I Finished a Refashion!

My Goodness...

As a simple, starter project, the ruffled scarf seemed like a good first 'refashion' for me.

Yeah, Right!

My boyfriend has been so good to me, he's on the local freecycle and scored a bunch of second hand clothes which I'm putting to use in my refashions.

The thrift stores around here seem to have price tags like the retail stores to me. Of course, I'm originally from Ohio and I scored 20 shirts for $5 once (some of which i'm still wearing and that was oh, 15-20 years ago?!?). So maybe it's me...

Here's what I started with:

way small, knit, workout pants, slight stain, soft white color, soft to the touch, obtained Jan'10

The ruffled scarf jumped to mind. Not many of these have given me what they want to be yet, this most definitely did!

I read everything I could get my mouse on from Nikki's Wardrobe Refashion site and I started cutting. I'm pretty good at cutting. And that is the best part of this story.


I actually got 4 lengths total out of the pants, trimmed into long rectangles...

So Far, So Good!

Next comes, you guessed it, sewing these lengths together to form one long, Long, LONG rectangle!

Only one problem, I don't have a sewing machine.

Enter Laura who loans me a machine and I'm in business, right? Riiiight!

This machine is very reminiscent of mine and perhaps you remember me talking about how moody it is? Well, Laura's machine isn't quite as moody, not quite...

So I basically stitch these 4 lengths together...

Which actually didn't go too badly.

I used white thread on the white fabric and did the pieces 'back to back' (i use "" marks because by now, i couldn't tell!) then I opened up the length and sewed the seam down to the length, all this was with a straight stitch.

So Far, So Good STILL!

THEN, I get to try out this edging business which should make the edge do some nice lettuce leaf look... um, not so much with this fabric:

This took a LOT of thread too.

And I had to use some Navy thread to finish... it's kind of hard to tell so not to worry overly...


Big, not very lettuc-y

And something happened to the tension after awhile. And it didn't go away until I sewed on some paper of all things!

Actually, none of this was all that hard, just little frustrating and a lot of work to keep the tension on the edges to get what I did even with the lettuce edge attempt. It just didn't work out the way I thought it would.

And the final step, to thread some ribbon thru the center. Sounds simple, right?



Ice Cream ALWAYS helps, you know! :)
Riiight!

First off, I couldn't get my ribbon threaded needle thru the darn fabric. The weave was very tight. I actually DID get it thru the ends as I wanted the knot to work. Oh, I even bypassed that idea by putting a decorative bead on the ends.

Needle being stubborn!

Ha! Fixed that!!

Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Oh, I did all that. Only I didn't like how it bunched up with the weight of the cloth which left some of it spread quite thin, unless it's REALLY bunched up.

So I pulled the ribbon out...

And tried looping the ribbon around a couple of places to help distribution a little better.

Still not happy with it. It sure is warm! Just in time for our dip back into winter weather.

Did anyone else have this problem? Perhaps the fabric is heavier or something. I might just bunch it up more tightly all around.


bunchier... looks a little better...

Got any tips? Leave me a note!

Pam Hoffman

Blog Follower Giveaway

I am SO GRATEFUL to my followers that I will send each one of you (ok, probably not my boyfriend!) a little giftie, a RAK (random act of kindness) if you will.

I know that I like getting mail so...

If you are following me RIGHT NOW and you'd like a craft item, probably greeting card(s) or something like that, send your physical/snail mail address to pamhoffman at cox dot net to claim your prize by 2/21!

If you write a little bit about what you do or what you like, I can send something a little more focused on your interests, if I have anything like that!

Are you having a giveaway? Do you ever practice RAK (random acts of kindness)? Do you know how to get followers? Leave a comment so we can all learn!

Pam Hoffman

Fairy Orb my mom sent me for my birthday!

This is funny..

My boyfriend plays role playing games. He's done it for a loooong time!

He took a quiz and I told him to send it to me. Here's the result...

I Am A: Neutral Good Human Sorcerer (7th Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-12

Dexterity-13

Constitution-10

Intelligence-13

Wisdom-14

Charisma-12


Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

First Crop of the Year!

NOTE: been sick in bed a bit the past few days, catching up for you here now...

One of my favorite crop events happens once a month in Orange, California. I know I mentioned The Crop in Orange before, it just so happens that yesterday was the first one of the new year and the first crop I've attended in 2010, and it was grand!

The crop was very well attended so we had a lot of good potluck food, plenty of items 'For Sale' that people brought (including me!) where I actually found a great set of acrylic stamps, all set for Valentine's Day!


Looking from the stage into the room [far left]


Looking from the stage into the room [mid left]


Looking from the stage into the room [mid right]


Looking from the stage into the room [far right]


For Sale Items [on the stage!]

I have Valentine's Day on my mind now - it's one of my FAVORITE holidays (that and Christmas) since my birthday is the day after V.Day!


Quilling craze since the Christmas ornaments (oh, i never showed you! i'll have to fix that..)


I LOVE Valentine's Day!

I even got a couple of things on my list done!


A thank you from scraps given to me (three people were saving them up for me!)

Speaking of the scraps from others...

Valorie, Jennifer & Erica brought scraps they've been saving for me. These 2 big boxes were just about full of scraps!


Some of them, getting sorted (w/help from my boyfriend)

11 more to go this year! Yay.

Do you have a favorite crop you like to go to? Are the people really great there too? Do share, you never know who will be inspired to come and you'll make a new friend!

Pam Hoffman

We're a LITTLE Nuts About...

When it comes to decorating for the Holidays, my boyfriend and I go a LITTLE nuts around here...

Let me explain.

I have read that the average Christmas tree in your home is decorated with 75 ornaments.

OooKay...

We have something like 2x or MORE than that JUST ON THE TREE!

And then we start decorating other stuff.

...we decorate the lampshades... and the speakers... and the slats on the cupboard doors, and the hinges on all the doors in the public areas and the light in the hall has one hanging from it... and there's a big snowflake hanging off the blinds over the one window... almost forgot, there are ornaments covering the top of the big blinds over the french doors and we put garland and an ornament over the big framed art behind the couch... OH, and I found a NEW place for an ornament this year! - I wedged the hanger thingy between two books on the bookshelf bolted to the wall and dangled the ornament past the bottom of the shelf...



Hhmm.. did I forget anything? Probably...

OH, I know...and some of the 'usual' places (like on top of the TV, found a picture).

Like I said, it's a little nuts around here with Holiday decorations!

We have collected so many things over the years and I love to GIVE ornaments too.

Why am I telling you this? Well Gen over at 'Quadville' wanted to know (and there is a GIVEAWAY involved) which inspired me to type this all up... I KNEW I'd figure out what to do with all those pictures I snapped this year! ;)

Are you a conservative decorator, do you go a little (or a lot) nuts like we do or are you the person who puts up the 'Ditto' sign & points to the neighbor with the crazy decorations? You can tell me... LOL

Pam Hoffman

Handmade Gift Giving

I rather LOVE giving handmade items to family and friends. They don't always love them back so I need to figure out who likes what and what to avoid for some of them.

I'm making something for my boyfriend, (who ALWAYS loves the stuff i make!) he already knows about it and said he'd help me finish it! Isn't he 'da bomb'?

Here are a couple of photos of my progress to date...




I've seen some really great, creative, handmade things online lately too! I really should capture them somewhere...new project!

Here is the inspiration for my gift (and hopefully mine will look somewhat similar ;).

[if i figure out where it came from, i'll give the appropriate credit!]

What do you like to create for gifts? Who do you like giving them to? Are they well-received?

Pam Hoffman