Distressing Furniture

The hubs and I have been blessed with families that unloaded their old furniture onto us when we moved out.  Which is actually kind of awesome because we saved lots of money.  But it's less awesome when the furniture is outdated and non-matching.  Luckily for us, I'm a thrifty DIY kinda gal!

I did some serious research (ahem) on Pinterest, and consulted my copy of the very 90's DIY paint book Debbie Travis Painted House (thanks Mom!).  And came up with this!

New Year Sewing Projects

Since little Nova's arrival almost 3 weeks ago, I really haven't had much time to do anything other than breastfeed, change diapers, cat nap and have a sitz bath once a day.  That doesn't stop me from dreaming and planning my future sewing projects however!

I started making a baby sling just before Nova's birth which I hope to finish over the next few days.  I also made her a pair of scratch mittens from Home Sweet Homebodies free pattern and a newborn sized hat from the free Whip Up pattern.  She hates wearing the mittens and takes them off as fast as I can put them on...  So I just waited until she was asleep one day and then I cut her sharp little talons.  But she doesn't mind the hat.  Isn't it just soooo stinking cute???

Sooo effing adorable!

Caramia Made - Nursery (Part I)

Second-hand antique bassinette, hand-me-down crib, me-made diaper bag

Well, I'm officially due a month from today!  So in addition to finalizing our short list of names, I've also realized that we better get the nursery finished.  We've slowly been accumulating second-hand items from thrift shops, Craigslist, and friends, but now we need to put it all together.

Summer Sewing Projects - Summary!

As an avid follower of numerous sewing blogs, I have decided to try and follow Zoe's Self Stitched September. When I was laid off work for two months earlier this spring, I became extremely spoiled with tons of time to do all sorts of sewing and managed to create a fair amount of clothing. However, since the end of May I have been working full-time (yay!) and am currently working at a full-time job and a second part-time job; needless to say I don't have much time to sew. Not to mention that this summer was incredibly busy - full of fun things though... camping trips, family vacations, ball tournaments and ultimate frisbee, etc. etc. etc...

I managed to finish this yellow blouse in time for September 1st. It's from Simplicity 9872 (circa 1980) which I found at the thrift store (big surprise!). I used a lovely lightweight cotton-eyelet fabric which was on sale for 70% off earlier this spring. I was originally planning to use it to make a JJ Blouse, but decided that a simpler pattern would show off this pretty fabric much better. This was the first time I've ever used French Seams (a method for encasing lightweight fabric safely within a seam so it doesn't fray. This is a good tutorial on how to do them). The selvege at the bottom of the fabric is a very beautiful scalloped edge, so I didn't need to hem the bottom at all. I very narrowly avoided turning this project into a Fail by not paying proper attention when I was cutting out the fabric (sheesh, will I ever learn?!?!?). I accidentally cut two right sleeves and didn't have enough fabric left to cut a left sleeve. Luckily I managed to find the last remaining bit of the fabric in the remnant bin at Fabricland but it was now $5.50 for 0.8m!!!! I had only paid $3/m a few months earlier - argggg!!!! Oh well, hopefully this will teach me a valuable lesson? :-D

This last photo just cracks me up. My in-laws live on a lake in the Okanagan region of British Columbia and a huge swarm of gnats had just come up from the lake and tried to fly up my nose!

I actually spent a good portion of July and August doing a bit of sewing for our friends' wedding. The bride asked me to do the bridesmaid dress alterations as well as making some sashes for the flower girls' dresses to match the wedding colors. My camera wasn't working the day of the wedding, but here is a photo of my handiwork (all except for the bridesmaid second from the left). The best thing that came out of doing these alterations was the discovery that my 1970s sewing machine does blind-hemming!!! Of course, in typical fashion I didn't discover this until I was nearly finished hand-sewing the hem of the fourth (and final) dress! Oh well... Now I know for future projects, right?

I also did a bit of up-cycling for my hubby. In these tough economic times, his office has decided to save money by not using air-conditioning (which, if you've ever spent any time in the Shuswap during summer you know how hot it gets!). N was lamenting the fact that he had no shorts to wear that were office-appropriate, i.e., not board shorts, so I took him to Value Village and we got a couple pairs of pants that I was able to turn into shorts. These grey plaid shorts are my favourite of the two; they used to be a pair of rather tight, skinny pants that I would imagine some trendy Asian man wearing in Vancouver and looking fab. To accomodate for my non-trendy, tight-pant fearing Interior husband, I had to use some of the extra fabric from the lower portion of the legs (and taking care to match up the plaid) to widen the legs. He says he likes them a lot, and I'm sure of it since he wears them at least 4 days a week! Great success!

Spring Sewing Projects (Part I)

It's been a little while since my last post... I have been so busy with work that I haven't had time to take pictures of all my latest sewing accomplishments, never mind writing about them!!!

First of all, I used the Jane pattern from BurdaStyle and the free Madeleine pattern from Colette Patterns to create a lovely satin lingerie set for a friend for her upcoming wedding shower.

I used both parts of the Jane pattern to create some jammies for myself as well (these were actually a muslin to test the fit of the Jane pattern). The top was actually an upcycle from an old, old nightie I received for Christmas nearly 20 years ago. I should try to find a photo from Christmas 1993 just so you can see the nightie in it's shining glory (plus it would be a good laugh I think!), but here is a photo of it in its well-worn status pre-upcycle.

I ran in the South Okanagan Wine Association's first annual Half Corked half marathon with a few friends the other weekend. What a blast! The route was 17.5km along the beautiful wineries and vineyards between Oliver and Osoyoos. I entered with a few friends and we opted to do a Disney theme for our costumes. With my short, dark hair and pasty white complexion, Snow White was an obvious choice (lol). I recently got a job where I work 4 10-hour days and then get Fridays off, but needless to say I don't accomplish much during Mon-Thurs. I wanted to make my costume from scratch but didn't have enough time... I borrowed some yellow shorts from a friend, and then embellished a navy tank top with some baby blue jersey sleeves and a white satin collar. It turned out pretty good and was easy to run in (although I did get a heat rash on my legs though...that sucked).

I've got a few more projects to blog about, but those will have to wait until I can get my hubby to take some photos! So that will give you something to look forward to!