cashmere : a challenge

I was digging through one of the piles of wool in my workspace this week when I found a bag with the remains of 3 cashmere sweaters in it.

I had previously used the arms from these sweaters to make socks and I decided that this week I'd use up the rest of them too.

I started with the cute argyle one.

I turned it into a little skirt for my daughter.  I lined it with a brown t-shirt, also from the supply pile, and gave it a little lettuce edge.

Cute and cashmere?  My model approves.

More cashmere to come...

star moss all stars

This weekend I gave my tired old pair of Chucks a makeover that's decidedly "me".

These shoes are nice and comfy, and still in good shape, but no longer come clean after washing.  With these grey winter days I've had enough of dingy white so I got out my acrylics and some fabric medium and got to work.

A bright green suits me fine.

At coffee break time I admired my green nails.  Nice.

To finish off my kicks, I added some star moss to the heels and just like that I had a new pair of shoes.  They're sure to be one of a kind, and already worn in, bonus.

I kind of love them.

How are you bringing some green into your day today?

the girl's new goldfinch

Early this week I took a little time to finish one of the unfinished pre-holiday projects on my workbench.  I had this pretty but shrunken wool sweater on hand and have been meaning to make it into something wearable for my daughter.

It was nearly the right size for her already so using a shirt that currently fits her as a guide, I just trimmed a bit off of both sides of the body and the arms and sewed it up.  I also cut some length from the sleeves, leaving them long enough to cuff.

Using the cut-off cuff from one arm, I made a pocket for the front.  I also decided that the pre-finished neck looked a little too "finished" so I cut it off and made a more organic neckline.  I also did an exaggerated running stitch around it and the pocket for the same reason.  I wanted this to look handmade and the previous machine stitches weren't cutting it.

The color of the sweater reminded me of the thistles that grow in front of our house, and reminded me of the joy we get from watching the goldfinches hanging from them, eating seeds in the fall.  I decided that would be my theme.

Using scraps of felted wool I stitched on some thistles and a goldfinch.  The girl got a big kick out of having a bird on her belly.

She got an even bigger kick out of momma filling her new pocket with birdseed so she could feed the birds.

Naturally, the chickens love this new pocket too.

Have a good day, everyone.  Extra points if you fill your pocket with birdseed and feed the birds today.

fit for a woodland princess

The holiday dress has been completed and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  You might remember that the dress started as this little gem I picked up at the thrift store:

Some tweaking later and this is what we have:

a dress that's perfect for my woodland princess.

I took off the lace, plastic pearls, and roses and added some wood buttons I made, a bit of embroidery, and the top...

...painted.

I stitched around the painted area and it looks like leather.  I doubt anyone would know it was painted unless I told them.  This was a situation of "use what you have".  I didn't trust my sewing skills to sew on a little bodice so I went with paint thinned with fabric medium.  Hey, it works.

I love it, and so does the girl.

Have a happy Saturday, everyone.

almost done with the dress

I'm almost done stitching up Nini's pattern for my daughter's holiday dress.  I'll be finishing it up today and I'm slightly amazed that I've managed to do it before Christmas Eve.  I'm feeling a little proud of myself, yes I am.

I still have several other projects to finish though, so I'm not getting too full of myself yet.

How about you?  Have you finished your holiday to-do list or are you a last-minute person too?

I used to laugh at my Grandma for wrapping presents on Christmas morning, but you know what?  I totally get it now.  Sorry, Gram.

I'll have some photos of the finished dress here tomorrow.  Right now I'd better get to work.

Have a good Friday everyone!

dress-making or dress-tweaking maybe

A new project landed in my lap yesterday. 

My daughter and I were in one of the thrift shops in town looking for her holiday dress.  When she saw this one she gasped and declared this dress her "faaaavorite" and hugged it.  As luck would have it, it fit her perfectly, and the overall shape is cute.  The velvet is bright red and the top is white with a little line of faux pearls at the neck.  With a little tweaking it will be super sweet (I'm hoping anyway).  I'll be working on this in the next few weeks and I'll be back to show you more later.  A hint at what I'll be doing though, involves one of Nini's embroidery patterns (and btw, aren't her patterns adorable?  You can have any one of them with your choice of donation on her site, so check it out).

Last year I re-fashioned her dress from a garage sale find and an antique lace collar.  This too was velvet.  The girl has a thing for velvet.

Now I'm thinking that I need to make her a black Elvis on velvet dress.  I'll save that project for another day though.  Thank ya, uh thank ya very much.

What's on your plate today?

Wool Sweater Re-Fashion (and forcing creativity)

Since I've been in a bit of creative slump lately, I challenged myself on Tuesday to make something of one of the wool sweaters in my sweater stash.  I really didn't know what I was going to make but left it out on the table so I could look at it each time I walked past.  Around lunch time I figured I'd better stop procrastinating and do something with it.  I decided it would become a little jacket for my daughter.  I removed the zipper, did a quick felting job in the washer, and did a quick cut and sew. 

Sweater before: (Avert your eyes from my wrinkly backdrop.  Avert I say!)

Sweater after:

Obviously I am no pro at this, but she really liked it.  She loves hoods and poppets (pockets) so this was just her kind of thing. 

The chickens seem to like it too.

This exercise hasn't exactly cured my slump, but it did get my hands moving in a new way.  What was probably most notable to me was how much I enjoyed photographing the completed project.  I was photographing it for fun and because of that it was fun.  I didn't have to stage anything like I would when trying to take shots for saleable work.  I've felt that my product photos have been lacking a certain luster lately.  Hmmm... work vs. fun...that might be part of it right there huh?  Perhaps. 

Tomorrow is Earth Day, is anyone planning fun things?
Nothing major here.  We'll be starting the rest of the tomato seeds and working on our easter eggs.  I'll be using turmeric again this year for some color but we have a different idea in mind this year that I'll share later.

Have a great day.

Velvet and Lace - a Quick Dress Re-Fashion

I purchased this little blue velvet dress at a garage sale this summer for my daughter to wear for the holidays.  I pulled it out of the closet yesterday and it seemed a little, well, ho-hum so I decided to tweak it a little.  I pulled out that handy bag of lace trim I got at the antique store (I'm telling you, the best $10 I've spent) and my needle and thread and got to work.

I trimmed the long sleeves up and made them into slightly poofy cap sleeves and decided on one of the lace collars in my bag o' trims.  The collar was discolored around the neck area which I tried to remove but my usual tricks (vinegar, fels naptha, borax) failed so I decided to go with it and dunked the entire in the rest of the morning's coffee to dye it.  I sewed the collar on, leaving a space in the back to make it easier for her to put her head through.  I'll add a decorative button there to finish it off.

And here we go!  I think it looks much sweeter now, and it was so easy! 

(much easier than getting E to sit still for a photo)

Another holiday project checked off!  Yay!