well, i'm an idiot.

why am i an idiot? because i decided that the little guard thing on my walking foot was too much of an inconvenience when it came to threading my consew so i took it off and then this happened.
i sewed completely through my finger. my good finger. my pointer finger on my right hand.

you SEE that? it went in my nail, and out my fingerprint.

i'm an idiot.

so the guard is going back on and i have officially learned my lesson with high shank sewing machines. so, after a two day break from sewing while the swelling went down and i gave myself ample pouting time, it's back to sewing.....
until i do this again.

weekend dresses and a good ol' ramble

i had a pretty busy weekend full of fancy dress! on friday we got to celebrate tyler reaching god (or alcoholic) status as they unveiled his plate on the wall at the flying saucer!

we all dressed up and made a big deal out of it, which meant new dress for me! i used advance 6394 for the second time, 

which turned out to be a really easy and really nice dress to make! 

i got the fabric from a market a while back.... and the zipper i had just laying around in my stash. i drunkenly kept referring to it as my 'slut zipper,' which is probably i sign i should not be wearing this while drinking. things could get dangerous for my modesty.

i got the whole of fabric bolt for like, $5 or something incredible like that, which makes the dress way better than if i had paid full price! saturday we were both a little hung over so nothing happened.... i could tell i was gonna be hungover when i was looking at my camera on the way home and the only photos that weren't blurry were things like this. awkward dancing and using tyler's tie like a dance partner while our friend lee watched us with the most judgmental faces known to man.

but then on sunday when we were all feeling tip top again, my most wonderful aunt carol retired from the texas film commission, so everyone threw her a big party and dubbed her queen of the film commission. here she is arriving in style in a 1962 rolls royce. the guy picked up up early so we got to ride around in it a little bit. it. was. AMAZING.

the thing about our family is, we are all pretty much the same person, but with different quirks and different ages. while my sister and i were standing around waiting for carol to arrive, one of her friends came up and said "oh you must be relatives of carol's!" and we told her yes, and she said "yeah, you have that same.... thing about you that she does!" apparently that 'thing' is being a gaudy, over dressed red head. i LOVE that it is that recognizable of a trait! so, for this i made a dress out of mccalls 8449....

and then just added a little skirt to it. 

i loooooooove the collar on this thing, and the little strap detail in the back. 

i will make this again probably 1,000 more times. i used a new fabric that i got last week at a closing joann's. i originally planned on using the inside of the fabric, but last minute decided the right side would be better... and i was right. 

oh yeah! and before i end this.... i also was super productive today and started a facebook campaign with tyler! we have this incredible chain of book stores here called half priced books. maybe you have one where you live? if you don't, you are missing out! last week they opend a new store so tyler and i went and i got a TON of great new books! 

 

 

they always have great craft, sewing and fashion books and they are always super cheap! well, earlier this year we moved to a house on the south side of town, and you know how many book stores we have? 

NONE.

not one single book store on this entire side of town. isn't that disgusting???? bleh! so, we spoke to a manager at one of the other stores, and they told us that when they were figuring out where to open this newest location, it was between the southside and the location they chose (very very north)

but we lost. obviously. SO we started this facebook campaign, because we figured if it worked to get betty white on snl, it could maybe bring us a book store! so, if you find yourself on facebook, even if you aren't in SA, like our page! it might help!

click here to help us get a book store and i'll love you forever

momma didn't raise no fool

i know a good deal when i see one, and i know how to appreciate a rarity when i see one. i don't know if you've ever been able to witness a Joann's fabric store closing, but let me tell you- it is AMAZING!
twice i have been lucky enough to experience this. once when i was in high school and didn't sew enough to need a fabric hoard, and then again yesterday.
i knew that there was a location closing because my friend shelby (who runs an incredible vintage shop [where i occasionally sell my clothes at] and etsy store with her hubby even) told me about it a few weeks ago. i decided to wait because i know that instead of moving the merchandise to another store (they don't close one without opening another!) they mark things down more and more as time passes...
and then i forgot.
luckily, this weekend my friend viv told me about it again and i realized it was time to go! i told my sister about it and we headed out for our treasure hunt! dang.

 jackpot.

we really liked the outside of the fabric more (left) because the inside looks stupid and memaw.

kathy and i have a deep love of nautical themed clothing... so when we saw this fabric, we went ahead and bought it all.

   

 this ladder fabric will probably become a home repairs dress, 

and the other will be a winter capelet for kathy

i also prefer the outside of this fabric (left)

here we have a future sarong dress and pencil skirt, both for kathy

and this is going to be a long dress and a hamburger themed dress.

(you read right. im planning an amazing burger dress.)

 and the best best best BEST part?!?!

saved a buttload.

crap, am i doing this right?

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a vintage collar for our house guest

tyler and i are once again dog-sitting, only this time for a rambunctious little beast named gracie. she's a pretty awesome dog and she, unlike my dogs, does tricks! she high fives, sits, lays down, gets off the furniture when you tell her to... she's great! so, i made her a new collar yesterday so she would feel like a lady.

i inherited about a dozen of these collars from a relative's hoard in pink, blue and yellow flowers. they are super cute and pretty and look great with lace and rickrack, but they are also pretty small... so gracie might end up going home with one in every color and maybe even a few to spare...

shorts on a sho'tay!

it's summer time and its hot as a crotch so i decided to make some shorts! also, because it sometimes get a little too hot for a crinoline and lifting my dress up and cooling down my lady bits at every low fan or window unit i see apparently isn't "socially acceptable."

.....whatever that means.


so here are my shorts! sorry about the awkward positioning of my body, but it is hard to take photos in a poorly lit hallway all by my lonesome!

there were some pretty intense issues with these and the massive fupa they created... i told them, HELL NO!

also, check out this cool button i used! i found it in a purse i bought at a vintage shop!

so i used mccalls 9021, view a. i can't remember where i got this pattern from, but i did like it after all of the altering was done. oh yeah, i also had to make them considerably shorter than they suggested. they length they wanted made me look like a softball coach.

and in conclusion, if you are looking for a cameltoe enhancing, fupa creating, softball length pair of shorts, make these! if you want normal shorts, make these anyways but be ready for a crap ton of alterations!

dear world of zippers,

don't you ever, and i mean EVER, suggest culottes again! what are you thinking??? maybe it's the 4 glasses of cheap wine i've had already today, but i'm feelin' frisky and i won't hesitate to sew you onto a fanny pack or something else horrible! you best watch yo' self, bitch.

xoxo,

moderately intoxicated crissy

a non-patriotic dress

for once, i'm letting a holiday pass without making a dress to match it. partly because i don't need more red white and blue dresses than i already have, and partly because memorial day wasn't all that long ago and i don't have anymore fabric in my stash to match. instead, i finally decided to use some fabric that i had been saving for just the right pattern... and i found it. behold! 

from simplicity 4116- thats right, this pattern is only 5 years old!

i even used a NEW pattern for a change! course, i had to make a  few alterations to make it more me.... like a fuller skirt, tighter bodice and a MUCH higher waist... i mean really, does a dropped waist look good on ANYONE????

finally used some of my trim stash!

i also had to add some cute purple and black trim. the pattern called for lots of ruffles and lace and what not, but i'm happy with just this. i looooooove the colors and print of the fabric. its all cakes and mushrooms and mysterious things that i can only assume are also food related!

 omnomnomnom!

i wish i had more of this fabric, but i only had enough for this. i also realize now that iron this before i took those photos would have been a good idea. we came home from a little get together with tyler's family and i had a hankerin' for some bloggin' so y'all are just gonna have to deal with it