Tutorial Posted at Craft Gossip!

Good news and bad news.  First, my Belt Buckle Purse Strap Tutorial was posted at Craft Gossip! Anne Weaver sent me the nicest email.  Her website is great and there is really great information there on all sorts of different crafts.  I hope that a lot of people make a bag using my tutorial.  If you are one of them, I want to see it!  It is really very easy...give it a try.

Okay, now for the bad news.  My cell phone case did not work out very well for me today.  Backstory:  I got the new HTC Droid phone a few days ago and I have been paranoid about breaking the camera or scratching the touch screen.  This is the reason I wanted to make a case for it.  My phone fits perfectly inside my new case butit  really isn't very practical.  I mean, I can't get it out quickly when it rings.  So, while the case protects my phone great, I'm going to have to come up with another design.  The first change I am going to try is simply use velcro for the closure instead of the button.  I've already cut out fabric for two new cases.  I've decided to use flannel instead of batting.  I think this will "de-bulk" the case.  Hopefully, I will finish these up tomorrow.

One last thing...did you notice Wonder Woman's makeover?  Anyone that has been on this blog journey since the beginning knows that WW is special to me.  I only recently changed my profile from her image.  I'm not sure what to make of her new look.  I'm going to have to ponder this new look for awhile before I make up my mind.  What do you think?

NYDailyNews.com

  Toodles for now!

Droid Cell Phone Case Complete!

Droid Cell Phone Case (front)

Backside

Well, I finished the case for my new cell phone tonight.  I found the tutorial for the case at Sew Mama Sew a few days ago.  I thought I was going to have to alter the measurements for my phone, but luckily, I didn't have to!  This is great because measuring/math is not my forte.  That sounds terrible for a sewist doesn't it?  I'm getting better, but I've been very guilty of "eyeballing" my measurements in the past.  I now pinkie swear I will no longer do this...Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my results.  My new "Droid" phone (I'm not sure what that means) fits inside perfectly.  I used a fabric from Tina Givens' Free Spirit line called Rachael  for the outside and decided on a pale pink flannel for the lining.  I thought this would be softer on the phone, which it is, but it also makes it a bit bulkier since there is also a layer of batting.  I will definately make more of these since they don't take a lot of fabric and it was a pretty quick project from beginning to end.  Maybe I'll change the closure on the next case I make.  Maybe velcro or a snap?  What do you think?

Just one more thing.  Awhile back I signed up to receive newletters and discounts from Simplicity, McCall's, Vogue, and Butterick.  I usually get two or three of their adds every day.  I got one from Vogue a few days ago and just opened it today.  In it I found their new collection.  In this collection is one gorgeous dress.  It is Vintage Vogue 1171. 

Vintage Vogue 1171

 

I also found what I am certain is the most awful dress I have ever seen.  Tell me what you think of this Mrs. Roper number, otherwise known as Vogue 1181.

Vogue 1181

Pretty terrible huh?  I don't have anymore words for this.

Toodles for now!

Knick Knacks, Rusty Lawnmowers and A Sweaty 40 Year Old, Ultra White (Now Sunburned) Lady. Is There Anything More Sexy?

Whew!  My first ever garage sale was a success!  I started setting up yesterday around 10:00 and made my first sale at about 10:15!  Although I made $127.75 total, I realize now that I could have been more successful had I started my sale earlier.  It was extremely hot and I think most "garage hunters" start and finish their hunts early, especially when the weather is super hot.  I have also learned that buyers are attracted to lawn mowers, plastic large outdoor play equipment, and bikes.  These items sold quickly.  Even though the heat was unbearable and my shoulders are now sunburned, I think I have the garage sale bug!  Except for the heat, doing this garage sale was pretty fun.  I met some really nice people, including Megan, a gal that bought a lot of my treasured cake decorating supplies, namely, my fondant and gumpaste cutters.  I sure hope she enjoys them as much as I did...I know whoever she makes the decorations for sure will!  I can't wait for my next sale!  Next time I will be more organized, start sooner in the day, and have more one dollar bills on hand for change!

I want to thank Dotty at Totally Tutorials for posting my Belt Buckle Purse Strap Tutorial.  This is my second tute and it was really fun to do.  If you have never been to Dotty's site, you should visit.  She posts all sorts of sewing how-tos as well many other crafts...even on blogging!

I'd also like to thank Karen at Some Days Are Diamonds for starting the Bloggerette Sorority!  I joined this group today and although I'm too late to participate in the "Rush," I can't wait to get involved in this sisterhood!  There are all sorts of different crafts represented by the blogging sisters.  I am sure I am going to learn a lot from these ladies and from being part of this community.  Check out the Sorority button.  Isn't is beautiful? 

