Curtains and a Window Shade

You may remember that when I re-decorated my bedroom, I made some curtains to hang on the window.  (Don't windows just look so empty without them?  It's sad.)  

Well, as it turns out, my bedroom window has a direct view of the apartment complex parking garage.  (I pay big bucks for views like this guys.  Trust me.)  

Now, our parking garage is very well-lit, which is awesome when I need to run out to my car in the middle of the night.  It is not so awesome when I'm trying to fall asleep and there is a flood light shining right into my eyes.  So I made a window shade.  And it was honestly one of the easiest projects I've completed so far.

I used some gray felt (since felt is nice and thick, and I had bought it on sale and had no other plane for it.)  I folded the top down and stitched it so that it could fit over a curtain rod.  But it looked a little plain and just kind of blah all by itself, so I took a couple of strips of the same fabric I used for my cardigan, used a gathering stitch, and then sewed them in a wavy pattern on the bottom of the shade.  I love the way the colors turned out (l like lots of different shades of gray.) 

 The curtains themselves provide a nice pop of color.  I used a deep purple material, but I bought the last of the bolt and it wasn't quite long enough to go to the floor.  So I added a strip of gray to the bottom to tie them into the rest of the room.  (Don't worry, the gray on the bottom is not nearly as metallic as it looks in the picture.  That's just the camera flash.  It's just a nice silky gray.

how to be crafty: freezer paper style

Since Bexie asked, I thought I'd post the shirt I made for Violet for St Patrick's Day. Being a non-Irish, non-Catholic, non-drinker, my relationship with St. Patty's day is strained at best. But I am a lover of the color green. And last night when I went through Violet's wardrobe, I didn't find a single green thing. So for today, I skipped the four-leaf clover and did a green Celtic knot on her onesie instead. And if that's not Irish, then I'm not Mormon.

First step: draw (or trace, I won't judge) your stencil pattern on to the papery side of freezer paper. You can get this at your grocery store-- it has a plastic side and a paper side. Then cut it out. This is where an X-acto knife comes in handy.
Step 2: Iron the stencil, plastic side down, onto the onesie. The plastic will melt and stick to the shirt. Make sure all the edges lay flat, because they can get caught and cause problems. Then dab tons of acrylic paint on the cut out part. Check that you aren't missing any spots.

Step 3: When it's dry (or before, if you're impatient like me), peel up the freezer paper and see how cute it is. Then put it on your kid, because it looks even cuter that way.

before and after

I bought this trench coat about 3 years ago with a gift card a student had given me for Christmas.  I think I wore it once.  It was too big, too white, and it was one of those items that looked way better in the dressing room than it did at home.  (Plus, I lost the sash that went with it.  A trench coat is no good without a sash.)

So, since it's springtime (and therefore I can wear as much white as I want) I decided to fix up the jacket a little bit.  (As it turns out, I frequently break the "no white before labor day" rule.  I've never been a fan of that rule anyway.)  I took it in on the sides and in the back so it fits my waist better

Then I added a blue sash which I stole from a dress that I own.  That's the great thing about sashes.  They can be shared. How nice of them, right?

Then I added navy blue bias tape around the edges of the sleeve ties.  I am debating whether or not I want to add some to the pockets as well, but I don't want to overdo things, so I'm sticking with this for now.  

Final Product:  (I"m pretty sure I'll wear this one more than once.  And I'm not sure why the picture turned out yellow.  But since I am my own photographer and get tired of setting the timer over and over again, this'll have to do.  My bad. And yes, I take my pictures in the bathroom.  It's the only room in my apartment that has lights.)

GAP dress makeover

So I was at the mall a few weeks ago (because that's where my bank happens to be....  how convenient is that?) and I noticed a lot of people carrying around GAP bags.  So I decided to see what all the fuss was about.  (Just out of curiosity, you know.)

Well, it turns out the big fuss was all about a huge sale.  And, as it turns out, I am a huge fan of a huge sale.  So I bought this dress and, although I thought it was a little on the uglier side, (and not my size), it was only $6  and, as I've said before, there's a reason I own a sewing machine.  (And that reason is to give me an excuse to shop, in case you were wondering.  

This is what the dress started off looking like.  Elbow-length sleeves (not a fan) kind of boxy (also not a fan) but definitely $6 worth of material to work with.  So home it came:

I started off by fixing the sleeves, since they were the first obvious downfall of the dress.  I just chopped off 3 inches from each sleeve and sewed the hems under an inch.  Easy as pie.  (Sorry, I didn't get pictures of every step of the process.  Still working on that part....)

Then I took it in so that it fit me properly and then decided to add a little flair. (I'm all for a nice black dress, but this one needed something extra.)  I made a long tube out of the leftover material from my nautical dress by cutting a 2.5-inch wide strip, folding it in half (right-sides facing) and sewing along the edge with a .25-inch seam allowance.  Once it was all sewn, I just flipped the tube right-side out and voila!!

I then pinned the material to the collar of the dress, making pleats every inch or so.  I wanted it to be kind of a bunched-up look instead of crisp pleats, so I wasn't too worried about exact pleat lengths.  I made three rows of these, pinned them to the dress (starting with the bottom row) and stitched them into place.:

This is what the neckline ended up looking like:

It now fits like a glove.  I added a sequined belt from JCrew, just because I love sequins.  It made it a little bit springier, and since it's already May it seemed appropriate:

Inspiration

Kayla from Freckles in April (who is totally adorable) made this skirt/dress out of a less cute skirt/dress. (Check out her blog for the tutorial.)   Now I want to make one.  Anybody have a long white skirt they want to give me?

She also made this dress (which I would wear all summer long):  I am having major clothing envy right now.  If only the sun would start shining here in Virginia.

shirt alteration DIY

So I was at the mall last week and decided to stop by the GAP, just to see what they had.  And holy moly did they have a lot of stuff.  I bought 2 skirts, 2 dresses, and 5 shirts for about $3 each.  Unfortunately, most of the stuff was not in my size.  But for $3, I just couldn't pass it up.  This is why I own a sewing machine, right?

Taking in a shirt is incredibly easy and takes about 5 minutes.

Step 1:  Start by turning the shirt inside out and placing another shirt on top of it.  (One that fits well.)

Step 2:  Trace the outline of the top shirt on the one being altered.  Sew along the line you just drew.  (Preferably with a thread the same color as your shirt.  I didn't do this.  Sometimes I'm lazy.  It happens.)

Step 3:  Cut off the excess fabric

Step 4:  Wear your shirt.

My favorite part of this shirt is the tulle around the neckline and on the sleeves.   Usually I hate tulle.  For some reason, on this shirt I find it irresistibly adorable.:

bulky sweater refashion

So four years ago, I bought this sweater from the Gap.  (It was on sale for $8.  And if you haven't caught on yet, I have a really hard time passing up a good deal.)  It served me quite well for three years, but I realized that I hadn't worn it in over a year. It's just a little too long and a little too bulky.

So I decided to refashion it to look like this sweater from Banana Republic:

I started by cutting off a large strip from the bottom as well as the thick strips of fabrics with the buttons and the button holes.

From the front of the sweater, I only cut off enough of the fabric to remove all buttons and buttonholes.  That way, I still have a nice thick collar like I wanted.  (This picture shows where I stopped cutting.)

I ended up with three strips of removed fabric:

To keep from fraying, I added bias tape to the cut edges, similar to the tutorial here.

Final Product: