Skirt for Bill

There are 2 variables that came in conjunction for the creation of this skirt. The first variable, was the purchase of this cloth. It was $5 for 4-5 yards. It had an interesting texture, if that's what you would call it. My stepmom, who is a casual sewing, said that she had a hard time making a top with it. I was curious to how difficult the material would be to sew. That is not a normal reaction, but sometimes the weirdest things ignite a fiery challenge as opposed to abhorrence. The second variable, Grip N Flip needed a skirt to go with a t-shirt she had screen printed of Bill from Tokio Hotel. Apparently the skirt I made for J-Rock Revolution is too much for everyday use.

This whole skirt was done on a whim, with very abstract ideas. I was going for a punk/goth/rock look, nothing specific, just in that genre. I ended up forcing my stepmom to pose in it for me.

She was embarrassed, but I think she has sexy legs.

The only thing that I'm worried about is if it would fit Grip N Flip. Somehow, when I sew an elastic waistband, I always overestimate how much should be taken in, to account for the stretch. Well, I hope that practice and experience will fix this problem in the future.

LEO Frame

Just a quick project for Spoon (sister of fork) as a secret gift exchange. The name of her club is called LEO hence the cute lion paw prints. This was done with some Ikea frames, rope, and the wood burner. These hanging frames are easy, quick, thrifty, and versatile.


I haven't been sewing at all. I'm not especially motivated to sew anything right now. I'm a little more excited about craft projects.

J-Rock Revolution 2007

In May of 2007, I had sewn Grip N Flip an outfit for the J-Rock Revolution Concert. For those of you that don't know J-Rock stands for Japanese Rock. This outfit was neither planned nor executed well. I guess a part of the reason, though not a valid excuse, was because the sewing class I was taking at the time was so frustrating. We were excused from taking a Pattern Making by Draping class due to the timing. The teacher told us that she would guide us along and it wouldn't be an issue. But it was an issue and I felt like I was drowning. So when this project came along I just wanted to sew and not "think". Which obviously isn't the smartest thing anyone can do, especially someone with my limited experience. But I guess that I always like to learn things the hard way or they don't stick.

The shirt and fishnet stocking came out of my closet, from a thinner time in my life. The gloves came for an old tacky scarf I found in the garage with large decorative sequences - "waste not want not." The goal of the skirt was to have volume and slightly cascading in the back. It's not my best sewing venture. And maybe "cut first, figure out later" wasn't the best approach but it worked out in the end. Finally the half-sleeve, I don't know what else to call it, was inspired by old princess-like dresses. I only have one sleeve because I wanted to use this piece to balance out the asymmetry of the shirt.

Unfortunately J-Rock Revolution was on the weekend before finals and I couldn't go. Grip N Flip had a blast at the concert and we had tons of fun talking about it afterward. She showed me lots of pictures and other peoples outfits. All I have to say is that I need to work on embellishments, trimmings, and accessories. I'm looking forward to see what we might do next time since J-Rock is so over the top with so many different categories and sub categories. Maybe I'll do something with buckles. . . . . . .

Happy New Year!!

Best wishes to everyone for the New Year. It feels so strange that it's 2008 already.

I'm really excited for this year. I get to go to Thailand for my friends wedding, which really translates to: traveling & eating!!!! Miyavi is having a wold tour. Those are just a few things to be excited about this year. I hope everyone has many things to be excited about too!

Sheepcap DONE!!!

And here it is ladies and gentlemen the finished product.

Stuntbear Modeling Final Sheepcap

OK, I know you're all wondering how is THIS Sheepcap any different from the other two that I made. But if you held the real thing in your hands, you would be able to tell the difference in the wooliness. Fork and I are very happy with the results. Hopefully Bear will love the Sheepcap. I told Fork I want pictures of Bear in Sheepcap!!!

And just for fun . . . we put Stuntbear in all the Sheepcaps. It looks like he has a sheepcoat on.

