Car Seat Covers

Last Friday I had my two good friends, Chera and Rachel who also happen to be expecting, over for a craft night. We decided to make car seat covers. Chera made hers reversible which is a great idea! She has a more fun pattern on one side and a more subdued color pallet on the other. I'll have to get a pic from her when its done because it's very clever. Rachel and I are both having girls, and without know it, we got the same fabric just different color schemes! We had a lot of fun and they turned out great! Here is mine all finished. I decided to have an opening down the front to give me more options. It was a small pain getting the placket just right so there is a small tuck if you look close, but over all I love it! I don't have a car seat yet so it was hard to get a great picture, but I think you get the idea.

Chera and Rachel have never really sewed anything before and they were able to make this project. This is a great project for those who want to learn how to sew but are unsure of their skills (without the placket and extra buttons of course). It teaches a lot of basic skills that you can use in many other projects.

Happy sewing!!!

Fun Fall Wreath

This is my first attempt and making a wreath! It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I just bought a wreath base, one fall bunch of silk flowers and about a dollars worth of ribbon. I took all the leaves, pine cones, and flowers off the steams. I set everything out and arranged it how I liked it first. I decided I didn't like the leaves so I just used the flowers, pine cones, and berries. I then just hot glued each piece to the wreath base and tied a bow to add some whimsy. Super easy and it only cost me about $8! I now have a fun fall wreath to hang on my front door, I love it! If you have ever thought about doing your own, I say go for it, I believe in you. This is something everyone can pull of and make it look good!

Happy fall decorating!

Cloth Diapers

Ever since we have found out we are pregnant I have been talking to friends and family about cloth diapers. I know some of you are thinking I'm crazy, and I don't know what I'm talking about because this is my first, but I have thought about it a lot. Matt and I have even done the math on the cost of disposables compared to cloth, and how they are much better for the environment and will cut down on trash. We know that there will be times that a disposable diaper is necessary however, I believe every time I use a cloth diaper I will be saving money. I even found a whole crowd of people who make their own and I've found the water proof and diaper flannel fabrics for a great price. I have gotten really excited about it in the last few weeks. It made me think about why I originally went to school for fashion design in the first place. I new if I learned how to sew and how to use a lot of types of fabrics, I could make a lot of things for my family. Not only would I be able to save money, but I would be more self reliant, and maybe even make some extra money. With the new arrival of our little one I figured that cloth diapers are my start.

Please Stay tuned....

I will be posting my version of how to make cloth diapers as soon as I get the fabric and a few things sorted out. Pregnancy sickness has really put a wrench in my crafting/ alterations mode lately and I am playing catch up at the moment.

If any of you are interested, the PUL fabric for the waterproof layer and the diaper flannel are both on fabric.com. There are plenty of patterns at Hancock fabrics as well as free downloads online you just have to look for the one that fits you best.

Hi, My Name is Lisa & I'm a Lame Blogger....

So I have totally left this blog in the dust with all of summers eventfulness. I have done quite a few projects but Haven't taken the time to post them. Now that summer is slowly coming to a close I will have more time to blog....

I do have some exciting news, I am finally finished with my Fashion Design and Merchandising degree from SLCC!!! It took me about twice as long as it should have, but I am done and ready to take on any project headed my way!

Thanks to all of you who follow me and pass this blog on to others! You are all the best!

I promise more exciting things to come!

Cute Dancewear pics!!

Here are a few examples of my basic dance wear items. I made these specifically for my niece and used her favorite colors. I have made many leotards and shorts to specific specifications of color and style. Here are some of her favorites.

This has a fun snakeskin patterned white spandex with turquoise bottom half.

super sparkly gold headband

Hot pink shorts close up

Fun pink and white tutu

cute matching hot pink shorts and polka dot leo with chocolate brown bottom half.

Raw Couture 2009

This post is way overdue!!!

These are pictures taken during the dress rehearsal of SLCC Raw Couture 2009. The entire show was based on different decades from the 1920's to the 1980's. I was inspired by the 1930's flowy, and drapy designs, but I transformed them into designs for modern ballet costumes. The fabric I used includes chocolate brown stretch velvet for the leotards and hand painted silk burnout for all the dresses and drapy elements. I used a gold tulle for accents and volume.

Illustrations and Sketches

Here is a sample of some of my favorite sketches and Illustrations.

Here are the three illustrations for my board for Raw Couture. Because the fabric was so intricate, and my illustration skills are not quite up to par for this type of project, I scanned a section of fabric on to the computer and used photo shop to fill in the different sections.
Here is a sample of flats I drew for my Illustration class. The are part of a larger line of ballet and lyrical costumes. I designed the tulle to have an embroidered diamond shape with pearl beads placed in a diagonal all through the design.
These are a few sketches I drew up for my dance studio. I made the simple empire waist dress with spanky shorts for a little seven year old class for our Christmas recital. I plan to make all of these sooner or later.

