Whoa thereee!

I have been SO busy. I have been living and breathing Wentworth, ah! I have been working 12 hour days for orientation, then classes started, then my financial aid went crazy. I just have been settling one thing after another and have been so overwhelmed.

I'm starting to get a grasp of my new schedule. I've been getting into a good routine too!

This weekend I get to craft. YES! I can't decide what I want to do. Scrapbook, sew, play with mod podge... I could barely make up my mind. I'm just so happy to have time to myself to make things and just unwind and do me.

So for an update.....

• My Co-Op ended, now I'm back in classes! I'm taking 6 classes which is 23 credits. I'm a crazy woman
• This month is me and Benjamin's ONE YEAR!!! yay!!
• I saw my sister and Dan since they've come back from Hawaii
• She showed me how to make wire wrap jewelry
• I've done a lot of thrifting
• Ben and I bought a vacuum cleaner (seriously it sounds lame but I feel like we're officially married now. we bought a vacuum cleaner together!)
• Jack, our old roommate, is officially moved out and Alex, our new roommate, is all moved in!
• I came up with lots and lots of ideas.........

I'm so glad to get back into the blog game. I feel like its my year! I feel like I'm gonna do great in classes, plan a great Alternative Spring Break trip, and make lots of things and even make a few garments I can wear. I get to start Project Life!!!!!!!!!!!! (I was going to start it a couple weeks ago, actually, but all the kits are backed up in stocking and plus, I love the new Heather Bailey designed Olive Edition and will be getting this core kit when it's finally out :)

Ben thinks that the PL thing is silly. He understands the idea but is just like "why.." Honestly.. I love the idea of scrapbooking. I love decorating photos and having them as a keepsake but the typical layout with one or two pictures with inspiring words around them just isn't me. My scrapbook pages are so much more boxy and geometric I guess. I like having a lot of photos on one page with stickers to accent and emphasize.. Not the whole thing to revolve around the stickers and just stuff on and around the pictures. I feel that PL keeps the main idea of scrapbooking there and keeps the simplicity of just a life in photos. I want to just take pictures, print them out, and slide them in their place. For me, I almost see it as a journal with lots and lots of pictures. I'm excited to think of things to fill it week to week. I'm excited for the weeks that just fill themselves. I'm excited to pick one or two things to revisit every week to see its change and progression (like a picture of Ben and I week, or our favorite munchies of the week) I want to capture this journey of Ben and I in our college life with no real obligations and just the beginning of our relationship. This month is a year we've been together and when I look back on the year... we have no freaking pictures or anything! There are a couple.. from Thanksgiving... and then a handful of just pictures of us. Literally like 5. A year together and all I can show for it is 5 pictures?! Not this year! This summer we did a couple awesome things and got great pictures (trips to the farm, our fishing trip on the Cape) but those big trips don't make our relationship fun. The every day does. I'm excited for this and I hope that Ben starts to love it when he sees the pages come together.

Taking advantage of this fresh start :)

DIY Shorts Project!

So I've been on the search for high waisted cuffed shorts ALL summer.

That even sounds like an understatement.. Every time Ben and I passed Levi's on Newbury, I would check for shorts. I searched and searched and searched websites who sold Wildfox, trying to find the Jane Fonda shorts discounted (seriously they're perfect ahhh but I couldn't bring myself to pay 139 bucks for shorts... I did find them cheaper on a site, but they didn't have my size! >.<) Every single clothing store we went to that MIGHT have these shorts, I double and triple checked, and no luck.

This meant DIY!!!!

We have a HUGE Good Will near our apartment, and it's a favorite spot of mine. There are racks and racks of jeans. I just had to find the perfect pair. I was on the hunt and I found a pair of white Lucky Brand capris! They were size zero and in perfect condition and $6.99!!!! I tried them on and they fit perfect. I couldn't wait to cut them up!

Shout out to the sewing machine in the background :p

But they came out pretty good!!! I wanted them to be a bit longer because when you walk around a lot they ride up and they're just more comfortable a little longer.

Here's how I did it :

First I put them on. I didn't want to decide where to cut without seeing them on. Then I thought about how short (or long) I wanted them to be with the cuff. I was going to roll them up twice, So I added about two inches for each cuff. Then I drew a line with a pencil about half an inch longer than that.

Then I folded them in half (to make sure I cut each pant even) and cut across. Then I put them back on. The trick is, you could always keep cutting, but you can't make it longer. So then I cuffed them. I decided these were still too long and made a mark where to cut. I took them off, cut and put them back on. This time they were perfect! I had Ben make a line on the back of the shorts where the cuff ended so just incase they became unrolled, I still knew where to sew them.

