Fabric Silhouette Tutorial

I decided a wall of dachshund silhouettes would be the perfect addition to my living room. And then I found this cute little sign "A dog's tail never lies" and couldn't pass it up! Especially since I already had these dog butts from Ikea, which I've had for over a year and hadn't found the perfect spot for them until now.
Below is the tutorial on how I did it so you can make your own silhouettes.

Print off an image the size you would like your silhouette to be

Cut out a piece of the silhouette fabric a little bigger than the stencil you created

Iron on heat n bond to the back of the silhouette fabric

Pin the stencil on top of the heat n bonded fabric and carefully cut out

Use the glass from the frame to trace out the background fabric

Iron the silhouette to the middle of the background piece

And frame!

Baby Bib Fashion Statement

Please excuse the creepy bear!

You can tell I have no kids in the house yet since this is the only stuffed animal/doll I could find that wasn't a chewed up dog toy :)

Some nights are for fun and some are for business. Luckily for me my business is fun! Tonight is actually a little of both. As always, I'm coming up with new ideas for Dots & Damask. Today I decided to add personalized baby bibs and burp cloths to our list of products. We've gotten a lot of request lately for baby products so in order to keep with the market demand, it was time for some new items. We already offer Splish Splash Bathtime Mommy Aprons. These are always a hit at baby showers! 

(Talk about a unique gift!) 

Now you can add a personalized baby bib or burp cloth for an extra special touch for those expecting Mommy's you know. Designs are coming soon - but here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on tonight. I said it was a little of both because (business and fun) because I needed a thank you gift for my Nursery Design Client  (and I figured they wouldn't mind being my guinea pig). 

What baby wouldn't want to wear one of these adorable bibs!
I especially like the added ruffle on the girl bib.

And's here is a sample of burp cloths I made for a shower a while back. 

I've made others but can't seem to find pictures to share. 

As always, Dots & Damask takes special orders so if you are in need of some baby items just shoot us an email at dotsanddamask@gmail.com.

Refashion: All Buttoned Up

I thought it would be a fun challenge to do some garment refashioning. Turns out this refashion movement is a hit right now. After I purchased 3 bag fulls of clothes from a thrift shop, I searched around online for some inspiration and found a few blogs who feature refashions. I'm super excited about what I came up with and can't wait to transform my other pieces. 

I think I have my 4th of July outfit (just need some red accents)

Here's what I started with - a large polyester button up

I started by cutting off the sleeves

Then the collar

Using pens, I created a slight "A" line where I would stitch up the sides of the shirt

Sew and serge (or zig-zag stitch) the edges

Next I decided I something more interesting than a straight top - sweetheart is more my style <3

I used pens to create my sweetheart guide lines

Then trimmed off the excess fabric 

It was time to create my top seam and sew
I decided to do a double stitch detail for a little accent and to help the top seam lay flatter

Using excess fabric from the sleeves I cut out strap pieces (sorry no pic), stitched inside out, flipped right side out, ironed flat, then I pinned the straps in place and stitched them on

Voila!

Spent Grains & Dog Bones

In celebration of Zoey's 3rd birthday we're having a party! Time to get in the kitchen and make some birthday treats. I love to use spent grains from Reed's brewing to make baked goods (there's actually a loaf of bread baking in the oven right now). Luckily for me, he just brewed yesterday and saved some grains. I could only find one recipe for spent grain dog biscuits online and while they sounded good they were boring. So I came up with my own. 

Organic Peanut Butter, Carrot & Blueberry Spent Grain Cookies.  

Recipe below.

I can't believe it's been 3 years already. Look how small Zoey was when we first got her at 6 weeks old :) 

MY RECIPE

2 cups Spent Grains

1 cup Organic Whole Wheat Flour

1 Egg (Local from Free Range Chickens)

1/2 cup Organic Creamy Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Organic Carrots, Chopped

1/4 cup Organic Blueberries, Cut in half

Mix all ingredients except the blueberries until combined

Gently mix in the blueberries

Grease cookie sheet

I used Refined (instead of Unrefined) Organic Coconut Oil because it has a high heat point of 365 degrees

Pat dough into 1-2" rounds approximately 1/4" thick

Our dog birthday party was today so I wanted to make some extra special bone shaped cookies. I rolled out some of the dough and used a bone cookie cutter for a few cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Reduce oven to 225 degrees and continue baking for 1.5 - 2 hours. This dries out the cookies so they become harder.

Party Time!

Tee to Tank Refashion

While in Asheville for "Asheville Beer Week" my husband, Reed, and I met Erik Lars Myers, from Mystery Brewery. Reed likes to follow his blog, Top Fermented. He's recently started and opened his own brewery. He was a super nice guy, and it was great to talk with him about his life's passion - BEER. On our last night in town, we were able to sample his beer at a tasting. Very tasty stuff. Right when we were getting ready to leave he came over and handed us free (awesome) t-shirts from Mystery Brewing as a thank's for coming up all the way from Florida. I decided to do a little refashion and turn mine into a tank top. Check out the before and after! I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Here's how I did it. 

BEFORE - Front & scrap of black tshirt

BEFORE - Back 

Start by cutting off the sleeves

Determine the neck line you want and cut. I started by cutting the back scoop first. Then I flipped the shirt over and carefully cut the front making sure not to snip the back of the shirt. 

I wanted to add a little detail to the back. So I measured, marked and cut where I wanted the detail to go. Make sure to account for your seem allowance before you cut :) I drew a dotted line where I wanted my detail to go and then measured 1/2" and drew a solid line to cut on. 

Then using the scrap black fabric I had, I cut out 2 rectangles for my detail piece. I made them bigger than needed and trimmed after I they were sewed on. 

Trim detail piece.

I knew I would add a taper to the shirt so I went ahead and cut up each side seem of the shirt. Then I trimmed off 3" from the base so I could add a black band around the bottom.

Using the scrap tshirt I had, I cut out 2 rectangle pieces. Then pinned them on and stitched one to the front piece of the shirt and one to the back piece of the shirt.

After all the pieces have been assembled, pin shirt front and back with right sides together. Use the pins to create your taper side seems. I tried the shirt on to determine where the pins needed to go. 

I serged all the cut edges. If you don't have a serger, you can zig-zag stitch over the edges.

Lastly, I ironed, pinned then stitched the arm, neck, and bottom edges. If you have a rolled hem foot you can use that as well. 

Transformation complete! 

Here's my new refashioned tank, perfect for the Florida's hot summer weather. 

Chevron Craze

I can't finish one project without being ready to start the next! That's the "I get side-tracked easily" part of me :) Yesterday I decided it was time for a bathroom re-do. My inspiration: Chevron! During my recent trip to Asheville I went to what my sis-in-law calls the "thrift store meca". They had some awesome deals and tons of neat stuff. I saw this cute little vanity stool and at $3.50 I couldn't pass up a DIY Project. 

My bathroom would be the perfect location for this. Of course, since it needed recovering, I started thinking about what kind of pattern I would like. My master bath hasn't been redone for 4 years so I think it's time. I love this new Chevron Craze. The pattern is so much fun. Here's a little board I put together to inspire me for my bathroom design in the weeks to come. 

Dots & Damask Aprons

I wanted to share two new apron designs I came up with today for Dots & Damask. There seems to be a lot of interest in half/waist aprons so I've been wanting to make one. Here's what I came up with. 

And a new style is always fun. Here's my cherry blossom design which features a large pleat in the front. 

Check out my Etsy Site!