From 1970's cocktail party to 2010's winery wedding

**Update - scroll to the bottom for a picture of the dress in action!**

I've had this dress tucked away in the sewing room for about two years now. I picked it up at a secondhand clothing shop for somewhere between $2 and $5, having fallen in love with the fabric pattern. I've debated what to do with it, never quite sure if I really wanted to alter it, or leave it in its '70s glory.

love, love, love this pattern

Gifts for Little ones, Fall & Winter edition

Fall was a busy time for birthdays and birth days (I suppose it's that time of my life, when all the friends & coworkers are popping little ones out!), so here's a little round-up of five projects I managed to squeeze in between school obligations and house & yard chores. . . 

Small tote bag, with monogram, for the niece's 2nd birthday:

It was a big hit.

Pocket!

Halloween 2015!

Last year, Gwen and I managed a pretty fantastic 90s era costume. If you missed it, check it out here. This year we went more whimsical, honoring some beloved yard art.

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

This year the sister and I went in on a joint costume. I came up with idea earlier in the year, and with a little planning, some tween-dress shopping, and last minute embellishments, our costumes were complete.

Guess those 90s ice queens!

Perfection on skates

Sprucing Up the Walls. . .

not really wall-related, but I did wind the
yarn blanks that mom & I dyed in May.
future mittens?

Happy March! Winter is still hanging on around here - we got a little bit of snow today (fresh powder SB & MRG!), and it's supposed to be wicked cold tomorrow. I don't mind it - I'm a huge fan of winter and am always reluctant to see it go, so hopefully we have a few more weeks left!

I'm slowly chipping away at little house projects. I've been hanging photos, maps, posters, etc. that have been collecting over the years and have been unearthed in the unpacking process, sewing curtains, agonizing over what color to paint the living room half of the main space (which actually won't happen until April, I'm sure), setting up the guest room (now that the brief foray with a roommate is over), etc. Here's a little update on what's been done the past few months.

House Project #4: The Kitchen! & Kitchen Cupboards, Part II

As many of you know, I teach at a ski academy here in Vermont. Over the last few years I've gone to Colorado with the Alpine kids when they travel for their November on-snow camp. This year I didn't end up going - a bit of a disappointment, but also a chance to get a few projects done. I switched over my seasonal clothes, I sorted and rearranged the guest croffice, I organized the mancave, and I took on the kitchen.

I had already painted the inside of the cupboards, back when I first moved in, but needed a chunk of time to finish the exterior of the cupboards, and to update the rest of the space. Cue several weeks sans-students, mix in some Australian series' on hulu, and voila, a mostly finished kitchen/dinning room. The walls are a really nice blue, called harbor haze (a nod to my five years on the island), and the trim is the same woodland snow seen in the laundry room and reading nook. The handles on all the cupboard doors and on the drawers were spray-painted with several coats of semi-gloss black.

This space had the most amount of work that has needed to go into it prior to painting. Two of the walls had wallpaper, the cupboard doors and handles all needed to come off, a hole or two needed patching, and there was some scary crap under the stove. All of the cupboards and trim in the house is stained wood, so it all needs several coats of stain-blocking primer before painting. I've given the trim all several coats of the primer, and at least two coats of the trim paint although I may go back with a third and fourth coat as I'm noticing the dark still coming through in some areas. I also realized half-way through the first coat of the wall color that they had painted over a layer of wallpaper at some point. Someday if I get really ambitious I'll redo the walls, but for now it came out pretty nicely.

kitchen, pre-move-in: stained-wood cupboards, flowered wallpaper & a plaid valance

Sweatshirt Resize

I like to refer to the token sweatshirt from my undergrad days as the "$350 sweatshirt" because I received it after mailing in the $350 deposit to hold my spot when I decided to go to Clarkson. Of course they were indiscriminate in selecting the "welcome-to-college-thanks-for-the-first-of-a-lot-of-money-you-will-give-us" sweatshirt to send to me, and consequently it is a large . . . while I am not. Luckily, the late 90s were all about over-sized clothes, so in the grand scheme of things at the time the size was inconsequential. Not to mention that I was at an engineering school where dressing stylishly didn't feel all that crucial, except during job fairs (note to current students: sweatshirts are generally not acceptable job fair attire).

the 90s are alive in this sweatshirt

Make Something Monday: T-shirt produce bags

. . . and other updates.

