Gnome-ing It Up.

I kept my offspring alive for a whole year!!! 

To celebrate, i threw a party.

Soren's birthday party was woodland themed. I know i wanted it outside, and since I'm obsessed with woodland forest friends, we already had all of the decorations! A bonus was I helped throw a baby shower the night before, and had some leftover food. Score! My Sister made his owl cake and all these pictures are compliments to Meagan O Photography. I have such talented friends!

Can i just say, i have the coolest kid in the world. He always wakes up happy, loves all my jokes, and runs and hugs me whenever i ask. What more could a mommy want?

His favorite things to do include eating, setting the thermostat, and dancing to Taylor Swift.

His favorite word is YES! he says it 100 times a day. 

                                                           He prefers African Americans.

I don't deserve him.

GNOME HATS

I made Gnome hats for Soren's Party favors. The kids were adorable, if you want to learn...  

 

So, making each hat took about 14 ½ minutes. However it took like 2 hours to get the original shape right and the sizing right for babies, kids, and adults. These hats are reversible. Get two pieces of fabric.Fabric often has a 'good' side and a 'bad' side. The fabric i used here was interchangeable- that makes it easier. 1/3 a yard will make 2 pieces (of the same) fabric. so you may as well get 2 different fabrics (1/3yard) pieces and make one for a friend.

1. Cut a shape that looks like the first picture. I did it this way rather then cutting 2 separate panels because it keeps you from having to put a seem up the front of the hat (note, you can fold the fabric and do the gnome hat shape from the profile perspective- picture 2)
2. Fold in half ( inside out-good sides together) seem down the side only ( side the maker is pointing to)
3. Repeat for both fabrics.
   At this point you should have 2 different color hats. Turn both inside out (should already be)
4. Now that they are inside out turn one upside down and set on table, then take the other one, place on top of it, so that the fabric shapes match up, You should be looking at the ugly side of both. (the good sides are touching and inside) Seem around the the entire shape (leaving about 4 inches whole open)
5. flip everything through the whole you left. Now you are looking at the good sides. Tuck one of the hats inside the other, seem up the whole and WALLAH.

             

Steampunk - Costuming

  

My household is infected with a viral plague. The upside of being quarantined from the outside world is having time I didn't expect in the craft room. So today I realized that Halloween is in like 3 days and I have no idea what my adorably kid will be, much less me.

I have a pilot jacket I got on consignment a while back, so I thought I would just make Soren a WWII pilot, with the goggles and the leather hat.

So as I am making him his hat, I think, "why don't I just match him" then I remember Steampunk.

                  What is Steampunk? 

"Steampunk- a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980's. Usually occurring the the Victorian era of Britain where Steam power is used. Usually featuring anachronistic technology of futuristic innovations based on Victorian perspective art, culture, style and fashion."

If you have time, Google Steampunk fashion...marvelous.

I love costume design. I love art through clothing. I love the freedom of over dramatic colors, assessorsies and shapes. Take the freedom of fantasy costume design and add Victorian fashion and thats my heaven. Seriously, I could design steampunk for the rest of my life and be a happy girl.

Back to reality. Soren is a pilot, so I decide to match him in being a pilot, but add a steam punk flare. My goal is to not spend any money (except the $2.50 is spent on faux leather I got for soren's hat) So I got out all the buttons, and metal pieces, and brooches I could find, and added it to leather.

My first challenge was my steampunk pilot goggles. I got the rims from my canning jars, make the leather piece, and sew it on with gold thread, use some clear plastic from some Tupperware containers, then add lots of buckles, ect.

Then I wanted some leather arm bands, again, sewed some leather, added buckles and Wallah.

For my actual 'outfit' I toyed around with huge Victorian skirts and velvet jackets, but in the end, I wanted to stay true to my pilot vision. So I wanted it to look like a WWI pilot, so I went with a simple standard issue green dress, with leggings, and boots. Layer some studded leather belts, and add some Steampunk jewelry.

