My Take On Tanks

I made embellished some new tanks for myself this weekend.  I have a hard time finding tanks that I like. I am kind of picky, not the designer/brand name kind of picky, but the neurotic OCD kind of picky  It seems like the only tanks I find are either the skin tight, back fat showing ones or the poufy grandma Garanimals.  

So what is my solution?  Men's Fruit Of The Loom Wife Beaters and a little bit of fancy-in' up. 

. I must say I am quite  surprised at the positive feedback I am receiving.  I have had several friends say they thought they were really cute, but I just chalked that up to friends being nice. In the last few days, I have received several inquires about purchasing them, and three different girl friends said I should make and sell them.  

These are super easy to make if you have the supplies on hand, in fact, I think maybe I will show you all how to make your own.  Maybe this will be my first published sewing tutorial, actually it could be non-sewing tutorial, you can actually make these without sewing a stitch. 

I'll get back to you on that. 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Back to Basics and Eco Fashion

I ran across this site some how, not sure how I ended up here but it is a very interesting series of articles on the fashion industry. It kind of reflects my philosophy of getting back to basics. We need to start over here in the US and I believe this kind of speaks to that.

I related to part four of the five part series the most.

I found it all interesting although I enjoyed part four the most as it addressed the DIY and new sewing movements.

Take a look I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Working?

Attempting to stockpile some inventory for my pitiful Etsy shop.










I am really trying to treat it as a job and not let daily interruptions distract me. Wish me luck, I will certainly need it.


Hope everyone is getting their Christmas chores accomplished.

Fat Quarter Bag

How to cut a fat quarter.

Fat quarter is the term given to a quarter of a yard of fabric that is cut as half of half a yard, to produce a "fatter" more square block of fabric rather than cutting the full width of fabric from the bolt. Dimensions are usually around 18" x 22" rather than 9" x 44". Many prefer this fat quarter cut, as the squarer piece of fabric provides more options for its use.

I designed a pattern over the weekend to make a handbag out of a fat quarter cut of fabric. Only the exterior body of the bag is made out of the fat quarter, you would need a contrasting fabric for the lining and strap. I can't wait to try it out with some of my Spoonflower fabric. Custom designs, OOAK (one of a kind), scanned art, endless possibilities.

This is just a prototype. It needs a little tweaking. Don't pay attention to the wonky fabric, it was just something from my scrap stash.

Now I just need to figure out how to convert my instructions to a PDF file. I would like to start offering PDF pattern sales in my Etsy shop.

Sewing Some Test Products

I got all creative this weekend.

I pulled out my stash and went to town. I am doing some R & D for my Etsy shop.

I am trying to figure out time, cost, return etc. on a few new items.

I have a few more things that aren't quite complete or that I have not photographed yet because the light is bad (cloudy).I will share them when I have some good shots.

Maybe we can vote on some faves and have a giveaway. Stay tuned. I will keep you posted.

Ta Ta for now.

Dress Form For Sucess

Wire dress form on Ebay.
Now that school is back in session I am surrounded by creativity daily. It's time to get busy and back to work. One of the things on my "business" to do list is to acquire a dress form or some kind of display for my creations.


My poor plastic "Emme" has to hang against the wall. She has served me well but I need something free standing.


Full size wire dress form from CoffeeHouseVintage.
This is super cute and within my budget.


This is on the "I won the lotto" wish list at Restoration Hardware.


This is also nice and affordable, listed on Ebay.

So there you are, a little dress form love from me to you.

UPDATE: Handmade Handbags

UPDATE TO PREVIOUS POST BELOW!

I can't help myself, I made a smaller version of the messenger bag below and I had to share with you. Here is the new one.



...taking a crack at something new...


...been makin' some handbags...


...messenger bags to be exact... or book bags...


...or just a nice size purse...

Any thoughts? Like? No? Ideas?

A Scrapy Valentine

Here is a really cute idea for using up fabric scraps AND making valentines-from the purl bee.





I suppose you could use scraps, but this line is really cute!








I Love Lucy fabric at Fabric.com

HAVE A HAPPY WEEKEND!!

Sew Do Something!

Mend that damaged sweater, patch those jeans that met with the sidewalk when the skateboard went flying.

A great article from craftstylish. A quick sewing lesson on mending, darning and patching. Sewing lessons...

I will be doing some sewing this weekend.

What will you be doing this weekend? Will you preserve or create something?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!