Infinity scoodie

A few months ago I had a nice break from classes, and decided to pursue a new craft project- an infinity scoodie.  I wanted to make my own pattern and after some trial and error, pulled it off!  A friend saw mine and asked for own of her own and it turned out so good.  Here are some pictures of the final result of what I made for her:

Nicole picked some colors that I wouldn't have chosen on my own, and they were so perfect!  After I started, I couldn't get over how much I loved them together.  The yarn I used is super soft and the whole piece is really comfortable to wear.

I added some details that weren't on my original, including a cord with tassels to tighten the hood and a satin liner to help give the hood shape and for more warmth.  

The scarf part is really long (it reaches the ground when hanging straight down and loops around 3-4 times.

I love this scoodie and am looking forward to making more.  If you are interested in one of your own, feel free to contact me, either through blogger or my Etsy store.  (There isn't much on my Etsy shop right now, but you can send me a message and we can consult on an item.)  Thanks!

Wedding Planning 1: Dress Inspiration

Since we got engaged 6 months ago, I've been looking for the perfect outfit for the big day.  I spent a lot of time searching through Pinterest, Etsy, and random Google inquiries, and found some really unique ideas to help inspire me!  

Here are some of my favorites:

This dress by Wai Ching stuns me every time I look at it.  There are photos submitted by brides with custom colors they chose for their dresses, and every single dress looks amazing!  I love the sheer areas and the color layers flowing out underneath.  If it was in my budget, I'd definitely go for this dress.

This embroidered dress by Aida Coronado on Etsy.  I like the simplicity of the design, with the pop of color on the bust.  This would be such a great (and comfortable) dress for an earthy bride.

And this handmade dress by Rai Alexander, also on Etsy.  It has stunning appliqué of a forest scene that reminds me of dressed-up patchwork festival dress.  I also like the detail of the bride and groom on the bottom of the skirt.

While I didn't pick any of these dresses for our wedding, I think I found something that captures my personality perfectly, fits my budget, and that I'll feel comfortable and beautiful wearing in May!  Can't wait to share more of my wedding ideas soon!

You can check out my ideas on my Pinterest wedding board, there are a bunch of ideas I've gone through in the process, including black and white, separate pieces, casual and fancy ideas, and accessories (part of what I'm wearing is posted too, can you guess what it is?)

Summer crafting: apron top

Summer has been super busy so far, between music festivals, outdoor activities, grad school, and work, but I've still managed to complete some projects that I'd been meaning to get to!  Here's something that I whipped up this weekend:

(Gin & tonic, the ideal summer beverage)

I bought some corduroy remnants at the craft store this past winter and knew I wanted to make some sort of patchwork project, but I waited until the right inspiration struck.  After five festivals so far this year, I decided a patchwork apron top would be best for this fabric.  I considered making a dress, but my wardrobe is definitely lacking cute tops to pair with shorts.

I made the top of the shirt a little longer, with one panel of black and pink right below it.  I pleated the bust, so it's more fitted than traditional apron tops, so it looks a little less "maternity" wardrobe.  I also top-stitched everything to give it a finished look.

I can't believe how well the fabrics all go together, and they were in the same remnant bin at the same time!  I figure someone else mixed those fabrics as well.  (I also love that remnants are generally 50% their current price, meaning if it's already on sale, I get a double discount!)

The back of the top is pretty open and revealing.  I wanted it to cover a little more, but really, who cares?  It laces up, so there's some detailing over my back.

I added an applique lotus on the front of the top.  I recently bought a different brand of fusible webbing than I'd usually used, and it's a little trickier to apply.  It stuck to the front of the appliques and looked bad, so I had to double up on the layers of my lotus.

I love how this project turned out!  It was just my second totally from scratch, no pattern, homemade clothing item, so I'm pretty proud of the results.  Summer may be almost over, but I'm sure I'll have a few opportunities to wear this before autumn starts to roll in!

Feather bottle earrings

Recently I  bought a bunch of little bottles at the craft store and have been trying to think of nifty ways to incorporate them into jewelry.  First, I made a little mushroom pendant.  Then I wrapped up two matching bottles for a set of earrings.  I wanted to add something small inside, so I searched bead stores and antique shops, but nothing was tiny enough. 

So, feathers!  I had a bunch in a bag, so I trimmed a few to fit in the bottles.  I trimmed, and trimmed, and trimmed the feathers until they were small enough. 
 

Although they're not waterproof (I'd know, I forgot to take the mushroom pendant off in the shower), they're definitely more durable than other feather earrings.  Perfect for the end of festival season!

DIY Floral plugs

I'm an avid Etsy surfer.  I'll buy things occasionally, but am definitely more of an online window shopper.  I'd been looking around for some fun new gauged earrings that would be less obvious than what I typically wear, and when I saw many sellers offering flower-adorned ones, they seemed perfect.  Well, perfect except for the price.

So I went to my local bead shop, found a couple of those resin flowers, and made some myself for less than $1.  Here's how I did it!

1.  Found a pair of old plugs I don't wear anymore.  You may have some earrings you can use sitting around, otherwise BodyCandy has a large selection of $1.99 plugs.  The ones I used were metal, but plastic would work just as well, if not better since it's lighter weight.  I'd also not recommend flared styles, as you will want to be able to push the plugs completely into your ear once you've attached the flowers.

2.  Went to the bead shop.  I found the flowers pretty easily and in a variety of colors.  The circular backs fit the end of my plugs quite closely, so less than $1 later, I was on my home.   My ears are a 2 gauge, so if yours are much larger it may be more difficult to find flowers that will cover the plugs completely.  Here are some similar ones online for $0.64 a piece. 

