Lace and jersey top

I haven't made a shirt in forever. And I've been having a hankering for making a top with lace inserts in it just because it's been a terribly hot and humid summer already. I finally did it. I went on my semi-annual trip to Wal-Mart yesterday for the sole purpose of getting some cheap lace. Let me tell you it was cheap alright! It served it's experimental purpose, but I shall never again buy any from there. So I find a remnant of lace and immediately start working on it when I get home. I have to start working on it because if I don't then I'll get frustrated from looking at such little fabric and toss it.


I used a thrifted jersey fitted sheet, lace, and vintage bias binding. It was so simple to create once I figured out the shape I wanted. It's also pretty comfortable outside of that fiberglass lace. Lol! Actually the lace isn't that totally bothersome. I will make this again, but I must order a better made lace.

DIY jewelry display

Let me just say this is one of the most functional things I've made in quite some time.
My vintage earring and stud collection is somehow multiplying exponentially. And I totally needed a new spot to house them because my tree earring holder is only meant for hanging earrings and my bird ring holder can only hold a couple of pairs of posts. So while at my fave thrift store yesterday, an idea hit me HARD. I picked up 3 similar vintage Japanese stoneware saucers and 3 vintage brass candleholders. I turned the candleholders upside and stacked the saucers on top of them and glued them all together and created a tiered jewelry stand.


I thought about painting the brass candlesticks and the plates but decided against. I think it looks uniform enough. Although the plates were all from different companies, they all have the same speckled cream color with light tan border and all have a very similar shape; and the top two candleholders have similar shape, color and can be unscrewed. So I'm content!
Speaking of them being unscrewed: that's part of the functionality!

It can be used as a two tier holder with a ring holder on the side.

Or it can be used as three seperate displays altogether. And the wonderful thing about the candlholders is that either candleholder can be screwed into either base and still work fine.
This was a much needed, much awaited project that took no time to make.
Oh yeah, I added this touch:

The base is a candle holder as well. It has feet on it that gives it a little height.

I can't wait to make some more rings and earrings now!!

Leather jewelry

So I have been working on things despite this absence. I've actually grown quite fond of leather a bit. I have this really eclectic style about me, but it works. I enjoy bold things as well as minimalist things as well, BUT if I had a choice it would be bold.
Anyway on with the projects!

My favorite jewelry is earrings. The bigger the better, I say. After googling leather earrings for hours and coming up with nothing, I finally decided to just come up with an idea of my own.


They are super big but lightweight. They measure about 3x3 not including the chain, and I grommeted a piece of alligator vinyl on top of the leather. Super soft! I've gotten tons of comments on them.

From the same piece of leather I also created a ring. Totally freehanded the circle (surprised that its even round!) I also put a brown eyelet in it. The diameter is about 2 inches across.



I took some super smooth turquoise leather and made bow earrings and a ring. The ring has a mustard piece of leather with a grommeted vintage sheet flower on top. Nice off-kiltered layered look.



Lastly I've been wanting to make a leather clutch. And I finally got a piece big enough to make one. It's actually sort of small but still big enough for essentials. It's made from soft aqua leather with a turquoise bird on the front and a vintage button closure on the back. I adore it. Can't wait to find more cool leather!!

Strawberry Pickin'

...which is something we didn't get to do unfortunately. Who know it was too hot for strawberries to be harvested? Let's backtrack. Yesterday my whole family planned to get up early this morning and pick strawberries. I was really excited because my little brother rarely agrees to do anything my mom and I think is amazing to do. So my stepdad, mom, niece, brother, my daughter, and myself all headed to the country to find the gate locked and noone at the farm. I was bummed. I had my tastes set on sweet succulent strawberries. We ended up calling the owners and found out that they are only open from April to early May. :( Fortunately right around the corner there was another farm but no strawberries. They had peas and squash. Not exactly my idea of fun, but it was ok.



My niece


My daughter

After all of that "fun," we went blueberry picking! OMG they had the best blueberries I've ever encountered. I've never picked blueberries as big and sweet as those. I eve n found some blackberries. Albeit the blackberries were a tad on the small side, but the sweetness of them was unmatched.

My bro joining in


Mmmmm... even the unripened ones look good!!


