outsourced.

I did finish a wrap on Monday, and am going to post it. But I'm planning on doing a tutorial, so that will come later. But here's what else has been going on.

#1: The dress is done!

So here's the entire thing (though I know the sheer part is a little hard to see, since it's the same color as Donna.). I did end up having to shorten the straps about 3", but aside from that, it's pretty much as is.

And here's a view of the back.

#2: My mom and I ended up making a bit of a deal. Since I made her dress, she made me a new spring/summer bag! (Which works out well for me, because I probably wouldn't have gotten to it till July or something, and she's way better at making bags than me. So in this case, I'm perfectly fine with outsourcing!) Most of the fabric was from my stash, too, which was nice for my efforts to use it up!)

She also added this nifty pocket to the back, which is just the perfect size for my habit of carrying a book with me at all times!

#3: Speaking of the stashbusting, here's the update: I started off with about 273 yards. So far, between the wrap I just made on Monday, and a dress I've cut out but haven't started sewing yet, it looks like I'm down to 260 1/2 yards. (Including adding some back in for the linen I got for the Anthropologie pants.)

#4: Still knitting that wrap. On ball #2 of yarn. Otherwise, it looks pretty much the same as the last picture.

#5: On a totally unrelated note, I'm 98% decided on letting go of the Etsy shop. (The other 2% is feeling like maybe I'm giving up too soon.) The thing is, I haven't had time to work on it in about a month. And the things I do have up there just aren't getting noticed. Most of the views I have up there are from my own edits. I came to the realization today that this isn't a good time for me to be doing this, because I just can't put in the effort that I'd need to in order to promote this. There's too much going on in my life right now--I'm going to be doing some job-hunting very soon, and I need to figure out what direction I'm going to be taking with that. And whether I can actually keep teaching music, as a result.

So there's a lot of changes coming my way. And I'm not sure what my free time is going to look like after everything gets sorted out. Making things is still a must, but I need it to be my hobby, not a second (or third, or fourth) job. My goal with the jewelry was to raise some money to donate to a Haiti relief organization that some friends founded, and thanks to the craft fair, I did that. I'd thought it might be an ongoing thing, but it seems that wasn't meant to be the case right now. So I'm ready to simplify things again, and I'm at peace with that. As for the leftover jewelry, I think I'm going to pull a couple of things for me, and then give some of it away to friends. (Maybe I'll even do a giveaway or two here, if people are interested...it's been awhile since I've done one of those!) I don't need to keep it all, especially since I made some things similar to what I already had, and I'll feel better about it if I know that it's being used and enjoyed.

I'm not sorry I tried it. It was a good learning experience. And maybe someday I'll try doing a little crafty business on the side again. Just not now. (Besides, then I don't have to try and keep up with writing a second crafty blog!)

What I've been up to....

First of all, wow-- I have to say I'm kind of overwhelmed by the response to the post about the Pendrell blouse. I think that may actually be the most comments I've ever gotten on one post! And since the overwhelming consensus was to keep the ruffles as is, the ruffles will stay.

Secondly, I still haven't quite settled on what to do with the rest of the yarn from the Constellation gloves. Though yes, cheesepirate, I have found Ravelry--that's actually where I found that handwarmer pattern in the first place! And Hana, I'm not sure there would be enough for socks. Unless maybe it's the kind that don't cover your ankles. I haven't started another knitting project yet, either--need to check and see if I have access to the right size needles before I start on that beret.

I've gotten lace to extend the lining hem for the LBD, and gotten the outer skirt measured for the length, though not pinned up at all beyond the one pin in it to mark the length. I've also gotten a knit shirt cut out, and was originally planning on sewing it together over the weekend, but ended up not touching it.

What I have been doing for the majority of the last several days is running with the inspiration I had to finally get my Etsy shop rolling, so I can do something about all of that jewelry I made for the craft fair that's been sitting here in my room ever since. It's something I've been meaning to do for, oh, the last month and a half. Admittedly, the LBD kind of took over my entire non-working, non-social life and kept me from doing a single thing about it. But since I'm not working a whole lot right now due to my retail job being non-winter seasonal, I've been taking advantage of the extra time. So my store policies are written. I've made a complete guess at shipping prices, which may have to be tweaked if I have opportunity to test that theory. I spent hours and hours on Saturday photographing every single piece of jewelry I made for that craft fair that I didn't sell. And I've figured out my packaging, though I still have a lot of it to go. So I have been sewing. But it's been several of these:

