Summer '12 Handmade Wardrobe Inspiration Board

As you can see, I'm a little over-zealous. There's no way all of these are going to end up in my closet. I just wanted to give myself lots of options. Some of these pictures are inspiration for items I was planning for the shop anyway.

1. I'm loving the palette and the shape.
2. Bright circle skirt- Yes.
3. I'm imagining this longer with pockets.
4. I have some striped fabric that I have to use. It's a much narrower stripe, but it could work.
5. I'm planning a solid color cropped cardigan. I think the fabric will make or break this one.
6. This is my own design. I'm planning a muted tone for myself and possibly sleeveless?
7. I've been eyeing this design for a long time. I love the shape so so much and I might start on my Autumn wear early. (I live in the bay of CA. I wore a jacket today while my east coast friends were drowning in their own sweat.)
8. I love the lace collar on this one. Though boxy shirts don't flatter my figure, I may try this out and see what happens.


Okay, enough daydreaming. Back to work!


Edit:

4. I decided that this top is much more the direction I want to go with the striped fabric.

Okay, back to it for real this time.

How to Cut Shirt Sleeves

I own at least 6 long sleeve button down shirts that I rarely wear. When I sew, I move so much that I end up only wearing tank tops otherwise I feel too constrained. This means I end up spending most of my day unfit for company, wearing undershirts...

I'm hacking off some sleeves and you can do it too.

You'll need:

Button down shirt

Pinking shears or serger or zigzag stitch

Scissors

Step 1: Using scissors, cut off the sleeve. The hem should be on the sleeve when cut off, not the body of the shirt.

Step 2: Line up the sleeve so that top and bottom match. This may take some pinning and that's fine. Just get the top and bottom to lay on each other like pictured.

Step 3: Place sleeve under curve.

Step 4: Cut around armscye (arm hole) and hem on side and shoulder.

 When you remove the shirt, here's what you should have:

 Step 5: Cut strip to be about 1" in diameter. You just made a facing for your sleeve!

Step 6: Sew together top and bottom of the facing,

Step 7: Pin facing and armscye to each other; right sides together.

Step 8: Stitch together. I used my serger. You should use a straight stitch on your regular machine.

Step 9: For the raw side you can either serge, zigzag stitch or use pinking shears to keep it from unraveling. You can also double fold the raw edge under for a more professional look. I wanted something fast, so I will just be sewing this down.

Step 10: Once raw seams are sewn, fold away from the shirt body and tuck under. Pin the facing down.

 Step 11: Sew a straight stitch around the sleeve.

That's it. Now pull out all those shirts whose stained sleeves you've used for napkins and get going. Summer is here.

Blogger Hell

Well, in a moment of horrible judgement, it appears I have deleted nearly every photo from this 3 year old blog.

I rarely use google+, so when I saw that it had stored tons of photos on it and that those photos were available to the public, I deleted the album. Lo and behold, that album was my blog. Three years. Gone.

So, I'm going to have to start over.

I feel like crying and sighing in relief at the same time. I have deleted my life from history... but I have also been given the opportunity (against my will) to start fresh. I have a better vision of who I am now, and hopefully this is the beginning of something good.

 Now, please excuse me while I go throw a tantrum.

Quick Fabric Update

Mint Poppies

Red and Blue Floral

Robin's Egg Blue (Top Fabric. Bottom is for reference.)

Just a few more fabrics in!

Handmade Wardrobe- Simple Chambray Top

After making a chambray button down for myself, I decided I wanted more chambray in my wardrobe. This shirt was super simple. No darts, no placket, no cuffs.

I basically made myself glorified scrubs.. and I'm okay with that. Big ol' pockets so I stop leaving my cell phone all over the place. (I need to lose weight so that it will fit in my jeans again..) A high and wide neckline and 3/4 length sleeves.

This is my new favorite shirt pattern. I hope to try it with some sheer fabric soon.

Tomorrow we are off for a beach side vacation with friends. This is the kind of thing I always wanted to do but never have. Poor friends, my expectations are so high. All I want is a constant mega bonfire, grilled food for every meal, beer with every grilled meal, deep conversation with hard questions, games that I win every time and lots and lots of sunscreen. Is that too much to ask?

Hope you all have fantastic things planned for the weekend! Otherwise, I plan on making you super jealous. (No, but really, I'll invite you if you promise to let me win catch phrase.)

Our Tiny Living Room

I am the type of person who refuses to leave their furniture alone. I have rearranged each room 2-3 times and we've only been here 10 months. I haven't found the perfect placement for everything yet, and until I do, you can bet I'll be moving things again.

Our last name is Cannon, hence this little guy.

Freshly picked from our backyard.

This tiny bookshelf is perfect for shoes.

My grandfather carved this pup with a chainsaw as our wedding present.

This is my favorite spot in the house.

This is our living room's 3rd stage. It's been like this for a few months, but I have finally been able to organize the little things. The side tables keep trading spots and finding new items, but when I finally placed the last change on Saturday, I really felt like things fit. For now.