IS•LY | I Still Love you

Chris and I use the term obvi all the time. We’re much too lazy to pronounce the extra two syllables to say “obviously“. We’re hip like that.

Last night I made napkins for the first time ever. They’re so easy, why haven’t I made them before?!? I had a bunch of coarse linen floating around, I thought why not? I looked like I had enough fabric for six napkins, but turns out I was about 2 inches shy of getting my set. Guess I’m going back to the fabric store for more! At least I was able to make four of them so I could take some pretty pictures.

They’re much better than my dark charcoal napkins. I feel like they’re not as starchy and stiff.

Funny, I dress up my table more for photos than I do for company. Sad, right? Well, since I have the table all set up, I may as well surprise Chris and make dinner a little fancier than usual. Maybe tonight’s dinner will make up for my lack of plans on Valentines. I was SO pathetic on Sunday, we ate tuna sandwiches and crackers. I didn’t even really make him a valentine. Not really. I’ve still got to finish it and share it with you first.

I was really pleased how the natural fabric goes with the orange thread I used. They’re a little on the plain side right now, but I’ll be silkscreening them soon. Really soon. I just have to nail down the design first. I’ll keep you posted.

Do you like the skinny napkin rings? I found a set of 10 of them at a thrift store for 25¢ total. Awesome, hu? I like the natural wood color, but there will always be a part of me that wants to spray paint them a crazy color. Like teal.

{P.S. Don’t mind that there are only three glasses in the last photo. I broke the fourth glass while taming the twigs. I’m clumsy.}

Ok, I sort of alluded to it last week, but it’s official now. I started a flickr group called ‘I Still Love Handmade’. Fitting, no? I’ve been thinking a lot about starting one; but mostly since the community building session at Alt. I think it might be a little fun for you to do some showing and telling. It may end up being a time suck for just me, because I just love to see what you’ve been up to.

{click on the image above to join the flickr group}

In celebration of the new flickr group, I’m hosting a little competition this month!

Whoever wins the best flickr group photo for the month of February will get all sorts of cool prizes. I haven’t picked out the prizes, but rest assured there will be a hand-bound book, some calligraphy and other goodies in there. You’re going to like it. PROMISE. So please, join my little group and show off what you’ve made! It can be anything! A drawing, a refashioned shirt, the awesome dinner you made last night, you get the idea! Please post a picture or 12, just as long as it’s made by you, photographed by you and very PG.

I really hope you’ll participate. I’ll keep you posted as I figure out what exactly will go to the winner.

This contest ends February 28 at 11:59pm MST. Winners will NOT be chosen randomly. 3 judges (me & two other guest judges) will vote on a winner. Judges’ entries are not considered part of the contest. Multiple entries are encouraged. You must have a flickr account and entries MUST be added to the flickr group pool to be entered. Am I forgetting anything? Sheesh. Comment or email if you have questions.

Good Luck!

I like thrift shopping. A lot. Last week I was in the little boys department looking for my favorite button-ups (for me) when I found the most adorable button up in greenish-teal plaid. I had to have it. It was a boy’s size 8, which is too small for me, and too big for Penelope. I bought it anyway. It was just too cute. Maybe Penelope will fit into it in 6 years?

After I brought it home, I knew that in 6 years not only would fashion be different, but she’d be dressing herself by then. I had to make it fit her now so I could take advantage of my great thrift find. So, what do I always do? Make it work.

Sorry for the crappy before & during photos. I couldn’t wait for decent lighting to work on the project. Here’s what I did in list form:

• lay the shirt flat
• cut out the sleeves
• lay one of Penelope’s shirts over the new shirt
• marked the waist & shoulder measurements & cut
• cut the sleeve to 3″ long on inseam
• cut a 1″ strip of biased tape – for sleeve hem
• cut 2 strips out of sleeve remnants for ruffle
• zig zag stitched edges of ruffle
• gathered ruffle
• attached ruffle
• stitched sides up
• gathered sleeves
• sewed sleeves to the shirt
• sewed biased tape to sleeve hem
• cut strip of jersey fabric for waist tie
• zig-zag stitched all seams

This project cost $1 to make & took just under an hour. I would’ve finished it sooner, if Chris hadn’t started watching Lost. Sheesh. I paired her new shirt dress with skinny jeans (Check out Susan’s tutorial on skinnies) and saddle shoes on Friday (below) and then paired the shirt dress with bloomers, leggings and saddle shoes on Sunday (above). I love this color on her so much, but not as much as I love her. Ooo, she’s such a cutie.

Two or three months ago my friend was going on and on about this woman, Susan Petersen. I’m thinking What? A blogger in my area? A CRAFTY blogger in my area? No way. We need to make friends!

All it really took was a second or two on her blog before I realized how utterly cool she is. She made freaking gold Lamé leggings for her 3 year old. How cool is that?!?

Her blog is chock full of inspirational ideas, fabulous sewing and sweet thrifty finds. She has some great tutorials on her blog for skinny jeans, pillowcase dresses, nursing covers, and coin purses. You should check out her blog and her store, too! I suggest you snatch up the his & hers pillows and the sweetest, most darling ruffle skirts you’ve ever seen.

Seriously, aren’t these skirts to die for? While Susan’s blog is awesome and a time-sucking pit of inspiration, she’s even cooler in person. We had her and her sweet family over for dinner a while back and had the greatest time getting to know them. I’m really excited to have a new friend so close by!

I just have to tell you I have the coolest in-laws. Really. Reeeally. My sister-in-law is fantastic. She speaks fluent Cantonese from living in China for a year and a half. She’s getting her masters in Engineering. She throws a serious dance party. She has excellent taste in music and it was her birthday last week.

While lurking the “Sale” section at Urban Outfitters I came across a radical black men’s tee that had bleached spotted stripes. Sadly it didn’t fit Chris or me, so I logged the idea in the back parts of my brain to use at a later date. The later date ended up being (surprisingly) a few days later when I was thinking of what to make for Lindsay’s birthday.

I got a basic shirt from you-know-where and revamped it using a little bit of bleach and a lot a bit of packing tape. It was super simple. I just laid the shirt flat on some cement, taped stripes down, mixed 1 part bleach 1 part water and flicked at the shirt with a brush like a crazy lady. I was smart and wore junky clothes and took great care to dispose of the packing tape without getting any stray bleach on me. After I bleached up both sides of the shirt I threw it in the wash (with rags as to not waste water and not ruin any other clothes). I would’ve been done at that point, but I had to add a little flair on the side. If you asked me how I did it, the only terms you’d hear are “scrunch this”, “squish that” and sew.

My biggest fear was that I creating a heaping, bleached mess, but it worked! I’m disappointed that I didn’t think ahead and make two while I was at it. I think it looks pretty snazzy.

I’m a real pro at doing everything in the eleventh hour. Oh I feel so lame.

You’ve heard me talk about Shabby Apple Dresses before. I really like them. My mom likes them, too, after using them for bridesmaids dresses for two weddings in a row. When I heard about the design challenge I got REALLY excited about it. REALLY.

So I sketched a ton for the quite some time. I’m surely no clothing designer, but it was fun to channel my inner Christian Siriano. Here’s my completed design:

Whether or not this makes it into the top 15, I think I might have to try my hand at making this dress. Wish Me luck, folks!!