They're not all that size. Some, which I mean to use for the earrings that don't accompany necklaces, are smaller. These were actually a bit small for most of the necklace cards I've had made up so far. So I'll have to choose a few necklaces to fit these, or use these for bracelets (once I figure out how to actually package them). It's been a lot of trial and error. But it's good, because other than the ball of cotton yarn I got to make drawstrings out of, the packing materials are all things I had on hand--breaking into my big stash of white cardstock pulled out of scrapbook page dividers, and decorating them with (mostly) scraps of paper that I wouldn't be able to use for much otherwise. But I'm especially proud of the bags, because now I finally have a solution to a problem I've been thinking about for years: what to do with my muslins. Because I've never liked just chopping up large pieces of fabric only to throw them away at the end. It seems very wasteful and not very eco-friendly. There is still a little bit of waste involved in this, because I can't entirely cut rectangles out of irregular-shaped pieces, especially when I have to occasionally avoid Sharpie marks. But I've been amazed at how many of these little bags I've been able to get so far out of one clothing muslin (in this case, the LBD one), and I'm still not even done chopping it up yet!

If I counted remotely close to right, I still have a ton of these I need to make in order to just package up what I have made so far.. Fortunately, they whip up pretty quickly, and I've been able to get quite a few done. Though I may need to take a break sometime this week and whip out that shirt, just so I don't start feeling too much like a one-woman sweatshop! That, and because I've also been pondering signing up for Me-Made-March--kind of like the Self-Stitched September thing I did, though obviously a different season. And a more challenging one--this past September at least was pretty summery for most of the time, but March around here can range anywhere from the 30s to the 70s, often going from one extreme to the other within a matter of days, with the occasional freak snowstorm and an almost guaranteed chance of high winds and torrential rains at some point. Ah, life in the mid-Atlantic. So it would be interesting to see how I fare with that sort of challenge, but I definitely would need to get a couple of things knocked off my to-sew list! At least this and the jacket I'd like to make before it gets warm. So that will need a bit of thought.

To backtrack for a moment, the good thing was that I did finally manage to get a couple of pieces up in the shop today. I'm not going to talk about that here very often, because I felt it would be more professional to keep that separate from this blog (especially since this blog focuses more on my sewing projects than anything else, which is completely unrelated), and therefore made a separate blog just for that. I don't want this blog to become a constant advertisement, anyway. But figured it wouldn't hurt to let people know it now exists, right? If you want to check out what I've got in there so far, you can either check it out at the shop's blog or Etsy. Not a lot, only 2 things as of this post, but I'm planning/hoping to make a nice dent in adding those things over the next several weeks. And that is all that I will say about that here for the moment.

And one of these days, hopefully sooner rather than later, I will have clothes to show here again!

The other thing I've been up to

Progress on the flowery jacket is happening...I got the sleeves sewn together and am in the process of doing the Hong Kong seams. The facing is in. After bouncing some ideas off of my mom, I've decided that the buttons are going to be just for show and the actual closure is going to be snaps, since the embroidery is going to make any buttonholes hard. That, and I was checking the instructions in one of my sewing technique books, and it recommended no less than an inch long for a bound buttonhole. And of course the buttons I have, which match the style perfectly, are only 3/4", so that won't work. I was planning on wearing this over a camisole anyway, so there should be no wardrobe malfunctions with the snaps.

But I haven't just been sewing...

I've also been sneaking in lots of jewelry making, since the craft fair is less than a month away. Eek! This is my box of all of my finished ones so far.... I counted them up this morning, and as of now, I have 47 pairs of earrings, 7 bracelets and 28 1/2 necklaces. (The half being one I started last night, and finally realized around 12:30 that I needed to go to bed when it was literally right around the halfway mark.) It sounds like a lot of earrings especially, but in typical fashion for me, a lot of the necklaces and earrings were made as a set.

So now I'm getting to the point where I have a couple of very important things to figure out--how to package things up (nicely, but as cheaply as possible!), how much more I should make (I've never done this before, so I honestly have no clue, though I'm thinking a few more bracelets would be good), and most importantly, how the heck to price these things! I've been doing some research, and it seems like the standard pricing formula is cost of materials + labor time x 2. Or even x3. The thing is, I'm looking at some of these things and thinking that there's no way people would pay those prices! And while I have an Etsy shop somewhat set up and am planning on putting whatever I don't sell in there (I know, I know, worst time of year to open a shop), it would be nice to at least sell something while I'm at the fair. At least I have some things figured out-- I have printable business cards, and I was able to come up with a design for the Etsy banner and all based on that. I also have some ideas for how to do the actual packaging, which will also allow me to use up some of my cardstock and such. I just have to sit down and actually do it.

