University Custom Bear and Taggie

You see, I tell myself I'm not going to make any more bears because I haven't sold any, and then I make this little guy by request and he just makes me want to sew a troupe! He's so soft and cozy. *sigh* Why does Massachusetts have to have that stupid $300 licensing fee?! 

Here's the taggie that goes along with him. It is for a Baylor University family. I love how this one turned out. Of course, I usually do. :)

I have done minimal sewing lately, but my classes are over and this little guy got me in the spirit. He's been in the works since Thanksgiving, but thanks to little kitty's cystotomy surgery to remove three kidney stones (they were even bigger than mine! Poor kitty!), it has been nuts around here. Things are finally settled down, so I may post once or twice more on here before school starts up again. Hope everything is going well out on the blogosphere. I'm reading, but I am not saying much. Mostly just browsing when I need a break from studying. 

Oh, and Happy Holidays everyone! We celebrate Christmas, and we'll be visiting my family this year in Washington State. No snow though...boo. :( Are any of you celebrating anything this year? Happy sewing! 

Fall Artifact Globe Tutorial - Reggio Emilia Inspired

I've been crazy busy since our vacation, so no new sewing projects. However, I wanted to share with you a project that I did with the little boy I nanny for. We have been exploring the neighborhood all year, and he is especially interested in all the little details of nature: seeds, leaves, sticks, berries. We've talked about the leaves changing with the seasons, how berries and seeds make it from the tree to the ground (my favorite was talking about how birds eat the berries and plant trees through their..well, you know. :), and all kinds of separate discussions. To extend this exploration, now that the weather is getting colder, and to make this accessible to the 11 month old (while eliminating the choking hazard), I brought the idea of the wave bottles into play.

Instead of using the little bottles again, I found these plastic snow globes at Michael's for $3.49 a piece. I don't have to glue these shut, because there's no way the kids are going to be able to take out the giant plug (it was really hard for me!), so we can use these again and again. Today, we took a walk around the neighborhood and picked up some Fall Artifacts along the way, including leaves, sticks, seeds, dried berries, etc. I brought them home and made these beautiful Fall Artifact Globes in minutes! Here's how:

Take off the cap and plug.

Fill with your Fall Artifacts, sorted by color, type or size.

Replace the plug and cap, gluing if you are worried about supervision. These seal fairly tight, but it never hurts to be safe!

These are perfect for infant/toddler/preschool and beyond! Reggio Emilia inspired, bringing the natural world into the classroom (or home!) and really focusing on the beauty of the objects. I love these! I can't wait to see what the kiddos think. :)

I also forgot to share my last vacation dress with you! Here's the blue dress I made last minute.

Here I am at the Byodo-In Temple in my dandelion puff dress. I put some beautiful blue buttons as embellishment, and a faux train on the back, much like my tiered skirt had. I love how it turned out, but I don't have any photos of the back.

We had such an amazing time! :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

 

If You Like Piña Coladas...

My boyfriend and I are finally on our Hawaii vacation! Our friends get married tomorrow, but until then we are hanging around and enjoying the sights. I wore one of my new dresses today, one of two that I haven't shown on the blog yet because I made them in such a big hurry before the trip. I hope everyone is enjoying their three day weekend! Here are some pictures from our trip so far.

 My new sunny yellow dress for the trip. This is light, since I didn't line it, and has little flower details in the neckline trim and three buttons on the bodice.

Perfectly light for the hot day today!

I brought a bunch of my ribbon flowers, like this one, for the trip, but I also got some things at the shops. I couldn't help myself.

Have a great weekend everyone!

$10 Maxi Dress Refashion

I apologize for the pictures...these are all taken on my phone because we ran out of batteries for the big camera. Anyhoo, there's a dress I picked up at Marshall's for $10 a couple weeks ago. It is a size too small, especially in the bust, and I hate the length. But when I tried it on, I could see its potential.

It also had a hole in the seam...probably after sooooo many people tried it on. Well! I knew I could fix that one! I got an extra amount off the already low price and brought it home to refashion.

