Sew What! Holidays Challenge Two Reveal! + Reader Showcase

Happy Friday folks! Today, This post will be somewhat picture heavy as I am combining my reveal with a few reader's reveals plus my cohort's photos! Alright, way to much to do today so lets get started!

I hope I am not disqualified. I made...another refashioned denim skirt! I know...I know...technically not an outfit, but I do have a shirt I am in the middle of taking up that goes with it perfectly and when I have it done I'll take some action photos.
The skirt is from a pair of white jeans I bought off a dollar rack at a local consignment shop. They were just a smidge too tight and so I thought a skirt would be the perfect way to make them fit perfectly as with my last denim skirt. Not so much. The thing about a pencil skirt, versus a refashioning where you cut offf the legs and sew a 'tube' to the jeans is you actually need them to be one size too big instead of one size too small.
I say this because you have to undo the leg seams all the way to the fly and then pull the fabric together until you have a nice straight line to the bottom. Ditto with the back. So you end up taking away more butt room than your butt might like. Hopefully nothing a pair of circulation cutting off control top pantyhose can't fix though right?!
The skirt is really cute though and I think the grey silk scarf tied belt really softens it up nicely. And before you can ask "What is so holiday about this less than whole outfit?" I want to point out the silver stitching that came on the jeans. I took that silver and continued it down the front of the skirt for a bit of sparkle. Also, the top in refashioning limbo is white and silver and I am hoping to have it ready for a New Years Eve fiesta!

While I like my skirt, I LOVE love love The Sewing Dork, Cynthia's holiday outfit for her youngest daughter. Words cannot describe the utter awesomeness that is this. First off, it is a refashioning of a too small tunic. Second, it has the most adorable appliqueing, third look at those bloomers!! Love it, I hope she blows up a photo or two of V in this because the babe and the outfit are just too much!

Tavia, of Mama Tave, made these gorgeous hand warmers as an accessory to holiday outfits. Are they not just wonderful? I have been meaning to make some for about a year now, maybe I'll get a pair done before the snow flies here! From the sounds of it though, they are addictive!

A late entry to the Gift For Him challenge was submitted by email from Penny R. Her hubby recently received a BBQ for an anniversary present and she made him the smashing apron so he can now grill in style. I love the fabric choices.

Thanks for sewing along this far folks! Remember, Sew What! Holidays is on a two week haitus but that doesn't mean you have to take a break! We are just gearing up for Halloween and U.S. Thanksgiving. I finished my third challenge project yesterday and Holy crap! Does it look good. :) So for those of you who are joining late here is your chance to play catch up and for those of you have had some creative block going on, this is the time for you to recharge those juices!

For a quick rundown of projects and how to submit them visit this post here.
For those of you cool cats who would like to share the fabulous button on your blogs and posts, just copy and paste the code int he text box. Cheers!

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Wednesday on Wednesday

Smooches!

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My Crafty Weekend : Reader Showcase.

Good morning good morning! As mentioned yesterday I am working n some stuff, but instead of sharing some teaser photos I thought I would just get straight to your photos from the week previous link up! I must have been busy because I didn't even get to check some of the links out and I have been enjoying the posts!

I almost have (almost) no words for this pumpkin bowling set made by Kimbo of A Girl and a Glue gun. It is just so freakin' cute! Can you believe she free handed all the designs? I would be using and abusing some clip art for sure! Visit her blog to see more great pictures and read how she made them.

 This absolutely lovely cherry blossom pillow is made by Daisy Cakes. We love all things cherry blossoms in this house. The Mister has them tatooed on his arms and torso and I love the symbolism behind them. I love the use of twine for tree branches. Visit her blog to read how she did it.

This beware sign made by Rachel of Holy-Craft is fabulous for two reasons. The first being how gorgeous it is. The second is how quick she put it together! To see how quick visit her blog here.

Now it is your turn! To show me all the super duper things you have been working on? This counts for baking, sewing, scrapbooking, gluing, building and so on and so forth! Remember, the golden rule: visit the link before you and leave a note of encouragement! And with that I am off to finish what I started last night Happy Monday folks!
     
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Sew What! Holidays! Invisible Edition!

Soo...as you can see I have nothing to reveal. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Bupkiss! I have a few excuses but really it comes down to sewers block. Until today. But today I had a morning of laundry and an afternoon of sunshine and fresh air at a family member's birthday party. I was so inspired today though that I am hoping to have two pieces to reveal by Thursday, maybe sooner!! Fret not though, you can always ooooh and aaaah at the holiday outfit Cynthia created.