I am working on taking pictures of everything. But rather than spam this blog up, and since I'm going to be attempting to make this an ongoing thing, I actually started a separate blog for the jewelry I'm making to try and sell. All I have up there so far are about 8 pairs of earrings, but I'm hoping to get everything else up soon. (And figure out how to make these sound appealing without being cheesy--writing's always come somewhat easily for me, but trying to sell yourself or your product through it is a lot harder!)

This is a bit scary/intimidating, putting stuff I've made out there to sell. My main motivation at this point is that I've decided that part of the proceeds are going to be donated--I'd known all along that if I was going to do something like this, I wanted it to be for a good cause. It all clicked at the end of the summer, when I found out at church that my friends who lost their daughter last July are starting up a non-profit organization to build an orphanage in Haiti. And since I helped her mom with making some of the bracelets to give to her friends in her memory, it seemed fitting to do this to help support them. So I'll just have to trust that if God wants this to happen, some of the jewelry is actually going to sell! (And the stashbusting is definitely a nice side effect.)

Recent Progress

Nothing finished as of late, but I have made some good progress:

• Felicity Peacoat: Finally starting to go better! As of now, I have all of the front and back pieces sewn together and topstitched in the right places (though I do need to finish ripping it out where I accidentally topstitched the side seam.) I also put on the under collar last night. Quite proud of where it joined the neck, because usually with those obviously curved, highly clipped seams, I get at least one pucker in there where the fabric gets caught (like I did with the under collar to little neck insert piece earlier last night.) That particular seam was puckerless first try!
• A random refashion: For that brown v-neck, I finished sewing on the trim last night. So now I just need to chop off and hem the sleeves to the length I want.
• Etsy: Have some potential photograph material for my banner now, thanks to a weekend backpacking trip. I also cut out a bag and lining tonight-- mostly, anyway. I do still need to cut out any pockets I'm going to put in, and the strap, and the interfacing. First order of buisness is a design for the flap, which I'm working on. So I'll work on that either right after the peacoat, or after the wrap shirt I want to make next (which I'm hoping will be a quickie project.)

Shiny.

The Joanns' run was a success (probably too much so.) I did find more of the peacoat fabric, and got about half a yard over what I needed just to be safe. I also got some more interfacing, and a whole lot of jewelry stuff. My justification is that the majority of what I got is findings, like ear hooks and crimp beads and such, and I'll use that stuff regardless of if this Etsy thing works out or not. The rest of what I got are some beads. I've been wanting to make a neutralish-brown necklace for fall-winter (I have this awesome shell and natural bead one which I love, but it's probably too summery), so I got some stone and ceramic beads for that (and some seed beads to fill in if necessary).

I also got this awesome kit from the Jewelry Workshop-- normally I don't care for kits because I like to make my own designs, but I just couldn't pass up the medieval look of it, plus I liked that it came with all the necessary tools (minus wire cutters), so I can reuse the clamp and get my own wire if I'd like to do this technique again. So I spent last night making that, and here's the results:

Though it made my fingers sore, the technique itself was really simple, the instructions were clear, and the results looked great! I did make one change to the design, in adding this pendant, which I also bought last night. The tiny little bead dangle they had looked rather silly with such a chunky necklace, IMO.

And here's a closeup of the design:

I must say, Joanns' stock of beading supplies has improved drastically in the last few years. I was seriously tempted to get their European 4-in-1 chainmaille necklace kit too, because I've been wanting a chainmaille necklace for ages and both attempts so far have failed (one worked and looked good, but started turning my neck green after a few wearings. The other was silver jump rings and therefore didn't turn my neck green, but the size didn't work and it kept falling apart.) Unfortunately, it was gold and silver, and I want just silver.

Speaking of beading, here's the earrings I made on Thursday night. (I'm also experimenting with potential photography setups for the Etsy shop, so bear with me!)

I do really like the use of the candleholder to display them. I just need to work on lighting. And figuring out how to get my camera to focus on what I want it to. :P I know with the macro setting, it's going to have a really shallow depth-of-field, but I'm hoping I can at least get the earring in the forefront completely clear!

I've also managed to get the back of the peacoat entirely ripped out, and the fabric for the new front laundered. And I started on a very simple recon, which is taking a plain brown v-neck and adding trim to the front. (I'm also planning on shortening the sleeves to 3/4 and trimming those, since it's a bit too short for my arms anyway, but that'll wait.) I've gotten almost 1/2 of the neck trim sewn on. The other half is pinned, along with a little wedge I'm having to insert at the very bottom of the V because it just didn't work with the angle to have them meet in the middle, but I don't think I'm going to get that done this weekend. Gotta go to a football game with the singles group in a few (wheeeee.) and then Ren Faire tomorrow (huzzah!!)

Decisions, decisions

Regarding the peacoat: I've decided to just go to Joanns' after work today and see if they have any more of the embroidered suedecloth. If they do, I'm just going to cut it out again, because at this point it's easier to do that than to try to undo two rows of topstitching (I discovered I originally topstitched it too close, and just added a second row rather than potentially rip out the embroidery). That, and with the clips down to the seam near the pockets, I'm honestly not sure I can take smaller seams on those front pieces. If they don't... I'll just jump off that bridge if I get to it.

Regarding Etsy: I think I'm going to run with it this time. I've been putting a lot of thought into it, and I think, now that I'm starting to have a lot of people tell me I should sell my stuff (it's been happening quite a bit over the last few months), maybe now it's time. I'm trying not to get my expectations up too much-- I know that a lot of newbie sellers sell very little, if anything, for months. But I'm hoping I can at least get a few things out there. My plan right now is to focus on stash-busting, using the leftover beads and fabrics from other projects that would otherwise just sit here piling up. So I won't have to put out a lot in the way of expenses at first, and that way if it doesn't work out, I won't have lost much. I'm certainly not wanting this to replace my other job, since I love doing the musician thing (though I'll admit I wouldn't mind quitting the office!)--all I'm really hoping for financially is that I make enough that I can put some in my savings (i.e. towards being able to afford to buy a little place of my own, so I'm not still relying on my parents for a roof once I hit 30) and donate some-- I've been wanting to do that, but don't really have the extra cash to spare. And, of course, getting some fabric out of here!

I was going to wait to make a few bags, but I might do one after this coat, just because bags are easy and this coat is frustrating. I did make 3 more pairs of earrings last night-- the last time I was considering this, I made up several little packages of beads that would make good earrings (they matched, and I didn't have enough of any of them to make a necklace or anything). I'd made a few, but that was a couple of months ago, so it was funny making a few more yesterday because I'd forgotten what was in there. I'm also using these to work on getting my wire loops to look really nice. I do really like a few of the pairs, and none of these are duplicates of ones I've made for myself, so worst case scenario, I have several new pairs of earrings.

Got a ton of stuff I need to figure out before I can post anything: how to handle shipping (especially since I'll have to buy packaging as well, and that would jack the price up), how to set the prices (I know I can't charge much for most of these earrings-- most of them are glass beads and simple styles, though I do have one that's semiprecious gemstone), I need to make a banner for the shop, I need to figure out a good setup for the pictures (i.e. not a distracting background), and while I have two tentative bag patterns (from bags I previously made, though they're in the form of rectangular measurements and not an actual pattern), I need to figure out a few more styles as well. I have some ideas, but have to see if they actually work. So much to do... I hope this is the right decision!!

Checking in

I've been quiet this week, but it hasn't been an unproductive one. I spent all my crafty time since Sunday working on my scrapbooks. Finished four layouts, and I have 3 more that are nearly completed-- two I can probably finish within about 15 minutes because the typing is printed out and all I need to do is cut and paste. The third one I think I'm going to write on (and play with my metallic powder that I got for the road trip scrapbook--gotta test it out first, after all!) so that'll probably take a little bit longer. But maybe I can finish those this afternoon.

Saying maybe, because the plan is to cut out the outside of the peacoat.

I also need to get out to Joann's-- I have a plain brown long-sleeved shirt that I want to recon into a 3/4, partially because I'm going to be making another brown long-sleeved shirt from that bamboo fabric I got back in the spring, and partially because the sleeves really are a little bit too short (my arms seem to be a little long, and it's really hard to find long-sleeved ready-to-wear that is long enough as a result. Including coats. Thus the reason for the peacoat.) I got some trim there that I was planning on using to make it a bit more interesting (it really is just a solid brown v-neck), but since the trim isn't stretchy in the least I'm a bit concerned about how it'll affect my ability to pull it over my head. So I think I'm going to use it on the bamboo wrap instead, which means I probably need a bit more so I can trim the sleeves as well. As for the v-neck, I'm thinking maybe sewing on some small (possibly wooden) beads might be my best option.

Also, I've been carrying around the Gothic Rose bag for the last couple of weeks now, and so far the strap is holding up great. I did reinforce the stitching the day after NYC just to be safe, which I think was a good precaution. I also keep getting a bunch of compliments from my friends on it--now they're beginning to ask me if I've ever thought about making bags to sell. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to revisit the Etsy idea. (If I can even still remember how to get into my account.) Of course, I've got several fall clothing items to deal with first...

a bag and an in-progress recon

I finished the bag on Sunday, and I never want to use this pattern again. For some reason, this one ended up being totally confusing, and I could NOT figure out how to keep the seams from being exposed in the more open part. I ended up just hand-sewing some extra fabric over it to compensate.

It's really hard to see it from the picture, but it has this criss-cross look to it at the top of the bag. I'll probably take a better picture later, when I can have better lighting for the job.






This is what I'm currently working on-- this is the skirt as it was originally, a slinky knit Goodwill find. I just don't like the way it clings to my hips. I'm turning it into a shirt, which so far looks like this:
It looks a little odd, I'm sure, in the front. That's because right now it's pinned together inside out on the dummy. It's going to be pretty much a mock wrap look. I'm trying to figure out what to do about sleeves, since I'd really prefer not to leave such a slinky knit sleeveless-- the armholes will be sagging in no time. I have a piece left from the upper back of the skirt, but once I take the seam in the middle out, it's going to be way too tight around my arms. The other option is, I've got one bias-cut triangle from the part of the wrap section that I've trimmed so far, and I'll have another once I cut the inner part of that off. So I might be able to do a kind of flutter sleeve with it. I'm currently leaning towards the latter just for comfort.

Got another swap to do! This time, a photography one. I have some ideas so far, so hopefully things will come together quickly.

I've also pretty much abandoned the etsy idea for now, mainly because it looks like I'm getting another part time job that will require me to get up very, very early, and therefore cut into evening craft time. So maybe it would be better for my mental health to keep the hobby for my own personal enjoyment right now.

Two new necklaces

I made this set last night, with the intent of adding it to my Etsy (though I think I need better lighting for the picture first.) The crystals are very neutral colored, though it's difficult to tell in this picture, and I made the length adjustable.

I spent several hours today on this one--I got inspired while picking up some wire I needed yesterday. This one is going to be for my mom, either for her upcoming birthday or for Christmas. I haven't quite decided yet. I know it's only six legs instead of eight, but it still makes me think of the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden".

The peasant skirt from hell!!

It's finally done, though almost everything that could have possibly gone wrong with this skirt did.


Here's my story of how this skirt came together, which turned out to be the sewing equivilent of a Lemony Snickett tale:

• I'd originally gotten this fabric with the intent of making the skirt from McCall's 5005, because I liked the non-elastic yoke and so far my success at trying to draft those myself has been nonexistent. I also bought the brown trim, which you can see the close-up picture of on this post. Joann's didn't have the yardage it called for on the pattern, so I'd have to special-order it. Upon recieving it, I brought it home...and promptly lost it. I still have yet to find it. Only slightly daunted, I proceeded to go back after a few weeks of fruitless searching and ordered more trim. This time, I managed to get it home (and onto the skirt) without losing it.

Then I took the pattern out to cut out and discovered the fabric wasn't wide enough for any pieces but the yoke. So, wanting to match the stripes, I figured out new lengths for the tier pieces and cut it to fit the more narrow fabric (mental note to self: Never again attempt to figure out numbers while watching Lost.) and cut out the yoke as originally called for. Silly me, I didn't realize that since the gauzy fabric stretches a bit, the yoke ended up waaaaay too big. (And, of course, I didn't think to check that until I'd already hand-sewn on the top row of trim. Doh!!) So then I took out the zipper, took the fourth piece of the bottom tier that I'd decided not to add into the bottom layer after all, resigned myself to an elastic waist and sewed that in, then finished sewing on the rest of the trim. Then I made the elastic casing, found out I didn't have enough of the right width of elastic for it, went to Joann's again (I needed to go anyway because I needed some zippers and interfacing) and got that, proceeded to make a far-messier-than-intended casing that I'm very glad no one can see from the inside because it looks awful, and finished it up last night. So now I can finally move on to something else. Like trying to figure out what to do with the yard or two (or eight or nine, if I ever find the rest of it) ot the trim I have left, since I ended up making my own pattern entirely instead of using theirs.

Also, I took the plunge... I opened an etsy shop. I'm still trying to get things set up so there's nothing in there yet, but hopefully soon...