Wolfie's Pillow Dress

I pride myself on being thrifty. And also on being able to sew things. So this week I did both - I used an old pillow to sew a dress for Wolfie. Look!

The pillow has fabric looking like wood on the open edge and fabric with an apple pattern for the rest.

Once I decided upon my hair-brained scheme, I decided to turn to the internet to see whether others had gone before me. Turns out they had! Unfortunately they were all the same and not at all what I had in mind. Here are some examples:

Pretty Prudent
Sew Like My Mom
Baby Rabies

The thing they all seem to have in common is a horrid gathered ribbon neck. Also the fact that the dresses actually look like pillowcases. I was aiming for something simpler and more… Dresslike?

Anyway, this is what I finally came up with. I've sent it to France and will coerce Dolphin and Feather into sending me a photo of Wolfie in the dress so I can post it on here.

Me holding the dress in question.

I also mailed her this super cool marble with a beetle inside it. Because I used to love marbles as a kid so I'm hoping she'll be excited about it as well.

My hand with clear marble with beetle inside.

This Weekend

Well, my Saturday was spent skipping out on my plans because I had run out of social energy. Instead I slept late and then went over to my parents' to work on the yard some more.

That said, Sunday was fun. It was the Somerville Open Studios and I had plans to be in the Boston area anyway, so after church I went to Somerville to check out the Museum of Modern Renaissance. My old bus route went past the building so I've seen the outside of it a bunch even though I'd never been inside. The space is a former Masonic lodge and is now owned by Nicholas Shaplyko and Ekaterina Sorokina. They've painted the entire thing with these amazing vibrant murals.

Outside of the building.

Front door of the building.

One side of the main room.

Other side of the main room.

After my mini trip, I dropped off a bleeding heart plant to my friend Aquafabulous and then had a cooking and sewing date with my friend Tea (she was making hand pies, I was sewing):

Me laying out quilt squares for a t-shirt quilt.

Tea poses by the finally laid out quilt squares.

I did make a couple of other things but they are presents for other people so I can't post them on here lest I ruin the surprises.

Brunch, Sewing, and Work - Oh My!

Well, today I went out to vegan brunch (no pictures). I had agreed to pick up a shift with Morning that night so I decided to use it as an excuse to head to Boston early so I could hang out with Tea. We spent the day couponing, sewing, and organizing all of my mother's sewing things that are mine now because she can no longer use them. I can't post photos of the finished projects yet because they're presents, so I'll give you a photo of Tea with her cute new haircut. In this photo, she's surrounded by piles of coupons and mending:

Tea, coupons, and things that need mending.

Fierce Friday: The Big Hair Reveal!

Ok. It's the moment you've all been waiting for. My big hair reveal! And the color is….

Me with turquoise hair.

Back of my head.

TURQUOISE!!! Woo!

All I have to say is thank God I'm blonde because this involved way too much effort on my part. Particularly my armpits which meant hanging out with my arms up for way longer than anyone should have to hang around with their arms up. Here's a process picture in which I look disturbed because it looks like I've killed a smurf by squishing its head in my armpit.

Me making a disturbed face while holding Manic Panic hair dye. My hair and armpits are being dyed.  

And here are Plum and I - she was dying her hair blue.

Plum and I dying our hair.

The finished hair colors of me and Plum. 

Anyway, since it's Fierce Friday I figured I'd choose some sort of Fierce Friday look to coordinate with my new turquoise hair. And that look is - PASTEL GOTH!

What? Pastel goth? What kind of weirdness is this?

Yes, friends. It's actually a thing. People dye their hair pastel colors and then pair pair feminine and pastel clothes with black and goth-themed clothes. It's sort of a girly take on the goth aesthetic. Think creepy and cute. I saw an article on buzzfeed describing the look as "if Lisa Frank puked on a pair of combat boots" and I think that's a pretty accurate descriptor.

Asian woman pastel goth with long light purple hair, black sweater with white crosses,
black bowler hat, black tights, black short skirt, white shirt, and black bondage harness.

White man pastel goth with light blue hair, pastel blue spiky jacket,
white and pink shirt with large black cross, black pants, and a pentacle necklace. 

White woman pastel goth with grayish white hair, black lace corset,
large black fake diamond shaped necklace, black lipstick and eye makeup, and white contacts. 

Black woman pastel goth with light purple afro, black halter top, black leather jacket with spikes, purple chunky necklace and earrings, and round black sunglasses. 

Pastel goth man with light purple hair, black leather jacket with spiky collar,
white t shirt, pentacle necklace, and diamond shaped sunglasses. 

White woman pastel goth with white hair, black fascinator,
white shirt with large black cross, thigh high black boots, black shorts,
and tights with a black lace design on them.

For my pastel goth look, I'm wearing a pink dress shirt I doctored up. I found the shirt at a thrift store and wore it on this Fierce Friday. Now I've swapped out the collar buttons and added craft studs to the collar and shirt pocket to make it more funky. Here's a process picture of my dress shirt and one of the craft studs:

Dress shirt in progress.

Crafting studs. 

You were able to see the back of the collar in the photo of my hair. Here's a closeup of the front of the collar and the pocket:

Collar.

Pocket.

I'm pairing the DIY dress shirt with grey pants, a black tie, my favorite black boots, my axe earrings, and light blue nail polish. 

Me and my cat Esh.

Body shot.

Pants, shoes, and nail polish.

Me.

Me again.

And a picture of my cat Esh. 

I Want Lace!