I pinned them accordingly then went to sew!

The picture is a little difficult to see but it'll do. On the sides of the shorts, where the seem was showing, I decided is where I would sew. I flipped the seem the opposite way way and sewed right next to the factory stitching. I stitched and reverse stitched a few times. When I was done, I just flipped it back over! You couldn't even notice!

Next, I ironed them so they'd stay stiff and gain shape. I wasn't satisfied with how they were sewn, I felt that they wouldn't survive a wash. Then I decided to sew just a littttttle bit on the bottom of the cuff near the seem on the sizes and crotch of the shorts.

I stitched and reverse stitched from the seem to about an inch and a half out. This way it held the cuff where it'd get the most movement and since I sewed it on the bottom, you couldn't notice at all. It was perfect because the small stitch held the shape of the shorts and cuff and since it was sewn on the bottom, the top looked completely normal!

I love my new shorts! I can't wait to get a black pair and a light and dark wash jean. After I hair a pair of each, I'll probably do some fun stuff like adding fabrics and other things to my shorts :) yay!

Monday Update!

Okay so maybe I should have considered how busy I'd be with my Mom's visit when I was making my schedule. I guess I should of just had planned to start it on an even day, like August 1st instead of... June 25th? Guess I was just anxious.

I got a few of my things done here and there. But mostly I was just so happy to be with my mom and the blog kind of went to the back of my mind.

But I had an amazing weekend.

We got some great food, went thrifting, shopping, flea markets, watched the Olympics, and just bonded and talked. I actually cried saying goodbye to Bernadette at the airport. And usually it's me yelling at her to stop crying and she's sobbing. Yesterday was the opposite. I guess that I've just grown up so much in the past couple of months that I just missed having my mom take care of me. Now instead of me telling her about stupid girl dramas, I'm talking about the bills and grocery shopping and cleaning and my work schedule and this and that. Instead of arguing about stupid things, we both fought over washing the dishes.

I didn't even take pictures! The weather wasn't the greatest so I wasn't too motivated to do that. But, like I said, I was just so into the moment and hanging with my mom.

I showed her the scrapbook I was making for her. She couldn't stop looking at the three pages I made and told her that made her night and she couldn't wait for me to finish it. She's going to mail up some baby pictures she loves, too. She wants a little of everything in her scrapbook and I think that's an awesome idea.

My mom was also so impressed and interested in my little craft life! She was asking me questions and really into it when I showed her some of my favorite blogs. She actually asked me to email her the links!! It was so great to have her behind me with all of this. Usually she's like "oh you won't do that" and now she's like "oh can you make me something like that?!" and I love it! I even showed her Project Life and she thought the idea was really cool. She doesn't think I'll be able to keep up week to week but also agrees it's pretty simple to document each week so she has some faith in me. I can't wait till the new products are available to buy! Ah!

My boss is so good to me. He let me have Monday off so I could spend the day with my mom. He even made sure I got a pay for it :) So thankful how lucky I've been. Except now my week is a day behind. My Tuesday feels like Monday. But that's okay, I can't complain :)

SO! For the UpDaTe!
Today, before I go home from work, I plan to....

• Rearrange the Calendar
• Create 2 goals for the month
• PostalPix order
• Finalize Financial Aid things for the Fall 2012 semester
• Insta update
• Work on some formatting of the blog

 For after work I plan to...

• Catch up on some at home projects 
• Work out "What I Wore" for the first post on Friday
• Clean
• BE PRODUCTIVE!

I can do this!
I know I've been slacking and not doing everything I've wanted, but it's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing. I've just been so busy with things I just need to take care of first. That's life. I know when classes start I'll have way more free time to do all the things I want.

As for home life, there's good news!!! Alex is moving in! So I'm so glad I sacrificed one of my days last week to spend the day with him and Ben and talk to him about moving in. I love Jack but I'm over living with him... I'm excited that the house is about to change up a little bit. Yay!

A little organization....

Honestly, I'm a little all over the place. I have so much I want to do that I'm just being completely sporadic. So time to change!

I decided that I work the best with calendars. I like physically seeing the month ahead of me and seeing my tasks written throughout. So I made a calendar.

I made one for July 25th - August 25th.

My process:

1. What do I want to get completed this month? I made a list of things I want to do, projects I have to work on, TV show schedules I want to watch, etc... I made note of everything.

2. What types of tasks do I want on my calendar? Then I decided what my calendar would show. I decided on everything! I thought if I had separate calendars for different things, I would probably favor one schedule or just completely forget about one. I decided I wanted everything together on the same page.

