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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Fall Wardrobe Plans part 2

Posted by Allison at 10:40 AM

So, the second part of my fall wardrobe plans!

1. Butterick 5649- When I was in high school I had a pinkish-purple corduroy skirt from the Gap. When I saw the rainbow of colors of corduroy Joann's had recently, I was inspired to remake that skirt, but a little longer. This old skirt had buttons down the front but little other detailing. I found Butterick 5649 to be the perfect pattern to achieve this look.

The pattern includes shorts, a straight skirt with a fly and pockets (is there a technical term for this?) and a a-line button up skirt. I will use the a-line button up this time (view A), but I am thinking I might also try out view C. This could be awesome for heavier fabrics- denim, wool...

2. Butterick 5600- This dress was inspired by one a coworker was wearing. I think I will make view C (below) although I may decide to add on the ruffle shown on View A. I have purchased a purple bottom weight fabric to make this, and will probably use dark buttons.

3. McCalls 6437. A top. I haven't made many tops, which is something I'd like to fix. I like the shape of this shirt, particularly the neckline. I also like the idea of adding some embellishment to the neckline.I have a pink chiffon type fabric that I would love to use for a top, this also might be a good option.

I feel like I will probably end up making a few other things before all is said and done, but I am not sure what. What are you making for fall? Am I the only one that isn't capable of pulling together a cohesive wardrobe plan? :)

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Fall Wardrobe Plans: Part 1

Posted by Allison at 11:46 PM

For the fall, I decided to pick a several patterns and make them as my "fall wardrobe." I'm not going to claim that my fabric choices will make it highly coordinated, but that's not my goal at this point. Here are the first couple patterns I've picked and my proposed fabrics. At this point I really only have access to a Joann's (I'm scared to order online! I have to touch the fabric in order to know what to use it for!) at this point-- although I'm about 45 minutes from Haberman's, which is apparently an awesome fabric store in metro Detroit. I'm hesitant to go there because I'm not confident enough with my sewing skills to buy really nice/expensive fabric. I'm fairly comfortable with the price ranges at Joann's, and I don't feel bored there YET, although reading other people's blogs and seeing their beautiful fabrics might send me elsewhere.

1. Pants: Simplicity 2562: I am planning to make these pants in a navy blue, probably a gabardine although perhaps a wool if I find one I like.

2. Dress: McCalls 5927. I plan to make the view with cap sleeves, with a black w/white specs suiting fabric from Joann's. I also have some cranberry fabric that was given to me (gabardine? I'm not sure) that might end up in this style.

3. Dress: McCalls 5974. This pattern is for a knit, which I have recently started playing with.Honestly, I'm not sure what color I will use for this. Maybe a turquoise color similar to the dress shown below. I plan to make the version with the wrap detail and 3/4 sleeves.

4. Jacket: McCalls 6041: I like this pattern because of the similarity to Channel style jackets. I'm hoping to find a tweed or boulce that has a bright color in it- pink, red...

5. Another Jacket: McCalls 6329. Again, not sure what color, or even which view. I'm hoping that I have a good experience sewing the view shown in khaki, and then I can attempt the wrap style view. I've seen a linen fabric at Joann's that has some sparkle woven in--I could see that working well for this jacket. (And also a skirt, dress and pants...I'm in love with that fabric)

In my next post I'll finish up showing the patterns I'm planning on. Yikes, this looks like a lot. I better get sewing! Besides these things for myself, I'd also like to make Christmas gifts again this year. I already have ideas for my mom and sister, but brother, aunt, grandma, dad, stepdad and stepmom are still unknown. What do you sew for boys anyway? Dress shirts seem quite scary. PJ pants/boxers? Seems kind of lame.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

A Dream Come True!

Posted by Allison at 10:07 AM

Over the July 4th holiday, I went thrifting, and found my DREAM piece of furniture. A Thomasville Faux Bamboo dresser. For $45. I'm in love.

Now to decide what color to paint it.

(PS, Am I the only one who didn't know these dressers are actually vintage? Given the shape it is in and their popularity I figured they were a product of the 1990s, but apparently this baby is straight from the 60's??)

Monday, April 11, 2011

My Crap...eh, Craft Room

Posted by Allison at 8:00 AM

I have a secret. My apartment has a HUGE closet that I have been using for storage of my crafting supplies, among other things. I haven't made much mention of this room, but see where it is below in the floor plan of my apartment.

This baby is big. It's not labeled on the floor plan, but I estimate its about 8 feet by 6 feet. When I was first moving into this apartment, various family members claimed this room/closet as "their room." It originally served as a graveyard/junk collector for boxes and unpacked belongings while I was still settling into my apartment.
Since then, I have been slowly cleaning and re-organizing, donating things to the Salvation Army with reckless abandon and being brutal about what I keep. I've so far been trying to repurpose the storage solutions I already have. At first I was just planning to keep this closet as it is--a closet. But then I see things like this--

Source

Yes, thats a 16 square foot craft room. My closet is at least twice that size! So surely I can outfit this closet to function better. The one difference between my space and the above space is the window. There is no window in my closet. Also, there are no outlets. I think the lack of outlets is ok-- as there are two just outside the room, so the use of an extension cord when necessary will suffice.