Now, what should my next project be?  I am definately still looking for a design to cover my iTouch and new cell phone.  Anyone have a great pattern?  Send it my way.  I found a design at  Sew Mama Sew, but I'll have to change the dimensions to fit my gadgets...and you know, math really isn't my thing.

Sew Mama Sew

I've had a fantastic weekend!  I hope you all have as well!  Oh, and I am almost feeling back to normal after the kidney stone.  Thanks again for the "get well" wishes.  I have an appointment with my super sweet doc tomorrow and I know he'll be giving me the "all clear!"  (Fingers crossed)

Toodles!

Can One Have Too Many Purses?

As you know, I normally spend my Fridays shopping at flea markets, thrift stores, garage  and estate sales, as well as vintage outlets.  Today, however,  I was busy getting organized for my own garage sale!  Believe it or not, I have never had a garage sale!  I'm not sure I knew how involved it would be.  Every year my neighborhood has a "hood" sale on the same three days.  I have never participated before, but I decided to have a go this year after my next door neighbor told me she made $400 last year.  Can you believe that?  Even half that would be great for the new camera fund right?  I will keep you posted on well I do tomorrow.  I will also post any items that I don't sell tomorrow in case anyone is interested in cake decorating supplies, gumpaste cutters and molds, pans and stands, as well as vintage cake decorating books.  Sorry, I've just realized if I can clear out this stuff, I would have more room for fabric!!

 Simplicity

I stayed up late last night and finished the Simplicity Pleated Purse.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  I found the pattern pretty straightforward and fairly easy to follow, with the exception of the inside pocket.  Luckily, I learned how to do an inside zipper pocket when I made the black and gray purse just last week.  I actually used the zipper from the deconstructed skirt for this inside pocket.  I absolutely love the fabric and to think that the entire purse was made from the fabric of a $2.00 skirt I bought at Goodwill makes it even sweeter!  I will definately make this purse again, but maybe shorten it a bit.  As a vertically challenged person, this bag kind of hangs a bit low for me. 

Have a look at the photos and let me know what you think! 

Notice my Sew Loquacious tag?

Congratulations! It's A...

..A bouncing, well not bouncing, but JAGGED, knarly, sharp KIDNEY STONE!  This not so little bundle of pain was born yesterday around 10:00 am.  Luckily, I was in the hospital under the care of my super sweet doctor, Dr. Nguen when Kiddy decided to make its way down.  The doc was able to knock it into twins and scoop it away!  He is my new hero.  I am happy to say that I am home and doing just fine.  Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers.

Needless to say, I am taking it easy for the next few days, so no ballroom dancing or running marathons, but I don't do those things anyway.  I've done quite a bit of lounging lately and frankley, it is getting boring.  Oh I would love to say "how grand it would be" to lounge about eating bon bons and watching soap operas, but really, it has been difficult.  That said,  I did my share of faffing, watching The Young and the Restless (I haven't a clue what's going on), web surfing, and eating creme filled donuts, until I decided to start on a new bag.  I made way to my sewing studio and came up with this project:

Simplicity bag 2685, the bag in the upper right corner.  I decided to use the fabric I got from one of my flea market trips.  In case you forgot, I scored some great fabrics several weeks ago from my local Goodwill Store.  I bought a few skirts and a linen dress.  I decided to use the summery fabric from one of the skirts.

Simplicity 2685

I deconstructed the skirt and managed to salvage a super cool hidden zipper as well as the fabric I'll be using for my bag.  I decided on yellow for the lining.  Sorry, my photos don't do justice...the fabric is really nice.  I cut out my pieces for the bag and lining, but I'll have to make a run to the fabric store to buy some interfacing before I can do much more.  Hopefully, I will get the rest of my supplies purchased tomorrow and complete the bag by the weekend.  I'll keep you posted!

During my websurfing today, I did come across a few great tutorials.  The first will actually help me with the bag I started today because it deals with pleats; specifically, a pleated purse, which is what my bag is.  I found this tute at Modest Maven.  Jodell posted some great photos of making the pleats.  This is wonderful and I wish I would have found her blog when I was making the Crafty skirt because I had never made pleats before.  I would have loved to have been able to SEE the pleating.  The purse Jodell made is also great.  Check it out.

Modest Maven Pleated Purse

Another tutorial I came across is at Deliberately Domestic.  Here, Monica wrote a tutorial on making a clutch style purse.  Her tutorial is great; she used a leather-like material for her purse, which is totally something I want to try.  Here is a picture of her clutch purse:

Deliberately Domestic Clutch Purse

Oh, I added a few photos of bags I have made to my Purses and Bags  page.  Have a look!  Have a great night!  Toodles for now!
Angela

Sew, You're Having a Kidney Stone?

Jupiter

I've been in labor for three days.  No, I'm not having another baby, but a KIDNEY STONE the size of JUPITER!  Well, this boulder is definately not going to pass on its own, so I will be having it professionally removed next week.  Aren't I lucky?  Actually, the pain is bearable most of the time as long as I stay on top of it with the pain medication.  So, although I can't go to work while on these meds, I have managed to complete a few sewing projects in between naps.  Let me know what you think (maybe not a good idea to sew and or handle sharp objects while medicated?).

Dana's box Bag

I made this box bag for my hairdresser and friend, Dana.  I bought the fabric months ago knowing that I would make something for her with it.  I came across the tutorial for the bag at Stacy Sews Diary of a Fabric Junkie.  The directions were fairly easy to follow.  I'm sure that I will be making many more of these bags in the future!

Simplicity 2617

I also finished another purse.  I followed the   Simplicity 2617 pattern, however I did not quilt my bag.  I think it turned out pretty nice...and I managed to insert an inside zipper in the lining...a first for me!!

Inside Zipper

Oh, my "big" daughter received the black and white skirt and pink tunic top yesterday.  Suprise!  She likes them and they both fit!  As a matter of fact, she is wearing the skirt now.  Yeah!

Alright, until next time, toodles!

Angela

Tutorials, Cameras, and Giveaways!

Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with sewing or tonight's post, but who cares? It's pretty isn't it? My husband, who is an awesome photographer, snapped this photo last summer in Charleston. My hubby is giving me "photog" lessons with his super fancy Cannon SLR digital camera. It has several different lenses and I'm sure I don't know what I am doing, but I look pretty cool when I'm pointing a shooting! The click sound the camera makes is awesome. It's almost as cool as the sound you hear when you hit a golfball just right. You golfers know what I mean...am I right? Anyway, I think my husband has alterior motives for the photography lessons. I'm pretty sure he wants to "give" me his Cannon so he can upgrade to an even fancier one. That said, I like the lessons and I like the pictures a whole lot more than the pics from my camera.

Sew, I finished the little bag I started the other night. Of course I altered the pattern by sewing a belt for the strap. This makes the strap adjustable. I decided to write up a tutorial on how I made my strap. Click http://sewloquacious.blogspot.com/p/belt-buckle-purse-strap-tutorial.html for the tutorial, which is posted in my sidebar. Again, please let me know if I haven't explained something clearly. Also, I'd love to see any photos of your projects!

One last thing, Cyndi at http://bluebirdswing.blogspot.com/ posted another Give Away! She had two prizes this month...one is a gorgeous purse. Click over and enter!

Toodles for now!
Angela

PS. Not sure how or why I lost my LINK tool. Any ideas?

New Look 6984

I wish you could see this fabric in person! It is so thin and soft. I finished this dress/tunic yesterday. I actually started it as a dress, but I ended up making it shorter. Sew, my daughter can either wear it as a long tunic-like top or a minidress. As her mother, I'm hoping she opts for the tunic. I made a few other than the length as well. I used bias tape to finish the bottom hem. Since the fabric is so light, this tape helped to add some weight to it; this helped it hang nicer.

When I started this project, I bought matching pink fabric to sew a lining. I have never lined anything other than a purse before, but I thought I could manage. Halfway through, however, I decided not to sew a lining, but just buy a light pink or white tank top for my daughter to wear underneath. I changed my mind for two basic reasons:

1. Explicit instructions were not available
2. Time: short on.

I wanted to get this project, along with the black and white skirt I made in the mail ASAP, so I decided to buy an undershirt. I'm still having camera issues. I hope to have this resoved before my next project, which, by the way, is a purse. I have been doing so many clothes items recently! I sew need to make a purse! Stay tuned, I may just do another tutorial as well!

I must say, I have learned a lot doing these last few projects. Besides sewing a zipper into a skirt, and creating pleats, I feel like I've had a better understanding of these patterns, especially the McCall's Crafty skirt. It's really kind of neat when things actually turn out like they are supposed to!

Angela

PS. I refuse to acknowledge Sean and David (yeah I watched the Patridge Family) Cassidy are "vintage."

Sew, What Do You Think?

So you are probably thinking...is Angela going through an identity crisis?  The answer is, "no."  Well, not really.  I have been doing some rearranging and tweaking of my blog design.  When I started this blog journey a few months ago, I hadn't really read that many blogs and I certainly didn't think that if I began my own blog, I would be able to design it and or customize it.  But, I have been doing a lot of blog surfing and I have found that so many sites have great and unique designs.  I just want to tweak until I feel like I have really made a home here.  I am pretty happy with this current design.  I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to figure out the header composite, but there you go.  I like it's current look and I will probably keep this...for awhile anyway. 

You have probably also noticed that I have changed my avatar.  Avatar.  That's a cool word isn't it?  I have changed my profile image from my favorite superhero, Wonder Woman, to kind of a retro lady with Annette Funicello (sp?) hair.  While I still love Wonder Woman, and what she stands for,  I am actually probably more akin to Annette, so I'll keep her as my avatar.  I hope you like her, too.

With Annette by my side, I have been working on a skirt for my oldest daughter.  I so hoped I would have finished it before she left for a summer internship in Washington DC, but, duty called and I didn't even get it started before she went away.  I will mail it and pray it fits and she likes it..she's pretty picky.

The McCall's Crafty pattern was fairly easy.  I accomplished two firsts with this project:  Pleats (never done before) and a Zipper (first time inserting in clothes).  I had a little trouble figuring out whether I was supposed to sew the yoke facing to the skirt in order to keep it from flipping up, but I decided to sew it down with invisible thread.  Threading my machine with this sort of thread is another story!

I hope you like my ever changing blog design and I hope you keep coming back to see what I am up to!

Bye for now,

Angela

Flea Market Friday: Is Sean Cassidy Vintage?

Hello fellow crafters! Today I ventured to heart of the sexy city; down to the stockyards, rail yards, and old warehouses some of which have been converted to haunted houses with names like The Edge of Hell and The Beast, others are now large antique malls, flea markets, and "estate sale" venues. This is where I found Good Ju Ju (www.goodjujukc.com). Good Ju Ju is a large expanse of mostly "vintage" wares and some homemade items. The products are separated by the seller (of which there are many) into sort of vignettes; mostly by theme. I scored a few great items for my sewing studio. Check out these "vintage" genuine fake diamond-esque buttons and matching buckles.

Sorry for the horrid photo quality. I'm not sure what's going on with my camera, but it appears I may need to invest in a new one.

I also made off with a few sewing stuff storage items. Backstory: When I started decorating my studio last fall, one of the first pieces of furniture I bought was an old, rather, vintage, kitchen cupboard. It is quite tall and the top is laminated. It is edged in metal and has an "on board" bread compartment drawer. That said, today I found a silver bread box and a set of silver canisters. I've placed these atop of my cupboard. It rocks!

With my loot in my boot, I left Good Ju Ju and walked over to a "proper" antique store. Here I purchased my first vintage sewing pattern. Actually, I bought two patterns. I'm not sure what year the Butterick pattern was produced because I can't find a date on the package or anywhere on the instructions. It is unique, to me anyway, because it is a 1/2 size. I haven't seen this on patterns since I have been sewing. The Simplicity (5967) pattern appears to have been printed in 1973. Tres cool huh?

I finally returned home pleased with my trip to the bowels of the city. My diva daughter and I had a blast. Oh, and she received several compliments on her halter I made for her a few months ago. Today she wore it for the first time as the weather is now hot (and I mean hot) enough to wear it. What do you think? It is...how you say...tres chic no?

One last word...maybe two. I must say I was a bit taken aback when I spied a Sean Cassidy poster listed as "Vintage Hearthrob." If this makes you feel old, I won't mention that I also saw Leif Garret's poster, too. If I had the exact same Sean Cassidy..."Da Doo Run Run"...poster, does that mean I am vintage?

Angela

Simplicity 2616: Done Deal

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.  Mine was spent working.  The long hours paid off and justice has been served.  That said, I spent this evening finishing up Simplicity 2616.  I decided to make View D.  I found the instructions actually fairly easy to follow and didn't run into much trouble at all, although I may not have inserted the elastic tight enough.  If, after I wear the top, I decide the shoulders and neck should be tighter, I will open up the casings and pull the elastic to shorten.  I really like the fabric I chose.  It is a cream colored linen-look with embroidered black flowers.  The downside here is that it is a bit heavy.  What do you think of this look? 

Bottom line on this pattern:  Pretty easy.  I will definately sew another view using a different fabric. 

I'd like to thank Rachel from One Pretty Thing for her kind words regarding my Adjustable Strap Tutorial.  She found my tute at Craftaholics Anonymous and then posted it on her site!  I'd love to see photos of any projects made using my tute! 

I hope you've noticed my "Grab" button!  I finally figured it out!  Yeah!  I was feeling pretty techno hip with this accomplishment until I realized that my "Email Me" button isn't functional!  Any suggestions?

Bye for now.

Angela