The lovely Staci of Contempo Artisan Boutique and Kevin of Big Spring Spirits will be hosting an epic Happy Hour Holiday Showcase in Bellefonte, PA. During the first three Thursdays in November, a selection of Central PA's Contempo artists (including yours truly!) will be showcasing and selling their handmade wares at Big Spring. Enjoy the evening with some signature cocktails, Thursday night football, and tasty nibbles while getting your holiday shopping done!
Here’s my new indie (non-Etsy) shop. Let’s
see how Retailr works out for me. Also, the 4th slide isn’t showing up
for some reason, I’ll have to look into that. The site’s still a
work-in-progress design-wise, but the PayPal shopping cart system’s
already set-up.
A while back, I've mentioned that I was on a quest to replenish my pitifully bare wardrobe with new, self-made cute clothes. To date, I've since made several more pieces of clothing, with two of them featured below.
Both of the Butterick 6582 dresses, thankfully, did not require any modification to the pattern, making the process more expedient. Unless you're using a heavyweight fabric, I highly recommend adding a lining for durability. The included step-by-step instructions were easy to follow.
Dress A was made late last autumn, using navy floral print cotton fabric that I snapped up on clearance the from Equilter. It's lined with black medium-weight crepe fabric I already have on hand.
With Dress B, I splurged a bit and bought some gorgeous monarch butterfly wing cotton sateen fabric from the talented C'est La
Viv on Spoonflower and lined it with red lightweight silky fabric I
already have in my stash.
Overall, the fit feels fabulous for both dresses. The vertical darts on the front and back, in particular, gave the illusion of hips to my rectangular body type. I highly recommend this retro dress pattern for spring and summer wear!
(Please note that I was not, nor ever, endorsed by the McCall Pattern Company to blog about their patterns. I'm just one of their many customers who enjoys sewing.)
This pattern gave me a great excuse to finally use the ivory jersey
fabric I had in my stash for several years...yes, yeh heard me. Several.
Years.
The top looks much better when actually worn than on
the dress form, I swear. With McCall Company's patterns for stretchy
fabrics, I always go one size down than usual for a better fit. The only
alteration I made in this pattern was that I made 3/4 sleeves instead of
long sleeves, due to the fact that I didn't have much of the fabric
left over. The top is quite flattering and looks fantastic paired with leggings or skinny jeans. My only complaint is that the surplice wraparound neckline is somewhat loose, which can cause some potential wardrobe malfunctions if worn alone. The issue was easily fixed by wearing a tank top or camisole underneath. At some point down the road when I get the motivation, I'll sew on some snaps to keep the neckline secured.
Pattern: BurdaStyle 118A Cowl Dress. From the Modern Minimalist Collection. After a recent closet purge of clothing I can no longer wear/haven't worn in over a year, I found my wardrobe surprisingly...bare. Which is great since it gives me an excuse to make moar cute clothes!
I used black cotton poplin fabric and a 22" invisible zipper that I purchased from Jo-Anns while they were on sale. I've also made a few minor alterations to the dress pattern - namely scooping the back a
bit lower and folding/stitching the cowl part flat to imitate the blouse
version from the same collection. I've also added slits to the side
seams for ease of movement and to make said dress slightly daring. No errors/flaws were found in the pattern pieces. The dress fit like a glove upon trying it on and felt absolutely comfortable throughout the entire day. My only complaint was the fabric itself, as it had the tendency to attract lint and pieces of thread like a mofo, but it's nothing that a lint roller can't handle.
I should note that if you purchase patterns from
BurdaStyle, you MUST add the seam allowances yourself when re-tracing your size onto tracing paper, as they do not
include them in the PDF printouts (unless they specify otherwise).
Some fan art I did from Lackadaisy, a fantastically well-done online comic that everyone should check out. The creator, Miss Tracy mentioned some time ago that Mitzi's design was partly inspired by Clara Bow and Nancy Carroll (see one of the examples here).
I couldn't decide on a proper 1920s outfit I liked, so I based Mitzi's outfit off of a fabulous tan number that Christina Hendricks wore at the "Project Angel Food" event in Los Angeles. Soooo, let's just pretend she adores retro-style wiggle dresses (she can rock 'em anyway with her curves).
I highly recommend this kickboxing workout from Fitness Blender. I tried it out for the first time today and it wore me out! You may need a yoga mat or something padded to lay on for the ab circuit. If you REALLY wanna go super workout-psycho, add in hand weights.
Note: If you've never done kickboxing before, it's best to do a bit of research on basics of form and technique since this video is fast-paced.
It's already a few weeks into summer...not to mention it's the hottest month of the entire year. You're ready to hit the beach and wanna look your smexiest but can't find the perfect swimwear just about every store you've searched through. Or maybe you have found the perfect one but the price tag made your jaw drop...like in my case.
I was initially inspired to write this post when I was rummaging through my fabric stash and unearthed a bunch of perfectly good tricot fabric, in asphalt grey and sunny yellow (separate colors). I figured, "hey, these'll make really cute swimsuits!" which ultimately lead to my online quest for the perfect sewing patterns. Below is a round-up of several trendy styles you can make at home.
Gah, I want this crop top/hip-hugger set! Too bad I can't knit.
