Condom Dress

A couple years ago, my mom made a dress out of condoms for the Planned Parenthood of Corpus Christi, Texas condom fashion show. They took a one year hiatus, but the show came back this year...with me in it! Well, not me in person, but a dress I designed walked down a runway for the first time! We're just passing milestones left and right here, people!

From watching my mom make the dress, I knew that the less dress we were covering with condoms the better, so short and low-cut it was. I entered the Psychedelic 70's category, so I designed this dress:

I ended up eschewing the sleeves because I ran out of condoms. They mailed me 500 purple, turquoise and yellow condoms, but they only covered the dress (and we were really nervous about running out at the end). They didn't have pink too, so the color scheme was also switched up a bit.  

I went to the thrift store and found this knit Anne Taylor dress to use as the base.

I chopped a whole bunch of fabric off the bottom, then added elastic to give it a bubble-shape. 

I also washed aaaaaaall the condoms. I did some research online (which couldn't be done on school wifi, because a lot of those websites were blocked...) which led me to a dish soap + water bath and overnight-drying session. 

I left the majority of them rolled for the bullseye pattern, but unrolled a few for the fringe. 

From the beginning until the end of this project I felt like I was covered in lube. I mean, yikes, that stuff gets everywhere and will make your hands and your phone and your table and your scissors and your glue bottle and your safety pins eternally greasy...

After some trial-and-error I concluded that the best way to attach the condoms was with tacky glue, so I started by trimming the neckline in turquoise and beginning the bullseye pattern. It all had to be done in stages as it had to dry perfectly flat or the condoms wouldn't adhere. 

The fringe was glued onto the elastic from the inside. 

At some point, I lost the cap to my glue so I used a condom to keep it from drying out. Who knew these things had so many uses, huh?

If you can believe it, I actually did this whole project during Memorial Day weekend. Burned tons of midnight oil finishing this and "studying" for finals, but c'mon. Who can study when there's so much awesome crafting to do?

And here's the final product! Luck was on our side and my model in Texas was the exact same size as me, so I got to try everything on! Yay!

Here's my amazing model! She found the perfect go-go boots for the dress and got her hair styled in a 70's-esque up-do. Check out the video of the fashion show here. (I tried to imbed it in the post, but couldn't figure out how...any ideas?)

Overall, I had tons of fun with this project. It was especially funny when I mentioned something about "500 condoms on my dining room table" and someone overheard and took it completely out of context...hehehe....

Anyone have any other good uses for condoms? So far on our list: keeping glue from drying out and dress decoration. 

-Taft W-K

Class Sweatshirt

As many of you know, I'm a member of Lick-Wilmerding High School's Class of 2016 and a few months ago, we were given class sweatshirts:

(This is post-cutting-the-neck. Crew necks always make me feel claustrophobic.)

I know I ordered a small, but I was given a medium when the sweatshirts were handed out so this thing is huuuuuuge. The StuCo guy who gave it to me said "Just do one of your sewing-thingys with it" and that's exactly what I did.

This project had two parts. First part: Tuesday Tie-Dye at Camp Mather.

I don't have any process photos of Part 1 because I didn't have my phone, but here is the after pic:

A girl I met at camp gave me this awesome tip for wearing oversized sweatshirts: Roll up the sleeves and fold the bottom ribbing under, which gave it a cool poof effect at the bottom. 

I'm just in love with the tie-dye burst on the back! Love love love!

I matched the sleeves up when I rubber-banded pre-dye so the stripes are even on each side.

Then I took all the t-shirts I've gotten from various school events, cut out the graphics and pinned them on the shirt.

The shirts were then hand-stitched on with a whipstitch and my favorite white button craft thread! Love button craft thread! 

Sewing sewing sewing. I watched so much Project Runway while doing this. Tooooons of stitches. Lots of thread.

But it was soooo worth it. This sweatshirt came out spectacularly. It went from baggy, gray sweatshirt to colorful, artistic sweater that is visually interesting and totally a statement. And whenever I wear it, I'm repping my school! What more could a high schooler want?

I'm considering taking off the enormous patch on the left arm and just using "Champions" and "Roar". I feel like the whole graphic is really heavy with too much text, and you can't really read it on my arm. If I decide to change it, I'll post more photos.

Until next time readers!