I wanted to shorten it, so I measured where I wanted it to fit and cut off the excess from the holey middle.

I pinned the two pieces together and serged. Go, Go, Gadget Serger! Yay! Still can't get over how awesome this thing is... :)

Next, I tackled the bust. It will still be a bit low (might put something along the neckline...still looking for lace), but removing the eeny weeny pads helped free up some fabric. I just unpicked the seam, took out the cup, and stitched it back together by hand.

I did the best I could to keep the pattern somewhat together, but the bottom half was wider, so I just sorta made due, and plan to sash or belt it to cover that up. No problem!

Much more flattering and now it fits perfectly! And no, no on-the-body pictures this time...let's keep this blog a little modest.

I've also been gearing up for fall. Bow making!

And decorating! This is the first year we have a house to decorate, rather than a hall in a building, so I put this little web up in our front window, a wreath on the door, some little yard signs that say BOO! EEK! (cute, I'll post pics another day) and a few little things inside. I love Christmas Tree Shops! All that stuff for $30!

Oh, and I had to share this bow. :) I made it to go with my outfit I wore  this weekend. I love the mix of color and pattern. What do you think?



Ikea Love! And The Three Brothers

Yes, I am referencing Harry Potter...more on that later. First, let me give you a look at what we scored at Ikea today (before I left my bag among some lamps and had a heart attack...thank goodness a staff member found it and took it to lost and found!)

Here's a lamp we found in the as-is section for just $10! That's a $30 savings. Woot! We took forever finding the $10 shade (wherein I left my purse as I walked off to find an outlet to try said-awesome-cheapo-lamp to make sure it worked). when we came home, my boyfriend had the BRILLIANT idea of putting fake flowers in it (actually, I thought of putting ribbon flowers in it first, but shh! Don't tell him that). 

We had these in the closet because they're kind of awkwardly shaped. A pair of wire cutters later we had a few beautiful sprigs to stuff up the glass lamps open bottom and voila! A beautiful piece of artwork. I think. :)

And it has a dimmer on it! Love!

I've been spending a lot of time in my sewing room this week. The family I nanny for went on vacation so I had time to have my doctor's appointments, grad school errands and crafting. Yay! I made a couple things, but I'll show those later in the week when I can take decent pictures. Anyhow, I cleaned the room (you couldn't see the floor!) and thought I'd show you a couple new things in the room.

I got this great little cube ottoman at Target on sale for $17, which I am going to use when studying...I can kick my feet up and store my books when I'm not using them.

(Sorry for the wonkiness, I wanted to hide a messy area) My embroidery station with a little inspiration...

Love John Lennon! I've had Dig A Pony stuck in my head for days.

I got these three vases at Ikea...the big one was $10, the medium one $2, and the small one for $3. I love how it holds all my messy spools and buttons in a beautiful way, and I can find things easily.

Here's the sewing corner! There's Jel's finished organizer (FINALLY!!) that I can send this week, along with the "Third Brother"...my new serger! Got it wicked cheap on Amazon and I am LOVING it! :)

I love you baby brother! Now I just need to learn how to use the other stitches. I love how professional and fast the projects turn out.

I also made some hair pieces. I picked up some fall colors. This one is a hair clip.

And this is obviously a headband. I'll be adding these to Etsy soon.

What are you crafting this week?



My Charlotte York Dress



This is by far my favorite dress I've made so far. I took inspiration from the character Charlotte York on Sex & the City...I've always loved her preppy, chic and modestly flattering style. There was a particular blue dress with a square neckline that I had in mind when making this dress, but I can't seem to find a picture of it online. Here are a few others that I like.

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I wore mine today with a cream cardigan, pearls and leather accessories.

The square neckline got skewed into a slight sweetheart due to the fit...I think I need to make my darts a bit bigger. Anyway, I love how this turned out! I feel so elegant in it. :)

Again, I did the elastic back...I am going to attempt a zipper soon. Eek!

I used a different kind of elastic for this one, and actually got a bit of a looser fit. Still lovely and easy.

Now if I could only afford some Manolos to go with it...hehehe.