Stars, Flamingos, and Bunnies!

The goal of this week is to have a more successful one than last! I feel like I'm off to a pleasant start. I've completed my pinstripe dress, it's quirky and cute. It's sure to be come my staple work dress. I plan on wearing it to the office Friday to finish the week off strong, I'll have my coworkers do a photo shoot with me!

I was having a hard time finding inspiration for the Constellations contest for Spoonflower. It's been a few months now that I've entered every single contest, and I was getting bummed at the thought of breaking that streak. FINALLY, an idea hit me and I was able to knock it out last night. Submitted it at the final second last night! Pshew!!! I think I get a little high when I finish a design and I'm proud of it. It's that extra boost of energy I need through the week.

On the cutting table... I got the most adorable fabric on sale the other week from Fabric.com. See! Adorable! 

My more adventurous little bunny, Rambo, tore up a few pillows on our couch months back. In reality, he just gave me a reason to replace those BLAH throw pillows. Thank you Rambo Bunny! It's also going to help make our apartment feel more like home, and add some color without having to paint. Hoping to have pictures to post tomorrow. But for now, I'll leave you with Rambo giving me the stink eye!

I will CUT you!

Despite the heat, Labor Day weekend proved to be mighty productive for my crafting! An early dismissal from work gave me enough time to run to Jo-Ann's with a friend and pick up a few patterns and cone thread on sale for dirt cheap. Slowly but surely, I'm building up my arsenal of patterns. The purchase I'm most excited about is McCall's M6044. It's a simple men's shirt pattern, which looks perfect for my man. He's ridiculously picky about his shirts so if i can find the perfect pattern, and grab his favorite fabrics on sale... well, avoiding shopping for shirts will save a world of headache! Only thing left to get is a pearl snaps tool!

Saturday morning I kept the momentum going and headed downtown to The Loft. Grabbed a pile of fabric for $2.50 a pound!!! It's hit or miss, but this trip was definitely a hit! I found cotton plaids, spandex sparklies, thermal knits, stretch denim, lace, and flannel... pretty much, you name it, I grabbed it! I walked out of there paying only $20 and enough fabric for over 10 projects. I did the math for cost per yard, and it ended up being something ridiculous like $1 per yard of fabric. That place is my all time favorite. If you live in LA and haven't been yet, clear your calendar! It's high time you made the pilgrimage. 

The rest of the weekend I squeezed in cutting time between party time! I'm trying something new. I'm cutting out all my planned projects at once. Cutting's my least favorite task so if I can get it out of the way early, I'm hoping it'll pay off with more completed projects in a shorter time frame.

Here's my list of cut and ready to sew projects so far...

-Pixel Pinstripe Dress - Simplicity 1803, view B
-Denim Circle Skirt - Self Drafted (YAY! First attempt!)
-Plaid Retro Wrap Dress - Butterick B4790
-Peach Toile Thermal - Sew U Raglan Pattern (altered)
-Rocket Blue Thermal - Sew U Raglan Pattern
-Flamingo Floozy Tank - Sew U Raglan Pattern (altered)

Seeing it all listed out is exciting! I'm about to have a whole new wardrobe. Sitting on the cutting table I have my Man's pattern in two different fabrics, a flannel for a cute little button up for myself, and some spandex for new shiny workout shorts. Waiting on fabric to make my sister's birthday pajamas! 

I AM A SEWING MACHINE!!! 






*forgot to actually ever post this...was waiting to take pictures...guess pictures will have to wait!

So-So on Sew-Alongs

I've never done one... I keep reading about them and I always doubt myself on being able to keep up with them. Between work, and skating, and my boy-toy, and my other project goals I've set, the idea of adding another project with time restrictions freaks me out a little. However, I think I found one that's theme has peaked my interest, and has a big enough time window for me to feel secure enough jump in on. It's the Fall for Cotton Sew-Along hosted by Lucky Lucille and By Gum, By Golly.



Premise is that the fabric needs to be 100% cotton and the finished product needs to be a vintage look. From the sound of it, it can be either a vintage pattern, repro vintage pattern, or turn a modern pattern into a vintage look. Sounds easy enough to me! I've had my eye on one of the Butterick reproduction vintage patterns, B4790, and I believe it's on sale at Joanne's right now. I guess it's time go pick it up. I've seen a version of it in gingham that I loved. But a fun, ditsy floral could be adorable too.

Then again... I've already started planning out my Halloween costume and I know this pattern, Butterick B5281, would work for it. Yes! That's right! A Rockford Peach! Shorten the skirt, add a collar, buttons, and a Baseball Bat... Bing Bang Boom! Maybe this is the perfect time to make it. Plus, I feel like a cute little peach dress would easily become a staple in my wardrobe. Note to self, patches must be removable!

 

I guess it's time to start fabric shopping!!!

SO GOOD!

The winning streak continues! I don't know if I've ever been more proud of my team! They played like champs this weekend. Everything finally clicked on the track... everyone carried their weight... everyone stayed positive.... what an incredible win! The whole game was neck and neck. I think we had a tied score 3 or 4 times through the course of the game. That's pretty rare. Heading into the fourth and final quarter, it was already established that, win or lose, we were all proud of each other and what we had accomplished. I have never seen my team play so cohesively EVER before. Incredible. There are pictures over here if anyone's interested.

Pregame, I always stay in the night before a game and relax. So Friday night was spent huddled up in my apartment, watching New Girl, making a game day mix, and working on my new fabric design! The "Fashion" contest was so vague I felt like anything could really go... so I did hangers in a 50's boomerang style. The bright orange was completely by accident! I typed the wrong # in and completely fell in love with it. I consider it another win!

Post game, a little recoup time... even though I should have been lounging back, I was still in production mode from the past week... I broke out the next batch of fabric and made a new dress!!! I just have to finish cleaning up the rogue threads and sew on a hook and eye. Planning on wearing it to work tomorrow. I'll make my co-workers take pictures.

And last but definitely not least... I finally sat down to watch Sharknado! It's just as TERRIBLE and HILARIOUS as I thought it would be. We ended up adding some categories to the drinking game cuz it was just too ridiculous. So many things to laugh at!

What a great weekend :)!

Wedding Dress Complete!

Welp! I finished the dress just in the nick of time!!! I had to make lots of adjustments but here it is... 
I used the Cynthia Rowling pattern, Simplicity 1873. I cut a size 14 the but ease in the bust was just way too much. There are a few extra darts on my version. Next time I'll mix a 12 and 14. I think that will solve the problem.

Either way... I love love love this dress. It's comfy and cute! Can't wait to make more. I have some ice cream cone fabric and bumper cars. Once I complete those I'll let myself splurge on more fabric. I have a tendency to pile up on the fabric and fail on the follow through of sewing them. In all fairness though, picking the fabric is by far the very most fun part!

Oh... and PS, the wedding was a complete train wreck! At least I looked DAMN GOOD!