made by -e

nap time

2011-09-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Miss H. fell asleep on me watching James and the Giant Peach. What a great movie :) I haven't seen it since I was a kid.

I've been working on quite a bit of refashioning lately. Seems to be a bit more inspiring than making bags and hooded scarves over and over again. I get bored too easily.

Now, I would post pictures, but I'm on a borrowed lap top that DOESN'T HAVE A MEMORY CARD SLOT!!!? It's a new computer too.. so dumb.

Anyways, I'm currently using some of the many blackberries I have picked (There will be many more tomorrow as well) to dye one of the shirts I refashioned. I'm not sure what colour it is going to turn out, but Im pretty exited to share my first dying experience.

This week, my plan is to make up a small tutorial for the SEA (Students for Environmental Awareness) group at the local high school. It's a group that I co-founded when I was in my senior year, that works on learning, and then teaching others about sustainability, and effects of what we do on a day to day basis. I haven't had much to do with it since I graduated, but now that my sister A. is in the high school (14 on monday.. YIKES!!! :S), I want to encourage her to join and make some new friends and get involved (she's not much of a club joiner).

I'm making the tutorial from one I found on Pinterest (obsessed, btw), and adding a bit more to it. It's for sandwich and snack containers made from recycled milk jugs. 5 minute project and about 1/2" piece of sticky velcro and you have yourself a makeshift, reusable lunch container.

i have a feeling

2011-08-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

this blog is going to slowly turn into a flood blog with all the things I want to try this fall/winter.

This weekend is folkfest so we're going to that all day on saturday. Then on sunday we're picking fruit in the morning, then heading to a birthday lunch for my mom, then to a birthday dinner for my mom on the other side of the family.

But the fruit... Oh the fruit! I'm quite excited!

Jams! Juices! Chips! ...drool...

I'm going to be canning a lot of it, and dehydrating a lot too :) My plan really is to stock our cupboards for the winter, to make life a little bit easier.

Winters are always tough around here. Jobs, no matter what you do, really, are seasonal. Hubs, is most definitely no exception. He'll get a bit of work here and there, and we do plan on working the market all winter with our products. But with a new baby, the first little bit is going to be interesting. Might as well have as much food as we can preserved and stored and easily cooked.

I really need to invest in a good dehydrator...I'm going to be borrowing one for the time being, but I would rather always have one on hand so I can dry when I need to.

I really really hate wasted food, and sometimes, freezing everything just doesn't cut it.

So, other than dehydrating fruit and vegetables for munching, I also want to try other recipes too. Whole meals, etc. Would be great practice for when we start taking our family on long camping trips/hikes.

Other foodie news: We going gluten free...and man oh man is it tough! I've tried gluten free pancakes from scratch, and bread...and neither worked properly. (Note: I also need to invest in a really good food processor that will crack (and powder) grains...mine does everything but...) I have a major problem with spending money on something I can make at home. *note here why this is probably going to be turning into more of a food blog*. I make laundry soap, and toothpaste, and other bread (though, I need a bread maker to do this more often...Ugh! for needing to spend a ton of mulah up front to save spending more in the long run in store...), now I'm starting to make our own gluten free flour (so far, rice and coconut), so i can keep my family fed (going gluten free for H. & M.) with out having to spend 5$ on one loaf of bread.

Then there is the whole trying to eat as organic, local, and healthy as possible without breaking our measly budget. So far, we've done ok. We hardly ever buy crap food, we almost always bake our goodies ourselves (unless of course im craving something or were just feeling hot and lazy), meat is barely ever seen in our kitchen, and if I cook/bake something, I usually end up making it completely vegan, and most of the time sugar free. (I dont like touching/cooking meat. I hate eggs in baked goods..although in a sandwich or in fried rice its delectable.. and our milk is usually just used for drinking..cause between toddler and husband we go through quite a bit!)

AAANNNYYWAYS....ive been on this computer for far too long, and it's already hot as balls in my apartment so im gonna go sit outside with some blueberries till hubs gets home :) ttfn

Welcome (or re-welcome) to the Crooked Pocket!

2011-08-23T09:49:00.001-07:00

I have been mulling names for my blog and shop over in my head for quite a while now, and "The Crooked Pocket"just seemed fitting.