3. How should I format my calendar? Hand make it? Microsoft Excel? Find a website that helps you organize things? Microsoft Project? Buy a daily planner? Get a desk calendar? Buy a graphic wall calendar? So many options! I wanted mine to be tangible, as well as cleanly edited or revised. The best option for me was Microsoft Excel. You could easily move around ideas, change format, change anything! and it doesn't have to be permanent and you can't ever mess it up. You could always resave and reprint. After I decided on making it on Excel, I decided to color code my tasks. I would just simply write, or type, the task I had planned in the appropriate box, with it's assigned color.

• TV Show
• Craft
• Sewing
• Scrapbook
• Blog Posts
• House/General

Then, specific dates like birthdays and visits were written on the top of the date box in black ink but italicized. For the TV shows, they're written in a smaller font at the bottom of the box as a little reminder.

4. How should I assign my tasks? This was the hard part for me. I was thinking about how my weeks usually go, how much free time I have on what days, what days I'm most productive, things like that. I didn't just want to write things to do on the calendar. I wanted to assign them so they'd be realistic for me to get done. First I thought about which projects I wanted to get done the most, what days they'd best fit in, how long they'd take, how many breaks I will or won't take... it depends! When I sew, I take a lot of breaks. My room doesn't have an AC so when I get too hot or frustrated (which happens a lot) I take a couple minutes of just sitting in Ben's room collecting myself in the cold. Or I'll sit outside for a smoke break and try to clear my head. But when I scrapbook, my head is just stuck looking down, positioning and repositioning and gluing and cutting. I work different depending on what it is. I made sure I thought about this when I picked the days of what to work on. I really feel that I did good on this. I spent a good amount of time thinking about it.


5. Well, did it work?! Too early to tell! Today is the first day of my self-assigned project schedule. Today I have Clean kitchen, Scrapbook Flower Canvas, and Currently Post on my to-do list. Then in little font on the bottom, is 10 PM - Virgin Diaries. I'll have one down by the end 3PM today, the Currently blog post!


6. What are other ways to stay on top of things? The calendar isn't enough for me. I really am trying to push myself into a more productive habit. I decided to put the Reminders App on the iPhone to use. I always use this App when I'm taking classes, to keep track of homework and classwork. I decided to put it to use for my projects! In the morning I'm going to put in my daily tasks and set reminders for the timeblock I want to work on them. I'll probably try and clean the kitchen within a half hour of being home from work, shower, eat, and get ready to start the scrapbook flower canvas project shortly after. With, of course, my Reminders going off every fifteen minutes. I need to be more disciplined and less lazy! On with the crafting! I also am going to start embracing post it notes a lot more. At work, I run through post-its. I want to get some colored ones to hang reminders in my room and on my laptop to have little motivators. My other secret weapon is Ben. Whenever I try to break a habit, I always have Ben as my backbone. I'll tell him "don't let me have ____ if I do _____" or "make me _____ if I don't _____" and Ben usually sticks to it. Permission to annoy me and keep me from something I want? Ben is usually up for it.

7. Anything else I want to add? The best thing about doing it on Excel, is that I could open up the document and move around everything and change my entire month around. Or I could add to my already packed schedule or delete it all! Last night I thought a lot about my calendar. How if I had tasks to do today how long would they take and when would I have fit them in, but also, what else should I add? Last night I made myself soup for dinner and made some apple crisp for dessert. Ben got home from class and ordered Chinese. Then I thought, I should put goals on my calendar. First one being, COOK dinner (with real food) at least twice a week. Twice a week sounds like a low expectation, but I'd be setting myself up for a downfall if I try anything more. I consider cooking dinner as making a meal with meat and preparing everything myself. Usually it's store bought pizza dough and we make pizza or grilled cheese or frozen things. Ah! We're getting older and it'll be sooner than later that our bodies change and we can't eat the crap like we do now. I also considered adding future blog features, and other little things to my calendar.

I hope this could help some other overwhelmed future crafter. Haha. I know it helped me spelling out what I expected from myself and typing it and rereading it here. This blog is helping me so much. Just being able to keep a record of what I've been doing, it just helps me stay motivated and just want to fill this blogs' archive with awesome content and watch myself grow as a woman, adult, and a crafty lady.

Yay! :)

Currently Post

So I had an urge to do an update, but had nothing for an entire post. So I decided to do a Currently post! I always read Danielle's of Sometimes Sweet blog and wanted to give it a go myself. A little personal and a little update, yay!