Here are some pictures of the room as it looks currently (or recently, at least.)

Paint stuff in the plastic drawers, extra blankets in the dresser, sewing stuff on top of the dresser

Random collection of things in the metal cubes

Fabric collection (organized by color!)

Paint

So what do I do with this room? Obviously, it needs to function still as a closet. It would be awesome to put in some sort of work area, maybe where the fabric is stored currently. This is a project that I think I'm going to go slow with, so I can do it right.

Any suggestions for me? Remember, I rent, so I can put some things on the walls, but not make other big alterations. Also, I'm interested in reusing what I have but would love a unified look. I feel like I have done a good job thus far of using the available space, but I really need to take advantage of the vertical space.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Welcome to My Home, Volume 4: The Salvation Army

Posted by Allison at 12:22 AM

I recently made a few purchases at the Salvation Army that I wanted to share. Both pieces were purchased with projects in mind. I'm sure looking at them you can easily imagine what I might want to do.

The tray was $1.99 and the jewelry box was $4.99. The jewelry box was conveniently priced on every.single.drawer, and also on the fake drawer on the top and the lid.

Stay tuned to see what I do with these friends.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

My Mother's Kitchen: The Beginning

Posted by Allison at 11:48 PM

So the kitchen at my mother's house has seen better days. It's rather outdated. And since I have been keeping up with blogs, seen lots of kitchen make overs, have a good imagination and am slightly ignorant about how hard this might be, I've decided that my mothers Christmas present this year will be a makeover for her kitchen. I unfortunately don't have any GREAT pictures of just the kitchen, so bear with me here.

Actually, several years ago while home from college for Christmas, I repainted the kitchen. The kitchen originally had wallpaper, so I stripped that and then painted. (Ignore all the clutter in the coming pictures, plllleeease)

So to explain. The counter tops are a lovely royal blue, the cabinets are a rather dark wood and the floor is in bad shape. I kind of dig the pattern, in a "it's vintage" kind of way, but the condition of the floor is just not good. It's one of those floors that never looks clean regardless of when you last cleaned it. One thing that is hard to see from these pictures is the "peninsula" (you know, like an island but against the wall on one side). It is exactly the same in terms of counters and cabinets.

So during that visit many years ago, I took down the wall paper (which you can see I've started in the above pictures) and repainted.

And just for good measure, here is a picture of my adorable brother, his puppy and the ugly floor:

So obviously I have my work cut out for me. I'll explain in detail what I'm planning to do in a future post (perhaps next week...), but first, I want to know--what DIY updates would you suggest I attempt?

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Office area in Bedroom

Posted by Allison at 2:19 PM

Since moving from a two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom, things have shifted. For example, I can no longer use my second bedroom as my office (on the flip side-- I am not longer a student and don't need to spend hours at a dedicated desk with all my textbooks around me). Thus my desk has ended up in my bedroom, which is OK with me. However, along with the loss of my office was all the storage space that my office offered-- a closet, several bookcases and most importantly the option to just close the door if it wasn't looking as pretty as I wanted.

Here is a reminder of what my current desk area looks like (when artificially clean)...

It normally has mail and other stuff on it, and also you can see I still need a chair, since I have a dedicated dining space in this apartment instead of an eat-in kitchen, so I no longer need to store my extra dinning chairs in other places!

Now that my office is sort of out in the open, I need to put more effort into organizing it, and organizing it with pretty tools. Here are some inspirational photos I've come across.

From http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/10/house-crashing-inspired-inexpensive/

From http://unclutterer.com/2010/01/22/workspace-of-the-week-splendid-shelving/

From http://makingitlovely.com/2008/10/27/studio-tour/

From http://unclutterer.com/2010/02/12/workspace-of-the-week-crafts-contained-2/

Get what I'm going for? Any suggestions on how to make my office space awesome?

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Inspiration: Fur for the bed

Posted by Allison at 10:53 PM

The temperature is definitely changing in Michigan, which is making me think about ways to make my bed cozy and warm for the winter. I have several pictures saved in my inspiration files of fur throws and pillows on beds. After looking at these pictures, how could you not want a fur throw or pillows for your bed?

The pic below is actually from Kourtney Kardashian's bedroom. She has matching pillows and throw. Fabulous.

Here are some possible places to get fur bedthings:

Throw from ZGallarie, another color also available (I believe this is the one on Kourtney's bed: $99

Throw from Pottery Barn: Comes in 3 colors: $149

Another throw from Pottery Barn: Faux-Sheepskin throw on sale for $79! Ok, this isn't really "fur," but I've had the pleasure of using this blanket and it is wonderful. They also have matching pillows:

There are many options on Overstock, and I've also seen less expensive throws at places like TJMaxx. And if you still can't find something you like, I'm sure most fabric stores carry faux fur by the yard, which could easily be used to make pillows and a throw yourself. Hmm...that gives me an idea...

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Dwell Studio Love

Posted by Allison at 2:53 PM

Dwell Studio is a company that designs bedding and other awesome home goods. You might recognize the name because Target carries a line of their designs. They're known for their modern patterns and amazing colors. Here's a couple of their patterns that I love: