The Creationista

This post will be the first of it’s kind, but hopefully not the last. I am constantly busy and never have enough time to craft but I am always creating and recreating other things: food, house stuff, my new scooter (post coming soon!) and myself! So in order to post more often, I’m going to start blogging about these other things as well. So, day 1: running.

People who knew me in high school and college knew a thin, athletic girl who never stopped moving. Then I met my husband…. Like a lot of new couples we gained “happy relationship weight” - the problem was we gained a lot. I went from a size 8 to a size… a lot bigger than that. I stayed that way - fat and happy - for years.

Finally, I decided enough was enough. In February I got my ass off the couch and got running. I’m still slow, I’m still not happy with my running, but I’m still doing it. I’m back down to a size 10, but I still have some work to do, so when my blogger pal Lindsay announced today that she was going to do the Hotter than Hades Virtual Half Marathon, I immediately signed up. For me, things like this are a great way to keep myself motivated.

The event is free (just advertise it to your friends!) and there are a bunch of cool prizes for the “winners” (randomly drawn). Check it out and think about joining me!

I made this from an old pillowcase!

And my favorite, details!

Better/more pictures coming soon!

… you just have to fix a hole in your leggings while you are wearing them.

(and while watching The West Wing)

Have you ever sewn something while wearing it? Any other weird sewing stories? Tell me about them in the comments!

Dear Blog,

I know it seems like I have forgotten about you, but I promise it’s not true. You see, I went back to school in August to get my Masters Degree, and things have been a little hectic. I have been creating, at a slower pace, and I have a backlog of things to post here. I promise, I will update you with a real post soon. In fact, I might just take a day over this holiday weekend we are about to have and schedule a bunch of posts for the next few months!

Please forgive my absence, but remember absence makes the heart grow fonder.

<3 Whit

In a couple weeks, our office will be occupied by a new roommate, so today we began the process of moving all our stuff out of there to make way. I can’t find a picture of the old office, but you can trust me when I say that we had a lot of stuff in there and it was ridiculously cramped. Over the last few weeks we moved a bunch of stuff out of the basement, some to sell and some to toss out, which left us with a lot of room to put our office stuff.

My husband and I worked our butts off hauling everything down the basement stairs, especially my desk, which looks pretty but weights like 300 pounds I’m pretty sure. I couldn’t have done this by myself so having Joe and my little brothers (who happen to be staying at our house right now) was a godsend.

Despite starting today, I finished putting my basement workspace together already, thanks to my fabulous helpers. I’m pretty excited about it, so I thought I would share!

So now, when you walk down our basement steps, you are greeted with this:

The space is almost the size of our entire office before, it’s amazing!

I love that I have everything in arms reach, even though that includes all of the projects I have to do…

Eeek! All of those projects had been tucked in the closet of the old office, so I hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten… I definitely need to get to work on some of those. The good news is, I have a lovely work space to do it in now!

Now you’ve seen my space, care to show me yours?

Anonymous asked: I want to leave a comment on your blog post, but I can't figure out how to!! haha.

So I guess I'll just say it here then :)

That dress is gorgeous!! I can't believe you and your mom made it. My mom never sewed me any clothing, that I can remember, but she did make me the most beautiful quilt ever. She took a class specifically JUST to make it for me, for my birthday. I think my 15th. I should blog about that :)

xx Tia

Thanks Tia! I’m still trying to figure everything out about this blog thing, and I still haven’t figured out comments, oops! I’ll try to get them working soon!

Whit

My internet friend, Tia has been doing flashback Friday for as long as I have been reading her blog, and it just hit me that I had something to show off from my past that is also sewing related! Since I don’t blog frequently (I’m trying to get better about that!) I think I’m going to do a Flashback Friday on the first Friday of every month… (and yes, I know that last Friday was the first one of July, but I was on vacation OK?)

So with out further ado… I present to you my senior prom dress, which I made, with some help from my mother.

The photos are a bit blurry, my friend’s dad took them, but you can get the idea anyway.

The white part at the bottom was about 15 yards of fabric, meticulously gathered and gathered and gathered and gathered… but, it wasn’t too heavy, so it worked out. (Also, ohmygoodness, I was skinny then… *sigh*)

Here’s a close-up from the actual dance… I looked sooo different then. If you don’t believe me, here’s a recent picture of me.

So, there is my first flashback Friday. Here is what Tia says about it at the end of her posts:

If you’re new to Flashback Friday, don’t be shy! Heres how we do it-

Grab an old photo (or if you’re like me, a bazillion), write a little bit about it, and link up! We love love love to invade your personal Polaroid history, so don’t be shy, post your photo, and expect a lot of comments starting with “awwwwww”. Unless its a sad post, and then… well those might start with “awww” too. I swear, most weeks I cry at half of your flashbacks (I know, I’m pregnant, so-). Anyways- (please please) don’t forget to either text link back to this post, or grab one of our buttons from down below.

So do it, why don’t you?!

I began to develop these rules years ago - when I first began shopping at thrift stores during high school. They have added to and amended over the years and now I consider them my rules for all shopping excursions - from looking for a single item to a full wardrobe make-over.

