ufo attack

well, just the one. but as usual, thanks Sunni for a grounded approach: I am tackling a few UFO*s for mental health. Step 1: I just spent 2 hours watching Planet Earth with my baby and tearing out the zig zag and topstitches of my referee tee.

the girls tee in progress: love this fabric!
girlcharlee is good for stuff that looks fun online, and then you find out is really better for the kids. 

Then tomorrow i can whip out the girl's tee (unblogged? doh), and call my foray into knits happily closed (for the moment) so that I can finish the boy's duvet cover. Did you know that's what I'm doing with my quilt blocks? it is. surprise! did you know sashing and finishing a quilt takes FOREVER? it does. now you know so many things. :)

quilt top + pins + flannnnellz

happy thanksgiving, friends. i hope your cocoa is warm and sweet as mine. and that your antidepressants always contain anti anxiety components, too.

xoxo
bex

*a UFO is an unfinished object. they're like gremlins, which breed whenever water is present. side effect of a shortage of time and overabundance of wardrobe wants!

Finishing things:black white and grey edition

i finished the T shirt

(it kinda sucks, whatever.)

but i like my knits teacher more today-- hugs meg!

oohhh turning fabrics sidewayz

i also finished a conservative top.

i stopped this one months ago because it was dull conservative. but now i need stuff like that to wear with mah toms n jeans and look like an adult. so: finished.

if i edited photos, i would spruce up my makeup :P

i also made placemats and a runner for my grandma's fancy dining table.

They are kind of ugly, but they are a good use of some fabric that i was probably never going to turn into anything else. (from the sew weekly swap woo thanks team!) they also work well and were kinda fun to play quilting doodling on while i caught up on 30 rock. what are they doin on there this season? it's very community theater improv. i bet tina fey is having fun. being a boss: is it fun?

my next tee?

the down side of being a vampirish sewist (but who paradoxically soaks up every bit of UV radiation possible hmm) is that i don't take many photos because i don't have a whole studio setup with umbrellas and lights and all, and nighttime photos suck. sorry! (UPDATE bf and i turned on every light in the house last night to provide these beauties. xo bf)

bf is teaching me to be a football ref

did you ever read one of those things about how to have a good blog? i break every rule. that is why no one follows my blog and it hasn't made me rich. SIGH.

well, it makes me grin, so. I hope you had a wonderful halloween!!!!

xo
bex

math is hard: undies and time

please forgive the inordinate use of the word SO in this post. my editor (LOL) is on vacation and that is how it is!

I have been wanting to make unders forever. and t shirts...but my first renfrew was pretty awful and the second wasn't enough better to entice me back.

so i signed up for this class. the patterns are cool, the teacher is LONG WINDED. the intro is like 2 hours long, LITERALLY. she is not a city girl like some other teachers whose style i jive with a little more, though the content is hella solid and I learned a fair amount in that two hours. i said jive with - shoot me!

ok so anyway. i made a t shirt! it took like 5 weeks between the school and student teaching and maintaining a household and freelancing and oh yeah raising a kid, so. tonight i will bind the neck. i made a cool yokey design choice based on accidentally (?) or maybe frugal fanny-ly? buying an insanely small amount of fabric. i sacrificed a t shirt from my bestie's dance co (check em out! dope!) to make a cool contrast yoke. i lURVE it.

i'll use another hunk of that t (thick, late 90s weight 1x1 rib knit? who knows) for the crotch in my new undies...but that's where we get to the math part.

i was so excited to see amy's fabulous style rendered in these hot --but ass-covering-- undies.  Now that I spend a fair amount of time around teens and tweens, i prefer to cover my cheeks. weird? they (my cheeks) are under my pants/dress anyway, but i feel like a generous dash of modesty won't hurt.

