striped textile

I haven't sewn anything for several weeks,
I have a curtain project planned for this yardage,
I have gotten material for a duvet cover, and 3 dresses as well,
hopefully I'll be able to carve out a little time to get everything sewn up...

A bag and a blouse, part one

I'm finally getting around to some sewing.
I've been so busy lately, that the sewing end of things has lapsed for month's now.
I bought this purse frame on my trip to NYC a few years ago.
I got the flower fabric a couple of weeks ago.
I went to the fabric store to get some wool felt, without intending to get anything else. However, I spotted this stuff and couldn't resist getting a 1/4 yd. for a handbag.
I have had some odd-hours lately, and was up rather late last night.
I managed to sneak in some sewing on the bag. I am just up to the point of sewing in the lining, and will post the finished project as soon as possible.



Here is the other project I started:
The Sencha Blouse, variation no. 2.
It is a "Colette" pattern (they are awesome!).
{ http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop }
I loved the design. It also seems like a well-written/easy to follow pattern+instructions.
I haven't gotten as far as sewing any seams.
I plan to finish this project as soon as the bag is done.

rose birdie, part two

I almost never sew black things.
A friend gifted some black material to me to create something.
It wasn't quite right for their project, so they thought they would let me have a go with it.




I forgot to specify what type of sewing project I had been working on--a handbag, and a large one at that. One of my requirements for handbags is that they be large enough to fit a 9x12 notebook, and packages.

I used Amy Butler's Birdie Sling pattern for this particular bag, with a liberal amount of tweaking.

For one, the material (a faux-leather {this was my first time using this type of material...it was interesting...it is more slippery to sew than a regular woven fabric}) wasn't wide enough to allow the pieces to be cut on the fold, hence the renegade seams running down the middle. I rather like the extra top stitching though.





I love details. I used the striped ribbon to make some long tabs to attach the handle.
I wove in a few leaf beads at either end.





I haven't made ribbon roses for a while. These turned out well.
I used Candace Kling's artful ribbon book to learn how to make the roses.


Using the same material as the main body, I crafted some leaves to accompany the roses.




I had sewed a handle with the black material, and found that it wasn't a good match. It wrinkled in the wrong places. So I opted to try another material.
I used three types of chain to form the handle: some like silver beads, another like silver figure eights, and another antique brass type.



I couldn't resist a nice cheeky red dot to line this bag.

The gingham shirtdress

Here is another shirtdress that I sewed recently:

It is of navy and white small print gingham.

Other things:

I am currently in two {etsy} treasuries! Wow. ;) I placed the links in my shoppe announcements.

I was featured Natalie Jost's {of OliveManna.com/.etsy} blog: yay! I love her site, it's a happy place to be. The article: http://nataliejost.com/3133 . :)

apricot+cream diamonds dress

This is another dress that I made. I sewed this one for an antique-shopping trip fall 2009.
It has some of my favorite buttons along the front. It is made with an odd-diamond type print fabric.

I've been sewing all day. I haven't gotten a single garment done though. I've been sewing up heaps of lovely trims for the shoppe. I have a great deal of stuff to list. More all the time. The weather has turned into a scene from march of the penguins. We have road closings due to white out conditions. I haven't been able to mail any orders today. I will as soon as possible. Until then I'll keep pegging away on my goods+orders. Maybe I'll actually make something I can wear. ;)

Grey Cloche with Red Rose

Here is another hat that I made using Eugenia Kim's Classic Cloche pattern...

This hat is made from a woolen-blend? fabric, with a rose that I made, and some vintage Japanese velvet leaves.

a satiny liner. :)

Other stuff: We're supposed to have ANOTHER winter storm, I'm not fond of being snowed in. Maybe I can get some craft stuff done... I hope that I'll be able to ship stuff tomorrow...

I'm officially on Lovely Clusters!: http://www.lovelyclusters.com/thegildedbee.html I'm quite tickled :)

pink+red dress

I know, I know, another shirtdress.
I'm a fiend for them.

Red {vintage?} buttons

+a cream collar+cuffs...

I got my beautiful {Colette} pattern in the mail. I have 3 new pattern/sets that I really want to dig into. There really aren't enough crafting hours in the day.

Blue Twill Dress

I really wanted to get a tutorial posted today, and absolutely haven't gotten close.
We are snowed in. Again. Ick. It snowed for about 10 hours yesterday. Today the wind picked up to about 40 mph. It has been a total white-out all day and has drifted so much that the Highway is closed, and everyone gets a holiday from school and day jobs.
I hope that the wind dies down and they will plow the hwy+roads, so that I can get my parcels off. I have people who need their butterflies!
I was on the front page of Etsy last night! Wow.
I have gotten so many hearts for my goods and shop, and several features on other peoples blogs (thank you to all of you! you're the best!). I have a bunch of tasty new goodies to list for my shop. I really wanted to do that today too. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache, and squished ambitions. Blast! I will compensate for that tomorrow! Stay tuned for colorful and sparkly goods+a card tutorial.
Another shirtdress. ;) Yes, they are my favorite. This is made from lovely cotton twill.

This was the first time that made fabric covered buttons~ I just love them. I'm having visions of a classy wool coat with lots and lots of big fabric covered buttons. I had an idea to make a black wool coat, very long, with princess seams. Or maybe I can find one via thrifting. I'm fattening the piggy bank for a fling at the charity shops in the city. I'm always looking for certain things: vintage jewelry, vintage linens+sheets, kitten heels, the perfect black pumps (I haven't found these yet), hats, lovely coats and woolen items.

Lace+Peonies Skirt

This skirt was inspired by some gorgeous wide-legged trousers that I saw in an Anthropologie catalog.
The lovely floral fabric is an Amy Butler print cotton. The satin-y fabric is something that I found as a remnant from a bolt, there was just enough to do the color-block ruffle.
I was really glad to find it, as I was searching for such a specific color/fabric and was having a really hard time locating what I was looking for...
It is a long a-line skirt with an elastic waistband.

Skirts like these are a really gratifying project/ they are so quick to make.

It can feel rather tedious to spend hours and hours on individual projects, I often space the steps far apart.

Pink and Red Roses sleeveless shirtdress

I made this dress this fall, I really like it. ;)

I made the seam binding for this with the same material as the rest of the garment.

It has a tie at the collar. I really like that feature too. I'm making another shirtdress that has a tie as well, that's sort of been sitting around for a while. I usually sew in sprees. I'm not very consistent. ;)

Vintage buttons. I hoard them. Originally, I was going to use some totally different buttons, however I changed my mind when I spotted these.

It is made from quilting weight cotton. I hadn't realized what crush I had on floral fabrics until I examined all of the loot I was getting from the city... I think that I'll be posting a lot of flowery stuff this year.

golden roses and grey skies dress

This is a shirtdress that I made this fall. I adore the floral material. I wish I had yards and yards of it. It's longer than most of the dresses that I've made. It has an a-line skirt and princess seams.

{more vintage buttons I do believe}

I was messing around on Ebay and Etsy last night looking for dress patterns. I found one that was {perfect} and that I would never consider purchasing excepting that idea that I had. It's from the 1980's, which is a decade that I rarely get anything from. However, it's similar to a 40's dress pattern that I was drooling over~soo~with a little styling I should be able to vintage it up a bit. I also bought another pattern from the same seller, it's a jacket/trench/skirt pattern from the 70's. I really love them and can't wait to create some garments with the "new" patterns. {the seller is http://www.SelmaLee.etsy.com }

{Winter Hats}

I've been making hats like mad lately. I wear them quite often. More so in this {frigid} weather.

This one is made from corduroy remnants {always perfect for hats and flowers}

grosgrain ribbon, a little peach rose, vintage forget-me-nots and black seam binding on the edge of the brim.

I made this flower with some lovely vintage stamens.

This is the hat that I was wearing yesterday. I made it on Sunday. I love the way it turned out. :)

It is made from chocolate wool felt+a big burgundy rose+raspberry-green ombre velvet leaves.

This was made from an upcycled wool skirt, and hat. I posted a grey cloche before. After that posting, I absolutely wore it to death. I didn't fancy pitching it, that's not really my style, unless totally neccessary. So I cut it up, inverted the material and composed a large flower for this hat.

This is one of my favorite hats. I've been wearing it quite a lot this winter. It is blueish-greyish-teal wool felt that I appliqued with the same material.

I like the lining too. ;) All of these hats that I've posted have linings~I just didn't take the take to post them.

I saw a hat in a Victorian trading co. catalog: it was black with a big cluster of gorgeous velvet violets. I have adored that hat for a while now... so I thought that it was time to create one. This hat is made from black wool+some lovely purple velvet violets that I found on ebay.