Before you Leave Home

1. Decide how much money you want to spend. This seems like a no brainer, but I get myself in trouble a lot by going to the store without a set number in mind. In the glory days of the internet, we can look at exactly how much money we have without going to the bank - so check! I also try to plan out other major expenses I might have before the next time I get paid (bills, gas, food), so I know exactly what my budget looks like. It’s OK to go over the number you set if it’s only a little bit - and as long as you can still eat. To keep yourself accountable, tell someone else what this number is (your roommate, spouse, cat…)
2. Figure out what you need and want. Going to a thrift or vintage store can be very overwhelming if you don’t know what you are looking for. Whenever I go to the thrift store, I make a list - I need 2 new work shirts, a dress and want to find a skirt and some sheets for fabric. That way, I stop myself time and frustration by being able to search for particular items instead of wandering around aimlessly. This is another good thing to tell someone else - and then you get to have a fashion show for them when you get back!
3. Know your size. I’m not talking about - oh I’m a size 8. If you have ever been shopping before, you know that 8 means something entirely different at nearly every store. Grab a sewing tape measure or a string and a rule and measure you bust, waist and hips (guys, you should measure your neck and shoulders too). The measurements don’t have to be spot on, you just need to have an idea of what those measurements look like. This will save you a whole lot of time in the dressing room, because you will be more likely to grab the size that fits the first time. If you are shopping for pants, find the pair you own that have the perfect length for you, and measure the inseam on those pants. (You can measure your leg too, but measuring the pants is easier and more accurate.)

At the Store

1. Stick to your plan. If you are looking for shirts, find the shirt section and stay there. If you have time you should look around in other sections too, to get an idea of the kind of things that store has - but make sure you have found what you came for first.
2. Let someone else do your shopping. My first stop at any store is the dressing room. I know it seems counter intuitive, but you should look at all the clothes that people tried on and then left on the rack or in the bin by the dressing room. In larger stores, you might have to ask an attendant, but I have never had anyone tell me no - especially when I explain to them why. And here it is: someone liked it enough to try it on, so it can’t be so bad. Yes, people have different tastes, but more than likely you will find at least one thing that you like on that rack.
3. Browse by color, pattern and fabric type. There is not point of picking something off the rack if you don’t like the fabric. You can save yourself a lot of digging by quickly narrowing down what you want to look at by glancing over a rack quickly and mentally noting which items you want to grab as you go down the row. For instance, I know I don’t look good in green so I just skip it altogether, and I know I like red, polka dots and ruffles so I instantly gravitate toward those things, as well as anything else that catches my eye.
4. Search by length. This is especially useful when looking at pants, skirts and dresses but can be applied to shirts as well. I am tall (5’11”) so when I look for pants especially, I look at the bottoms. I don’t bother picking out things that are shorter than the rest - I know they won’t work with my 37” inseam. But, by picking out the ones that hang longer than the rest, I have a better chance. If you are shorter - go for the shorter ones, average height - pick out things that hang in the middle.
5. Don’t be afraid of bigger sizes. In a thrift store especially, you are very unlikely to find what you want in your exact size. If you buy things slightly larger, you can alter them to fit you exactly. Easiest are skirts, but just about everything can be altered down a few sizes for a custom fit. If you aren’t too handy with a sewing machine, find a tailor in your town that is willing to work with you to get what you need. Many tailors will offer a bulk discount or will be willing to negotiate the price of an alteration based on the amount of work involved. If you aren’t great with a sewing amchine and want to get better, find something you like (but maybe not love) and experiment. Find a friend (or ask me!) who knows a bit more about it and get their input.
6. Try everything on. Since you measured yourself at home and know your approximate size, most of the things you pick up should mostly fit. There is plenty to be said about how something fits, but you should have no problem determining that in the dressing room. I typically go over the dressing room limit and end up trying things on in groups, but that’s OK, I’m giving myself maximum possibilities. Don’t worry about what things cost at this point, you can figure everything into you budget later.
7. Sort. You aren’t going to like everything you try on, and you are going to like some if not a lot of it. I sort into 3 piles - Yes, Maybe and No. This is helpful to determine which pieces you are going to buy if the prices of the clothes exceed your budget. Once you have tried everything on, pick the pieces you can’t live without and add up how much they will cost. Once you have that number, you can move things from the maybe pile to yes or no based on your preference and price. Once you hit your budget in the yes pile, stop - go check out!

These rules aren’t set in stone  - but I find them to be a good basis for any shopping trip. Let me know which rules you follow!

It has been pretty hot around here recently, so my husband started digging out his shorts. He found one pair that was missing it’s button, so I found a pack of jeans buttons, like this one and got to work.

The buttons come in 2 pieces: the front which I’m holding and the back. To put it on the piece of clothing, you simply put the two together and hit one side with a hammer until they push together all the way. Probably the easiest fix there is!

On of the projects I’m working on is a pair of embroidered guest towels for my mother-in-law’s downstairs bathroom.  Currently, it’s a very belated Mothers Day present.Before we visited last (they live a few states away, so we don’t get out there too often) she had redecorated her downstairs bathroom. She painted the walls grey with chocolate brown and some robins egg blue thrown in for accents. I wanted to make sure I got the colors right, so my father-in-law snuck a couple photos and sent them to me.

It;s hard to see, but those pictures on the wall are interlocking circles in grey, brown and blue - which my mother-in-law made herself. Once I was sure, I set off for the store to buy embroidery floss and towels to embroider on. I found these lovely towels that had a band across the bottom - meant for cross stitching, but I was going to use it for embroidery.

I started by tracing something (the bottom of a shot glass actually) in pencil on the band to make interlocking rings. then I decided what colors to make each and set to work. Here is one in progress:

And one finished:

I should have them both finished by the time we go visit them in July. Then, I’ll post pictures of them hanging in her bathroom!