Vintage Knitting Pattern 1970s Hip Hugger Bikini/Crop Top Play Suit (PDF Format) by 2nd Look Vintage
The 3-in-1 DIY Swimsuit Sewing Tutorial by Cotton + Curls
FREE Swimsuit Patterns in Three Different Styles (PDF Format) by Ralph Pink
Below is a quick and easy tutorial that revives the saggy bikini bottom that's been sitting in your dresser for a few summers...Y'know, the one you're too embarrassed to wear 'cuz it makes you look like you have a saggy diaper that leaks? I've been there before!
FREE Ruched Halter Bikini With Instructions by Sew Mama Sew
Vintage-Style High-Waist Bikini Bottom With PDF Pattern by HollyMann
If you're not skilled with the sewing machine, you can always take any existing swimsuit and make it fabulous with dye, paint, fabric markers, and various embellishments. Below are a few tutorials to get you started:
I'm so terrible at updating my blog at reasonable intervals. I'm sorry.
Over the past couple of days, I've read through Miss Myrielle's Skyrim fanfiction, Dragonrend on Fanfiction.Net. Do check it out, for it is excellently written, has a nice sense of flow and great character development. Free of Mary-Sue-ness, Gary Stu-ness, incoherentness, and WTF moments. Human Alduin made me swoon, so I sketched up a quick portrait of him.
Just got a lovely convo today from Katrina and Inguna of Moods & Appetites, notifying that they featured my black Japanese pine t-shirt in their latest blog entry, along with a collection of gorgeous Asian-themed artwork (left side, near the bottom of the image). Thanks, guys! ^_____^
Picture taken from Steampunk Cruise's FB page. Their first annual cruise will be held on March 16-23 2013. Head over there and like 'em, mebbe book some tickets if you're planning a vacation next year.
Tonight will showcase a rare and extraordinary event - the full moon will be at its perigee (closest orbit point to earth), with brightness at an extra 30% and largeness at an extra 14%. Fingers crossed, hope it won't be too cloudy tonight.
To celebrate this event, here is a collection of lovely items made by talented Etsians:
In regards to the tragic events that are going on in Japan, my friend Naomi of Immortal Geisha is holding a charity auction from her personal kimono collection. 100% of the proceeds will go toward GlobalGiving's "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund," including the 20% in fees that Ebay/PayPal takes (she will cover that out of her own pocket).
All of the items offered are very lovely unique items, and she will also be adding more stuff to the auction soon. So please check it out and bid, why don'tcha?
(click the image below to head over to the listings).
So I'm giving away a heather gray American Apparel scarf with my ginkgo leaf design (retail value $20)! It's screen printed on one end with forest green eco-friendly ink.
Deadline is November 15th 2010 @11PM Eastern Standard. The winner will be selected via random number generator.
You have three chances to enter. Simply follow the instructions below:
2) Suggest my Facebook page to five of your FB friends (click "Suggest to friends" link under the fan page profile pic).
3) Follow me on Twitter! Or, if you're already following me, lemme know.
4) In the comment field below (where you cast your three entries), tell me what item(s) you like most from Yay For Fidget Art! Also, please be sure to leave your email address so I can be able to contact you if you've won.
5) Spread the word - Tweet, blog or post a link on your FB page about this giveaway! :D
And there couldn't be a better time than October to feature these great indie horror flicks. Even if you're not a believer of the paranormal, you can't deny that these videos are mildly entertaining, at the very least. :)
"Ten Steps" - A similar incident actually happened to a good friend of mine. Scroll down if interested, but it does contain stuff that will spoil the ending if you haven't seen this video yet.
In reference to the "Ten Steps" film posted above, a close friend of mine (I'll call him "C") had a rather interesting paranormal incident not too different from said film. He lives in an old apartment building in St. Louis, Missouri. This apartment building has quite a bit of history, but due to the way management runs things, it hasn't been updated in some time...so it has "character."
Anyway, said building was prone to semi-frequent power outages, and one night when the power went out, C decided to step out for a bit until it came back on. To get down to ground level, he had to walk down a couple flights of stairs that consist of approximately twenty-five steps. Everything was pitch black, but he's lived at his apartment long enough to know his way around.
C heads down the stairs, and instead of expecting ground level after the twenty-fifth step, he found himself walking further down more steps. He was baffled and creeped out as all bejesus, yet felt compelled to continue onward. He claimed that he must have counted about 400 steps and felt like he was walking for ages before he reached an actual bottom. And at that very moment, the power came back on. He looked around to find that everything around him was back to normal, with the staircase at its normal twenty-five steps. He had no clue what just happened and cannot find any logical reasoning to it. He made it clear that he wasn't inebriated in any sort of way at the time. I knew well enough that he doesn't lie about things like this, but I'll just leave that to the reader's judgement. Still entertaining, at the very least. :P
I'm very happy to announce that I was recently featured in two fantastic blogs! Michelle of Michabella Creations was kind enough to feature all three of my Etsy shops on Handmade in PA. Also, my Dublin Street print got a spot in Steve Raley of Photogrunt's "Urban" edition along with a collection of other great photos from amazing photographers. Thanks, Michelle and Steve!
Former California lady now living on the east coast. I mostly post stuff about my Etsy shops and some of my illustrations, other handmade goods, fashion, food porn, fitness, DIY, and other random bits-'n'-bobs I like to ramble about.
Staci Egan of Contempo Weddings and Contempo Jewelry was kind enough to feature my Lucky 'n' Sweet kanzashi in her wonderful blog. Thanks, Staci!
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