A Bag for Anna.

Yesterday's project: a bag for my dear friend Anna, six months late.



She'd given me the color scheme in January, I'd apologized and promised it was coming by Valentine's day, and I had been making excuses and looking at the fabric ever since... until yesterday.

I got up, ate my breakfast*, put on a dress and some pearls (I am more productive that way), whipped up a little seltzer-with-vanilla, and got down to business.


I used the same oh fransson pattern I have before... it's easy and effective.


I like it. I may make myself a wallet in the same color scheme.



-Papermoon

*cream cheese on whatever I can find seems to be the summer favorite

Again...Yes, Please.

Wouldn't this look well with that vintage suitcase you're going to buy me?


Found via { simplesong }, from Etsy shop Death and Texas (DNTX).

And in all reality, I'll take anything in the shop.

-Papermoon

PS: If it means anything for my chances, I will add that I did indeed accomplish the Audrey Tautou haircut.

Darnit!

I finally got around to darning my jeans yesterday, after four months of putting down on each daily 'to-do list' I wrote. Procrastination, anyone?

I shouldn't have dawdled, considering how easy it is to do. Before yesterday, I'd only darned by hand (a pain). With my machine, this quick denim rejuvenation was painless and satisfying! I feel like I have three new pairs to wear!

Here's how to do it:

Before you start, round up your hole-y jeans, your sewing machine, some matching thread (or go nuts with some funky colors! Your choice!), some pins, and a thin, somewhat stretchy, soft material for reinforcing. I used some scraps from a pair of my sister's jeans which we'd just turned to shorts. I would also recommend shirting, thin corduroy, or even polar fleece–which I hear works very well. On to the process.

First, locate your holes and worn areas. (Mine always seem to fall apart at the inner leg on the left side. Consistent problem...odd.)



Second, turn your jeans inside out and cut a patch of your reinforcement material to fit the worn area. Make sure you encompass the area right around any holes you have–the area is likely very weak. (Look for buckling, fraying and super-softness.) Pin on your patch.



Third, put a denim needle in your machine and set it for a darning stitch, inserting the proper foot. (In case you don't have a computer of a machine like I do, a darning stitch should look something like 21 or 32, shown below. Darning is basically weaving–your stitch should feature many small stitches running into each other, close together. I used 21, figuring the 'zig zag' would favor my slightly-spandex jeans a bit better.)



Fourth, darn that business! Run the stitch over the fabric to cover the weakened area. When you're done, tie your knots, cut off any lagging patch corners, and turn your jeans right side out! VOILA!


Alright... your turn! Go make new clothes out of the old! A recession-era pastime...and a lot of fun.

-Papermoon

some summer dresses in mind...

... from another time!

i was at vogue fabrics the other day, just taking a gander and picking up a pattern i've been wanting.



i couldn't help but get distracted at look at basically EVERYTHING in the store, as usual. i had a painstaking battle with my willpower over a bunch of vintage menswear buttons (my willpower, thankfully, won). i must have touched and admired every piece of venetian lace and let's not even talk about the remnants i managed not to buy.

in any case, the best part, as usual, was looking through all the patterns and catalogs at the fancy things i would never make and don't need. i became extremely fixated on the summer offerings in the butterick's catalog from their 'retro' section. i think i might order some of these!



my new life plan, in which i toss all trends to the wind and embrace my love of high waists and secretary blouses, is really making me feel pretty. not that it's so important to enjoy one's reflection at all times...but it is nice! :)

-papermoon

anthropologie-inspired headbands

anthropologie is a great source for research.

i love to window shop there and get ideas, especially for crafting fun gifts for friends.

a few weeks ago, my friend leigh admired these headbands, which fetch a mean price of anywhere from 32.00 to 38.00.

i decided to whip up my own version for her birthday.








i just put together some fabric flowers with bead accents, sewed them onto a fabric strip base, and then attached them to the headbands with a series of tight thread loops. they looked adorable in her hair this weekend!

here are a few detail shots.

sorry about the blurry one. i think i need a new camera.

make yourself some! spring has sprung!

-papermoon

i've been busy and i will soon be busier!

hi all!

i have been very MIA, my apologies. i have been a busy bee, preparing for a trip i am taking to san francisco-- leaving today. first time out there and i'm excited!

i will start the week with my lovely friend cassie (not to mention her brother, ben!), stealing as much of her day as she has left over between and after work hours. i am excited for the reunion-- for the last four and some years we have seen much more of eachother than her move out west has recently allowed. it will be great to catch up and see what her new chapter is like.

once the weekend hits, i am very excited to be getting in a visit-- and a baptism, no less!-- with my san francisco cousins! i have never visited with them in their home territory, and i can't wait. i get to meet my littlest cousin, and catch up with the rest of the troop, whose company i so completely enjoyed at the november wedding. it is nice to have some relatives with such a comparable experience of siblinghood (a parallel family of six kids!) to mine.

i have been sewing like a maniac so that i can bring presents, which is my way. i am very pleased:
for baby, a baseball bib:



the last two bags in the series i have been showing you:




for my grandma (who is visiting, too) a little travel jewelery case:



i didn't know what to whip up for the boys, but i found (alas, didn't make) some great gifts:

a reporter's notebook for my encyclopedia brown loving cousin, a nice compact moleskine set for the oldest of the family, and bananagrams for everyone, in the guise of a gift for my uncle.

hopefully none of them are reading my blog too much so the surprise won't be spoiled... but at this point i think they are probably too busy to check before i will see them, as my cousins emma and elizabeth are singing at the inauguration today!!! so totally exciting. i have been up all morning and sifted through the channels enough to hear them and to see that they caught elizabeth looking lovely in every song! nice job guys!

in any case, i am still in my flannels and glued to the tv. my stomach hurts terribly from the 5 cups of coffee i've had, and the two eggs and three pancakes i ate for the occasion. i am praying the snowflakes won't upend my flight patterns. i can't decide if i should be lazy, and take a cab, or cheap, and take the el...

later!

-papermoon

foiled!

woke up early with serious plans to get myself to the vogue fabrics in evanston, but my view was snow snow and more snow... and regardless of how severe it is, it's just too much for me if i'd be lugging a bunch of fabric/notions around in it.

luckily, i love snow, so it doesn't really put a damper on things. at all.

AND... i made scones. mmm. i love the joy of cooking. and heavy cream.

off to another bag! can't say i'm not looking forward to another day snuggled in front of my machine.

scones and yesterday's bag.

-papermoon

the most satisfying tutorial online.

hi there!

i wanted to share a lovely online tidbit--probably the best sewing tutorial and print out pattern i have ever used, to date. with a gorgeous outcome.

i don't actually include oh fransson! on my list of 40-blogs-i-read-every-day (because i am not a quilter), but it's a really great one. i wanted to make some purses for a few of my cousins as gifts and i decided to give this 'margaret bag' a try because hers looked so pretty. and WOW--she included a pattern, a step by step pdf with pictures, and a materials list. the ocd girl in me was positively giddy.

and... the results of my first one were awesome. it only took 4 hours! (!) the pleats are so pretty and the pockets are so cute inside.

i can't wait to make another one today.

-papermoon

skirt. and the laziest sewing job in the universe.

woke up late (lazy), finished my bella research for the week (in pajamas--lazy), and then proceeded to have NO patience and do some of the laziest sewing ever done by a human being.

i don't care... my skirt and slip are done, and now i will wear them to church tomorrow and feel like i accomplished something in my desired time frame. even if i will be hoping no one looks too closely.


isn't light blue a nice little secret contrast? i think so.

off to each lunch at 4:30!!!!!!! (LAZY)

check out the destruction:

skirt in the making.

so, this summer i fell in love with african cotton print.

strangely, the patterns remind me some skirts banana republic made when i was in middle school... only mine are in nicer colors, in my opinion.

in any case, i was really pleased with a skirt i made this spring, so i decided to make another one with some cotton i snatched from the remnants section. i am going to head back to vogue fabrics today, as i am spending halloween in evanston, and try to find some nice inspiring ribbon/ric rac/lacey stuff/pretty satiny fabric for the bottom edge. i made a mock up of a ruffle, thinking i might keep everything in the same fabric, but i didn't really like the look of it. so i am going to go find the perfect edge. maybe just some fuschia ribbon?
we'll see.

i just don't like the ruffles. at all.
thank goodness i didn't get hasty and just smack something on there.

the goal is to have it finished by sunday.

i might want to make a slip to wear under it by sunday, too. woo hoo, silk. or some excuse for silk. :) slips are so funny and antiquated, and i don't think i have owned or worn one since approximately fourth grade, when i decided i hated them. now i think they are a pretty great idea. luckily for me, angry chicken just did a post about slips and crazy underwear. mine probably won't be that attractive or colorful, but i'm excited anyway.

off to do some bella research, approach the thought of showering/getting dressed, trot off to evanston, and fabricize, babysit, and eat too much candy.

-papermoon

PS: am i the only person on the planet who wishes it was colder???

a bit on my bedroom walls, as requested by sb

finally a little crafting post.

i was talking to sb last night and she asked that i post about the way i decorated the walls of my bedroom. before i begin, i must credit a post from How About Orange, which inspired the look.

basically, it's a great way to decorate rented walls with no damage, and an endless slew of possibilities. i had been envisioning a leaf pattern for my walls for a long time, but didn't want to go the route of paper cutouts--my college dorm strategy-- because of the fading, tape, and general one-use nature of them. then this blog solved the problem.


all you have to do is make your cutouts and then spray them down with spray starch (i used Niagara). it's a bit messy but it's not complicated. i just sprayed all of my leaves on top of a cardboard box. then, just use your fingers and smooth the cutouts onto your wall/bathroom door/dresser from ikea and use a little towel to mop up any drips. they stay on really well, but when you want to take them off it's just a simple peel!

fabric, pioneers, possibilities.

many thanks for the comment (thanks, lora, i should say) and some of your in person/phonecall opinions on my sweater. i opted to leave off on the crinkly ribbon for a simpler look. it's such a refreshing update on something i would have otherwise had to give away.

when i bought that pretty silk you saw on said sweater, i also scooped up a bunch of other awesome remnants. some of them i bought with specific things in mind... one knit fabric is a perfect match to a t-shirt cardigan i made a few weeks ago, so i am thinking of re-working that project to incorporate it. (thus, a future post!)


another is a really neat african print that i want to turn into a nice tiered skirt.



and then i went in for the guilty pleasure of buying up a bunch of pioneer prints. everyone knows i own every single season of Little House on the Prairie, and when you're as personally invested in the Ingalls as I am, you end up having pioneer clothes envy. i couldn't resist going in for some classic prints.





and this is going to be a table runner, i think.