Fly away tunic

I spent some time yesterday going through my sewing patterns, and unearthed a pile of patterns that I borrowed (read: stole) from my mom's pattern collection.  In with these, I found a pattern for a basic tunic that caught my eye.  In hindsight, the model looks so seriously unhappy (and a little confused) by the fact that her tunic looks like pajamas that she just doesn't know what to do about it:

But in all honesty, the text that reads "MAKE IT TONIGHT: An extra carefree pattern" sold me on the project.  While I am up for challenging patterns, I love being able to do a project from start to finish in a day,and the "MAKE IT TONIGHT" offer was just too enticing to pass up.  Despite the questionable photos on the package, I picked some fabric from my stash, and gave it a try.  I went with some adorable fabric from the "Nest" collection by Valori Wells that I ordered a few months ago.  And with a few minor updates to the pattern, I have a new tunic!

 The only real changes I made were to shorten the sleeves (I am in Florida in June, after all!) and to add a little embellishment on the front.  For some reason, I have been wanting a top with a scalloped embellishment on the front for what feels like forever.  And since this was such a basic tunic, I just couldn't resist!  At first, I tried a beautiful piece of blue and gold ribbon in the center of my embellishment.  While I loved the ribbon, it just didn't go with the fabric, so I covered it with this crocheted trim (although I left the ribbon underneath, and if you look closely, you can just see it poking through!)  I have some of the blue ribbon left, so I'll have to come up with something else to do with it...but I'm much happier with the crocheted trim for this project!  The most exciting part of this project was that I now have a basic shirt pattern, and I can't wait to play around with it!  I already have some ideas to change up the neckline, collar, sleeves, embellishments...you name it!  I can't wait to try them out!  Happy Friday!

Hello headbands

I have been working on some bigger projects, but I couldn't resist a quick headband-making session this morning.  I find myself wearing headbands more and more, and I love the comfort of an elastic one, versus the stiff kind that pinch behind the ears.  I used some trim I had left from this cardigan and these place mats, and just added a little elastic...easy as pie!  They're so comfy, I'm already wearing one!  Here is how they turned out:

When I made my last batch of headbands, I sewed them by hand. But today, in the interest of speed (and sturdiness) I sewed these babies on my machine.  They seem to hold up pretty well, and they took just moments to assemble...my kind of project!  Between the headbands, the beautiful sunshine, and some great reality tv, it's been a great Friday.  I hope you all had great Fridays as well, and I wish a happy weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Tunic: take two

Today, I woke up with an inexorable urge to go shopping.  I'm not sure if it was the sunshine, the fact that I'm finally done with this round of auditions, or if it is just one of those days; but whatever the reason, I couldn't shake the urge.  So I ordered this pair of loafers in kelly green (at $15 I just couldn't not order them!) but since they won't be here for a few days, I ventured into my box of castoff clothing and picked something to re-vamp.  So I started with this fixer-upper:

I bought this button-down tunic at Target a few years ago because I loved the print.  To be honest, I'm not even sure I tried it on in the store.  If I would have, I probably would have known that it was a super awkward length for me, and that I was never really going to wear it.  So to solve this problem, I chopped off the bottom, added a little bit of ruffle trim (how can you go wrong with ruffles?) and turned the navy belt into a removable bow pin.  Here is how it turned out:

This project was super easy and it really hit the spot today.  I had been keeping an eye out for a project to use this ruffle trim on, and I love the way it looks with the print on the shirt.  I'd call this re-fashion a success!

I hope you all are also getting a bit of the sunshine we're getting in Pennsylvania today, it's beautiful!  Today finally feels like spring.  I'm going to go enjoy it in my new top!  Thanks for stopping by and happy Wednesday! 

Old brown shoe

I spent today at home, practicing and taking a bit of a mental health day.  It was another dreary day here in Pennsylvania (complete with a variety of wintry mixtures falling outside) which was the perfect excuse to stay in all day.  It gave me a chance to do a good-old-fashioned Mod Podge project this afternoon, and to work on a pair of my favorite old brown shoes.  My project was inspired by this post, which I loved (and tucked away in the back of my mind) the instant I saw it a few weeks ago.  These were my shoes this morning:

   
They weren't terribly expensive, but they've quickly become one of my favorite pairs.  For some reason (even after they'd started to look a little more crummy than cute) I just can't stop wearing them.  You can imagine my devastation when a snowstorm in Cleveland almost destroyed them a few weeks back (salt works wonders on fake brown leather...and not in a good way!)  So I tried to give them a little more life, and here they are now:

You may recognize the fabric from this project...I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of that yardage!  I didn't do a perfect job of cutting the fabric away from the shoes, but it's certainly an improvement anyway (and no one will see them that close up, right?) I just glued the fabric on to the sections I wanted to cover, sealed it with Mod Podge, and swapped the laces for some brown ribbon.  I can't wait to wear them out on the town tomorrow!  (And by "out on the town" I, of course, mean "rehearsal.")  Happy Leap Day, everybody!

Handmade headbands

Since I have always had straight hair and I have also always had trouble doing any complicated hair-styling maneuvers, I love having bangs.  But I'm the worst about getting haircuts regularly, so I seem to spend a lot of time either pushing them out of my eyes, or awkwardly clipping them back so that I look a little like an unkempt girl-version of Donald Trump.  So lately, headbands have been a staple for me.  My favorites are the elastic ones, rather than the stiff ones (man do those pinch behind the ears!) so I used some more of my trim scraps today to make two simple elastic headbands.  Here is how they turned out:

The white one is made of some store-bought trim (you may recognize it from this post!) I just hand-sewed some elastic between the two ends and that was it!  For the grey headband, I used some store-bought double-fold bias tape that was left over from another project.  I made a simple little bow-tie, and I also sewed this one by hand. 

These were so simple (I'm a sucker for instant gratification) I may just make some more later in the week!  They were the perfect project to do while plopped in front of the television, watching the post-Oscar talk show gossip this morning (I'm also a sucker for morning talk shows.)  This week I'll be finishing up a long run of shows I played in State College, and this weekend I'll be traveling to New York for my last two auditions of the year!  I'm thrilled that things are wrapping up, and I can't wait for my schedule to slow down a bit so that I can get back to some bigger projects next week.       

Happy Monday, everybody!  Thanks for stopping by! 

Projects of Past, Present and Future

Since I didn't have much time to devote to actual sewing today, I decided to do a different kind of post:  I'm going to share a project I've already completed, a project that is still in progress, and a project I hope to make soon.

Project of the Past:
This apron was one of my fist "real" projects (which means I completed it by myself, and the end result actually looked like an apron.)  I completed it in 2009. 

When I first showed an interest in fabric (and quickly thereafter discovered JoAnn Fabrics) I found this fruit-printed cotton and just had to have it.  Around the same time (divine intervention?) I found this wonderful book, and it was a match made in heaven.  The apron pattern came straight from the book, and was a complete success.

Project of the Present:
This project is one that I have been working on for what feels like an eternity.  In fact, I'm not going to reveal exactly what it is, because when I eventually do finish it (read: if I ever finish it) I  want the big reveal to be a surprise!  So this is all you're getting:

Some of you may recognize this as "that wad of fabric" that you've seen in my last couple of apartments.  I will finish it eventually!

Project of the Future:
I came across this tutorial this afternoon when I was perusing the web today, and I just love the shape of it!  And I have some adorable fabrics upstairs that are screaming to be used for this project.  I'll keep y'all posted!

Thanks for stopping by!