I have not been motivated at all lately to do much of anything, especially those things that I know I must do. I am starting as a long-term sub for an English Language Arts position for 6th and 7th grades on Tuesday. I have been trying to get “my” classroom organized, but even that is not very motivating to me. We have done some things lately though:
This is a duck that my 3rd grade daughter made (with lots of Mommy help). We used the instructions from Mariska’s blog. It was fairly easy, though I would change some things for a new sewer, like the pattern size (bigger), and make sure that we used felt (no unraveling), instead of stash fabrics.
We are also gearing up for our middle school Madrigal Dinner. My 8th grade daughter will be participating in this, so this is the dress that we have started for her…although, if she gets the Half-Man/Woman part in the Madrigal play, it will be a moot point.
And a detail of the beading….I have been on a beading frenzy lately.
Notice the BE–YOO–TIFUL dressmaking dummy that one of my bestest friends, Kelli, gave to me! I have named her Bianca, and the sad, yet beloved, Minerva (my duct tape dummy) has been moved to the pit that is my basement.
I have found a few new inspiring websites and blogs (which I will add to the sidebar soon), and one of my *new* faves is Art Junk Girl (notice that I have LINKED this!) I have always loved to do collage…and so I am reading about her art journals, and thinking, ‘Oh, I should make little books for my two best friends, out of old BOARD BOOKS’. This lady is a genius, I think. I am SUPPOSED to be finishing some mending for my local friend’s grandma, and sewing a Wicked Witch of the West costume for Community Theater…but we all know how I will be spending my evening, ripping up old magazines and wallpaper sample books, and looking for some board books of my kids that I can steal (they are at grandma’s anyway).
p.s. Check out that LINK to Art Junk Girl (oh, I crack myself up with all my new knowledge–thank you, dear).
p.p.s. I am inserting a picture, just because I can….
Filed under: Party!
Hello again! Many things happening here in Michigan, including much inspirational reading of blogs and such! Here’s some news….
We had a birthday party for my daughters, who are now 13 and 8. We have these huge themed parties every year, and this year was a Mad Hatter Tea. Here is a pic of the “Rabbit Hole” that greeted guests.
Here is my oldest and some friends at the party! She is the Mad Hatter.
Well, on the horizon…my children are off to Grandma’s for a week, and so I am hoping to post more for the week…projects from both kids, a Madrigal dress for my oldest, and a paper mosaic mirror that I am attempting to finish! Oh
I am still waiting to hear back from Sew Retro, and I also joined Wardrobe Refashion. This is another place that I am excited about, but they haven’t written back to me yet either. I will be patient, and try to abide by the rules of not buying new, making things from fabric I own, and refashioning thrifted items. I am trying to include our daughters as well.
And in this vein, I have completed a project that I am extremely proud of…
I bought this pattern AGES ago, and was disappointed to get it home and find that it only had the skirt piece. So I made some pieces up out of newspaper, and scaled it down to my 8 year-old’s size.
I had the polka dot fabric from when I was redoing the bathroom. It was originally going to be curtain valances, but I found something else.
And here she is…
I did decide to join the Sew Retro blog (if they will have me). Their August/September challenge is to make a dress, from vintage pattern and/or fabric. I will do this!
Right now, I am working on those flapper headbands. I made great progress on a peachy orange one during a viewing of Chocolat, but I got bored with the peach beads, so I started another piece. This one is a hip decoration, ala this:
(click for full-size)
I am really excited about how these are turning out. I tried to bead a purse for someone an number of holidays ago, and I wasn’t crazy about my technique. This time I am beading directly on Aida cloth, used for cross-stitch. The beads are sized–1 bead=1 space on cloth, so this makes it slightly easier to estimate how many beads I need for each section. I will put some pics on real soon!
Filed under: I find myself humorous...
I have already mentioned my affinity to talk like Junie B. Jones, and so here I pronounce for all, my huffy-breath in the direction of the Sense and Sensiblity website.
I really liked going to this site, where there were lots of ladies who did historical costuming. And, I admit, I found the general Christian/homeschooling/feminine vibe slightly off-putting; but I have officially stopped going to their site because the administrator took down some posts about Harry Potter, saying that she isn’t comfortable with the books’ effort to promote witchcraft and the occult.
Now, there are allowable talks about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as The Lord of the Rings, and the symbolism found in these books could extend to Harry Potter. Anyway, I just thought it was a shame that I found a straw to the back, so to speak, and that is why the site is not on my list of faves. However, I do recommend the site for those of you who hold the same views.