I have some issues with pockets that I'm working on..either putting them on upside down, on the wrong side of the fabric, or..when I finally think i've got it... it's F#@%ing crooked! And i wont even begin to rant on how much i LOATHE stitch picking...sigh

This is what happens when your only uninterrupted working hours are past 10pm and the only thing on your mind is: "I have to be up in less than 8 hours, because my baby doesn't like to sleep in...". And not being able to drink copious amounts of coffee doesn't help.

Productivity will skyrocket once I squeeze out this baby early November.

Anyways, I finished a bag yesterday that I'm very proud of, and will be finishing another and a few refashion garments to be posted (hopefully) by midnight tonight.

Two new designs that I'm very very excited to share. (I'm holding myself back from keeping it for myself! :] ).

The first (and finished) bag is a new design for my bags. It's a messenger style bag (as opposed to my Vertical hip bag, this one is horizontal) and would make the perfect diaper bag or school bag! When testing it out I packed it full of books, as well as my netbook laptop (although this could fit up to 15" laptop) and it was great!

As always, this bag is made from recycled/re-purposed materials (upholstery and drapery swatches). My bags probably wont be made with vintage belts anymore (at least not the larger bags), so the strap on this one is made from gorgeous green striped drapery fabric.

Anyways, H. is up...

cheers!

-e.

finally all moved in

2011-08-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

I love our new place! :D Im quite happy there, and the cats and hubs and my lil lady are all happy there too!

We don't have internet yet, or an accessible wireless signal, so I am going to be quiet for a bit. But i will be working!

I went through all my bag fabric, and clothing to refashion and put together (potentially) almost 2 grand worth of merchandise for my shop, and only a week or two worth of work.

Unfortunately, getting things together to be able to sell at markets didn't work this summer, but I will be contacting someone about the night/winter markets to try and get on with that.

In other news, I'm 27 weeks pregnant today, feeling huge and uncomfortable as the baby is still sitting super low causing a lot of pelvic pain. On top of that, my back (where I had the epidural during labour with H. ) still hurts/tingles, which is what I'm assuming is also causing the sciatic pain in my legs.

Now, if only my doctor wasn't such a tool.

I have my next appointment on wednesday, and there is a lot to discuss.

There is a lady at my grandmas church who is suffering from leukemia, and they believe is running out of time if they dont find a compatible donor for her, or if she gets bumped to the top of the list for this new cordblood/stem cell treatment, that may very well let her live for a long time. I'm not sure of all the details of this whole situation yet, (i'm going to be talking with her soon) But since there is such a long waiting list for the banked cord blood, I offered to donate our baby's cord blood to her. I will only donate however if I make sure its going specifically to her. I dont want my baby's blood sitting in some bank waiting to be distributed to someone i dont know, while this friend of my family is dying because i couldnt give it to her. I would feel better about helping her if i can. If not, then the blood will stay with my baby, and we will wait till the cord stops pulsating before its cut, just like we did with H. for the benefits it has for baby.

If this goes through though, this blog may have a new segment :)

post deleted...

2011-08-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

Note to self: stop using blog for bitchfests.

That is all.

and the worst blogger/shop owner of the year award goes to...

2011-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Do i even have to say it?

I've been busy with wedding family stuff, and fighting with my sewing machine to try and finish three vertical hip bags that my cousin ordered before she had to go back to Sask.

Note to self: No more cheap machine needles... >.<

I'm also going to go ahead and blame my sheer exhaustion due to pregnancy + toddler for my procrastination.

I have been getting things done though! My berry bags are complete I just need to take some decent pictures on my shitty camera and post them to etsy. However, I did have to change my design. I got really frusterated with the fused plastic insert that I was making them with. They just never turned out right, and the shape was a bit awkward. So, scratch that idea (I now have to come up with something else to use all these bloody bags for!

So I redesigned, and came up with the same bag, but perfectly shaped/sized to hold a 4litre Ice cream pail. I figured, who doesn't use an ice cream bucket to go out and pick blackberries with? So this is a more stylish, and comfortable way to do it. Plus it makes a cute little bag to keep knitting stuff, or anything else you may find fits in it.