3.  Glued them together.  I used Gorilla Glue because it was what we had lying around the house.  I did it late at night, and went to sleep immediately after.  The flowers shifted a bit and don't sit perfectly flat on the plugs, but it still works for me! 

4.  Wear your new plugs!  You'll probably want to use O-rings to hold them in.  I love mine and will probably make more when I buy some supplies.

Good luck crafting!

Crocheted hip bag

A few weeks back at Bella Fiore I visited the booth of a vendor selling leather waist packs.  I'd seen people wearing them at festivals in the past, and I was super excited to see somewhere to buy one.  Well... that lasted until I found out they were $130 and up.  Then I saw this great felted peacock feather waist bag at another booth for half the price, but when I decided I wanted to splurge for it, another girl had already bought it.  I got home, surfed the web and bit, and (long story short) decided to try to just make my own with things I already had!

The belt and pockets were mostly made with a 25 cent skein of yarn I got garage sale-ing, accented with another yarn I already had, buttons, and felt/bead peacock feathers.

The main pocket is big (wallet-sized) and has a large feather on the front.  Perfect for carrying around money, an ID, etc.

I also put on two smaller pockets: one that would fit a camera and another for lip balm or something else small.  The whole thing ties on with longer crocheted pieces.

I can't wait to wear this to our next festival this summer!  It's practical, cute, and didn't cost me $130 to make!  Depending how the initial wearing goes, I'd like to make more similar bags to sell.  What do you think?  Would you wear a crocheted hip bag?

NSP garage sale-ing.

We hit up the town garage sales for a few hours yesterday.  I had some serious delusions about what was going to go down: I imagined pseudo-suburban sales where people were selling piles awesome old vintage decor.  And since it's not directly in the city, I was going to be the only hip, young person out looking to find these hidden gems!


Well... not so much.  We walked to a bunch of sales in the neighborhood that were decent.  I didn't find any macrame owl wall hangings, or mushroom salt and pepper shakers, or floral printed tin kitchen canisters, or kitten portraits... but I did find books!  Piles of books, mostly children's, but a few totally for me.

Bambi Grows Up, Corduroy, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Dumbo, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, Alice in Wonderland, Curious George Goes to the Zoo, The Kissing Hand, & Goodnight Moon.

Around $4.75 for the whole pile!

Working in a classroom for the last three years has renewed my interest in children's literature and classic illustration.  It's harder for me to find newer books that I like-  if the story is great but I don't like the art, I don't like the book.  So these books, mostly older classics, were just my style.  Plus, I got them for 12.5 cents (seriously!) up to a dollar each! The more expensive ones were hardcovers in near perfect condition from a woman who seemed to be struggling with the fact she didn't need them anymore. 

Oh, and no, this is not an announcement of any child entering my life anytime soon.  I just decided that a small collection of books I love can't hurt.  It may also be my way of dealing with the end of my classroom job in one week...


Books for me!

Now I have the old copies of LOTR to go with The Hobbit!  Plus, you cannot go wrong with George Orwell.  50 cents a piece: $2.50 total.


Other, non-book purchases:

Cool candle  holder with great colors. 25 cents.

Lion Brand yarn for a quarter.

Awesome geometric necklace!  It was two dollars (a little out of my budget), but I'm totally gonna rock it!

Have you started garage sale-ing this year?  Do you plan to?  What treasures do you want to find in other people's trash?

My DIY peacock feather dress

My most recent completed big project:




Plain dress embellished with felt peacock feathers with yarn plumes.



This was the old dress I started with. The beading fell off the first time I wore it, and I just shoved it in a basket after that with the intention of re-beading it. That was a year and a half ago.


Recently, I was anxious to embellish another item in my closet, but I also like to keep some basics around so it was hard to pick what to use. Then I remembered the dress! I had to rip out the original beading, which took some time, but then it was perfect!


I made nine peacock feathers with this method.




I used a bunch of different colors of felt and mixed up the color combos. I think they all turned out very pretty. Also, I used beads that were originally on the dress to add detail to the feathers.


I sewed the feathers on with embroidery thread and made feather plumes with several colors of yarn using a backstitch.




The fabric had a lot of give, so it stretched pretty well to accommodate the yarn and large needle I was using. I also pulled the fabric taut every five stitches or so to make sure it wasn't bunching up and the stitches would have give when I move around. I wasn't sure how well the fabric would hold up, so I used a fray preventative around the holes on all the stitches. That part took a while, but I hope it helps the dress last longer.

*If you are going to try this, I would not recommend using yarn, but rather trying embroidery thread or something thinner. I expect that some of the parts I stitched through will eventually become holes that I will need to repair. Another thing you could try would be a fabric paint!



This project took quite a bit of time, but I love the dress and I'm so excited to wear it this spring and summer!

What I'm most excited for this summer:

Storms.
Big epic thunder storms that hole me up inside all day doing crafts and put me to sleep at night.



This bird.


Wearing Chacos everyday. Good thing I sprung and bought a second pair for this year. Last summer I was wearing them straight from the beach to class to shows. Time to class it up a bit.



Camping and music. (And maybe no thunderstorms over those particular weekends...)



Fresh local produce. Farmers markets, and, hopefully, my own garden!




Plus loads of other stuff. But I don't mind the anticipation- it just means there's lots of time to be excited for.
What are you most excited for this spring/ summer?