why did waldo wear stripes?

...because he didn't want to be spotted!  hehehehe

for mom's mother's day present, i used butterick 5610 view c, a kimono-sleeved and pleated loose top with the stripe monster fabric (omg i still have TONS).

man, i still hate this fabric.  it puckers like whoa.  this top was also huge on me.  like a muumuu.  except i'm not currently in hawaii, so this muumuu was poopoo on me.  (i just spent all yesterday writing a witty and ridiculous school-wide email... please excuse me..)  the front was pretty cool.  there are 4 pleats down the front.  because the fabric is so striped, it looks like the middle is a stripey waterfall.

the back was nothing special.  thankfully mom is much taller and broader shouldered than me, so it looked much cuter on her.  Still not sure whether or not i want to bother tweaking the pattern to fit me.  the neck hole was so wide it sat at the very ends of my shoulders.  woe is me.

happy mother's day, mom!

last baby shower gift set... FOR NOW

dearest grace, an old friend from my childhood, is pregnant with a boy!  she had a baby shower this weekend.  a puppy, bib, and bootie set for her!

not gonna lie, i hate making the booties.  more than anything.  i finished the puppy and bib 2 weeks ago.  the booties took an all-nighter saturday night.  MISERABLE!  i hand-sewed this one because the booties i made for jenny's baby (born last thurs, congrats jenny!!!) were machine-sewn and looked awful.  to be honest, these hand-sewn booties were not much better.  ugh.  never again.  i wasn't willing to scrap the nice fabric i had already cut out, so i made myself finish the job.

i found the cutie pie napping in the sun this weekend.  hehehhe.  such a goof!

and puppy #4 has been born

but this time i was clever!  i armed myself with doll needles so that i could stitch the eyes in easier!  whoo!

best invention ever!  no more stabbing myself accidentally in an attempt to reach from one eye to the other!  whoo!!

i ran out of the pink flannel, so this puppy has a burgundy fleece tail.  i actually prefer the body fabric for the tail... don't know why i was using contrast fabric on all the other pups!

i cut out a "sweet pea" and peapod to rubber cement on cardstock to make a simple greeting card:

bunks got many treats this weekend while the rents were here for mother's day.  he got all tuckered out from all the sweets!  spot the bunny:

puppy #3

a friend on my (former) football team helped drive me and bunks to the animal hospital that night he ripped off his toenail.  at midnight.  clearly i owed him a puppy for his newborn nephew...

now that i am the master of puppy-making and pay people in puppies, i've perfected how to make one in 4-5 hours.  even though the time required to complete one has decreased, my fingers still get sore from having to stitch eyes and noses.  (i have to use thicker thread- embroidery thread- which is tougher for me to pull through fabric.)  =(

oh, and half way through my bag of fiberfill, i discovered the free gift that came with the bag... a stuffing tool...  see the funny thing is, as someone of chinese descent, i happen to own millions of these "chopstick-shaped implements" known as CHOPSTICKS, and i've already been using chopsticks to stuff fiberfill for years.  the fiberfill company is so innovative, OR #iamsoclever

cutie pie was watching me brush my teeth last night.  boring sight isn't it, bunks?

RIP toenail

the little guy had to go to the animal e.r. sunday night.  the bugger was so excited about the fresh hay i was laying out for him that he jumped on top of his cage, fell off, and ripped his nail down to the base.  there was blood everywhere and i couldn't get it to stop.  the vet clipped off the hair by the nail and put in something to make sure it wouldn't start up again.  yesterday i took him to the vet a couple doors down from my apt and he got a clean bill of health.  attaboy!  he's off to his bunny adventures again, making a mess in the apt while i'm at school...

babies r us called

they want to hire me.  just kidding, although they should at this rate.  puppy # 2!  he was pretty plump before the eyes were sewn in...  

since this puppy was meant for a baby shower, i figured i'd make an entire gift set to match the puppy.  so, the baby also got booties and a bib.  the booties were a huge nuisance.  i had to bind each piece with bias binding, of which i had none, so i used seam binding instead.  it was so annoying to sew with something that was so fragile and frayed constantly.

not gonna lie, the end result was pretty darn cute.

i need to make the elastic around the back a little tighter...

isn't the set cute????

i cut out a little fuzzy flannel turtle and rubber cemented it on cardstock to make a little card.