The pics here make it look a tad awkward, but i promise its not at all (most definitely not as awkward as trying to pick berries one handed with an ice cream pail balancing you as you reach as far as you can into the prickles without getting killed. Note: This may just be me :P )
The new pictures for etsy will be better! This was late last night...

In designing this bag, (and don't ask how I came about this.. :S ) I also came up with a pattern for clothtoddler training pants from t-shirt scraps that I can't use for bags, hats, dresses and prefold diapers. So this will be another thing that will be added to my etsy after I get the time to sit and make, make, make! Oh how i wish i had the time every day :(...and not at 11pm when I would rather be cuddling on the couch with Hubs watching a movie and drinking tea.

But he has been really busy too! He has been carving away and getting ready to open up his own etsy making hand crafted organic body jewelery. Using bone, antler, wood, and soon, stones. As well as leather and other items for necklaces, etc. Bone Rattle Organics will be open soon.

I'm so very excited for winter this year. Winter brings baby, and more time with M. As well as our art binge, where we spend all our free time working on art and sewing and jewelery to sell online, and have a selection to sell at the winter and spring markets. This is what both of us have been dying to do for a living and are only now starting to be able to.

M. just got an evening job at a gas station a couple nights a week, and once mowing slows down he will still have an income through out the winter. So I can actually get childcare subsidy and be able to get a baby sitter so i can work a couple days a week as well. Then hopefully he will have enough hours to go on EI when we are ready to leave.

OH btw! I havent mentioned anything yet.. we're only just starting to inform people of our plans.
Hopefully this spring our little family will be moving down the coast a bit to the sechelt area (were looking anywhere from madiera park - gibsons). Mostly we are just both pretty done with PR. Itchy knees, I guess. I doesn't really feel like home anymore, and we just can't settle here. When we were staying down there for a couple days, it felt right there. There's tons of family and a couple of our closest friends. Plus much more going on in the way of arts and crafts. PLUS we can get to van or PR and only have to pay one way (coming home). It's still a plan in progress but we're pretty excited about it.

Other things I've been working on:

Made some dipes for H. We've narrowed our stash down to just flats, but we have been folding our flat diapers into rectangles instead of the oragami fold for the past few months because it's quicker, they fit her better, and we can double up easily for night time. I had a bunch of scrap flannel and some super soft fleece kicking around my stash so i made up a few "pre-flats" (half way between a prefold and a flat diaper). They fit her well and absorb a lot. The fleece also keeps her feeling dry and lessens her bum rash. (We're still working on her diet and what she can/can't have...it's a slow process :(...).

The flats i have will be altered to also include a strip of fleece, making a moisture wicking pocket for extra liners. The fleece will be in a position where it will work for oragami fold, or just folding into a rectangle. We have always had to fold an extra liner into the flat for miss H. so this will make it a bit easier, and we can reuse our diapers from the get-go with the new babe.

2 new refashions = my new go to pants!

2011-07-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

I had these two matching super-stretch cotton sundresses that i got in walmart last year when i was huuuuggggeee and about to pop miss H out at any moment. I also wore these dresses during my labour (and the pictures from my labour/delivery are the only pics of my in the dresses..so you will not see them :P ) During that time, they got so stretched out and saggy in the boob area that i just could not wear either of them anymore...
I also could not find my camera last night to snap a decent pic.. so once again you get shitty LG flip phone quality (post drowning)...

I had pretty much zero motivation to do anything last night. I've been queen of procrastination lately and my energy level is so bipolar that i can hardly keep up. I had the two dresses in hand ready to cut them both into tons of pieces and make black and purple stripey pants of the same style...but like i said.. NO motivation and that just seemed like a ton of work. So I lied the dress down onto the floor, and placed a pair of baggy,wide leg, bolero-y pants over them and cut a chunk out of the middle.
I cut off the straps, left the tie though, and sewed up the inseam and created my new pair of go-to preggo pants. The comfiest mother truckers i have ever put my tushie into.

As for the other dress, I've been dying to make myself a hooded scarf (or scoodie..i really dont like that name though!) lately. So I did, and i love it!!! You can see the bottom of it with the pockets in the pic above.

Its super comfy, and reversible. I used some random fabric that contrasted the purple from my stash.