Loving: My job! As much fun as an internship is, it could super boring. Especially since I have a desk job. My boss was on vacation last week and only left me a few tasks to complete. I went crazy with all my free time! This week he's been keeping me super busy and the days have been flying by. I'm done today within the hour so I'm just organizing my things and getting ready for tomorrow's tasks. Always keeping busy keeps me awake and alert and I actually am motivated to work on things I need to get done at home when I get out of work. It keeps my work flow consistent. Otherwise I just want to go home and take a nap. Isn't it weird how actually doing a whole bunch of nothing makes you tired and lazy? Hm!

Reading: What the rest of the world is reading... 50 Shades. Ah, this book. First I read the Twilight series because a good girlfriend loved them and wanted someone to discuss it with and see the movies with. I hate Bella as a character because she is so weak and dependent on Edward, so it made it difficult for me to read. But honestly, I was just waiting for the sex scene which was incredibly disappointing (I know it's a tween series, but still! Their sexual tension was ridiculous and just ugh.) But then, I heard about 50 Shades... then I heard about how it was banned in libraries which immediately sparked my interest What can be that bad that it's banned in a library?! and then I heard it was Twilight fan fiction. So, I was interested. I wasn't expecting to get anything out of it and honestly it wasn't as crazy as I thought it'd be. I got threw the first book, and was interested enough to get the second, but I can't get into it. It's just blah. It's too much Twilight and not enough sex. I know it's Twilight fan fiction, but I wanted it to live up to it's banned in libraries rep!!! Oh well. I gave up on that book and I'm about to start Lolita. Ben's sister, Lauren, gave me her copy. Can't wait to get into that.

Watching: BREAKING BAD!!! The finale season just premiered on AMC this past Sunday night. I could talk about this show for hours. Ben and I are so obsessed. It's about a high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with terminal lung cancer with a prognosis of two years and he decides to cook meth and be a drug dealer to get money for his family before he passes. It gets crazy and super intense. Ben and I are also watching Dexter. He's never seen it before and I'm rewatching the entire series before the 7th season premieres. Ben has gotten addicted to that, too. We're currently on the 4th season. I can't wait until he's caught up and he could finally watch the first two minute sneak peak of the new season, ahh!!

Anticipating: Dinner tonight. Ben is cooking the fish that I caught on Sunday! I always cook for us, he even convinces me to take lunch at home some days so I could make it for him, so I'm pretty excited to be catered to a little bit. Ben is all about his fish so it should be delicious and I can't wait to watch my man cook for me!

Listening to: Lots of Lily Allen! She's back in the studio so I got in a Lily kick. My sister and I used to listen to her all of the time and saw her in concert a couple years ago. I just love her :)

Planning: My next project and ASB! For a short term plan, I'm deciding on what shorts and dress I'd like to start tonight. I'm done with work early today so I want to finish at least one of the two by the weekend! I could definitely get them both done if I start one tonight! And for a long term plan, last year I went on an Alternative Spring Break trip to Homestead, Florida to do volunteer environmental work in the Everglades. I applied to be a coordinator for next year, and I got picked! My co-coordinator and I are already starting to plan out details. We both were on the trip last year and are so excited to plan a similar trip this year. We'll be able to eliminate all the bad parts of last year, too! Not that there were many significant ones, but we could of planned better for dinner for 15 kids every night. As you could imagine that was difficult!

Working on: A student survey for work. Every freshman during orientation fills out a survey of what they expect college life to be like. My job is to organize the survey raw data and get it formatted and ready for my boss. It's pretty interesting to see the college from this perspective. It's also interesting to see where all those things we do as students go within the college and what the college actually does with the results. But I'm done with that for today and have the last stretch to complete for tomorrow!

Wishing: It was July 27th! My mom is flying in from New Jersey! Ben's dad has a ton of frequent flyer miles and offered to fly my mom from Newark to Boston for a weekend. Of course we had to take advantage of this!! I can't wait to have some quality time with my mom. She's my best friend! My sister's birthday is also the 28th, and since she'll be in Hawaii and spending it without us, it's kind of like we're celebrating in spirit. We're glad we could be together even though Sam is away. I can't wait to see my Mom and these weeks have been going so fast, she should be here in no time!

I loved doing this! Probably something I'll have to keep up :)
Tomorrow I'll post an update with some pictures of the things I start working on tonight!

Two things...

So I want to add some features to my blog. I'm really treating this as an online diary, as well as a documentation of my projects and life.

One . I love Instagram. It's probably my favorite iPhone App. I think I'm going to start doing a weekly Instagram post where I share all my uploads from Insta from the week. This will make me take more pictures and therefore have more pictures for me to look back on and scrapbook.

