Another Bag

I made started this bag on Friday and while making it I realized I had ran out of black webbing, so on Saturday morning I made a mad dash to the fabric store. I wanted to be able to mail it out Saturday since it was the mail deadline date for this swap. I really procrastinated on this, but I blame it all on the crazy budget schedule that I have going on at work.

Anyway, here is the final product:

Front:

Back:

It is the same pattern that I make my other tote bags. But this time I decided to make it a little narrow and a little longer. I really like how it came out.

Ciao,

Dissolved Girl

Crafty Weekend

On Saturday while Mr. P was at work, I spent my morning singing at the top of my lungs to Michael Jackson's Dangerous CD and sewing my life away making this:

Front

Back

I made this bag for my partner on Swab-Bot for the "Make me a Handmade Tote Swap". I had so much fun making it and loved how it turned out, that I signed up for another handmade tote swap.

After that it was off to make a "Handmade Bookmark". My partner loves Hello Kitty. So I only thought it appropriate to make her a Hello Kitty bookmark. I added silver embossed stars, then I reinforced the bookmark by adding as a backing a pretty cloud scrap booking paper. To protect the bookmark since it was made from card stock, I put it in a plastic holder. I used a star shaped hole puncher to add a hole to the top of the plastic holder, got some pretty blue jewelry thread, added a pretty pink bead and hung it from the hole.

Front

Back

These final 2 packages also went off to new homes. I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures of what I put in them.

I mailed off everything today. I am pretty sure the bag and the last two envelopes will get to their new homes quickly. The bookmark I am not so sure how long it will take to arrive to it's new home, since it is going to Canada. I just hope they all liked what I sent. I put a lot of thought and love into everything.

Today, I also received quiet a bit of mail. But like a little kid, I was too excited and started playing with everything I got and forgot to take pictures. But I did snap a quick picture of a postcard that I received so that I can show Mr. P, since it never made it home because as soon as I saw it I posted it on my bulletin board in my office. It was a huge hit with the people in my office.

Isn't it funny?
He really does look like he is saying hi! It had me cracking up for a good hour!

I had such a great and relaxing weekend. It was just what I needed after such a rough week. I was sad for it to come to such a quick end.

How was your weekend?

Ciao!! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

Let’s talk a little about sewing

Those of you that sew may or may not know about Connie Long. Her books are like bibles to me. They are very easy to understand and extremely helpful.

So imagine my surprise and total delight when I found out that she teaches at G Street Fabrics. I was so excited I started jumping up and down in my seat.

I went to the G Street Fabrics website and downloaded the class schedule. Most of her classes are during the work day, so that brought down my excitement a little. But after further investigation I saw that she has a few one day classes (Hello lining class!) that I will be signing up for.

Also while I was looking at the class schedules, I saw that they also have Pattern Drafting classes. I am very interested in taking these classes. But I think for now I will take the one day classes. With the changes going on at work, I want to get into my new rotuines before I commit to longer classes.

G Street Fabrics also has a free “Fashion Club”. Where home sewers get together once a month, enjoy free lectures, shopping discounts, show and tell, etc. I may just go and check one of these out.

Last week I got a huge package from Fabric.com. I felt like a kid in a candy store. This week I will be spending my time pretreating the fabric and hopefully this upcoming weekend I will get some sewing done.

Ciao! xoxo
~ Dissolved Girl

ARGH!

You see that picture above? That my dears is me. Let me explain.

Today I spent my day sewing. Things were going great. I was listening to my Ipod, singing along to The Black Eyed Peas, the fabric was flying through my machine. Even when it came time to putting on the zipper, it was on in a breeze. I was impressed, zippers are my Kryptonite. But not today! I was in the ZONE!

Then it came time to put the back and the front of the skirt together and my happiness went down the gutter. Part of the back fabric was cut off! The front of the skirt was wider then the back!

WTF?! How did that happen?

I went back to the cutting table to see the rest of the fabric, that is when I saw it. The fabric underneath was not even with the fabric on top.

How could I have done that? That is such a stupid mistake! Then I thought about it. While I was cutting the fabric I was watching TV and not paying attention to what I was doing. I mean I thought I was paying attention. But that disaster proved otherwise.

Well folks, my skirt is garbage and I had such great plans for it. But at least I learned my lesson, No watching TV while I cut fabric.

I am giving up sewing for today. But tomorrow is another day.

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

I Am Ready......

for the snow storm that we are supposed to get this weekend. In the first picture are the patterns that I will be working on and the second photo is the fabric that I may or may not be using. I have not made a decision on what fabric to use on what pattern. But I will look through my stash later today, pre-treat the fabric and start cutting. So when I wake up on Saturday I can just start sewing.

I also have some jewelry projects, which I will work on when I take sewing breaks. My goal is by the end of the weekend to have at least one new outfit with new jewelry to go with it.

S0 come on 30 inches of snow! I am ready for you!

Ciao! xoxo

~ Dissolved Girl

Look at what I found....

