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!

What I've been up to lately

I'm really not getting better at regular posting lately, but in my own defense, things have been crazy busy... we got engaged, I'm finishing up my last class in my graphic design program (which happens to be character animation and is not my forte), and I was just in my first craft show! 

Being my first show, I had a lot to do other than making product (which I spent a lot of time on).  I ordered business cards, made tags for my merch, and made displays for my stuff (with Mark as the construction implementer).  It all got done, and looked great for the show!

My table display was made almost entirely from stuff we had at home.  Mark made display boards and a headband rack with wood from his shop and I covered them with fabric I already had.  I bought three cheap necklace holders at thrift stores for $1-2 apiece to hang other headbands on.  Everything else (fabric on the table, boxes, the actual tables, etc.) was stuff we had!  Oh yeah, and I made the KareWares bunting which is a bit hard to read in the photo.  I loved my booth.  It looked unique and really stood out in the room!

 I designed my business cards, printed through Vistaprint and they turned out great!

I made tags with photo paper I was never going to use (home printers can be such a pain), label tape my dad gave me, and a stamp with my logo, also from Vistaprint. 

The show went... well, ok.  The overall turnout was actually quite poor and there were other vendors who didn't sell anything.  I reached my goal of making back what the table space cost, plus some, so I felt somewhat satisfied (although business could have been better).  I think I could have done better in a more urban, well-advertised fair, but those do generally cost more to enter.  And what's with craft shows having mostly non-craft vendors?  Oh well, now I know and am prepared to enter another show when the time comes!  Again, thanks to Mark for building my stuff and keeping me company during the long day, and to friends and family for stopping by to say hello or pick up a craft!

Thrift store fabric score!

I generally shy away from bundles of fabric at the thrift store; they're bagged up with a bunch of different prints and colors and I usually only want one out of the lot.  So, I skip on buying the whole bag for just one fabric (even though they're still cheaper than the craft store... but with the bags you never know how much you're getting or in what condition).  However, when I was thrifting a few weeks back, I couldn't resist this $4 bag of awesome cloth!

(The gray, yellow, orange, and olive floral print was actually a separate purchase, but within the same day, so I threw it into the pictures.  Oh, and the spotty stuff on the right isn't my thing, but I'm holding onto it for the time-being to see if inspiration strikes.)

I opened up the bag when I got home, and much to my excitement, found nearly ten yards of uncut, perfect fabric, some still with the original labels!  The fabric was old, but beautiful and some had incredible texture! 

I started lining up the fabrics to see what would go together and came up with a few combinations for whatever I decide to sew.  I like the orange with both of the prints below (but may make the argyle print into some cute high-waisted shorts). 

 The green print and the purple go together nicely.

And because I love this one so much, I still need to include it in the post.  I did buy it separately, but it's so awesome I can't wait to plan sewing something from it.  I'm thinking some pants... or something!  

So yay for buying my first grab bag of cloth at the thrift store!  I consider this purchase a major success and have already started sewing with some of it.  I've even bought another bag with similar success since!  Can't wait to show some of the projects that come out of a few dollars!