my sewing/crafting supplies. I've organized my patterns into some boxes by type and pattern company. I also made an Excel spread sheet of my fabric stash, not including scraps. Let's just say that I am trying not to buy anymore fabric... It's very hard! Especially since I did just buy that silk shantung... Oopsie!

New Dress and Jellyfish!

So I finally have been able to make something!


It's McCall's 5425. The one I mentioned in my last post. And I'm using the polka dot fabric I got from Gorgeous Fabrics. I had to do some readjusting to the back since the dress looked like a complete sack on me. It took me about 5 hours (while checking out the Fall fashions on Style.com).


That's the Diane von Furstenberg show in the background! I must say that I'm quite dismayed by the amount of black present in most of the collections. But that's just me.

Anywho, I've been a busy bee, going to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Las Vegas and the San Diego Zoo with my honey. We're going to go camping in Mammoth Lakes with my family soon also! Sooo excited!

And I will leave with a beautiful pic of the jellyfish at the Coral Reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

No Time to Sew. But Time to Buy!

Yes, I have not had very much opportunity to sew lately. I've been taking an intensive six week anatomy class at my local community college so I can hopefully get into a nursing program. I must admit, with the class 20 hours a week and then work another 30 hours I'm a bit exhausted.

I have bought some more fabric. Mostly from Gorgeous Fabrics and Fabric Mart. Silks, a cotton shirting and a knit.

I ordered one more from Gorgeous Fabrics. It's the Bird on a Wire silk.

I think I will make Hot Patterns 107 out of this. It will be perfectly summery!

Speaking of patterns, I was over at Nordstrom's website and found this dress...

Which looks a lot like McCall's 5425, which I just recently bought at a JoAnn's sale.

I really can't wait to make this dress out of a fun print like the Nordstrom's version. I think I will tone it down on the large, bright print though. I am after all 25, not 15...

Until next time!

Yay! I'm Done!

Well with Beginning Patternmaking. Of course I procrastinated a bit, not too much though. I stayed up until 4:30 AM and got up at 7 AM to finish. But it was all worth it... I got an A! I just hope I got an A on the in class final.

The take home assignment was to pick out an article of clothing from a magazine or catalog, etc. and draft a pattern from it with our block. I actually took a picture that I saved from an Anthropologie catalog two years ago and used it as my design.

Here is my flat pattern version:

There were some mistakes. Mostly I forgot to notch at some places, like the darts in the bust. And I was misled about seam allowance notching at the midriff by the handouts given on notching in class. Oh and I somehow forgot that the sleeve is a full puff sleeve and for some reason drafted a puff at the hem only. But other than that, I am very pleased. If only I was able to make it with my own personal block... Oh well.

Speaking of my personal block, I did get that back and I also got an A on it. This means that I am good to go on designing my own clothing now! WOO HOO!!!

Another pic:

Well, I'm still going to make another muslin out of it to see if it does fit correctly, we did quite a bit of tweaking like slimming the area of hip placement and taking it out a bit lower. We also did some major changing of the bust darts. I did trace a size 4 block for the top, but we did have to extend it down quite a bit because I do have a long torso, and that would mean I would need to move the bust darts as well. We also had to square the shoulders a bit more because apparently mine don't slope so much!

And just for finishing this class I bought my self some bee-you-ti-ful silk fabric from Fabric Mart that happens to be from Anna Sui.


I want to make a dress from it. Here's a great example of the fabric and a design of Anna Sui at Anthropologie. Pretty isn't it?

I can't wait to get it!

Summery Shirt

So I made another piece of clothing! Amazing, I'm spitting out about one a month. So far, much better than last year's three finished garments! We'll see...

I used Simplicity pattern 4111, which is a Built By Wendy pattern. It's a simple long sleeved empire top. I made it out of a cotton Swiss Dot that I found at JoAnn's. Of course, I shortened the sleeves for the hot summer ahead.

Front Detail:


That's a button that came from the button collection my mom and I inherited from my grandma.

Front:


Back:


There's really nothing more to say on this. The pattern was extremely easy and I will most likely make it again.

Funny Father

Me to my dad: "Dad, you're so difficult!"

My Dad to me: "Difficult's my middle name!"


Ha ha ha ha....

New Shirt Alert! Also A Love for Embroidery Rediscovered.

Here she is!

I finished Simplicity 3882! I made MANY small changes and I love the way it came out! I must say I did well for sewing a knit. I hated knits... It's a grey jersey knit I bought as a very large remnant from JoAnn's a long while ago. And the lining is a black jersey knit with little white skulls from ReproDepot.

