It's the second week at Project Run and Play and voting is open! Go vote! It's boy week at this week, which is nice because I have a boy! I didn't have to round up models and hope the outfit fit for this one. I made a hipster look with skinny cords and a skinny square tie.The best part is that in the inside of the lapel sport coat (which I made a little big, but I know it will fit in a few months) is a secret car playmat. (Which is where the "suburban" part comes, driving in the suburbs!) So when you're all dressed up at a boring event or ...Continue Reading
bloom, baby, bloom: sketchbook to runway
Well, not really runway. More like run and play. I passed the first round of Project Run and Play! Thanks for voting, if you did. Whew. This week is boy's week! I actually have one of those! No rounding up models this round, which makes life easier! Voting starts tomorrow! I thought it would be fun to show you my original sketch of the bloom, baby, bloom dress. I plan on making a tutorial for you soon, but until then, check out my drawing board: My notes are sorta silly reading them now. I made a note to buy "sorta stiff and really stiff" ...Continue Reading
lace ruffles slip/skirt tutorial
After making this short dress fixer slip, I found myself wearing it all the time! It's great to pair it with short dresses or long tunics or even skirts with big slits. All of those outfits I used to wear with one hand pulling my skirt down, are now carefree and extra cute, too. So I made another one, this time with an old skirt and lace ruffles. It sorta looks like a petticoat and instantly makes short dresses longer! You can even wear it as a stand-alone skirt. Materials:an old a-line skirt, or make a basic gathered skirt with a little ...Continue Reading
project run + play: week 1
Week one of Project Run and Play is finally here! I've been working behind the scenes for a little while and I really hate keeping secrets, so I am glad to be able to share what I've been working on! click here to go vote at pr+r!The theme for the first week was a remix of the Junebug dress from Jess at craftiness is not optional. Here's what I made: bloom, baby, bloom My main goal for this challenge was to make the dress look very different from the junebug dress while keeping it's main feature: the cute buttons! So I changed the silhouette, ...Continue Reading
white elephant
I accidentally took almost a week off blogging, I've missed you! I hope you had a really nice holiday weekend. I have lots to tell you!Last week we went to a white elephant gift exchange party. I had the hardest time thinking up what to bring. But (thanks to my facebook buddies) I decided to make a white elephant! You guys are so clever! The white elephant got some laughs and is actually pretty cute, although quirky. I made him really fast, but just love his little ears. We also brought two boxes of preparation H wipes(wrapped super cute ...Continue Reading
stamped wrapping paper + day 8
Today, I'm guest posting at emily k, sharing our 8th day of Christmas. It's a new tradition we started this year, go check it out! ................... Last week I shared this project at Sumo's Sweet Stuff. But if you missed it, there is still time to stamp some gifts!My favorite part of the holidays is wrapping presents! With a whole lot of craft supplies on hand, sometimes I get a little carried away. Today I'm sharing a simple way to add a special touch to any gift: hand stamped wrapping paper! All you need is a solid color paper (I'm using ...Continue Reading
new wool skirt
During my houndstooth obsession of 2009, I purchased this houndstooth wool on etsy. It's so super thick and has been taking up so much space on my fabric shelf. I thought about getting rid of it the other day. But instead I had a sudden burst of inspiration and 20 minutes later it was this, a wool skirt. It's so warm! I found these houndstooth tights at Target. Wool skirts and tights are a favorite winter combo. So warm and cozy! I used my tutorial for making a gathered paper bag skirt, just with yardage instead of a sheet. And I didn't ...Continue Reading
one yard plaid scarf
I shared this on kojo designs a few weeks ago. I wanted to repost it before Christmas in case you need a really quick and easy last minute gift for a BOY! One of my favorite things about having guys in my life is dressing them up as much as they will let me. Guy clothes are really so fun! I converted my husband to scarves this fall. I wrapped one around his neck and he said "Woah, my neck is so warm!" ...Woah, amazing! He sure has been missing out. This tutorial is for a scarf with just 1 yard of fabric. It's really the easiest kind of ...Continue Reading
little green stars
Lifestyle Crafts is at it again with their new line for the new year: Countdown! They sent me their new drink dies and alphabet dies to try out. As you can see, I had some fun. The very first thing I did was cut out letters to spell "Happy New Year 2012" and strung them all on a string! It will be so cute hanging on the wall or Christmas tree maybe. Then I used the drink punches to cut out circles and stars. That's not really what they are for, they really make cute little wine glass charm things. But instead I used the little stars for ...Continue Reading
the little janie skirt
Isn't that the cutest name? It fits the skirt pretty well, too! And my model is a doll. In person: even cuter! I had a really fun time trying out this pattern from Hadley Grace Designs! I love it when sewing projects turn out to be so fun. I think it was the way it came together. It was simple enough, but the design and little details, like the top casing and ruffle trim made it really exciting to put together. I've reviewed another Hadley Grace pattern in this post: little boy vest. These patterns are alway simply worded with great photos! I ...Continue Reading
the short dress fixer slip
Oh my knees! Oh whew. Good thing I have that slip on. I have a few personal rules about what I will wear and what I won't wear. I only wear clothes I feel totally confident in, because who wants to wear their insecurities around all day? Not me! I typically wear skirts and dresses that go to my knees. I don't want to be doing this all day: I mentioned on Monday that I washed this black dress and it shrunk in length! I also have lots of "dresses" that I wear with skinny jeans as "shirts." But sometimes I want to be able to wear those cute ...Continue Reading
