It's not that I don't want her to dress up as spiderman, I just already bought the stuff for her costume by the time she changed her mind! Typical, right? I keep telling myself that if she absolutely hates her costume I'll gladly go to Target & pick up a spiderman outfit for her. So far she hasn't been hesitant to put on her witch costume in the least. She looks super adorable, I might add!
Here's the breakdown for her outfit:
- tights & turtleneck - I found them at Walmart; since it's practically impossible to find green things for girls, I dyed them. I added the stripes with black paint.
- tutu - I made this from 6 yards of tulle, elastic & some felt. I've considered cutting it down but that's not likely to happen. It's one of those things that she can grow into.
- broom - I spray painted a dowel black, cut about 14 inches of leather fringe & wrapped the dowel with the leather, securing it with an upholstery tack.
- hat - I bought this as-is at Walmart, which just so happened to be the fourth store I went to for a hat! How come plain kid's witches hats are nearly impossible to find? I don't want pink sparkles or nasty faux hair sticking out of it.
So it turns out she just wanted to fly for Halloween - this is when we discovered that we could convince her to be the Wicked Witch as opposed to Spiderman. She got so excited about the idea of flying around on a broom! After she got back from school on Friday I showed her the broom & she lit up, "For me!?! Thank you, mommy, thank you!!"
Immediately she put the broom between her legs & the biggest look of disappointment flooded over her face! She looked at me & with a sad little voice said, "Mommy, the broom doesn't work. I'm not flying!" Oooohh, my sweet Penelope. You are too much.
I'm going as Dorothy for Halloween this year. Turns out I've had the perfect Dorothy costume in my closet for some time. I bought the perfect blue dress eons ago & what girl doesn't have red heels? What are you going as?
I dyed some white cotton stockings green & once we figured out that she's going to go as the Wicked Witch, I needed stripes. I used 
I really think this dress is perfect for any season. I could easily pair it with bright summer colors or mute it down with some warm fall browns.
With the restrictions I already had, I decided that I needed to be meticulous in my planning. Using my refashioned dolman top as a starting point, I traced the outline onto the Swedish Tracing Paper that 
I made this top last night while trying to figure out a pattern for a dress I'm working on. I'd say it turned out pretty well. I still need to hem the sleeves, neckline & bottom.
Just updated this hand-me-down top to the 21st century.
I liked the color, but not necessarily the style. I liked the dolman sleeve, but it was SO wide that you could practically see my belly button if I lifted up my arms. I really don't want to wear extra layers to cover up if I don't have to, so that HAD to change. Also, what's up with the muffin-top hider waist band thing? It looked a little late '90s & not in a good way. The band was wide & low enough that it just hugged my bum. Not my style.
I chopped off the ribbing, took in the sides, took in the arms & added a vintage floral cuff to the sleeves. I had a fabric swatch from my mom (literally from the '80s) that matched the top perfectly, but I like the dimension that this not-so-matchy floral fabric adds to the top. I did a blind stitch for the hem & part of the sleeve. Can you tell I'm falling in love with the hand-stitched blind hem? It really adds a lot of polish to the finishing of the garment that my sewing machine can't. It looks a lot less like a Home Ec project. This top is asymmetrical with the front & back & just long enough for me to wear without an undershirt, but short enough that it gives the appearance of a crop. I like.
What do you think? I think it looks great for being a hand-me-down. 
I changed a few minor details, the color, the script font is now my handwriting & the heart in the middle is now a star. This is definitely more suitable for a boy than my pink invitation suite, but It could still totally work for a girl. Hope someone out there gets some use out of this freebie! 
This was meant to be a little girl's dress. A few nights ago I was a bit bored & craving a little sewing project so I got it out & started looking at it. Originally I thought about doing a little scoop neck sheath for Penelope, but thought the finishing might look a bit shoddy if I try to take off the polo collar. Penelope was in the room, so I had her try on the untailored shirt & discovered that the neck was perfect as-is. If I buttoned it all the way to the top, it looked like a normal, meant-to-be-worn-by-a-toddler neckline. I used the same process as 
Here's how I did it:
*I can't remember where I saw this little tip for gathering, so if you know it, please send the link to me! This tip was SO incredibly helpful! I'll never gather without an elastic thread ever again.
It was sort of a happy accident that I sewed the two pieces together with the elastic bobbin. I usually just do zig zag stitch (my machine doesn't have a stretch stitch), but it's never as stretchy as I want it & often times looks pretty wonky. Using the elastic thread in the bobbin not only gave me more stretch, but it also pulled the stitches straighter, so when I turned the garment right side out, it looked nicely finished. I'm DEFINITELY going to use this technique in the future. Maybe for a project for me?
I'm so proud of this project. It's such a sweet little girl's dress! Penelope has refused to take it off since I finished it = job well done!
It's getting harder & harder to get her to sit still these days. I wish I could steal all of her energy & use it as my own.
I haven't been on an actual search to find those specific earrings, but when I saw 
We'll start with the studio-side of the room. This is my craft desk where I take my table top shots.
I attached paper to the wall with bulldog clips for my photography backdrop & added plexiglass atop the lower paper. It's the perfect permanent backdrop. I can always wipe up my spills & messes off the plexi & snap away. Also I like the Apple-esque reflective effect it gives to my photos.
