I am in the process of sewing but until I have something to post, at least I can get rid of the snowy picture. Brrr.

Here is one taken at sunset a couple of weeks ago at the cottage.

New Flirty Skirt

As promised I have a picture today of the skirt I made from the floral rayon shown yesterday. I am not wearing it though because at -4 with a wind chill of -14 it's just too darn cold. I guess I got spoiled last week when the temps got up into the "unheard of for around here" high 20s and even low 30s (Celsius).


Anyway this is the way I would have styled it, had I been wearing it today.



And speaking of the skirt, I have to give a shout-out to Shannon of Hungry Zombie Couture.
She did a recent post The Skirty Dozen showing 12 great skirts she made as well as kindly giving the instructions on how they were made. I love my new skirt and have fabric for 4 more!

Jewelery First, Outfit Second

I was never interested in making jewelery and suddenly I am as enthralled with beads as I am with fabric.

I showed you the set below the other day.


By tomorrow I should have a picture to show you of an outfit featuring the green beads and a pretty green/yellow/white and black floral rayon.


My next set was just finished this afternoon. Turquoise glass beads and "pearls".


I have a little wardrobe planned to go along with that. I think some white and navy would look good in there as well.

Black and Tan

Now that I am beginning to lose a bit of weight, I am starting to get more interested in playing around with my clothes to see what I like. I am feeling ready to let go of some systems I've been trying to follow which have strict guidelines regarding what is supposed to suit me and what is not. Instead I'm trying to zero in on my own creativity and my own gut feeling about how I think something looks on me. I'm starting to notice a feeling I get when I like something which I can hardly describe - sort of a zing or a feeling of excitement. Maybe other people take that for granted but it is new to me, or at least new to me to notice it and to trust my own ideas and decisions.

It occurred to me this morning that I might like to try all one colour for the base - in this case black pants and top with a brighter or bolder layer on top. I do like it. This particular knit jacket was bright white and black but the contrast proved too strong for me. This went into a tan dye bath which toned it down perfectly.

Finishing Jewelery

Almost three weeks ago I posted about my first attempts at making NECKLACES. At that time I had begun the necklace shown below with the gold and peacock blue beads but it wasn't quite right so I took everything off and started over.


This morning I finished the earrings from the same beads.

Shortly after I made that necklace, I made the set below with the pretty green glass beads.



Last week we had unusually warm temperatures. I took that opportunity to dye some clothes in a large tub out on my deck. I like doing it that way as it keeps most of the mess outside. It is so fun because you never know exactly what results you will get. One of my successes was the tank I am wearing below, which ended up a beautiful rich red.


Unfortunately those lovely temperatures are now gone. Today it is -4 C. and I am not sitting outside this morning!

Sweatshirt To Bolero Cardi

On my last trip to the library I came home with a great book "Get The Most From Your Clothes".


Inside I found directions on how to turn a cardigan into a ruffled bolero.

I had previously taken a navy sweatshirt, removed the ribbing from the bottom hemline and sleeve ends, and cut up the center front to make a cardi. There the project stalled as I wasn't sure how I wanted to proceed. The ruffled bolero seemed to be the answer.



I made my ruffle from strips cut from an old tee shirt, which were then sewn together and run through the sewing machine with my longest straight stitch. Then it was a matter of pulling the thread to make my ruffle and hand sewing it around the new rounded bolero edges. A satin ribbon at the neckline provided a soft bow.

Beading

I recently bought a beaded necklace which came with earrings made of silver metal. I thought those beads would look better with gold metal so last night I remade one of them in gold, shown on the left below. I like it better so will redo the one on the right now.


I have been wanting to make necklaces. Last night while watching "Amazing Race" I made my first necklace. It ended up a little shorter than I intended because I didn't factor in the amount of wire you have to fold back in on the ends. See below along with earrings.



It was so much fun that I started a new necklace this morning.


Now I actually have an idea of what I need and what I like and it just occurred to me that I could sew garments to go with my jewellery instead of the other way around! I need to make a list of beads and findings to look for the next time I'm shopping, which I would like to be today if the driving is ok. We had more snow overnight {sigh}. I am longing for spring . . .

Refashion - Purple Top

I like the colour of this top but not the style. Time for a refashion.


I removed the collar, buttons and band on the bottoms of the sleeves, then shortened it a couple of inches at the hem. Next I added a floral print cotton to the bottom neckline placket, bottoms of the sleeves and an applique heart to cover the white embroidered character on the chest.



I finished up with 2 vintage buttons on the placket and a new purple pair of earrings.



I am getting a lot better at making earrings but haven't drummed up the courage to make a beaded necklace - mostly because I don't know how to attach the clasp. I have some instruction booklets so maybe tomorrow . . .

Simplicity 4095

It is good to be back on my old sewing blog. It is also great to be back sewing again. I decided that the easiest way to ease back in to sewing again was to work on something already cut out. I had four such projects to choose from. Although I don't really wear black anymore, this skirt from Simplicity 4095 was ready to sew and seemed like an easy place to start . That it was - started yesterday, finished today!

I had hesitated to try this shape of skirt prior to this because I like shorter skirts on me, and I wasn't sure about the fullness of it. I remember shortening the pattern prior to cutting. I then removed a further 4 inches today when I hemmed it.



I will definitely be making this skirt again as I love the flippy movement of it. (Please ignore the very pale Nova Scotia legs which have not seen the warm sun in many months!)