A while ago, my sister and I had decided to establish a weekly crafting routine on Monday nights (my last class ends by 5, and I have the evening free from dorm-parenting duties). This weekly crafting idea comes from my friend Nicole from ME, who has been holding "Too Cute Tuesdays" off and on over the past several years. She started after she moved off the island, so I never got to be a part of them. She and her crew have made a lot of cool things over the years that I keep meaning to try my hand at (the Fabric To Go boxes I made last spring came from a craft she had posted about). Winter being winter (and colds, and lack of planning) has kept us from actually starting up. Last night (yes, Tuesday), however, we decided to get the show on the road.

old t-shirts, mostly from G

Last week I'd stumbled across a t-shirt repurposing project: turn old t-shirts into produce (or other) bags with a seam or two and some snips through the fabric to give it some extra stretch. One take on the project is here, another take is here. We mostly followed the former example.

Crafting in July

I've been on a bit of a crafting hiatus (at least a pie-baking hiatus) since I was away for the start of my grad school program for three weeks, although I did manage to be a little bit crafty at grad camp (as we have affectionately dubbed it - it really did feel like camp most of the time!).

We were journaling almost every day, so I was drawing and sketching a lot.

Fabric To Go

My friend Nicole does internety things, including blogging her often weekly "Too Cute Tuesday" crafting evening, complete with a themed cocktail to go with the craft. The crafts are always cool, and range from cooking to fabric crafts and everything in between. A few of us on the island keep saying we should start some weekly crafting. . . maybe when winter is FINALLY over (yes, we did get a reprise of winter as an April Fool's joke from Mother Nature. . . though I secretly don't mind the snow).

Back in January, the craft was oragami-ish, cloth takeout containers, modeled after the cardboard takeout container and which one of the TCT crafters had seen on another blog.  It reminded me of the plastic reusable ones that are sometimes sold around the holidays. I actually have one that Mom used for packing Christmas cookies a few years ago. I loved the idea right away - very "green", which is, of course, all the rage these days. 

Furniture Facelift: Two Sidetables & an Ottoman

say no to crack

About a month ago I found a a small ottoman at the swap shop. Aside from the cracked seat, it was in good shape; it even has wheels for ease of moving it around the apartment! I didn't really need it (I don't really need anything from the swap shop), but I knew it would make a great foot rest for the arm chair, and the cats clearly need another object to sit on.


When I brought it home, I promptly put it in my neighbors empty apartment until I could find time to do something to make it slightly less ugly, or at least a little more comfortable. No one wants to sit on a cracked seat. Knowing I needed to give this seat a face lift reminded me that I should finally get around to giving a couple of side tables that I've had for a while a face lift, too. I had planned on painting them, but my apartment doesn't have a lot of space for such activities. Next door they went to wait their turn to be refurbished as well.

Homemade Christmas

The family decided at some point this past year to do homemade christmas, and keep it lowkey. Most of us followed the rules, and most of us waited until the last minute. Mom still hasn't completely finished a few things, but we got to see the assorted makings of said gifts.

Several of the things I made were requests or suggestions, and a few I had to come up with because the recipients were being most unhelpful ("I have no ideas. I just want to get rid of stuff"). I didn't wait until the last minute to get started, but I was definitely finishing at nearly the last mintute.

Without further ado, here are 2010's homemade christmas gifts.

A new venture

I've been knitting and sewing since I was young and imagine it will continue for a long time. I still have a small draw-string bag I sewed in 4H, as well as a pillow from junior high home ec. I'm pretty certain there are several small knit items hiding amongst my dollhouse and American doll things that are tucked away at my parents.


I decided I needed a way to share some of the crafting I do in my spare-ish time. The things I make are a mixed bag - sometimes for me, sometimes for gifts, sometimes for sale. Hopefully there will be some semblance of consistency to sharing what I'm working on, and at the very least, showing off previous work.


Most crafting happens to be knitting, which includes a wide variety of things from sweaters to hats to socks to whimsy's, and on, and on. I also do a lot of sewing - baby quilts, aprons, the occasional big quilt, miscellaneous bags, and clothing for myself, including at least half a dozen dresses that I made for various weddings and that, unfortunately, I've really only worn once or twice. Ooops. If only my job were more conducive to garden-party style dresses.


And now a plug for my ulterior motive:
I've been selling quite a bit of my knitting over the years. I think it started with a holiday craft show several years ago when I lived in Durango. Since I've been on the island I've taken part in the Silver Threads Artisan Craft show that happens in the summer and winter. In addition, I get fairly consistent requests. I've been known to knit for trade as well as for things like coffee and chocolate. Please don't hesitate to email me if you're interested in something you see or have in mind.


I also take on alteration and mending of various clothes, mostly for friends and local folks on island.