Leather Craft Night

There's nothing like a boozy craft night to turn a bad week into a good week.

My friend Jessica came across a huge supply of leather and was nice enough to share it with our friend Suzie and me. We ordered pizza, listened to the Lemonheads, and thumbed through craft books for inspiration.

Suzie cut out different colors to make a flower, loosely based on the necklace on the cover of 30-Minute Necklaces. She also braided leather strips to make what kind of looked like a lanyard keychain from our crafty kid days.

We were inspired by a lot of jewelry projects, like Mystery-Braided Leather Cuff
and Camp-Inspired Leather Crafts.

Fabric-Covered Storage Boxes

Part of my Hurricane Sandy organizing meant dividing my craft supplies by craft -- sewing, embroidery, knitting -- to make everything easier to find.

I didn't have enough room in the closet, meaning some of these boxes are going to be out in the open on a shelf. If I'm going to look at these every day, they may as well be pretty!

I bought a plain white box from The Container Store for $4 and used a hot glue gun to cover that sucka in scrap fabric leftover from my Peony dress. Then I filled it with my embroidery supplies.

Crocheted Legwarmers

Fall means boots. It also means crocheted legwarmers.

The photo above appeared on the Martha Stewart Living Instagram, taken by my lovely coworker Justine, who always makes me look cooler than I actually am.

Hurricane Organizing and Crafting

Thank you to everyone who emailed or messaged to check on me during Hurricane Sandy. A lot of my friends are still without power, some are even trapped in their homes because of power lines and trees. It's going to take a long time for things to be normal again.

I was fortunate that I didn't lose power and -- despite being scared -- managed to host a pretty fun hurricane party.

But one can only play the ukulele and watch 80s movies for so long. Halfway through the storm, I got an itch. An organizing itch.

I started with ribbon, placing the spools on a wire hanger that is more easily accessible than the fabric storage bins I keep them in.

 

I restacked my fabric in the bins so that I could easily see what was inside each one. I'm also going to donate a lot of fabric scraps to a local arts center.

Prettying Up the Table

One of my biggest issues at home is my kitchen table. It's my catch-all for mail, keys, notes, magazines -- anything I throw down as I walk into the apartment. I think Sew, Mama, Sew's table setting contest is the perfect opportunity to clean up the table and make it pretty.

The best part about my table? I used fabric from scraps and the giveaway table at work, so it didn't cost me anything!

I Ain't Afraid of No Silk

I hold myself back a lot when sewing. Buttonholes, zippers, bias tape -- at some point I have run from them and later been forced to conquer them. This was the case when my friend Liz asked me to alter some sleeves on a dress she was wearing to a wedding.

Alter some sleeves? No problem! But when I found out the dress was silk, I got a little worried. I had never worked with silk before and if I messed this up, Liz was going to look like a bag lady at the wedding. I bravely changed my machine needle, did some test stitches on a scrap of the silk, and whatdya know? It turned out pretty well.

In honor of my bravery, some of my favorite silk fabric picks.

Clockwise from top left:

Aqua/Gray Misc Jersey Prints from Mood Fabrics

Teal Green Dot Silk Jaquard from Denver Fabrics

Bone Floral Voile from Mood Fabrics

Champagne/Rose Floral Jersey Prints from Mood Fabrics

Viburnum Fleurs from Vogue Fabrics

What are you scared of when you're sewing? Maybe I can persuade you to try it!

A Flowery Folky Peony Dress

I can't gush enough about Colette Patterns, and here's proof: I've made yet another Peony dress. You can see all the details -- including where I bought this amazing fabric -- in my post on Sew Weekly.

Sew Weekly is becoming a really great motivator for me and my sewing. I love seeing so many variations on one pattern.

Are you a Sew Weekly member? Let me know and I'll add you as a friend!