I have somehow managed to fit in small creative projects in the coupla' weeks. Two Sundays ago I made a brush holder for my water color brushes. I started this water color class on a whim with a friend and am hoping to continue taking it next semester (the intermediate section). This is the first-ever formal watercolor training I have had, and I am loving it. So, though it is half-way through this semester's classes, I did finally get my brush holder made (an item which was recommended by our teacher). I built it as a pillow cover (which structure @legally_aud so cleverly noted). The process looked something like the following (although I forgot to take the pic of how I sewed the sides and then flipped it right side out):

It's working quite well to date. I just need a few more watercolor brushes!

I really want to make something...

This last weekend I had the most fabu experience of graduating with my Master's Degree in Communications. While I originally intended to make a dress for this occasion, as usual, the dress I was thinking of fell out of favor for a quicker solution. Somehow I found this fabric (actually it was in my stash) for maybe $3 if (I remember right) at JoAnne's, and for some reason I thought it could work into something. You know those fabrics that are bordering on tacky but could be cool if you use them

the right way? Also, I thought it could present an interesting sort of print for this season of mixed prints. (I don't know if the whole mixed prints thing is becoming big because it has been so popular on Project Runway, or if it started before then, but I'm on the bandwagon.) I also had a skirt my sis had given me, oh, maybe four years ago or so, that I have never worn 'cause I needed something to wear with it.

So I lifted a pattern

I lifted a pattern off of a shirt that fits well with a kimono sleeve (please forgive very bad picture; it's actually a navy blue shirt with sliver stripes) and then added a cowl neckline to it. Alas, I had only a yard and a half of fabric and a cowl neckline must be cut on the bias. So here is

me doing some creative cutting—as in I totally pieced the back. I used to pride myself on piecing. Yah, whatever. It's way too much work!

 I even made sure to put twill tape along the shoulder seams. The twill tape keeps the seams from stretching out too far. Usually I'm too lazy to do that, but this fabric had enough stretch that it was w

orthwhile. And, wah, lah: (notice the diagonal stripe on the shirt, which indicates it's on the bias. Also the shirt tapers at the bottom to fit not too snug, but nicely around the hips.) Of course, it looks much, much better with the ensemble as a whole. And that was my fabu look for graduation.

                                                              

What. A. Weekend. 

I can't even tell you how drama-fied it was. I will start first, however, with notes about the vest I was making for dapper Misha to wear to the opera. If you will recall, we had picked out the fabric, two prints actually, and I was ready to do the first fitting. 

The vest fit perfectly, and Misha and I were both quite pleased with how it was shaping up. I took special care to cut the collar and welt pockets with that nice pinstripe at a diagonal. Notice also that I lined up the center front lines (which I had marked quickly with a pink thread hand-sewn along the center front line) and pinned the vest there to ascertain the exact fit.

Of Welt Pockets and Grommets

I also grommetted (can grommet be a verb do you think? I certainly use it as such) the back fastners so they would have a lace-up effect rather than using the traditional buckle (the lace-up back on a vest is more period than current fashion, and I think way more posh looking). The grommetting process is always fun, but a bit nerve-wracking since you want the grommets to set properly and not pop out at a random moment.

The Evening Out

Also, I'm not sure if you recall, but I had hoped to make my own dress to wear that evening. Alas, when it still wasn't coming together after 30 hours of work up to the day before the evening out, I decided to call it quits. (Hence the "deflated me" statement above.) I think I can still pull this dress together somewhat, but I need to do a few more alterations: re-cut the sleeves, fix the hem, and buy the right accessories. This photo of it gives you a little idea. I am going for a very vintage feel with a slip underneath involving ruffled netting and a hem that stands out via horsehair. But making a dress for myself is ever-so-much harder than making something for other peeps! Fitting, in particular, is a challenge.

The evening of March 10 was an excellent outing. Though I have sewn since I was 12 and made things for many, many people, I have rarely sewed for myself. Thus, though it was odd, I decided I finally needed some fancy things here and there to call my own. I determined to create a skirt out of some copper-colored fabric I had in my collection to wear to Utah Opera's spring production, Elixir of Love, and actually got it done in time. Shocking!

I could pretty well picture what I wanted the skirt to look like from the beginning—the fabric spoke to me as it were (it is a copper-colored weave, probably polyester). I tend to like at least partial elastic waistbands, and an a-line shape seems to look best on my figure, so I dreamed up a skirt with an asymmetrical hemline and ruffles, oh so many ruffles. (I'm not quite sure what it is about ruffles, but I have something bordering on an obsession with them. The blouse I wore with the skirt has ruffles as well...)