I wanted to make one for miss H as well, so i grabbed some more fabric from my stash and then had a light bulb go off in my head! So this morning I got to work and started cutting up tshirts and made a new product for my shop! Kids Upcycled T-shirt Hoodie scarves! They will be available at midnight (PST) tonight. They are the perfect addition to my t-shirt re-factory :D

out of everything i went to town for

2011-07-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

i got t-shirts and belts today. There were NO wool sweaters or flannel sheets to be found. I could also not find the RIT dye in walmart anywhere! After 5hours, 3 buses, and a loooootttt of walking with a cranky non-napping toddler who just wanted to run in traffic, i feel very unaccomplished.

especially since i started early in hopes of getting home with enough energy to clean the house and start cutting pattern pieces for bags and hats so they are ready to go.

But no. H. Is napping for another hour, the dishes are getting neglected and Im nursing a headache with my feet up. Hubs should be home around 11 tonight, so the little lady will get to see him for a while before i put her down for a late bedtime.

I'm also kind of hoping this rain keeps up because if it does, then M doesn't have to work, and if he doesnt have to work, I get to keep him home for the day to help me clean and organize the house (which is in desperate need), and drive me around to get a load of groceries (also in desperate need) ...and you know, hang out with his lovable wifey and baby girl:D

Speaking of baby girl...Ok, H looks like a GIRL. Sure she isn't dainty, but please...she has girl written all over her. Now, I'm not a huge girly, princess, pink this-and-that, with fluff and flowers fan. both M and I were pretty diligent on keeping her wardrobe as feminine as possible with a large colour palate. I like browns and greens on girls. H looks amazing in orange and grays. And purple, well that should just be a staple in any wardrobe, male or female. Sure she has some pink too--a dress, t-shirt here and there, some girly shoes (although, even girly BABY shoes are usually more fashionable than practical so she doesnt wear those much). But no matter what I dress her in, PINK OR OTHERWISE she is a "handsome" or "darling" little boy.

Scenario:
Random lady at bus stop: "Oh what a darling little guy you have there! How old is he?"
Me: "SHE is 13 months" takes off her girly green stripy poncho revealing a pink tshirt with ruffly sleeves.
Random Lady: "Wow he's big for his age! What's his name"
Me: Stares blankly..."Yeah she is a big girl! Gonna be tall. Her name is Hallie."
Random Lady: raises an eyebrow..."Hallie??...."
Looks at me like "what kind of name is that for a little boy?!"
Random Lady: "What a sweet little guy you are!"

ugh...

btw i fixed the comments section so anyone can comment now :)

bleck

2011-07-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

I've been sick, and so very, very exhausted the past couple days.

My 30 day challenge kind of went on vacation! :S sorry! I promise there will be something posted tonight! :)

I've been working on diapers for miss h. the past couple nights. I need need NEED to find some wool sweaters/or just wool fabric (im thinking wool camping blanket that i can felt) to make covers cause her econobum. and Flip brand covers LEAK so incredibly much now. They were fine for the first 9 months.. then they decided to all die at the same time. yay

I've been working on a couple different ideas with regular old flat diapers. I LOVE these diapers. So versatile, easy to clean, last from birth to potty training... *LITTERALLY* not like "one size" prefolds that no longer work for us. Or the one size covers that we got that busted out after a year. And best of all cheap as all hell and easy to make.

I want to get some RIT dye and some more fabric this week, along with wool and make up a couple sets with my new design ideas, to put up on etsy. Maybe by friday? I've seen a lot of people lately looking for cloth diapers for cheap here in town, I could probably make up a tutorial, or even get together with some people that would like to give them a try and teach them how they work.

Another thing I NEED to have up this week.. i'm thinking more like tonight, are my blackberry picking bags. Have you seen the copious amounts of berries that are coming in this year!? Thanks to the warm and rainy weather we have been having this summer we are gonna be eating blackberries till next year :D So Now is the perfect time to start promoting my bags.

They are made from thrifted t-shirts, and fused plastic bags. The plastic insert is removable so you can wash the bag easliy, and both the insert and the bag itself has eyelet drain holes for any extra water or just that might accumulate while picking!

I really think these bags will be a big hit, especially here, with Blackberry Festival just a month away! (Which also means our 1 year wedding anniversary! <3<3)

I'm not really looking forward to tuesday night - wednesday night cause M is going away for a funeral in the city and I'm spending my first night parenting alone. But, on wednesday I'm actually gonna get to town to thrift around (more t-shirts, wool sweaters, flannel sheets, leather belts, fleece, dye, and some wool roving FOR MY DREADS!!! *can you tell im excited? I've only waited to get them for two months now!* btw this is my mental list of what I need to buy :P) It's going to be a rather long day....

anyways, my legs are going numb so im gonna go do...something...if i can convince my snot-bag self that I have the energy!

-e.

30 day challenge

2011-07-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have SO SO SO much fabric that needs to be used...not to mention NOTHING on my etsy at the moment. Go figure! ^.^

So, for the next 30 days I will add one(- two) item(s) per night to my etsy for sale. Items will be up by midnight--my usual quitting time.

Tonight, there will be more than one item posted (perhaps 4-5).. but really, who wants to look at an etsy with only one thing on it??

In other news, I am now a Daily Editor on Refashion Co-op!! Exciting! :D Maybe after a few contributions on there I will boost my follower number. Blogging to just one person is kind of depressing...but thanks for the support Kelly!! :)

Here are a few things that will be up for sale in the next couple days:

I'm in love with making these bags! This one was made for my lovely sister-in-law. They are made entirely of recycled fabric and accessories. To be specific, upcycled upholstery fabric. I obtained two giant totes full of upholstery swatches from my aunts last week, and started creating! I'm waiting on photos of this one and the other one I made for my mother-in-law for birthday presents, in action so I can post to my etsy.

These bags are fully lined, have an inside pocket, and can come with your choice of long or short strap. The straps are made from coordinating scrap fabric or vintage belts. This style is my medium sized bag, and is $45. Dimensions and other info will be available on etsy at midnight tonight. By midnight tomorrow, I will have another size available.As always, upcycled t-shirt hats are available in baby, kids and adult sizes, and two (soon to be three) styles. I'm in the process of going over my pricing on items but they range from $12-$15 depending on style and size.

Now how about a refashion? :) This garment will be for sale on etsy tonight as well! (just a but of fine tuning in the fitting to do)
So this ugly is what the dress looked like when I found it in the back of my grandma's closet. It's from the early 80's if not prior.
So i hiked the waist line to the bust, cut it into a deep v-neck, made halter straps and shirred the back for a comfy fit. I also shortened the whole thing about 12" to the knee-ish area.
The bust still needs some finishing touches, but I think she's super sweet. (Judy when did you become Iron Man???)

BTW..that bag hanging in the background of the last picture is another item going to be up at midnight tonight. It's my upcycled t-shirt, berry picking bag, lined with a removable fused plastic insert. There will be a post on this later.

Anyways, trying to type as quietly as possible so i don't wake my baby isnt working so well anymore. Have a nice rainy rainy day!

cheers
-e.

If my kid would nap...

2011-07-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

I would have a better post than this.. and be able to work. I'm pushing for a new item in my shop every day this week.

But alas, this is what you get.

Nada.

-e.

Countdown!

2011-07-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

1 WEEK TILL NEW PRODUCTS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY SHOP!!!!

I've accumulated a shit load of recycled upholstery fabric and I fell in love! I'm currently working on a line of bags/purses and shoes. The bags will be up on Monday. I'm not ready to post them yet..that must wait till we return from the city :) I'm hoping to get at least one pattern for shoes made this week but I'm thinking the shoes might have to wait another week.

So, since receiving orders for certain things, and sitting down and working with my current product list, I've found that there are some things I just don't have the motivation to make. Because of this lack of motivation, I don't feel like I can happily sell these products so they will be removed.. and eventually I will make a tutorial for them.

Tomorrow, my mother and I are organizing my favorite thrift shop: My Grandmother's Closet! I'm quite excited as gramma has an abundance of clothing (vintage and not-so-much) that has been around for quite sometime, that has needed to be gone through for about as long! So she gets a closet re-haul and mom and I get to find treasures! :D So, there will be many more refashions to come, as well as more items to my shop. Yay!

