My New Model!!

Ok, so I know I said I'd keep most sewing stuff on my new blog, but I'm excited and wanted to post this here too!

No longer do I have to do my own modeling, I hired myself a model!



Lol...of course, I'm really excited about being able to play with fabrics using a dress form, it will be so nice to be able to look at the clothes on something else and not have to stand in front of the mirror and try to hold 10 different things on me to see how they would look.

I ordered it last week but had forgotten it was supposed to be delivered today. My dear husband actually surprised me...he was home sick today with a fever and cold, so I took the opportunity to go run some errands (since I'm usually without a car during the day.) Of course one of those errands was heading to a fabric store to use a giftcard I was given (Thank you Sleen!!!!!). I came back, said hi, went into the sewing/computer room to put up the fabric and there she was, all put together! :-D He even got rid of the box so I would be surprised, hehe. So sweet of him to do when he was feeling under the weather.

I was only able to buy this because of the items that I've sold, so a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me out!!

A New Blog!

Ok, so I had a bit of a change of plans. I was planning on opening up an Etsy shop, but as I discussed it with my husband we decided to wait on that, since it's something I have to spend money to use. I'm not planning on making a big business or anything, I'd just like to sell a few things on the side to friends and anyone who is interested, and mostly I wanted a place to help me mentally organize all the stuff I'm working on, have worked on, etc.

So, I decided to just create a new blog to have as my crafting center, and offer anything I have to sell on there as well. I'd like to just take it slow and see how things go before spending any money in order sell things.

I present to you my new blog:



From now on, I'll probably be keeping most of my craft and sewing related stuff on there rather than here, but I might link to it from time to time. Enjoy!

Sewing Madness!

Well it has been a while since I blogged, so I thought I'd give a little explanation about what's been keeping me busy...the answer is mostly sewing (among the holiday craziness, of course!)

So, here are some samples of what I've been up to. It all started with the Christmas Bazaar at church at the beginning of December. We were supposed to bring baked goods, and I did, but I'd also been having fun making tissue holders (per the instructions discovered through Sew, Mama, Sew), so I decided to bring a few dozen along to see if we could sell any. And, they were a big hit!



As I was sharing pics with my friends on the ex-board, I received some requests from people who wanted to buy some! I made some in purple for a special request:









Then I was asked if I could make an apron...I said sure, and this was the result:





Then I was asked to make another apron from some fabric I had posted a pic of, and thus the second apron was created:





In the meantime, I found out there was going to be an extra aunt I hadn't planned for at Christmas...and so I decided to whip up this handy reversible apron!







For Christmas, I got some wonderful sewing tools!! From my sis I received a very nice pear of cutting shears and an adorable wrist pin cushion, and from my mom I received something I didn't even know existed...a sewing chatelaine! It's basically an open ended long beaded necklace type thing, that has various hooks and clasps to which you can attach sewing scissors, a seam ripper, a needle holder...VERY handy! I've already put it to good use, I think it was probably my favorite gift. Thanks Mom!!

After all the Christmas family fun was over, I realized a friend's wedding was coming up. She's a bit goth/punk, and an absolute riot! She inspired this little number:







The wedding is tomorrow, can't wait to give it to her!

And finally, for the longest time I've been wanting to try this (reversible!)wrap skirt, also from Sew, Mama, Sew. I ordered the necessary fabric several months ago (of which you need quite a bit, but I found some great clearance deals!) but never got around to actually doing it. Since I was on such a sewing kick I decided to take a stab at it. The construction was really SO simple (being a wrap skirt) but I am seriously in love with the result (and surprisingly with the olive fabric which I basically only bought because it was on clearance!)

FRONT:




REVERSED:


BACK:


So, that's what I've been busy doing! I've been commissioned for another apron (similar to the first one), so I need to get on that. I'm thinking about opening up an Etsy shop, because I'm having so much fun, and if I can make a little pocket money while doing something I enjoy, why not, right?

With the money I've made from these projects, and with some Christmas money I received, I'm planning on buying a dress form! Nothing fancy, and mostly so that I don't have to model my creations anymore, lol. I'm very much looking forward to that!

I Made a Tote Bag!

That is all! :-)

Skirt #3!

Ok, I promise that one of these days I'll post about something other than skirts. But I just finished my third, and after all, isn't that what blogs are for? To show and tell? Lol...anyway, here it is!


This one is a bit longer and fuller than the last one, and I just love the fabric. The buttery yellow and royal blues remind me of France! Here's a close up of the fabric:


Now, I took advantage of some of the Labor Day sales and bought some more fabric...it's on the way! But, that is all the fabric I'll be buying this month, and since I need to start focusing on getting ready for our trip, I shouldn't have too many more posts about skirts in the near future.

Yeah, I tend to get obsessive about new things for a while after I've discovered them, in case it wasn't obvious enough!

Skirt #2!!

I'm pleased to announce that I have now made my second skirt ever! Behold:


Lol...I'm very excited, and I LOVE this one. It even has a zipper (my first zipper!), and some rick rack around the bottom for fun.