House of Chanel

Sew Shy sent me a link to Signe Chanel. It's a glimpse at how a collection is created; from initial design to the runway show. I ended up watching all five episodes at once. I definitely bow down to all the seamstresses that work in this industry. They are so amazing. I still have a long way to go before my skills are even close, but it's awesome to watch them at work. Even if Haute Couture isn't your thing, it's still worth the watch.

Signe Chanel

Everything is in French with English Subtitles

Episode 1 Part 1. Watch all 5 of them.

Gypsy Pants

In Morocco, I saw a pair of pants that were fun and comfortable. They were worn by European vagabonds, their style of dress was reminiscent of gypsies, hence the name gypsy pants (picture Aladdin's pants from Disney). I was too lazy to haggle with the Moroccan merchants and decided that I would just sew the pants when I got home. . . . .. how hard can they be . . . . . .?

I decided that I would sew these pants for L****** C***'s (aka Cheeky Monkey, Sailor Venus, Moco) Birthday, since she also fell in love with these pants in Morocco.

I bought a nice stretchy red knit fabric with a hint of glitter for $1/yard. I wasn't sure if the glitter would make the pants a bit tacky. But then I realized monkeys LOVE red and shinny things, or at least Cheeky Monkey does.

I wasn't sure where to start and ended up making a pattern out of cotton pajamas. I altered the pattern, thinking I needed them smaller. I went to sew the inseam and side seams, but somehow the pants turned out all wrong.


As you can see, it's not baggy and somehow the crotch area is EXTRA wide. I was disappointed and frustrated. Thankfully, I bought 2 yards of fabric. I went to redraw the pattern and did NOT alter it. I started to sew my second pair and realized the mistake I made with the first pair. I had reversed the leg seams with the crotch seams!!! Feeling silly, I finished up the seams on the second pair and went to fix the first pair. Upon sewing the first pair I realized that it would have been too small for Cheeky Monkey. I finished up the first pair and started the waistband on the second. For some reason I couldn't get the waistband to stretch. After several tries I realized I wasn't stretching/pulling the fabric while sewing. After realizing this the waistband came out better on the second pair. I'm pretty happy with the results.

First Pair

I ended up giving this pair to my other friend, Buns!! (aka Sailor Mercury, Bunny, Ostri) She's tiny, unfortunately, she said it was a bit tight. It only needs to be adjusted at the waistband. I'm glad they fit somebody!! I have no idea why I thought this would have EVER fit Cheeky Monkey.

Second Pair

Cheeky Monkey wearing her pair of gypsy pants. They're too cold to wear right now, however they're perfect for summertime. She would also like a longer pair . . . . . ungrateful little monkey!!

Pirate Pillow Case

This wasn't anything spectacular or difficult but I wanted to share the fun skull and cross bones with everyone. My friend had bought this handkerchief to patch her jeans since it was such a fun pattern. I had so much left over that I ended up making this mini pillow case for her corn heating bag. The old pillow case is tacky and . . . well take a look for yourself:

Clearly not as fun as this one:

The only thing I have to say about sewing this project is that even thought it's simple, don't do it when you're sleepy. Well I guess that applies to anything you're doing. Why I decided that I had to sew at midnight is beyond me. But because of that, I end up making several mistakes and frustrating blunders. Even with all these hair-pulling moments, I'm happy with the end result.

Sheepcap, The Horror!!

It took several tries, but I've finally devised a pattern that will fit correctly. The strange roundness mixed with flatness of the Bear/Stuntbears' head was what caused most of the patterns to become ill-fitting.








With this pattern I finally used the sheep fur and finished my first cap. I was quite happy with the results but the true test would be to see if Fork would be satisfied with the results.

And apparently he wanted the ears (not shown on this picture) to be more visible since the fur is sooooooooooooooo woolly. This fabric makes it difficult to take apart anything that you sew. It was easier just to cut and sew new pieces instead of taking this one apart.









