Wearing My Heart on My Sleeve (or close)

As requested by my mother (thanks mom for always supporting me), here is the finished sweater with a new heart patch covering the old hole:  

 

This was definitely a bargain sweater! Also, do you like the giant white sheet covering my crap pile in our guestroom/craft-room? Another project!

LOVE stripes (this angle makes my dress form look quite busty, but she's not)!

I used a contrasting thread, because I thought it would give the piece character (and I didn't have the matching thread color).

              So you might ask "how did this sweater come to have a hole in it?" Well, there used to be a swirly flower thing on the sweater, but it started hanging off one day and instead of trimming it off, I just ripped.  Yes, I am that impatient and yes I have a minor in costuming for Theatre, but it looked awful! This idea of a patch has opened my mind to so many other quick fixes.  As I have mentioned, I work at a donut shop and there is ALWAYS shortening everywhere, and that includes my clothing.  After I finished patching the sweater I decided that I could put patches over grease stains or any stains for that matter. AND I could make those adorable elbow patches on a sweater in the shape of hearts (I've seen them on Modcloth and adorable hipsters).  To top it off, I don’t even necessarily need to cover anything at all.  I could just add a scrap patch anywhere to make a unique piece. The new possible projects are endless and I don't have to buy new clothes to get a refreshing look! Anyways, the patch is made out of a sleeve of an old t-shirt that I used for another of my recycled projects and was simply zig-zag stitched on with my sewing machine (no mom, you can't have it back!). BUT, for all of you out there who think they can't do this because they don't have a sewing machine, you're wrong! Some super simple hand stitching would look just as cute and everyone can do it with a little bit of patience. NO EXCUSES!!

                As I mentioned, here are some of my reversible mittens I made for Christmas gifts this past year. 

They were so simple with three stitch lines and required less than 30 minutes for a set (with lining) that I couldn't help but make way too many.  These are a few of the leftovers that I made after I had finished all the friend and family gifts.  I ended up cutting all the pieces at once and then sewing all at once; as opposed to cutting one pair and sewing that pair and so on. 

                If you couldn't tell, I love to be crafty and go through phases.  I used to make friendship bracelets out of embroidery thread for a while, then graduated to beading with my mom, then sewing in college (hence costuming), and now I’m into decorating/painting along with the little sewing projects along the way. And today, I added another craft skill to my list: knitting. 

                A wonderful donut shop patron and I got talking one day, and I learned that she has years of experience knitting. She is part of a group of women (now spread across the country) and some of them have traditions in knitting from their families (Irish cable, socks, sweaters, etc.).  Basically, she knows tons of helpful tips and tricks! And although I learned the knit stitch in my first year of college and cranked out about 20 scarves for Christmas gifts that year, I have never made anything past that simple task.  So here we go…something new and exciting and I’m sure I’ll be obsessed for the next month knitting whenever I can.  Good thing I finished three books in the last week! I’ll definitely post about my new projects, triumphs and failures. 

               Oh, and remember how I mentioned Pride and Prejudice in my last post? Well, here’s one of my sewing projects where I made an empire period dress to be Elizabeth Bennett for Halloween.  

There's the dress on the left and I'm with a friend who was a grandma. Her visor says "I love bingo"

And here's a picture of the bonnet from the back.

And then things started to get weird.  We all started changing up our head-wear!

Yes, I stole the Marie Antoinette wig and grandma visor.

And then dancing with a skeleton happened. We're cool kids!

Anyways, I fell in love with that bonnet at a local vintage fair and it was the inspiration for this piece! And there you have it; just another fun project to share!         

Get crafty ya’ll!