Lunch box stores my calligraphy supplies.
I love that this globe has markers indicating how old it is. The USSR & other colonies are on here. I believe this globe is circa 1979-ish.
Here's my sewing space. I just bought the thread rack right before we found out we were moving, so that's just hanging out there. I plan on wall-mounting it at our new place (wherever that new place may be!).
I love having my fabric stash organized by color palette. Each basket is as follows: warms, cools, greyscale, browns. The other side is separated out by large cuts & projects needing to get done.
Here's my desk. I've got the 27" solid state iMac (SO FAST!), Wacom tablet 
I've got a few treasures on the shelves themselves.
This might be my favorite corner of the whole room. It's my Christopher shrine. On the left is a painting done of him when he was a baby. The middle two paintings are mine and the right is a stenciled self-portrait on a suitcase. He used this suitcase in college & made it long before we ever met. I love this stencil of him.
I love baby Chris's striped shirt & chubby cheeks. The yellow border is adorable, too.
This explains Chris perfectly when we met. This is a stencil of him rocking out to music. I love everything about what this suitcase says. Perhaps we could collect more suitcases & stencil the entire family!
Here's a little video tour of the room. Please excuse my awkward pauses. I can't seem to operate a video camera & talk at the same time.
I was asked if I was going to be paying with food stamps at the cash register today at the grocery store. I've never been asked that before, so it makes me wonder. . . is this what it looks like to be on welfare? Granted, I had a grandpa cardigan & an oversized pashmina on, but everything else was the same. Was it the heels that tipped her off or was it the two kids in tow? Scratch all that. I bet she could tell that I spent less than $25 on my entire outfit.
Anyone following Project runway? These earrings are an ode to Anya's cool wing earrings. I want to steal those earrings right off her ears. Also, I might have a little girl crush on Anya. She's got serious style.
I found this top at a clothing swap months ago & wore it for the first time today. I like how it looks, but not how it sounds. It makes a plasticky rustling noise as I move.
This top was a $4 thrift store find. I fell in love with the stripes & the gold button details on the shoulder. I 
This refashion took very little time to do. 30 minutes tops.
I'm already getting excited for Spring 2012. You?
I'm over on 
This first method is for keeping your tails in place when you're hand sewing with one thread. I'm not entirely sure what to call it, so for lack of a better phrase, it's the stay-put tail. It keeps the thread from slipping out the eye of the needle! I don't bother to do this if I'm doubling up the thread.
This second technique is about adding thread if you run out. I like it because it's low profile (doesn't create giant bumps or lumps), incredibly fast and sturdy. It also allows me to sew with smaller lengths of thread to avoid tangles. Do you hear Felix's cooing?
Hope these video tutorials are helpful! I hope to make more video tutorials in the future. Is there anything you'd like to see specifically? Feel free to leave it in the comments or email me.
So, of course the natural remedy is to cover it up in glitter. I like this remedy. It's messy, it involves lots & lots of glitter & it reminds me of wizard of oz or something like that.
Susan recommends doing multiple layers, which I think I might do. It would be good to make sure that glitter stays on. 
I wore this ensemble the last day of Sewing Summit. It was super comfortable with a dash of dressy.
I'm in the proces of finalizing my online calligraphy course material and a lot of other stressful things, so it's just perfect that my grandma would give it to me at this time. 
Truly, I feel loved by those beyond this world and I never thought I'd get so emotional over a pen.
This is essentially what I wore in my refashioning class at Sewing Summit. I wore different shoes, though. I just couldn't find the other pair when I got around to taking this photo. I really need to unpack from last weekend.
I didn't like the shape, red details or the fit. I did like the circle skirt & checked pattern, but that was about it. When I looked at it I knew I wanted to refashion it, but I originally thought that I needed to just update the sleeves, fit & neckline to something a little more modern. Last week it hit like a ton of bricks: it needs to be a midi skirt instead. Once I decided on that my work refashioning this little number took about 30 minutes. Lickety split, eh?
I just cut out the skirt just below the waistline and attached elastic to the waist, using leftover elastic from 
I think it's a big improvement on the original & I love that I now own a midi-length skirt! I'm just over the moon that they're super hot this fall. The above outfit is what I wore during my Refashioning class at Sewing Summit. The class went really well, too! We had a great time making fun of the gross things you can find at thrift stores. 
Went to Kilby Court last night to see my cousin's band, 
This is totally a spring/summer top, but I can't help myself.
I found these never-been-worn moccasin hush puppies for $23 at my favorite vintage shop: 
I don't shop there all the time, but when I'm looking for something different, specific & in near-perfect condition; I go there. Part of me was hesitant to buy these shoes because I'm used to finding deals for under $6, but come on! Where would I ever find a pair of shoes quite like these for even $23?
Have you found any good deals lately? Just recently my sister in thrifting, Laura, emailed me how she found an 
It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do. I wanted something nice & thick, but didn't have the budget to have them letterpressed. I have had my heart set on a 300 GSM paper, but unfortunately no digital printer (aka the cheapest form of printing) will print anything thicker than standard card stock. Most printers won't even print on uncoated paper, which is also what I've been looking for.
