TV stand to kitchen

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can't.  A friend of mine superbly transformed this entertainment center into a play kitchen.  I'm always seeing these old entertainment centers on the side of the road and personally I think they are a bit hideous, but amazing what a unique idea and a coat of paint will accomplish!

What's on my sewing table....

I decided to start making laptop/ipad covers again.  I was inspired after hanging out at Crafty Bastards the other week.  So off to the Goodwill I went and scored some sweet men's blazers and vintage pillow cases.  I'll be posting them on my Etsy side as soon as I get some more made.  I just love the sleekness of the covers.  I'm using new interfacing which is not so much fun to sew, so I need to work on my corners.  Tricky buggers they are.

Week of alterations

If I haven't told you, I decided to go back to school this semester after a 3 year hiatus.  I am enrolled in a graduate public history program and although I love it, it's an adjustment finding time for everything which includes sewing.

This week, I have decided to concentrate on that never ending pile of things that need to be taken in.  This pile has grown in the past couple of months as I have somehow lost weight which means my clothes aren't looking hot.  I started with one of my favorite dresses, a sheath dress surprise! I bought this dress from H&M years ago, when H&M still made semi-decent quality clothes.  It used to fit like a glove and I looked pretty hot in it, lately it's looking like a potato sack.  So I just took in the sides.

I turned the dress inside out, tried it on and marked a couple of places with pins on where it needed to be adjusted.  Then laid it on the iron board, make sure everything was even stitched.  I did have to undo the hem at the bottom before taking it in. I didn't want a bulky hem, so once the sides were adjusted I re-hemmed it.  

This Ann Taylor Loft dress I bought at my favorite thrift store for only $5 a couple of weeks ago.  It fit perfect except it was a little long, so I took off 1 1/2" and perfect! I love the waist detailing. 

Why I love consignment shopping

While millions of Americans stood in line for hours to get into the malls and stores early this past Friday, I slept in and went consignment shopping with a friend.  I have shopped at consignment shopping for years; doing so helps me live up to my philosophy of reducing and reusing when you can. Consignment shopping is also great because you can get some good quality items for a great price and it's not what everyone else is wearing.   Last year I decided not to buy any new clothes from a store and only sewed or bought second hand.  And while it was great and cut down the money I spent on clothes, by the end of the year, I really needed new clothes.  I love t-shirts and cardigans and I have a hard time finding good quality ones second hand.   Now, I buy a mix of new, handmade, and second hand and that's doing me just fine!

My friend took me to a store I hadn't been to yet, and it's my new fav! I walked out with three new blazers for under $45! Two Ann Taylor Loft and one Banana Republic and I just can't decide which one I love the most.

One of the Ann Taylor Loft blazers.  Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! 

I love the olive tweed and the covered buttons.  

My new Banana Republic blazer.  I wish you could feel how soft this wool is. I'm not a fan of the boob pockets, but you can hardly see them.  

My other new Ann Taylor Loft jacket.  You can hardly see the whales, but this is a corduroy.   

T-shirt refashion fun

When going through my endless drawers of clothes the other day I came across this tee, I  bought from the thrif shop with of course the intention to refashion it.  It's a great fabric and the tee is from J Crew, so I didn't want to get rid of it. As you can see it's a little big for me, so I needed to chop it up.

 

The first order of business was to make it smaller. To do this, I just laid a shirt that fits over the top and cut around it, and sewed up the sides. 

I removed the pocket, very carefully so I didn't rip a hole in it. Not that I'm prone to doing that on knit fabric or anything.  I cut the sleeves and excess from the bottom into 3" strips and used that for the ruffles on the front and neckline.  After playing around with ruffle placement and picking the best layout, I sewed the ruffles down and hemmed the bottom of the shirt.  And that was it! 

It's a refashion kinda weekend!

The heat in KY has been beyond hot, so the best thing to do is stay inside.  So the other day I went through my closet and make piles of stuff to take to Goodwill, stuff to sell, and stuff to refashion.  And then I made myself start to refashion that pile which never seems to get smaller.  I made this darling outfit today that screams fun & summer!

I had this dress I bought from a consignment store last year for about $3 with the intention to refashion it.

This top was bought within the past 4 years at a thrift shop and it goes into the "I love this shirt" to "I can't stand to wear it" phases about 3 times a year. 

The too small dress became a skirt and I cut the sleeves shorter on the shirt.  And voile! My adorable outfit.

