Well that was a long hiatus

And it's probably not going to improve much. I tend to be too busy to blog these days, which is a pity because I have actually been doing a fair bit of sewing since I left.
Uni has been keeping me VERY occupied, and we've been on a few holidays and had a lot of events lately, but in between it all, when I get a chance (and usually when I have an essay due) I take the time to do some sewing or crochet.

Today's post is going to be a VERY short one, with only two pics.
I did a t-shirt hack from WobiSobi (she has some amazing ideas that I can't wait to try out). It's supposed to be a no-sew one, but I didn't quite like the way it sat on my shoulders when I tied it (I was limited by the position of the picture on the front), so I sewed the shoulder seams instead.
As usual, I forgot to take 'before' photos, so you'll just have to take my word that my Dark Side of the -Mon shirt was gigantic. Like, massive. Teeturtle only ever seem to have every other size but mine in stock, so I bought a big one hoping I could hack it. It only took 6 months before I found a hack I liked enough to try.
Anyway, here it is:

And here is the back:

I LOVE that the top finally has a bit of shape to it. I've been feeling like a fat lump in the shirt ever since I bought it, but it's such an awesome picture I still wore it a lot. Also I don't often find tops that show off my tattoo without being too revealing, so I really like that feature. 

Also it's super comfortable, and would be really great for if you got pregnant, since the open back would allow it to expand with your tummy. 

I DON'T like how whenever I lean over to do something energetic (like dig, or wash the bath), it flaps open at the back like I'm topless with a bib. I'll just make sure that if I'm going to be doing something bendy I wear another singlet top underneath it. 

Also the image was too high on the t-shirt for me to make the neckline as low as I'd like, but you win some, you lose some.

All in all, it turned out pretty darn well. I'm happy anyway. 

Now lets see if I actually remember to post Supanova pictures once THAT outfit is complete. 

And since my ipad is being a butthole and won't let me make a word into a url, here's the link to the havk on WobiSobi: wobisobi.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/no-sew-crisscross-back-t-shirt-diy.html

The Iron Craft Craft Challenge

I know, I know, I still haven't posted a photo of my dress yet. Every time I wear the dress somewhere I forget to take my camera, and every time I remember my camera I'm not wearing the dress, and every time I have both on me, I don't have someone else to take a photo. It's starting to drive me a little nuts, actually, because I have clothes I want to put on ebay and I can't just whack them on there without photos :P

I may just take a pic of myself in the mirror in the dress. It's probably simpler, but it looks so nice all puffed out, plus my room is a hole. As evidenced in this piccie here, of something I did manage to make over the holiday break (break from what?):

Yes, that's right, a zombie dress. Based off this little t-shirt here (PS, how adorable is that kid!). Here's a close-up of the front part of the dress:

And here's where my butt goes:

 I had a cotton minidress lying around that I'd gotten for free with a magazine. I laid it out flat on the ground and spray painted it green, making sure that I coated the bottom of the dress with more paint than the top so there was a graded look. I did manage to drip some paint on the dress (I find spray paint near impossible to use) but I think it suits it. Then I printed out some zombie silhouettes onto transfer paper, and ironed them onto the dress at the bottom.

Things I would do differently: I would make sure to use fabric paint instead of spray paint. I am a knob who bought cheap green spray from the local $2 shop, not thinking that 'enamel' is probably not best used on clothing. The dress is a bit stiff but it'll live. Also ironing the transfers onto enamel destroyed my iron. *sadface*
Also I would probably just do as the original t-shirt and cut out zombies for use as templates. The transfers didn't go well with the stiffened, yet still slightly stretchy cotton, so the zombies are surrounded by haloes of plastic.

In any case, while I haven't been exactly productive lately, I do plan to make some changes. I've set myself a goal this year to make at least one thing every week, and coincidentally within the first week of the year I found The Iron Craft Craft Challenge.
Basically, they will post a challenge every week: a pattern, a plan, or even just a theme, and people in the challenge will have a week to make it (or something in the theme of it). It seems to me like a good way to expand my crafting abilities. I run out of steam if I'm left to my own devices - I run in too many directions at once, and sometimes run out of ideas and have severe crafter's block. This will fix that.

The other good thing is that it will give me something to blog about, so I won't have so much blank space floating around here. And if I make anything that I think will be easy enough to explain, I will post tutorials, coz I'm nice like that.

So join me, one and all, as I try to focus some of my insanity with my hands!

PS. Totes promise to post a photo of that dress. Eventually.

A Cushion, A Needlebook, A T-shirt and a Dress All Walk Into a Bar...

OK I actually have some Finished Projects for once!

Two days ago I got impatient and gave my friends their Christmas presents. Partly because I couldn't contain my excitement about the Pingu cushion, and partly because I was excited to get mine as well, since I knew what at least one of them was going to be.

So first: 

 

Noot noot, motherfucker!

And for his girlfriend, the Twilight-lover:

and

 

 

The Pingu pillow was made by reversing a picture I had found on the net AGES ago and printing it into transfer paper, which I then ironed onto some white fabric. A cushion is damn easy to make, so I won't bother going into it here unless requested, but the hard part was finding some good fabric. It's for a guy so I didn't want flowers or anything, and it was pretty much impossible to find some cool printed fabric that didn't have flowers or baby stuff all over it. I settled on khaki sharks because, I mean, khaki sharks, yo.

Then I discovered that I had made the cover a bit big for the pillow form I had (I always make things too big, out of fear it'll be too small if I follow my measurements) so I whacked a Coraline button on the back and made a button loop out of embroidery thread. It looks pretty wicked.

The top is a plain grey tee I bought at Kmart. I whacked a Quileute High Protectors badge on some transfer paper (reversed, of course) and ironed it into it. I also put a qr code on the back left as a tag:

 

I don't know if she's noticed it yet but it's going to be cool when she does, especially if she recognises it and checks it out without asking me :D

I also finally managed to finish the dress I've been making in sewing class, which finished last week by the way. It felt like it took forever, but that was because a) it takes an era to cut material, and b) I made a calico version first, to make sure it fit. Which it didn't. But I made it anyway. 

The lining made up for some of the bigness, but I ended up having to take the dress in anyway, by about 4 inches. I didn't bother cutting the excess away though, because my weight goes up and down like Oprah's and it's possible I'll need some more of that fabric in a few months time.

In any case it looks totally adorable, but since I finished it yesterday when no one was at home, I couldn't take a photo of it, so I'm going to wear it to a party today and get Mum to take a photo of me that I'll then post next time. I've given up asking The Man to take photos - he removes heads and limbs and has people off-centre and then insists that there's nothing wrong with the photo. Hmph. Men.

Anyway I still have plenty of stuff to make, including a car organiser for my best friend, a gardening apron for my Mum, a jacket for my brother and a wine-carrier for The Man's folks. So I'll be posting a bit more later on this week.

Ta-ra!

Little Shorts of DOOOOOOOOOM (A Lazy Girl's Guide to Feeling Productive)

So I spent most of my work day feeling like someone was drilling into my right leg through my pelvis and pouring nitroglycerin through the hole. Sciatica is a bitch. On the bright side, it meant I felt less guilty for passing up on a shift tonight so I could go to pub trivia with friends and bludge around at home afterwards. I did feel a little guilty though, so I felt like I had to do something vaguely useful to make up for it. Also I've been feeling slightly sewey this week, but not enough to do any actual sewing.

I've been needing a new pair of little denim shorts since last Summer when I finally bit the bullet and threw out the LDS I've owned since High School. They were so ridiculously big on me that I just had to get rid of them. When I threw them out I felt like I was throwing out part of myself. Which is really just fucking pathetic when you think about it. Also they were totally cute. And denim goes with everything (especially in Summer).

So anyway, I needed some more. So I grabbed the pair of jeans I bought last year that are just a little too small on me, and I cut them off just under the crotch. So these really are little denim shorts, yo. I made sure not to cut across the pockets at the back and front, but I didn't reallu measure them, just put them on, estimated where they should end, and cut across in a line. When I put them back on afterward I discovered that they needed to be a bit shorter at the outside of the leg, so off they came again while I kneeled on the floor in my knickers and snipped away some more. Simple as Ashton Kutcher at a Mensa meet. The end result is serviceably cute. Definitely worth it when I remember that every single pair I've seen in shops has been $20 minimum. The bottoms should fray nicely after a few turns though the washing machine, and since it's been so hot lately, I get to wear them straight away! w00t for me and my sexy shorts!




Now I just have to work on getting rid of my winter arse.