http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12787218?nclick_check=1

Seriously? You are so desperate to find answers to your budget problems that you are blaming the FATS???

Come on...

(I'm not even from California and this makes me insane!)

Going to see her next week, I can't wait!

I just love this man...

So, my grandmother emailed me and let me know that tomorrow we are not only getting together for Easter, we are also celebrating my Aunt's birthday (it was apparently April 1st). So yesterday I went around downtown finding her little gifts. She is an awesome person, I love when we get to see her, she loves to laugh and is a lot of fun to talk with.

She is, however, the exact opposite than me in ways that include fashion and taste in music, movies, books -- basically anything and everything. She is very fashionable. There are a few shops around downtown that are perfect for finding gifts for women like her -- I found a super cute scarf, some handmade earings and a really really nice tyler candle (seriously, these are the best candles I have ever smelled/used, which is high praise from me, because I am really sensitive to scented things)

After getting all of these I was stumped about what I was going to do to wrap them, I hate using bags or wrapping paper that are never going to be used again and just get thrown out as soon as the gifts are taken out/unwrapped -- so I looked around at some of the things I had and came accross some reminants of fabric I picked up from Jo-Anne's the other day. So I decided to make a little pouch and use the mesh ribbon that one of the stores used to tie a bow on the bag. 

I took the fabric and wrapped it around my hand until it was big enough for what I wanted to put in, and cut it, it actually came out an almost perfect circle. I then pinned about one 1/2 inches around it and sewed down. I cut a small hole in the top of the "hem" and stuck the ribbon in with a safety pin on one end to feed it through holding the other end. It came out really cute! 

( pictures of the bag )

So I was going to work on my purse today, but so far have managed to watch TV, have leftover for lunch, shower, and do moderating duties for my new community plus_size_sew (which I think everyone should join, because it will be awesome)

I did however, upload photos, which I will now share:

( pictures of purses and more... )( pictures of purses and more... )

Well, the purse is still a work-in-progress. Even though I measured everything -- somehow the front of the purse ended up larger than the back, so now I have to rip the seams out of the front and figure out how to cut it down without having to scrap the whole thing. 

I added two pockets to the front, they even close with flaps and star buttons. It actually looks super cute, but it is crooked and puckered because the front is too big for the back.

I am going to work on it tomorrow and see if I can't fix it and get the handle and zipper in.

I can't wait for the days when I have a dedicated sewing room with a comfortable chair. At the moment I have everything strewn all over our dining table and the floor... which is not good. And I have to sit on our AWFUL dining chairs... let me tell you, I was sore after making the pants.

So I decided to try my hand at purse making. Not really going by any sort of pattern, just looking at my purse that I have and going from there.

I stopped at Jo-Anne's and picked up some black denim and some red silky dress material for the lining and am using the skull patterned material over the red. So far I have one side of the purse done with a pocket on the inside.

I did some red piping on the outside (which was HARD! I still don't have it exactly how I want it) and when the other side is done I am going to add two pockets to the outside with red star buttons. I think it'll look cool. I can't wait to finish it. If it turnes out like I want I may attempt to sell it on Etsy..


Oh, boyfriend and I bought a camera today, it'll be here sometime either at the end of this week or the beginning of next, as soon as we have it I will post some pictures.

 

So after a day filled with utter frustration, I decided to sit down and do something I knew would come out at least decently.

I made a purse. I had some weird mesh/metallic skull fabric that I picked up for super cheap forever ago and a bunch of left-over black twill so I made a bag/purse thing. It took a little over an hour and came out fairly well I think. I lined the bag with the skull pattern, except for the side panels, which I had the skulls on the outside. Then just took a strip of the twill and a strip of the skulls and made a shoulder strap. Turned out pretty cool, from a few feet away I'm sure you couldn't tell it apart from something you'd pick up at a Hot Topic like store...

I feel much happier and relaxed now...

Note to self: When project fails, make a bag....  

I'll post pictures tomorrow...

Yup, its official

The pants don't fit. I measured wrong or cut wrong or something... but they won't even zip... I have spent nearly eight hours working on a pair of pants that don't fit. I feel defeated.

