20 minute skirt

so, i've had this gigantic old shirt in my sewing pile for a few months now. i got it out of a 'free clothes' box at a resale shop, it was pretty awful, but i thought it had some potential, and wouldn't you know it, i was right!
here is the before

and here is the after!

or one cute little one ;)

all i did was cut the shirt straight across, just beneath the armpit. then i cut two strips from the back of the shirt top for the waist band, sew them all together with a few little pleats, and run elastic through the top!
the bottom was already hemmed, obviously, so this only took me about 20 minutes! not bad at all, huh?

so i just wanted to share real quick....
'cause i'm really excited <3

while im eating my left over curry....

i s'pose i'll do my incredibly overdue post/update/recent projects...


(but just so you know, it is a DELICIOUS curry!)

ok, so what have i been up to since summer.... still trying to live without a *real* job, still surrounded by puppy dogs, still have the best boyfriend ever, still working on the hoarder house... BUT tyler and i are getting ready to move into a house in a couple months!!! i am sooo excited! the yard is HUGE and has a pecan tree and a beast of a fig tree in the back! the house was built in the 1940's- its right up my alley! i recently accumulated a lot of incredible mid-century furniture including a beautiful ceader chest and a black 1950's dining room table! the house WILL be a time machine, dammit!

aside from that... i don't want to get into every little thing that has gone on that i SHOULD have been posting up here... so i'm just going to post things as i remember... but basically just pick up like i hadn't quit writing...

hey! look at this book!

and go 'oooooooooooooohhhh!'

tyler's dad's girlfriend showed me this incredible book that belonged to her mother- it's her work book from the 1930's from her sewing school in (i think i remember this right) new york!
the pages we full of different stitches and detailing, mostly all hand done, but a few were by machine. each one was on a pretty pink silk swatch, and then labeled:

 

perfect. 

 

 perfect. 

 perfect. 

 

also perfect- look at the shadows!

i loved this. i wish i had gotten better photos, but this was post-funeral and we had done a little bit of grievin ' drinkin' so... you know how that goes. joann (jerry's girlfriend) said that her mother was a master seamstress! she is in her nineties now, and apparently is also a badass. i like her already!

foreign territory

holy crap y'all. i haven't made a post in a LONG ass time! geeze.
well, a lot has happened. . .
ive mostly been working on a boatload of clothes for my friend, which has been a most difficult task. she is spending the summer in europe studying and what-not and wanted she slick stylish clothing, so i obliged! she went through my mondo-vintage pattern stash and picked out a few gems and i've basically been sewing that for the past month or two.
she is a *very* busty gal... like, we are talkin' 10+ inch difference between her waist and bust... i probably have like, 3 inches tops. this is like, total. foreign. territory.

(like, come on. homegirl's got some knockers)

lots and lots of drafting and muslins have been cut. and recut. and recut. but at this moment i am taking a break from sewing one of the very last pieces!
as per my style, i am rushing at the last moments to get this finished in time for her departure, but for once i can honestly say this has not all been due to my procrastination!
earlier this month tyler and i were in a big car accident. we totaled his car and i probably broke my foot.

(im getting that bad boy x-rayed this week)

so that was about a week and a half where i couldn't push my foot down on the machine pedal. then my f'ing bobbin case broke so i had to wait a week for that to come in the mail. then some bizarro wiring underneath our house like, deteriated or something and made our power all crazy and surgey and we were sure we were about to burn down but instead we just didn't have power for a week which is probably worse because this is south-fucking-texas and it is currently 4,000 degrees outside. and then i *had* to go to the beach because 2 very fantastic friends of mine moved and it was their going away thing. so.... you see, it wasn't ALL my fault! also all that shit went down one thing after the other.
f. that. b.
anywho... im happy to say that as (extremely) stressful as this has been, it was a fantastic learning experience sewing wise. im used to adjusting patterns to fit myself, but this was like taking a 30" bust and turning it into a 47" bust. not so easy my friends. now i feel like a friggin' champ!

ye ol' boot boot

i got laid off on friday. sucks ass. so to make the most of my time i started cleaning out/ organizing the tornado alley that is my sewing space. so far the spare bedroom has been unearthed from mounds upon mounds of fabric and etsy clothing, i found a big box of old sewing goodies, my buttons are almost all sorted out by color:

and i finally set up this sexy beast of a sewing machine:

its pretty much safe to say, i am in love with this sewing machine! tyler's mom gave it to me a few months ago. i haven't set it up yet because i thought it would take a lot of time to get all of the kinks figured out- which it did, but i think one quick trip to the sewing store can have this running perfect!
i already used it on a skirt and a dress i have been working on, but the bobbin case is broken in one spot and cracked in another- i think it keeps catching the thread. Also the light bulb is out... but that isn't too big of a deal.

again? come on dog butt!

splinter is going back to the vet for hernia surgery AGAIN.
seriously, this dog did not learn how to digest or something because this is his third surgery in less than a year and its all because he trys to hard when he poops.
so the first time i had a bake sale to pay for his surgery, and i thought i would repost the flyer i made for that in case you wanna throw some dog money splinter's way.

san antonio has the best. crimes. ever.

"A fight over nachos caused San Antonio police to arrest two men at their South Side apartment late Tuesday night.

Marty Henke, 35, and Randy Scott Esckilsen, 45, are both being held in Bexar County Jail. Henke was arrested on an outstanding warrant for delivery of a controlled substance; his bond is set at $30,000.

Esckilsen faces one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and is being held on $75,000 bond after he allegedly stabbed Henke, his roommate, in the chin.

A San Antonio Police Department incident report states Henke was treated for the cut at his apartment, located in the 100 block of Lorita Street, at about 10 p.m.

The report states a witness brought Henke nachos, but he said he didn't want them, so the witness gave them to Esckilsen. Soon afterwards, Henke said he wanted the nachos and asked the witness for them. The two men then began to argue, and Esckilsen is accused of pulling out a knife, police said.

A struggle ensued, and Henke was cut on the chin. He called 911 and Esckilsen left the apartment; officers found him nearby and arrested him shortly after, but police said he didn't have the knife.

Police then learned Henke had an outstanding warrant and arrested him."


priceless.