Christmas always comes too fast

this years holiday season left me feeling uninspired to do the crafty/sewing insanity that I normally try to take on.

instead, I attacked 3 projects:

1. cookie jars - jars filling with all the dry ingredients and an instruction card on how to make yummy holiday cookies. I made a dozen of these and gave them to my co-workers. In the end each jar cost me approximately $2.50 - $1 for each jar and about $1.50 for ingredients.

2. peppermint bark - white chocolate melted with peppermint extract and crushed candy canes. I can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of this stuff.

3. a beautiful dress for my sister. She has always struggled with her weight (unlike me, who is suprisingly comfortable with my size), and she has never dressed herself well as a result. As she gets older I see her getting better about it, but I've always felt bad and never understood. So, I made her a beautiful dress that will make her look gorgeous, slim in the middle, and curvaceous no matter what her size is. I'm totally excited and can't wait for her to put it on. too bad i'm many hundreds of miles away and won't get to experience it first hand.

now, I head into my heavy sewing season. With a minimum of 5 outfits already laid out, designed, fabric purchase, and planned - all to be finished before Estrella War on February 14th.

WISH ME LUCK!

a project for everyday

I've been thinking for a while about making myself an "Arizona-friendly" pantsuit for my 8-5 corporate life. I found 2 simple patterns a while back, and decided that the way I would make the outfit AZ friendly would be by using lighter fabrics that would breathe better in the desert air. I chose a nice weight of good quality black linen (and then let the fabric & patterns sit in my sewing room for a couple of months!).

tonight I took initiative and cut out both my sport coat & capri pants. the proof is in the pile!:


in the end the pants are only 2 fronts, 2 backs, and waist lining = pretty simple:

I really like this pattern. It is really versatile, and extremely simple. It came with a lot of different looks/pieces - and leaves me with a lot of room for artistic individuality.

the coat, on the other hand, will be a little more challenging - only because (as usual) I have my own idea of a creative alternative to the contruction, which makes using part of the pattern a little complicated, but it will turn out! I promise!


see, pretty simple! I'm actually doing view C, and I probably won't even bother with the fake pocket flap either. the change I am making in the pattern is that I want to do a cute/colorful lining with a contrasting textured fabric. since the outside of the coat is going to be black linen, I was thinking it would be super cute to have the inside be some of of pink polka dotted satin - or something with equivalent cute-factor.

my theory is that then I can put the whole outfit together with pretty pink camisoles or pressed shirts, and if my jacket opens for some reason, there will be that little accent of flair or flavor.

I don't know, maybe I'm just making more work for myself...

we'll see!

and just to give an idea of the size of the thing....

Li carrying banner
Originally uploaded by ririsyncyr.

this is my boy carrying said banner...

now is my frustration a bit more understandable?

thank god it survived the rain!

long time no post

Li's banner
Originally uploaded by ririsyncyr.

the event went well, and all my creations were warmly received. The only thing I do not have pics of, however, is my Tang dress. AND we got caught in an excessive amount of traffic on the way up to flagstaff, making me horribly cranky and exhausted by the time we got into our hotel room.

what does this mean? well, it means that I didn't get my overcoat done. BOO! I was a little sad about it, but the weather wouldn't have permitted me to wear it anyway. It was a little chilly, to say the least.

So, I am finishing it up in time for King & Queens champion tournaments in November. Until then, I am focusing on the flemish for Coronation.

but, I do have pics of the banner!

one step forward 2 steps back

being so tired this week has set me back a little bit, but not too bad.

my dress & belt are completely done. my overcoat, however, needs all the trim. 280 inches of 6 inch wide trim - to be exact! it's really not that bad. I have learned over time that my 6 inch wide by 24 inch long clear acrylic quilters ruler is my very best friend when it comes to measuring and cutting trim. So, my sewing machine is coming with me to Flagstaff tonight and i'll be finishing up this little project in the hotel room tonight.

then, once I get back from flagstaff - I can finish up my flemish dress!

a hard days night

I left work today and immediately went to put another coat of dye on the banner.

then, after dinner and brief relaxing I got to work! I was able to complete the green dress, and am 85% done with the fat belt. I still have to quilt in the lining (i'm using a stiff thick quilters lining to make sure the belt doesn't cave in on my waist and stays nice & stiff!), then it's just the hidden clasps that I am putting on it.

soooo, here are pics!

The dress, underneath the fat belt AND my chinese knotwork belt that will be worn on top of the fat belt and hang down a bit.
























a close-up of the knotwork that made me feel a bit cross-eyed trying to do...lol.






















that is it for my sewing/crafting adventures tonight. I was going to wax my brows (which I have decided is a craft unto itself!), but I'm just too tired.

tomorrow night I finish the belt, make the sheer overcoat, and wash the banner.

and maybe wax the brows & dye my hair....ha!

happy crafting!

it's not easy being green v.2.0! better! faster!

so, contrary to my last post - I finished filling in my banner design with the first round of dye-na-flow paints on sunday afternoon/evening. I was worried that I had to let the gutta rest for 24 hours before painting, but apparently 45 minutes is long enough, and I had already waited about 2 hours.

The yellow filled in beautifully, but the red I'm a little worried about. you can see my paint streaks, and i'm concerned that they won't wash or fade out. I'm going to go in for a 2nd coat to make sure the color is bright, and hopefully I can counteract the paintlines with the 2nd coat.

last night I cut out my Tang dress out of a beautiful green cotton gauze, and I finally found my overcoat fabric at Joann's. for once - something I needed WASN'T on sale, so I was actually able to use one of those 50% off coupons they send twice a month via mail & email. It worked out well too, because the sheer fabric I am using was like $11 a yard before my coupon...and I needed 4 yards!

I also found a new & exciting fabric - polyester shantung. It is a faux duponi silk that is actually a washable polyester. I bought a yard and a half of it to use as trim & such on my belt, and am excited to see how it turns out! if so, that is a MUCH cheaper alternative for duponi! It has obvious right & wrong sides, and isn't quite as nice feeling as duponi - but it's really not that bad. and the color selection was FANTASTIC! they had a shade of orange that the boy would LOVE - I had to restrain myself from just buying it to buy it.

I also bought some green cording and made a chinese knotwork belt last night! i was laughing at myself because the intructions for the various knotwork patterns that I had to work off of wasn't very helpful, and I kept getting "tied up". lol. but I got a beautiful knot made and turned it into an adjustable belt for my tang piece.

anywho, tonight there will be no crafting, as I have tickets to see Wicked. (!!!)

more tomorrow!