For those of you who need a recap on the projects and how to submit them here you go:
Week one : A gift for him *bonus craft: holiday garland
Week two : A holiday Outfit
Week three: A stocking or toy or both!
Week four: An ornament for the tree

The challenges will still be posted a week prior to a showcase for each project on Sundays. And for those of you worried that this bit of Christmas sewing might interfere with your other holiday prep such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, there will be a two week intermission starting October twenty fourth (So everyone has a week prep time for Halloween) and ending November seventh (just in time for American Thanksgiving.)

Also, reader submissions will still be taken by:

1. Comments with links to blog posts
2. Emailed photos 
3. Uploading them to share in the Flickr Sewing Dork Showcase group. It is super fun to browse through all the great ideas and submissions!

I hope that was easy to decipher. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me via the button on my sidebar.

For those of you cool cats who would like to share the fabulous button on your blogs and posts, just copy and paste the code int he text box. Cheers!

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Fabulous Five! Plastic Bottle Edition

Friday is here again folks! Another week another dollar and now we get to have some fun! And to help you through until that quitting time whistle blows here is this week's Fabulous Five!

So, a couple weeks ago I came across this gorgeous bit of melted plastic at Aunt Peaches (One of my new favourite blogs) she calls it "Swiss Candy Jewlery" and I think it is quite aptly named. It is made out of plastic juice glasses. Visit her blog for the full tutorial. Go for the crafts, stay for the back stories. You'll understand when you visit if you haven't already.

Which got me to wondering, how many other fabulous recycled plastic projects are out there? Let me tell you, it was not hard to find at least five but it sure was hard to narrow it down to five!

When I typed in "recycled plastic bottle crafts" to Google and clicked on images, one of the first images to grab my attention was a photo of recycled plastic bottle beads. It took some searching for a tutorial because the original photo was for a dead link. I did manage to find a couple great tutorials though. This one from Dis.Ar.Ray @ Cut Out & Keep seems easy to follow. And for anyone who is deterred by the need for a heat embossing gun I read in a few comment sections that lighters/candles and stove burners work well too. This is my new motivation to buy the rainbow pack of Sharpies I have been eying for a year. Bonus points for those of you that know what PLUR means! :)

Okay, jewlery is nice but how about this absolutely stunning chandelier made from what looks like a metal hoop, some seventy billion clear bottle bottoms and a heck of a lot of patience. Made by Michelle Brand it just screams pretty doesn't it? The bottle bottoms remind me of flowers and the transparency lends to a more expensive acrylic don't you think?

And if you think the chandelier was a labour of love, how about this recycled bottle greenhouse?! The plans are located here (in PDF form)and are made available from REAP, an organization in Scotland that works for sustainable development. via New World Geek. (The blog is on a haitus but the archived posts seem to be worth checking out)I think this would be a brilliant project for a family, or local community garden or school etc. Maybe even me next spring!

Speaking of gardens, how about this uber-downscaled version! Hanging bottles for an upside down garden on your balcony or fire-escape. These ones are made by Mike Lieberman AKA The Urban Organic Gardener. His website is full of super posts about gardening on your city balcony in particular was this tutorial on how to create a hanging garden from 2 litre plastic bottles. YOu can dress them up with paint or coloured tape or leave them with their labels to accentuate your green living!

I know that technically that is five but we are counting Aunt Peaches Swiss candy as the inspiration for the post and so we get to showcase one more groovy project.

Super simple, super sweet and for the kiddos is this project for Discovery Bottles from Disney's Family Fun site. I love the look of these as well as the simplicity. The only thing I would recommend is to use a silicone based sealant instead of hot glue (Between the bottle and cap) and maybe a drop or three of tea tree oil to keep the water fresher longer? Seriously though water and sparkles, does it get any better? You could totally turn this into an I Spy game with a card attached to the bottle with pictures (for pre-readers) or words (for school agers) with a list of things to find.

Phew! All done, but I think the new feature is true to it's title yes? Those were some pretty fabulous ways to re-use plastic bottles yes? I think so too. I also think that Fabulous five will be a bi-weekly series. This gives me lots of time to sit down for one of these marathon linking posts!

And with that, I bid you adieu. ♥

How To : Denim Tool Roll

As promised, the denim tool roll tutorial! Sorry for taking so long but I swear I have not stopped for the last two weeks! Now, I know there are a lot of crayon roll type tutorials out there, but I didn't use one for this. And really this is probably more simple than a crayon roll because there is not interfacing or seam binding!



Materials
1 pair of jeans (Or just the bottom 21" of two legs)
1 piece of fabric 15x20" (This is the canvas I used)
1 yard ribbon/twill tape

Modus Operandi



Cut down the inside seam of two legs cut to twenty one inches.


Square your leg pieces to the inside seam.


Join pieces. But do this so one small piece meets one big piece. I tried to make it clear with the photo.


Join pieces with a 3/8" seam.


Press seams flat.


Sew down seams.


