Crafting, costumes, jewelry, fashion, DiY grown fresh daily!
I finished up the felt apple by attaching it to a headband. The month-long dash has been a great one, and I move on with a lot of energy into preparing myself for the final stretch of student teaching, and onto job applications! Hopefully this last project - an apple - with bring me some luck as I go!
I will be taking off the rest of the week (I know, you are SO going to miss me after a post every day of the last month =p), but expect me back next week… probably with wedding stuff! Ha!
Yesterday I spent most of the day putting in applications for teaching positions, doing this until late at night. I didn't spend much time crafting, but I did pause to make this little felt piece, in honor of the first applications of my teaching career being sent out!
There we go! A nip and a tuck here and we've got a better fitting dress. This is the lining, with edits pinned.
Wonder what's going on with my funny dressed dressform? Well, it's not exactly my size, so I padded it with some extra fabric and an old, er, undergarment. Fixed!
I wanted some cute earrings to wear out tonight, so I worked up a super-fast pair with several lengths of antiqued chain.
And done! Alas, I am fighting to find a wig in time for Animeland Wasabi… I had no luck in my local store, and online shipping takes a while… Here’s hoping!
I started out with some gold feathers/leaves charms and enameled them with some nail polish (which is still technically enamel! hee!). Glad I had that green polish in the bathroom. Tonight they are drying and tomorrow I need to acquire gold-tone earwires to complete.
Not bad! It's a good fit other than in the hips. A little more adjustment next time, and it'll be great.
I started out the day patterning from what turned out to be entirely the wrong starting point; I made a too-huge mess of an unfitted top, and decided to start over. I cannibalized a different pattern that I KNEW fit well, redrew it, and that's ready for cutting tomorrow.
Even though I’ve been posting daily about my thing-a-day adventures, I’ve still been reading and enjoying my growing list of blogs on Google Reader! I feel like I’ve *starred* just TONS in the past little while, and they really deserve sharing. So here they are!
How-To: Felt Pizza Set @Craftzine – So adorable!
How-To: Photorealistic Gadget Pouches @Craftzine – Love these! So simple, so stylish!
Texas Twosome: Ceremony Part 1 @Weddingbee – I was enchanted by their vows.
treasure hunting: keys @Design*Sponge – I love keys, what can I say?
sewing 101: stuffed hearts @Design*Sponge – These would make great gift-giving devices for wedding parties, eh?
modern twist: studio trivetz @Design*Sponge – These are fantastic, and I want some.
Keeping Track of Allen Wrenches @ApartmentTherapy – No seriously, who doesn’t have a million of these?
Shades of Grey @Weddingbee – A great post for me because I too am looking at grey dresses for my girls.
And of course, BHLDN, care of Anthropologie, has been all over the blogosphere. As if you didn’t already own my soul.
So, where have you been this month that needs to be shared?
Into the twenties we go! Just eight days left! I believe I will be able to finish Refia's costume in this last week; that'll be my goal for the end of this experience!
I purchased these great boots and only needed to add a white cuff to them to create the effect in the images of the character. A bit of the main dress fabric lined with some leftover white satin and done! They're even removable, set in temporarily with washable hem tape so I can wear the boots without them in the future.
I’ll be wearing this to Animeland Wasabi next month if you’ll be there, so keep an eye out for me (but look fast ‘cause I’ll be gone in another second, organizing the cosplay contest again!). See you there!
Nick and I had a few engagement photos taken today by our friend Lilacwire, using both her camera and Nick’s. As a part of the project, I made these two chalkboard speech bubbles for us to hold! They came out super cute, and we’re thinking of having smaller versions of them at the reception.
I know it doesn’t really follow my ‘wearable’ theme for thing-a-day, but they’re just too cute, and so easy to make. Just cut out shapes from foam core, spray on a few layers of chalkboard paint, and write away! We did these for about $5 for both. Come to think of it, you could make cute pin-sized versions that would be really fun, and indeed wearable!
For today, fun pink shell koi become a pair of swimming earrings. I liked the copper findings as a contrast to the bright pink!
I’ve started working on Refia from Final Fantasy III. Since I've made other faux metal and armor from craft foam and had a lot of success, I decided to go that route with this small piece. It's made of two layers, one for the base, and the other with the cross shape. The entire piece is covered with white glue which stiffens the foam and makes it smooth for spray painting. A little gold spray paint, and it's done!
So I purchased the original Funchico about a year ago. It started out great… fit my 16.4 laptop, held everything and more that I might have wanted to take along, looked ADORABLE. It was everything I had ever wanted in a laptop bag.