Anyways, I'm up later than I would like to be.
Night all!
-e.

PS...By the way, if you are reading this, be sure to Follow my blog by clicking the button in the "loyal minions" section on the right hand side!
Cheers! :)

good morning

2011-06-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

Baby is still sleeping (Thank jeebus!!) so i havent even gotten out of bed yet :)

Last night was a pretty good night. Hubs and I did a favor for my aunt, then came home and he made a delicious vegan spaghetti, with enough left over for lunch today and another meal into the freezer. While he was working away on that, I made a batch of laundry detergent!

and guess what!?

I even took enough pics to make a tutorial..finally! I know there are tons of tutorials on making this out there, but I'm hoping to write up a pdf download on green/frugal cleaning full of tutorials on making cleaners and other great stuff...plus benefits--on cost, for you and the environment. It's been on the back burner of my to do list for a while now.

So the plans for today are as followed:
-Make coffee; I need my coffee, it's pretty much the only thing that I couldn't give up this (and my last) pregnancy. I cut back... A LOT.. down to 1-2 cups/day and i always keep track of other caffeinated things I indulge in. Hallie came out fine, and I'm able to drink coffee while breastfeeding her so I see it as a benefit for both of us! :) coffee makes for a happy mama...
-make breakfast; this will probably involve peanut butter and banana toast and some cheerios for the wee one. She loves PB :)
-start catching up on laundry; you know since I have 5 months worth of detergent now (i just realized i'm probably going to have my baby before this batch is through!)
-work on my dress refashion
-start editing photos and writing my tutorial
-make a super cute something for miss H. and refashion a super cute something for moi
-When M. is home I have an order to finish.. I can't quite finish it with baby in tow as it involves a lot of hot ironing and she is intrigued by EVERYTHING i do. (Will write a post about her soon to be little sewing area)
-and play with my babes! :)
-probably go for a walk to my gramma's to hang out a bit and call and try to book my 3d ultrasound again.. they didn't answer yesterday and never called me back.. but they told me to call and book my appointment instead of email...at least they responded to my email! >.<

woah... busy day! Sounds good to me.. at least I'm getting a post in before any of this starts! it usually takes me all day!

now to surf the web till my sleeping beauty wakes up so I can be less inclined to waste time during the day...and hopefully my neighbors disgusting smokers cough doesn't wake her!

cheers,
-e.

this is what happened to my beach day...

2011-06-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

M. came home as I was in the middle of putting H. down for her nap. So he took over and passed out with her :) It was worth it cause I got a good pic out of it! hehe

Anyways, to throw in a lil hubsy upcycle for ya... this was M.'s favorite t-shirt...mine too :)! But it was getting rather old and torn and a little too small so I told him it was time to do something about it. So he got out the craft glue and my sewing scissors and covered two canvases we had lying around with them and hung it on the wall. I love them! Such a great idea to do with concert/vintage tees you just can't part with.

New/old couch and a new bathing suit top for mama

2011-06-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

s

So yesturday, i did not get anything I had on my list done..well except for the couch.. kind of.
We picked up the couch from a guy from freecycle yesterday (I LOVE freecycle.org!), it is a nice little ikea couch but the cushions were super faded with a bit of water stain. I washed the covers, hoping to dye them after (nice guy who gave it to us bought some RIT dye to give to us with the couch too!) However, to dye the covers I'm going to need to get another box, just to make sure its dark enough, and after washing them, three of the zippers broke and i had a hell of a time getting the cushions back in.. so they have now been added to my scrap fabric pile and will be bleached white and made into canvases for Hubs.

So little ol' preggo me, took the feet off our old couch (a studio sleeper I've had since i was 15...) and made that into a bigger better Montessori floor bed for Miss H. and rearranged our living room to fit the new couch in.It looks and feels so much better in our tiny living room now! One of our biggest issues with this apartment was the fast that the living room can pretty much only be set up one way, and there was no flow to it. M & I need flow. We are much happier people if our house has some sort of feng shui. All i did to the couch was throw a black sheet over it with a baby quilt that matches the rug on the floor and now we have somewhere to use our throw pillows! Our other couch didnt have and armrests so using pillows on it was difficult.

