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Nov 04 2011
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link round-up, projects, sewing

Halloween Recap

I’d been so busy planning a Halloween party that I had no time to write about it!

Blood Spattered Halloween Invites

I invited four couples over, and everyone RSVP’d yes minus one husband who was buried in Physics homework. I had a lot of fun pulling together a bunch of different tutorials to decorate for the party.

Clothspin Bats on curtains and lamps.

I did the Clothespin Bats from Martha Stewart, the Bloody Invitation from HGTV, and Bat Straw Name Tags from Scrapbooks Etc., though I modified it and did it tied around the wine glass stems so that people would know which glass was theirs.

Wine glasses with bat nametags.

I also did a Henna Pumpkin from Think Crafts Blog, but I didn’t get a photo of it, and I wasn’t too thrilled with my work, even though it was really easy to do.

For costumes, the Mister bought a Robin Hood costume (minus the tights), and I made myself a regency dress to be Elisabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I used Simplicity 4055, with View A, except no overskirt.

It came together really easy. It took me probable about 8 hours total between cutting out pieces on a Friday, Sewing about 5-6 hours on Saturday, and all of the hand sewing and finishing that I did on my downtime in the week leading up to Halloween.

Liz and Lisa dressed up for the Halloween party at work.

Liz and Lisa dressed up for the Halloween party at work.

Project Notes:

  • I lengthened the pattern by 7 inches because I’m ridiculously tall, and ended up turning up the hem 2.5 inches.
  • I cut out a size 16, and used size 18 for the sleeves because I am not a fan of tight sleeves.
  • I left off the overlay dress for view A, lined the top, but didn’t line the skirt.
  • I really should have paid attention to the notes on PatternReview because the top really could have used lenghthining. The bust line hit just under the swell of my girls, and the bust seam would creep up while I was sitting so I spent a lot of time at the party and at work on Halloween making sure that it was pulled down.
  • I finished off the costume with a long strand of pearls and long white gloves.
P.S.: Standing next to me is my co-worker and friend Liz. She made that costume all by her self after I sent her a picture of a pregnant skeleton. She cut-out a freezer paper stencil by hand (no printouts) and painted it onto her shirt and leggings. I think she might be craftier than me!
Apr 25 2010
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link round-up

[Adjective] Sunday

I seem to be on a sewing kick these past few weeks. The only knitting I’m allowed (or that I want to do) is Icarus, so that I can get it done in time for a friend’s May 1 wedding. That means that all other crafting is of the fabric variety.

My mom still likes to get us Easter clothes, but I convinced her this year that I would much rather have fabric to make a skirt or dress. So, I walked out of the store with fabric enough for two skirts or dresses (they take the same amount of yardage) and a new pair of Fiskars dressmaker scissors. I’m pretty excited.

  • Over at Casey’s Elegant Musings, there’s a really great post about how to get perfect patch pockets. Which is so very helpful to me, because I can never seem to get mine looking crisp and perfect. This technique will really help next time.
  • Having a travel document holder last time we went on vacation probably would have helped me not freak out about 10 times about where my passport and money had got off to. Luckily, there’s a tutorial over at Thimble for how to make one. Will have to make one before my next trip.
  • From my very own google search: How to sew a blind hem by hand, over at Craftzine. The by-hand part is important, because without it, you get results that require a sewing machine (which I have) and a special foot (which I do not). Very helpful when hemming up my A Plus A Line skirt last week.

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Apr 04 2010
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link round-up

[Adjective] Sunday

Oh hi! Happy Easter! I totally remembered that I was supposed to share awesome stuff on Sunday!

This week we’re traveling, celebrating Easter + the mister’s birthday together. I like it because I’ll still get my very own Easter basket from his mom (my mom say’s we’re too old for them, but we still get a spring “outfit,” this year it was new gym shoes for me).

Anyways, I found some awesome stuff this week, and not all to do with Easter!

  • I don’t particularly like to eat Peeps, but they do make adorable decoration, especially when reproduced in felt for as bunting, via Dana-Made-It.
  • I love fabric, it’s true, and over at True Up, Kim has an interview with Jessica Levitt on her new fabric line, which I can’t stop thinking about. Also, leave a comment over there and be entered in to win a fat quarter pack of the fabrics talked about.
  • Have I mentioned my love of robots? Over at Stitch-Craft, Holly made a memory game with a robot dingbat font, cardstock, and fabric. I would love just the adorable bag she made to store the game.
  • Even though I don’t have my own dining table (still living at home, sigh), I adored this post by David Lebovitz on the French usage of cloth napkins. And of course am inspired to do something similar at my own table.

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Mar 28 2010
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link round-up

[Adjective] Sunday

I apparently suck at a “weekly” feature—I’m working on it! Last weekend was a last-minute trip to Redding to visit the mister’s family and help with the massive spring-cleaning effort out at his great-aunts. I’m sure our time is coming; the back yard here is calling out for help.

The last two days have been spent preparing for, and then executing a full-reboot of my computer. The mister had bought a copy of Snow Leopard about a month ago, and it took that long for me to muster up enough nerve to do a full back up, a Time Machine backup, and then hit the switch and delete everything to start over fresh with a OS upgrade.

Everything is running great, pulling out the libraries I needed for particular apps has been a breeze (like all of my half-written blog posts in Ecto, and my Delicious Library). I particularly think it was easy because the mister works for Apple in tech support, and thus actually supervised the whole deal.

Anyway. So this week is a bit short; I guess I didn’t see too much that floated my boat to the point that I wanted to share it with every one. Not sure if that is a product of the week, or just me personally. Or maybe my internets. It’s been horridly slow this week, so less web surfing was done.

  • Am seriously loving the pants over on Green Apples. I’ve never been a fan of the high-waisted look, but these pants look amazing. Next time I find Vogue patterns on sale for 99¢, I’m going to have to pick up this one.
  • There are can cozies, and then there are can cozies. You know you want your beers to be kept cold in a Star Trek uniform. Found at Knit Faster.
  • Check out these awesome egg crafts by Benita over at Chez Larsson. Each one starts with a blown egg shell cut into shape with a dremel tool, and she shows you not only the finished object, but how she put each one together, with a little story to boot!
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Mar 14 2010
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link round-up

[Adjective] Sunday

In a hopefully new and recurring feature around here, I’ve rounded up some ideas—be they craft related, or just plain interesting— that tickled my fancy and inspired a round of adjectives to describe them. This weeks happens to be light because I didn’t have a lot of free time this week between food prep and video prep for my grandma’s birthday.

  • Tiffany whipped up some pajama bags for her boys, and then some: “Along with the pajamas, I slip a book or two in there each night and the kids get so excited to see what I’ve selected for them.”
  • I love gnomes, and over at mama*made, Gracie Mae made an adorable one for Easter, along with sharing her source for wool felt (for which I am always on the lookout for.).
  • Knitty’s loss is our gain: Knits & Wovens has released Precipitous, a new  pattern for “removable sleeves. Don’t take up too much room in the bag, pull out when needed.” The best part? It’s in worksheet form, so you can plug in the numbers from your favorite yarn/needle combo and come up with something awesome. Totally worth the low, low price of $3!
  • I love magnetic bookmarks, and …is five shares an awesome tutorial on how to make them yourself. Don’t be surprised if you see these pop up here sometime in the future!
  • And finally, found just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Vickie Howell has a tutorial up for a quick knitted shamrock, perfect for making into a lapel pin, or anything else you might want to attach it to.
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