And here is Sheepcap #2. Fork, NOW, thinks that the fabric is too woolly and the ears STILL aren't very visible. I don't disagree with him. So to try to counteract the supper woolliness of the sheep fur I brushed and trimmed it (as you can see in the picture). I'm not sure I like the results. I'm thinking that I might have to do a Sheepcap #3 and maybe sew the sheep fur down before I sew the cap together. Let's hope that works.

Well at least the whole yard might get used . . . at the rate I'm going.

Sheepcap for Bear

Even though on an earlier post I said that I would be working on the sheepcap, I've actually haven't done anything past buying the fabric. But before I get into the sheepcap I thought I would introduce everyone to Bear.

Bear

Bear has great open-minded parents. Instead of forcing him into the rigid unforgiving society of bears, they've decided that he should be able to experience new cultures and exotic lands. Hence the creation of the sheepcap. If Bear should ever feel the desire to not be a bear, his parents have devised a way for him to become a sheep!

Since all this is a Christmas surprise for Bear I have hired the help of Stuntbear to use as a stand-in:

Stuntbear

As you can see Stuntbear has already suffered the trauma of a fitting and is now covered in lint, thread, and sheep fur. Their heads are an odd shape and I've already made a few tester caps on scrap fabric. So far, none of them fit correctly. Hopefully I'll have better results tomorrow.

Sheepcap Fabric

I originally bought white fleece for this project but Fork found it lacking and would have like something woollier. Thus, I was sent out again in search of a fabric that would be more sheep-like. What I found at Joann's was Poodle Fur:


I bought a yard for $6 with a 1/2 off coupon. I don't think I would have bought it at full price. One yard may be more than I need for this project. But I have no idea how it will turn out or if I'll need to do a few testers. And extra fabric never hurt anyone!!! But I guess it isn't very convincing coming from a packrat that has a garage full of extra fabric that isn't being utilized.

Yeah there are a THOUSAND

OK so I didn't fold a THOUSAND cranes but one of my cousins did and I thought it would be fun to post it. I DID help her string them together. My only advice is to use the block color paper. She used this crazy psychedelic multi-colored paper and it was nice individually but when you string everything together they sort of got lost in the mix and makes it look more like throw-up of color. This is the only picture we have since she accidentally deleted the rest T_T . . . she's pretty upset.

Scroll

For another birthday present, Grip N Flip (lil cousin), decided to make an Asian wall scroll. She was already taking Chinese calligraphy at Chinese school and even took a Chinese art class. The only problem would be how to transform what she drew into a scroll.

I ended up looking online to see how it was done. And what I found overwhelmed me. The process of mounting traditional calligraphy or paintings was an art form in itself. After all that research, I humbly decided to switch my tactics since, hundreds of years of secret mounting techniques couldn't be learned in a week. I came to the decision that as long as I made it LOOK like a scroll, it would be enough.

I borrowed a wall scroll from my Chinese teacher (which I have yet to return . . . thank you 老師!!) to have an example to follow. I then bought some muslin and fabric for the scroll (as opposed to paper), red ribbon for trim, and dowels for the ends.

I first tried it with fabric glue . . . . and that was an unmitigated disaster. I was prepared for the worst and thankfully had back up drawings.

I ended up using HeatnBond for the fabric and drawing and then fabric glue for the red ribbon trim. I wouldn't recommend doing it this way but it worked.


Grip N Flip drew a phoenix because her friends name means "light" or "shine" in Japanese (can you guess the name??). The words on the right [愛是光] translate to "love is light/shine". The words on the left are her name.

I think it was a really cute gift. Something that was personal and heartfelt.

Star Tote Bag

This is one of my first projects for sewing class. I found lots of brown corduroy fabric in the garage and decided that free is always the best option. Little did I know, or understand, the difficulties that lay ahead. Apparently one of the characteristics of corduroy, while being sewn, is to not align correctly. A battle of wills, between the basic nature of corduroy and my desire for perfection, ensued and I can proudly proclaim to be the victor of this war, though not without losing a few battles. Not exactly something a beginning sewer would want to experience, but a good lesson none the less. I also found a blue and white stripped fabric to line the inside of the tote bag for $1. I was super excited to implement a star design throughout the bag.

