Blue on Blue: Chardon Skirt

My first Deer & Doe Project Complete!

Pattern: Chardon Skirt

 This was actually a really easy skirt to make and the pattern is very simple.  The only complaint about the pattern is that the instructions are very sparse, it took some thinking to figure out what the pattern was trying to say when it came to creating the pockets for the skirt.  Yes, this skirt has POCKETS! I'm thrilled about that detail.

Pocket step 1: After the edges of the fabric are finished to prevent fraying, place the right sides of the fabric of one skirt side and one of the pocket sides at a time together... then sew along the edge.  Make sure the pockets are in the right positions and are facing the right way so that the depth of the pocket is actually going towards the bottom of the skirt and it's not upside down.

Pocket step 2:  With the 4 sets of pocket/side pieces complete, unfold the fabric and pair them up with the correct sides and pockets together with again, the right sides of the fabric facing each other.  Then sew along the edges per the instructions of the book.  After that, everything is pretty smooth for this particular pattern.

Skirt Front

Skirt Back

Pockets!

This skirt took one evening to trace/cut pattern with the cutting of the fabric needed... and one evening of sewing the skirt itself.  I think as far as clothes go, this isn't all that complicated or time consuming.

It's a beautiful day so it's time to go back outside to enjoy the sunshine! Happy Saturday!

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Plans for Spring Fabric

Ordered this earlier this month and it arrived yesterday! UPS guy was awfully nice and sort of hid the box so that nobody would take it because I was not able to be home to ensure it's arrival.

Fabric.com is great, just a few hiccups here and there with slightly messed up orders.  I'm hoping their customer service comes through though.  Their selection makes up for the hassle though!

Above is:

Pima Petticoat Batiste in White and Aqua

Riley Blake Jersey Knit Stripes

Bloom Stretch Cotton Sateen Specks Blue

Designer Cotton Voile Peach

Stretch Cotton Twill Watermelon (Was supposed to receive an order in a dark Raspberry as well though)

Tentative plans for this fabric:

The Batistes and Voile:

Deer and Doe Airelle Blouse

Bloom Stretch Cotton:

Jersey Stripe:

Sash Skirt Tutorial

Twill:

Deer and Doe Chardon Skirt

and/or

Deer and Doe Belladone Dress

I don't know when I'll be able to find the time to finish all the projects I want to finish, but it's nice to have things on hand to work on when I do find the time :)

8 days until spring!!!

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Kwik Kindle Sleeve

My new kindle now has a zip-up!

Navy and white cotton was ironed onto some fleece and the inside is lined with some "end of bolt" polka dot knit jersey that I got as a bonus from my recent fabric.com purchase.

No tutorial was used for this and I'll probably make another one to replace this sometime if/when I find the time.  This one turned out a little haphazard but I still like it and it's going to keep my kindle safe!  Not bad for a quick evening project :)

Here's to more happy reading!

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Workplace Inspiration

On Friday I traded in my work desktop to a laptop.  Given that it is a company laptop, there is only so much I can do with it.  It also came with a ginormous laptop bag that is pretty heavy in itself.  With small shoulders and the fact that I park a few blocks from work... dragging this around is not ideal... but, I'll just take on a little at a time. I've been finding that it's gotten a little harder to pursue my hobbies with my work schedule and with life in general, but people figure it out, so I'm sure I will too :)

I wanted to jazz up this laptop because everybody on my team at work that has a laptop has just about the same one.  Just because it is a work laptop and I don't actually own it, does not mean it has to be so utilitarian.  Some WASHI tape did the trick and gave it a bit of a floral flair, don't you think?

I'm still mulling through other ideas around how I can infuse more creativity and fun into my workplace and such.

Laptop Bag 1:

With Tutorial by Arina Rasputina

Laptop Bag 2:

Scalloped laptop bag Tutorial by Marzipan

I've also recently purchased a Kindle Paperwhite.

It needs a cover. Soon.

I hope everybody had a good weekend! I sure did with lots of sunshine and hiking :)

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ASAP54 App: When you see what you want but just can't find the words...

ASAP54 is a new app that is available on iPhone (Not sure if it is available on Android).  My friend and I were playing around with it earlier today to test it out and it's not bad.

You know when you're out and about and you see somebody wearing a shirt or boots that you think is totally fabulous but you don't know where to buy it or at least find something similar? You then google words like "blue and white patteren blouse with gold buttons" or something and you end up with all sorts of things that are NOT what you are REALLY trying to find. This app is for you!

Pros:
-Identify items in that color
-Identifies patterns okay
-Super easy and also shows you other options that are similar that could be of interest
-You can filter by price and/or brands

Cons:
-You have to be really good at cropping the photo... I had my earrings are pink bow earrings right now but when she took the photo of it with my hair (black) still in it... it pulled up black jewelry.  So... Crop properly.
-You have to scroll down a lot to find something close to what you were really looking for
-From a photo it cannot tell if it's a halter, criss-cross, spaghetti strap,pleats... or anything like that.

Applications:
-You find something somebody is wearing that you want
-You see something in the style you like but they are out of your size
-You see a photo on the internet of an outfit you really want to find but it's just an image and not associated with a store

Given that this is a new app, it has plenty of room for improvement but so far it is fun to use and I can see how it can at least point you in the right direction or introduce you to to new things.

Let's test some of this out:

Good.

Good.

Uh... NO.

No.

Verdict:
I don't think I would depend on this to find things that I want beyond color/patterns.

Now I wish they could do this with fabrics as well.  I love fabric.com and moodfabrics.com but it is SO OVERWHELMING to scroll through every page, it is absolutely dizzying.

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Deer & Doe for Spring

Deer and Doe is a french sewing pattern company that has style I am totally drawn to.  The designer used to work as a computer engineer and I think that has served her really well.  The patterns I received are beautiful, sturdy, simple, practical, and very straight forward.  She does everything from her home from folding the pattern, assembling the envelopes, and mailing them!  It is very impressive.
I wanted to buy like all of her patterns but I settled on three that I felt I would use frequently.

Airelle Blouse:

Chardon Skirt:

Belladone Dress:

These are the patterns I received in the mail from Paris, France!

They are so sweet.

I started working on one of the patterns and went with the Chardon Skirt because I found fabric I liked at Joann's recently that would work well with the pattern.  So far it has been challenging to find apparel fabric that I am really drawn to but maybe with practice I'll have a better idea as to what I am looking for and where to find those things.  The other clothes that have yet to be sewn will be a while because I ordered fabric recently online... and there's the whole work and life thing.

Well, I am pretty optimistic that this will turn out at least okay and I'm looking forward to putting this together!

These patterns and the other patterns I've purchased recently will be great for spring.   This is something to look forward as it is really cold here lately for some reason... again.  I mean, it's MARCH... shouldn't it be warming up now?  I saw my neighbor sweeping the snow off of his SUV today.  Literally.  With a giant broom, the kind you would use to sweep leaves off your driveway or to clean a large hallway at school.  I hope his car is okay and that he didn't sweep off paint too.  It looked like a struggle.

So glad my car is hiding in a garage right now.

Stay warm everybody... and look forward to spring!

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Carry-ing on history: Vintage Fabric Purse

So the pleated bird purse I made a few weeks ago has become pretty popular at work.

Earlier this week one of my coworkers told me about this fabulous vintage fabric she found in a fabric bin she has at home.  This fabric was purchased by her grandmother years ago and was never put to use.  It is gorgeous rich burnt orange color with some floral, cherry, and gold leaf throughout, and a few of us at work were chatting about it around my cubicle, speculating what it's original purpose was (if it had one).  I'm not sure about the content of this fabric.

(I threw in a zipper for her as well because she wants to try her hand at making a small cosmetic bag to match... and I happened to have a zipper just the right color)

I'm not sure what the fabric content is but it does have a sateen feel to it.  There was only about 2 yards of this and it doesn't seem like the type of fabric one would typically make apparel with.  Maybe it was meant for pillows? small window draperies? impulse buy? I think she's going to inquire about it's original purpose if she can.  It's still fun to imagine the possibilities one could do with this fabric.

The fabric is made by VIP Fabrics and I'm guessing it's from 1970s (Found similar pattern by same company)

This is the Similar pattern from Etsy.

Anyway, she stumbled upon this fabric and thought it would make a fun purse, and it certainly does!  I'm inspired to make something with such a nice shiny sheen and metallic accents in the future.  Only modification she requested was a pocket for her iPhone.  I sewed a pocket on the lining and reinforced that lining with a long piece of lightweight interfacing so it could support the weight of the phone without ending up super droopy.

I love how the purse turned out and I'm looking forward to giving it to her the next time we're both in the office.  She will be able to literally carry on history with her with this vintage purse.

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