From coffee sack to lampshade

My favorite coffee shop, Sunergos, started selling the coffee sacks leftover from their coffee beans.  Sunergos roasts their own beans and I hear the coffee is amazing, I am a tea drinking so I will take everyone's word.  However, the idea of using the coffee sacks appealed to me.  I had been thinking of what I could use them for and originially had pillows in mind. But after purchasing a couple and feleling them, I decided the would not make nice pillow cases. Not until I can figure out a way to soften them, a lot. 

I have this lamp that was my grandparents, and some random lampshade on it.  I don't remember what their lampshade was, but for sure not the one I had on it.  So I had a vision of burlap lampshade!  I love those moments when you decide what you want and how it's going to look. 

I got my pins and tried to pin the burlap to the lampshade but it wasn't working, so I stitched and pleated as I went.  It was looking fabulous and then disaster!

I knocked the lampshade onto the floor and it shattered. I'm sorry Papa Dick & Nana Jane for breaking your lampshade.  So now I have a lampshade and no lamp. 

Guess I am on a hunt for a new lamp at a thrift shop next time I head out or maybe I'll just sell this one. Anyone want to buy it? :)

A little bit of this and that

Today was the big day for my pin up  girl photo shoot.  I was nervous at first because I have NEVER done a photo shoot like this, in fact I run from the camera most of the time. So coming up with poses and faces in front of the camera spontaneously is so not me.  Luckily, the photographer has a great assistant that gives lots of direction and feedback.  A lot of the poses are not very comfortable, but make you look great in the photos, I think I got a few charlie horses.  I should have some photos up in a couple of days for you to see.

I also was finally assigned a plot in a community garden.  It's huge, 16x14 feet so I plan on  growing lots of food to eat and to preserve: I will be a canning & freezing queen this summer! It's covered with weeds and a couple of flowers I don't recognize, so I will need to make sure I'm not pulling up something that will benefit my soil.  I can't wait to start digging and planting!

Meanwhile, here is some stuff I have been working on.

Using vintage sheets I made McCalls 5643, retro apron.  I made version B and decided to make mine more contrast.

I was very easy to put together and took only a couple of hours to sew.  I love the  tulip pocket, it's deep enough to hold something and still cute.  I wore this for my photo shoot today and really want to use it, but it's almost too cute to get all dirty from cooking.

I have had the fabric for this dress for a really long time.  It's in the bin marked, "Fabric Stash, really need to use before buying more fabric. Like now." I used the bodice from Butterick B5319, I love the bodice on this dress and have used it before. Remember this dress?  I decided not to make a belt and just put a pleat in the front of the skirt. 

And lastly, I started on a new baby quilt today.  Well, I laid out how I want to sew the squares together.  I"ll start sewing some together tomorrow.  I used some cotton fabric I had laying around, mens suit jacket, a table cloth and a sheet to make the squares. I find that lately I have been using stripes together a lot more lately, I really like the way contrasting stripes look. 

Grocery Tote

Are you tired of having all those plastic bags that you accumulate from the grocery store, from the drug store, from Target, from every where? Then it's time to make your own bags!  Lots of grocery store now are selling reusable bags, for a couple of dollars but in my opinion they are cheap and if you wash them a couple of times they will fall apart.  So take leftover fabric and whip up a couple of these and you'll never have plastic bags coming out of the cupboards.   I am making a couple of these for Christmas presents this year and love them so much, I'm going to have to make some for myself.

I saw Dana's tutorial over at MADE  and fell in love with the simplicity of the bag. She used plastic bags, but I had tons of old jeans, so I used fabric.  Dana also does a fabulous tutorial (much more in depth than mine!).

The first thing you want to do is decide how big you want to make your bag. I like bigger bags, so I decided to do 16"x16".  

1. Cut out 2 squares the size you want, this will be the front & back.  I also decided to line my bag, if you want it lined, cut out 2 squares the same size in the lining fabric.  
2. Cut out 3 squares 16"x5" for the sides & bottom.  (cut 3 for lining)
3. Cut 2 strips 22"x2" for the straps (cut 2 for lining).

4.  If you want to applique the front of your bag do it before you stitch everything together. 
5. Sew each of the squares together to make your bag and lining. 
6. I liked the exposed seam look of the serger, but you can sew seams on the inside or outside.
7 . Sew your lining to the bag, I surged off the top, keeping with the exposed seam look.

 

8. Sew your strap & strap lining together.  To  reinforce the handles fold about 4" in half in the middle, then stitch. 

9. Sew your handles onto your bag. 

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10. Trim off all the excess threads and your done!