Thursday, April 14, 2016

Hail Damage

Well, not really hail damage, but definitely winter weather damage.
Ugh.  So sad.  I bet those crevices are where I did not sand very well.  Do I fix it or just let it go?

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

My Loot (Notions and Things)

More pictures of my haul from the Textile Center Garage Sale:

Buttons and buttons and buttons, oh my!

Old aluminum glitter:
Purty!  My friend has a special name for glitter...like fairy poop or something.  She really hates this stuff.

I also picked up this bag kit for $2.00.  It was taped shut and I did not know whether it was intact or not, so it was a gamble.
Island Bag.  What is an island bag?  Anyway, the pattern pieces were uncut.  It seems like it could be a pretty big bag when it is all put together, but do you want to know what I really love?  Those handles:
They are exquisite!  When you bang them together they sound like musical instruments.  Such a pretty sound.

Okay, well that's pretty much it.  I also found a wall hanging, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  It was $5.00, so a little pricey, but I have big plans for it.  That was over near the unfinished/finished projects section, which is one of my favorite places to visit at this sale.  I also found two handmade by somebody's grandma blankets.  They are getting cleaned, but I'll eventually post a picture.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

My Loot (Fabric)

The Textile Center had their annual garage sale this past Saturday.  I spent way too much money, but it was so much fun.  Wanna see what I got?

Luxurious fabrics;
 My friend found the velvet section first and got some gorgeous yellows.  She whisked me over to it as fast as she could, which was at a snail's pace -- it was super crowded!  Anyway, I found that the blue velvet was a bit crinkled when I opened it up, so I won't be making anything too fancy, but there is enough to make my kids a fancy cape, though I don't have any lining fabric yet.  To the left of that is a smallish stretch of some beautiful thick stuff.  It's not velvet.  From the left (sorry, I'm all over the place), I have that pink diamond plush velvet-like fabric.  The next is some stretch crushed velour.  It will make a good play dress, that's for sure, but, um...I don't know how to sew with that.

And so I bought more stretch crushed velour (I hope that's what you call it, anyway) in blue (far right) and pale yellow (middle).  There are yards and yards and yards of yellow.  So, yeah...who needs a pale yellow cape?  There were also some gold brocades and that dark blue sparkly stuff.
More blue crushed stuff, some silvery stretch stuff that may actually be some sort of thick spandex, I swear.  The last three are just silky and fun.

 Some cottons:
 Curiously, the flowery one was in the "ethnic fabrics" section.  Yeah, I don't know.

Turtles!  Lots and lots of turtles!  Why did I get this?  I kind of loved it, but now I have a little bit of buyer's remorse.  That's a lot of turtles.
 But I don't regret that rainbow cotton.  There's a yard and a half of it and I think it only cost $1.00 (maybe $3.00, I lost track).  I want to make a skirt or a dress for Miss Z.  She's been asking for a rainbow dress for nearly half a year, so this is perfect.  The Bambi fabric is half an old sheet and I'm thinking pillowcases for the girls.

I'm still on a goal to breathe new life into Christmas fabrics.  You know that I hate table runners and wall hangings and quilts made out of Christmas fabrics, so when I find Christmas fabric, I turn it into gift baggage:
These are actually kind of pretty, with the pinks and the gold.  

In another post I will share the notions and things that I picked up.  When do you suppose I will have all the time to sew this up?

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Hey! I Made Something!

Hello?

*tap tap tap*

Hello?  Is this thing on?

Oh, hey!  There you are.  How have you been?  I'm okay, but  I'll admit that I have not been crafting very much at all.  I've been doing a lot of reading, though...like all four of the Neopolitan novels, The Bees, The Golem and the Jinni, The Martian, two Ray Bradbury books, and maybe something else.  And I've been catching up on television...like Better Call Saul, Scandal, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Supergirl, Downton Abbey, and The Walking Dead.  Oh, and the children.  I've been taking care of the children.

So with all of that, I have not been crafting, but when a friend invited us to a birthday party for her little girl, I started toying with the idea of making something.  We settled on a cape and as we started to talk about what kind of cape her daughter would like, it became apparent that this would be a pretty fun project.  

A long, hooded, green and purple cape.  Fun, right?  Hancock Fabrics is going out of business, so I found some pretty good deals on all of the supplies.  I have made other capes, but I didn't have any long, hooded patterns, so I went with McCall's 6420 and I found a gorgeous purple satin and a not-so-gorgeous green satin.  The result:
 So pretty!

The green was not the best fabric to work with, but its vibrant hue worked really well with that purple.  The purple was so dreamy and thick and smooth (sewing erotica?).  The closure is a large hook and eye.  I don't think I sewed it down enough, so the new owner's mom may need to reinforce it.

Anyway, I want to make another one of these capes for my kids.  The new owner was pretty smitten with it, I think.