Monday, June 23, 2008

Summer tote


Another old project: I found a southeast Asian print dress at Goodwill for $5, and was immediately drawn to the bright print. The sequins were part of collar detail.
In retrospect, the bag is quite long on my torso and sometimes feels like a pillowcase; things can get lost in there. Also, I didn't make this bag with lining, so it's super light-weight and I worry that it will tear.
I've just washed it in the washing machine. It looks....okay. I probably should have hand-washed it. But all my stitches stayed together!
Sorry I don't have any 'before' pictures.

Another old project...easy add-on to a blouse



I found the blouse at Buffalo Exchange, but it had several pinholes near the bottom. No worries for me; I managed to get a few dollars off the asking price.
After taking home the blouse, I rummaged through my boxes o' craft and found this blue lace that came from another Goodwill grab-bag.
I remember watching "The 40-year-old Virgin" as I hand-sewed. Fun times.

wine corkboard...



This is a really old project from a few months ago, but I still have the picture.
I found a Ziploc-bag full of wine corks from Goodwill, and then I wandered over to their frames section and found a cheap frame for about $6 that was wide enough to hold the largest cork. (I was laying cork inside half a dozen frames inside the store, which probably looked odd.)
When I came home, I sifted through the best-looking (most of them are from Oregon and Washington wineries, a few grocery-store brands) and added my own feeble collection.
Then lots of craft glue later...some brown and white ribbon...end result!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Green skirt...



So I made this skirt in an effort to impress a boy. I don't think it worked, but I was happy with the end sewing result. Who needs boys when you can make yourself a skirt?

The fabric also came from St. Vincent de Paul, as a round green tablecloth. I was inspired by Craft magazine and cut out the center to make a skirt without having to hem the bottom.

The circular patches were from a flower print of fabric I bought at Cool Cottons in southeast Portland. I made patches by sewing a circle around the flowers using a thicker stitch on my sewing machine, and then cutting out around the border. I hand-stitched the patches on.
The skirt is fastened by a hook and eye that I hand-sewed, and then a button and a ribbon just beneath it, because a good deal of derriere tends to peep out of the skirt slit if I'm not careful.

Messenger bag...and toiletry pouch accessory




This is the newest project. I figured I'd start from today and start backwards.

I made this out of this batch of beautiful blue cordouroy from a local St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. The dark-patterned fabric was from my roommate; I made pockets out of this. It was the first time I made a square-bottomed bag. The lining is made from a solid marigold fabric.

The whole bag is gigantic, but I really wanted something that would function as an overnight bag or a pretty gym bag. I've been using a giant tote, which suits me fine, but totes have a tendency to gape wide open, leaving the whole world open to peer in and see your sports bra and gym shorts. Yuck.

The mini me bag is also made of the same fabric, made with a zipper I had gotten out of a grab-bag stash of craft items from Goodwill.

Now I can safely stash the gym accessories, the bras and contact lens cases covertly....yes!