I will be making reversible covers for the couch cushions and coordinating covers for the throw pillows...and then EVENTUALLY reupholstering the ugly blue chair seen in the bottom right corner of the picture. LOVE the chair.. hate the fabric; although, the cats absolutely love it and have shredded it to shit. Thanks for the hobo chair Picco!
Ok, so now onto what I did this morning. We're planning on going to the beach later, and I have ZERO bathing suits. I've been pretty self-conscious about my stretchmarks but now I'm over it, because I would rather show them off than be seen in a one-piece. I just can't do it. So I had this bathing suit that my little sister A. gave to me. She is 14 and must bustier than I and it didn't fit her well in that department. She doesn't have mama hips though--or a pregnant belly for that matter-- so the bottom was a bit comical when I put this thing on today.

So after digging out the white thread I hardly ever use, getting my machine set up, and winding a new bobbin, then almost re-threading my serger with white, I realized I didn't need any of it, because there was a flap already covering where I would cut off the bottom of the halter. You cant even tell (even when looking at the inside) that there was ever anything there. Yay for no-sew refashions!

Frugalty thy name is broke-ass-stay-at-home-mom

2011-06-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight, my mission is to :

Make a batch of laundry detergent
make more toothpaste (and teach M. how to do it :P)
Finish washing up the covers to a couch we picked up from a guy off freecycle today. (There will be posts soon on the revamp we're doing to this..like dyeing the cushion covers and screen printing them.. and staining the wood frame)
Make up a bunch more cloth wipes for tp/baby wipes (M. is still reluctant to use cloth, but we're on our last roll and i told him i'm not buying the expensive unneeded quilted TP anymore and ill buy the cheap dollar store brand. If he gets an itchy bum, he'll give in to the soft and cozy cloth wipes :P )
I also have an order to finish up, and presents for a couple friends kids
And MAYBE (HOPEFULLY) end up watching a movie with J & A.. but we'll see what time M gets back from helping a buddy move.

happy first full day of summer!

2011-06-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

The past couple days I have been working on a few new things. Since my main objective with the products I make is to upcycle or refashion them, I have been reading into tailoring and how to alter clothes.

I found a couple great refashioning blogs that I just can't get enough of! (Thanks Kelly!)

refashionista.net and refashionco-op.blogspot.com tons of great ideas of what to do with the ugliest thrift store finds!

Anyways, yesterday I turned a pair of my favorite pre-pregnancy skinny jeans (that some how still do up.. with the help of an elastic hair band by the end of the day though..) that had a huge hole in the crotch area into super cute lacy shorts. The lace covers what tearing there was left beautifully!

Another thing I have been working on the past couple days, other than orders of course, is a cute formal red dress that is completely refashioned from a flapper girl costume that I found a couple years ago at the thrift store. This will be my first refashioned dress that will be for sale. I'm quite excited about it.. and really wish I came up with this idea for my freaking wedding! I would have been much happier in this dress! >.<

The original dress was meant to be a costume, and was completely hand made to begin with. (Not very well, I might add) I've had to take this thing completely apart to redesign it. But that's okay, because im definitely getting the outcome I was hoping for!

So far the only trouble I've had is with the breast darts, but after some tedious stitch picking (oh how i loathe stich picking!) and a little help from my Dearest Judy I was able to fix the problems.

*Me and hubs at the murder mystery party. Little did we know Miss H was conceived only two-ish days before this! Can you tell i dont like parties?*

The dress was originally very wide. Flapper dresses traditionally weren't fitted to begin with, but when I first wore this dress to a Murder Mystery party in '09 i had to take it in a fair bit to fit me like it should.. and it was still pretty big. All four of the darts on this dress are very off when just trying to take it in, so that's been put on the list of things to redo on this dress. (The first thing was to take off the hideous gold, plastic sequins!!)

Etsy!

2011-06-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

www.madeby3.etsy.com

the shop itself is still a work in progress, but i've already sold three items within 24 hours of the shop being up! yay!

For now.. at least till the end of summer, the shop will be primarily just a place for reserved orders. Either requests from Facebook, or from this blog; if someone wants something, email me (madeby-e@live.ca) and request your item, then I will post the item on etsy so you can pay, and get a receipt. If you live out of town, shipping will be worked out when you pay.

