Gone Refashin'

Hey, everybody! You may have heard about a little thing called Refashion Month happening over at House of Estrela. I was ever so flattered when Magda of HoE asked me to join in! Today's my feature, so pop on over to see how I turned this large dress into a flowy summer top.

And yes, those shorts are another pair of wide-leg trousers remade, using the same process as these.

Bad to the Bone

Right before we moved, I picked up this tee for $12 at Buffalo Exchange. That's more than I would usually pay at a thrift store, but have you seen this shirt? It has a skeleton on it. Riding a unicorn skeleton. How much more badass can you get?

Unfortunately, there was just one big, huge, XXXL problem.

Also in my refashion pile were these chocolate brown, wide-leg trousers I scored for $2 at another store. That's makes up for the cost of the shirt, right?

Craft Cave

Yeah, that's right. If the Dude can have his Man Cave, then I get a craft cave. That was part of the deal when we started looking for a house. I agreed that it could serve a dual purpose as a guest room as well, on those rare occasions, but I wanted a separate room - with a door and a closet for storage - for my creative space. Here's what I got:



This is the photo from the real estate listing. The previous owner was using it as a sitting room of sorts. It was a decent-sized space, with large windows for plenty of natural light and two closets (one medium-sized and one no wider than the door). Yeah, I could work with this.

Tapgurl Comes to Visit

I recently had the honor of being interviewed for a knitting podcast! The lovely Carmen of Tapgurl Knits came over for a chat the other day. We talked about knitting, designing, geekery, sewing - a little bit of everything! You can listen to the whole convo over here!

Vino

ATTENTION KNITTERS: Only six and a half more knitting months until Christmas. Time to get started on you gift knitting. And what better way than with these fabulous fingerless mitts by yours truly in the newest issue of Knitty?

Simple Solutions

In the midst of packing and moving, I had to take a break to maintain sanity. I spent one lovely Saturday sewing up some of my old larger tops and tees into more fitted pieces. These two items were among them. I still liked the idea of these shirts; they just didn't fit anymore!

A Little Less Country...

Well, there's another two weeks since last we chatted. But what a whirlwind it's been! The Dude and I spent two hectic weeks busily painting in our new house before our scheduled move date, and we still didn't get it all done in time. The movers came and went, and now we've been living here for almost two more weeks, continuing to paint in the evenings and weekends, with a little unpacking interspersed here and there for variety. And then it happened. Two days ago, I finished painting the trim and china cabinet in the breakfast nook, and that was that. No more painting. At least for now.

All totaled, we primed and painted two bedrooms, the kitchen and breakfast nook, the formal dining room, and the entry/foyer. That also includes the kitchen cabinets and wainscoting in three of those rooms too. Wanna see?

One Fish Two Fish

Wow. Long time, no write, huh? I swear I have a good reason though. I haven't had 10 minutes of alone time with my laptop in a week. Yeah, I was starting to go into withdrawal. It all started with a little thing we call... our new house!

We closed about a week and a half ago and took possession after the seller finished moving out last Saturday evening. Since then, every waking moment that I'm not at my "real" job, I'm at our new house prepping, priming, and/or painting. Literally, as soon as I get home from work in the evenings, we make sandwiches to take with us, head over to the house, and work into the wee hours of the morning. Then we go home, crash for a few hours (far fewer than I'd like), and do it all again the next day. It's been crazy, and will continue to be until we finish painting and move next week, but we are so super excited to call this place ours!

And now, let's get to why you're really here - crafty goodness! Last Saturday, while ansiously awaiting the call to say we could go see our new place, I did some sewing to try to keep my mind occupied. I had picked up this dress at a clothes swap last year. It's a touch too short for my taste, and I've lost a bit more weight since the before photo, so it's not as snug anymore. Let's see what we can do!

Not a Drop

I finished this scarf a couple weeks ago, but have been forgetting to take pictures until now.

Mad for Plaid

I grabbed these slacks at the thrift shop a couple weeks ago for $1.50. They fit great in the waist but, as you can clearly see, the length falls a bit short (yeah, pun entirely intended).

But just look at the gold sparkly houndstooth-plaid-y fabric!