Shades of Grey

The aspiring fashion designer within me is kind of obsessed with the show Project Runway. I would love the chance to go on that show (along with Craft Wars - my other tv obsession!!). So I was watching Project Runway a few weeks ago and saw this grey dress and knew I had to make it. The design was totally my style. So I went and got fabric right away... but didn't actually get to the sewing until this weekend.

From the current season of Project Runway, Fabio Costa's dress and my inspiration

I decided to make my design just a tad different. I started by sketching the design. Then I made a simple pattern for the bodice pieces and started sewing away.

The final product (the details don't show up in the pictures very well).
But I have to admit... its a pretty AWESOME dress which I can't wait to wear!

DIY Suitcase Dog Bed

A few months ago I saw a suitcase dog bed on Pinterest and decided it would make the perfect addition to my Mid-Century Modern living room design. So I went searching for an old suitcase. I scored this one for only $8 from Good Finds! Tonight I finally got around to completing my dog bed. Here's what I did:

Supplies

Old Suitcase

Fabric

Old Pillow

Legs & Hardware

Craft Paint

TOTAL COST = $36

First I started with the easy part - Added a pop of yellow paint to the unfinished wood legs

Then I needed to deconstruct parts of the suitcase. I didn't need to keep all the added bulky pockets so I unscrewed some out and cut out the ones that were stitched. Next I measured my top lining fabric.

I ironed down the top edges for a finished look. Then using measrurements from the suitcase's interior height, I calculated how far in I would need to pin the corners together to stitch the corners in place, then sewed.

Zoey seemed to figure out what I was working on before I was finished :) 

I decided to go with a minky fabric for the pillow because my dogs LOVE soft fuzzy blankets and beds. I was able to reuse an old pillow for the dog bed pillow stuffing. I simply sewed up a basic pillow case using the minky fabric and stuffed the pillow inside. 

I'm all about personalization so I wanted to include the dogs names into the dog bed, which I embroidered. I originally was going to make 2 beds (one for each) but I haven't found another suitcase yet and decided they could share. They share everything anyways! So I created a long pocket that I stitched in half so each dog could store some toys or bones or whatever they decided to hide. 

Hot glue will do just the trick for this project. I glued in the top lining. 

Added the finishing touches (once dried)

I think they like it!

Here is Gizmo enjoying his new cozy bed...

But I think Zoey might claim it as her's. She's currently in it now.

And the best part is it can be closed when not in use, and it will be easy to wash the pillowcase if it gets dirty. 

1...2...3...Lace Refashion

Last weekend while driving around doing errands, I was intrigued by Goodwill's 50% off furniture sign and decided to stop. I didn't find any furniture but did score this amazing lace dress. I'm not sure if amazing is actually the best word to describe this dress but I knew it had some potential. At $5.99 I just couldn't pass it up, but I wanted to reuse as much as the dress as possible! I was able to get THREE new looks out of it and I must say I am pretty proud of this transformation!
Read below to see the steps I took to complete this refashion. 

I will reuse the zipper for the first skirt so first I unzipped it so it stays attached to the portion I am saving.
Cut off the top bodice and save for later. Cut off the bottom and save for later.

Serge the ends of top and bottom hem

Pen a finished edge and sew

Viola! Skirt one complete.

For the bottom of the original dress I wanted to reuse the scallop edge as the bottom of a new skirt. I also had the lime pencil skirt from a thrift store find and decided it would make a great base for the second skirt. 

Remove the lining of both skirts

The lime skirt had a slit in the back that I no longer needed so I stitched it up.

Cut off the top of the pencil skirt, remove the little zipper piece that was left and stitch up the zipper opening. 

Stuff the lime lining into the lace and pin in place. Cut off the top edge to make it straight and serge the ends.

Pin and sew top edge.

I wanted this to be an elastic waisted skirt so I pinned the elastic in place and started sewing, gently pulling the elastic tight while sewing. I ended up with 4 bands of elastic. 

Add a little ribbon waist tie and skirt two is complete :) This one is my favorite.

Now for reusing the bodice piece. That lace shawl had to go!

I actually used the back of the dress as the front of my bolero. I started by removing the zipper, lining and shawl. 

Then decided a contrasting collar would be a nice touch. Using some scrap yellow linen I had, I made the pieces for the collar. 

1. Pin and cut collar wings x2 and color back

2. Stitch inside out (leaving opening to turn)

3. Turn right side out

4. Sew the 3 pieces together

Pin color in place and stitch on

This dress was a great transformation into 3 new looks!

Nursery Design & Moses Basket Revamp

I am currently working on a nursery design for some friends and interior design clients. I'll just go ahead and say it's going to be a pretty awesome nursery! The good thing for me about knowing how to sew and being a designer is that I can actually make some of the items I recommend for my designs.  I love having the opportunity to be a part of the entire process. 

The Inspiration

My client has referred to the baby as their lil acorn for a while and this was the start of our inspiration for the design. While browsing etsy one day I came across an acorn ring and then a bookshelf that was a tree (from the same shop) and the design started to form. We knew we wanted some kind of tree on the wall to serve as a bookshelf next to the crib. And they knew the nursery would be blue since its a baby boy :) Then I found this modern zoo fabric that I knew was exactly where the design needed to come from! See for yourself the preliminary sketches for the nursery.  

We've found some pretty perfect stuff on Etsy, including a crib sheet and vinyl wall decals (image below) that were literally meant to be for the design. 

I'm also working on making a few projects for the nursery. One of which they commissioned me to do, revamp a Moses basket. Here's what I came up with.

And here are some custom burp cloths I made for them :)