Thursday 28 March 2013

The TV Heads - PRP Sew-along #1

When I first read the theme for this season of Project Run and Play week 1 (Art Inspired) I was immediately stumped but not because I had no ideas, I had way too many. Classic? Modern? First nations? Urban? I love art in all it's incarnations amd my mind was reeling. So, I reigned myself in, what kind of art stirs my heart the most? Art that challenges something, preferably everything. Art that can make a difference. A sentence sprang to mind, "If graffitti changed anything it would be illegal." And I knew I had to emulate Banksy, and pay homage to his message. An entertained society is a docile one. "Give me liberty or give me death!" has become, "Can you pass me the remote, I don't want to get up."

Don't get me wrong, I love film, and though I don't have cable I watch tv online sometimes but entertainmemt is meant to be a diversion, it has become a passtime.

Here is Wildeman in:

"Divertissement"

Kay Pop

This Kpop inspired hooded vest with tails is my sew-along project for Buttons week on Sew-vivor. The buttons are made from recycled pop can tabs and actually hold together really well.

Please bare with me everyone. Full tutorials will be posted as soon as possible, I just need to get mycomputer up and running again. I'm finding the blogger app difficult too work with.

Friday 22 March 2013

Hey, is that Easter up there?

If by up there you mean up there in the future then yes, it is.

Hubby and I are in the rather exciting position of starting family traditions this year, as we now have a little family to tradish with. Granted, Wildeman has no idea what Easter is, or what bunnies are and no way in hell is he eating chocolate this Easter but he'll appreciate all this in a couple years and by then we'll have it down pat.

So, good weather allowing we will be Easter brunching in the park with our lovely family (with brownies baked inside eggshells)  and if I recall someone started some kind of holiday challenge...what was that again? Oh, that's right:

Wildeman Holiday Challenge 2013 #4: Easter

and here is the adorable little bunny now in
 

The Shabby Bunny



Wednesday 20 March 2013

The Sew Off Auditions!

Yay! More challenges!

Magda from House of Estela is my kind of crazy! I mean really how many sewing competitions can one audition for? How many sew-alongs can one participate in? The answer is simple:

ALL OF THEM!
 
So I auditioned here:

 
With this:


 
I need luck! Wish it!
Please.

Wildeman Wednesdays #4

Hello and Welcome to what is in my humble opinion the best Wildeman Wednesday yet!

Well...hopefully every Wednesday will be the best Wednesday...otherwise I'm moving backwards...

But I digress and over-use ellipses. My adorable baby boy is about 4.5 months old and currently in 9-12 month clothes. He's a big cat. We were generously gifted with so much clothing when we were pregnant, mostly 0-9 months stuff, that we had it in our heads that we'd be set until he was 9 months old. Ha! Conventions. No baby of mine will be contained by clothing sizes, apparently. And so I sew like a mad woman.

Yesterday morning I made these awesome pants (from two thrifted t-shirts) and paired them with a shirt that was twice refashioned (see the original post about the shirt formerly known as romper here).

Please give a generous (but not too loud because he's a baby) round of applause to Wildeman in:

Wildeman is a Wild Man

 



Shared on:
 

 
A Jennuine Life Thrifty to Nifty Thursdays



Pinterest Challenge # 4 Baby Play Mat

4 down, 2 to go and feeling fine!

You know what the thing about babies is? They get bigger, and smarter and cuter and...harder to entertain. I mean it's all good since that means they're developing those big human brains and all which are, you know, kinda important, kinda.

Seriously though Wildeman has been so active and so interested in the world and I needed to find some way to let him explore his sensory organs and discover the world around him. Obviously there a ton of things that fit that description on the market but most of them feel to me like I'm plopping my kid down into Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Plus my apartment is tiny (which we love, and don't intend to change) so everything we owns needs to fold up and live in a drawer. And since I'm prone to migraines toys that make sounds are a strictly control commodity.

So, in the interest of meeting all these requirements I hit up Google for some inspiration. When Google failed me I fell back on Old Faithful: Pinterest.

My Pinspiration:

 
My version:
 
 
 
 
Total cost: About 7$

Thursday 14 March 2013

Wildeman Wednesday #3

This post is brought to you by 

the number 3!

 
Okay, I know it says Wednesday up there ^ and it is decidedly not Wednesday. I transfer my pictures from my tablet to my computer via Asus web storage and the site was down yesterday so I couldn't get anything posted.
 
On that same note, these pictures are awful. I really need to get one of the two cameras sitting on my desk fixed. Anyone know what causes a "lens error"? Both seem to have fallen victim to this strange camera illness within weeks of each other. Perhaps it's contagious?
 
Speaking of which Wildeman has been super sick (so have dad and mom but we're much better at breathing through our mouths than he is) which has been unpleasant. And the little munchkin's teeth decided that now would be a great time to work their way into the world. Awesome.
 
So, here is an uncomfortable but still trying to be cooperative little man in
 

Baby It's Cold Outside


BTW this isn't an attempt to be artsy (although my kid's pretty cute in black and white). The tablet was messing with the colour and Wildeman ended up looking purple in almost every shot. The warm uh...coveralls? Sleeper? Anyway, it's grey. You can see the colour in the tutorial. Just keep on scrolling.


Pinterest Challenge #3 Cross Back Tank

Yay! I'm still on track with the Pinterest Challenge!

Confusion can be cured by clicking that link up there ^

Boring tank tops can be cured by doing this:


My Pinspiration:


Rowan Criss Cross T-shirt Crochet Project

I bought this tank at my favourite thrift store with the original intention of doing nothing to it. I get so excited about details and prints that I own very few basics. It turns out I can`t really handle basic.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

There Is No Success Quite Like Failure

Hey folks,

I'm being brave today. I know that I was scheduled to post my Spring Romper on the the 11th. I had finished and everything. It was finished and sitting on the table next to my sewing machine looking sad. It's the first complete bomb I've had in a while. But, it turns out, that's a good thing. I learned things from this failure that turn it into a success. A success as a growing seamstress, but certainly not a Wildeman Holiday Challenge success.

So, I present to you my failed attempt at a gender-bending ,unisex, spring-coloured romper...

Sunday 10 March 2013

My Other Pants are a Kilt - Part 3

It's the beginning of the end!
(but in a good way)


 If you have no idea what I'm talking about and you have never seen this picture before you want to be over here, not here.

If you are in the right place then: It's the beginning of the end! Congratulations to making it this far in the project and/or clicking on some links and reading some stuff!

By now I'm sure you're very familiar with this cutie.

My Other Pants are a Kilt Part 3

The Jacket and Sporran


This is part 3 of the tutorial for the Wildeman Holiday Challenge 2013: St. Patrick's day as well as my Sew-vivor audition this season.This formal Irish suit is made up of 6 different pieces. A button-down onesie, vest, jacket, bow tie, kilt and sporran.

No idea what challenge I'm talking about?
No idea what Sew-vivor is?
Haven't seen Part 1?

Caught up now? Good, on we go...

Part 1 -
Kilt and Vest

Part 2 -
Button down onesie

Part 3-
Jacket and sporran (You are here!)

I made the bow tie using this tutorial.

Baby Boy Formal Irish Jacket Tutorial

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Wildeman Wednesdays #2

That's right! Twice in one day.

This week's Wildeman Wednesday bears a remarkable similarity to last week's (there's a tutorial through there). They're just bigger and shinier. I made pants for myself (and a man-thong for a friend of mine) and still had enough fabric for the front of Wildeman's new pants. The back is more scrap in a navy blue knit:




Can't wait until he's big enough to wear them!

Rock n' Roll Fever - Spring Fever Remix

Good morning Starshine, the Earth says hello.

Quoting bad movies...it's a bit of a hobby.

So Project Run and Play is having a quiet period of inbetweeness as they're gearing up for the all stars season which means yay for us because it's pattern remix time! I was completely stumped looking at this pattern as my baby is not so much a girl and I was having a hell of a time trying to figure out how to make this pattern look in anyway masculine and still make use of the great details:

 
 
That being said I had already fallen in love with that bib detail and there was no way I was letting it slip past me. And so I thought and thought and thought and I'm not sure what inspired me. I am really into fashion as art and costume design and in my own wardrobe I like to take risks and include a lot of pieces that most people wouldn't consider wearable like lime green and silver zebra-striped pants or hats made entirely of sequins.
 
Up until now I've been pretty safe with Wildeman's wardrobe. I have to stop that business or I'm at risk of stagnating. Once I had the conventions of baby clothing and boy clothing out of my head the creative block fell away and I had it! And that is why I love prompts especially ones that seem tailor made to trip me up.
 
Introducing Wildeman in
 

Rock n' Roll Fever

 
 
I down-sized the bodice considerably to fit my 4 month-old, added sleeves, and elongated it to become a romper. I interpreted the bib back as epaulettes, which are by far my favourite aspect of the outfit, Then I added an accent zipper in purple.
 

 

Tuesday 5 March 2013

My Other Pants are a Kilt - Part 2

Hello Tutorial Readers,
(there is a tutorial down there)

Introducing Wildeman in:

My Other Pants are a Kilt Part 2

The Button Down Onesie


This is part 2 of the tutorial for the Wildeman Holiday Challenge 2013: St. Patrick's Day as well as my Sew-vivor audition this season.This formal Irish suit is made up of 6 different pieces. A button-down onesie, vest, jacket, bow tie, kilt and sporran.

No idea what challenge I'm talking about?
No idea what Sew-vivor is?
Haven't seen Part 1?

Caught up now? Good, on we go...

Monday 4 March 2013

Sew-viving and My Other Pants are a Kilt Part 1

Hello Crafty Crafterson's

and also people who like to read about sewing/crafting and not do it. No judgment, just didn't want to leave you out of the greeting.

Today I bring you

Wildeman Holday Challenge 2013 #2

St. Patrick's Day

and also

My Sew-vivor Audition!

 
No bird killing on my blog but if I were the bird killing type I'd be knocking them out all over the place with one well-thrown stone.
 
Let me just remind everyone of the very first rule for the Wildeman Holiday Challenge 2013:
1. Make a complete, themed, ***non-traditional outfit*** for my baby boy for every major, and some minor, holidays...
 
Ok seriously, what the crap Mikelina? A non-traditional St. patty's day outfit? If it's green it's traditional and if it's not green it's not St. Patty's Day! I had a hell of a time with this one until I remembered that it isn't only Scots who have a history of kilt-wearing. Bingo. Plus baby kilts are just so damn cute. It was impossible to resist.
 
Introducing Wildeman in:

My Other Pants are a Kilt Part 1

The Kilt and Vest