Two . Since I've gone to college, had limited money, and gotten older, my style has changed with me. Or more so, matured with me. I love that I thrift so often now and that I'm sewing my own clothes. Every season I get rid of more and more of my old high school clothes in trade for nicer and more professional clothes. I think I'm going to start doing a what-I-wore feature. I'm proud of my more money conscience wardrobe and my more rounded style. I'm trading short shorts for longer skirts and more decent dresses. I'm only going on 21, but the clothes in my pass are rarely going to make appearances in my future.

I want to do these things!

I really have been sewing in all of my free time. I guess I'm realizing with work and maintaining our home, I can't move as quickly along as I wanted.

But I have a serious goal! I want to send my sister's package out by the end of the week. That means I have to go to the fabric store and get material for her maxi dress and sew it and also get things for dan and ahhh! But her birthday is July 28th, and it takes packages awhile to get from here to there so it's crunch time. Maybe I could sneak out to Chinatown during lunch this week and go to the fabric store. I have to do this! The dress is the last piece to the package.

But now that I have a better grasp on my schedule and a better concept of the time sewing projects take, I could make more realistic goals for myself. It's all about trial and error, my friends. And I'm not gonna lie, whenever I make goals they do just sit in my head until I get around to them. So this week I'm gettin busy!

How To : DIY Wrap Skirt

Yes! I finally sat down and made my sister's skirt, and documented all the steps to 1. have as a reference, and 2. to share with whomever is reading this :) I mentioned this photo in another post promising to post a little how-to, and here it is!

I hope the directions are clear and understandable! Of course, if you'd like to make the skirt and you're unsure of a step, just ask in a comment or send me an email and I'll be glad to answer any questions! and if you do use this, and post it in your blog or something, please link and credit me. Thank you.

SO!

Step 1 and 2. Cut your skirt and ties

First, you're going to cut your fabric. The skirt part should be cut at 54" by 19". Next, you have to cut fabric for your two ties. The ties should be cut at 27" by 3".

Step 3. Make friends with the iron

 

**A tip for pinning : When you pin, always picture how the material is going to fed through your machine. The bulk of your material will always be on the left when going through the machine, so when you pin, hold the material how it will be sewn and put the pins in with the heads facing you. This way, the pins are easy to grab and remove as you sew your fabric.

Now you're going to iron and pin your straps. Begin by folding a side of the fabric halfway in towards the middle, then iron. Do to the same to the other side. Then you're going to fold the fabric in half again, then iron and pin to stay in place. You could turn off the iron, for now.

Step 4. Folding and pinning darts

This is probably the trickiest part of the whole skirt, but it's still pretty easy. The darts are what give this simple wrap skirt some shape.

First measure in 20" from the end of your skirt. Fold over a piece of fabric 3/4"

Pin where your dart is to start (the white pin head) then, you're going to measure down 5". At 5" down, you're going to pinch the fabric and pin it at the end. You're going to sew this on an angle, so at the end of the 5", you're just going to sew off the fabric (The dart is marked where it'll end by the red pin, but you would sew to the end of the pin, that's why it's angled. I post pictures of it sewn a couple of steps down if you're still confused!)

Now you're going to measure 2" over from the first dart. This time, your dart is only going to be 1/2" wide and 4" down.

Measure 3" across and do the same to the other side. The inside darts are 1/2" wide and 4" deep while the outside darts are 3/4" wide and 5" deep.

Step 5. Whip the iron back out

Now you're going to iron and pin all your hems. You're going to use the same method as folding an ironing the straps. Fold over the edge first to keep it in place, iron. Then fold over the edge again, and iron. Then pin. First, do the sides of the skirt, then the bottom, saving the top with the darts for last. After you have all your hems in place, you could put away your iron.

Both ironing and pinning really help me. Maybe because I'm a beginner, but whatever. It helps set the material that's to be sewn (this is extremely helpful for when you actually sew the darts) and I'm a visual learner, so I like to see how to piece is supposed to look, and it gives you the opportunity to notice if you're doing something wrong, rather than just fold over the edge and put it through the machine. But you should especially pin where the ends of your skirt meet (like the red pin in the corner of the second picture) to assure you keep all ends in place when you sew your skirt.

Step 6. Time to sew the darts

Since you ironed all your hems, everything should more or less stay in place. To sew your dart, take out the pin near the hem. (This picture was taken after I sewed my darts, but I thought it'd do more good as the first picture rather than last)

I edited the two bottom pictures just so you could see the thread easier. It's not the best, but trust me, it's better than how it was before. After you sew the dart, you could just tie off the thread and cut. Do this for the rest of your darts.

After you sew your darts, fold your hem back over. 

Step 7. Sew the hem

Now you're going to sew first, the sides and second, the bottom of your skirt. 