I'm not quite ready for the shop to be national yet. I have to sell a bit first and start buying some more materials so i can be ready for what ever people want.

I'm so excited about this! finally getting this thing going after talking about it, and working on different ideas for the past year.

I can't wait to open my next shop with all my dresses :D Once my dear Judy is here I'm starting to build all the dresses I have the fabric to make... I just keep putting them off.

Things to come this week:

Kimono Slippers for mama and babe!
hand painted, upcycled baby baseball tee
I have three orders to complete :)
Hopefully start some dresses as well

Keepin' busy!! :D

love, -e.

waiting patiently

2011-06-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

for my adjustable dress form that my lovely husband bought me for my birthday. I was already supposed to have it but the damn thing got sent all the way to Edmonton instead of to the coast...how do you send it to a completely different province!?!

Anyways.. that's pretty much what is keeping me from making some killer dresses right now. I have so many designs in my head and on paper. I just need to make some. I also need some cash to spend on fabric so i can make some more. Even if its just some thrifted vintage gowns that i can upcycle.

We drove past a little bungalow last night with a big "For Rent" sign on it. Such a cute little house. It didn't say how much the rent was, but we took the number down and hubs is calling today to find out how much, and if we can go see it.

We could make the place that we are in work, but the landlord wants to sell (or move back..depending on circumstances for her) so we might as well keep our eyes open in the mean time till we know when. If we find something, it's not like we can't give our notice.

I'm really hoping though, that this other opportunity that was discussed today works out. I wont go into details as not to jinx it, but I'll let you know when I know.

So H. is currently napping, and I am blogging and surfing trying to figure out what to do for my friends baby shower that I'm going to tonight. I am such a procrastinator! It's my worst problem. I'm not sure what she needs or wants, and I can't think of anything to make her that is gender neutral that she would enjoy. I'm thinking I might just make her a necklace and earrings and tell her she can order anything she likes from my shop for her babes and ill make it for her and send it to her.

rainy day

2011-06-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I am now comfortable enough with my blog to actually start writing again :D.

I would like to start off by saying I dont know how you work at home mamas with young kids run such amazing blogs! Where do you find the time??

So today my lovely friend (and doula) ML is coming by to pick up H. to bring her out for a while so I can give our apartment some serious rehab.

Our biggest issue: We are TOO BIG for this small space. Both M and I are trying to work from home (M mostly just needs an office..and somewhere he can widdle and do art work and make shpit in his own time..that currently is everywhere he can put something down and sit his but)...I have converted our already small dining area into my sewing/work area that happens to have a table we can eat dinner at..and maybe even have guests over once in a while with out having to rearrange.

Our laundry/utility room is FULLER THAN FULL! I mean the shelves are loaded with tools and fabric bits..not only that but its also the cats room with a cat tree and litter box as well as a massive pile of laundry that just never seems to stop growing. I think it might actually pick itself up and leave one of these days.

Our really tiny hall is currently loaded with stuff that should be down in storage or in the hall closet. The hall closet, however is out of commission till hubsy re-drywalls it at the request of our landlord. Its been sitting like this for two weeks.. >.<

todays mission: Laundry! I need to organize it all into categories then wash it so its easier to put away (another issue we have). Then I am going through every piece of clothing I own and figuring out what I still wear, what i still feel comfortable wearing, and what actually fits me. (which is an issue with a belly) then i will put away all the clothes I wish to wear when I am skinny again, and put the rest in a donate pile.

*I'm currently in the process of planning a clothing/recipe swap party so most of these clothes will go in a box for that :)*

Other items on today's mission plan: Dishes (ugh) and taking off H.'s closet doors (that SHOULD go down in storage..when the closet thing happens.. but will probably hide behind our couch with the crib that will be going down there too).

First things first though. I'm going to be a *bad mama* and drink my coffee and wake up a bit before a start my day. ML just left with H and now I'm off to the races!

Im so stuck

2011-05-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

I've gone through so many different names and none are working.

this blog is definitely a work in progress, but please keep checking back for updates.

Take a look at my product listing page. Maybe you can come up with some good name ideas. If you do, post them in the comments section! :)

-e.