To UpCycle

Sometimes I am not exactly sure what term to use, upcycle, redesign, repurpose, so I use them all.

Whatever you want to call it I love it. I love being able to find a dated but otherwise perfectly fine garment, whether it be one that I could take down a few sizes, like the lace blouse in my shop or this red velvet dress I restructured just this week.  It feels great to bring these items back to life. Originally this red dress was full length, with full length long sleeves and was somewhat ill-fitting.

Clara Bow Does IT Herself

Clara Bow delivers a classic revamp of  her work dress into an appropriate dress for dinner at the Ritz (or at least what she thinks is an appropriate dress;) The dress turned out pretty amazing considering how she butchered that collar!  Love it!

Under the Weather- Looking for Leather

I've been meaning to make a tote since Wednesday but really want to do it with a leather band. When I went to my local fabric store they only sell leather by the "animal" (really thats what he said) which means I would have to buy the whole roll which is over $200! Gasp and gag, but I really do want some suede for this bag! I'll have to keep looking but I've got such a nasty cold I've got my mouth hanging open all day and a box a puffs attached to my hand.
Good news is I got some great things at the local thrift store and can't wait to get started cutting and sewing!

Project Pillowcase

I bought fabric over the weekend to make pillowcases and I finally got around to working on it today.
Never made a pillowcase before but found an easy to follow and quick tutorial http://youtu.be/7moryq_ZRFY.


Instructions are clear and although the video itself is only about 5 minutes long, the first pillow case took me about 45 minutes to complete. Once I got the hang of it I was able to finish up 3 more little over an hour.

The cream colored  fabric with rose print is just so dainty. My aunt gave me a box full of vintage fabrics (including some amazing crepe I definitely have to find a project for!) and this darling petite roses print flannel. I paired it with a bolder print.
Sorry picture of colored pencils is random but I got distracted and really like it :)

end product:

An Ol' Pair of Shoes and Some Glitter

I love being able to resuse items I already have laying around or can easily find at a local thrift store. Finishing up Sofie's costume over the weekend gave me a great opportunity to use an old pair of  her faux crocs. I thought the crocs had a similar round bulky shape as the new version of  Strawberry's shoes.
Very easy and another quick project any little girl will love.

Do It Yourself: 

You will need - An old pair of shoes. These crocs still fit Sofie but she barely wore them. Something scruffed up would be great too.  Acrylic paint, glitter glue/paint and polyurethane. I used Anitas semi gloss varnish, which is good for decopage and is easy to brush on. Only use this if you are using shoes with a surface like the crocs, this finishing coat is not needed on fabric shoes.

It took a three layers of acrylic paint, which I mixed to match the pink in her outfit. Depending on fabric you are dealing with and base color, it will vary. I do suggest that if you are working with canvas shoes you add a fabric medium which could be bought at any art supply store. The one I use is Liquitex. Remember if you are using fabric shoes you do not need the polyurethane. Add the fabric medium to the paint at 1:1 ratio.

I made sure each layer dried thoroughly in between to prevent lumping and visible brush strokes.
Once the paint was dry I added the glitter glue (its just what I happened to have but of course any kind of glitter medium is fine). Start off little by little to and add on to your liking. Let this layer dry as well.
If working with shoes like mine you would add a thin layer of polyurethane at this point, just to ensure paint and glitter does not peel.

I thought they would dry and stiffen but they came out great.
Now you have another costume piece to play with, enjoy!

Halloween- Tis the Time for Wigs

When my daughter decided on Strawberry Shortcake as her costume this year I never anticipated people asking me, "Which version?". Strawberry Shortcake was one of my favorites growing up and I guess it had slipped my mind that she had "evolved" over the last 20 years. I didn't know which version she should be. And since I was making her costume I thought I would mash up all the ideas and images of this character that were important to a little girl. One of the most important features I had to consider was her red hair.
I didn't want to buy a wig, so when my neighbor suggested I try working with red yarn, all sorts of light bulbs went off in my head. I went with the longer hair modern version of Strawberry Shortcake, mainly because I knew my daughter would love the idea of flipping her faux hair.
Two hours, $1.00 of red yarn and a stretch headband later I came up with this... and my daughter loves it! I kinda thought it looked weird but it does the trick. And with the pink hat (also made myself with fleece fabric- very easy) I think it could work.  She tried it on and kept it on the rest of the night.
 Thanks to KiwiJane for the awesome suggestion!

Do It Yourself

Need : One Stretch Headband and Yarn (Have Fun Make it in Different Colors)

I cut 10 pieces of yarn at 10 inches - for the bangs I cut once I saw how short I would need them on my daughter
Layer the pieces to make it fuller
I placed the first layer of five pieces on a small section -about 2" across- and then second on top
Run through sewing machine (I used zigzag stitch)
Repeat these steps until you have sewn yarn all around the headband
Cut as desired

Enjoy!