Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Thirsty for more? Time for a Juicy Box


Next up, following on from pre-packaged drinks theme is the juicy box clutch/wristlet.

The purple fabric came first so the juice box would be grape flavoured.

A straw pokes out from the top and a chain strap on one side.






 Mirror, mirror..

Monday, November 17, 2014

My very own Box of Joe

Its been a long hiatus.. isn't it annoying when a day job gets in the way?
Even more annoying when the day job becomes a night job as well ☹
All the pain but none of the glory *sigh*


Getting back to it.
The last few project were sewing projects so its past due for some boxy fun!


The latest creation is based on the humble milk carton (stumpy version).
Presenting Caffe Latte in a carton.
My very own box of joe (although i do not drink coffee at all) =P

The chain strap/handle is removable; in fact, i pinched this off my Moschino Cheap & Chic bag.
Currently its cross body, but can be replaced with a shorter hand held chain strap.
Its spacious enough to hold the essentials and more.


just a thought, why is it that people order a 'latte', but they obviously don't mean (just) milk, but milk/white coffee?


Vintage style caffe latte graphic

Front and side.
 
Front & other side

Open wide!






Monday, June 23, 2014

Reconstructed: Quick and Easy Cropped Jumper (with tutorial!)

I recently picked up some cheap men's fleece jumpers on sale (even cheaper!) to hopefully keep me warm and fuzzy this winter - the chill really comes and goes these day. We can go from a mild/warm winters day to absolutely icy the next!

As they were already cheap, by the time they were discounted, only really big sizes were left... and as they are men's, they are even bigger to me!


What the hey, they were cheap so grabbed a couple.
So this is jumper reconstruction project numero uno.


What you need:
1 x oversize fleece jumper/sweatshirt (i used men's black jumper in size XXL)
2cm wide elastic
scissors
sewing machine/matching thread
optional: embellishments, overlocker/serger

Steps:
Put the jumper on and mark where you will be cropping the jumper depending on how long you want it to be.
Remember to add the seam allowance to your desired length.
As the elastic is 2cm, i add 3cm to my desired length.

I had pre-machine embroidered a design to my jumper before the reconstruction, just in case the embroidery turned out bad. The embroidery design i appropriated was originally created as table linen corners, so i had no idea if it would work on fleece fabric as its a lot thicker :P

Save the cut-offs for another project!

Take it off, fold it in half and cut.


 Wrap the elastic around your arm (unstretched) approximately where the sleeve will end to measure elastic length. Cut out 2 pieces for the arms.
Measure around your torso where the jumper ends also. Cut one piece.


Optional: overlock the edges of the cut sleeves and hem.
This will provide a neater finish but is not critical as the fleece doesn't fray much.

Fold 3cm of the sleeve edge under. Sew the sleeve hem 2.5cm from the folded edge. Leave a small gap in the seam to thread the elastic.

argh! the focus is on the wrong spot!

Thread one of the shorter elastics through and stitch the ends together.
Stitch over the gap to close the opening.


Repeat the same steps for the other sleeve and the body hem.


And we're done!
Embellish as you please or not at all :)

Wearing with
DSquared2 shirt
Marc by Marc Jacobs leather pants
Theysken's Theory flats
Fendi mini 2jours bag

Monday, June 9, 2014

Pattern Review: V1170 Vogue Patterns American Rachel Comey

Its coming into cooler weather now and its time to break out the stash of velveteen and actually use it.
Based on the fabric, i chose to make the skirt part of this two part pattern.

Rachel Comey Vogue Patter V1170 Envelope front
The skirt is described as "flared skirt, has front and back seam details, back invisible zipper closing and wide waistband".
Its not very clear what the skirt actually looks like based on the photo on the front of the envelope as the skirt is black... and well the black just prints out as a black hole (besides seeing the shape of it).
The line drawing looks like this

Rachel Comey V1170 line drawing
Doesn't quite match the photo. The drawing looks a lot more fitted and higher waist-ed than the silhouette of the skirt in the photo.

Soldiering on.

The pattern itself turns out it matches the line drawing much more than it does the photo.
Very fitted through the hips and when they described it as a wide waistband, they weren't bloody kidding. The waistband ends up being about 6cm wide!
Not that that is all bad news, at least it helps to smooth out the tummy ;P

Almost faultless pattern until mid way when you reach the step in joining the composite skirt back/sides to the skirt hem. The pieces did not match up. The composite back/sides was a lot bigger than the skirt hem leaving me with an excess of fabric in the center back.

Secré bleu! (let's pretend the french really say this)

And you end up with something like this...

Extra wide seam

Took a little bit more stitching and seam ripping to get the back sitting nicely across the butt.

Another difference i saw was the line drawing showing some curve/flounce of the hem at the front, this was not the case with the actual pattern. Its more flat / A line.


This skirt is seriously high waist-ed.
So high in fact, that the top is a crop top and can be tucked in!! I have a short waist so that compounds the fact.


Overall, i could use this pattern again as the end result turned out surprisingly good... even though it neither matched the photo or the line drawing. Bear that in mind!

Wearing with 
VIVETTA 'Sandra' hands collar top
ISABEL MARANT Sheila boots

nb: if these designers allow Vogue Patterns to copy their items, why can't Vogue Patterns just get the actual item and take it apart so that it really is a pattern of the item??

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

What time is it?!

 Its time for a surprise!!
.. or maybe is time for something "engaging"...

Abracadabra!

I designed this novelty ring box for fun.
Ring boxes out there are quite run of the mill, plain-ish, and "regular".
Most ring boxes i see on etsy are associated with engagements so what better than a clock to ask what time is it?


Of course, its not limited to only engagements. It can be time for anything!
The insert for the ring can be easily changed to an insert for a necklace chain or earrings.
Stay tuned for more.



Friday, February 28, 2014

Flexin' with Wa! Pucca

Sunglasses manufacturers are so lazy!
They produce a one size fits all hardcase for all the different sunglasses models released under the one label. So long as the sunnies can go in, job done.
Case in point -->
The sunnies take up less that half the space in the hardcase.
These gigantic boxes take up alot of bag real estate!

Necessity is the mother of invention... well in this case, im not inventing anything, just making something :P
These sunnies are very slim, even the folded arms arent bulky - so a flex frame (padded) pouch would do the job. These ones are 8cm wide flex frames.

Not only would i get a new slimline case for the sunnies, i can kill two birds with one stone and try out a cute new machine embroidery design i just purchased (from a russian website; risky?!) - Pucca being chased by butterflies!

Pucca is freaking adorable!

lol even though my stitching was straight, when flipped out, it looks wonky?!
Its the fabric and batting, i swear!

cutie!

wrinkly contrast back

Contrast emerald green silk satin lining (leftovers from the construction of a top)


For more Pucca cuteness overload, visit the 'Wa! Pucca' playground in Daegu, South Korea.
What is it? Its a Pucca themed indoor playground for little kids,... and big kids :) and its awesome!

Around the world series of Pucca play rooms

Awwww!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Miniature Love

Ahh... the perils of killing time on eBay.
You start out searching for something and somehow end up looking at things totally unrelated. In this case, it was dollhouse miniatures. These miniature kits came up and were ending soon. Impulse bid and here we are ^.^;
It was a listing, based in Sydney, for 4 kits (cake shop, bridal shop, girl's bedroom and baby room), and it was a steal!

After the purchase, searches specifically for miniature kits reveal there are heaps of these types on eBay, particularly from China.

First up, the shop kits.
Comes in a yellow box that says European Miniature Shop and shows 4 variations of shops.
The first one i tackled was the cake store (bottom right)
Front
Back
In true kit fashion, the inside reveals lots of materials required and "engrish" instructions.
With the amount of materials provided, there is very little room for mistake.
There is really only enough material inside the kit to get it right the first time. Cannot make a mistake. If you mess up something, there is no extra material - scavenging is required to try and make up for it.

Some of the wooden mdf pieces did not fit even though they were meant to be cut to size =S i guess that is what the sand paper was for.
I had to create a light fitting out of cardboard myself as the small wooden bead they provided in the kit was totally curved and wrong for the light fitting and wouldn't have worked.
The engrish instructions called the piece wooden round bead, so i guess they just included anything that could vaguely fit that description. Some strange substitutions. The resulting light fitting would not only have been frustrating  but would not look remotely like the photo they show!

It took around a week to complete this cake shop. There was alot of small fiddly bits, especially making the cakes. Introducing "Cake Love"...
..
Ta da!

Shop Front
Lights are on, must be open for business!
I gave the shop front a curved awning, instead of an angular looking creased (90 degree fold) awning shown in the kit
Come inside..
My custom light fitting is larger then the kit's photo but is more in proportion with the shop and looks better =P
Cake display
Take a seat and enjoy the sweets at your leisure


The orange silk table cloth is my own substitution as i couldnt get the pink polyester satin they provided to stay put.
Walking past at night and the lights are still on!
Painstaking but satisfying end result - looks really cool in the dark with the lights on =)
Although, dont go man-handling anything as its all quite dainty and delicate...