Lounge Pants for Lori

One of the recent sewing projects I've finished are "Lounge Pants for Lori," a birthday present for my friend. She has a degree in Graphic Design so she really appreciates color. I would have to say that this fabric selection is not necessarily my taste, but when I saw it at my favorite fabric & knitting thrift store (yes, there is a thrift store dedicated just to fabric & knitting in P-town) I knew it was definitely Lori. I scored 3 yards of this fuchia cotton flannel for $5 TOTAL. It was in great shape with no imperfections! When I showed my husband the fabric when I got home his reaction was funny. He made a face and said it was "kind of ugy." But I assured him it would look super-cute when I was done making the lounge pants. He didn't really believe me.

I call these "Lounge Pants" (instead of "pajama pants") because I don't sleep in them - I just love to wear pants like this just to hang out around the house. They're sooo comfy! I sew small pockets on the front to hold an iPod and cell phone (this one has 2 small pockets but it's hard to see them in the photo). I love to wear my lounge pants especially when I'm sewing late at night. When I'm sewing I also catch up on phone calls to family and friends or listen to my iPod and those nifty little pockets on the front are so perfect to hold these gadgets. There's an elastic waistband & drawstring waistband as well - helps to hold the pants up when there's something heavier in the pocket (say, like a BlackBerry). Once my husband saw the finished product he thought it was "totally cute." He thought the constrasting fabric on the cuff and drawstring really pulled it together - so did I. Even though I didn't love the fabric (it's not quite my taste either), once it was done I thought, "I might like to keep the lounge pants for myself!" Here is a close-up of the lounge pant fabric & the constrasting fabric I used on the cuff and drawstring:

I can't wait to make myself a pair of lounge pants of this design. I do own another pair I made that's similar but doesn't have the contrasting fabric drawstring casing or cuff (previously I used thick twill tape for the drawstring casing), plus the pair I already own has a different shape to the leg (a little more tapered leg - which I don't care for). I like this new shape better (straight-leg), I think. I'm very excited about the fabric I picked out for my own lounge pants. It's Heather Ross' mermaid-octapai-fish fabric with a contrasting fabric for the drawstring & cuffs in pale-peach polk-a-dot. I think it's going to look so cute! I promise to post photos of the finished product in a future blog. Maybe I will get down to business soon and make a few extra to sell on Etsy. Lori brought her lounge pants to her parents house for Christmas and her sister saw them. She wants to know if I'll make a pair for her. ;)

I Love My New Drink Coasters

Here is a recent item I've sewn for myself. I love my new drink coasters I made for myself to keep in my sewing room. Previously I was using some handmade/handwoven ones that are also very cool. They look like little "mini rugs" complete with fringe on the end - too cute! Kev & I picked them up as a souviner when we traveled to New Mexico one summer. We bought them to use on our living room coffee table but I stole 2 out of the set of four to keep in my sewing room. I finally found some cute fabric recently that inspired me to make some drink coasters of my own. I could finally put those 2 woven coasters back in the living room where they belonged with the others!

After I was done sewing my new coasters I was so excited to use them! I got a glass of water, a mini Pepsi, and some hot soup in a mug and put three of the coasters to use right away! They're useful and cute, AND they look so cute in my sewing room!

I made 4 sets of coasters: 2 sets of six that I am selling on Etsy, 1 set of four for my friend's X-mas present, and 1 set of five for my sewing room (I didn't have enough fabric to make a set of 6 for myself but that's okay because I really only wanted/needed 4 for my sewing room). All the coaster sets are different in their designs/print on one side. I have the animal-themed coasters. My friend has the ones that have a people-cat-things theme. One set I posted for sale on Etsy is a matching vine theme and the other set I posted for sale is a fruit and flower theme. They're all reversible with a yellow and dark red polk-a-dot print on the reverse. Then I ran out of this particular fabric, so I guess you can say these are my "limited edition December drink coasters." They are all one-of-a-kind!





Visit my Etsy storefront to purchase some of these cute coasters for yourself or a friend (http://tswhimsy.etsy.com/). They're great for both hot and cold drinks, or hot soup - yum! I love hot soup in the winter! Don't you?!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Here are a few of my favorite things this Christmas! First it's "my girls," Josie (5 1/2 years) & Maddie (3 1/2 years). A few weeks ago I came home with some stocking stuffers for them and I teased them and showed them the toys (I know, very mean of me). One toy had a squeeky in it, so not only did I show them the toys I squeeked it & it drove them bonkers. Then I stuffed the stockings and hung them up out of reach. Josie is such a smart dog (Maddie is very smart, too, but she doesn't care as much as Josie does for toys and treats - what a weird dog she is). Over the next few weeks Josie would go over to the stockings and sniff them - she knew her toy was in there waiting for her. Isn't this photo of the two of them posing in front of their Christmas stockings just precious?!