Step 8. Sew the ties

Time to sew the ties. Simply sew them along the side. BUT! Only finish ONE end of the ties. To finish, fold over one of the ends. Then sew the flap down to the inside. Make sure you when you sew, you reverse stitch a couple of times. Remember, you'll be pulling these ties to tie the skirt, so they'll be getting a lot of pull and use. You don't want them to rip.

Step 9. Attach ties to skirt

This is why you save the top of the skirt last to sew and why you only finish one end of the ties. Take out the pin securing the top hem to the side hem. Then unfold the side once. Place the unfinished end of your tie here, then fold over.

And sew in place! Again, remember to reverse stitch when you attach the ties.

You finished the skirt! Yay!!!!

Progress

I sewed for a couple hours last night!
I also get out of work early today, so I could sew right when I get home! Yay!

I was working on the first lesson on the D.I.Y. Dress Up E-Course by Red Velvet via A Beautiful Mess blog (if you would like to purchase this, hurry! it's only available for sale until July 31st!) which was making bows. My sister LOVES hair bows and I'll be making plenty of those out off all the scrap fabric I have that Laurie gave me. I'll be filling all the empty spaces in her gift box with them :) I want to make them until the stitches look perfect and they look like they came from the store. I'll post pictures of the finished products, but can't post a how-to, sorry! You'll have to purchase the course :)

After I perfect the bow, I'm going to make another wrap skirt for my sister's package. I'll be posting a how-to for that, though! It's a perfect little skirt for the summer or for a beach cover up. Can't wait for that!

As for my goals from the beginning of the week.. they're coming along. It's hard to accomplish these goals day to day because of my work schedule. I feel that once I'm back in classes in the fall I'll be way more on top of things. I also want to start a Project Life scrap book come Fall. I figured I'll make a scrap book or two for the summer and then start a Project Life book when the seasons change. That way I can document my entire Junior year and hopefully continue to my Senior year. Besides sewing, something major I want to do is take more pictures and document more of my life.

..well, me and Benjamin's life. I want to look at something when we're older. See us back when we were young, before we make any big crazy decisions, when things were simple. I also want to have something for our kids to see. With losing my father at a young age, and my mom barely keeping any photos past when my sister and I were 2 and 3, I wish I had more to look at and remember him by. I wish I could see more photos of me growing up. So I want to start the habit now. So I could remember how Benjamin and I grew up together as adults, our firsts, our love.

Update!

So I have some pictures from my day yesterday! I just have to upload them to my Mac. Once I get those all uploaded, I'll publish the post and you could see my little day on the farm.

But, an update! On Friday I made a post talking about some of my goals for the weekend. I didn't think I'd be as busy as I was so I kind of majorly slacked... I did think about them all weekend though. And thought about how I wasn't doing them... sigh.

• Order pictures from PostalPix App   CHECK!
• Go to fabric store and get some nice fabrics    CHECK!
• Do at least three lessons from the D.I.Y. Dress Up E-Course TWICE! (the first couple lessons are really simple just to feel out the sewing machine and get the basics down. I want to do the projects twice so I could keep the first product for myself, then make a second one, hopefully better crafted,  for my sister. I'm sending her a birthday/care package to Hawaii soon!)    Ugh. Didn't do ANY. Like I said, I was really busy :(
• Sketch some dress/skirt/tank designs in a sketch book    Well... I put the sketch book on my sewing table...
• Think of 5 DIY Projects (I have three down so far!)      I thought of one more, making that four!

Okay, not that bad!!

Today, I'm going to try and do one or two lessons of the E-Course after I finish my trial-adjusted-children's-pattern-shirt. and that's after I get out of work at 5, and after I make dinner for Benjamin and I, and after I finish cleaning my room and then the living room so I could clean the bathroom and kitchen tomorrow.

Ah! Busy Busy. The first lessons in the course are so easy that I'm sure I'll bust them out easily once I'm in the groove. I NEED to finish those three things today, that way I could start fresh with new goals tomorrow.

The Sewing Has Commenced!

Such a great weekend so far and it's not even over! I'm being productive and also spending quality time with friends and family.

So hmmm!!! What could this be?!?!

The sewing adventures have started! My little station is all set up in my room...

Thanks to Ben's Dad, Bruno, he got me a desk to set up my sewing machine (we only have high tables and chairs in our apartment for some reason) I can't wait to personalize this space and making it my own. I want to get a floor lamp so I can maximize the space on my desk. I also want to make a backboard so you don't see the white wall or wires behind. Yay! Summer Project right there! :)

I also got some fabrics! I absolutely fell in love with these two prints. I could of gone crazy with prints, but I also wanted a solid color to make everyday tanks and stuff like that... so my fabrics..

