The "to infinity and beyond!" scarf

I know I said I was finally going to tackle some of my clothing patterns, but with the weather suddenly turning so nice, I was compelled to make a sunny, bright infinity scarf today.  I've been hanging onto a bunch of scraps in the blue-yellow-green color family (one of my favorite color families!) and just sewed a big loop!  Here is how it turned out:

I made it slightly over-sized (for comfort's sake) and I just pieced the scraps together, sewed the whole thing inside out, then turned it and closed up the loop...easy as pie!  After I finished up this little project, I headed out to Rickett's Glen State Park for a lovely hike with my sister.  We had perfect weather, and (possibly for the first time in history) didn't get lost while finding our way back to the car.  Big day!

While I didn't progress a whole lot today on my adventures in sewing with patterns, I have officially started laying out a project that I'm super excited about!  I'll let you all know how it goes!  I hope you all had wonderful Thursdays, and thanks for stopping by!

Thrifty Tuesday

Today my sister and I made a trip to our local flea market.  I was tempted by so many different vintage fabrics, doilies, notions, and buttons; but somehow I managed to make it out without spending more than five dollars (it's a miracle!)  In the end, I settled on a gorgeous yellow lace runner and a mixed pack of vintage handkerchiefs.  

 

I can't wait to come up with some ways to use these in upcoming projects!  Although some of the hankies are so beautifully embroidered, I might not have the heart to cut them up.  I'm thinking of framing some of them along with some vintage needle cases to hang in my future sewing room.  I've also been attempting to think of projects all afternoon that would create a need for me to go and pick up some extra buttons and notions I found.  I'm sure I'll come up with something!

After much deliberation, I decided that I've held off for long enough, and I took a peek at some fabric online today.  I have built up a small collection of sewing patterns that I had every intention of using when I purchased them, but lost my nerve before I even started.  For some reason, sewing clothes from scratch intimidates the bajeezus out of me.  While I've taken on a few clothing projects, I've really stayed away from this challenge by sewing projects that don't require fit, or by modifying garments that came to me pre-assembled.  Now's the time to take on these patterns!  In order to do this, I just have to get some new fabric (yes, it's an excuse to go fabric shopping, but I'm going to seize the opportunity!)  I'll keep you all posted as I take on these new and exciting projects!

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! 

A cuter cardigan

So I think nature knew I needed a break today and gave me one by way of a snow day.  While we didn't get much accumulation, it was enough to give me some much needed practice time, a little inspiration to update a cozy (but seriously lacking) sweater, and a chance to hang with Oliver.  Since Oliver was just desperate to catch up on some reality tv, we did some of that too.  In terms of reality tv, the day was enlightening.  In terms of my sweater endeavor, I started with this: 

And ended with this: 

All I did was hem the sleeves, take in the sides, and add a couple of colorful details.  I used some scraps of folky chevron-printed fabric for the elbow patches, sewed some orange polka-dotted trim on the front, and re-covered the original buttons in a light blue cotton (because orange and blue is one of the world's best color combos.)  Here are the added details: 

I'd call this sweater a success,  and I'm steadily working through my "needs improvement" pile of clothes (which had gotten a little out of hand.)  I'll have a good chance to try out my new sweater over the next few days, since I'm off to Rochester tomorrow and then I'll be back to Cleveland on Friday (and those are such cold cities!)  Since I'll be gone for another few days, I'll catch up with you all after the weekend...thanks for stopping by!

Have lunch, will travel

Hello, friends!  I am back from my trip safely, but inundated with out-of-town rehearsals; cars were made to be driven, right?  I'm thrilled to have the work, but not so thrilled that I missed the Bachelor last night...boo!  Thank goodness for TiVo.  I know posts have been a little spotty lately, but in addition to my travels, I've been working on some top-secret projects that I won't be able to share until later in the month (stay tuned!)  So I'm back today with another early project of mine to share.  A couple of summers ago when I was on my first serious sewing kick, Sean had just started an internship down in Florida.  So one of my first real projects (that made it to completion) was a lunch bag for him to take to his new job.

In an effort to be practical, I lined the insides of everything with a clear, plastic fabric.  It was difficult to sew with (that stuff sure is sticky!) but I wanted the bags to be spill-proof, and I think the lining did the trick!  To avoid needing so many plastic baggies to pack lunches, I made some smaller baggies (also lined with plastic) to complete the set.

