Monday, September 6, 2010

Before and After: Bulletin Boards Galore!

I decided to tackle a project that has staring me in the face all summer. I snagged some maroon covered bulletin boards for free...yes, free, and decided they'd be a cinch to recover in some funky fabric. This project took absolutely zero sewing. All you need is a pair of scissors and a staple gun!

Before:
After:

Once I removed all the staples and fabric from the original bulletin board and cut new fabric, it literally took me ten minutes to assemble. A great quick project for slightly ADD personality such as me!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Blog Crazy

Please, please, please tell me you've checked out Marisa's blog New Dress a Day. This girl is crazy! She's spent $365 on 365 items of clothing from thrift stores and is transforming every single one into these amazing pieces of clothing. I know, I know...all you amazing seamstresses are thinking, "No big deal, I could do that." No, you couldn't. She has picked out the most hideous, too-big, frumpy frocks she could find and makes it into something totally adorable...every...single...day. Hello dream job!!

My personal favorite:
Marisa explains that she was inspired by watching the film Julie & Julia (which I happened to catch last night) but has taken the ante up a notch! My favorite midmorning ritual is peeking at what she created yesterday and swooning about how I could totally do that...yeah...right.

Plus, she's HUGE Lost fan, so she's alright in my book.

Speaking of blogs, they've become a huge addiction in this crafting girl's life. Not only craft blogs, but home blogs, food blogs, fitness blogs, celebrity blogs are taking over my world. I'm not sure Mozilla will let me bookmark another blog for my daily reading. At least, I'm hoping it'll stop me at some point, god knows I can't stop myself.

Monday, June 7, 2010

While I was Funemployed

Hey all! Sorry I’ve taken such a long hiatus from blogging. It’s been a busy few weeks, including an east coast trip and a music festival, oh my! Alas, it’s still not summer here in Portland. We’ve had more rain in the last two weeks than we had all winter. Lovely. My tan from that one day I was sunburnt in March is already gone.

I thought I’d share with you some fun projects I completed while I was ‘fun’employed last fall. Two sweet little chairs that are my pride and joy. I've only got before and after pictures of the first I bought at a garage sale for $3. It went from this…

To this…

Let me tell you, when you’re bored five days a week, no project seems too big. But really, reupholstering these little side chairs was a piece of cake. With a small tool kit and a sewing machine, they whip up in no time. Just be careful when removing the old fabric, don't go too crazy when ripping your seams, cut out the new fabric in the same shape as the old pieces and sew! There so many online shops with cheap retro upholstery fabrics, all it takes is a little research.

Also, I whipped up a little project last night in about an hour. I’m vowing to wear less jeans and more skirts this summer, and this little tutorial was just the thing to get started. It has pockets!! Pictures will follow when my legs are no longer blinding white.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful week!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Commuter by bike. Not as cool as it sounds.

Portland is the biking capital of the world without a doubt. Portland commuters want so badly to be green and physically fit, that they’ll bike from the town they live in 20 miles away to get cash at the ATM. It’s seems like a harmless enough habit to get into, certainly efficient.

At first I thought, “I'm being green, saving money on gas, and getting a workout all at once!” Fitting into the Portland persona, and not feeling like such a square, was just frosting on the gluten-free, soy-free, vegan cake that is Portland.

That is until this morning...

I got the brilliant idea last night that I would go to a 6:30am pilates class the following morning. Since I've biked to work for a week straight now, I didn't think twice about getting up at 5:30am the following morning to put on my helmet, bedhead and all, and ride to the gym at work. I packed my somewhat small backpack the night before with all the essentials. Clothes for work, pilates mat, a scrumptious lunch contained in not one but THREE plastic containers, my thermos and waterbottle. Zipping this puppy up was no easy feat, and I felt like I had just climbed Everest as I finally squeezed the zippers together.