Fold and press bottom about a half inch.


Pin canvas piece to top. This should be approx 15x20".


Sew canvas around sides and top. The bottom needn't be sewn to the denim but feel free to give the canvas a quick hem before pinning. (I cut my piece from the bottom of the curtain to this step was done for me.


Turn out. Now press the denim sides in to line up with the turned canvas.


Fold up the denim and add your tie strap. I used cotton twill tape. You can pin at this stage but it is a lot of fabric and I find if you go slow, denim doesn't need to be pinned.


Sew around the entire perimetre. Don't forget to back stitch a few stitches where the denim meets the canvas.


Once you have sewn the perimetre you can either mark with disappearing marker the lines you want to sew along to create the pockets or you can use a quilting guide set to the desired pocket width. I used a marker and marked out two 2.25" pockets on the ends and six 1.75" pockets in the middle. It made it super easy to sew super quick. You can do this in one continuous line starting at the bottom of one end and ending at the top of the other end. Don't forget to back stitch where the denim meets the canvas.


Ta-daaa! Your finished your manly toll roll!


If you use denim coloured thread in your bobbin, your quilting is barely discernible!


Now go put your brushes or knitting needles or scissors in it before you change your mind and give it to a deserving man in your life!
I hope you enjoyed this how to! I hope you make your own! I hope you show me yours! I hope you come back for more great projects! Cheers!

Sew What! Holidays Reader Showcase!

Good morning good morning! determined to get stuff done today this is the first of two Sew What! Holidays posts today. This one is the readers showcase and this afternoon there will be a tutorial for the tool roll I made last week. :) Last week the challenge was to create a "Gift for Him" now, let us see what you came up with!

These gorgeous lunch bags were made by my partner in crime Cynthia, The Sewing Dork. The one on your left is for Mr. Dork. The two fabulous Ikea fabric bags are for her. So smart looking! If you would like to make your own fabric lunch bags visit this post at her blog for a tutorial.

MMm, this hand knit bamboo and wool scarf made by Angela pea of Keeping The faith looks so warm and cozy! I bet her son will love it. Although technically not sewn, it is still a gift handmade with love and totally counts for the Sew What! Holidays sew along. (Maybe next year we'll do a craft along?!) If you would like to knit one yourself you can visit her blog to get the how-to!

Amy Jane made these fabulous pj pants for her boyfriend. She says she is changing out the paw print drawstring but I love it!

Thanks so much for playing along everyone! For those of you that have not submitted projects yet, do not despair. The time time lines are not made of concrete. If you need some extra time take it! We'll show off your stuff the following week (Heck even month if need be!) So get back to those holiday outfits I want to see some sparkle!

For those of you who need a recap on the projects and how to submit them here you go:

Week one : A gift for him *bonus craft: holiday garland
Week two : A holiday Outfit
Week three: A stocking or toy or both!
Week four: An ornament for the tree

The challenges will still be posted a week prior to a showcase for each project on Sundays. And for those of you worried that this bit of Christmas sewing might interfere with your other holiday prep such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, there will be a two week intermission starting October twenty fourth (So everyone has a week prep time for Halloween) and ending November seventh (just in time for American Thanksgiving.)

Also, reader submissions will still be taken by:

1. Comments with links to blog posts
2. Emailed photos 
3. Uploading them to share in the Flickr Sewing Dork Showcase group. It is super fun to browse through all the great ideas and submissions!

I hope that was easy to decipher. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me via the button on my sidebar.

For those of you cool cats who would like to share the fabulous button on your blogs and posts, just copy and paste the code int he text box. Cheers!

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Wednesday on Wednesday

I know this is a little late but it has been a busy day here! I do have a couple pictures to share though. Wednesday is big on avoiding the camera lately (I think it is a form of rebellion.) But, when she isn't looking at me she is usually being super cute with Daddy!

For our fifth anniversary The Mister took us for a gorgeous fall drive to Ottawa. You do not get prettier than Ontario in the fall and this trip was no exception. I haven't the pics I wanted due to only having a point and shoot and a sleeping  babe but the memories are there forever. Here are a few pics I did manage to take of Wednesday at some of the places we visited.




Throwing rocks in the Ottawa River at Brittania Beach.



Hanging out with some Dinosaurs at the Canadian Museum of Nature.


Dressing up as a bunny in one of the kids areas at the museum.

Wednesday's favourite thing about the trip naturally was the dinosaurs. She loves dinosaurs, plays with hers daily so I was so happy as a parent to be able to do that for her. I can't wait to take her back again or even to another science museum with super fun interactive exhibits. For more pictures of our trip that include some great scenery, fabulous dinosaur skeletons (even a blue whale skeleton) and random family schmoopiness click here to be taken to the Flickr photoset.