Old Capris --> New Skirt

I have been holding out on posting this project because... OK, I forgot I had done this project until I was procrastinating last night by looking through some fotos of my trip to Argentina (aka the homeland for this one). Lucky me, I have a whole new procrastination activity... blogging about the lame-o striped capris that I ACTUALLY used to wear to my job! At a mortgage bank! I can't believe they kept letting me back into the office.

The pants were made of a stretchy denim material that pretty much molds to every curve. Did I mention I got these pants in high-school? Most people who read this blog already know this about me but, did I mention that I'm not in high-school now? Let's just say, a few years later, the stretchy denim isn't so flattering.

Nonetheless, I really liked the stripes and the colors and it was really only the fact that they were TIGHT capris that bothered me. So now it doesn't bother me because the pants are a skirt and I can wear my fancy stripy mini to exotic far away places where I am not as self-conscious about stretchy fabric on my lower half.

The stretchiness is still an issue but believe me, it is way less of an issue.

Wish I could show you how I lined up the extra fabric to fill in the gaps between the leg part. It was tricky making sure the stripes remained vertical but worth the extra effort. And, NO, no one dared me to START with stripes as I began my sewing adventures... but I can see where one would say, "why the eff would you torture yourself like that and possibly ruin your desire to continue learning to sew?" I don't have an answer for that. However, I did not lose my desire, so just CALM DOWN. (Sorry, that was more for me....)

Oh, and the skirt made another appearance in St. Maarten. Not as far away but WAY more exotic :)

jewelry pegboard for the imagination-impaired...

I like to see my jewelry out in the open all at once. Preferably right next to my mirror too. When I moved into sister's childhood bedroom, I admired her pegboard displaying pictures, bumper-stickers, police tape (??? I don't ask), etc... I also noticed some mardi gras beads hanging from the thumbtacks.

Of course!

You might recognize this fabric from the iPod nano cozy... previously used as a toilet-paper shelf cover. I have quite a bit of it left. (We liked to buy in bulk).

All I did was fold the fabric around the edges of a pegboard and staple it to the back a la staple gun from dab (aka dave). I left some fabric hanging off the bottom for hanging my stud earrings.

This genius extra-fabric-at-the-bottom-for-earrings idea was working perfectly until one of my hook earrings got bent. What to do? Let me take you back to elementary school...

EVERY year, teachers made us kids buy new notebooks for our new classes. I got used to the idea of getting more and more notebooks every year and continued this wastefulness all throughout high-school and college.... until graduate school when I became obsessed with reusing. I ripped out unused sheets of paper in old notebooks to use in binders, threw the used sheets in the recycle bin, and... what to do with the metal spirals?

Ta da!

Featured item: custom, one-of-a-kind earrings made by christine.

It took some wire cutters courtesy of dab, and some careful/purposeful bending. I attached the ends of the spiral by wrapping them around thumbtacks at the ends of the board. Now I have a nice way to hang my earrings so that:

a. their hooks don't get bent

2. they face forward

d. I don't have (as many) metal spirals from old notebooks lying around :)

iPod cozy (for the nano I never knew I wanted;)...

What do I need an iPod for? You may find this hard to believe but my brain is constantly reeling with thoughts. Enough so that I can pretty much keep myself entertained for a 4 hour plane ride. And my taste in music has gotten such comments as, "why would you BUY that*#$&^%?!" However, I have an iPod rojo now (courtesy of a q-toe pass-tell). And I love it.

Did you know that iTunes has FREE music on it? Now, when dave says, "You spent cash MONEY on THAT#!^$?" I can reply, "No. No, dave, I did not." Then he'll stop asking me to pay rent.   

This cozy was NOT my second sewing project but it is, however, the second one that has actually been COMPLETED. I suffer from Cantfinishwhatistart Disease (CD). The final piece of the cozy was added moments ago with much frustration attached. In true G-ma B spirit, I SHOULD HAVE thought about what type of fastener I wanted to use and how I was going to attach it before I got to the point where I thought, "Shooooot.... it doesn't close."

I am getting ahead of myself.

I "reused" some fabric that was formally used to cover my toilet paper storage shelf from my college apartment. The fabrics on the inside were store bought for an old project that turned out quite juvenile looking so I'm not going to talk about it. I wanted some padding for the iPod so... the pieces of fabric in the pocket holding the iPod were sewn around a cotton cushion from a small cardboard earring gift box. It just so happened to be almost the exact size of my nano! Neat-o, non?  

Before sewing together all the pockets, I DID consider this: What if I want to ever start exercising again and I want to bring my iPod?? Isn't that what people use iPods for? Exercising, right? I mean, if I have some straps on my cozy, I can wear it around my arm like those exercising iPod owners do and listen to music while I, you know, exercise... okay okay, perhaps if I sew on these straps, I might start exercising because my god I spent all this time sewing straps onto this damn cozy! (See what I mean about the constant thinking??) So, here are the silly little straps that allow me to attach my cozy to my arm. 

Oh, and another symptom of CD is failing to make the attachments for projects that have been started (and possibly finished but not likely), like the actual strap to fit around my arm. Now that I've told you all about it, be on the lookout for it. This blog has been like therapy for my CD :) 

Now, about that fastener. I wanted to use velcro... I have some lying around... I didn't want to go to the store to BUY MORE STUFF... however, velcro was no longer an option since there was NO WAY I could iron on the pieces because:

1. the piece that needs to be attached to the outside of the pocket could not be ironed on after construction because there are 5, count them, 5 layers of fabric and 2 layers of cotton padding between where the velcro would need to be and where the iron would need to be.

2. the white fabric is NOT iron-able. It has some ridiculous fiber in it that... ehem, melts. Stop judging me.

After much wallowing about my carelessness, I gave up and used the iron-on velcro. I know what you're thinking... I thought you said there was NO WAY the iron-on velcro could be attached?? Well... I sorta still feel that it won't stay put.... It stuck onto the flap well (because I MADE SURE the iron never touched the melt-able fabric). The opposite piece... on the pouch... needed to be hand sewn on. Even after I turned the cozy inside-out, two layers of fabric, and one layer of cotton padding was enough to block the heat of the iron from the toxic stickiness of the back of the velcro. Go fig. It wasn't sew-on velcro (not even close) so hopefully it will stay put... And now, some views of the FINISHED product.

must start somewhere...

I was so lucky to make such great friends at grad school.  One friend in particular was able to inspire me to begin sewing. Turns out, I'm pretty crafty. I'm thinking about putting it on my resume.  The real inspiration came at a transitional period in my life, where I was moving ... get ready for it... back in with my parents.  I know. 

She made me a wonderful little gift (disclaimer: not actual gift) that was so simple in idea and construction, but so immensely thoughtful that I was blown away.

 (actual gift)

These little recipe pouches were just what I needed to keep my recipes organized and accessible, all the while giving me a cute way to display them. It was perfect for my very first sewing project. I was able to use some fabric that I bought years ago in my college days that sat in my childhood bedroom, until now. My stitches could be straighter and I could have ironed my seams better but I am pretty damn proud of my first steps.   

Can you tell??