January 30, 2012

ta-da!

you like you like?

i re-did the blog and i really like it, and hope you do too!

so stick around, because i have a post for you on wednesday you are going to want to do immediately!

here is a hint.....



ahhh i am so excited!

what do you all think of the changes?

and any guesses on the upcoming project?

January 28, 2012

this layout, it is a changin'

hey guys!

so i finally decided to change it up a bit on the blog, and i am surprised it has taken me so long to decide what to do.

alas.

so if you stop on by and there is wacky stuff all over the place, don't worry :) it's all just trial and error.


 i am excited to introduce the completely new cola cola island on monday!

now go enjoy your weekend :)

January 27, 2012

all work and no play

means graduate deadlines are not far away

and while i wish i could be sewing right now

i have to make the admission boards say, "wow"

so off to my stack of papers and bookmarks galore

when all i really want is some ice cream from the store


have a great weekend you lovely people!

January 25, 2012

happy birthday to you.

yay! cards are so much fun to make! and so easy.....and way cheaper than their store-bought counterparts
like this one 
and since birthdays happen so often, let us make a birthday card. ya?
sorry for the bad lighting :)

so you will need 

a card + envelope
scissors
pencil
two coordinating scraps of fabric
glue
pen
small piece of thin elastic or elastic thread

1. cut out a triangle

2. glue it to the card

3. take the other piece of fabric and cut out a circle. glue it on.

 4. take a small piece of elastic/elastic thread and glue the end underneath the triangle

AH! SO CUTE! take that papyrus!

optional: i then cut out a little heart...

 and glued it onto the envelope

even cuter!!! ah!!!!

oh and guess how long it took? MAYBE five minutes. with taking pictures. so i'm gonna say like two minutes. 


cheap. fast. easy. awesome.
that's my craft motto :)


so try this out, and let me know how it turns out!
happy crafting!

January 23, 2012

a beauty from a beast

every year, each of the messick men get a t-shirt from their grandparents. i guess they are supposed to use it when they are being manly or pumping iron or some other man activity.

however, when i saw this in our stocking this year, i was like, " oh my gosh! a new shirt! i'm so excited!" 

i think it was like a 2XL. just my size :) so i got to deconstructing this bad boy and made it into quite the lady
wanna make one? huh huh huh?
in california, these shirts are everywhere. just find some crew neck t-shirt or steal one from your significant other and let's get down to business!

 you will need
an oversized crew neck
a shirt you own already own and like the fit of
four buttons
thread

 1. lay out a shirt you own and like the fit of and line it up to your shirt.

 2. pin it down 

 3. cut off the excess bottom fabric and save it

 4. cut off the sleeves at the seam and save them

 5. pin the sides and sew!

 6. cut off that nasty crew neck

7. cut down the huge sleeves to match the sleeves on your fitted t-shirt

8. pin your new sleeves and sewwww. then pin and sew them back onto the shirt body. hem the bottom of the shirt and the sleeves if needed.

 9. now onto the collar. muahahaha. i wanted a collar that went all the way around the neckline, so i drafted my own pattern. i found a pretty good tutorial for it here. ( ignore everything except the drafting unless, you want a triple collar) so, draft out your own collar. mine looked like this

make sure to leave a seam allowance. i also made a draft for the back, but i forgot to take a picture. sorry!

10. take that scrap from the sides or the bottom and fold it in half. cut two pieces.

11. to make the back of the collar, just draft a semicircle that is the thickness of the front collar draft. 

 12. sew the pieces right sides together, leaving a part open to flip it inside out. then, taking your two front pieces and your one back piece pin them onto the collar, like from this tutorial. (ignore the fact that i thought i made a peter pan collar....i was young and naive hahaha)

it should look something like this

13. now that the shirt is smaller and the collar is finished and sewn on, onto the placket. the buttons i used are from a shirt my mother-in-law had. thanks ruth!

 14. so to make the placket, just take a scrap piece and turn over the sides to make a rectangle and sew it on
it should look something like this

15. sew on your buttons and.....voila!

sorry for the inside shots, it is pouring outside!

i seriously love these buttons. so flippin cute.

and who would have thought the beast could be turned into a beauty....

so what do you guys think? a successful refashion or what?

so go find a crew neck and show it who is boss!

and have a magnificent monday!!!



January 20, 2012

2012....the year of weddings

if your name is kevin and you took abnormal psychology with me two years ago at ucsb, you may not read further


so in case you haven't noticed, my husband is a photographer. specifically, a wedding photographer.
and for some reason, this year has already been incredibly full of weddings, including wedding crafts!
but recently i was asked to help with the most important and probably difficult craft involving weddings

the dress



my friend gena is getting married in february and i am so excited! ah! she is basically my sewing fairy godmother 
and i was even more excited when she asked if i could help her with her dress

um yes always
i will always help
always always always

so we have had a few sessions and i finally got around to taking some pictures of what we have been up to

it's really cool because it is actually her fiance's mother's dress. lady had style, let me tell you

with lots of lace and satin.....

it is coming along quite nicely. talk about refashion.....this is going to be amazing!

but i can't show you what it looks like! you will have to wait until the wedding :)

have a great weekend!

January 18, 2012

when you think you are beaten, you are.

and i feel beaten.
you know those days when one too many bad things happens and you're just like dude.....i give up. fine. ruin my day. 
so sulking through facebook i found some old family photos

all of my siblings

ps- my mom made these costumes. we are monkeys. awesome much? pps- i'm the one covering my face


my mama and my daddy

do you like how my dad looks twelve?

just trying to remember the good stuff, even though all of this bad stuff is happening


and it kinda works

so sorry for the slump guys, i'm going to try to sew through the pain of physical therapy, among other things


now go have a great day :) 
you deserve it!

January 16, 2012

action shot!

remember this bunting i made?
remember when i said i would show it in action? 


SCHWING!

BAM!


WHAM!

obviously action shots :)
my friends' wedding was AWESOME. jason was the photographer, and i am so excited to see how they turn out!
ah!
in other news, i went to the mecca. and guess what? i went to michael levine and
i was so disappointed.

there was nothing! it was like scraps of fabric. and not even nice fabric! just random crap.

so sad.

so i found some white, off-white, light grey, and dark grey cotton. nothing special

thanks a lot michael levine.