99 Thanks

Once again the 99 Cent Store comes through in a pinch. If you live outside the serving area of the 99 Cent Store then you just don't know what you're missing; though My Mom, who lives in Virginia, swears by the Dollar Tree, which I've also visited and yeah it's good BUT at not everything is 99 cents.

 

When I picked up the two shirts for my ruffled shirt I also nabbed 2 red shirts with what I call a crinkly texture. Perfect for another t-shirt refashion following Tea Rose Home and her T-Shirt Makeover. The white peaking through was already part of the shirt so I opted to use white thread for the rosettes. I think it'll 'fray' up nicely with a good wash and then it'll really POP.

 

What do you guys think? Have you re-fashioned your own tees?

 

We're on Not Just a Housewife's Linky Party #29 and

Ruffled Shirt

I recently became a follower of Tea Rose Home and her nifty blog. Her tutorials are awesome and extremely affordable, dare I say cheap. I nabbed two t-shirts from the 99 Cent Store and threw this together following her popular ruffled shirt tutorial. Super easy and quite adorable. I took a little too much from the neckline but it was my first go so the cardigan is mandatory at this point but it was great to see a finished product. I paired with my fav multicolor cardigan and I was off to work.

The 99 doesn't disappoint... I also got some red tees that I'll experiment with later in this week :)


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birds of a feather

I think people appreciate gifts you make just a little more than something you buy. I know my Grandmother does. She taught me to sew many years ago so I think it tickles her that lately all my gifts to her all handmade. This year I decided to add some decoration to her Christmas tree and make her some little bird garlands that I saw on SMS's Christmas in July post. I followed the tutorial to a tee and even bought the exact color felt and buttons. It was just too cute to divert from. I wanted to make sure this was a task I could accomplish well so I made a few with some scrap felt just to see how they turned out. Not too shabby but Grandma's turned out slightly better, sadly I forgot to snap a pick before I packed them up.

a classic modern tote

Purses. Handbags. Totes. Clutches. I love bags! If I'm not buying a new purse just because then I'm scouring the web for fun tutorials to make my own bags. This classic tote tutorial from Sew Mama Sew was incredibly easy to follow. I ended up making a few as Christmas gifts but I made one for myself to carry all my goodies to/from work everyday. I picked up the fabric from of all places, an eBay store: Emerald City Fabrics. I stumbled upon them a few months ago. I like the array of fabric choices, especially those kitschy ones by Michael Miller.

 

Coffee Cozy

I tend to sew small on most occasions. Meaning I like smaller projects for the most part. I really like that start and finish to be within the same week or night even. So I tend to seek out projects that I can do quickly and possibly over and over to make gifts for friends and family. The coffee cozy was perfect. Sew4home has a great step-by-step for one that I tweaked for my beginner-ness. I made the Scrap It: Ruffled Hot Cup Jacket with some scrap fat quarters I had laying around and it turned out great for my needs. Most days it sits on my desk under my iPhone, its a great vibration mode muffler :-) But today my iced coffee was way too cold for me so I grabbed and used it. Success!

Yum. Cake... Diaper Cake

One of my very best friends just had twins and I insisted on throwing 1 of her 3 (yes 3) baby showers :) I felt like I was planning my wedding again it was so much fun. One thing I insisted on having was a diaper cake– and I actually debated on buying one. I was getting lazy midway through and Etsy had some awesome deals but I knew I could make them and it was just as easy as I thought.

Gardening... Indoors

Besides sewing I do love me some gardening. I don't let living in a apartment in blistering hot Los Angeles stop me either. I'll post pics of my balcony garden madness later.

 

Before the last frost hit I was hankering for some gardening time and thanks to Groupon I snagged a voucher for money off a class at a local crafting place. I don't know what else to call it... Hands on 3rd had all sorts of classes but I zero'd in on the Terrarium CRASH class and I walked away with something I made all by myself and the class fee included the glass.

 

 

 

 

Spring Cookies

It's never all about sewing. A girls' got to eat right. Besides the barrage of sewing/crafty blogs I read I'm also kinda obsessed with cookie decorating sites. What someone can do with royal icing is beyond me. bake at 350 has a easy-to-follow royal icing recipe that I used to make these cookies. It went okay. I may try it again come summer to make these treats: Pretty Pastel Popsicle Cookies tutorial courtesy of Sweet Sugar Belle . 

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Pillows

Pillows. Easy peasy as far as beginner sewing tutorials go so this ruffled lovely didn't take too long to finish.

I used Sew Mama Sew's basic pillow tutorial to get me started. Especially thankful for the awesome sizing table. I printed that sucker out and it hangs above my sewing table for quick reference.

Flower detail inspiration also from SMS and their Turned-Edge Appliqué Pinwheel Pillow except I used some scrap felt I had laying around.

 

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Zipper Envy

It seems that of late everything I want to make requires a zipper which is okay except for the fact that I don't have a drawer full of them in my tiny/minuscule crafting space so I have to end up heading to the store and buying one. This completely goes against my 'let's just sew something' tonight philosophy that sometimes hits me.
 
So... after reading and re-reading Sew Mama Sew's Guide to Zippers I finally bit the bullet and bought a bulk set from Zip It Zipper Supply. They're still in transit but I can't wait to have loads of zippers on hand. I got a (2) assortments: (25) 12" in bright colors and (10) 9" in neutral colors- huzzah!!!

Welcome!! "I say to myself..."

There are many reasons to start a blog these days but this one is just to keep a running 'log' of sorts of all the things I craft and end up giving away or forgetting I've made and as a thank you to all the blogs I read everyday and give me countless inspiration and fun tutorials I use constantly.
 
So here I gooooooooooooooo..... (that sounded funnier in my head then when I wrote it down)