Random

So, I forgot to take pictures of DS's father's day gift for my ex.
I have to say it came out pretty well though. We took an old hardcover that was in very poor shape (moldy pages, ripped, etc) & glued it all together nice & tight, then after it dried, I carved out the inside. More glueing & drying, then we lined the inside with black felt. We also recovered the outside in black Dollarama scrapbooking paper that had silver print. The front & back were stripes placed horizontally. The spine we "bound" with a scrollwork pattern. Since the only thing I didn't have on hand was the paper, the entire project cost us less than $2 after tax!!
I encouraged him to fill it up for daddy. He put in some coins, rocks & his plasticine "turtle" (multi-coloured lump). I put in copies of pictures of DS that he had either lost or given away. I also added a pack of cognac & honey rolling papers (link semi-NSFW) for his smoking needs. More from me than from DS, obviously.

Anyways, DS & I have been in our new place for almost 2 months, and besides all of the problems we have had (dead stove, fridge died, no hot water in shower, ant infestation, more plumbing, microwave died....etc), I have tried to make a livable space. First step was his bedroom. It was previously used as a storage room & it really showed.
His room was unclean as well as unsafe. I put all my energy into making it child-safe, then child-friendly. I slept on the couch for almost a week, because everything got dumped in my room & I didn't have a bed.
I will update with pictures of his room later...
The living room is long & narrow, so is set up very wide so as to be closer to the small TV. One end is an "office space" that I don't really use much. There is also an unsightly gaping hole in one part of the wall that the landlord doesn't think needs to be fixed.
My bedroom is part craft space, part storage & part sleeping space.
This has worked in the meantime, but it doesn't flow very well. Also, the lighting in my room is absolutely terrible, so I am always dragging my projects out to the living room where there is a large fluorescent overhead.
I have worked through several ideas & floor plans in my head as well as on paper, and I have finally settled on a set that I like & I feel flows much better.
Hopefully this weekend, DS will allow me to move things around and get our space a little nicer.

Since I don't have the $$ to buy paint right now, let alone some of the other projects I want to take on (like a huge couch overhaul!), I will have to be satisfied with rearranging the furniture & further organizing...

Oh, and the other day (Wednesday night) I found a perfectly good, solid wood, 6-drawer dresser on the curb! The lady told me I could take it if I wanted it. It's got scratches, but the drawers are still solid & the original pulls are all on (with no damage, as well as not being loose).The wheels (!) are a little wonky, but I might just remove them. Eventually sand & paint. But it's the perfect home for my fabric! It houses almost 3/4 of it in it's current state, but I want to re-fold things, catalogue some new finds, and see if I can't get it all in there. And find a new organizing system for my craft notions, since I will be losing that glass shelf....

Wants & To-Do's

Don't we all end up with a mile long list of things to do? Things we want to own, or make simply for the sake of making them?
Right now, my major to-do is still trying to get organized. I have never been very good at it, so it's never really happened. With over a decade of chaos and multiple moves to sort through, it really is quite the chore. But I still manage to set aside time to craft. Of course, my son always comes first, but THEN comes organizing, and THEN crafting. OK, maybe crafting before organizing... hehehe
So, I have a couple things that I have to make for this summer:

1. I have been eyeing the jumpers that have been seen everywhere. Craftster use violentjayne (who's work I adore - one of my many Craftster crushes) has posted a few truly fabulous ones. I want to make a wide-legged, shirred-top, strapped one, and try to incorporate jayne's trapdoor idea (which is really quite ingenious). I feel like something with a flowy top, cinched at the waist, and wider legs will help hide my problem areas (read: flub) and accentuate the fact that I have killer tits and a waist that is over 10" smaller than my bust or hips. For this project, I have a large amount of olive green jersey. If that one works out well, I have a super-awesome thrift store find to make my second incarnation. The fabric is a light-weight knit in the most amazing azure with a slight pattern to it. It's soft & luxurious & reminds me of something that one might find a lehenga made of. I have a smaller amount of a similar fabric in the same colour, but with a white stripe. The edge of that one is a beautiful purple. It could easily be the sari worn over top.
Which brings me to my next project:

2. Make a simple sundress out of the azure/white striped fabric. I'm not 100% sure on which style I will use, but I don't think I want to incorporate any shirring into it. Partially because I've never done any, and taking on too many projects with a new technique will be too daunting. I was considering using the purple trim and some of the striping in a horizontal across my bust, with the remainder of the stripes in a vertical from underbust to knee. Just a simple strapless dress with an empire waistline & flowy skirt.

3. Another dress. I have this old piece of fabric that was given to me. I'm not sure what exactly it was meant to be, but it was store-bought & I don't think it was ever used. It's white cotton with a large blue floral pattern all over it. One end has a huge amount of wide eyelet lace ruffled on it. I want to use that end as the bottom of my skirt with the lace still attached.
The fabric goes almost 3 times around me, and is over twice my length, so no problem at all with making a dress. I was thinking perhaps a petticoat-style dress with a simple bodice? I might incorporate some shirring into the back of this one and opt for a slightly lolita-esque feel to the piece. Knee-length again, with 3 tiers on the skirt? I don't want to attempt any puff sleeves, though.... Or something closer to this one I found over at Hong Kong Badger. Either way, AntiCraft has a great tut for pettis.

4. A patchwork skirt or dress. Preferably rainbow. I have a bunch of quilting fabric that was gifted to me (two large boxes full!) And I'm not a quilter. It would be perfect for something like this, and I have wanted one of these for so long.








5. A lace-front button-down tank top. I bought a slightly oversized white button-down dress shirt. I plan to take off the sleeves & collar & add tons of lace trims down the front. I have several bags of mismatched trims in white & some more antique-looking. Perhaps dye the shirt as well? Make it all somewhat antiqued? This shirt is about the closest I could find online in a quick search. I want it to wear with my navy pinstripe bermudas. And a wide red or navy belt. And some cute red peep-toes, either flat or kitten heel.

As far as my organization goes, you can see my earlier post on my craft area. I have since opened all of the boxes & bins of fabric & separated lengths of fabric, folded them up nice & neat, and taken a sample of each stapled to a card with the width & length of each fabric. That way, I never have any guessing errors again.
I also pulled out all of my sheets, curtains & other miscellaneous household linens that I had set aside to use as fabric. They are neatly folded & patiently waiting for me to catalogue them all.
What's left to sort? I still have a couple of boxes of scrap to sort through, and a big rubbermaid bin of mismatched scraps & old clothes for reconning. I want to separate my scraps into quilting scraps, larger fabric scraps & smaller non-quilting fabric scraps. Anything I find not useful will be sent on it's merry way.
My yarn is still out of control, and I think I just have to use a lot of it up to get it under control. I have a 5-drawer organizer for it, and it's full, as well as a couple more bins & some random bags. Some of it was gifted, some of it was bought on a whim, some was bought with a project in mind, but never occurred (or never got finished - my unfinished projects are absolutely shameful)
I also found a multi-drawer organizer for $1 at a yard sale! I used it for all of my buttons, embroidery floss, beads & supplies. It was a bit rusty, but I gave it a quick coat of gold spray paint (I have a can from an old RHPS Columbia costume) Which means I have 3 smaller organizer boxes with nothing in them. I am going to either give them away or sell them.
I still have my under-bed storage system sitting empty (since there is no under my bed, just a mattress & boxspring on the floor). I think I will pull everything down from the space above my closets and fit it into those boxes, then put them up top. It should help keep everything a little neater and more organized.
Well, the organization part of this post is getting long-winded and depressing, so I'm going to cut myself short before I realize just how behind I am...

Fishing, Anyone? revised

If anyone has attempted my "Little Fisherman's Toy Net" pattern, they may have found the last couple steps to be confusing (eg. after row 39)

Today, I was asked to clarify the last couple steps in the pattern, and I realized that they were written completely wrong! I have edited it to correct the error, and there should be much less confusion when making one of these now.

If you haven't tried the pattern yet, why not give it a go? It's super easy, works up quick, and great for getting some of those stuffed animals up off the bed/floor/bins/chairs/wherever you keep them :)

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Thanks, Theresa for pointing this out!

Oh, Hai!

After a huge amount of BS, I am back in the world of internetland.

To be honest, I feel like a total piece of crap about a lot of happenings since my last post. I flaked on a Craftster swap (the onesie one) and received negative feedback. First, I was sending late, but then I never sent. I have the projects sitting in my craft space, completed, but now I don't know if it's just too late. That's really not like me. Health issues intervened with sending on time...

My "wonderful" boyfriend is no long my boyfriend, and not so wonderful either. I left him on what I hoped could have been amicable terms, but he decided to take my money as well as personal belongings, ditch on paying his portion of the rent while he was still there....yeah...

DS & I have since moved into a smaller, more affordable place. It's just us, and it is WONDERFUL!

With moving, comes the challenges of re-organizing. There is also a lot less storage room here. On the up side, my room is all my own, and I have been able to set up a fully-functional crafting area. I still have a couple things left to do, but all is organized, labelled, and easy to find.

Here's some in-progress pics:

A large 2-man desk, plus sewing table at far end. Dolly standing proud, but with no bra. Shelves up on wall & full.

Those desk drawers are full of patterns, paper crafts, DS's craft supplies. All organized for easy access.

Stacks and boxes of yarn, fabric, partially completed projects, & miscellaneous sewing supplies that have yet to be sorted.

A large ziplock bag of embroidery floss was given to me ages ago. It's all sorted out and ready to be carded and put in it's own container (finally)

On the bottom shelf: miscellaneous knick-knacks & craft supplies.

On the second shelf up: adhesives, carving tools, paints, more miscellaneous craft supplies.

On the third shelf up:buttons, beads, embroidery floss, beading wire, velcro, zippers, badanas, and more miscellaneous sewing supplies. All are organized into separate containers and labelled for easy finding.

On the top shelf: my Wuzzles, Rainbow Brite, ribbons, bindings, laces & trims with ribbon tulle on top.

Scissors & ruler on wall hooks.

A pile of completed hats that do not have homes. I'm considering making papier mache heads for them and mounting them on the wall. It would also supply me with a place to store some of my costume wigs.

What do you think?

Fishing, Anyone?

When my son was less than 5 months old, we moved to a basement apartment that would need a bit of work to keep everything organized. His room theme was "under the sea," so we found an old waterbed headboard, sawed off the supports and refinished them, then hung it up on the wall filled with antique toys, a fishtank, sea shells, and pictures. There was a giant stuffed shark hanging from the ceiling, and various other little details that tied in. But my favorite item was the one I made.

As any new parent is aware, you become inundated with stuffed animals. And as your child's life progresses, the collection is ever expanding. We had a rocking chair FULL of stuffed animals, stuffed animals on shelves, in hanging baskets, in bins, and EVERYWHERE!

So, we discussed toy nets that you can purchase in stores, but I didn't like any of them that much.

Instead, I went out and bought a large ball of cotton and started coming up with a net of my own. I used natural, unbleached, undyed cotton so it would better mimic a fisherman's net.

And of course, tried my hand again at writing a cohesive pattern to share.

Little Fisherman's Toy Net

Pattern no longer available...sorry!