Textiles.
I can’t tell you how much I love that blue fabric. It’s not mine, although I wish it was. I just adore the color. Anyway, so I photographed a few things that were laying around in my studio temporarily or permanently. A lot of them are from Peru and they belong to my cousin and my aunt, like the pillowcase above or the bags below.
I love the bright colors and interesting patterns.
If I had the money, I would buy a few and hang them up on the walls or re-use them to create my own projects. Shorts, bags, shirts, anything. Except, these are too pricey.
So instead, I go to my studio and sew with what I have on hand.
It’s not like fabric is cheap, but it’s certainly more useful than peruvian textiles. Or it could be that my selfish cousin raises the prices too much. Anyway, can you guess which one I’ll be using for the dress I started making today?
I still adore these frames I painted last year. I feel that they would look better placed together, but I need to make more wall art so that my studio walls won’t look so empty.
Would you like to see my studio again?
I cleaned things up a little bit, but the mess is coming together again.
I’ll keep you updated on the new dress. I cut out all the pieces today and I’m excited because I’ve never made a dress that involved boning before. It will be fun, I’m excited. If all goes well, I’ll have the dress ready by the ninth and I’ll be able to wear it on my day out with the boy whose stealing my heart.
Plans for the Summer.
This blog was originally started as a Summer Art Project to be able to sort and describe my projects in an organized manner and as a way to encourage myself to try new things and attempt to create a greater number of projects. Well, the plan worked and, even though I get behind a lot, I would like to continue to use this blog a second year. So, now that I will have more free time, I have decided to start working on sewing projects more than before. Except, this summer I won’t continue my 20-minute-project series. According to my calendar, weekends will be very busy for me this summer. Instead, I plan on starting a Childrens clothing series in Late June or early July. I was thinking I would start on the Eighteenth, but one of my dear friends is getting married that week and her family would like us to be involved in the planning and setting-up process. So I’ll possibly start the following week.
For my first project of the summer, I would like to begin by making a strapless, fitted dress. I have never made a dress all by myself, but I have made a romper and I’ve helped make dresses, so I think it will be a fun learning experience.
Other projects I’ll be working on this summer are a Feline Fabulous dress knock-off, a yellow floral blouse, some dresses made with vintage patterns, a bag, many skirts, and I’m thinking I might try to make a pair of pants.
I will also begin selling items on Etsy by July. I will be making articles of clothing for young children and babies, and my mother will be knitting socks for women and baby clothes. My mother is currently working on some of the baby clothes that we will sell on Etsy and I haven’t started working yet. We are thinking of selling headbands as well, but we haven’t really decided if we’re sure we’ll sell them yet.
I also plan on continuing to decorate my studio, since I never really got done last year. I have designed some ideas that I’ll incorporate to the room. So I’ll be making tutorials for some DIY projects as well and I’ll make sure to photograph the room as I progress.
Anyway, those are all the plans I have for this Summer. I will begin working on the first dress on Sunday and I’m hoping to have it done by the following week.
That cake I made today was a disaster.
I think I broke one of my decorating tips, so I couldn’t make the bear’s fur. Everything else worked fine and it was delicious.
Also,
I got basil seeds and planted them today. Actually, a friend gave them to me two days ago and I finally got around to planting them this morning. I’m hoping this will encourage me to try out different recipes that involve basil.
coffee-glazed cupcakes and project updates.
There’s the glazed-coffee cupcakes. I would like you to the recipe, but the cake part is my grandmother’s creation and I made up the glaze recipe and wrote it down somewhere in my recipe notebook. Someday I’m going to have to share that cake recipe with you guys who are kind enough to read my ramblings and musings. I’ll eventually share the glaze recipe too, I believe, as well as the strawberry and white chocolate buttercream recipe. Now that I’ve shared that lovely picture of a cupcake that was absolutely scrumptious, especially to those who aren’t too fond of very sweet sweets.
Now I must tell you of my most recent happenings. I finished the white polka dot top and I turned it in, but it hasn’t been graded yet. I’m sure it will be graded soon. Then I’ll take pictures of it and post it. In other news, I learned to make lemon-meringue pie. That was wonderful. I made two pies last weekend and it was a delight. This weekend I’m making a cake for mother’s day. It’ll be shaped like a bear because my mother has always been fond of bears. She used to collect toy bears and she dreams of someday seeing a real one up close, but not in a zoo. We went to Yellowstone one summer, for a week, and we searched and searched, but she never got to see one. Anyway, that’s not the point. So I’m making a cake this weekend and today I had originally planned on starting a sewing project. I was going to make a yellow skirt with some fabric I’ve had in my stash for far too long. It turns out, the pastel color looks hideous against my skin. It would be lovely on a baby, I decided. So I’m keeping the fabric, but it won’t be skirt, and I’ll go on to use it eventually. Well, after I decided it would look cute on a child I started coming up with ideas. Not on purpose, of course. I was just daydreaming when a little dress design came to me. So I took out my inspiration book and I drew it out. I’ll have to make it eventually. Oh yes, I’ve also been working on repairing one of the skirts I made last summer. The buttonholes somehow came undone and four buttons fell off. I think this didn’t happen on accident, I’m pretty sure it must have gotten caught on something or stuck. I don’t know, but my sister wears that skirt too often and that might have to do with it. That’s all I have to say for now. I hope you’re having a lovely day.
