Sweatshirt Conversion

I love Project Runway, it's so creative. I wish I had unlimited funds so I can buy custom, unique clothes.  But alas, I can't afford it and don't know anything about construction. So when I feel a creative urge, I look to repurpose something, so I chose one of Scott's old sweatshirts.

And after some cutting, sewing, etc.  I came up w/ this.

1. Cut the sleeves to the desired length.  I also cut off the bottom band and used the wider band as cuffs for the sleeves.
2. Cut off the neck, pretty deeply.
3. I then gathered the neck, this took some doing so I zig-zagged to make sure it didn't shift.
4. Cut the front in half for the zipper. I have the wrong zipper (closed and not long enough), so I reversed it so it would zip up.
5. I think I need to finish the bottom, either with a black band or some sort of black trim, so the zipper doesn't look floating.

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Dorm Room Winner

Okay, some of you have asked for pictures of Zoe's dorm room. Zoe and I spent time during the summer putting together several pieces for her room:
1 - Duvet cover
2 - Pillows
3 - Curtains
4 - Desk organizers and sink organizers
5 - Towels
6 - Decorations (paper lamps, wall stuff, and organizer board).
We also got some rugs and bins from Ikea/Target.
FYI - Her room won Best Overall Dorm for her college.
Here are some pictures -

Her duvet cover is reversible, one side is this black w/ white ric rac, the other is multi-colored.

I made matching trays for her and her roommate, they are made out of fabric w/ glass lining the bottom, with their initial below the glass.

Her roommate's quilt is from Anthropology.

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Three Skirts in Three Days

To those of you who know me I sometimes get obsessed with crafting and sewing. This leads to intense spells followed by dry periods. Zoe's dorm is an example of an obsessive period. I just finished another phase and made three skirts. I have always loved the paper-bag look for skirts and shorts, so I looked around and was inspired by these blogs: Made By Lex and Adventures in Dressmaking. I also liked this skirt on Urban Outfitters: Sparkle & Fade.

Here are other pictures of inspiration:

So here are the three I made -

This is the prototype I created w/ about 1 yard of scrap fabric. I made it too short for me and so I added the bottom hem, and then the coordinating belt.  I also sewed in button holes at the waistband so I could swap out the drawstring looking tie.  Here are some pictures:

Here is with the buttonhole drawstring insert tie:

The second skirt I modified from the first one.  I didn't need the button hole part, but I wanted pockets.  So here is skirt number two:

I also made the infinity scarf from three of Scott's old shirts.

I really like this skirt, it's probably my favorite of the three. I made it from a light-weight wool on sale for $5 a yard, a seasonless fabric, which doesn't mean much here in Tucson. The skirt can be dressed up easily w/ a sparkly shirt and heels.  

My last skirt is a true paper bag waist band.  The first two I inserted 2" wide elastic, but I didn't have any more elastic so I tried belt loops instead.

Anyway, there were very easy to make, didn't require a pattern, and about 1.5 yards.  So that should be enough of a sewing fix for awhile.

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Making quilts

I have two quilt projects to do.  I need to make a baby quilt for an upcoming shower.  I also need to make a duvet cover for my daughter's dorm room.  We picked fabric out a couple of days ago.  It can be really expensive, but we had a couple of coupons, so the fabric cost a little less than buying a duvet cover from Urban Outfitters, but definitely not Ikea.  It's hard to motivate a daughter to learn to sew when she can get items for cheaper and definitely in less time from somewhere else. Oh well. She was definitely enthusiastic about picking out her fabrics, so hopefully she got a little taste of sewing magic. Pin It

Proud of my girl....

Zoe just finished her final season of high school volleyball.  They had such an awesome season: TUSD tournament champions, region champions, and made it to the final eight in state.  Zoe was awarded all-region 1st team honors, all Southern AZ 1st team honors, and the prestigious Coach's award.

Here is link to her website for game footage and stats...

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Staycation... to Phoenix

On a little bit of a whim, my friend and I went to Phoenix for an overnighter, with shopping. We stopped at Ikea, picked up some napkins, pillows, and a solar powered desk/work lamp. The solar battery pops out so you can put it in the sun. I actually have it inside, but in a sunny window, and then it works at night as a reading light. Way cool... We went to Last Chance, the "last chance" for returns and stuff from Nordstrom, got Zoe some cute Uggs. Last Chance is in a basement, with announcents before they open about shoving, taking stuff out of other's carts, etc. But once you buy shoes there, it's hard to buy them anywhere else.

After that, we checked into our hotel, then Mondrian, a boutique hotel in Scottsdale, close to Scottsdale Fashion Square. This hotel was tre chic. Too cool for us, but we liked at least pretending we can hang with the rich and famous. We got a great deal through Hotwire.com, so we couldn't pass it up.

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Breakfast with Calexico

Zoe, her friend, and I went to a free breakfast concert with Calexico.

Here is a nice video with them and Iron and Wine guy...

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