I guess its back to the store to buy more fabric and try again... this is so frustrating!!! 

So, taking a break from working on the pants... it is now about 5pm

It took me about two hours to figure out the zipper, I have never done one before and had to do it over probably five times before I got it right and managed to rip a hole in the pants while doing that, which was fixable but if you're really looking closely at them looks a tiny bit off...

I just got the basic pants together, everything is sewn up-- legs and everything and  I decided to try them on...

Yup, definitely too small. Now, I still have to add a bit at the top so maybe, just maybe, that will make them work... but I'm pretty sure this pattern was made for a woman with no ass...

And I, my friends, have an ass... a huge ass... an ass that elicits "Damn! You've got an ass on you!" comments... 

If these pants do not fit, I myself may just HAVE a fit... possibly throw them out the window...

Plus the chair I have been sitting on, working on these pants for the last 5 hours, is getting increasingly uncomfortable...

yeah, back to work I guess.

So, it is not about 10:03am, I am still waiting to put the fabric in the dryer (boyfriend washed clothes last night and didn't put them in the dryer, so we must wait for them to dry first.... ) but I have cut out all of the pieces I need from the pattern, looked over the instructions and calmed myself down a bit.

I had managed to convince myself that this project was going to take FOREVER and I was going to get frustrated and give up and this whole journal would be pointless...

But after reading through the instructions, there are only about six steps after cutting the fabric out obviously. And reading through I realized... it is all coming back to me! I am starting to remember terms and I am not having as hard a time reading the pattern as I thought I might.

I guess if I just sit down and actually do it, I'm fine.. fancy that! 

So, its 9am, I am starting the day with a pop tart and a washing of my Twill. The woman at the store (note: BITCH) told me I should wash it first since it is 100% cotton and if I didn't and washed them for the first time after completed they would become high-water pants, and we don't want that (the nicest/most useful thing she said to me the whole time she was helping).  

The pants are going to be just plain black twill, I figured pinstriped would not be a good idea for my first pair in a looooong time, I was too afraid that the stripe would end up less straight and more wobbly and weird looking. If this goes well today I might just run and pick up some more fabric this week and make another pair.

Although, I think I am going to focus more on making dresses, I prefer dresses, they are comfy and I don't have many of them because they are expensive and hard to find in styles that I actually like and are in my size...

Onward.... 

Well hello world of Livejournal.

To be honest, this is my third journal here at the live journal...

I am a 22 year old woman, I work part time as a receptionist, part time cleaning the same office, and part time working at a radio station as an occasional DJ. I live with my boyfriend of nearly 4 years (in august). He is an IT guy at the same office I am a receptionist at (its actually his Dad's law firm)

This journal is set up to focus on my adventures in the world of sewing. I got a great sewing machine from one of my grandmother's friends. I haven't done any serious sewing since high school, where I was on the costume crew. I did costumes for 3 1/2 years, one play every six months. I was crew chair for I believe 5 out of the 7 plays I worked on. I loved doing it, it was stressful, it was insane, it was way under-appreciated, we spent hours upon hours doing it with very little help, but I loved it.

After high school I didn't really sew until now, I made a terrible quilt for my boyfriend and an even worse sock monkey, but other than that have done almost nothing.

Since getting the new/old sewing maching I have done quite a bit of hemming and mending, I am quite short so finding pants that are the correct length for me is near impossible.

The other day I noticed I had one pair of pants for work, and they had a hole in the crotch.... no good. So instead of spending time scouring through stores and ending up paying $50 for a pair of pants I barely like (I am size 20/22 so finding pants that look good is harrrrrd) I went to Joanne Fabrics and bought a pattern and some fabric and tomorrow I am going to attempt to make myself some pants.

I plan on making lots of my own clothes from now on. I like spending money on fabrics that I love and making something with my own hands and ending up with something that I know I'll wear rather than spending even more money on something I settle for.

I am hoping that once I start making my own clothes and perfecting certain techniques I will start making costumes again and selling them. I would love to make money using my own sewing skills. 

So this journal is to document my journey and hopefully give me the kick in the ass I need to get going, as I have a habit of starting something and getting bored about a day in...