Refashioning fun!

I've been reading the Wardrobe Refashion blog, and particularly Sew I thought's posts, about making clothes and accessories from what you have or what is second hand, rather than buying new all the time. This includes giving new life to vintage clothes, or making something from the fabric in your stash.

So, after a quick stop in at a Recycle Boutique and a browse through their vintage sections...
This...

...became this...

The original dress had a dropped waist, and the arm holes were crazy long. There is a button tab on the shoulders, so I just unpicked that, bought it up a few inches until the armholes were right and attached the buttons again, then took in about an inch on the sides. Some work is still needed on the hem, but I quite like the raw edge, so I may just straighten it up and snip those loose threads. Its a little tight over the bust so I may have to have another look at the arm holes, and i'd like to bring the waist in a bit so I don't have to wear it with a belt all the time, but that will mean putting in a zip at the back so I can get into it! I'm happy with it for now, but more adjustments will come.

I also got this....

...and i'm thinking about this...

- but any suggestions are welcome! I was thinking of just shortening it to a knee length skirt, but I had the belt out so I thought i'd try this, and its growing on me! It wouldn't be hard to attached a length of elastic under the bust to get it to fit right.

What do you think? And have you done any refashioning projects yourself? Are you game enough to take the Wardrobe Refashioning Pledge and not buy anything new for two or more months? (I'm not at that stage yet, but this is a good start!)

~Happy sewing!~

To market we go...

Things are all ready for the big craft day tomorrow! Unfortunately I can't be there as I have prior commitments, but i'm looking forward to seeing photos of the stall all set up. Its exciting!

For those of you who haven't looked on my Flickr, Twitter or Facebook pages, here's what I had all ready to go:

Tote bags


Neck cozies

Click here to view the full set of images on Flickr

Everything has a little swing tag with my contact details and care instructions, as well as a hand-sewn-in label*. Despite it being a pain to do^, it was actually alot of fun and very rewarding. I hope this fair will be a good start to my little business.

Website
For those of you who are interested, I do have a website for Celastrina Creations which will soon be stocked with some of the other things i've made to sell. In the near future I will be putting up listings for custom orders of tote bags and neck cozies. If you'd like to be first to know about when new items are listed, you can become a member of the site to join the mailing list. Feel free to sign the guestbook while you're there too! Click the logo below to get to it.


~Happy crafting!~

* the reason for my recent lack of sleep - I was getting into bed about midnight most nights for the last week...
^ literally - I have scars on my fingers from my sewing needle - I should really get a thimble!!

Ballatrina's Books: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Buy from Amazon

Author: Truman Capote
Started: 25-Aug-09
Finished: 29-Aug-09

I picked this up while browsing at Borders last Monday; i'd just finished watching the movie (again!) and thought it might be good to compare the book. In this case, I think the movie was better! There seemed to be alot more going on with the characters in the movie than in the book. Holly Golightly seemed alot more flighty and vague in the book, and it was very hard to like her character. The main male character in the book is vastly different to the one in the movie, and his book character again is very vague. I was pleased though to see that some of Holly's movie quotes came from the book! I'm aware that the book came first, and while it was good in its own right, although alot shorter than I had expected, i'd rather watch the movie any day than read the book again.

This version of the book also had two short stories at the end (and STILL the book was only half an inch thick!), but I haven't got to reading those yet.

Next on my book list is 'Under the Tuscan Sun' - again, a book that matches a movie, and although so far they too seem like very different beasts, i'm really enjoying the book - its more about what real life is like in Italy, and how the author had to learn things from scratch starting with just her love of the place.

Craft update
Thanks so much for all your lovely comments about my tote bags! I had a very busy weekend, knitting neck cozies all day Saturday and sewing tote bags all day Sunday, but I managed to finish off the bulk of the work - just need to sew my labels onto the tote bags, and attach the little cards, and they'll be ready to go on Wednesday!

~Happy reading/crafting!~

Two new totes!

One maroon with a red polka dot pocket, and one denim-blue with a green polka dot pocket. That's five down now, five more to go!

I'm knitting the neck cozies too, finished one more yesterday, so I have 6 more of those to go.

~Happy crafting!~

Sewing FO: Tote bags!

I decided this weekend to make some tote bags, to add to my list of things to sell at the craft fair on the first weekend of September. What do you think?

I've only made these three so far, two on Saturday and one on Sunday, but as they only take about an hour and a half to make it shouldn't be too hard to whip up some more - I need 7 more to sell at the stall.

There is a pocket between the pattern and the plain fabric, on both sides, as well as the main part of the bag, so plenty of room.

I have a few more different types of fabric matched up ready to make some more. I'll also be selling some short knitted scarves that button up, and i'll put up some pics of those once they are done. Some of Bec's paintings are going to be sold too, so it will be quite a stall!

~Happy crafting!~

Photo gallery (part 2)

More photos and information about what i've been up to lately...

There's been some baking - lemon tarts with homemade lemon butter filling:

And, of course, my puppy is as cute as ever:

I've also done some sewing. This little bag was gift wrapping for my sister's birthday present. I'm hoping she can come up with something else creative to use it for! I used up some of the fabric I got at the easter fair earlier this year, and used some of my ribon yarn for the drawstring, with a couple of beads tied to the end, and a felt star sewn on for good luck. She has a thing for red :)

Current knitting
Buttony is still festering away in the corner of my room... but I have a couple of new projects in process at the moment. The first is Verity [Rav link] - a beret pattern from the very clever Ysolda, which i'm using with my Artyarns supermerino yarn. I totally love this project - the yarn and the pattern are working really well together, and the colours are coming out well.

The only problem is that I have two skeins of this yarn - i've used up the first one, but the second one is still packed in a box in the garage from when I moved! I've had a quick look through the boxes but its not jumping out at me, so i'll have to wait a little longer until I can fully unpack the boxes. Its a real shame, the weather is perfect for a beret at the moment!

I've also started on the Baby Surprise Jacket [Rav link] again - this time with the assistance of some very helpful videos I came across on YouTube through the BSJ group on Ravelry.

I don't think I would have got this far if not for these videos - its hard to figure out the deal with the markers if you just look at the pattern (well, it was for me, anyway!) - so if you're thinking about making this I highly recommend the vids as a starting point. Its my new lunchtime project, and its super easy so far - i'd say advanced beginner, once you figure out where the markers go. Its plain knitting all the way, with simple double increases and decreases, and very little seaming at the end - just along the shoulders. Its kinda like knitted origami, from the look of it. The M1s in the pattern look a little tricky, but the videos explain them too.

I'm also working on a simple baby beanie, using up some lovely baby merino from my stash, but that's coming along very slowly - its on DPNs, and i'm yet to figure out how to avoid the runs between the needles - any assistance would be gratefully accepted!

That's about it from me for the moment, although I do have a few quotes to catch up on for next time, and there will be another MMM soon - Wellington's having a special restaurant deal with cheap lunch menus for a couple of weeks in August, we just have to decide which one to pick...

~Happy knitting!~

Book worm

I'm sorry i've been quiet on the blog front recently... i've been doing little knitting, but much reading! As of last week, I have officially completed the Twilight Saga :) I started reading book one at Easter, and have found all four of them hard to put down! What to do now though, that i've finished? Start again! Well, i'm going to have a break, I have other books to read for other people, but I definately plan to get back to them soon. In the meantime, i'll keep watching the movie and wait for movie two to come out at the end of the year.

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Knitting update

Amongst the reading I have managed to sneak in some knitting - mostly when i'm at my parents house where I can't read while watching tv!

First project was to make a square for UNICEF - they were aiming to collect 1,400 squares to make into a large blanket to present to parliament, to represent children in need - turns out they got over 3,000! This was my little contribution, a good way to practise my weak crochet skills: (Rav link)

Next on the list was a cowl, using the Cleckheaton Vintage Hues yarn I brought at easter. (Sorry, no photo yet, hopefully tonight!) My plan was to knit a scarf on huge needles to make it stretch and look lacy, and just keep knitting until I ran out of yarn. Sadly I ran out much sooner than I thought, so it turned into a squishy cowl instead!

On top of all that, I knitted up a mothers day present from this pattern. (My photo to come) Nice easy knit, although I changed the chart to say mUm rather than mOm. Finished just in time, 11pm on Saturday night to be precise, so it was still wet from blocking when I gave it to her, but I don't think she minded. I'm looking forward to knitting some more of KrisKnit's dishcloths in the future, she has some fantastic patterns!

Progress on Buttony continues - the sleeves are seperated, and I added some waist shaping today. I'm worried that the sleeves may be a little big, but i'm assured that's a good thing since i'll be able to wear layers underneath as well. Time will tell... Anyway, here's the latest progress picture - just after i'd seperated the sleeves:

In sewing news, I got a new book today - 'A is for Apron'! Its got a whole lot of awesome vintage-looking patterns that I can't wait to try! And guess what - it's available here on Amazon.com if you're interested! (Just realised - lots of exclamation marks - can you tell i'm excited??)

~Happy Knitting!~

2009: FO #9

Ok, this isn't knitting, but its still an FO for 2009!

Flower Power apron

This is made from an old teatowel from the Family Store, and an old pillow case cut and sewn up for the ties. Its not adjustable, but it fits me fine. I see more of these in my future...

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Coming up...

A book review on The Contest, Monday Meal Madness restaurant review, and FO pictures of Fireman Sam - I managed to sew his hat on this weekend, so all that's left now is to embroider his face and finish his belt buckle and buttons.

~Happy knitting!~