Linkster

Yep, another one. Here it goes :)


Breakfast of champs - Toast and Diet Pepsi. Don't judge me, it was whole grain bread.

 The sad state of my Sewing/Living/Family room... 90% of the time.

 My Texas Double Whopper. Deliciousness. I always order it without Onions.... and get onion rings... Kind of an oxymoron.

 My new hotness shoes! I freaking love these. I have yet to wear them outside, but i wear them int he house all the time cause they are so fun. Yep, totally vacuumed in them. June Cleaver!

 Papa Bear, diggin treasures. He loves this, and it was FREEZING! I had to sit in the car cause I was so dang cold!

 Bagel Face! This boy makes my whole life!

 Chels wanted a purple room, but it's in the basement. So we compromised. :)

 Redneck fest! Monster Jam 2011 with Chels. And I am TOTALLY wearing a Perry the Platypus shirt. I loves me some Phineas & Ferb :)

HAHA I love that face.

So we come in the house, and I hear "Here I come Chelsea!" I turn around to see this....

After telling him it's bedtime he says "No I can't I'm all hypers!"

I ask him "What are you doing? that's dirty!" And he says "Nope He's not in there." What? in the world is this kid thinking?! He is looking for Buzz Lightyear. LOL

The product of my messy Sweing/Living/Family room

And another result... in progress.

Aw, who can't love a chubby Doxie!?!

Desicions, decisions....

Well, I think that I have decided to go with a dark blue (that matches the pinstriping on the fabric) synthetic fur for the cuffs. As for the collar I have been considering using it.... but adding the strips down the front of the jacket has really limited my options. So, do I take that portion off and add a more traditional style collar that would fold down flat (like what you see on double breasted jackets/coats).If I decide to go that route, I would use the dark faux-fur for that as well. If I stick with the mandarin collar I will use the same material used for the jacket... and then I have the dilemma of which way the pinstripes should go.
Help! Please give me your feedback! I have been having the most insane dreams about this jacket the past 3 days cause i can't make a choice. LOL. End the insanity!

Drafting patterns from patterns

I got this hair-brained idea the other night (due largely in part to my daughter having a mother-daughter Alice in Wonderland night at school) to make a military style jacket. I have seen a lot of patterns that would fit the occasion. However, I also had a much more labor intensive and thought provoking option.... to draft a pattern based on a REALLY old one I have.


I stumbled upon this old pattern (something like 1830's) of a men's military coat. Generally they are made of wool, but since this is going to be my own thing and not historically accurate AT ALL I decided to go with something different. I chose a poly-cotton pinstripe. Its fairly lightweight, won't wrinkle too easily, sturdy, and a good color. Here are a few photos from the first part of the process.

It has taken me some tweaking to get the pattern to work. At first I measured my arms wrong and cut the sleeves too narrow. This meant adding a gusset in the shoulder that runs down to the elbow. Lucky for me, it ended up looking fairly natural. I also didn't account for needing to add darts to the front cause it will be a woman's coat and not a man's like the original. I cut the front sections too narrow, but added a 1.5" strip down the front of both sides. Also, ended up looking fairly natural, like it was meant to be there. I haven't yet decided how I will close it, if I should use a zipper, buttons, frogs, or leave it open. Here are a few photos of the progress I am at now.

I will be adding a buckle tie or something to the back (it's pinned for now) but I am stalled out on that part... I haven't decided what color to do the cuffs and collar. I am planning a mandarin style collar for the jacket, and was thinking something contrasting would look good. But I need to decide on that first so that I can make sure that everything coordinates. So, if you have any suggestions I am completely open to ideas! I am also open to thoughts or ideas, I'm not completely dead set on the mandarin collar.

Purses!

My adorable little niece is turning 6! Ahhhh!

So I decided to make her a purse for her birthday. She is super cute and girly and all about GLAM! SO I have to decide what to make her purse out of and what style I should do. I am thinking something small, with internal pockets. It has to have fabric handles (so it will be 100% washable-my specialty with purses!). I am thinking I will make it with this fabric:

I'm not sure what kind of fabric it is, as I inherited it from my grandmother. But I have a lot of it, and it would be so fun and easy to match some embellishments to. It's very thin, so it will definitely need a lining and something for structure. I haven't decided on a pattern yet, but I have a few ideas! I will post again when I get to work on it! :)

Finally!

I have had my Etsy shop open for almost a month, but totally slacked and didn't add anything. There is stuff there now, including this new thing I made last night.

Its like a Mini Veil that you can clip in your hair or use as a fascinator on a hat or really whatever you want to do. :) It turned out better than I had hoped, and didn't take as long as I had expected. So there ya go, 2 nice surprises.
For today I will probably make a few more of these (or similar beauties anyway) and wear my jammies all day. That is the kind of day it is, and its really cold outside so far today. New pics will be posted on the Photography Blog later today.

Linky Link Linkers

I saw that one of my friends did this on her blog, and I think its a REALLY fun idea. It will give you a peek at my non-crafting life :) 

So here it is.

What is on my phone.... Holy cow I don't even KNOW what kind of junk I have taken pictures of LOL. But here are the interesting parts. I will be attempting to post something like this every week (Tuesday-ish) 

Saw this at Hobby Lobby.... oh how true....

Made this for the kitchen, kinda think it applies to most things and I know that we don't think about it enough. I am hoping that having it somewhere we all see it will help.

The wee laddie made daddy this snake at grandma's house out of play dough, he was so excited we were taking it for a ride! Now it is stuck to the dashboard, and his handsome daddy wouldn't have it any other way :)

Hmmm, really awful photo... however I totally feel like this MOST of the time.

Oh yeah, nothing like dying mah hair! Woooo! Funny though, I can really REALLY hate my hair one day, Dye it, and be in love all over again the next morning. Cheap fix. :)

I loves me some Domo. Dunno why, its so fascinating that such a simple character is so well loved. I hear he is big in Japan.

Finally finished hat. Don't know quite how I feel about that one yet. Its very..... Brown.

Fries in Ice cream. Seriously is there anything better?

Spoooooooky Stool. That's what he said as I was blow drying my hair and getting ready this morning.

Sometimes you just can't make it through a trip to the store for TP.

What's that? You want to do it too?! Go here!

Featuring....

This great blog I follow asked to feature my workspace! I was so excited and honored! Here is a link to the post!

http://wherepeoplecreate.blogspot.com/2011/02/sheena-lyn-designs-workspace.html

Also, check out these super cute ideas! You will totally be missing out if you don't.

Awesome Giveaway!

I love free stuff, especially when its cute! 

Head on over to Love Stitched and check out this great giveaway! Its the cutest crochet cowl!

And what great timing, it has been SOOOOOO cold!

Well, what are you waiting for.... go on!

Singed Satin Roses

Here is the process to making these cute little things, and they are SO much fun. Each one is original and unique, and they are customizable :) Hope this is helpful, have fun with it!

Hats, Hats, Hats, Hats!

Oh my goodness, I have been focused on hats so much lately! I needed a break from it to get my creativity flowing again. So I made a bunch more of the singed satin roses. I think they are one of my most favorite things to make, and they really give me a good chance to focus on something else for a little while. Anyway, here is a photo of one I made on a hair clip :) Enjoy!