Take Two

So I am a perfectionist and the fact that my blog isn't the coolest one on the block bugs me.  Oh well.  Instead of not doing something I am really excited about I am going forward and I am going to blog about anything and everything.

I have been very busy and unfortunately not taking very many pictures of my adventures.  That ends now.

A few things I have learned...

1.) Craft shows are not all they are cracked up to be! Unless our failure was due to the fact we were stuck in a little room off to the side in the bottom of an old church that only had old people walking through... maybe.

2.) Chalkboard spray paint is super cool.

3.) Flat back spray paint is even cooler.  I will upload some pictures of the ugly brass lamps, chandeliers, and frames I have repurposed.

4.) Life has been super busy.

So right now I am off to make some more craft show coasters to replace the two that I sold.  I will upload pictures and a tutorial on those too cause they are the coolest thing ever if I may say so myself.

Z

My First Sewing Project

Whoever said to start simple and move your way up doesn't know me.  I always live by go big or go home.  So, I started sewing with making my boyfriends niece a bunny stuffed animal.  I got the idea from none other than Martha Stewart, and I just tried it.

Maybe I should have rotated it before uploading...

The Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, by Martha Stewart actually comes with an interactive CD that has patterns.  Unfortunately I don't own a working printer... ok thats a lie, I haven't gone and bought more ink. To adapt I made my own patterns using crayon paper I've had since I was a kid. For the fabric I used the reminants that I bought at Joanns on Saturday. Luckily, I found a nice cotton grey fabric, a pink polyester, for the ears, then I also had picked up some pink tulle.  At this point in time I didn't know what I would use the tulle for but I did come in handy.

I made the pattern a little chubbier to give me the opportunity to fail...
miserably :)

So I created a body, cut two bodies out with the grey.  Then I made a pattern for the arms and ears.  For each cut out four.  For the ears I cut out 2 from the pink so I could make the inside of the ears look real (?).

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the pink ears...

Let it be known that I have NEVER sewed before in my life... I understand the general idea but I had to learn while I was going with this project.  I knew that the bunny would look cool if I used thread that matched the ears along the body so when it got turned inside out it had a cool stitching.  I started with the body and it took me three tires to get the tension and speed right. HAHAHA

I didn't take a picture of the other side for a reason. Bad News.

Can you see that my practice happened a lot.  Three to be exact.

Apparently I did take a picture of the other side.  Ugh, don't judge me.

I moved on to the ears and arms and flipped everything back to the front, and surprisingly the bunny started looking similar to the ones Martha made. :) I attached the ears and now it was time to stuff and hand sew the rest. Score 1 for me.

bunny

Handsewing at 3 in the morning.

I decided the rabbit needed an accessory. So I pulled out the tulle that I picked up with the other fabric and it was the perfect amount for a ballerina tutu. I put snaps so the bunny could really wear it.  Also, if she wanted to put it on a doll, it was an easy transfer. Yay!

Time for the final look -

My boyfriends niece liked it!

It was a lot of work.  A total of 5 hours.  However, it was my first time and I bet I could easily drop that number in half.  Its amazing how rewarding making something from hand is!

I hate being like a cookie cutter

I am annoyed.  I can't seem to change my background, fonts, anything!! Argh.  I keep on researching, trying, then failing.  This is hard and annoying.  I need help.  I want my blog to be inviting and fun and now its boring and lame.

Any suggestions?

The Beginning of Beginnings

So I am feeling more and more excited about this blog.  If I can actually figure out how to make it successful and "follow" worthy I'll be on top of cloud 9.  

Today I feel as though I was very productive.  It started with the library, I decided  getting a little inspiration always helps.  While there I was lucky enough to find a Bible of sorts... Martha Stewarts Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, I was feeling pumped after that.  

After such a rush I decided I needed to buy a sewing machine.  You could say I am feeling inspired.  I would be lying if I hadn't already been feeling an itch to buy a sewing machine, but seeing martha's great ideas just gave me a push. So I went to wal-mart after reading some reviews on a Brother sewing machine they had there for $80.  I was sold.  I had $20 bucks left on a Visa gift card that I used and now I can say I am a proud owner of a sewing machine.  YAY!  Here is a picture  -

Then I needed to go to Joann's Fabric for a little more inspiration.  Note to all: Saturday afternoon is not the ideal time to go to that store.  I should have known with all of the minivans that scattered the parking lot but whew, it was a bit overwhelming.  I was not productive and I got little to no inspiration.  Oh well.  I did pick up some reminants that I'm hoping I can make something cool for my boyfriends niece.  I'll post when/if it turns out.  Either way, what's the fun in only seeing perfect products right??

When I finally got home I realized my new sewing machine comes with a DVD tutorial.  Lucky Me!!  Time to learn...

First Things First

So I have been doing a lot of blog reading and I've decided I should make my own.  We'll see if anyone follows it.  I am crafty, I am on a budget, and I want to share.

I'm going to start with the fact that Fall is my favorite time of year, (to my boyfriends demise) so I jump on the chance to decorate.  So here is my first fall decoration. A halloween wreath! I got the idea from Martha Stewart I think.

I wish I took a before picture but I might have if I were only thinking about this blogging thing earlier. Imagine a ridiculously tacky wreath. It had bright red roses, little white flowers and bright green leaves. I picked up the wreath for, are you ready (?), $1.90.  It was 90% off at Michael's and I got some black metallic spray paint for $3 at Wal-Mart.  Which I've been able to use on some frames too.  

Talk about a bargain!!  Needless to say I'm super excited!