AHHH!!! the first fabric, the pink one, is going to be a pair of flow-y shorts and a summer dress. The mint green is to be tanks and other things and the last fabric is for a pair of a more fitted short. They're from the same pattern so if I could do one, I should be able to do the other.

I got a girl children's top and romper pattern for a dollar at the store. Laurie and I thought it would be good to read a pattern and adjust its size on something I don't care about. Thankfully I'm pretty small so we didn't have to adjust a child's size 6 that much (only had to add 2 1/4 inches to the width of the pattern) It's more of just a practice run I did on Laurie's old fabrics she doesn't need. She brought me a bag full of scraps to mess around like that and she also brought me a bunch of squares and fabrics to learn how to quilt and to try and make my own.

So far, it's frustrating. Once I get down the technique of holding the fabric, pinning, ironing and overall just how to handle the fabric, I feel like I'll be unstoppable with sewing. Right now I just take a lot of "breaks" because I get a little aggravated with myself when I just can't get a step right or when I just can't get the fabric to feel comfortable in my hands. But, every time I start on my new step and sew the next piece, it comes out better than the last. Sewing is the easy part. The hard part is everything else. I can't wait until it becomes natural to me so I can bust out some work.

Today Ben and I are going to a friend's graduation party. After that, it's sewing time! Hopefully I could get another post in today about my progress :)

Yay! Take Care.

xx V

weekend means....

Friday. Yes.

I'm mostly excited because a) I get out of work early today, b) good friends are supposed to visit today, and c) I could finally start tackling some sewing projects! Weekend means my time.Well my time I get to spend with Benjamin. No schedule, no obligations, just time with my man filling in time as the weekend passes. But thankfully it's midterms for Ben in summer classes so that means he'll be studying this weekend which leaves me some quality time with my new sewing machine.

Some goals for the weekend are...

• Order pictures from PostalPix App
• Go to fabric store and get some nice fabrics
• Do at least three lessons from the D.I.Y. Dress Up E-Course TWICE! (the first couple lessons are really simple just to feel out the sewing machine and get the basics down. I want to do the projects twice so I could keep the first product for myself, then make a second one, hopefully better crafted,  for my sister. I'm sending her a birthday/care package to Hawaii soon!)
• Sketch some dress/skirt/tank designs in a sketch book
• Think of 5 DIY Projects (I have three down so far!)

 I think these are pretty fair and doable by Sunday.

For today, I want to put together an inspiration post to get my creative thoughts flowing. I want to think about what I want to make, find similar things on the internet, and put together a little board of inspiration. I also want to put together a post of the things I ordered my sister/plan on making her. It'll mark my progress on my gift box and give me motivation to start putting together the handmade stuff. And if there is time... I want to put together another inspiration post to start re-doing my bedroom. Ben and I live together, but I have my own room. It's more like my giant closet. I have my vanity, dresser, a table and chair set, jewelry armoire and all my shoes, books, and everything else girls have. I sleep in his room and use half of his GIANT closet for all my dresses and nice clothes to be hung up. So this is completely my space to do as I wish. I love living this way. I think it's why we get along so well. We both have our own space and we're not on top of each other and we have little escapes. We're a perfect team together.

Time to get on with these inspiration posts!

xx
V

Wrap Skirt

My wrap skirt! It's so simple, I made it in one night.. and this was my first time sewing ever! When I make the next one for my sister, I'll post the how to. But it was finally beautiful out in Boston and I was able to wear my 3 dollar skirt :)

It's perfect for the office or just hanging out, but I wouldn't suggest wearing it on a day where you're running around going from errand to errand. It has the tendency to ride up a little bit since it's only held in place by the tie. Today was the day I got a ride to work with the boys so I didn't have to walk to work (which is about a mile) in the skirt. After work today, I'm going grocery shopping for Benjamin and I so I brought shorts to change into after to shop comfortably then walk home. Walking to the grocery store from work then back to the apartment will result in a mile+ hike in the concrete jungle in this 100 degree weather with bags of groceries... oh, city living.

Anxious...

So last night I actually had trouble falling asleep because my mind was racing with what should I make first? what else can I sew besides clothes? what fabrics/materials are best for what kinds of clothes? and endless other questions that are probably easily answered, but no so much for me, the beginner. I was planning on going to Winmil Fabric in Chinatown, but their hours don't work out for me since I work a full time job. So, I'll have to wait for the weekend :( But Ben's parents are coming in this weekend and I'm sure Laurie would like to join me in the fabric store while Ben and his father, Bruno, are looking in collector's and antique shops. It would also be nice to have some company and it's another bonus that Laurie actually knows what she's doing and in my eyes, a professional haha.

There are some things needed.. or wanted... for purchase! The list...

• Umba Box gift subscription for Lauren, Ben's sister   CHECK!
• Famous Frocks pattern dress-making book from the Ruche website (except it got bad reviews on Amazon. meh. maybe I'll do a little searching...)
• D.I.Y. Dress-up E-course from Red Velvet / A Beautiful Mess blog    CHECK!
• This Oscar de la Renta fabric and this Marc Jacobs fabric from the Mood website (so pretty!!)

 Exciting things!

New Sewing Machine!!!!

I am so grateful. With my paycheck tomorrow morning, I was planning on buying myself a sewing machine to get my sewing projects started. Ben's parents were to visit tonight so we could go out to dinner, so I had one picked out on Amazon and was just going to run it by Ben's Mom, Laurie, to see if it was okay. When they got to our apartment, Ben's Dad walked in holding a box which turned out to be a sewing machine!!!! I was so excited! I couldn't believe Laurie bought this for me. It was so thoughtful and it makes me so happy that she's just as excited for me to learn as I am. It was great motivation and now I can finally stop talking about everything I'm going to do and now I could actually do it.

Tomorrow after work it's to the fabric store! Ben doesn't want me going alone but I'd rather do this trip solo. The last thing I need is him rushing me around when I'm trying to figure out what I want. Not only will I have trouble deciding what to choose, I also don't have any idea of what I'm doing. I'm mostly nervous about how much fabric to buy. I'd rather buy too much than too little but I'm also trying to save money here. I'm excited for this new shopping trip :)

As for Laurie's gifts, I got... (ignore the terribly quality of the picture. it was taken on my iPhone in my poorly lit room... or as Ben and I call it.. my cave)

a Brother LX2500 sewing machine!

a utility box filled with all the basic sewing tools

and..

a pattern to learn how to read them, alter them, and see how to make my own! :) Also those are the two fabrics I got on sale at Joann's that Laurie taught me some basics last time Ben and I slept at their house.

I made a basic wrap skirt with the second pattern on the bottom. We couldn't find any fabrics in my size at the time (the smallest they make is a size 6... I'm a 0 or 2. sigh.) so we used a hemp wrap skirt my sister sent me from Hawaii as our pattern. It actually came out very nicely! I'll be making my sister her own skirt to wear in Hawaii as well some other things as I learn. I'll post a how-to on the wrap skirt I make in the next coming days :)

I also plan on purchasing this D.I.Y. Dress Up E-course from Red Velvet (which I got to via A Beautiful Mess blog). It has 17 sessions, each it's own project. You learn how to make things from bags, dresses, tops, and more; as well as alteration and make-your-own-pattern lessons. If you're interested, you better hurry! This e-course is only available for purchase until July 31st. Everyone who has purchased the course will still have access to it, but after July 31st no new purchases will be able to be made.

I'm also going to convince Benjamin to let me use his nice camera to take pictures :) He's very supportive of all my new found hobbies, or my want to make these hobbies work. I'm too excited. My mom even asked me to make her curtains. Can't wait! :)

What I want to do.

Here are a few projects I want to work on...

• Project Life
• Mini Paper Book Album
• Two Scrapbooks : One for my Mom, one for Ben's Dad
• My own summer clothes collection (one skirt down!)
• Hemp bracelets (first one came out ehhhh...)

Is that too ambitious??? I really don't think so. I already started scrap book #1 for Mama Gordon... but so far its proven difficult. It's hard to design a layout for a page in a scrap book with no physical photos.. but it's also hard to choose which photos I want from my phone on the page. I knew there had to be a way to get my pictures from my handy iPhone to actual prints. I found out this great App, PostalPix. You choose what type of print you want (4x4, 5x5, 8x8 squares or the regular 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10) I have 53 5x7s chosen to print as well as 7 other prints and my total is $49.92. Not too bad for 60 photos and almost all 5x7s! Just have to wait for my paycheck to clear then considered it ordered. This is perfect to print out my artsy Instagram photos.

My next purchase will probably be photos for Project Life. It's supposed to be week-by-week but I figure I could skip a couple if they're uneventful or just get the written parts and decorative part out of the way while I order photos for a couple weeks at a time. That way, when they come, I could just slip them in their appropriate spot.

Tomorrow I also plan on ordering a sewing machine and external hard drive. I'm most excited about taking on sewing, so I can't wait to buy and have it shipped to my house. I've also been putting off getting an external hard drive since high school. I've already had my hard drive crap out on me twice and I just had to get my MacBook Pro's hard drive fixed from my school's techies. I was so glad they were able to save it, I'm done chancing it and finally breaking down and buying one. I'll thank myself later. Sigh.