Dance Land

Well I don't know if you know but June is recital month in Dance Land. While I am currently out of the dance scene I am just biding my time until Lorelai is old enough to start ballet classes *cough cough Sept 2012 cough cough*.

In the meantime I am

1. planning which ballets I'll be introducing her to over then next year, ie. The Nutcracker and so forth
2. staying loosely connected to the dance scene by
a. obsessively watching SYTYCD,
b. watching my dad and sisters recital,
c. and helping my aunt with costumes for their recital.

That is where this blog comes in.
Joanie asked if I would add some so color and ruffle to these black circle skirts. With the cute tank tops the black skirts needed a little something something to make them pop!

With the ruffle attachment on my serger I made quick and easy work of this project. Until I realized I had gotten it backwards and made two blue instead of two pink which resulted in this...
Lorelai has a pettiskirt with this color and zebra print so I'm envisioning a matching ruffly top.

But here is Em rocking it out.. Admire!

Now this is the request I was excited about. Joanie wanted a teenage sized pettiskirt for Aileen. She is the 'valley girl' in the far right of the picture.


Now I'll tell you what, that pettiskirt took a BOAT-load of fabric so I don't see myself doing this regularly but I do love the result!

I hope you enjoyed this foree into Dance Land. Come back soon to enjoy more projects!

I say Ruffle, you say Bum! RUFFLE BUM!

I think Joanie was joking but I loved the idea...
We went camping this last week and I couldn't wait to go hiking. A couple of weeks ago I got some new hiking pants, some 'authentic vintage camo pants'. They are uber comfortable and I love them. Lorelai was really impressed with them and told me I looked wonderful.

That got me thinking. Lorelai could use her own pair of camo camping pants. Joann's has a little section of camo print fabrics that I have been trying to find an excuse to buy and my opportunity finally came!

With my 50% off coupon in hand I headed to one of the happiest places in Modesto and picked up my more expensive than I would have liked almost denim camo fabric.

And so I began:
First I took a pair of Lorelai's pants and traced a pattern. One of my favorite pant making tips came from Dana at Made. She said when tracing a pants pattern off of a pair you own, to make sure and make a front AND a back piece. So I did!

Then I cut out my fabric and eyeball measured and cut out some pockets.

I wanted very much to have the pockets because I think the details like that take a project from looking overly home-made to 'legit'. Unfortunately that ambition robbed Kent of a matching pair of camping pants. There was just barely too little fabric left. *sigh*

In my quest for legitimacy I surged all my edges as the pants went together and I really like the difference that made. These are a serious pair of pants. Well almost...

Now I'm sure Joanie was teasing me about girlie-ing up these camo pants but I loved the idea soo much that I used the scraps to make a ruffle bottom!


That's all there is to it. They were thoroughly loved. Enjoy.

The Ele-bum

A while ago I got the urge to make some throw pillows and I ran with it. I made two pillows that I am very happy with; one being this adorable little fellow.



I love everything about this pillow especially the background fabric and the button eye but I felt like it just wasn't complete... something was missing. Then it came to me!



So here is how the ele-bum pillow was formed...
1. I took my ele-face and lined it up with the body fabric to make sure the size was right. I crudely sketched and cut out my elephant hind quarters.

2. I cut out one 14.5"x14.5" of background fabric for the front of the pillow and two 9.5"x14.5" rectangles for the back of the pillow.

3. I basted on his tail.

4. I pinned him to the front piece and appliqued the bum in place.

5. I sat back to admire my work.

6. I lined up my back pieces with the front, right sides together, pinned them together envelope style and sewed it up!

7. Finally I turned it right sides out and united head and tail. feel free to admire!

If you are interested in the pillow fight go here for the deets. Linking up begins Jun 15!

Pillow Fight for a Cause

If you know me but at all you'll know I am currently obsessed with sewing/crafty blogs. Today while I rummaged through my blog roll I stumbled on a service project that I think is just fantastic.

A Lemon Squeezy Home, a regular haunt of mine, had a guest post by Carlee of Ladybird Ln. She is new to me but I like what I've read so far. She is starting up a contest called Pillow Fight for a Cause inspired by her friend Malynn. Malynn is amazing and you can read all about her and the project here.

I've got to say, I was inspired! I'll definitely be linking up for the contest, I've got some awesome pillows I want to share but I also think this is such a great service project! I can't wait to whip up a couple of pillowcases for a great cause!

If you are inspired, grab the button and pass it on! Help get the word out there! You'll be hearing more "pillow talk" from me very soon.

Lisa