A new sari dress

It seems like such an easy task (easy if you sew, that is) to put together this basic bodice and gathered skirt but for some reason, I have at least 6 or 7 versions of the bodice, none of which I'm completely satisfied with.  I think my problem is that I try and muck with all of them and don't trust that the original will do me right.  One has 3 buttons (buttons, ugh), one has no lining (brocade needs a lining), one is not the right length, I could go on but you get my gist.  In any case, I think this turned out pretty fine.  I'll stick with the hook and eye closure with a half sewn back bodice.  I used a women's lehenga for the skirt which I think was too much. The little lady looks a little poofy in it but whatever. I'll adjust for the next one.  I like the blue and brown - subtle but a tad sparkly.

The only way I can tolerate making lunch...

Finding cute bento supplies is pretty much it. Got a new bunch today. I kind of dread making lunch, especially with one picky eater who will only eat his lunch if it contains hot dogs or cutlets. He needs ranch with his carrots, hummus with his chips, cheese with his crackers. It drives me bonkers, but when I look at these adorable bento picks, forks, and sauce containers, it somehow calms me down. I get them all for super cheap online here and I get some bento inspiration from blogs like Another Lunch and Wendolonia and Pinterest, of course. I tried the cutting shapes thing and it just hasn't worked for me yet. I feel weird with all those leftover scraps of food. I guess I could eat them myself for lunch but that's a drag.

I found this really cool fork/spoon set which actually connects together at the handle lego-style.  How flipping smart.

I was desperate for some sauce containers, since I'm accidentally shaping my kids in condiment lovers like myself.  Not sure if having dipping sauces in their lunch is going to fly for long. It could either be really cool or really unnecessary, but I couldn't resist.

Let the lunch making begin...

Pattern testing

Man. 4 months since my last post.  Not the best way to get this blog going, but 3 holidays, 2 surgeries, 1 lay off, 2 full leg casts, and a new year later, I'm back.  Here my latest attempt at a new style for the biz.  This one was a test that technically fits my 6 yr old but is pretty slim in the torso, so I've adjusted the pattern according but the rest came out great I think.  The dress is all upcycled and made from a combination of a jumper dress pattern (main top) from this japanese pattern book (view G), but since it was so slim, I'm going to try and use a different pattern from this pattern book instead (view S).  The raw edged flutter sleeves are from a nani iro pattern and the bottom is just an upcycled skirt.  It came together pretty quick so I think it's a keeper.  I especially like the keyhole back. 

Anaya's 6th birthday

Birthdays stress me out. I set the bar too high and feel obliged to deliver.  I spent way too long on this invite, too, that 6 people are going to see, maybe 7 if you include my husband. I thought it would be really cute if on her 16th birthday I made a book of all her old invitations.  She might not care at all at that point, but I still like the idea.  Hence, my need to spend more time than I have designing this invite.  I completely stole the idea but it's for personal use so I don't feel badly.

Her birthday will be at a great new DIY workshop studio in Charleston called Spacecraft Studios.
I haven't quite decided what their project is going to be but I'm leaning towards fairy garden furniture, but it's up to Anaya in the end. 

New Dresses

Some new dresses I've been working on.  The pattern for the first is from Girly Style Wardrobe.  The second is from Citronille, one of my favorites, but they are on the pricey side so I have to ration. I'm trying to finally buckle down and get started on my sari dress collection.

Pattern: Girly Style Wardrobe view I. Fabrics: vintage silk sari, upcycled cotton skirt.

Pattern: Citronille Suzanne. Fabrics: Vintage silk saris.

Chalkboard Calendar

It's amazing what straight lines and decent handwriting can do to make a chalkboard calendar useful. I get quite bugged by the constant chalk residue which makes everything harder to read so instead of writing in chalk, I decided to use post-its.  That way we can fit more on those triple-booked days that my husband loves so much. The fact that we look at this every morning and evening at the dining table makes it that much more worth doing every month.

Summer is over - let the crafting begin

So the last month of summer was a wash.  Kids were not as entertained as they wanted to be, despite the hours of attempts and preparation on my part to keep them busy.  So it goes.  I was, admittedly, counting down the days to the first day of school, not because I didn't appreciate the time with my family, but more because my family works better with structure.

What I did manage to accomplish during that last month, though, was some major reorganizing of our humble space.  Our closets are all full, the toys are everywhere and the worst was my craft room.  I would constantly ask A to clean up her art space and her reply would be "but look at your craft room"...and there was no arguing with that.  My first project was A's closet for which I used a 3-6' Home series rubbermaid thing.  I managed to put it together in a few hours because it was seriously that easy and it changed everything in her room.

I now am kind of obsessed with these rubbermaid things so I decided to try and use one in my craft space - exposed.  I didn't take any before/afters of the closet but I did with the craft room.

TA DA

 

It's so dreamy I might just organize every room in my house.  I feel so happy walking in there now and I can be sure that my family is going to have less to complain about when it comes to my cluttered craft room. Yee Haw!