And the best part is, it's so cheap! I got this fabric on clearance at fabric.com for like $2.50 a yard, and with the zipper and binding tape and rick rack, my grand total comes to....about $9!! Woohoo!

I already have my fabric for the next skirt washed and ready to go, can't wait to do another one!

Sew What! Skirts

So I'm pretty much a beginning seamstress. I can do basic, basic stuff like pillows, curtains, aprons, etc. I also must admit that I HATE using patterns, I'd much rather make something up myself or copy something I have. So I was ecstatic when my sister (who is a mathematician, and loves using patterns, lol) pointed me in the direction of a book called Sew What! Skirts, which is basically a book that encourages and helps you to make your own skirts without patterns. I HAD to have it, so I went searching for it and ended up going to 2 different bookstores in order to find it last weekend, lol. But I was so glad I did!

There are so many great ideas in this book, and it's easy enough that even a beginner like me can do it. So, I pulled out a circle skirt panel that my sis had bought me when I got a sewing machine from hubby on my birthday a couple years ago. (Don't worry, I asked for it specifically, lol). Unfortunately, the circle skirt panel was a bit too small, so I decided to cut the waist a bit wider, but of course this had the result of shortening the skirt. I like to be comfy in my skirts and not have to worry that I'm flashing people, so after reading Sew What! Skirts, I took the idea of a layered skirt and decided to just add a longer layer underneath. It was a tad more difficult than the book because I had to make some changes here and there (because the book uses two A-line skirts, not a circle skirt and an A-line skirt). The result is below:



It's not the greatest skirt in the world, but it's my first! I'm proud. :-) I hope there are many more to come! And for anyone who needs inspiration or encouragement to do your own thing with the sewing machine, especially when it comes to skirts, I highly recommend this book!

Making Progress

I'm crossing more things off my list today, woohoo! I finally decoupaged a box to hold some ribbon, which isn't all that spectacular, and my box to hold candles and the table covers for my altar. It started off as a plain brown papier mâchè wine box, here it is now:

Then in the last 4 days, I was able to make my two sisters their Christmas presents. Here's the apron made with black toile, it's a bit crooked, but oh well, lol, I wasn't using a pattern so that's what I get!


And this is the apron done with red toile, which is my personal favorite! (I LOVE red!)

I can't believe the month is already more than half over!! The next thing on my list is to figure out what I'm going to be doing for Christmas cards this year...I have an idea, but we'll see. Besides that, I still want to get some reading done! I have so many books I want to read...I better get started on that now!

Stockings are Done!!!

Yay! I'm so happy that we'll finally have real stockings this year for Christmas, and even a mantle to hang them on (even if the chimney is non-functioning, lol.)

The first is Camille's stocking, which I bought about 5 years ago (ack!) and have worked on intermittently since then. It's completely cross-stitched:

The second is my own, which I bought about 2 years ago. It's just embellished needlepoint, so it didn't take quite as long:

Now that those are done, onto my next projects! I have a puzzle that needs to be completed, a couple boxes that need to be decoupaged, and I need to figure out what I'm going to be doing for Christmas cards this year. So much to do! So little time!

Family Altar

One of the projects I wanted to get done before I started my board fast was setting up a family altar, a place for prayer. Now, ideally, this would be bigger, it would be out in a more conspicuous place, but seeing as my CoC family is over often and they would see this as a shrine to the devil, I decided to make it a bit more discrete. So it's located in a corner of our bedroom, which is quite hidden when the door is open, lol. Here's a description of what all is there:


I got some holiday napkins at Walmart in green, purple, and white, for the different liturgical seasons, and just sewed them up to fit over the little table! (That cost me...like $3! Woohoo!) I'm decoupaging a wine box (lol, it's the only thing that will fit in the little space under the table) and keeping the other table covers, lighters, more candles, etc inside it for convenience.


On the stand, I have a little easle for prayer cards, and several prayer cards to switch out. Right now it has St. Gerard on it (can you guess why? *sigh*) And of course the standing crucifix, and little statue of Mary, and my rosary hanging beside it. A lot of this stuff I got from totallycatholic.com for really cheap!


On the middle shelf I have a small French Bible de Jérusalem, and an old French "Christian manual," which has the New Testament and Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ in it, which I have yet to read! (Adding that onto my already long list...) There is also an image of Our Lady. Underneath the shelf is a prayer card with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.


On the top shelf is just a simple Catholic book of common prayers, and an image of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. Good stuff!


I'm excited to start putting my little family altar to good use! I will keep all of my online friends in my prayers!

Christmas Stockings!!!

Ok, I'm ashamed to admit I bought a stocking kit for DH...4 or 5 years ago? And STILL haven't finished it!! I've finished the cross-stitching part, but I really need to finish sewing it up in time for next Christmas! I also have one that is almost finished for me, which I also need to assemble. I really, really, want to have both of them done by Christmas, so I'm blogging about it in hopes it will motivate me to get on top of things! Now that I have a sewing machine (birthday present from hubby!) I have no reason to put it off any longer. So...note to self, FINISH CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS!!!!