Thursday, May 29, 2008

This Ain't Omaha ...

So why is there all manner of wildlife outside my door? I just heard a woodpecker hammering away at the back porch. Hopefully he isn't finding termites inside it to eat. I've only ever lived in places with such exotic birds as hummingbirds. Woodpeckers? Seems like I saw once in a third-grade coloring book. And there's always Woody, the cartoon -- (I think I must be telling my age here) --



Hey wait! Maybe Mr. Woodpecker should find some termites, because that would mean the back porch would fall down eventually! Hooray!

And speaking of Wild Kingdom: Hunk O Man is indeed a homewrecker. The baby birds flew the nest, so he threw it away.

THREW IT AWAY!!!



After (quite literally) everyone else in the family berated him loudly and continuously as they walked in and heard, he went and fished it out of the trees growing up out of the stump, where he had thrown it.



This man has some serious approval addiction and conflict avoidance issues.



He put it back in the upper corner of the back porch, of course where no one could possibly actually see it, and of course where the mama birdie will never return because it smells like Hunk O Man.



My Hunk O Man. Not the Birdie Hunk O Man.



And now it's gone, nowhere to be seen. It must have fallen off the beam. Bye bye birdies indeed. I hope they find the plastic bag stash again next year. Hunk O Man assures me that they will.



And on to happier things pertaining to fashion, and shameless showing off by me. This is Bug modeling Bunny's dress that you previously saw. Bunny wore it the other night to the sports awards. JB wore her dress as well. I just wanted to show you the stitching on the lower hem border. And also -- guess what it's made of?











Yep -- 200 thread count flat sheet from Wal-Mart. No kidding. It was the only black fabric I had hanging around. I think it was a queen-sized sheet, and I don't think it cost more than about $6. The white tie is from yet another sheet I previously used for some home dec project. Gotta love it when designer fashion comes this cheap.






My sewing machine does this cool maxi-stitch, and that's how I did the hem embroidery. It took forever, sitting there trying to keep it straight, but turned out pretty nicely. The Bunny is happy, so that's the important thing. Now Bug wants a dress like this. I guess I'd better go buy some more sheets. Here's the original dress (from Anthropologie) I copied, and will be making for Petite next, to send to France:



Bug also brought me several t-shirts that are too big or too sloppy. So I took one and made her a little elastic-waisted skirt. I used the back of the neck to make a little pocket for the back.









Kinda short, but cute with leggings or shorts under. I may add some length to it with some trim or fabric. I have a few other t-shirts I'm going to make smaller and more fitted for her -- with a couple of passes of the serger. Takes 10 minutes, no kidding. I should advertise these at $5 a pop. I'd make a fortune around here.


There are a myriad of ideas like this available in this book:



When you pull it up on Amazon.com, you get a whole slew of cool books about how to transform your t-shirts into other cool things. Some don't even require sewing -- t-shirts are generally made from knit that doesn't ravel. So you can shred it or fringe it or just cut it off and go with the "unfinished" look.

Please do leave a comment and let me know what you think. I love to hear from you. Even if it's just to say "Hey, Jen, talk about shameless crowing about how you can sew . . . will you make something for me?"

1 Comment:

Unknown said...

Love, love, love the items! You should definitely take up sewing for the teens in your neighborhood.