I love a good Craiglist deal. Yes, these came from Craigslist. They didn’t start out looking this good. They retail at IKEA for $199 each. I took a chance on the ugly ones that someone was selling on Craigslist for $35 each. The price was good and the hydraulic lifts still worked. I brought them…
Nothing like the offer of prizes to light a fire under my butt to get a project done. My sister asked me if I could make her a new purse modeled after the one that she had been toting around for a few years. I said sure. It was falling apart, so I knew that…
It’s rare when a project this amazing falls into your lap. I got a call from a girl named Isabelle back in April. She said she had a friend who was looking to have a costume made for comi con in Chicago. She couldn’t take on the job herself and was looking for another seamstress…
As much as I would have liked to just cut up the suits, shirts and ties, I knew that my finished product wouldn’t be square. Garment parts are a lot like cuts of meat [says, the vegetarian]. Each piece has a designated use. Like this cow… Every part of a garment has a grain…
I always have more than one project going at a time. When I get “writer’s block” I can drop the project and move on to something else. I know some of you are waiting for me to finish my MJ mini quilt, but you will have to wait a little longer, I am saving up…
This tale started in late October of 2012. I received an email with the subject line “dress ref by amelias” from a girl named Jenny. She wanted me to reconstruct a dress (which she didn’t own yet) to look like a dress she saw on Pinterest… I will have to admit, I was a little…
Have you ever had a project haunt you? I did. It was this dress. It hung in the doorway at Amelia’s for a really long time. It was damaged, it had a 22 inch waist, but it had one or two good parties left in it. I knew that it was mine to restore if…
So it’s been a while since I shared what I have been working on. May was all about wedding dresses and re-invintaging for a few stores. June was recovery from wedding dresses and helping out a few friends with their projects (solving the problems of others is often better than tackling one’s own). July was …
Since I’ve started sewing, people randomly give me gifts of fabric and clothes. Now that I work in the back of a fabric store, I get MORE fabric and clothes. I have refrained from taking them all, but every now and then something with promise catches my eye. Exhibit A: Frumpster shirt dress. I know…
It’s that time of year when you look at last years cut-offs and find them too short to wear in public. Here’s a tip to keep your jorts from disappearing in the wash. Step 1: cut pants to desired length Step 2: Sew along the the bottom edge of the shorts. “ The stitching creates a…