Pretty pictures get a face lift!

I realized the other day that I have so many talented and crafty friends that not only seem to find the best finds and DI, but then are able to turn them into the best home decor items with a little extra help. I thought I would try my hand at this concept. I decided to start easy with picture frames and this is what I came up with. Matt just helped me put these up in my sewing room and it really helps make my room more inspiring and pretty.

This post will be linked to Domestically Speaking as a part of the Wednesday paint party so check them out to see all kinds of paint projects.

Swimsuits!!!!

I have never been a fan of swimsuits in my life. I hate trying them on, I hate wearing them, and I hate trying to find cute shorts or coverups to match. Well, today I might have had a change of heart. I am going to make me one or maybe two or three, and my sister one as well because I found the best new website, http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com It has every kind of fabric you would ever need that is cute and very affordable. They also have swimwear fabric, like this very cute black/gray/white polka dot starting at $4.95 per yard which for most people is more than

enough for one swimsuit! From what I can tell shipping is $6.95 for quite a few items. I haven't ordered my fabric yet to know if that changes for every new fabric you add to your cart or not. I wanted a ton of fabric off this site so I'm sure you will too. They even have all kinds of knit which you can't find very often in the local stores. I am toying with the idea of making swimwear as a summer project for adult and kids, if anyone is interested give me a hollar and I will give you a screamin' deal for being a friend of the blog. I will be taking my patterns from my leotard patterns that fits really well. It's very roomy and you don't feel squeezed in. I was very excited and had to share my good fortune with all of you. check out this website and you will not be disappointed, I promise!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

So... I have been working and sewing my little fingers off, but have little to show for it at the moment. I haven't been taking pictures of stuff, and I still have a lot of things to finish. Thank you to all my friends and fam who check back regularly, you are all awesome!

We have a competition coming up where I can take cute pics of all my costumes, and cute girls. I also have lots of ideas for spring and summer decor as well as sprucing up my sewing room.

I will also be making me a new swimsuit for my summer vacation to Cozumel Mexico, and lake powell. I am looking into finding chlorine treated fabric at a great price. once I find a good source I'll let you all know and we can talk about custom swimsuits!!! YEA!

It's also prom and bridal season and I know alterations are a must. Redesigning an old dress is a great way to save money and be resourceful, plus it's lots of fun!!! My price lists are posted on the side bar for alterations and veils so check it out and tell a friend!

SUCCESS!!!

I just finished sewing this top together. The black one is the one I made and the white one is the one I made the pattern from. It's not finished obviously, but I couldn't wait to post this. I have been very scared to sew this together! Every stage so far I have had some sort of hiccup, all of which I have learned tremendously from, but frustrating non the less. I have been doing every other project possible before this, but it was finally time to get busy. At first glance this looks like a simple project. When I took a closer look, I realized how different each piece is and how many sizes I had to make. I obviously got it backwards... but I was able to make it smaller and keep each pattern piece fitting together like it should! (Grading patterns is a skill I am still perfecting). I had to share my excitement with you and now I feel I can do any project headed my way.

Getting Organized

I am very lucky to have my own sewing/craft room in our two room apartment.(Matt gets his man closet on one side of the room for his biking stuff & I get the rest!!) But there never seems to be enough room so I am constantly looking for ways to be more organized and space saving. I have a big table that I love where I do most of my fabric cutting, but I always felt I had a lot of wasted space. I usually have projects where I need to keep track of many different sizes and lots of pieces. I found these tubs at Target for a steal and made labels for all the sizes I would need and put them under the table. I pin all the pieces together for one item and keep them in the coordinating size bins until I can get a tag sewn in. I also found out that the bins and drawers in the home office section of stores can be expensive, so I looked down the kitchen isle and found these tubs that are used for washing dishes for 1/2 the price! They work just as good and they stack when I'm not using them. I know this isn't rocket science but it feels good to come up with something that works so well for me!

Fabric Flowers

I found a new fun way to make fabric flowers. They are SO easy it's not even funny!! I've also heard them called yo-yos. These are so flouncy and fun! Here's how you make them:

• 

• Start with a circle double the size you want the finished flower to be.
• Use the basting stitch or a needle and thread to go all the way around.
• Pull the thread as tight as it will go and flatten the flower.
• Take a few stitches across the center to lock it shut, and tie it off.
• Add to any tee shirt, scarf, or headband.
  

I made a bunch of these for a dance class to go with coordinating shorts and tops. Fun huh!!