Before I write my actual post I'm just going to post a photo of the gorgeous alley near my work and also a vanity shot of me so you can see my new haircut! Spring is here!

Alley with trees with tiny pink flowers lining it.

Me with new haircut in a blue floral button up, blue checkered vest, and blue flower necklace.

Anyway.

Today I took my last final exam of the semester. Tomorrow I have my last work shift with Texas (until September). All of these endings mean I will suddenly have a lot of time on my hands. And I plan to use some of it for sewing. Yay!

Ok. You know what men don't wear enough of? Lace. In fact, aside from a runway travesty featuring murderous-looking angry models in head-to-toe lace, I haven't really seen lace on men. This despite the constant predictions that lace on men will be A THING soon.

This? No bueno. 

So basically, I've been wanting some clothing with lace for a while now and haven't been able to find anything to buy anywhere. I'm thinking more along the lines of lace accents. Like a top with lacy sleeves or a lacy overlay to put on top of another shirt. Like this stuff:

Korean singer-songwriter Taeyang looking hot in
a black lace top, black pants, and black leather jacket. 

A model in a white dress shirt with a black lace jacket
and matching lace bow tie.

Model in pinstripe pants and a black dress shirt with a
see-through lace shoulder area.

Man in white pants and black lace dress shirt.

Man in black pants and black lace sweater.

Since I've had zero luck finding anything I guess I'll be making it. I'm minority terrified since I've never sewn lace before, but I've got a dress shirt pattern and what I lack in sewing skills I plan to make up for in determination. Wish me luck!

Sewing and Geeky Cakes

Yesterday after work I went to Tea's house for a sewing date. I got a bunch of mending done and Tea completed her first sewing project - curtains!

Tea sewing a colorful curtain.

Tea with her curtain.

The curtain in its new home in the kitchen window.

Yesterday night I went to visit a friendly acquaintance that I'm hoping to make friends with -Aquafabulous, of Geeky Cakes fame. She's a software engineer, a mom, a fellow gardener, an amazing baker, and she's also really friendly! So last night she was hosting a mini party as the first year celebration of the discovery of aquafaba. Obviously I was in!

Aquafabulous got her name because she was/is one of the first people to pioneer the use of aquafaba ("water bean") in vegan baking. What is aquafaba? You know that slimy liquid in a can of beans that you probably pour down the drain? The same slimy liquid you can get by cooking beans? That's aquafaba. Turns out it works incredibly well as a vegan egg replacer. The beans of choice to use are chickpeas because they're mild-tasting, but any bean liquid works. There's even a website about it - www.aquafaba.com - where you can read about the history, science, and nutrition of aquafaba. And while I'm at it, here is an article about aquafaba - the first picture is one of Aquafabulous's cakes and one look at it will explain why I was so excited to eat more of her desserts. Here's the spread of deliciousness:

The amazing spread of desserts at Aquafabulous' party (photo taken by Aquafabulous).

Dresses for Everyone!

Ok. I still plan to make my scary patterns. But I've been distracted by dresses!

At dinner about a week ago, Terzo mentioned that he wants a superhero dress like Secondo's superhero skirt. Which got me to thinking about how I could easily use that same tea-length twirly skirt pattern and turn it into a dress. I'm thinking some sort of a-line or princess style dress. Maybe with long sleeves? I could also use that bustle dress I just bought. Or perhaps I'll luck out and find a "mother-daughter" pattern...

Least terrible matchy-matchy outfits you'll see in this post.

Ok, random confession time! My brother and I are not biologically related. I've sometimes wondered what it would be like to have bio-siblings but mostly I'm just happy with the brother I've got, because my brother kicks ass.

Me and my brother, not looking related. 

That said, when we were kids my brother's bio-siblings also lived with us and they all look very similar to each other. Which meant that in our family there were four dark brown haired, brown eyed, tan skinned kids and one pale blonde kid with blue eyes. Random strangers always knew they were related but I was assumed to be a random friend tagging along for the trip. I found this exceedingly upsetting. One night, after a particularly trying day on a family trip where a random woman literally argued with me about whether my sister was my sister, I cried to my Mom about it. My mother being my mother, she concocted the hair brained scheme to dress us all alike so people would know we were siblings. Many terrible homemade matchy-matchy outfits ensued. 

Matching powder blue marching-band-ish outfits.

Thankfully none of them looked like this...

Awkward mother-daughter outfits in lime green and orange.

So why am I telling you this?

Partly to tell you to NEVER BE THAT WOMAN. There are plenty of reasons why siblings don't look alike. Maybe they're step-siblings, maybe they're adopted, maybe they're full biological siblings who just don't look alike. In any case it's none of your business and why the hell are you going to argue with a child about it? If you make a mistake, apologize and move on. 

Matching geek sweaters.

I'm also telling you to assure you that I am aware of the dangers of matchy-matchy outfits. I know firsthand exactly how scary it can get and I have the family photos to prove it. But I still think I could make some really awesome matching dresses for me and the kids. 

Matching mother daughter beauty queen outfits. *shudder*

A More Realistic Plan...

Ok I still plan to make my own clothing and I still plan to get through that terrifying pile of patterns. But first I'm going to make skirts with my friend Tea, who just took a sewing class and is excited to try making clothing. I have a pattern for a ruffly skirt and a pattern for a skirt overlay, both of which look simple enough for a first project. My plan is to make a few of each so I'll have the ability to mix and match as the mood suits me. The final results should wind up looking something like these skirts: