back in the swing of it!

The couture clutches have re-clutched my attention (ha ha ha), mostly because I spent a lot of yesterday FIXING things ... like missing buttons and hems on my clothing that had needed attention for at least a year. While I did this, I spent some time fixing little boo-boos on some clutches I made in the last batch, and then got all fired-up to make some new ones.

I also got my act together and finished the raspberry flounce choli. I had decided NOT to permanantly affix a flounce to it because I'm not very into the flounce and would love to have a choli in this fantastic fabric that I can wear with other costumes anyway. So with a little advice from our troupe's costume mistress, I came up with these snaps as a solution. But I needed to keep the choli fabric from stretching where the snaps would go, to prevent puckering, so that meant I needed to add this hem tape. I did it on the flounce as well, since that fabric originally cut in a circle, then pushed outward to be a straight line (to make the flounce-y-ness) could use the extra strength, I thought. In any case, I am really pleased with the result and can't wait to wear it.

The other excitement around here? Well, the greenhouse is really coming together. In fact, while I've been doing all this sewing my husband has been hammering away affixing the siding to the structure. Next step I believe is to level the floor then pour in some gravel (which I believe will be my chore this week), and then we'll start worrying about finding a door (because I don't want JUST any door) and the heating/cooling/watering elements that will make it a true greenhouse.

Autumn Creativity!

Projectitis is beginning again in earnest.
I've begun crocheting a hat out of to die for soft alpaca yarn in a pretty cornflower blue that my husband's grandmother got me one year for Christmas, and I've been hanging onto it, waiting for the perfect small project (I only have one skein) to use it on.
Since I finally figured out that my favorite hat was crocheted, not knitted, replicating the pattern has been simple, and I'm thrilled by the results. I've even edited it a little bit. As soon as I finish, I promise to post pictures.

I've also gotten excited about Christmas stockings again. Several years ago, I made a couple dozen very unique stockings, out of fun co-ordinating non-holiday materials. The pattern is one I created myself, with a very exaggerated funky foot shape and wilde embellishments. They're super-fun and a great way to use up leftover fabrics. I made one this weekend, and have another cut out, ready to sew. I'm just struggling with a way to make them hold their shape when hanging. I could always stuff them with some filler, but that's not my favorite solution. I'm thinking I need to make them a lot more finished, lining them and adding some of that stiff stuff in between the lining and outer shell. It's just a bit of a pain to do that, for something that's just a holiday decoration.

The purse making stopped; I guess I got tired of them. Partly. The other part is that the nice magnetic snaps are so expensive, and other snaps pull out to easily. I have a bunch of purses here at home that need to be fixed because the snaps pulled out, and they're not fixed yet, because the nice snaps are too pricey. I was hoping to find a good place to buy them in bulk, but so far I've had no luck with that. So the motivation on the couture clutches has petered out.

Work, ick!

Ah well, the creativity has slowed down considerably. I'm using it all up on work stuff. Ick!
But I am working hard creating stuff for my Relay for Life team -- Relay for Life is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, if you didn't already know that.
I did sketch a bit to come up with some new purse ideas. I really love the clutches I've made so far, but it's not a pattern of my own design, and I feel a bit awkward about selling them. As in, I feel as though it's stealing and I ought not to. So I sketched a bit, and then realized that a drawing wasn't helping too much; what I needed was something three-dimensional to really see how it would work out. So I got a bunch of paper out and created the shapes with paper and sort of taped them together and ... hell, yeah! I really like it! So, eventually, I'll get all my sewing stuff out again and start working on a new series of clutches that are all my design.
Oooh! And in other news, my husband brought home a 4-drawer filing cabinet last week. I'm ecstatic, because the clutter factor in this little house was getting out of hand. Inside my filing cabinet? You'll love this.
Top drawer: All the dog magazine back-up files.
2nd drawer: Knitting supplies -- needles, yarn, etc.
3rd drawer: Fabric scraps -- all in baggies to keep each project together (scraps from each bellydancing costume, for instance, are in their own bags, to easily find all coordinating fabrics) and embroidery stuff (thread, hoops)
4th drawer: Iron, projector, sewing box (with all thread, needles, sewing machine parts, etc)
The whole thing is just awesome. I wish I had a whole room full of filing cabinets like this. Imagine how organized I could be! Imagine how clean the house could be, if I didn't have paper bags, piles, boxes of projects all over the place!
For instance, right now I'm not making any more purses because I don't want to create a new disaster in my living room, because it makes *living* in that living room near impossible. BUT if I had a clear place for everything to put away, or to find it straight off, I wouldn't have to make such a huge mess, and would be more likely to create something in whatever time I have available. Actually, some people may say this is B.S. That I'll always create huge messes where ever I go. I'm *dreaming* if I think something like filing cabinets is going to make my house clutter-free. Those people may possibly be correct.

Whoa!