the flannel is leftover from pj pants i made mom a couple christmases ago.  the green fleece is from a fleece suit that i'm in the process of making for dad.

congrats, jenny!  can't wait to meet the little guy.

a puppy for penny!

suddenly i have 5 baby gifts to make.  yeesh.  i figured i'd start off with one for little penny, since her mom alex is hosting the baby shower for my friend jenny this saturday.  alex and i taught a class on the history, sociology, demographics, architecture, and politics of nyc by using  broadway as the main thread.  we walked the whole length, all 13.6 miles, with the kids.  i did it despite my slow pace and slight limp!

the puppy tail:

sewing stuffed animals is quite fun.  you're essentially building it and the stuffing step is like breathing life into it.  here is the bare pup before the details have been added.  the little yellow threads mark where to line things up, the ears, and the eyes.

you probably recognize the burgundy fleece: it's leftover from mom's fleece suit.  the pink flannel is from a pair of pj pants i once made my friend lan years ago.  they didn't fit her, hence why they never made it to this blog.  i had only a scrap of the flannel left!  bunks is quite uncertain on what to make of this new friend... 

or foe?  he was only mildly curious, giving him a sniff 

and then hopping away.

hope penny likes the pup!  1 down, 4 more to go!

crisscross dress debut

wore my oregon crisscross dress yesterday.  got a surprising number of compliments- surprising because I was so uncertain that i would even like it on.  i do love the pockets though, and the ease while wearing it.  no exposed bra straps!  i've been swayed: i'm a fan!

the stripe monster debut

ok, i look like a derp.  and the dress is a little hiked up so it's real baggy up top.  i was eating an orange.  after school is snack time for me, hehe.

kris kross will make you wanna jump, jump

i used to be obsessed with this song in middle school.  ha!  

while visiting shirley, i decided to tackle the complex pattern on the left (below, simplicity 2250), figuring it'd last me for a while, seeing as this time i was out in oregon for 10 days.  what i didn't factor into the equation (haha factor, equation, math!) was the fact that i had to do exercises and stretches for my leg every day too.  that cut so much out of my sewing time =(

the model has on a dress with horizontally striped black and white fabric.  i've never made anything with horizontal stripes, and i had this chambray and white striped fabric that has little red dashes through the center of each white stripe.  i had used some to make michelle pj pants a while back and had tons left.  i was planning on making dad a dress shirt with it, but something told me that he wouldn't like the slight sheen on each of the chambray stripes, hehe.  below is a zoomed in pic of the bust.  THIS is why the dress was tedious.  there were so many tucks, pleats, and darts.  and then, because i am so busty (or not), i had to add extra darts to take in the material so that the bust wasn't baggy.  took forever for me to figure out where to place them so that it would take out the extra fabric in all the right places.

the back is adorable.  the top part of the back has elastic, though for absolutely no reason because it's attached in a way that doesn't stretch.  the huge tie is pretty cute.  i made thicker straps (not spaghetti straps) to cover up my bra straps.  i hate when bra straps show.

i hand-picked my second zipper ever.  look how teeny the stitches are (or perhaps you can't even see them)!  i should have paid better attention to matching the stripes when i sewed the zipper.  oops.

for the lining of the bust (i didn't bother lining the bottom because the fabric isn't see-through or thin), i used this cream floral fabric that i once prewashed with navy fabric.  the navy bled on everything (including that red and white ikat print sleeveless top i made while i was in philly, and thus it is no longer as crisply red and white as it used to be!  yeah, i'll admit, i cried.  now it looks like a hippie top.).  thus this is really an ugly bluish cream floral fabric.  it had a bit of stretch to it so it perfectly matched the stretch in the stripey outer fabric.

here's the front.  the skirt was a pain to make too.  so many pleats and gathers.  I HATE MAKING PLEATS AND GATHERS.  i'm afraid the dress is rather busy, so i question if it'll look ok on.  i'll probably wear it with a white cardigan next week to school, so you don't see the straps. 

tomorrow i'm going to wear the stripe monster to work!  stay tuned for a pic!

