Doctor Who Cosplay - Vortex Manipulator and Pattern

I do so many little projects for myself, my kids, or friends, and I've decided to start sharing the patterns I create so others can create with them as well.

Last year I made myself a costume for Halloween.  It was a steampunk version of River Song.  I made a leather vortex manipulator to go along with the costume.  I've turned it into a PDF pattern and listed it for sale in my Etsy shop.  Click the image below to check it out!

Altering a Dress Form for Long Torsos - Tall Dress Form

I'm sure anyone who is taller than average or has a long torso can relate to the frustration I've felt when buying clothing, sewing with commercial patterns, or finding a dress form to use when altering / test fitting clothing.  Adjustable forms sold at fabric stores offer the ability to change girth, and some are even able to adjust back length (with a change made at the waist), which helps, but doesn't solve the full problem.  There's also the issue of extra length above the bust line (which is why store-bought empire waist shirts/dresses or anything with a defined waistline, like jackets and coats, never work for me -- one of the main reasons I wanted to learn to make my own clothes).

After much searching online I found a jersey covered, fiberglass dress form with somewhat realistic measurements (which were actually very close to my own).  It looked something like this:

[I don't have a full step-by-step since I purchased this dress form and did the initial alteration about 9 years ago.]  I knew it needed to be elongated in two different places so, after removing the cover, I marked a line around the chest above the bust and at the waistline.

Then a took out the hack saw and had at it.  I admit I felt strange sawing away at something that resembled a human form...

After the from was cut, I spaced out the pieces using some things I had around the house -- big Glue Dots and a somewhat rigid plastic folder.  I cut the folder into wide tabs long enough to overlap between the pieces of the from and space the pieces out as much as I needed.  I used the big Glue Dots to attach the tabs to the inside of the form.

Inside the dress form (at the neck)

When that was done I used strips of muslin dipped in plaster of paris to wrap around and solidify the extensions.  After letting it dry for a few days I added some batting for padding on a few areas to make it my  measurements, and put the cover back on.

Over the years and after two kids, my body changed a little bit, so I needed to change the padding (take away in some areas, add in others).  I also decided to sew a new cover and re-stain the wooden tripod base.   I'm much happier with the form now. :)

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Sugar and Dots -- Your Whims Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- Make It Wear It -- The 36th Avenue Party Time -- Friday -  Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Frugalicious Friday --  Saturday - Strut Your Stuff --  Lovely Crafty Weekend --  Sweet Saturday -- Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Necklace Alteration -- Two from One

Has anyone else discovered the Styled by Tori Spelling line of jewelry?  I really like a lot of the designs, but I've found that using the system as-is makes necklaces that end up being an awkward length, or I would like it to be just a little bit different.  Whenever something like that happens I usually just end up doing what it takes to make it the way I want it.

Take this necklace, for instance.

I loved the open metal flowers, but personally, I felt like the Y style didn't quite work here. So I decided to take off the dangling part in the middle and make two different necklaces.

I attached the middle portion of the original necklace to a long-ish chain using jump rings and made a closure and extension (like in this post).

I created it in such a way that the flowers would hang to one side of the necklace instead of in the center.

While wearing it I noticed the flowers would twist and turn a lot, so I added another jump ring between the flowers, which helped it stay flat.

For the second necklace I attached a pre-made "necklace top" from the Styled collection, which I shortened to make the center of the necklace lay just below my collar bone.

Using jewelry wire cutters I clipped the extra loop off of the center flower.

As you can see it left a couple of barbs sticking out. I used a small rotary tool (kind of like a Dremel, but way cheapy, although it still did the job) and ground them down until it was smooth.

Which gave me my second necklace.

Two for the price of one... gotta love that! Has anyone else had projects where you were able to get two from one?

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday --nbsp; Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Sugar and Dots -- Your Whims Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- Make It Wear It -- The 36th Avenue Party Time -- Friday -  Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Frugalicious Friday --  Saturday - Strut Your Stuff --  Lovely Crafty Weekend --  Sweet Saturday -- Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Assembling a 12" Child's Bike

Before I continue on with all the fun posts I have planned, I wanted to finish the assembling of the kids bike (from this post) that I transformed for my daughter.  If you've stumbled across this post looking for how to disassemble a children's bike, just start at the end and work backwards.

After I painted the bike (using self-etching primer and standard spray paint -- since the more durable metal paints don't come in pink!), I was ready to put things back together.

Draped Chain Necklace and Happy 2013!

Happy new year everyone!!  

I, for one, am so happy to have 2012 over and done.  That year was kind of an overall fail for me.  But I've got high hopes and big plans for 2013 which will totally make up for last year.  Some of the plans include a more concerted effort and focus for my blog.  I'm going to focus more on fashion, with patterns, tutorials, style, jewelry, accessories, etc.  It's one of my main areas of interest.  I will also continue posts about food and DIY projects as I love those subjects, too, and don't want to give them up. :)  So, in practice the blog may not end up being very different, but I do plan on posting more frequently and trying to build something that will offer inspiration and help others be successful in their various projects.  And by "they" I really mean you, my wonderful, awesome readers!  Thank you so much for taking the time to visit, leave comments, and support me in my creative journey. 

My first post of 2013 is a tutorial for making a dramatic draped chain necklace.  It was inspired by those long necklaces with large circle links.  I've wanted one of those for a while but each necklace I found in stores was so lightweight and seemed that one tug from a small child would result in a broken necklace.  So, as often happens with things I would like to buy if they were available, but can't find, I ended up making one myself.  Thankfully it ended up being fairly simple. 

NOTE: This tutorial requires some basic working knowledge of how to use jump rings and jewelry-making tools. There are tons of great guides out there for the very new beginner, but I just don't take the time to explain every detail here.

I gathered up a few different types and colors of chain. (Minus that one in the middle... my kids made off with it and I completely forgot about it while I was making the necklace. Haha, I guess "out of sight out of mind" works for me sometimes, too.)

I started with the two chains made of large circle links. I removed the extra small links on one end (used to connect more than one length of chain) to even them out.

I laid out the chains to plan the placement, and to make sure they would actually look good together before putting the work in to assemble the necklace. I also took a picture to help me remember how I wanted things to look.

The large circle chains turned out to be several inches too short for the length I wanted, so I added a couple of inches of regular chain on each side, plus a little extra for an extension, using two jump rings for extra reinforcement to help distribute the weight of the rest of the chains. (At least in my theory, haha)

I assembled the closure and added a metal bead dangling at the end of the extension.

For connecting the chains I started with the smaller circle chain and carefully laid it out so it would lay flat when worn, making sure it wasn't twisted at all. I placed the larger circle chain where I wanted it to connect with the longer chain, then attached it with jump rings.

After getting the first two connected, I found working on the necklace with it on my dress form helped.

Instead of having all the chains go completely around the necklace, I ended them, slightly to the back, securing them on the longer circle chain. I attached them all to one of the circles since it is solid, without a break, so it can't pull apart. For each chain I added, I started by attaching it to the solid circle with a jump ring, bringing it around to the solid circle on the other side of the necklace and adjusted it to the length I wanted.  Then I opened the chain, removed a link to make it that length, and attached it with a jump ring.

For me, the whole necklace, following the bottom chain, measures 33" with 2" extension.  The bottom chain alone measures 26". 

And all done!

I really love it and I've already worn it more than once. Yay!

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Make it Great Monday --  Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Upcycled Awesome -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Sugar and Dots -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- Make It Wear It -- Friday -  Remodelaholic Friday -- Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Show and Share Day -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Design Dazzle --  Saturday - Strut Your Stuff --  Lovely Crafty Weekend --  Sweet Saturday -- Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Kids Bike Transformation

It took much longer than expected, but I finally finished the project I was working on for my daughter's fourth birthday!  Oh my goodness it feels so good to have it done!  And the icing on the cake is that my daughter LOVES it.

One day while taking my son's bike to get a new tire at the bike shop right around the corner from our apartment, my daughter spotted a tiny pink bike, just her size.  She had a great time riding it around the shop.  At the time she just had a tricycle for herself, which she was quickly outgrowing.  I suddenly had the idea to transform my son's old 12" [black, Batman] bicycle, which was in dire need of a new wheel, into a pink princess bicycle for my daughter. 

When first considering the project I thought it would be fairly straightforward.  Take parts off, take stickers off, spray paint, put parts back on, done.  However, when I got down to the point of having everything off, I got really intimidated and let it sit for a couple days just thinking, "What on earth did I get myself into?"  Thankfully my determination won out and I pushed through to the end. 

This is when I started to panic a bit.  (I apologize for the crappy photo)

Ta da!

I'm so happy it turned out so well. Now on to my other 5,378 projects. :)

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Make it Great Monday --  Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Upcycled Awesome -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Seven Thrity Three -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- House of Hepworths -- Friday -  Remodelaholic Friday -- Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Show and Share Day -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Design Dazzle --  Saturday - Strut Your Stuff --  Lovely Crafty Weekend -- Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Easiest Dress to Skirt Conversion Ever

It is extremely rare for me to find a dress that fits me with the correct shoulder-to-waist measurement or a maxi skirt that actually reaches the floor (at best they end up being ankle length). Sometimes I am able find a long dress that I can convert into a skirt.

On a trip to a thrift store I found an empire waist dress with a ruched waistband (brand new!). I realized I could simply cut the bodice off at the top of the waistband to make a skirt. It literally took about one minute. I was so happy!  

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Make it Great Monday -- Polly Want 2 Party  --  Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Upcycled Awesome -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Seven Thrity Three -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- House of Hepworths -- Friday -  Remodelaholic Friday -- Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Show and Share Day -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Design Dazzle --  Saturday - Saturday Spotlight --  Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Calendar for the Kids - Free Printables

For some reason many of my most vivid memories from my early years in elementary school center around the "circle time" calendar.  You know, the one with the interchangeable dates, months, seasons, and weather cards.  Remember those?

When my son started home-based public education (via K12.com) I knew I wanted one as part of our daily routine.  I looked around at some of those offered through educational/office supply stores, but they always seemed really gaudy and kind of obnoxious looking (if that makes any sense, ha!).  I wanted something slightly more aesthetically pleasing and customized with only the elements I wanted. 

So I decided to make my own.  The items I purchased were one 20"x30" foam core board, 1/8" and 1/4" chart tape (optional), and self-adhesive velcro.  Materials I had on hand were printer paper and ink, colored cardstock, colored pencils, laminating sheets, a black marker, ribbon, and page protectors.

I began by using my big metal square to draw the large rectangle for the calendar, one inch in from the left side and one inch up from the bottom. The rectangle measures 15" high x 19.25" wide. Then I marked off measurements for the small interior squares, vertically every 2.5" and horizontally every 2.75", then drew lines across.

Aqua and Orange Toddler Birthday Party

Lately I've been tending to go pretty low-key for my kids' birthday parties.  Like I said in my other party post, I usually have to do everything solo, so I don't want to wear myself out so much in preparation that I can't enjoy the moment during the party itself.

For my daughter's birthday last year, which was our first year in a small apartment since moving from the house out of state, I decided to have two different gatherings; one for family and one for friends her age.  I decided to just go with colors instead of worrying about a theme, which ended up saving me a lot of time.

I had a few decorations including the über trendy tissue paper pouf thingys (which I totally love).

For the kids gathering I just had a few snacks for them, pretty-fied water bottles and whole wheat carrot cake cupcakes (which were heavenly, if I do say so myself). I dyed paper doilies and cut them out with a cupcake liner template.

For an activity, besides just playing with the toys in my kids' room (which seems to be what they want to do the most), the kids made macaroni necklaces with pasta that I had dyed different colors.

And finally, as part of the goodie bags I sent them away with some homemade playdough.

Simple, yet the kids enjoyed it, so I consider it another success. :)