Cute, huh? Well, I plan on making the other version of this pattern sometime soon, but I have to get past my HUGE new collections first.

Good thing these fabrics were mostly bought with patterns or projects in mind already. See the patterns on the top of the right hand pile? I have a new found love for sewing again. It may be fueled by the fact that I know I can fix/alter patterns to fit or look good on me now. Yep that's right, I'm taking a pattern drafting class at my local community college! To be honest with you, I wanted to go to FIDM since I was in high school, but now I am so very glad that I did not waste my money there. This class is definitely worth the $3o I paid for it!

That there is my midterm for a medium cowl bodice. I'm also taking a Fashion in World Cultures class and am in love with this one as well! I must admit I did not know where t-shirts originated from until last Thursday.

I also have quite a few new projects going: two embroidery projects and a knit scarf. I finally decided to pull out my embroidery hoops, needles and floss. I found a Sublime Stitching kit that I bought way back in 2002 from ReproDepot (long standing loyal customer here!) And I just bought her newest book! But anyway... I decided that my loving boyf and his housemates need at least one dishtowel and started one for them. It's coming along quite nicely and I'm actually almost done.

The next embroidery project is a Happy Spring card for my Gramma. I took a picture of some tulips in our backyard and framed it for her and am sending it over with my mom on Sunday, since I have to work :( . The card to go with it is a design I got from one of my new books, The New Crewel: Exquisite Designs in Contemporary Embroidery. I scanned the design and then just traced it onto the cardstock from my computer screen. I unfortunately do not have the wool thread/yarn for crewel so I'm just using what I have from my floss collection. I've been punching the holes into the cardstock with an embroidery needle and that has taken a toll on my hands. Geeze what a workout for my fingers!

As for the scarf, I started to make it for my dad because he was supposed to go to Washington, D.C., but that was canceled. So I'm taking my time on that now, it hasn't exactly been cold enough in So Cali for a wool scarf anyway.

I found the pattern at Smariek Knits. She has some wonderful patterns on her blog, I must say. And this scarf is looking quite sharp! It's really quite easy too.

And finally, my last project. A work in progress since 2003, well more like a work put on hold for 4 years and now back in progress...

Can you see the date on my layout? Well, it says "6/13/03" and "first cut on 9/22/03." Ha ha... I've started piecing the squares together again and decided to join a Quilt-Along over at Craftster. I guess we'll see how this goes.

Okay that's, finally, all for now. I really need to get to sleep anyways I have a lot of cutting and taping to do in the morning, we're doing skirts.

Weird!

Okay, I was going through my blogs postings and just realized that it's been exactly a year since I made this thing. Very funny since I pretty much only sign on once a month, if that.

I forgot to also mention that I finished the under dress for my designer knock-off!


A little skimpy looking, eh? Don't worry I won't wear it by itself, only under or over another garment... That is, at least in public. ;)

Ideas! Good Recycling Ideas!

Okay, first I have to grumble about the stupid switch to Google Blogger, or whatever the hell it is. Google is great and everything, but I do NOT need another stupid e-mail! Blah!

Anyways...

I had an idea. I saw this blog yesterday while surfing on my day off. I must say, what a cute blog! She had the cutest little apron, and I decided that I need to have one for myself. This is especially exciting to me since I have this and this that I recently received in the mail! I can't wait to combine the two color variations.

Now on to the recycling/reusing/repurposing, or what you will... I have a penchant to buy one or two things from Anthropologie.com. And they always package their smaller items in these muslin bags, which look like this...


I know that they won't make up the majority of the apron, but they will definitely be much more useful that way. I was previously storing small balls of yarn in the larger ones and small silk scarves in the smaller ones. I know I have lots of un-dyed muslin in my ginormous stash of fabric, so I can use that for the rest of the apron.

And speaking of aprons, I believe that my next craft book purchase will be The Apron Book. I have read so many good things about it, and since I've been doing a lot more cooking now, it could come in useful.

I have recently bought quite a few books. The classic Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and Simple Sewing with a French Twist: An Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes and Home Accessories with Style. The New Cook Book, obviously, is a timeless favorite and a must have especially if you want to learn how to cook more than just spaghetti. LMKG and Simple Sewing are both beautifully photographed, well written, as well as well laid out. I must say I am thoroughly impressed!

Alright, that's enough jabbering for now, must start sewing!

Here's to New Year's Resolutions!

In the year 2007 I resolve to: Spend more time snuggling puppies. Get your resolution here.

Oh btw... My grandma loved her Clapotis. She was so excited! I've never seen her that excited about something before. And she loved that it was her favorite color!