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Shoe Makeover

kelsey — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:54:36 +0000

I just wanted to give some wardrobe refashion *snaps* to Sherrie from Domestic Days for this awesome shoe makeover! I love pleating, and this was totally brilliant (and cheap! made with ribbon and 10 dollar strappy shoes).

Wow

kelsey — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:42:16 +0000

This just took my breath away.

Thanks to Moonstitches for her amazing pictures of the Tokyo Great Quilt Show 2009

Little Peices

kelsey — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:26:16 +0000

I used to belong to the “oh man, quilting is LAME” school of thought, but since I’ve been blizzarded in the house, I’ve begun to realize how cool it is to be able to use up otherwise-trash scraps of fabric to create something new. Here has been some of my quilting inspirations.

Awesome Paintbox inspired Quilt by Oh, Fransson! Tutorial and Quilt-along found here.

(pssst, her website is straight awesome)

Cathedrial Quilt Tutorial by Hyena in Petticoats

Craft Vol 7 has a great idea of how to use up old clothing scraps to make a Yosegire Quilt, which, thankfully, can be done on the fly without planning or (too much) measuring. Tutorial

And, while it may be a little high-brow for this little blog, here is a gorgeous Compass quilt courtesy of the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts

Working on..

kelsey — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:37:38 +0000

Simplicity 2733!

Note: I hate patterns. I am much more of a “work it out” kind of sewer. This, of course, leads to a vicious cycle of making clothes: try, fail, try, fail, try, try harder, try extremely hard, throw it away. In an effort to knock this off and actually succeed in some of the garments I sew, i’m going to be (sigh) following instructions, well, sort of.

This was a terrible pattern to start with because:

1. It looks like its for tweens. Seriously, project runway, sell out some more, okay?

2. Very cute idea (shirt on the left minus the hideous sleeves) but the directions are ATROCIOUS! It is more confusing to read these instructions than than eat soup with a slotted spoon.

3. Apparently I bought the wrong sized pattern, we’ll see if I can work around it.

Anyway, pictures to come soon!

Snow Blog

kelsey — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:58:05 +0000

Baltimorons got hit in the face by over 20″ of snowballs this weekend! Ridiculous (ly awesome). More inches to come on tuesday, but the current status… is snowy.

Can-Can Skirt

kelsey — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:44:16 +0000

okay. How breathtaking are these skirts? very breathtaking. That should be your answer. The pattern is the original brainchild of Dana Willard (PDF pattern available), it is also recreated by Leisel of Brown Paper Packages, who featured it on Wardrobe Refashion. I can’t wait to try this out with some chromatic scraps.

Crafting In The Dirt

kelsey — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:17:53 +0000

A little off topic, but important nonetheless, I am proud to announce that the backyard project, which began in May of 2009, has finally been completed! Oh, BBQs and Bonfires, I await thee with glee.

Before and after behind the click…

BEFORE:

(minus the hole in the back, I forgot to take pictures before then)

and AFTER:

Note: All labor (digging, bricking, planting, etc) was done by yours truly and entirely 100% for free. All bricks were recycled. Take THAT, captain planet!

A Pleated Bag

kelsey — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:09:40 +0000

I know its a little late, but I just wanted to share with you the bag that I made an almost-sister this Christmas. Made with upholstery fabric and lined with satin, along with matching change purse. I think that I may have to churn out some more of these this summer – I had a lot of fun making it and LOVED the way it came out. Not to brag, but check out the matching handmade leather button. Okay, I bragged.

Refashion #2: Human Coat to Puppy Coat

kelsey — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:31:54 +0000

Okay, first and foremost: Dogs are not people. They don’t sleep in beds, they don’t eat chicken salad sandwiches, and, for all that is holy, they don’t wear clothes to look pretty. Now that that’s clear, let me tell you that Doctor, the dog, has a naked underbelly! Yes, naked! No fur! He gets so cold that his teeth chatter, especially with the winter that we’re having in Baltimore! As a good puppy parent, I couldn’t let this go unnoticed, so I refashioned an old zip up fleece of mine to fit him. *TUTORIAL COMING SOON!*

This is what the fleece looked like before, just your run of the mill, $6 fleece from Target:

And After:

Oh, he loves it so much! Okay, maybe not the “getting into it” part, but the “not being freezing while peeing” part is pretty great.

But if we were totally honest with ourselves, we would know that this is really just an excuse to make little dog clothes.

Home Sewn Couch Makeover

kelsey — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:02:45 +0000

So, seeing as our couch has been caving in for the past.. oh.. 2 years, it was time to upgrade. Unfortunately, this upgrade came with pillows that – while they didn’t quite burn your corneas – were definitely not my taste. Sewing to the rescue!

(If you look closely you will notice that the pillows actually sparkle – not kidding)

3 yards of beautiful ikea fabric and an hour later, and behold – zipperless pillow shams!