July: The Month of Crafting

I secretly want to be a designer- I want to be on Project Runway and be best friends with Tim Gunn. I so wish I was even a bit as talented with a sewing machine as those people or even as the amazing DIY bloggers who I follow along with in class. I may not be there yet but I have gone back to crafting and chanelling this stressful period of life into creative outlets.

I stumbled upon the blog Made (www.dana-made-it.com) and fell in love with the cute ideas she has- for little crafty things and clothes. Without sounding a bit creepy, this lady is totally my hero and I sort of want to be her when I grow up- making clothes for my kids, coming up with cute ideas, remaking things. I just love so many of these ideas that I got a little inspired, got my simple little sewing machine and started away..... until it broke. I was so darn angry- I had just gotten it, hadn't used it but 30 minutes and it was kaput. Thankfully the people at Hancock Fabric's were so sweet and exchanged it for me for a better version (and don't get the Singer Pixie no matter how cute the purple color!)

Over the next week I created the 2 little elastic waist skirts (the general direction can be found at the Made blog). I adore them- the colors, the little pockets (!!), that they fit perfectly on the waist and can be worn to class, church, dinner, wherever!

These skirts are so easy to make! Just two sides, add in the pockets, sew the casing for the elastic, sew the elastic down on the side to get the skrunch and your good to go! The first took significantly longer than the second given how long it had been since my last project. But I LOVE the way they turned out.

And contrasting pockets just make me smile!

I took left over scraps from the skirt materials to make the most precious flower hair clips. They literally take 2 minutes to make and I've always loved the idea of them, just not the price. Voila- personalized hair flowers.

Which I just happened to hang on some scrap material by my desk...

And which look adorable on the mirror I got for $4 and painted up. Please do note my current nail polish obsessions featured prominently.

I also picked up this linen shift at Goodwill for $5. (Please ignore the disatrous living room/ktichen/dining room- it had been a long week of tests). It was shapeless and too big but I loved the color (of course) and I love linen in the summer so....

I took it in, chopped it off, and used the extra materal to make an adorable ruffle. Go to rufflesandstuff.com to get ideas on how to make ruffles (and stuff!) but this could not have been any easier. I just pulled and pinned the ruffle. It was even cute enough to wear the next week out to sushi!

I really truly should be studying right now but blogging about summer crafting seemed like a productive form of procrastination. There are so many other projects I can't wait to try (and hope to share) although I should probably get through finals first....