Sneak peek while I wait for a haircut!

My ocean skirt. I'm almost done with the coral. Then just little bits
and beads and I'm all done!

Elderberries!

More pics to come, but here's the pot, as I boil the berries down to
make juise to make jelly!

My cookie press!

We got it as a wedding gift 4 years ago, and I never got to use it,
but it got unearthed yesterday, so d and I made cookies tonight!
Not only are they pretty, and delicious, but D did a really good job
helping me make them. (the best part was his asking me to just skip
the sheet and the oven and to press the cookie dough right into his
hand!)

AT LAST!

I dunno if anyone is holding their breath out there in blogworld, but here's the tute I made on how to make a skirt from a pair of men's trousers...

This skirt is inspired by this page in Blueprints of Fashion. There aren't any directions in the book (because it's just photos of the pattern envelopes), but the idea is just to take a pair of mens suit pants, turn them upside down, and make a skirt out of the fabric. One could do a suit coat too, as shown, but a) I'm a stay at home mom with no need for suit coats, and b) suit coats require patterns, not improvisation . I suppose one could just use a store-bought pattern to make this skirt, but I've been loving my A-line skirts from Sew What? Skirts lately, so I just improvised....


I put the instructions ON the photos (mostly because I just made a bag using a pattern that did NOT explain which picture went with which direction, so it a frustrating game of matching).
Here goes:
I started with really large mens trousers. I wanted fullness around the pant hips (so the bottom of my skirt would flare) and narrow-ish ankles (but not so small that they wouldn't fit my post-baby waist). To make sure pants work for you, read all the directions here, and make sure the proposed pants have measurements the right size or bigger. (ie, super skinny girls need skinny pants, larger girls need larger pants)



Do both legs the same way... i only show one, but do both. These directions make a 6-gored skirt with a side zipper, where the front and back pieces are cut identically (but the zipper belongs on the left, and you put the pockets on the front).

(I guess the picture here of the front/back should have tipped me off that the skirt wasn't going to fit properly without taking in the waist. your pieces should be trapezoidal, not rectangular.)


I know jeans-into-skirts are really popular, but I don't love that weird flat front crossover thing that happens when people rip open jeans and turn them into skirts... that's why I like this whole upside down thing... plus the goring... flattering and EASY!





Somehow this gray wool one (my first attempt) came out better... I think I just measured and tried it on more often as I went along, instead of finishing the whole thing, waiting for the big reveal, and then having it be so big it literally slid all the way down and off when I stood up.

PLEASE let me know if you have any questions or need clarification on anything!!!

Bookmaking!

I made this mini-book!

D wants to put pics all through the inside,
but Gram suggested that I put a ribbon on it and hang it on my xmas tree!

this is the kit I used, by http://booksbyhand.com, bought at http://theurbancraftcenter.com

and I just made some cornstarch glue so that I can make more books (and bigger books!)
(recipe for cornstarch glue:
1 part cornstarch to 6 parts BOILING hot water. Mix and cool in the fridge.
BOILING hot is incredibly important, otherwise you get goo, not glue)

A is for Apron!

I mentioned the book previously, so here's my go at an apron!

I made all the bias (like 10 yards of it!) with my handi-dandy new simply-ez bias ruler and a bias maker
I also didn't have a pattern, per se...
Just a small scale picture of the layout, which I didn't have the patience to enlarge.

I'm still in love with the 30's/40's, so obviously I needed a reproduction apron to wear in the kitchen!

I made this one too, in an alphabet print, with more homemade bias and trim...

I think this one is for my MIL for X-mas, so don't tell her about it!

fixed it!

So this was the skirt, unshaped.
Somehow I made this rectangle shaped skirt, which would fit: nobody

so I reshaped it, and here it is
(very dirty and wrinkled after a day with the kids... banana, pasta, mud, etc)


Tutorial up next!

Homemade babylegs

I made these legwarmers for her, out of hand dyed, hand spun, 100%
cotton. Since they don't have spandex or elastic, and they're out of a
chunky yarn, they had to be very shaped, but they knit up fast. I'll
make another pair and pay attention so I can write out the pattern and
post it. I think I'll do them as a magic loop pattern, cause it's so
cool.

skirt-from-pants up for grabs

I just made a really cute skirt from a pair of men's pants. 50% cotton, 50% rayon, olive-y brown, basically a soft dark khaki. Homemade 30's style cotton bias waistband, patch pockets made from the cuffs of the pants.

I forgot to try it on before making the waist. Is anyone out there a 40" waist, 44" hip (I'm guessing that's a size 12-14ish?) if so, the skirt's yours! (I really don't want to resize the whole thing, easier just to start over, but this baby needs a home). First responder who's the right size gets it! (I also posted this as my facebook status, so it's the first responder on either my blog or my wall)

bad pose, cute clothes

Note to self, put some thought into the pose, and dont just ask husband to snap a quick shot as he's rushing off to work...
oh well...
here's the top i've been working on (i added the pleated strip at the bottom to make it longer)

and, inspired by some of the skirts in the Alabama Stitch book, i turned an XL mens shirt into a skirt with an elastic waist...
my faborite part is the chest pocket turned hip pocket... it was placed perfectly! all i had to do to this was shape the sides a little and add a place for the elastic, easy peasy and oh so comfy and cool for these hot summer days at the playground!