Filed under: Inspiration
Well, I have been a busy bee! I have added and separated links to the blog. I thought I would share why these made the initial cut…
A Dress a Day—I love this site–so many pretty pictures, and funny commentary. Oh, and check out “The Secret Lives of Dresses”; Erin is really talented.
Demode—Kendra really knows her stuff when it comes to historical costuming. She also lives in San Franscisco, which means that she can create a HUGE amount of work, and have a place to wear it. Look at her movie reviews (I found them helpful) and her dress diaries.
Elegant Musings–I like to look at Casey’s blog because she has all sorts of ideas. She is retooling right now–can’t wait to see her newness.
Hello, My Name is Heather–Heather Bailey is so talented! She provides some tutorials, and much inspiration!
Sew Retro–This is a new one for me.. I am debating joining. I mean, I do love vintage patterns, fabric, etc., but would I create enough to post here with any regularity? Still, great to see what others are doing.
Costumer’s Guide–This site keeps me up-to-date about all the new movies coming out that might provide serious eye candy. She also provides links and pics to get a better look at costumes.
Movie Mannequin–Neat, up-close pics of some popular movie costumes. Handy reference.
Threadbared–These ladies make me laugh SO hard. I spent one 24-hour period going through their archives, and I have to say, 2005 was a stellar year for them. The premise is to post pictures of vintage sewing, knitting and crochet patterns and then write commentary or fiction for them. Trust me, HILARIOUS!
Wardrobe Refashion–Another new one! Again, I would love to rejoin this group that takes a pledge to retool and recycle, rather than buy new, but would all of my costuming from curtains count?
Anyway, check out these links…and cross that off my to-do list!
Filed under: I find myself humorous...
Well, I want to forge ahead with my plans to dedicate this blog to things that make me happy, even as my life trickles around my ears (well, that might be SLIGHTLY melodramatic). Anyway, this is what is going on…
Went shopping with great pal and middle school choir director, Kelli, and picked up gobs of fabric and trim for the upcoming school year. We do a Madrigal dinner (this year November–and about 150 kids–yikes!). Also, this year, we will do a musical–Thoroughly Modern Millie–in the spring.
I LOVE creating costumes, so this is my most exciting year. Since we don’t have a cast yet (probably November), I have been trying to resist doing something with the fabric in my house. This is very hard. So I have decided that I will use up all of the beads that I have lying around to create beaded headdresses and belts for some of the main characters. Actually looking pretty good so far. I will post pics as soon as I finish one.
Here are some things that I want to accomplish by August 15…
a list of favorite websites and blogs…I have many!
some uploaded pics of projects (with commentary) and patterns.
a decision about whether I can do either Wardrobe Refashion or Sew Retro…both are so intriguing.
There..I think you have had enough for the day.
Filed under: I find myself humorous...
Here are some things that you need to know about me before I start posting the crazies, so that you can choose to read or run; a top 10, if you will.
1. I love to sew clothes for the theater–I like this because I don’t have to sew really well (like I would with clothes you see up close), and because I love to research a period, and then do my own thing.
2. I use a lot of parentheses (if this is not already evident from above).
3. I also talk/write like Junie B. Jones and Stephanie Plum. If you haven’t read any books starring these two characters, run, DON’T WALK, to your nearest library.
4. I love libraries (if this is not already evident from above). I get really depressed in the summer, when libraries close on Sundays–like I don’t READ on Sundays? I am also still pretty pissed off that the card catalog is no longer an option.
5. I complain alot about stuff that probably doesn’t matter (if this is not…).
6. I think that the best pens in the whole wide world come from drug dealers…uh, pharmaceutical representatives. I mean it, I have this purple pen from Nexium that is a clicky pen, is really wide AND has a built in squishy finger cushion! They had me at “clicky pen”.
7. I have two daughters, 13 and 8. I love them very much, and they make me laugh, sometimes on purpose, and sometimes so that I will not kill them.
8. I have a husband. He is a teacher and plays guitar in a local band, and ditto the above.
9. I am jobless, not by choice. I have a teaching degree, but I have been subbing for 2.5 years now. I am sometimes wishing I was an accountant.
And last, but NOT LEAST,
10. I am a snarky bitch. No, really, I can be very mean and sarcastic, so enjoy!!!!
Filed under: I find myself humorous...
I have a variety of websites/blogs that I visit frequently…when I wish to be inspired, envious, or plain laugh my ass off. I will post links to them on the sidebar as soon as I can figure out how to do that. Just putting in my header was a pain (thank you, husband, for your help), so I will try soon!
Back to the visited blogs…I like the ones that tell me about daily life, where they share sewing and fashion ideas and thoughts, and the ones that use old patterns or pictures to make up creative narratives.
This blog will be a little of all of that.
Humbly yours,
Dawnee
