Wardrobe Update – Shorts edition

Hi everyone!

Spring is (almost) here and I’ve been meaning to update some shorts. I had some free time so finally got down to work. Just hemming shorts to a new length makes a difference. See below for before and afters!

10.Deep Before

 

10.Deep After

 

The print is really risqué but that’s one of the things I love about it! It’s not like 10.Deep to tread lightly.

Unfortunately, I don’t have before pictures of the JACK shorts I altered. Just image a wide self belt cinched with the waistband up and long straight legs that end above the knee. Basically a pair of paper bag shorts without any shape. By simply hemming the shorts, flipping the waistband down and switching out the self tie or a braided tie, it looked infinitely better. I also added snaps to the center front and the back pockets. I finished it just in time for my trip to Hawaii next week!

JACK After

 

I have another pair of shorts in work. Will post as soon as I’m finished!

Happy sewing!

xoxo

Sweater Scraps > Arm Warmers

Hi lovelies,

One of my coworkers cut the sleeves off this cashmere sweater and was going to toss them. They were so soft that I wanted to come up with an upcycle project and not have them go to waste. A couple minutes on the sewing machine later, I had a pair of new arm warmers!

Scraps:

Arm Warmers:

Do you have an upcycle project you’d like to share? Shoot me a line!

I still have lots of clothing alterations to get through – there’s never enough time in the day. I’ll try to make some progress and post as I go!

Until next time!

xoxo

Les Ballet De Faile

Last night we went to Les Ballet De Faile, a New York City Ballet collaboration with Brooklyn based artists Faile. We each received a hand painted block to take home.

I’m not a huge fan of contemporary ballet – I prefer the classical, overly romanticized ballets. Basically, I’m a sucker for tutus.

I was fascinated with the giant skirt/cape that the female wore in the third piece, Variations pour une Porte et un Soupir. It spanned the entire stage, and would engulf the dancer at various points during the piece. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a photo from this year’s performance, but I did find one from a previous NYCB performance.

The Faile art installation was impressive – each block was hand painted. Here are some of my favorite blocks from the installation.

There’s another performance May 29th. If you missed this one, I recommend going to the next one.

xoxo

For the Makers

Lauren and Justin’s Christmas gift to me was very in tune with my new year’s resolution.

I had never heard of For the Makers before, but it’s a great gift idea. A lot of my craft ideas don’t come to fruition because it takes a lot of time to gather all the supplies, which can also be part of the fun if you have time to spare. This is why For the Makers is appealing – everything is mailed to you in one small package. The crafts aren’t time consuming, but the end result is beautiful.

You do lose out on the freedom of coming up with your own project, and the creative process that accompanies that, but it’s refreshing to have everything at your fingertips when you do feel the crafting bug coming.

I was so excited about the January box that I made everything at once. It hardly took anytime, and soon I had four new trinkets to enjoy.

 

I can’t wait to see what’s in next month’s package!

Until next time,

xoxo

Happy New Year

I can’t believe it’s already 2013…and I definitely haven’t been keeping up with my blog.

But, my new year’s resolution should help with that. I decided that every gift I make will be hand made – or as close to hand made as possible. Oh to own a wood shop, pottery studio, and a glass blowing studio.

I started early by making a Christmas gift for my friend Max. He was using an old notebook and a rubber band as his iPhone case. It was pretty sad looking. I had some extra time at work (what with working Saturdays and Sundays), so I made him a new leather iPhone case.

I had only worked with leather once before, in college. The costume shop at school had a leather machine, so it was fairly easy to work with leather. I made a purse from scrap pieces of leather – I’m usually not a fan of patch-work anything, but leather isn’t cheap. I’ve actually only used the purse once, but I still like having it around as a reminder of days when I had more time to be creative.

Making a phone case was very different. It’s much smaller, so while the project took considerably less time, I had to go at a slower pace while sewing. The first trial I made definitely looked “hand made,” and not in a good way. With some pointers from the sample hands at work, the second one looked much better. We don’t have leather machines at work, so it was interesting to learn what steps to take to make the machine workable for sewing leather. I liked the way the case turned out, but also have adjustments I would make if I were to continue making them.

Here’s to a great 2013 – full of new crafts!

xoxo

Happy Halloween!

Hi guys!

Since the weather was so lovely this Halloween weekend, we decided to carve pumpkins outdoors. It was a lot more work than I remembered, but I’m happy with the end result. Of course I decided to carve Hello Kitty! >.<

This probably won’t be an annual tradition, but it was fun nonetheless! Hope you have a great Halloween!

xoxo

Greetings from Boston

Fall is upon us and what better time to make a trip to the apple orchard.

I went to Boston this weekend to visit some friends and it was just the escape I needed. New York can feel very oppressive, and Boston was a breath of fresh air.

I don’t want to sound to cheesy and extoll on the beauty of nature, but take a look at these photos and see for yourself.

Until next time,

xoxo

Captivating Women

Lazy night in and stumbled onto these images. Too compelling not to share.

xoxo

Austin Adventures!

I just got back from Austin and had an amazing time! I went sky diving for the first time and had the best tacos. Delicious food, great friends, and new adventures – what else could I want?

Here are some fun photos from the trip! I just loved the hand tooling and embroidery on the cowboy boot at Allen Boots.

s at

 

I can’t wait to go back and eat more Tex Mex…oh and see some friends.

xoxo

Wardrobe Update: Upcycled Skirt

Hey guys!

I’ve been meaning to work on this project / post for awhile. I have so many items of clothing that I want to alter and it’s just been piling up in my apartment. Well, one down, several more to go! Keep reading to see my first of many fixer-uppers!

I adore this Free People dress, but after several washes, the fabric was wearing thin and it ripped on the front seam 😦

No worries though, because after chopping off the top and adding an elastic waistband, I’ve got a new skirt to wear!

Stay tuned, I have lots of upcylcing to do!

Until next time! xoxo