Josie is the black dog, Mad is the brown dog.

We have a cat, Dedo (who is named after a French Gargoyle), who has a stocking, too. I wanted to get her to have her sit and pose with Josie and Maddie but she won't stay still. She doesn't mind the dogs much, and the dogs definitely mind her!

After opening up my Christmas presents this afternoon, I have to say this was my favorite. This blue paper "ball." My husband hung it over my stocking - it was very exciting. I didn't even know it had something in it! How cool is that? It's a gift card holder from Anthropologie - I looove Anthropologie. I think it's my favorite store. However, I was even more enamoured with the blue paper ball the gift card came in. The ball is my favorite Christmas present this year (hee, hee!). I was telling Kev maybe we can find more of those in holiday colors and string them around the house to decorate next year.

Update on what's going on with sewing for my Etsy friends... I worked on this very cute little powder blue "sweat-dress" last night (something to throw on over workout clothes, maybe after yoga or dance, or whatever). I'm quite excited about it. I have to wash it one more time to get out my pen marks I used to mark my darts and then I'll get some photos of it and post it on Etsy soon.

Hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas!

P-town Winter Wonderland

This is great! I'm off work AND it's snowing like crazy in P-town. I wish it did this every winter, unfortunately we rarely get much snow here. Having tons of it right around X-mas is awesome. I don't have to feel guilty about staying inside the whole time on my days off. I'm having so much fun hanging out in my sewing room all day!

I sewed a scarf for Kev (a stocking stuffer), I made an extra one that I might post to sell on Etsy. I dunno. I might send it to my mom's husband instead of posting it on Etsy because I didn't get him anything for X-mas. I finished cutting out all my basic pattern blocks and now I'm going to work on fitting the torso block to me to make a cute sweat-dress. I just want something a la Flashdance to throw on over my tights and spandex after ballet class. Maybe if it turns out pretty cute I might sew up a few more to post on Etsy.

This photo was taken from our front porch - that's not our house (it's the house across the street from us), but that is my poor little car covered with snow! This photo was taken 1 day ago. My car is now even deeper in snow today!

This photo is of our Dogwood tree in our front yard. It's so beautiful when it's covered in ice!

Junk to Funk Favorites

Kev and I went to Junk to Funk this November for this first time - it was totally awesome. Even though I was super tired from only having gotten 4 hours of sleep before an all-day handbag design class (although I did get a 30 min nap in before J2F), I totally perked up when the models started working the catwalk. The entries were so creative! Kev & I were amazed that people could come up with such awesome looking garments out of only recycled "junk!"

One of my sewing instructors had told me about J2F. She said I should enter it, but she only told me about it a month ago, which I didn't think was enough time to get something cool together for the show this year. Kev & I figured we'd check the show out this fall & maybe next fall I'll enter it with my own recycled fashion creation. You are all invited in advance to view my entry next year - put it on your calendars! http://www.junktofunk.org/

Here are some photos of a few of my favorite entries from this year's show. I apologize that the photos are kind of crappy. I swear, it's the camera!

This entry came in 2nd place but I think she should have won 1st place, dubbed "Couch Couture." The designer used an old sofa for the jacket & bed sheets for the skirt. I was really impressed with the hardware used for the jacket closures (I think it's door chain locks). This entry also won the Peoples' Choice award.

I really liked this entry. The model is also the designer. She used zippers for the skirt, that's bubble wrap at the bottom, and the top is also made out of some kind of plastic material. I was impressed with her fit job. She won 3rd place, but I think she should have won 2nd place. She was so cute - sticking her tongue out all time. She was so excited when she placed 3rd!

This model/designer knit her own dress out of fabric scraps - it was the first thing she had ever knit. What I liked about her entry is that it reminded me of the Rodarte hand knit designs that are featured in, like, every magazine right now.

This model/designer crocheted her dress & gloves out of cassette tape! It was actually really pretty & sparkly - the photo doesn't do it justice. The belt is made out of plastic tape reels I think (maybe from movies?). This was one of Kev's favorite entries. We felt like she should have placed, maybe at least 3rd place.

This model/designer had a really fun entry, and a suprising one. She works in a hair salon, which explains her jacket. It's made out of her clients' hair, which she dyed & wove into the jacket. Her wig is made out of guitar strings, and her top & pants are made out of CDs.

This entry is made out of magazine pages. The designer/model dipped the pages that made up the skirt in black ink. There was another dress I liked better that was also made up of magazine pages. The other dress had a much cooler bodice with a plunging neckline that looked really cool. But I couldn't get a good photo of it so I'm posting this one instead.