simplicity 3692

So I finally got around to making that dress that I mentioned ages ago. It's a Built By Wendy pattern... Simplicity #3692.

Now that I've made my first dress, I can't believe how easy it was and I feel stupid for being intimidated by the idea of making clothes.

For this dress I used bamboo jersey in a heathered dark purple color. The pattern has 3 options -- A, B and C. A is an a-line dress with short sleeves, B is a 3/4 sleeve tunic style shirt and C is a sleeveless top with a gathered elastic bottom. I made a combo of A and B -- a dress with 3/4 length sleeves.

The most taxing part of this project was the sewing of the sleeves but even that wasn't really too troublesome.

Here is a photo of me in the finished product:

goodbye cords, hello skirt

I came across a project on cut out and keep the other day that totally inspired me. It's a pretty basic idea - you take your old jeans or pants and turn them into a skirt. This was right up my alley.
You see, I am very guilty of holding onto clothes that don't quite fit properly in hopes that I will some day regain my girlish figure. This is not happening folks. That's where this project comes in since it's good for those old pants that are really cute but are a little too snug in the thigh and ass region.
Click here for the tutorial.

Check out my finished version below. I have another pair of these cords in yellow and I'll be skirtifying them in short order. Notice that I took a little more care in the finishing than what is shown in the tutorial by using the cut off pant leg to form a panel in the front and back of the skirt. This makes a more a-line silhouette which is more flattering on someone with a curvy figure (such as myself).

i need haramaki

So I'm gonna make some. Haramaki is a japanese belly warmer, typically worn by grannies but can be jazzed up and worn very fashionably by anyone. Once again I'm Johnny-Come-Lately over here since it's just about springtime and a belly warmer is no longer needed but so what, I'll use it next winter. I also wish that I had known about it when I was still pregnant. Oh well.

Some commercially sold haramaki:


I'll post pics when I finish my sewn prototype.

rave!

A new Goodwill store just opened up near my house! I am elated. Overjoyed. Ecstatic!
I went there today and their women's selection is quite awesome. Lots of cute designer items. They had French Connection... Free People... BCBG...

I was also able to find 4 cashmere sweaters in cute colors for some as yet undetermined project (likely handbags of some sort).

Their housewares section was a bit on the slim pickings side but I'm guessing that it will improve as they get more and more donations to that location.

Finally something good comes to the north end!

etsy finds

this week on etsy i WANT:

pirate booties:


hemp wrap dress:


very cute organic fiber dress:

maternity clothes rave - target!

Long gone are my days of insisting on only wearing certain clothing brands (god, I can't believe I used to be like that - oh the materialism!)

Now I've adopted a much more economical approach to clothes shopping. Particularly in the area of maternity clothing. Are the maternity style seven jeans really cute? Yes. Does the baby style site have the trendiest maternity wear I have ever seen? Yes. Will I be buying any of that stuff? NO.

So I went to Target on Saturday to get a few things.. namely a coat because this business of having a coat that won't close in the front is so not cute.

I got this:

and this:


Both were under $20 and fit really nicely. The cut is such that I plan to wear them post baby too!

etsy finds

Etsy is one of my favorite websites. I check for new stuff almost daily.
I plan to do a regular series on cool things I find there. Maybe you'll buy something and I can live vicariously through you!?

I found these items while browsing the baby section:

soft baby shoes:


cute kimono set:


incredibly cute hat:

seattleites! come buy our stuff!

Next weekend marks the 2nd annual yard boutique. I am lucky to have a group of fashionable, crafty and resourceful friends so last year we decided to do an upscale yard sale of sorts. We pledged to sell only our nicest used clothing and accessories that we didn't need/want anymore. The sale was a success. We had beautiful weather, lots of customers and there were refreshments - lemonade (spiked and virgin), wine, water and PBR as well as homemade fresh baked goods for sale (first drink was free!)

Well we are doing it again this year. New location, more cool stuff, same cool chicks running the show. Hope to see you there!

Here's the info: