Thursday, January 12, 2012

Fabric baskets and obsessive night sewing...

Hi everyone....just wanted to let you in on some of my late night sewing adventures and their results:)

I am quite obsessed lately with the following: Pinterest, zakka stuff, sewing and fabrics. That pretty much sums it up:)

I wanted to sew some fabric baskets for a long time, but I kept searching for patterns online, tips and tricks, details, details, so many details that I never really sat down and started the actual job.

So one day I said to hell with all the tutorials, I`m gonna sew my own basket; and I did. This is how it all turned out:)



This first one was ment to be posted in the shop in time for Valentine`s Day, for the idea came to me as an original "Would you like to be my Valentine?" proposal.

So everyone: "Keep calm and say Yes".



This one was inspired by the huuge mess I make whenever looking for the perfect ribbon. I never seem to  find a really good organizing idea for it. So I pictured a small cute basket to have lying on my desk, to come in handy for collecting recycled ribbons.





Can`t get enough of these pastel colored letter beads. Can you?



This grey one, I must say, it`s my favorite. Maybe because was the first one, but mostly cause it`s soft grey with beige and I`m in love with neutrals lately.


The combination of rust and grey seemed perfect to me:)


Oh, and I just love texture contrast....even when it comes to fiber granulation, for me the felt/canvas association is pure bliss.

And of course, the letter beads, also in rust color:) This basket is for collecting your ideas, if you have to many to organize in your head, like I do ;)

Well, these are my first fabric basket - sewing projects, more to come as I feel inspired these days.

I`d love to know what you think about`em though....

And yes, these babies are for sale up in my Etsy shop, sooo don`t be a stranger:)

Oh, and the post says something about obsessive night sewing. That is because most of the ideas come to me in that period right before one falls in deep sleep, and then I have to get out of bed to write them down or I (for sure) won`t remember anything in the morning. 

Sometimes is not just writing but sewing also, afraid I won`t remember exactly as I`d just dreamed it...

Did any of that sound familiar?


Thursday, January 5, 2012

Random color inspiration from my work table - Pastels

Just a glance over some colors in my mind and on my desk. Today`s theme: Pastels!










Like?


Upgrading/Refashioning basics or clothes you got bored with

I must say that lately,  I`ve been quite obsessed with refashioning. It all started with me going to my favorite thrift stores while back home in Romania. Among other stuff I bought a simple, skin color tee, in a darker shade. Mainly for the color, not the design:)

As I got home from shopping, which also included a visit to the lace&yarn shop, I realized that I can mix the two and get a pretty cute and wearable (outside the house:) tee!

This was only the beginning. I also had a grey cardigan, too simple....and a basic H&M grey dress. As I always do, I starred browsing the internet for refashioning ideas.

I wanted to share the best of them with you for such a long time, but I never seemed to ger around to photograph my own...so, this is me staying true to my NY resolution!

Turn a basic cardi into a whimsy! Tutorial here, thanks to Tea Rose Home


What to do when you get bored with basic, uni tees:) Find this amazing tutorial here.
Thanks to the same beautiful blog mentioned above.


A 30 mins cardigan embellishment project, here. From sisters4saymoreismore



Well, let`s talk about the Peter Pan collar trend. I think it`s going to be a huge succes in 2012 and really really love it. Reminds me of childhood and times I thought flying was possible:)

So, searching the internet I`ve found lots of tutorials. Couldn`t decide wether to go for a felt or a crochet one.
I`ve decided to try the felt one first, following this tutorial. The pattern didn`t  fit the neckline of my dress, so I had to kinda make a similar one, just a little bit modified.

This is what the collar in the tutorial looks like (you can find the pdf pattern in the link above):





Of course, I had to add a person a personal touch and sew some sand beads and add a cute and delicate fabric button.
I am crazy about fabric buttons. And polka dots:)



Well, what do you think? Which one looks better? I am really satisfied with the result and I think the dress is the opposite of boring now, thanks to the contrasting collar.
I am also obsessed with doilies and lace this period, and I don`t seem to be able to stop imagining how things would look if I just embellish them with a doily:)
So my basic tee I was telling you about in the beginning did not escape this, nor did the simple grey cardigan:)

And this what I have ended up with:



these cute little lace bows just warm my heart

love how the pastel pistachio green goes with the soft, lavender butons



I have a pretty big collection of doilies from the flea market, there`s a kind old lady that sells those for nothing, I think I`ve payed 20 cents for one...

So I guess you`ll be seing some more doilies embellishments from me:))

Oh, found this too:


I really like the contrast between the silk and the wool, if you do too, find the tutorial here

And yes, the ruffles:) I guess you can do the next one from a simple cardigan, and make the ruffles from another material. Like lace:))) Tutorial here.

love the vintage look. and the mustard color.
And another whimsical Peter Pan felt collar tutorial, that can upgrade just about any basic tee:)



Ta daaa, this is it for now..I have a big smile on my face, I guess it feels really good to simply share instead of pilling in some of the great (from my pov) ideas I stumble upon:)

Maybe you`ll let me see some of your refashioning ideas? 



Wednesday, January 4, 2012

To have or not to have New Year`s Resolutions?

Hello, my dear fellow crafters, Happy New Year to all of you!

I know, I`ve been neglecting my blog for quite some time now, and I know they say you can`t have a successful "quit your day job to start following your handmade dreams" adventure unless you keep up with your on-line duties....

These being said, let`s say I set this to be a NYR: stop neglecting my blog:)

I must say...some of the reasons why I`m reluctant to just start sharing my thoughts here is the fact that I have too many:)
Creative thoughts, that is....for example, if I find some great inspiring tutorials, I want to write about them, but right then I find another and another and another...aaand I get lost in so many details and ideas that I want to talk about..

So, here`s a little of what I have been doing:

Had a crazy December. Things started moving for me on my Etsy shop, and as soon as I posted my felted Christmas trees, the orders started pouring in:





I`ve starting making these babies last year and I`ve been featured in the holidays issue of the romanian Good Homes with a tutorial.


To cut a long story short, I thought "why not try posting them on Etsy?", and I did and it worked:)

Sooo, now it`s January and I would really want my shop to be successful this month too, but I know that after the holidays sales are down everywhere.

I decided to concentrate on blogging, on doing some follow up with my customers, and, of course, keep hands busy:)

See how in the following posts:)

Happy New Year everyone!



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