I sewed my first top/blouse tonight - only took me 3 hours and a bit of cursing. I found the pattern on pinterest, it's called The Two Seams Dress. The width fits me pretty well but it's definitely drape-y on the sides. I tucked it into this skirt and I look like a peppermint candy. I used a rolled hem for the neckline and sleeves (first time for that). That was the most tricky part especially when the two seams came undone. The fabric I used was a bed sheet from Thrift Giant in Denton. It has a soft "pill-y" (like fleece after awhile) side and a smooth polyester side. The bed sheet frayed like crazy and I didn't use an iron for the hem. I used a quarter fold for the bottom of the shirt.

Mods to the pattern: instead of 6 inches down from the shoulder for the arm holes, I used 7 inches. Now I can say I've made a dress (painted bed sheet, the darts made my boobs kind of show on the side - never again), a skirt (made from stretchy fabric and it's way too short), and now a blouse! I kind of hate sewing clothes. You know, it's got to fit. Quilts don't have to fit. I want to be the kind of gal that sews their own clothes but gosh darn-it, I hate it. It's like I love the look and feel of finished knitted socks but the actual process of knitting socks sucks.

 

This picture shows how drape-y the sides are. Kind of crazy. It looks much better tucked in but hey, it's supposed to be for pregnant women.  

And then just for me, I dyed it! Here are the progress of 3 hours on the stove. I had extra bed sheet fabric and so I decided to eco bundle that up. I stuffed it with leaf crumbs and the rest of my dried nature.

 

I yelped in excitement when I saw those splotches of  charcoal. I used black bean and pomegranate dye and then I added more water and pine cones for more natural dye. I kept adding iron mordant because I am totally hoping for a charcoal, brown taupe. It's gonna be gorgeous! 

 

I loosely wrapped the blouse around a medium thickness branch because I really want an all over color with a bit of semi-solid goodness. I'm pretty sure the science is that iron reacts with tannin (found in tree bark).

As for that weird bundle, I wrapped it tightly on itself hoping to get either leaf prints or "ghost" prints. Either way, it's gonna be great.

Nature crumbs and turmeric.

It's weird to post everyday and I don't mean to do it. I slept way too much today and I thought it was Monday. There's a neat place in Lewisville called Miracles of Joy. They have aura photography. For $30, you can place your hands on these odd boxes and that feeds into a polaroid camera that will project all of those beautiful colors from the warmth of your hands. I really want to see my aura and understand what it means. That price isn't for my wallet - currently. 

 

I would really like to get into more feminine clothing. I've had the same style for probably 10+ years. I really dig the shirt under cute sweater with a long skirt deal. I've made one dress and a skirt and pretty much crushed all my desire to sew clothes. Now, I think I would like to get back into sewing - especially skirts.

 

Feeling intensely adorable so I am going to leave these selfies here.

I would like to get back to this block. It's from a free quilt pattern by Fancy Tiger Crafts. It's kind of hard to tell but this block is a courthouse steps. I've been into scrappy quilts lately and I don't mean quilts that have been slapped together. I like cohesion and a flow. Also, love working with leftovers. I bought a couple new bedsheets from Goodwill today.

I found this top at Goodwill today and it was super soft and nice. Unfortunately, it didn't fit at all. I found a pickle green, 3/4 sleeved, light sweater that was $4.99 but decided against it so I could buy those sheets. I also found stainless steel tongs and spoon for dyeing.

I'm not sure if I want to "blog" as some of the keys on my keyboard don't work. I just want to post some of these neat photos I took last weekend. I'm preparing to teach two workshops on eco printing - leaf prints on fabric. I used to really enjoy taking photos of myself and stuff I would do. Since I stopped using my point and shoot camera like 5 years ago and have solely used my camera on my phone, I just don't anymore. Plus, I am running out of storage space on my phone every 2 weeks.

I feel proud that I side stepped into a low water creek to capture these shots. I feel that the gravel, sand, and plant life was essential to my eco printed scarves. 

I like this shot because the scarves are in between two places: gravel and eroded grass. I sat down on that grass.

I like this shot because of the water in the background. I have a fondness of water because I grew up on the south coast of Texas. It was kind of chilly outside and the sound of running water - it was amazing.

New Time

I decided to delete all of my previous posts and comments from late 2009 to 2013.