Another plushy tunic top

I made this one for myself, out of the gold paisley velvet.

Another Belle Epoque inspired tunic

I used another pattern from the Burda issue January 2012 for this tunic, made from paisley velvet that I had in my stash, and the silk trim was cut from an old nightgown.

Belle Epoque tunic

Made this top for my mom, for Christmas, from Burda issue January 2012. In a blue paisley print velvet. I really like how it drapes on the mannequin.

Another denim bag

Another pair of old jeans gets a new life. This one will probably be a holiday gift. I have a lot more of these to do.

Another "army wife" bag in progress

Every time I cut apart a pair of these pants, I am amazed by how much material is there.

A small cross body bag....

Made from recycled/vintage cargo pants.

Get ready for National Feral Cat Day, Oct. 16

Ganked most of this off of Moderncat.net. I do what I can to support this cause:

This Sunday, October 16, is National Feral Cat Day! This annual event is coordinated byAlley Cat Allies as a way to raise awareness about feral cats, promote Trap-Neuter-Return, and recognize the millions of compassionate Americans who care for them. Each year cat welfare groups and cat lovers across the country plan events to help educate people in their communities about feral cats and TNR. This year there are over 300 events planned in all 50 states!
If your group is planning an event for NFCD, you can add it to the list of events on the official NFCD page, or you can find an event in your area to attend. Click here to download the awesome NFCD 2011 poster pictured above to help promote the event.

You can also help support Alley Cat Allies by purchasing NFCD 2011 merchandise like t-shirts, buttons, tote bags, and greeting cards.
Here’s another fun idea, change your Facebook profile photo for the next few days to the NFCD 2011 graphic! Grab one of these graphics to use (click on the image and drag it to your desktop):
 
Please join the effort to raise awareness of and help care for our nation’s feral cats. If we all work to TNR and care for them, someday hopefully we won’t have to have National Feral Cat Day!

Recent Baggage

These two bags are original designs that I came up with.

Photos: DragonCon 2011

DragonCon 2011, a set on Flickr.

All my photos from DragonCon.

Hot Patterns Mama San Apron

IMAG0442.jpg
Originally uploaded by mirvana

I whipped this up yesterday, because I was tired of not having enough pockets in the work room.

Downloaded the pattern for free from here -

http://www.fabric.com/creativity-headquarters-free-pattern-downloads-mama-san-apron.aspx?cm_mmc=Pattern%20DL-_-Free%20Pattern%20Download-_-Hot%20Patterns-_-MamaSanApron

Preparations for DragonCon 2011

I wore this lil puppy at DragonCon two years ago, and it turned some heads, so this year I plan on wearing it again, but spent most of yesterday tweeking it to make it better.

I sewed an interlining of crinkly organza into the skirt to help stiffen in, and then trussed it up from the inside, tacking it in about 20 places. Poofy enough now?

I also ended up starching up the petticoat and ironing it for hours.

Tavelog: Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, CA

In other news, I snapped a few photos on my recent trip to California:

Laptop cover - is just the beginning...

Fusible fleece is sandwiched between two layers of MultiCam fabric. Makes a nice laptop cover. The plan is to make a messenger bag to match, but I'm still thinking about exactly how I'm going to do that. I've been looking at this pattern (McCall's 5824):

But without doing the patchwork, of course.

Fun with Austen

Take the Quiz here!

More bags made from recycled stuff!

The "Army Wife" Bag - made from a pair of ACUs. Due to popular demand, I am actually going to make this one for sale - $75 complete, or if you actually give me the pants to make it from - $50.

I also recently tried the pattern on a pair of jeans:

Obviously, you get fewer pockets than if you used a cargo or BDU pant, but it's still spiffy looking.

Next, I am going to try scaling this pattern down to handbag size, maybe, and there is also a messenger bag pattern that I want to work with, although I don't know if I can adapt it to make it out of pants. It will be a challenge worth embracing:)

Iron Chef Sewing: Shorts

I guess I do sewing like I do cooking - give me a secret ingredient, and I'll make something based on that ingredient. I let the materials at hand tell me what they want to be, and today I went into the sewing room without any plan or inspiration.

I happened to look at my box of wood block stamps, and thought I haven't used those in a while, so there you go. The shorts are made from scrap pieces of cotton broadcloth, and the ink colors are what I happened to have on hand. The shorts pattern is your basic, very simple two-piece with a casing at the top for drawstring.

So I went with a bright orange paint for the elephant motif, on the brown shorts, and a bright red with the peacock motif on the blue shorts. I want to make more:)

BTW, shorts are a great way to use up scraps of fabric. You only need about 1 1/4 yards.

The wood block stamps are from India - I received some as gifts, and found others on eBay-kistan. They don't make really good impressions, so the result is very rustic and folky.

Win an Unforgettable Mother's Day

Win a weekend in Sardinia for your mom! Staying at the beautiful Hotel Faro di Capo Spartivento in Chia. All you have to do is say why your mother deserves to win - leave a comment on the facebook, twitter, or blog of CharmingSardinia.com.

Ok, well actually I think my mom deserves to win, but best of luck to you all! May the best mom win;-)

http://www.charmingsardinia.com/sardinia/mother-day.html

MegaCon Costume Stuff

Spent a couple weekends in sunny Florida, and that was nice. Had fun at MegaCon, even though it isn't entirely my cup of tea. Sure, I like comic book superheroes, and I'm a huge fan of anything Star Wars, but the con is now dominated by the anime kids, and I don't really get all of it. My favorite anime films are 25+ years old at this point. So, I'm a bit behind on the current trends.

I did squee over all the hype for the upcoming release of the "Thor" movie.




S.H.I.E.L.D. - the fictional law enforcement agency in the Marvel universe

...and took photos of everything Star Wars...

I am currently working on an imperial officer uniform, and Stefan has informed me that I could make one for him, too, if I wanted.

The costume that I wore at MegaCon is my own invention - it is a very faithfully constructed 1870s period ladies dress, made out of the digital urban camo fabric of the fictional US Marine Space Corps uniform, with all the appropriate emblems and insignia of such. No one was going to guess that one, but a lot of people thought it was something "steampunk." I just wanted to do a twist on the USMSC uniform. That is not unusual to see at a con. For example:

On the right - Gladiator/Roman Soldier Stormtrooper. And, there was also Pimp Vader.

I thought the BSG folks looked great, and I promise myself that I will do a BSG costume, probably a deck hand or shuttle (viper) pilot, at some point.

So I got to thinking about a lot of other fantasy/sci-fi costumes that I would like to do, like a Romulan, or Borg from Star Trek...maybe something from Babylon 5...