-Taft W-K

Gather Banner for J

This summer I was lucky enough to spend more time with one of my favorite people in the world: the wonderful and lovely J (check out her work here). I got to meet some of her amazing friends and hang out with her, which involved crafting and doughnuts and a trip to the fabric store and movies about dogs. I mean, what more could a girl want? 

She has the most beautiful home, with a dining room area that has a big wooden table that we all gather and craft around. I wanted to make her something for her new-ish home, something that would express how much we all love to go to J's house. 

I made her this banner to hang in her dining room. What I love about it is that all the materials are from other projects: jean aprons, quilts, t-shirts and headbands. Each part of it has its own story. 

All of the ribbon is hand-stitched to the jean triangle. 

I left a little tab at the top of each triangle so I could fold it over to sew onto the ribbon.

I can't wait to give it to J! Hope she loves it :)

-Taft W-K

Blue and White Striped Tee

I had this awesome North Face tee that I loved so much and wore to rags (Literally. Mom deemed it "too ratty," stole it out of the laundry and cut it up into rags.) Luckily, I was able to save it before she cut it and instead cut it myself (there's a difference). I traced it and patterned it, so now I can make as many tees of the same style as I want!

I've never done this before, so I kind of made it up as I went along and it didn't turn out half bad, if I do say so myself. 

I cut the shirt along the seams, making sure to be really exact on one half, but just hacking it off on the other side. I ended up with one intact sleeve and half the front and half the back cut out perfectly. I traced the three pieces (front and back are cut on the fold), cut them out of paper and voila! I had a t-shirt pattern!

I tested it first on this navy and white striped fabric that I've had in my stash for at least a year. I picked it up at one of Fabric Outlet's 40% off sales (looooove them so much!) and figured it was about time it was turned into something.

I love the way it turned out! I've made a lot of tees, but I think this is the most professional one I've made so far. 

The neckline is finished with a strip of fabric which I serged on the inside, then topstitched down. 

The fabric is a teensy-bit see through (why does this keep happening to me!?) so I do have to be careful when I wear it, but other than that it's perfect! I love the stripes and keep wearing it again the second it's out of the laundry. 

Keep on crafting, y'alls!

-Taft W-K

P.S. School started this week. I know, I'm sad too :(. Unfortunately, since I'm a junior and junior year is a serious kick in the bahooty, I'm going to change from updating every Wednesday to updating every other. HOWEVER, I promise to update every week when I'm on vacation. Okay? Okay. (And if you just got that Fault in Our Stars reference, I'm sorry for making you cry.)

Tardis Dress: Part 2

Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough. Here's Part 2 of Cams' epic TARDIS costume:

(Missed Part 1? Don't worry, babe, I gotchu. It's right here.)

I've already told you the bodice was a basic princess-seamed top. I linked to the generator I used in the last post, which I then altered to fit her perfectly. Here it is, pre-attachment to the skirt:

I finished the top with a facing cut from the same cotton I used for the ruffles and all the inside seams are finished with the serger. (Thank the goddess for my mother's 20-year-old serger! That thing has saved our booties on more than one occasion.)

I cut straps from the white cotton and then some bias strips from the blue to trim it:

For this dress, I took every opportunity to topstitch in a contrast thread or add a contrast trim. I think it helped make certain areas pop and make it look more like a cartoon/costume.

Here's the finished straps:

Then there was the sash for the waist with the text from the TARDIS. It's black cotton and silver paint marker (My brother saved me in the eleventh hour with his massive stash of markers). 

Aaaaaaaand ladies and gentlemen! The final reveal! (drumroll please....)

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Ta-da! *Trumpets play in the background*

The overskirt was trimmed with a plain strip of the blue cotton (wouldv'e used the white, but I ran out...)

Here's the ruffles on the underskirt. They're all hemmed with contrast thread, which made them pop really nicely. 

Some more pics without the sash...

The back has an invisible zipper in the seam. It was an okay zipper, not my best, but not every single thing you make can be the best, right? (This is how I'm making myself feel better.)

I love how cute the bow is in the back! 

And here's our lovely Cam in her custom-made TARDIS costume:

I'm in love with the hat and arm warmers she made! 

So, fellow crafters....what nerdy projects have YOU been up to lately?

-Taft W-K