I did my Friday G Street Fabric run to check out what new fabrics came in for the discount bin. When my eyes fell on this:

Does it look familiar?

The fabric has the same pattern as the fabric on the dress worn by Miranda in the Sex and the City Movie.


When the movie came out I loved the dress and I found it, but it was too rich for my blood so I skipped buying it.

Well, Now I can make my version of the dress. I have decided on this dress pattern:

I am going to make dress "A", the pint and black dress.

I really loved the Miranda dress but I was never excited about the longer sleeves. I always thought about how much better the dress would look with cap sleeves like the dress pattern above. What do you think?

On other news, I have been quiet because I have been keeping myself busy with different projects. For example this weekend I am taking a jewelry class and it is a blast! I will tell you guys more about it tomorrow evening and show you guys photos of what I made.

What is going on with you guys?

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

The Cape

I saw this Cape on ModCloth but I did not want to pay the $97.99 price tag for it.


I am glad I did not spend the money because I found the below pattern at Joann Fabrics for $1.99. As you can see Cape "C" is the same as the above. I also get 3 other patterns for Capes I can make. I can safely say I got a great deal. Now all I have to do is stake out the fabric store for some nice discounted wool fabric.


What do you think?

Ciao! xoxo
~ Dissolved Girl

Sickness and a Preview

I have spent the last four days sick with strep throat. Thus, why I have been so quiet and have not given my Saturday update.

I did get to finish the skirt. I tried to take a picture of the skirt but I did not like how it looked hanging from the hanger so I will make sure to take a picture this weekend when I wear it. I got the fabric and pattern ready to sew the dress this coming Saturday but I did not get to do anything else on my to do list. The machine used to put money on the laundry card was not working and then it started to storm here so going to the fair was out of the question.

I did get to make some new necklaces. If you remember this post, I showed you guys the music note necklace and earrings that I made, which I was going to post on my jewelry blog, but I sold it before it even made it to there. Not that I am complaining. I decided to make a new music note necklace. I also made two other necklaces with some new pieces I received.

Take a look an tell me what you think:

Sterling silver cable chain, puzzle pieces, leaf bail, and clasp. With a Swarovski 14 mm faceted rose heart pendant.

Sterling silver diamond cut rollo chain, puzzle pieces, leaf bail, and clasp. With a Swarovski 14 mm faceted dark indigo heart pendant.

Sterling silver 18 inch chain, and 2 inch extender with 4mm faceted jet Bicone. With a sterling silver music note with jet CZ pendant.

As usual the pictures do not look all that great but the better pictures will be up on my jewelry blog and the necklaces will be on sale in my etsy shop on Saturday.

Have a great rest of the week!

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Busy Saturday

Today I will be making this skirt and starting this dressThe red fabric with the flowers is for the skirt, the black fabric with the cherries is for the dress and the solid red fabric is the contrasting color for both. I really love my reds!

In between the sewing I will:
- Dye my hair
- Pedicure
- Do a couple of loads of laundry
- Go to the county fair with Mr. P

Hopefully I can get all this done so that I can spend my Sunday being a lazy bum in Barnes and Noble.

Ciao! xoxo

~ Dissolved Girl

Japan: Mrs Stylebook 2009 Spring/Early Summer

Why don't I live in Japan? or in California? or in Seattle? (would much prefer Seattle) Where I can buy Japanese publications!

I really love Mrs Stylebook and I wish I could buy it here in the DC area. But no, that is too much to ask for! For god sakes, I could not even find the August issue of Burda anywhere!





I tried to find the two issues above. I really want them. Really, really bad. But alas, I will just look at the pretty pictures online.

How cool is this:

Maybe if we can make it out to Japan in December I will be able to get my fill of awesome Japanese publications.

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

PS: I am also looking for the July and August 2009 Burda Magazine. They are either sold out here or just not being carried by stores. :-(

Crafty Sunday

Happy Sunday!

Today I spent my day finishing off projects that I started but just did not have time to finish during the week.

First I finished the apron that I cut out last weekend but never had enough time to finish:

Then I made my music note earrings and necklace:
Everything is made out of sterling silver. After I polish the pieces they will be up on my jewelry blog.

I was not aware until very recently that Walmart had a sewing section, so on Friday Mr. P took me over to the Walmart by our place and I must say I felt like a kid in a candy store. They had so much and cheap!

I bought the following: These fabrics will become a dress in the very near future.

Also, while at Walmart I found this very handy tool: The Simplicity Sidewinder Bobbin Winder. This thing is AWESOME. I no longer have to unthread my sewing machine and rethread every time I need to wind a bobbin. I love it and it is a very useful tool for anyone that sews. So far from other places I have checked, Walmart sells it the cheapest.

Next on my list of things to make is my last summer dress. I hope to cut everything out during the week and sew it during the weekend.

How was everyones weekend?

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Things to do

It was a great weekend. Too short but great none the less. Yesterday's Incubus concert was fantastic. I will have picture's and a little bit of video up tonight or tomorrow.

I have gotten back into sewing and made my first project on Saturday. On Sunday morning after breakfast Mr. P took me over to G Street Fabrics and I picked up a few things. I love to go to that place but they are a bit expensive. I think I will limit my shopping there to just the sale bin and the cheap patterns.

I still need a few notions but that can wait till next weekend, for now I have enough to keep my busy. In no particular order, here is my list of things/projects to do:

- Apron. I have cut out the fabric all I have to do is sew it together.
- Summer Dress. This will be my last summer dress for the season.
- RennFest Dress. I wont be going till October but I want to get started on it now.
- Winter Coat. I found a pattern for an awesome 1920's looking coat. I cannot wait to get started on that.
- Grocery Bags. This will be an on going project.

That is it on my list of sewing projects. I also have a list of jewelry projects but I am trying to wait patiently for my bead order to come in. More on that later.

The new season of Project Runway begins in 10 days: 12 Hours: 36 mins. It will be showing on Lifetime @ 10 PM on August 20th. I still think the funniest season was when Santino was on the show. Lets see what this season has to offer.

Do you watch Project Runway? If you do, which is your favorite season to date?

Ciao! xoxo

~ Dissolved Girl

I love the weekends

I took advantage of some of the sales and free tax DC is having this weekend.

Top from Forever21 (this is part of an outfit I am putting together for a super secret mission), Red headband from Forever21, Gold and black glasses case from Aldo, blue bag and scarf from NY & Company, and I finally got myself the Bamboo tablet that I have been wanting for a while.

I really want to be more Eco friendly and stop using plastic/paper bags from the stores, so I am going to start making shopping bags. This was my first one. I made it out of green and white upholstery fabric and the bottom out of white denim. I forgot how much fun it is to sew. I have plans to make grocery bags but I need to go out and buy more fabric.


A couple of weeks ago Steve Madden was having a sale and I bought the shoes above for $20! I love them. They are so comfy.


When we went to the Eastern Market I bought the cuff below from a local artist. She had them in different colors but ended up picking this one up. More my style.


Isn't it great?


I will end this with my first outfit of the day picture. This is what I wore for my Friday festivities.
Top: Do not remember where I got it.
Pants: Old Navy
Shoes: Rockport Shoes
Sunglasses: From vintage store in NYC
Earrings: Bought at a Native American Flea Market in New Mexico
Bracelet: New York and Company

Today I will be at Merriweather Post Pavillion for the Incubus concert. I am super excited, I have seen them in concert once before and they were awesome.

How is every ones weekend going??

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

Lazy Saturday

Mr. P and I had a whole plan for Saturday. We were going to wake up early go to the Botanical Gardens then go have an oink fest at BD's Mongolian Barbeque Grill. But our bodies had other plans. We slept our day away and now we find ourselves at Barnes and Noble continuing on our lazy day. Mr. P reading a book and me catching up on blogging, that I have shamelessly neglected.

It is funny how every time we attempt to make plans we end up doing something else. I am not complaining. I can actually go back home and jump in bed. Our work weeks are hard enough on us as it is I do not want for our weekends to be just as hard. So I try my hardest to listen to what my body wants on the weekends. So if the body wants to sleep and be lazy that is what it gets.

Another thing that had dawned on me is how I spend my lazy days. A lazy day for me was strolling around the mall, maybe picking up a shoe or two. Now every time I think of a lazy days what I am doing now is what comes to mind. Do not get me wrong, I still love to shop but instead of shopping for my clothes, I want to make my clothes.

We went to G Street Fabrics today to take a look at dress forms. I decided against getting one there because they look to be the same quality as others I have seen online at a much higher price. But since I was already there I decided to go look at the discount fabric table and I found this great dark fabric with pinstripes and thought "I can make Mr. P a pair of slacks with this", So off I ran to the pattern room and I found this fabulous pants pattern:

I also found a great pattern of a high waisted pencil skirt for myself:

Aren't those slacks and skirt great? I cannot wait to get home and turn on my sewing machine!

It is also great that I spent under 30 bucks on two patterns and 5 yards of fabric. As we all know that is a steal since a pair of nice men's trousers cost an arm and a leg. I will show you guys the final project once I am done.

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

Home WorkStation: Part Two

It is done! Mr. P put together the red drawer storage thing I got from Ikea a few weeks ago. I then cleaned up the table and brought out all my crafting stuff. My sewing machine finally has a home! Wooo Hooo!! I cannot wait to start some sewing projects. I still have my other sewing things that are not in my work area but since I found a great place for them in my closet I think I will just leave it as it is.

I am glad we got it done because a lady has ordered two headbands from me so I have to make them this weekend so I can give them to her on Monday.

Anyway, for the before picture's click here.

and here is the after picture:



It really has not changed much. I decided to keep the light that I already had on the desk instead of getting a new one. I will see how that works out for a while before I run out and get a new lamp.

I am so excited I do not know what to do with myself!

What do you guys think?

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl