My turquoise and yellow dress is still in the muslin phase… and the end of the fitting process can’t come soon enough. Oh sewing gods, please save me from this fitting odyssey!! Blargh! The good news is that my second muslin really did come out better than the first. The photo above was taken after I re-installed the zipper, and I’m pretty satisfied with the fit. Finally. As they say on Seinfeld, serenity now!!
What a great way to brighten up someone’s day! : ) I was absolutely thrilled to be nominated for the Super Sweet Blogging Award by Catriona of The Secret Life of a Crafter…. Thanks so much to Catriona for thinking of me and taking the time to nominate my little crafting blog! It’s wonderful to hear that there are people “out there” reading about my crafting adventures, and I love that the online crafting community is so kind, helpful, and encouraging. This award totally made my day!
Here’s how the Super Sweet Blogging Award works:
THE RULES:
Copy and paste this whole post and replace all your information – who awarded you, for example.
THE 5 SUPER SWEET QUESTIONS:
And here are my nominees… congratulations, I think you and your blogs are Super Sweet! : )
(And yes, I realize that’s less than 13 – that’s way too daunting for me!)
Congrats to all, and thank you again to Catriona for being to sweet and nominating me!
I spent most of the day today working on my turquoise and yellow dress, and I’m happy to report that the second muslin appears to be much less enormous and much less ridiculous than the first. I’m not sure that I’m 100% satisfied with the fit just yet, but we’re making leaps and bounds compared to my triangular-alien muslin. Woo hoo!
Step 1: I ripped out all the seams of the first muslin, collecting all the little threads in a neat pile, as usual. : ) I was so glad to see this fabric in a flat pile as opposed to a huge mess hanging off my shoulders!
I’m happy to report that this is my 100th post here on Allspice Abounds – yay! Thank you all so much for stopping by and making this blog such a happy, welcoming place for me to share my love of craft. I truly enjoy sharing our collective triumphs and frustrations, and I look forward to many more crafty adventures to come.
With that said, I thought I would share a little bit about my “real life” outside of crafting. I always find myself wondering what other bloggers are like offline, in their real lives, at work, with their family and friends, etc. Crafting is just one part of a complex – and probably pretty awesome! – whole person. Believe it or not, I’m not crafting all the time… although many times I wish I were. : )
Hope you enjoy these absolutely thrilling tidbits about me:
With my brother, circa 1986
I grew up on Long Island, NY. I didn’t realize how strong my accent was until I went away to college and got the infamous “Wow, you’re from New York, huh?” every time I opened my mouth. Needless to say, I got rid of the accent (for the most part). : ) Read More
Enough said. : )
The “nailed it” meme is so hilarious. I almost fell off my chair at these “17 Pinterest Fails” on BuzzFeed.
And no, I haven’t yet mustered up the energy to tackle my disaster muslin from last night. I think its timeout will need to last at least another 24 hours. I’ll get back to it eventually though – I really do want that dress!
[Left image credit: Butterick Patterns B5353]
My first muslin of Butterick 5353 was such a disaster that pretty much the only thing to do at this point is sit back, have a big glass of wine, and laugh at how ridiculous it is. : ) I don’t often call my projects a hot mess, but this one definitely fits the bill! Please excuse the awful photos in this post – I struggled so much with this stupid dress tonight that I didn’t have any energy left for decent photography. Just please join me in maniacal laughter about how sewing projects can sometimes go very, very wrong.
There are many things that went horribly wrong with this muslin, but I think the main ones are as follows:
This dress makes me look like a triangle-shaped alien from a very unfashionable planet. As LOLcats would say, I haz a sad. :(
As a woman, I reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute. : ) I had originally thought about making another 60s dress, but after making two in a row (here and here), I decided I wanted something a little more modern this time around. Then again, since I was really digging the teal and yellow idea, I kept that part of the plan. Behold my new fabric above! The teal is more of a turquoise since I couldn’t find the *perfect* teal, but I’m happy with it. Close enough! And how cute are those polka dots??
Cute and functional! I whipped up this sweet reversible tote bag over the weekend and have been swooning over the cute kitties all week. It makes me smile every time I look at it! This is the third Gather Here tote bag I’ve made using the pattern from their “sewing basics” class that I took last winter. I use the first one everyday as my lunch bag for work, so I can attest to its great functionality and durability. Yay for more bags! A woman can never have enough, in my opinion. : )
Project details:
Pattern: Gather Here reversible tote bag. (I don’t think the pattern is available online.)
Fabric: Cuzco by Kate Spain for Moda (pink/orange print); Pet Park by Robert Kaufman (cat print)
Modifications: None
Level of crafty satisfaction: Too cute, love it!
I went a little overboard with the photoshoot, but really, can one ever get enough cute cat fabric? I didn’t think so. : ) Enjoy the photos!
I’ve had no time to sew this week. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Between work, errands, and spending time with family and friends, it is just so hard to find any quiet down time during the week. I’m feeling quite like Maggie in the photo above – pretty sleepy and ready for a nap. Too bad it’s only Thursday!
I found this article from The Onion, and it’s sad but true. Here’s a quote:
Just find the thing you enjoy doing more than anything else, your one true passion, and do it for the rest of your life on nights and weekends when you’re exhausted and cranky and just want to go to bed.
And I don’t even have kids! How do parents do it?? Anyway, I’m off to work for another 8 hours of no sewing. Hope you’re all faring better than I am this week!
P.S. – Since I don’t have any sewing photos for you today, please enjoy this photo of me with “crazy eyes.” Why did I make that weird face? (And yes, that’s my blueberry crush dress!)
Now that my bright happy dress is complete, what’s next on my sewing table? Perhaps this awesome mod 60s dress (McCall’s 8680) that I got in my Etsy vintage pattern splurge? I love the green version on the right, and I’m thinking of maybe doing it with short sleeves for summer, keeping the stripes on the sleeve cuffs since they make me want to go back to the 1960s like right now. : )
But… in what color(s)? Choosing colors is the hardest part of sewing for me, and I tend to spend hours and hours musing over the possibilities… not to mention hours at Gather Here actually picking out fabric. Below are my color ideas so far. I’m excited about them!