I placed a frayed star patch on the front pocket using the lining fabric. You can't see it here, but I also lined the front pocket, which wasn't necessary for the class but I thought it would be nice. I went through a lot more trouble than my classmates and took longer, but well worth it.

The back of the tote bag I sewed double stars .

This is the inside of the bag. I placed a frayed star patch with the corduroy and also lined the straps. Everyone asks if this bag is reversible. Unfortunately, even if the inside is pretty, I didn't consider the possibility in the beginning and was too late. May I will do it if I sew another tote bag.

This bag was one of my proudest achievements. I really really liked it, which doesn't happen with me very often since I can be somewhat of a perfectionist with sewing (my sewing classmates can attest to this).

I ended up giving this bag to my friend since I'm not a big tote bag user. She was the one that really got my excited about it anyways. Since she's had this tote bag, several people have threatened to steal it and many others asked if one could be sewn for them. I'm deeply flattered by the theft threats. As to doing another tote, I currently have too many other projects on my mind right now to want to sew something I've already done. Maybe sometime when I'm inspired by a fun pattern or design to place on a tote bag I'll do another one.

Harry Potter Frame

I was asked by Grip N Flip (lil cousin) to do a Harry Potter frame as a birthday present for her friend that's a crazy Harry Potter fan. It sounded like a fun idea. I always have frames (from IKEA) on hand to do projects like this. I wanted to do 3 hanging frames and a piece of wood with the Harry Potter Logo on top. I used a wood burning kit to transfer and burn "Harry Potter" into the wood. I've been wanting a wood burning kit since forever, and remembered that Marcia had given me a Micahels gift card for my birthday. This project sounded like the PREFECT excuse to buy one!!!! (THANKS MARCIA!!!!!!!) I also tried to transfer the Hogwarts logo as a background to the Harry Potter Logo, but somehow it didn't transfer. I think that even though the printer I used was laser, which is what is needed to transfer with the wood burning kit, the color portion was still ink jet. I was sort of disappointed that the Hogwarts Logo didn't turn out as well, or at all, unless you squint really really really hard. I also tried to use coffee and tea to stain to wood frames to give it an Harry Potter antique wizard-used look, but it actually didn't stain too well. I ended up scrapping and banging the frames to give it a worn look and used the wood burner and brown varnish/paint to give it the color I wanted. To be honest I was over zealous with the first set of frames and broke them. The ones you see in the pictures below are my second attempt. Overall I am pretty happy with the results.

Sheepcap

Fork (my lil cousin) wanted me to do a sheepcap for him. This particular request (definitely not an unusual request when it comes to my cousins) is inspired by Goong S (the squeal to a popular korean drama based on a manhwa).

I truly enjoy their strange requests sometimes. I find the unexpected challenges to be fun since they are projects that I would never have truly pursued or finished had I been doing it for myself. I work better when it's for someone else. All of my projects, without a patron, usually end up on the wayside, incomplete and condemned to a fragmented glory unbefitting the radiant inspiration of which they where born.

Here are pictures of the sheepcap I am to make:

I'm hoping to be able to do this next week. I've already bought the fabric at Joann's (with a 1/2 off coupon). I'm excited to see how this will turn out. >.<

Back Logging

Well I guess the first order of business would be to start posting some of the projects I've already done. I'm hoping to get all my random projects up before I post any current projects. Back logging doesn't sound fun at all, but at least I get to share some of my older projects with you guys. I'll have to dig around to see if I have pictures of everything. It would be a lot more fun to show you the process of how some of the projects were created, but I guess it's not possible for the old projects. You'll just have to bear with my horrible garbled written explanations.

Welcome the my Korner of Random Krafts

I've decided to start a blog on all the random kraft projects born out of cheapness and/or ingenuity. We'll see how long this will last . . . . . ?