Treasury! Treasury! Treasury!

DeChon Designs made it into our first ever tresury on Etsy. I tried to get a picture of it on the blog but I wasn't quick enough! Phew! Those things go so fast!

I've Been Busy

In my shop I sell nurse hats. I got the pattern from a friend of mine that asked me to reproduce her favorite hat. The difference between this hat and others is that it has an adjustable elastic band in the back. They're fairly easy to make.

She brought me this adorable fabric and asked me to make more, and said that she would sell them for me.

I'm excited. I went through my stash of 100% cottons and found these other cute fabrics - ballerina hippos, monsters, frogs and stripes. I also found this great wholesale place for sewing notions too! http://www.wbcindustries.com/leather.html So I've ordered elastic and more cordlocks and I plan to make 100 or more hats! They sell for $10.00 each! Let me know if you'd like one too! I like to wear them around the house to clean in. They keep my hair out of my face and they're colorful.

The other project I've started on is the next in my "list of things to do." I bought this exquisite pattern from a seller on Etsy and at a Going-Out-Of-Business sale at a Hancock Fabrics here in town, I found the perfect fabric for it. It's either silk or rayon and very lightweight. I'm not sure if the wearer would need a slip with this dress. I'll have to stand the dummy in front of the window after I've got the skirt on the dress to find out. If it's too sheer, I'll put in a black or blue skirt, already attached. This dress will also feature my first attempt at covered buttons. I think they turned out great! Also, since my button-hole-er is broken on my machine, the button holes will be lined, very chique, very couture.
While I was making this dress, my daughter really wanted to help out. Well, since I'm going to sell this dress, I decided that she could make something of her own. Arizona is very hot right now and this fabric is super light and slippery cool, so I told her that we'd make pijama bottoms for her out of some of the remaining yardage from the dress.

I was so proud of her. She traced the pattern, cut it out, pinned it, sewed and serged the edges. That's a very large committment for my flitty daughter. But we had to laugh, because her seam allowances were so big that the shorts came out WAY too small for her. She tried to put them on anyway and looked like a stuffed sausage. Even my husband was giggling. So....Citrus the bear got new pijama bottoms. Citrus is the bear we made together when she wanted to go to Build-A-Bear workship and I wouldn't let her. I just couldn't see spending the money on a pre-fab bear when we could make a bigger, better one all by ourselves. Citrus is not for sale. I can make teddy bears, but only on special occasions and for good causes. Don't get me wrong. I like to make stuffed animals. But if I don't draw the line somewhere, I end up making bears, curtains, car covers, plush photo albums, and whatever else anyone asks for.

On another note: I have new items in my shop! Check it out!

Retro Bag & Over-Cycle Upholstery

Well the retro bathing beauties are up on the site. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep Nikki out of the pictures. She chose that exact moment to demonstrate her amazing ability to "shake" at all the most inopportune times and beg for treats. So almost all of the pictures contain the wonder pup. I think she adds a little glamour to all of those fabulous ladies on the bag. Don't you?

The bag came out really well. I was surprised that the grommets worked as well as they did. They're originally intended for paper and I found them in the scrap booking section of my local craft store. You see, the design of the bag called for the sides to be pleated so that the bag wouldn't fall open when walking. I didn't like that because it limited the size of the mouth of the bag and would only allow one large book in at a time. From my University days, I know that sometimes I'd like to be able to just shove all of them in at the same time. So I used a draw string on the sides. Lesson learned from the messenger bag: Don't be afraid to venture out of your own "isle" to find what you need. Sometimes it's not even called the same thing and may require some extra time to look for it. Other times, it's not even the same store! I've found that plumbing fixtures work wonders in a pinch for some projects. Fishing weights work well for weighing down curtains that fly too much in the breeze or have a tendency to bunch in the wrong places. Also, tiny woodworking hinges make great purse closures. By visiting different places to find your art or complete your vision, you'll not only expand your horizons; you'll also make your options virtually limitless.

Check out these links for some outrageous supplies made beautiful:

Insect Art http://www.insectlabstudio.com/index.php/item/287
Money Origami http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/
Eggshell Art http://www.avoova.net/products.htm
Phil Hansen http://www.philinthecircle.com/influencedetail.html Seattle artist Phil Hansen, painted 30 different people that influenced him, on on top of another on his own torso!


This last weekend was mother's day and since we had no children here, my husband hired me for a little project. We have two vehicles I call the retro-minis. One is a Turbo Sprint and one is an automatic Justy. Both are only three cylinders and two-doors. Both are excellent on gas mileage. Unfortunately, the Justy was made with a carburetor (YUK!) and the Sprint has a TURBO (vroom vroom!) The Justy is in perfect shape and was given to my by a very dear friend with the promise that I would love it and take care of it. The Sprint was a junker that I fell in love with and my husband rebuilt the engine for.

The project: reupholster the Sprint seats. The answer? Hand tailor the Justy upholstery to fit the Sprint! The original Justy seat is on the left and the new, hand tailored Sprint seat is on the right.The Justy has been not working for quite a while and frankly we were thinking of donating it. However, with my promise to my friend and the total beauty of the interior, we really didn't want to see it just get parted out. So, I switched the fabric and with little (yeah right) adjustments here and there...Voila!

I like to call this type of project "Over-Cycling," because it's not really an up-cycle, since nothing better has come from a lesser original product...and it' not recycling, because it wasn't really garbage to begin with. It's just received an over-haul.