My ride to work was glorious! There wasn't an ounce of traffic or those pesky trains that stop traffic for 15 minutes at a time. I made it to the gym in 15 minutes and was ready to work my core for the next fifty minutes. After the class I showered and attempted to pack my things back into my bursting backpack. Eh, no. Not happening this time. Why can you never pack the same amount of stuff back into a backpack the second time? Not discouraged, I boarded this lovely little sweat box...

...with my coat, helmet, a banana, and TWO plastic containers full of lunch in my arms. I stared out the window to avoid the discriminating stares from those bikers who whiz past me every morning on their uber fast road bikes with fifteen lights and "saddle bags". That term always cracks me up. I finally make it to my office as a cascade of items fell from my arms into my office chair. I made it, phew. No big deal, I just packed a bit too much.

The day progressed as normal, nothing exciting as usual. Four thirty rolls around and I feel a strange sense of anxiety. I kept thinking, "Oh God, I have to repack that backpack one more time". Throughout the day the items had one by one crept out of the bag somehow, spilling into the depths of that weird darkness under the desk where only the holes from the hole punch and the random paperclip hang out. I decided to take the last fifteen minutes of work to regroup and repack the pack that would soon fail me.

I board the tram back to the bottom of the hill where my bike is parked. As I slowly step aboard, I can tell this is going to be one full trip. The kind of trip where the operator yells repeatedly, "Keep moving people, we've got ten more here that need to get on!” Keep in mind that the tram only holds about 60 people; so adding ten more people to the tram is like shoving an elephant through a doggy door. It's just not going to happen. This time, I stare at the floor to avoid the stares from all the angry employees glaring at me because my backpack is easily taking up the room of two, maybe three people.

Finally we're at the bottom and I'm free. I unlock my bike, hop on and ride not even one block before I realize I can't pedal forward anymore. I look down to find that my shoelace is entirely entwined in my gears. Seriously?! In front of all the uber bikers!? I am such an embarrassment to the biking community. I coast to the sidewalk and attempt to dismount my bike with one leg unable to move. Five minutes of frantic untangling and this time, really, I'm finally free. The rest of the four-mile trip is fairly uneventful. I reach the east side of the river and am just crossing the railroad tracks when I hear a jingle hit the ground. I look back to see my keys laying right smack in the middle of those steel tracks, and a car coming up fast behind. This was one of those moments where it's important to be able to make a quick decision, which unfortunately is NOT my nature whatsoever. I freeze. Oh god, what do I do? THOSE ARE MY KEYS! I'm panicking as though I've just seen a small infant in the direct line of danger. I manage to pedal to the side of the road, park my bike and run back to grab the keys after the car had passed. Just as I was about to make my way back over the tracks was when I heard the fateful whistle. I look to the left and lo and behold a train is barreling down the tracks. My current panic mode has just escalated to all out survival mode as I make my quickest dash across the tracks. Trying to look unphased I hop back on my bike and take off. After a few blocks and a slight decrease in my heart rate I thought to myself, "No big deal, these are just things you encounter when you commute by bike. Shoelaces in your gears and dodging freight trains left and right."

As I huff and puff up the last hill to our place, I hear another strange sound. This time it was the sound of my backpack's zipper violently opening. I had little time to stop before my bike lock, jacket and THREE plastic food containers came tumbling to the ground. I woman uber biker whizzes past and I swear I hear her chuckle under her breath. The positive bike commuter frame of mind has escaped me and I'm muttering politically correct curse words under my breath. I decide to walk my bike up the sidewalk the last block to my place.

I finally reach home, allow all my items to fall from my grip and peel off my sweaty helmet. Hardly any of what I had gone through seemed worth it, I was ready to give up the whole commuter by bike thing. One bad experience and I give up, it's soooo me. Until I realized, maybe just get a bigger pack? OR MAYBE...some saddlebags?

Stay tuned for a commuter pattern from sew|LO, so that you'll never have to embarrass half a city's biking population like me!

Monday, April 26, 2010

What could this be?

Stay tuned to for a new pattern from sewLO!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Spring Fever

Wow! What a crazy few weeks it’s been! The weather has hinted that it might cooperate in the near future, making me itch for summer like crazy. With temps in the 70’s on Sunday, we planted our garden and did a little outdoor recreation.

And we all know that summer weather means…music festival season is approaching! I know, I know, it’s already here for all you Coachella goers, as if living in California wasn’t good enough. ALL I want to do is sit on a blanket and listen to good music. I saw this post on the kitchn.com today which has turned my summertime/musical festival itch into a full-on rash.

If you’re a big Eames follower I’m sure you’ll love this little piece of heaven.

I wonder what he’s dreaming about?

The post gave me instant inspiration. I’ve decided my next little sewing project is a fabric silverware holder with napkin to take to work. My conscious can no longer handle the amount of plastic silverware I go through in a normal work day. Maybe I can add it to the picnic set I would love to own for the picnics that I would love to fit into my schedule.

Stay tuned for a short tutorial so you can make your own!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Blog Giveaway numero dos!

Yet another chance to win the Margo tote pattern, this time in the packaged version!! Courtesy of the lovely Danyelle at dandee.

Comment away and win win win!

Stay tuned for another pattern from sewLO soon!

Meanwhile, go ahead and love your self some sweet, sleepy beagles. We love them too.

Friday, April 2, 2010

That's right...that's us.

Check out who's featured in Grosgrain's latest giveaway. Comment away! You might just win a Margo tote pattern yourself.

Thank you Kathleen at Grosgrain!

I think Margo would look particularly good in this fabric. This UK site is my new Friday morning fix. A girl's gotta stay current on exchange rates right?!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Living under a rock

I've been quickly catapulted into the world of blog giveaways and most recently commented on this one:

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/03/milk-money-30-gift-card-guest-giveaway.html

To win a GC so I can get this adorable headband:


Grosgrain only features giveaways (and a lot of them!), promoting the crafting community beyond Etsy. I pondered this for a minute this morning and thought, "Why has no one else thought of this?" This blogger is promoting crafters daily and she loves doing it!

Thank you Grosgrain for the quick kick to the rump; my mornings will now be filled with endless blog comments and lots and lots of coveting the crafty and handmade. Cross your fingers I win!

Stay tuned for the Margo Tote to be featured on a special blog giveaway soon!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Vitamin D-eliverance

It's springtime in Portland and that means sunshine! My body is seriously craving vitamin D right now; I forgot just how much the sun hates Portland November through February. Even when it was -15 in Bozeman, at least the sun was shining!

Daffodils and Hyacinth line the sidewalks and people are everywhere! There's a communal sense of relief in this city when the sun shines, each person thinking to another, "We made it one more year." People are happy! (One guy actually apologized to me when I almost ran him over yesterday...I mean, really?)

All this sun and floral goodness, has me in the creating sort of mood. It's no secret I have penchant for really bright, loud colors (springtime only intensifies this). I'm thinking this one will be nice addition to my collection. Now, just what to make with it?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Sewing Pedal to the Metal

We're up and running folks, sewLO is now a reality! For those of you not-in-the-know, let me explain.

My sister, Lindsey, has an amazing talent for creating gorgeous handbags (must be the architect in her). She's decided to start sharing the patterns she creates with the crafting world and I'm along for the ride, promoting and managing her Etsy store.


Her first pattern, the Margo tote (pictured above in both sizes), is now available on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewlopatterns). Margo is seriously smart and stylish, totally functional, and a snap to whip up in an afternoon. I made mine with the funky upholstery fabric below.

I'm totally visualizing Margo in a large spring floral print with a bright lining (one more excuse to visit the fabric store)........OR......save me the trip and put that sewing pedal to the metal (so corny...I know) and send me a picture of the finished product!


Visit the shop, buy the pattern, and get your sew on! You're going to need a new tote for spring, right?