the stripe monster

i originally cut all the fabric out for this project before my acl reconstruction surgery (in december!  gasp, i know!) so that i could work on it while recuperating at the rents' house in ct.  i forgot what the pattern # is, but it's one of those simplicity, project runway, ones.  i essentially made the green version shown below:

this was the fabric i chose...  a shiny (not quite as shiny as satin) non-silk.  not sure what it is exactly.  in between the blue stripes are light lavender stripes.  i got it at g street fabrics, my fav store in the dc area.  LOTS of it.

this project was far from easy.  shiny = slippery like whoa.  the pattern was drastically altered: i raised the waistline, let out a lot at the waist, hemmed up the bottom by 3.5 inches.  even though i serged all the edges, i had to trim the seams at the sleeves because the arm hole was not that large (nor was it all that flexible!).  however, trimmed seams = fray monster, so i had to figure out a way to cover up the loose ends.  welcome, seam binding!  see the nice navy seam binding covering the seams on the right side and the fray monster on the left?  i had to hand-stitch those busters in.  tedious.

my sewing machine doesn't sew button holes well, so i had to bind the holes by hand.  my LEAST favorite activity ever, in all of sewing.  next time i get a sewing machine, it must be able to make buttonholes.  i made the cap sleeve version, seeing as this dress is quite bold.  man, imagine if i had long sleeves in more stripes!!!

you better believe i matched each of the 4 skirt panels perfectly in order to make nice chevron stripes!  life is better with chevron:

here's a view of the back.  check out those perfect v's!!  my mannequin has a shorter torso than me, hehe.  it doesn't bag like that above my booty.

to be honest, i didn't like this dress as i was making it.  i was real skeptical of how it would finish.  now that it's done, i actually quite like it!  love it, even!  i'm going to wear it later this week, when it's not raining.  i'll be sure to snap of pic of me debuting it. 

and now, a picture of bunks.  he likes to peer down at me from the back of the couch while i do physical therapy exercises and stretches at home.

"where's my lettuce, pegleg?!?!??"

fleece suits galore!

mom saw dad's fleece outfit and wanted one too.  i used her tried-and-true pj pants pattern for the bottoms

and the ladies cut of the pattern i used for dad's fleece.  (oh wait, there's dad lurking in the background...)

the ladies cut has 2 extra curved seams along each side of the back.  not sure what they're for... hunching?

double stitching along the pocket!!!  i swear, i'm the biggest fan of my twin needles now!

don't worry, no fleece suits for me.  maybe for bunks?  hehehehe

spring break in oregon!!!

i made it to spring break!!!  i'm currently in oregon visiting shirley.  when she saw the post on dad's christmas sweater, she mentioned really liking the style.  i took the hint and set about making her one by reprinting the pattern, but at 93%, and cutting out the xs size.  unfortunately i JUST ran out of wool to make this a full-sleeve sweater, so i had to make it a 3/4 sleeve sweater.  shirley does not liking 3/4 sleeve anythings.  uh oh!

here's a closeup of the henley collar.  i twin-needle-stitched the collar down so that it would stay up and not flip in!  (i didn't do this on dad's sweater because at that point i was still scared of using a twin needle...)  looks nice and neat doesn't it?

the hilarious part of this whole endeavor is that shirley gave me the wool and the cotton jersey!!!  i'm such a regifter, hahahahhaha!  oh and even better:  the buttons are from knittn' kitten in portland, oregon!!  they have returned to oregon!!  guess where we're going this weekend...  PORTLAND!  i love that place!

isn't my wrapping cute?  hehe.  remember, my goal for nicer packaging?  not bad, right?

shirley liked the sweater!  phew!  i was so nervous about her not liking it because of the shorter sleeves.

thanks to mom for helping me cut all the fabric!  i'm the s.l.o.w.e.s.t. fabric cutter in the world!

rei, i'm up for hire!

finally finished dad's fleece jacket!  just in time for chinese new year.  i had gotten up to this far last weekend... everything was done except the sleeves because i wanted to wait until he got here so that i could measure out the length on him.

dad wanted his sleeves to be cinched.

i stupidly forgot to serge shoulder stabilizers into the shoulder seams as i stitched them together, so i had to sew them in after the fact... not as pretty as the ones in dad's christmas sweater.  =(

the rest of the inside seams are pretty though!

the front pocket!  double stitching along the edges!

i used new look #0951, view c, to make this jacket.  it was shortened by 2 inches to accommodate dad's staggering height.

and i end with an adorbs pic of bunks, cleaning his face.  good boy.