Did you think I've been slacking on the projects since I've been quiet? Oh, no. Quite the opposite, in fact. I've not had time to photograph anything, and so I haven't been updating.
But yesterday I did start work on a new stamp -- soon to be another card. A friend mentioned that his mom loves owls, and since I did a hummingbird stamp already I thought "Oooh! A lot of people are into owls and may love to have an owl card!" So here ya go! I started to create one. I must say, though, that whoever it was that recommended this pink carving stuff (Speedball Speedy-Stamp) really got it wrong. It doesn't crumble, I'll give it that much (several other varieties crumble, making it hard to do fine work) but it's really bendy, really flexible. So if you're trying to carve any thin lines, they bend away from the knife, rather than get sliced. The only reason I used it was a) I had it laying around; and b) I was out of the orange stuff. And you know how it goes -- once you're in the grip of projectitis, you sorta have to just go with it. No waiting around for proper materials! In any case, I think he's looking really cute, and hope the cards come out well. I did sell a couple orchid cards already, and that makes me happy. $2 isn't much, but it's $2, and it's more than I had before. :)

Other projects lately involve the paying, work kind. I've got a couple magazine deadlines looming in my future, so I've been busy designing. Also spent an afternoon making beautiful headpieces for my bellydancing troupe. Hopefully I'll have photos of those soon. There were also orchid centerpieces to create for a benefit dinner, and several more of the "couture clutches." LOTS more of them, in fact. I got really gung-ho with those, and if not for all the work I have to do, I'd probably be making lots more. They're really awesome.

Oh, I do love the accessories

The purses are coming out really awesome. Every single one has something I adore about it, and something about it that sucks. The process of learning how to best assemble them is really not going as smoothly as hoped. For one thing, the smaller purses are very difficult to sew; it's like they require a very tiny sewing machine to fit inside the opening to topstitch that final seam. In my first attempt, I hand-stitched it, since the machine was just too cumbersome. But hand-stitching is too time-consuming. Another problem I encountered is my own darn brain. I went ahead and finished the purse before inserting the magnetic snap. Which meant that I either had to undo everything, so I could reach in between the lining & the outer fabric, or I had to sew on a little regular snap. I did decide to sew on a regular snap, but that turned out badly as well, since it really is important to sew through the stiff stuff sandwiched between the outer & lining, but important to not sew through the outer. In any case, it looks sloppy now, and I'm sad because in all it started out as my favorite purse, the most professional looking and pretty.

In case making a gajillion purses wasn't enough stuff to do, I got all inspired talking with a friend and want to make hats, too. I bought a pattern for some hats from the goddess of everything (I don't know what else to call her!) -- Amy Butler. Her fabrics are beyond belief. And I have to admit, I often wanted to be a wrapping paper designer growing up. More so than anything else, but I never voiced this desire, because I didn't really believe there *was* such a thing. But I still want to design fabric, wrapping paper, wallpaper ... anything with repeating patterns. And I know I'd be really good at it, but I have no idea how one goes about that sort of thing. Anyway, as it is, there are too many other things I am digging doing right now, so I will just let that one be on the back burner a while.
Whoa, that was a ramble. But see, Amy Butler's work kinda does that to a person! For more inspiration, check out her inspiration page ... full of beautiful photos and links that will get your creative juices overflowing!

The pattern I got is similar, but not exactly like the hat I really want to make. But I have never made a hat before, and am hoping that after doing several of these, I can edit the pattern to be closer to the hats I want to make. I'm fairly certain that this pattern will teach me the basic construction of a hat, and I'll be able to go wild with my own designs. The same thing happened with the purses. Now that I understand how it works, I am editing each one a little bit to be more like what I envision. It's really quite fun to learn something new this way.

I got it bad now.

Hoo boy, with the beautiful spring weather and an energizing morning at the gym (and inspiring visit to the remnant box at The Cotton Ball I've got a really bad case of projectitis today.
Here's the deal, the shop I work at part time requested of me that I create more cards! Also, they wondered if I could transfer my stamp images to things like shirts and aprons. Well, that got me on a roll with ideas, so I went to the Cotton Ball to look for embellishments and any fabrics that have an orchid motif on them (it's an orchid shop). That's when I got distracted by the remnant box and decided I didn't need orchid motifs, and I would make purses. I bought a lot of remnants. Let's just say, I bought more than enough, considering I already have several storage bins full of fabric. But I did get really inspired, and got some pretty amazing fabric pieces.
So what's the status of these projects? Well, I cut out one little wristlette (I bought this pattern YEARS ago, and finally am going to make the darn things) so that if I screw up, it won't be wasting tons of fabric. It's going to be a fuzzy animal print and black velvet combo. Very sexy. By the way, I just discovered the pattern can be purchased online from the artist's site: http://www.radbags.com/
I've bought several patterns from her, and the graphic designer in me wants her to stop hand-writing and illustrating the directions, there's another part of me that finds it absolutely charming. Also, every single thing I've seen from her is delightful, clever, charming ...pick an adjective, she's got all the good ones.

And for the cards I've drawn an orchid image onto the carving material. But this is the last of my carving material, so I'll need to buy more. I'm a bit trepidacious about carving this one, with all those fine lines. But I'll just have to TRY to be patient and slow.

Also, I need to buy additional materials for the "couture clutches" ... that's what I get for jumping into a project without thinking it through. I decided *not* to drive into town for the materials I need today. I already was in town earlier today, and will just have to wait until tomorrow to get little magnets and the extra-heavy stabilizer to make the little guys keep their shape.. Ooh! But I did already sew the lining together and made my very first boxed corner! I may sound totally lame right now but -- OH it's MAGIC!