Since I have been so happy with my summer rose dress I took the plunge recently and found a new to me vintage dress pattern in my size! I’m so excited to test it out!
This is Advance pattern 8213 which has all of the pieces with 1 teeny tiny tear which was taped when it was first purchased. All in all a great design to wear this summer. Now to hit the fabric shop!
Filed under Crafts, Life in General., Sewing
I have been taken in with the recent success of sewing for myself again! So now that the bug is back I have picked up my trusty copy of McCall’s Complete Book of Dressmaking published in 1951.
This book reviews not only technique but also how to chose a pattern which works best with your body shape and how to adjust a pattern for your sizing.
It also has fun adorable little notes and reminders such as to take it slow and keep a neat sewing box! Gosh I love these old books!
I was super thrilled that today was warm enough to wear the dress I just completed yesterday! Hooray for a warm spring happening!
Here is a quick shot I begged a coworker to take this morning of me in my new dress!
The pattern makes the skirt about mid calf length which for me is a bit too long for my short legs, so I did remove 5 inches from the bottom.
Overall I loved how easy it was to adapt for using a knit fabric and skipping the zipper so I do see quite a few of these dresses in my future.
And I think it pairs pretty well with a cardigan for those cooler mornings.
Since the new year I have been absolutely swamped at work… Sewing til there have been holes in my fingers! But I finally got a little break and was able to do some sewing for myself!
I have been hoarding this pattern for a few years and finally found the fabric I wanted to use for it this past month while out shopping for Spamalot! With summer coming up, a fun floral seemed perfect!
The dress went together well even though I threw the directions out the window! Now I need a day warm enough and sunny to take a pic and show you!
Filed under Crafts, Life in General., Sewing
As 2012 comes to a close I had decided many things…
1. I have loved doing my 365 with Chai, my T42 blythe doll. I will do another one with Perique my Rosie Red blythe I adopted in January.
2. Life is stressful. Work is stressful. But you can’t let those things take over. And so that I do not lose sight of the good stuff I am making a gratitude journal. A place where I will write down 1 thing per day which put a smile on my face or made me feel special.
Filed under Crafts, Life in General.
So a dear friend of mine recently saw some of the cards I put together for my staff for Halloween, and asked me for a tutorial. They may look super pretty or fancy, but trust me dear friends, if you made it through kindergarten, you can do this.
First I always suggest you gather your supplies. Today I have: 1 sheet of scrapbook paper, black and white stripes, scissors, white glue, a spare 5×7 envelope, paint swatch cards, pencil, rubber stamp, black stamp pad, and scrapbook chips, and borders.
I start by folding the scrapbook paper in half and then placing the envelope on top to size how big I want to make the card. See how the bottoms do not line up. This ensure that when I mark the top of the card, there will be room for it to slide in the envelope easily.
Draw a straight line across the top of the envelope in pencil to cut the top of the card. That way you can also erase a little if you aren’t the best at cutting on the line.
After you have cut the card to the desired height to fit in the envelope, double check that it slides in easily. As you can see here, my card is still too wide to fit the envelope I have chosen. So I will mark the side line of the envelope and cut that as well.
Yay! Now my card fits! And the top of the envelope will close easily. I have made it just a tiny bit more narrow than the envelope so that after I glue the decorations on top it will still close easily.
So because this is halloween inspired I need a little orange… Here I have chosen a nice orange slice paint swatch to put in the center of my card. You can also use a different scrap book paper or even construction paper.
Using the top of another paint swatch I drew a line to cut off the top of the swatch which said the color name. Because let’s be honest, who really needs to know that this is a paint swatch you picked up at the store for free.
Cut that bit off the top and using the white school glue, smack it down. I got lucky with using paper with lines on it and was able to just line it up, but you may want to use a ruler.
Now here is the fun part, LAYOUT! As I have already made 10 cards for my staff, I am running low on the fun little chips I picked up for Halloween at the craft store. But I do have this awesome skully stamp! Test out a few positions for each item and decide what you like best.
These chips are double sided. One side with a little glitter and one side is flat. So using just a little glue we are gonna place this on the card. Here you can see I really do mean just a little glue. The nice thing about scrap book papers is that most of them are a little thicker and can handle the glue with out warping.
Now all of my chips are glued down and it is time to double check the placement of my stamp.
Test out your stamp on regular paper first to see how it looks and to make sure you know how much pressure to use on it. The less pressure, the lighter the color of the stamp.
Place the card on a firm surface, and stamp it! You now are complete! And have a fun little card that looks like you put some real work into it and is different than anything you can find in a shop.
I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial and have fun making a few cards for Halloween! Thank you!!
Filed under Crafts
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