SO this happened. amazeballs, right? right. but the bf's computer/printer is a mac style, which apparently prints whatever size it wants. i printed, & taped & cut a 6 (exactly my measurements oh happy day) and made it up in some leftover mesh. it was pretty skimpy, esp in the crack, but also a little saggy. so, ok, maybe size down and that will raise the back up? (from the pattern it made sense.) when i printed the sections i needed to size down, they were WAY BIGGER than the first printout. what the hell size is my meshmuslin? i have no clue.

sigh

i hate it mostly, that my sewing time is so fractured and grab here and there, so the minor frustration of this confusion sets me back to square one, and i may not get to it for a week or three. i started today hoping for hot unders in the drawer at bedtime. instead i have pages of recycling, a strange pair of mesh ladyshorts, a good relationship, a yummy tomato sauce, a happy child, and chocolate zucchini bread.

not so bad, i suppose. except for the underpants. ;) and please, if you have one, what's your best panty pattern???

xo yalls
bex

i'm a winner

hey look i won this thing!

it's not something i would have spent money on (but if you have $15, you could?), what with current age of unbelievable austerity in which i'm living, but should bring me a few hours of no-budget fun. WWOOOO.

also, if it's dope, i'll get to pimp a local creative give backy business, and i love that.

so. here are some things maybe i'll do

1) wallpaper a small wall of my love shack with gorgeous wallpaper for frees.
2) make a cool side sewn sketchbook (with the cool paper from the free book and embroidery floss from last year's friendship bracelet fun? like.)
3) make wood rings?!?!?!? love.
4) MACRAME
5) oh you know, sew some clothes or whatever.

I wanted to tell you something else, but i forgot. so, happy day, have fun at creativebug, and if you find the best video, share it!!
xo
bex

Colette party and why i'm trying again

So I went to the Colette party. It was fine. I saw a lot of people wearing Colette dresses.

things I learned:

• These dresses provide a particular aesthetic 
• That aesthetic is not exactly mine...
• I am also not a big fan of dresses out of quilting cotton (though yours was extra cute, Nicole!). 
• The samples are made from fabric types (silk, slinky poly), that I rarely see home sewists use in their Colette creations. that's why this dress is so dope:  
• I scrutinized the Sencha sample, and am going to try to work that one again. I also saw a cute version in action (on an actual person) so I have the faith again!
• I also grabbed the Anise from the sample rack and tried it on. WOO! I want a short jacket, and it's a good time to get motivated with a sewalong. 

are you supposed to touch the samples? xlnt.

I plan to make it up in this gnarly (free) olive wool I have downstairs as a test case. It'll be useful if it works, and not a huge loss if it doesn't. 

Questions

• Does Liberty quilting cotton = regular shirting cotton? something to consider. I love this stuff, and it's wayyyyy less benjamins than the nice stuff:

finally, i have this blog, where i sew and stuff? but i can't identify as a sewing blogger (because i don't do sH&t to build audience or community or whatever...plus of course I feel like a giant dork trying to befriend people whose projects I stalk and judge online) (who's honest? me). but innyways 1.0 points if you can name the one with the Look in this photo.

lolz- hi Amy! 

See you at the SEWALONG?

xo 

bex

dressess forever!

I'm working on a dress for myself yippee! I've been daydreaming about this dress in this fabric for the past couple of weeks.  It's a me-made version of my favorite comfortable go anywhere dress.

But I've also been daydreaming about this one, in this fabric, for maybe longer?

 And this pattern has a big "easy" circle on the cover, and no style options- it is one way (praise the lord and retire the possibilities). So I made this muslin:

hmm.

somewhat snug for school

but pockets! 

this one's for you, boyfriend.

wonkety zipper for the muslin, no sweat. muffin top? sweat. 

pulling in between waist and hips. SO GLAD i tested this first. that is not a spot i usually have trouble with.  (laura mae, this pose is for you :)

those pockets are not supposed to puff. 

yes, the neck is too low.

it got comfier over time...

I put this piece in backwards, so it has this cute ruffle around it. woo!

holy crap it fits my back so sexily.

will it work to just raise the V this way? the shoulders are really flappy.

thought i should smile at least once. :)

 now what? muslin #2? or should i finally CUT THE IKAT???

tune in tomorrow to find out what happened. LOLS.

potholders for mein herr

oh my goodness it's sewing geek out day and i am so happy.

foldy pocket! no slipping. 

here are some potholders i made for my man. he loves to cook but only had this tiny kid-crafted one. full of love, right, but not so safe for the fingertips. also it's strangely slippery and kind of a gross texture.

hanging loop!

masculine! insulated! handy foldy pocket style! FTW

his n hers

COMPONENTS:
some marc jacobs home dec weight fabric from the sew weekly meetup this spring + flannel leftovers + insulbright + black extra wide vintage (but who cares) bias tape. stash to the max!
i made it up all by myself, tracing a book that seemed like a comfortable size, and drawing my diagonals with chalk. good times. so basic.

happy saturday, loves!
r