oh well

I promised a while back that I would post pictures of what I made for Christmas, not everything has gone according to plan though. Long story short, I ran out of time to make a knit hat for my sister, so I got her a book on digital photography. My parent got her a camera that she is in love with but doesn't fully grasp the technical aspects of it, here's hoping she'll crack it open and learn from it. My mom's present I managed to finish the night before going to visit, however in all the craziness of wrapping and packing, I forgot to take pictures (as well as to bring my camera for the visit itself). The only finished picture I have is that from my camera phone, and I'm not paying 50 cents to post some crappy camera phone image on my blog. My sister took some pictures, but I don't know when those will be sent to me (if they're sent to me), so for now here are a few in progress pictures. The finished embroidery was about 7 inches long, and about 5 1/2 inches tall, its a portrait of our family's animal companion, a welsh corgi named Dylan. Please excuse the blue markings, its just water soluble pen that I used to sketch out the outline.

{Close up}

{From a distance, ignore the pink flower I was experimenting}

As for my dad (AKA: the hardest person to shop/craft for on earth) I was quite fortunate one night while trolling around on etsy to come upon the greatest t-shirt ever for my father the ex-utica resident. I figured, at least its something handmade that he'll really enjoy, rather than the typical store bought gadgets that he might use. Of course I decide to order it like two days before my trip, no way on earth could it have gotten here in time, but when I showed my mom a picture she broke out in a fit of laughter. Dad decided he would rather wait and be surprised. I'm not sure what the legalities of posting a picture of the item is so I'm just going to leave links for now. The seller was great, I highly recommend GossipGossip, my order was here within four days, and it looked great, lets hope dad enjoys it as much as I do.

YES WE CAN - a continuation

Not really anything new, I just got pictures from the rally so I figured I'd post one. Please ignore the silly look on my face...I have no idea what I was thinking at the time.

I also made the poster that I'm holding, no pictures of the back but it said "Yes We Can". After the rally I put the poster to good use, I trimmed it and put it in the window for all to see. Not that it would really sway anyone's opinion considering NY is a blue state, but maybe it will remind people to get out and vote on the 4th (tomorrow **squeals**).

YES WE CAN!

I'm going to try and keep this post to a strictly craft post because I know I can go on and on for days on the subject of the upcoming election.

With that being said I decided to make a t-shirt for the Obama rally I attended yesterday. I wanted something simple that showed my support but wouldn't offend others- especially after McCain's remark in the third debate that Obama supporters were wearing negative t-shirts at Obama rallies.
My quest began at the dollar store nearby which has a clothing rack full of factory reject t-shirts. I managed to find a shirt on the rack that did not have a mystery stain on it, just a faint dotted line going across the chest which I attemptedto cover up -unsuccessfully- with some white paint. I used a stencil I found online (type "Obama Stencil" into Google's image search and you'll find it) for the front part of the shirt, and the back image I just quickly made in photoshop. I used the mod podge screen method again, and the end result was great.

{Front}

{Back: Printed the black outlines, then hand painted the interior parts of the letters}

I got a whole bunch of compliments on the t-shirt, as well as a lot of questions about the dotted line across the chest (Is it symbolic?) I'm still waiting on getting some action shots of the rally from my friend so until then take care.

Project Manchild - conclusion

Well the shirts went over pretty well, just look at that happy recipient. It bothers me that "skateboards" curves upwards slightly, but for now I can live with it as long as I get it right next time.



For now I don't know when my next update will be as I'm moving upstate October 1st. I don't know how long it'll take to get an internet hookup once I get there. So I guess toodles, for now

Project Manchild part 4

So close I can taste it. Today I did the face image on the back of the shirts, they came out pretty well if I do say so myself. Now all thats left is to let them dry heat set and wrap it all up. What else can can I tell you?

Project Manchild part 3

Okay, so I managed to so something with my first printing mishap (see part 1). After getting the right black ink I printed the Manchild logo in the big gray blob. Then I filled in the letters using one of the shimmery jacquard fabric pants and added some white paint just because I can.


Its okay, I guess, but I personally feel its a little too "homemade" rather than "hand crafted"

I've managed to rebound from this mistake quite successfully though. I took my time, I had all my supplies at hand and I'm very happy with the result.

Time to get back to work

Project Manchild part 2

Last night I was able to accomplish making a new screen with smaller text that won't go off the shirt (yay!). This morning upon waking up and drinking my coffee I made a quick test print of the screen on a plain navy blue tank that I got for 3 bucks just a few days ago. Somehow I feel that by the end of this project I'm going to have an unofficial merchandise line due to the test prints I've been making. I know I could just do test prints on a piece of paper, but wheres the fun in that? now that I'm looking at it I'm thinking I should make another screen so I can do a nice semi-professional looking 2 color print.

New Screen


Test Print on a ribbed knit t-shirt

Thats all for now, I've got to start working on packing the apartment up.
Toodles.

Lime green and appliqued

I couldn't help myself. I loved the t-shirt to lounge pant project so much that I had to give it another go. As I had mentioned in a previous post I had recently been given a bunch of huge t-shirts from the bf. No pictures of the shirt beforehand, just think huge lime green t-shirt with some text on the chest. Again, I used the t-shirt to lounge pant tutorial from the live journal t-shirt surgery community. This time around I added elastic at the waist, and made a fold over waistband.

I managed to cover up the plain lettering by adding a pocket made from scraps of the t-shirt (it's kind of hard to see due to the glare.

I wanted to do something fun with this pair so I pulled out the bed sheet I got from the salvy and cut out one of the picture panels. I added interfacing to the panel then ironed and sewed it on.



The bf couldn't believe how fast the entire project came together while I intermittently worked and watched the simpsons last night. It could be possible that I spent more time answering questions about the project than actually at my work station. Now what to do with the other shirts...

I walk the line

So a while back I got this shirt from work(with sleeves intact), someone had carelessly left it behind and had not called to claim it for at least 2 months. That meant it was up for grabs and it was all mine. I had originally intended for the shirt to be turned into a short sleeved hoodie, I honestly don't know how it turned into this off the shoulder number.

From the front:The sleeves can be worn either on top on or off of the shoulder.

From the side: I added gray and black striped jersey panels to both sides for visual interest

Sleeve detail: Three rows of zig zag stitching (2 black, 1 pink) were added to the edge of the sleeve to create a decorative ruffle.

Well, there it is in a nutshell. The tank top underneath the shirt is to preserve my internet modesty, but now that I see it I'm thinking I may add some kind of half tank in the gray and black fabric. For now I'm happy with how it is.

Comfiest lounge pants ever

Recently I've been seeing a lot of posts using this tutorial on the t-shirt surgery live journal community, so I figured why not jump on the band wagon. It was just luck that my bf happened to be getting rid of some HUGE t-shirts he has received from work and school over the past year.

Here's my first attempt, not too shabby. The only thing I did differently was cut the shirt in half from front to back, rather than right up the middle (and through the design).

The whole project took about 3 hours with multiple 15 minute breaks, but not counting the time I spent the night before ripping out the sleeves while watching the Simpsons.

These shorts/gauchos turned out to be incredibly comfortable, absolutely perfect for summer days spent around the apartment. So thats one shirt down, four more to go.

long time no post

So I've been working a bunch, and switching back and forth between working days and nights which has led to my lack of posting (insert sad emoticon). I have been getting things done though.
I made my first bag ever which I'm pretty excited about. Its going to be an overnight bag pretty much. I based the bag on a smaller messenger bag that I've been using for years and made a few changes to suit my needs. I added on an elastic cup holder for my coffee mug (works with water bottles as well. The bag that I based my pattern on had no inside pockets which I've always hated due to the constant shifting of things during my commute. I added in a zippered pouch/divider pocket so I can keep my electronics separated from my keys, wallet, and reading materials among other things.

Next up is a fairly quick clothing recon (majority of it done in less than 5 hours-that's good for me). I bought the shirt at target a few years back, wore it a few times, but as always I hated the t-shirt neck line. The green fabric was a fat quarter I picked up at Michael's a few weeks back. For this recon I "drafted" a pattern piece for the green fabric I used due to the fact that I didn't have much room for error. After showing it off to the bf he suggested adding some of the green fabric elsewhere on the shirt to give the shirt a "more unified" look. Not a bad idea, I'm just too lazy to do it right now. No action shots yet, maybe once its fully completed

t-shirt recon rescue

So I decided to take my new dress form out for a trial run and see if I could resurrect an old t-shirt. I've had this Circle Jerks t-shirt since high school (8 years), it was a men's large and at the time it was pretty fitted on me.


It went to college with me, where one Halloween morning I hastily cut the neck in order to make an 80's costume, if I had planned it better, maybe it wouldn't have been so revealing. So for 3 years it was used as a night shirt.
I started the whole project by pinning the neck line to make a boat neck collar, then I removed the sleeves and set them aside. I took it off the form and sewed it, the put it back on for the next part.






I determined how far up on the shoulder I wanted my sleeves to start, pinned the arm holes and sewed. After putting it back on the mannequin I worked taking in the sides. Working with the dress form made me feel freer. I played around with the side seams and made it so the begin curving towards the front which I found to be very flattering. I picked up the sleeves and cut them in half, attached some ties, and again, pinned and sewed.





Here are some detail shots:
Left:Reinforced side seam ----- Right: Top of shoulder (still needs to be cleaned up)

Left:On the dress form ----- Right:Curved side seam


I am really happy about how this turned out, I wasn't frustrated at all while making this, and I took my time while planning the whole thing out. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can wear it outside again.