     

SWEET! Potatoes

 Sweet Potatoes are known for being a apart of the fall season harvest, but like pumpkins, they need a long growing season. I planted Beauregard Sweet potato transplants in May. I didn't plant them in a raise bed, just in dirt, covered with plastic mulch, with drip tape. I waited, and waited, I would have forgot about them except the vine were taking over more than half of the back row. When I pulled up a few vines, some of the potatoes were really huge. One would feed me, jesse, and make like 4 meals for Soren.

I cannot tell you how joyfull anticipation of digging up something in the ground that you planted, thats been growing for 3 months, that you can take to the kitchen immediatly and eat. I think the anticipation of harvesting new crops used to coincide with seasonal holiday excitment. It's fun to feel what people for the last 2,000 years have felt, that many americans don't have the privlege of exsperiencing.

Sweet Potatoes are fast becoming a favorite of mine, you really don't have to 'preserve them' you just dig them up, and let the sun 'cure' or dry in the sun a few days, then just stick them in a cool place.

Sweet Potatoes are amazingly simple. You can make fries our of them, boil and mash them, make muffins or bead, and of course Sweet Potato Soufflé. Fries are the easiest, cut them, fry them, delicious...

Thrift-Cycling

 I did a short tutorial last time. As I said, I love designing things in my head. Often, it's cheaper to get fabric from thrift store clothes, and re-purpose them. Cheap and Eco-friendly usually go hand in hand. I just wanted to post some of the projects I did last Saturday. These ranged from easy to more difficult.

Here was the easiest sweater I did. I took a XL sweater from the thrift store, because of the shoulder seem, I really just outlined my measurements, turned it inside out and sewed down the line.

 

This is a dress I found and loved the design of the fabric. So I made into a dress I could wear to work...

 

 

And I am in love with tunics these days. Here are three 'items' I got from the thrift store, riped to shreds and re-fashioned.



Sewing: Not as hard as you think

Flannel Dress

This will be the worse tutorial you have ever read. The point is, you can do it yourself.

I am the laziest seemstress in the world, i only measure for pragmatic reasons, not as a way of being precise. I do not use patturns, but i love trying new things.

I cannot justify simply going shopping anymore. I have accumulated way to many clothes. When I need something, I find it, but other than that, I am beginning to hate clothing stores.
 The problem is, I often get an idea of a dress or skirt in my head. Sadly, usually the things in my head don't exist.

For example: I really wanted some flannel dresses I can wear with leggings and boots. I can't find anything remotely resembling what I want. So here is what I do...

1. Go to the thrift store and buy an XXXL shirt. Skinny short peeps could go with a double X. Usually the thrift store has cuter patterns anyways!

 

 

2.  Cut the shirt up to the way you want it to fit. Cut the sleeves off at the seem.

Measure your waist (wherever you want it to to gather)

Measure your neck to your shoulders and also measuring yourself from the shoulders down to where you are cutting. At that point take that corner to the far edge of the bottom

If nothing else, at this piont, you have a fab redneck holloween costume!

 3. Cut the sleeves to the width the fit your arms.( leave the cuff alone- I don't cut it at all)

4.. Turn the body of the dress inside out. Measure the sleeve width at the top, and match it to the body of the fabric. From this point, simply sew a seem down both sides all the way down. (inside out, so the 'good sides' are hidden and facing each other.)

(begin seem at the 10 inch mark is where i will begin my seem, leaving a hole for my sleeve.)

 5. Turning the sleeves inside out sew a seem down them as well. Turn the sleeves right side out again.

6. This part is a little tricky- with you body inside out, and your sleeve right side out. Now you will fit your sleeve into the sleeve hole in body, putting the sleeve cuff in first. Wiggle it all the way in so the 'good side'  large end of the sleeve lines up with the 'inside and good side' of the bodies arm hole. This should make two same sized (10 inches = 20 inch circle) where the 'good sides' of the fabric are hidden facing each other) making a circle of 2 fabics on top of the other.

Sew the circle, and turn right side out. Add your favorite belt, and Wallah!