The Spring Breeze Tank

Last Thursday I shared with you the start of my Spring Breeze tank, and I'm happy to report that it's already done!

In the end, I wound up cutting and pressing my own single fold bias tape from some white cotton I had on hand. It's such a wonderful finishing technique, and I'm so glad I went that route versus folding over the edges! Next time, though, I'll make sure to pick up one of the metal "doohickeys" I hear everyone talking about. They seem to be the best way to make bias tape aside from the Simplicity bias tape maker.

Here it is worn the two ways I would probably wear it every day; tucked into an A-line denim skirt with a skinny hot pink belt, or untucked under a comfy cardigan in my favourite color, emerald green!

I apologize for the quality of these pictures, but I really wanted to show this off right away! That's what I get for only sewing after 8PM. The next time we have some great spring weather I'll try to wear this out and have the Mister snap a few extra photos!

School's Out For...ever!

I'm back! My last day of classes ever was this morning, and while I'm still a student for a few more years I'm done with that chapter of graduate school. Hooray!!!

One last time, for good measure: No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!

To celebrate, I clocked about an hour and a half of sewing time tonight. While my Mister made dinner (what a guy!) I worked on two pattern pieces I drafted from a ready-to-wear (RTW) tank top I own. I had started drafting the pattern a few nights ago, tracing around the tank onto the remnants of a roll of Christmas wrapping paper. Tonight I added seam allowances and tightened things up a bit before cutting out the pattern, and after dinner I got to work cutting fabrics and sewing!

This tank is mostly made from my second thrifted vintage sheet, with a small panel of jersey stolen from one of the Mister's old t-shirts on the back. The RTW tank has a jersey back and a chiffon-y front, and I figured I would follow along.

The pattern is honestly rather shapeless, but it's loose and breezy and it'll work great under a cardigan to spruce up my closet through the rest of Spring. That's a good thing, too, because I started looking through what I kept from last year's Spring and Summer and oh-boy, do I need some new clothes...

You've probably noticed by now that I'm showing you work-in-progress photos. I haven't cut out any bias tape to finish the neck and armholes, because I'm trying to decide if I want to cut my own from this sheet, or if I want to just pick some up at the fabric store next time I'm out. Decisions, decisions...

Well, I'm really glad to be back, and especially with a project like this! While I originally learned to sew by making clothes, I've only used my sewing machine recently for home decor, quilting, and the occasional dog toy. This is the first piece of clothing I've sewn in a very long time, and I'm really excited to keep going! Maybe I'll put together a whole closet of handmade items, like those I've seen so many other bloggers creating recently. 

What do you think, is it worth the effort? Have you made any clothes for the spring season, yet?

Sunday Surprise

My Mister is such an amazing man. He puts up with all of my quirks -- my love of chocolate, my multitude of crafting addictions hobbies, my tendency to dance along to the music they pump into grocery stores and shopping malls, and my weird peel-off face masks. He even takes me to Goodwill after church most Sundays so I can peruse the furniture section and dawdle by the lamps.

This Sunday was no different. While I decided to pass on the lime green computer desk, I did come away with one surprising find -- my first vintage sheet!

If you're a fan of In Color Order, you may know about Jeni's love of vintage sheets. I can honestly say that I didn't know much about vintage sheets before now, but I've always loved the photos Jeni posts of her finds -- pretty stacks of bright, colourful floral fabrics that I would love to work into my quilts but that I can never seem to find. That is, until today.

I bought this sheet today just because I loved the bright, cheerful print. Once I got home I started doing some homework to see just what I had found, and I came across this post about vintage sheets that Jeni wrote which serves as a great primer if you don't know much about the topic. I read Jeni's post and immediately went hunting for the tags on this fitted sheet. Here's what I found:

Surprise, this sheet is actually vintage! In fact, if you Google "Fieldcrest Perfection vintage sheet" you can find a number of copycat sheets, including some for sale on Etsy. Hooray, my gut instinct was right after all!

I'm excited to get this sheet washed and pressed, and then I need to decide what I'm going to do with it. Something tells me it might be more fun to break into my first vintage sheet with friends, so keep an eye out as I might be giving away a few fat quarter cuts from this sheet in the future!

A Cozy Sewing Nook

Happy New Year! 2013 has gotten off to an incredible start, and I'm glad for it. The Mister and I spent the morning starting some larger organizing projects, and I'm glad to see that we're finally getting the house back in order. It was looking pretty rough after last semester!

One of my big personal projects was to create a dedicated sewing and crafting space for myself. I've been inspired by many resources, but mostly this pin here:

Source: craftaholicsanonymous.net via Jess @ WHCT on Pinterest

The Mister and I recently moved into a new two bedroom apartment. We're using the second bedroom as a guest room, and I finally asked if I could "have" the closet for my own uses. The Mister agreed, provided I could find ample storage for everything we were hoarding keeping in the space. That was all I needed to hear -- as soon as we got home, I unpacked all of the stuff from the closet and got started! (And yes, it's all still sitting on the floor behind me. I'll clean it up. Someday.)

Here's where my progress is at as of tonight:

While it's not quite the same, I'm really pleased with it! We didn't install a countertop as they did in the inspiration picture because, well, we're renting. Instead, I played around with surfaces before settling on a folding table. This one is 4 feet long by 20" deep and it fits perfectly within a standard closet. It's the only thing I'm not entirely pleased with; I feel like the table has too much play, and when the sewing machine gets moving quickly the table tends to rock pretty badly. I'll need to solve that problem before tackling any large projects, and that table will definitely be the first thing to go if I can find a great desk while thrifting!

To the right are a couple of plastic drawer systems, stacked vertically to hold miscellaneous odds and ends for each of my crafting habits. I've also put up a corkboard to hold my current inspirations (or pattern details) and a pretty cross stitch alphabet sampler I found while thrifting a few weekends ago. I'm waiting on hardware to hang my new 60-spool thread holder, and other than that I'm done! My goal was simply to get this in working order; I'm going to try to leave myself some blank space so I can collect pretty inspirations and grow into the nook over time.

I have my little ironing station on another wall of the room. It may seem like a bit of a pain to travel every time I want to press a seam, but I have terrible luck around hot irons and plenty of scars to prove it. Also, this gives me plenty of room to set up my laptop or iPad near my sewing machine so I can watch Netflix blog while I work!

If you're looking to set up your own sewing nook, I highly recommend trying something like this. The table, plastic drawer organizers and cork board were all purchased at a local Walmart for less than $100! This layout also provides plenty of space to each side of the table for storage, and the closet doors close easily even with a chair tucked under the table.

Have you got a sewing nook in your home? Is it a closet like this, or a full blown sewing room? Leave me a comment below! I'd love to see how you have your space organized -- I'm always looking for new ideas.

Thrifted nightstand

About a year and a half ago I rescued this little nightstand from my neighborhood thrift shop. The sticker is long gone, but I believe I paid $8 for it. I have a tall dresser with a similar design, and I knew I could refinish this piece to fit into my every day life.

A month after purchasing the nightstand, my mister (although then he was only my fiance) and I made our move to Tennessee. Days before departing, while I was packing up the rest of my house, I decided to finally refinish the nightstand. (Totally logical.) After a coat of Rustoleum white primer and two coats of gray paint, it became this:

(Boy, do I miss that yard.)

Since then we got married and moved in together, and this poor little nightstand got sent away to the guest room, never to be seen again. It just didn't work with the dark bedroom furniture my mister brought with him, but I couldn't bear to part with it. I actually wound up without a nightstand of my own after that. Then yesterday, I was "shopping at home" and redecorating a few rooms of the house when it finally hit me. I could refinish this piece again, and then I'd get to enjoy it every day! Two coats of black satin spray paint later, and...

Truth be told, it looks better in person than it does in that photo. I love how the finish just seems to glow, and the black really makes the lines of this piece stand out! Once I get the rest of our room squared away, I'll be sure to get a better shot.

Do you have a favourite piece of art or furniture that you've sequestered away in another room of your house? Try reworking it so that it can be a part of your daily life!