Orange You Sweet

And now presenting my NEARLY finished new and improved sewing table. This color is actually called Red Hot Pepper and I intended it to be quite red, but as you can see it came out quite orange. And since I'm currently a huge orange fan I was ok with that!

James said one more coat after today's coat should do the trick so I have to wait one more sleep as my little brother used to say. (Ironically his favorite color is orange so it is more than appropriate that I reference him in this post. I love you Clayton!)

After the final coat, then comes reconstructing the table, then comes hours of letting it dry, then comes lots and lots of sewing. I'm excited to say the least.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love brick walls?

I also love how my file box has become a sort of end table. It is truly a multi-functional piece.

And lastly today I was admiring the glass knob under the keyboard portion of my piano. James put this on for me when we discovered a screw end sticking through the wood where a knob used to be. The knob is used as a handle to pull that piece of wood open so you can see the inner workings of the piano and clean out the cobwebs. It's beautiful I think so in a way can also be considered a multi-functional piece.

That's all for tonight my dear readers. I hope your week has been a delight.

Sweet dreams, sleep tight...

Bookshelves Buttons & Beyond

Today I spent some more time in my creative space organizing away. Isn't the ironing board cover my sister found for me absolutely adorable! And as you can see, I'm currently a huge orange fan. And by that I DON'T mean that I'm huge and orange!

I finally consolidated my second bookshelf and layered it to please the eye. Not all my books fit back on the shelf so I will definitely need to find a new storage place for them until the day we have a whole room set aside as a library.

On the top shelf you can see my big beautiful storage box from Anthropologie. Wanna know a secret? ALWAYS ask them to gift wrap your purchases because there is no additional cost! I love using their gift boxes for storing things in my house.

I got to go through my newly inherited sewing supplies. My mom used to sew lots when we were little and she has kindly passed all her now unneeded supplies on to me. This included TONS and TONS of buttons. Love the pretty colors.

Last weekend we fit in a trip to IKEA where I found yet another file box.

This one is nice and big and for now I'm using it to store my fabric. Until the day comes when I grow out of my box...

Tomorrow I'll post some shots of the room as a whole so you can get the bigger picture. It's really looking cute! My husband started painting my sewing table today and the first coat is finished so hopefully I can get all that set up by tomorrow night's post. Can you guess which color I chose?

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Skirt Refashion

My Creative Space today is filled with my very first skirt refashion. I am now the proud owner of an adorable new-to-me pencil skirt.

This wool skirt was originally from Banana Republic and has been collecting dust in my closet for longer than I care to admit. I think I may have stolen it from my sister once upon a very long time ago. It was a size 12 and hung nicely on the hips back when hip hanging was remarkably fashionable (or at least back when I thought it was remarkably fashionable). This past fall I tried this skirt on 3 different times always opting not to wear it as I stood in front of the mirror cinching it all over and telling myself that it was cute if only it fit better... Today I finally took the plunge and made it into something I will happily wear come Fall. Here are some before and afters.

Before (Front)

Before (Back)

Before (Side)

And After...

This refashion was a little stretch for me because of the skirt's silky inner lining and the thickness of the outer wool fabric. I was nervous to cut anything, not knowing exactly where to start. But I'm so glad I dug in and worked my way through it. Really all it took was stitching up the pleat in the front, and adding a stitch in the back from top to bottom leaving a four inch slit for walking. I also finished off the inside edges with some extra folds and stitching because I'm a perfectionist and even though no one sees the inside, I know it's there and want it to be pretty too.

So there you have it. And the best part? It was free!

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Crochet and Red Cotton

I did it! My very first dress design created from start to finish... so excited about it!

I used a simple single crochet stitch for the entire bodice. In the front I created some detailing by alternating two back-post single crochet stitches with two regular single crochet stitches seven times. I love how that turned out!

The dress can also be worn without the belt but I was liking the added texture and the slimming effect of course.

For the skirt of the dress I cut the fabric nearly double my hip measurement, then gathered it with elastic and sewed it to the bodice. The yarn stretches enough for me to slip the dress on over my head, though a zipper might have been nice. Maybe next time...

What do you think? Do you like it?

Man In the Clouds

This is Day Three: Clouds of my super fun photo challenge. What a perfect day to shoot the clouds because look who I found!

This adorable little man. I made the above sketch to help you catch my visual. Do you see him?

I love the clouds.