Well, there was a snag. Not in the fabric, but in the function of the vinyl handles. They started to deteriorate and separate from the bag after about two months of regular use. I was broken-hearted. But upon a brief email to Rainebrooke, they immediately shipped out a replacement, and guaranteed that I would get ANOTHER replacement when they finished the second – improved – version.
I’m going to say it here, and in bold: Rainebrooke has the best customer service I’ve ever received. I was so impressed with how fast and no-questions-asked they were about my problems with the damage, how prompt their replacement shipping was, and how they wanted to make my purchase right immediately. They were absolutely fantastic in every aspect.
I received the Funchico 2.0 yesterday and took it to school today. It is VASTLY improved, with more finished vinyl handles that I can’t see tearing, a more stable top handle, and even a longer shoulder strap for when you need to wear it cross-body. The fabric has changed a little, too, but is still lovely. It’s a simple ivory and pink tweed now, without the shiny hot-pink threads. Both are charming!
This is still the CUTEST BAG I HAVE EVER SEEN. I love it so much, and I’m over the moon to have another functioning one in my hands! Check it out at Rainebrooke, or browse through their collection of unique and fun pink laptop bags and cases! Enjoy!
Next up: thing-a-day seventeen!
And we are finished! I'm especially pleased with the ruffle, and the stitching detail around the waist.
Sadly, I will not wear this... I managed to make it too small for me. Alas.
Halfway there!
I’m attempting to copy this sandy-pinkish-brown paisley skirt in my green-blue-cream paisley fabric. The pink one is one of my favorites, so I really wanted another in the A-line style. Here's the first day's work: main skirt body and lining cut, sewn, and zippered. The strips for the bottom ruffles are ready to go tomorrow!
A little Valentine's Day treat (and a little bit late... hey, I was celebrating last night!). Chipped semi-precious stone and craft foam to make a pin.
Maybe it's not exactly crafting, but it's definitely work! In the really difficult, gotta sit on the couch for an hour way... Anyway, red in honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow!
I’ve seen a lot of similar style projects for the quickly-approaching holiday, and I wanted to do up one of my own! Made with felt and poly filler, stitched on my machine with a sweet message and finished with my new favorite, the blanket edge stitch.
I've been dying to try a little bit of felting (just by hand, not brave enough for needle felting yet!), and I thought I'd make a few beads! I've started off with this purple-yellow mix, one of my favorite color combos.
Harkening back to my wordspell line, today I made a stamped necklace. I’d purchased these pre-punched disks and hadn’t used them yet. The addition of a bead of aventurine completes a planetary look.
I made this cute headband accessory by wrapping coils of felt into flat rose forms. A little glue and ta-da!
Buttons, felt, and a safety pin! Easy peasy and cute as a.. well, you know the rest. ^.~
I’d meant to make these for my birthday party, but the outfit I ended up wearing didn’t need them. I wanted to put them together anyway because the colors were just so fun, and I don’t have any HUGE earrings at the moment… so I need some!
Also I think this picture is funny and looks like an owl. =)
A nice project for a Sunday, this simple circle skirt with a cotton lining. I love this funky print!
Loving this little sky-blue felt bracelet! It's simply a doubled-over piece of felt that's been blanket stitched around the edge. I then added the pretty star button and a few extra buttons I had around. Finally, I used the lettering feature on my Singer to stitch the words "when you wish upon..." through it! Fun!
And here’s the finished project… a Regency dress!
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I had the fabric in my collection, though only about a yard of each, which wasn't going to be quite enough for a skirt. I was able to work through the long underskirt by making the hidden part underneath the blue overskirt from another fabric. I'm loving the accents of the front bow, pink sleeve cuffs, and the rose pearl buttons on the back!
Oops! I was so worn out after a day of professional development at school I couldn’t sew past 9:30… I didn’t have it in me to set sleeves after 9, alas! I’ll finish it up tomorrow. I just need the sleeves and skirt set, and buttons and holes added to the back.
See, I even got one sleeve pinned in place. See you tomorrow!
Just a sneak peek today… I’ll finish up tomorrow! I would have finished today, but some of my fabric is still in the dryer! Oops!
Also I’m excited once again about my sewing machine with fancy vine stitches! Perfect for this project!
Even though it was a snow day, I couldn’t quite motivate myself to make a piece of clothing… but with my wearable challenge, there were still lots of small options left! So I started out with a fun one, a fabric cuff bracelet. This was a good recycle/reuse project, too, as the fabric came from an old pair of pants!
Starting with fabric, foam, and ribbon…
Sizing the foam for the bracelet base…
And the finished project! The fabric was wrapped around the outside of the foam base and then the raw edges inside were covered with the dotty ribbon. I love that it’s kind of a little surprise decoration on the inside, and the button sewn on the outside echoes the pattern. Super simple, and really cute!
