Burda 02/2013 #135 Polka Dot Top

Hello Again.  Just trying to post my backlog of projects.  Can you tell?  It's Xmas in this photo.   Hey, do you like our first Christmas tree? The Boyfriend and I went to a tree farm and chopped it down!  We decorated it with vintage ornaments we purchased at local flea markets, ornaments from my childhood, and other ornaments my mom generously gave up because she has hundreds.  Literally hundreds of ornaments.

 Anyhoo, My boss bought me a gift card for Liberty of London fabric for Christmas in 2012 and I've been searching for a perfect pattern for the print I chose.  It needed to be simple, because the print is very busy and it's repetitive.  Instead of choosing a typical, tiny floral print, I ended up choosing a print that is a large, repeating scallop.  I essentially have to treat it as a stripe.  Ugg, why am I so attracted to stripes.  Such a pain in my ass!

I used Burda 02/2013 #135 for my first test garment because it is simple and I thought it looked cute in the magazine.

I'm not too impressed with how the top turned out.    I used a super cheap ($1/yd) cotton fabric I bought at the swapmeet years ago.  I think it's one of the first fabrics I purchased there.  Once I got the top mostly made, I realized the neckline was really bad.   I  chopped the neckline down to fit these crazy lace collars I bought at the swapmeet for probably 25 cents.  Yup, they were very cheap.  I hand stitched them on, and even though it took a long time,  I sort of enjoyed it.  Instead of stitching the binding like the Burda instructions stated, I sewed it right sides together and then flipped it entirely to the inside and topstitched 1/4" away from the neck edge.

In a different fabric, this may be cuter.  It's comfy, but it does wrinkle easily.  I don't wear it much, but it was fun to make.

My Pattern Review is here.

Fun Times with the Silhouette!

I mentioned a while back that The Boyfriend bought me the Silhouette for my birthday in 2013.  Here is one of the projects I made with it.

The first actual project I made with the machine was a silhouette portrait (how appropriate, no?) of the Boyfriend and Abraham Lincoln.  I was inspired by the portraits made at Disneyland.  If you didn't know, there are cast members in this one shop on Main Street who hand-cut your portrait in a matter of minutes.  It's novel, but not cheap.  One of the examples on the wall of the store is of Abe.  We were initially going to pay for a portrait with The Boyfriend and Lincoln, but I though it would be more challenging and fun to do it myself.  I know, it's weird, but that's how I roll.

 I used my mad photoshop skills to turn the Boyfriend's profile image into a black silhouette.  I combined that image with a rad clipart file of Honest Abe.  Working in the Silhouette software is not easy.  I'm so used to Photoshop and Illustrator that the software doesn't make sense to me.  And there aren't great instructions out there.  So many tutorials, but a lot of work to watch and try to apply to my own projects.  I'm much more into designing my own things, than downloading from the Silhouette Store.   Here it is:

I surprised the Boyfriend with this on his birthday.  

Not wanting to waste paper, I also decided it would be cute to get a portrait of Pearl.  It was a bit of a challenge to get Pearl to sit still long enough to snap a photo of her from the side. 

 I snapped this picture with my iPhone in my left hand and a treat held up high in my right hand.  

She's such a sport....

(Both frames were found at an Antique Flea Market.  The Boyfriend's frame was $2 and the bow frame was only $1!!!)

Nifty Flea Market / Yard Sale Finds

Look at this cool sh*t!

I go the numerous antique flea markets / swapmeets a couple times a month.  Sometimes I find really cheap vintage patterns, awesome notions, and on rare occasions I get fabric.  Then there are those times you find really cool things.  Like these brass duck pattern weights!

Well, the original purpose was place holders on a dinner table, but they are super heavy and a great size to fit in the corners of pattern pieces.  I use these in combination with metal washers I bought at the hardware store.

The ducks are my new favorite...and if I ever have a big Duck Dynasty themed dinner party, I have the perfect addition to the table.


(The fabric was made into a blouse for myself.  To be blogged about later when I get around to taking photos.)

Baby Quilt for Jack!

Going to try to get back into blogging again.  I've made quite a few things since the last time I blogged, but haven't taken many pictures.  Made myself a couple of tops, a button down shirt for my dad, a quilt (see below), pillows for my house, blanket pants (super warm and fuzzy pjs) for the Boyfriend's brother-in-law, and most recently a sweatsuit for my baby nephew.  I think I realize that I don't blog if I get held up with photographing a project.  I made my mom a beautiful pencil skirt last year and I still don't have pictures of it.  I have a hard time moving on, if I don't "complete" a project.  You won't see many UFOs in this house.  I've had a crap project or 2 which I won't go into because they make me sad. I hate sewing projects that don't pan out.  I've also been focusing on more craft projects for the house, rather than sewing all the time.  I work with clothes on a daily basis at work and going home and doing the same is too much sometimes.  

Well enough of the excuses.  Here's the quilt!

My sister had her first baby in October.  For the shower in August (yes I made this so long ago!!!) I made a baby quilt.  I had so many ideas to choose from thanks to Pinterest, but I landed on this triangle quilt.  I'm pretty happy how it turned out.  The binding could have been better, but my sister seems to like it. 

I used Kona Cottons for all the solid colors, which I purchased at Fabric.com.  The mini triangle fabric was also purchased at Fabric.com.  I bought the grey chevron fabric at a local discount fabric store.  

The quilt took a few days to make.  The Boyfriend helped with some of the sewing :) and the placement of triangles.  

I also made a little matching pillow with extra triangles and bunting to hang in the baby room. 

I stole this picture from my sister's facebook page.  The quilt and pillow are on the chair.  

For size reference, here is the quilt occupied by Pearl.  If I put anything on the floor, Pearl jumps right on.

I'll try to jump back on the blogging band-wagon.  If I don't, please forgive me.  :)