My mama working away before we leave

And since we never did get any strawberries out of the deal, I decided to come home and make a little something:

...a strawberry skirt for Little Missie. She likes the longer length skirts now. I had two strawberry fabrics in my stash and decided to whip a skirt up. The green fabric I actually used to make her a skirt a couple of years ago and thought it was time for another.
I'm especially fond of the waistband.

It keeps the elastic from rolling and gives it a nice touch to me.

Gathered Belt Tutorial

This is my first tute, guys, so bear with me on this. If I say anything that doesn't make an ounce of sense, please feel free to contact me. With that being said, shall we commence?




I love belts. Particularly wide stretchy ones. I wear them with skirts, tunics, cardigans; you get the idea, right? Well since it's very difficult for me to find a nice coral belt along those guidelines, why not create one? So I did and I love it. Here's what you need:

(just kidding about the mug!!)

MATERIALS:
-Elastic, any width. I used 1.25"
-Long strip of fabric. You'll need twice the length of your elastic measurement. I used a vintage sheet.
-Snap fasteners, I don't recommend sew-on


MEASUREMENTS:
-Measure your natural waist or where you'd like for the belt to rest. Subtract 3 from this number. Cut your elastic this length.

-Take the width of your elastic and multiply it by 2 and add 1 inch. I had 1.25", so 1.25*2=2.5+1=3.5. This will be the width of your belt fabric.
Take the length of your elastic, multiply it by 2, and add 1 inch. This is your belt fabric length. Cut your fabric to these measurements.

-You will also need 2 pieces of your belt fabric the same width that you cut your fabric and 3" long.



Now that we've gotten all that tedious stuff out of the way, let's get crackin'!

MAKING GATHERED BELT:

Take your fabric strip and fold it right sides together. Sew a quarter inch, leaving both ends unsewn.

Now turn your tube right sides out. This may take a moment to do. If you have a loop turner or safety pin, you can speed up the process a bit.

Once that is done. Iron your strip flat.

Put a safety pin on the end of your elastic like so. And feed it through one end of your tube. Keep feeding it until the other end of you elastic reaches the bottom end of your belt tube. Once it does, attach a safety pin through the fabric and elastic so that your elastic won't get lost.

And continue feeding the other end of elastic through the open end of the tube. When you're done attach a safety pin to that end just like you did the bottom end.

It's starting to look like a belt! Now grab both ends of belt and stretch it a few times to adjust the gathers.

Take out the safety pin on one side, making sure you hold the ends so you don't lose the elastic, pin, and sew a quarter inch seam over the opening. Do the same to the other end.
Set aside.



ATTACHING BELT ENDS:

This part is a tad difficult to explain. I'm going to demonstrate on one piece of fabric and leave the other in tact, so you can compare the measurements.

Take your 2 fabric scraps that are the same width of your belt and 3" long and iron them flat with right sides facing down.

Fold in a quarter of an inch on both 3" sides. Iron down.

Fold the width of your fabric in half and iron a crease in it. Then open it back out.

Take your edges and fold them to the crease you just created. Iron them.

Take the sides that were originally 3" and fold them together and iron.

Repeat with other fabric.

Pin ends to your belt piece.

Sew 1/8" seam on the belt.

Sew the other three sides 1/8" or 1/4" seam. Repeat on other side.

Mark points on the back of your belt edges for placement of snaps. I used 2, but you can accommodate the width of your belt.

Attach your snaps according to package directions.

Wear and enjoy!
I hope this all makes sense! Happy sewing!!

New vinyl clutch order

I just wanted to share with you the bag I made this weekend for one of the young ladies I volunteer with. It has been quite some hardship with this purse, but several swears, a few broken needles, and one nearly broken even-feed foot (which barely held up to its name) later I finally got it done. It's far from perfect, but it has all the elements I was trying to incorporate so I am happy. I hope my customer will be as well. I definitely have to change up some techniques on these bags.



But I'm overall pleased. I got a lot of stuff done this weekend, which doesn't generally happen. I'm glad about being more productive. It feels good. I also digitized this little piece:

I think it's hilarious, especially the moustache!

And I made a quick curtain.

It's from a vintage sheet I got from an estate sale. It has trees on it.