 

I made the baggies from some leftover fabric scraps.  They both have Velcro closures; one is sandwich-sized, and the other is just a little pouch for snacks.  I've made many, many lunch sacks since this one (most of them following Martha Stewart's instructions in this book) but I'm still pretty happy with this fully-lined set of my own design.  I lucked out with the striped, heavyweight fabric for the sack, and I just love the clouds on the cotton.  Every project needs a dash of fun (and Sean works at Disney World, for crying out loud!  Any workplace that has "costumes" instead of "uniforms" calls for something more exciting than your average, run-of-the-mill lunch set.)

If I were making this bag now, I would have done some things differently (like lining up the stripes on the sack, adding a closure to the sack, hiding the seams better on the pouches, etc.) but I love that these look handmade.  I also love looking back on old projects and seeing that I've improved!

Thanks for stopping by to see what I'm up to.  I hope you all had wonderful weekends, and I wish you a happy Tuesday!   

A better sweater

Hello, friends!  I am back from my trip, and (finally) got back to some sewing today.  While time is still a little tight and patience is a little thin, I spent the afternoon doing a sweater improvement instead of starting an all-out sewing project from scratch.  And that big project I keep teasing you with is still in progress... (stay tuned!)

So today I started with a green, lightweight sweater that I got at Old Navy and have had for quite some time.  It desperately wanted a new, cuter lease on life.  Since my photographer wasn't available today, here it is on my lovely blue (and busty!) dress form.   

And here it is now...

All I did was shorten the sleeves and slap on some trim.  This is yet another lovely bit of trim that I picked up last winter, only to let it collect dust in the bottom of my notions basket.  I sewed the trim on by hand, which made for a tedious, but delightfully simple project.  Perfect for catching up on some reality tv!  I've got some other projects on my mind this week so I hope I can get to them soon, and I will keep you all posted!  Happy Tuesday!

Little black bag

Although I survived the audition yesterday, one thing quickly became evident to me: I didn't have the right bag.  In my haste to ready all of my essentials, I grabbed a black bag from the attic that was not only too small to hold all that I needed, but also had a broken zipper.  Why did I still choose to bring this bag with me, knowing it wasn't really going to work?  I just don't know.  Life is complicated.  But after walking around for the day with a tiny, bulging, unfastened bag, I returned home this morning with a new project in mind. 

And here's my new bag!  

I made a basic black tote, with flap pockets on the front and back for extra loose papers and things.  I slapped a big bow on the front flap (every tote needs a little flair!)  I lined it with some fabric that was passed down to me by one of my lovely sisters over the holidays, when she was cleaning out her own fabric closet.  I sewed a couple of inner pockets: three for pencils, and one each for my wallet and phone.  Here is the inside:

For the straps, I used some trim I had in my stash, and I double-folded the edges in, so that they would look a little neater.  Here is a close shot of the strap:

I'm thrilled with my new bag, and I was able to make it completely from supplies I had sitting around!  What a rush!

I'm thinking my next project will be this adorable clutch.  As a Christmas gift this year, I received a kit with all of the supplies I will need to make the project from start to finish.  It should be a breeze...I'll let you know how it goes!

Little time = little projects

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!  As I am heading out of town for my first in a long, long string of auditions, I have been a little short on time for projects.  I'll be gone for the next day or two, but when I return, I'm tackling some of those big projects!  For now, I'm steadily working through my scraps with another little project that I have been meaning to try for quite some time now.  I'm a pony tail kind of girl, and I firmly believe that one is never too old to wear hair baubles.  So, without further ado, I give you: 

Fabric-covered button hair-ties!

They were so quick and easy, I see a lot more of these in my future.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Ooh la lavender

While I'm still trying to work through my scrap pile, and I was also in the mood for another mini project, I decided to spend the afternoon making some sachets for my sister.  In an effort to combat the dreary Pennsylvania winter day we had today, I chose some cheerful scraps from my stash and set to work.  Overall, it was my favorite kind of project: cute, easy and fast!

I filled them with dried lavender, and doubled up on the fabric (so none of the lavender flowers would get wild and start poking out!)  I added some embellishments to each one just to make them a little more interesting (although I didn't intend to put those rosettes on the hounds-tooth sachet, but I had a little whoopsie with the green trim and I had to put on a little something extra.  I'm okay with it!)

I really do love the scent of lavender.

I'm gearing up to tackle some of my larger half-done projects (although to say that some of them are half completed is quite optimistic) so I'll keep you all posted!  Happy Friday the 13th!