Black Dress with Epic Pink Collar: Part 1

I picked up this lovely number at a clothing swap in January. I tried it on and it was a little too tight for my taste, but come on. There's just no leaving behind a garment with a collar that awesome behind.

I'm pretty much a sucker for ruffles and buttons.

I chopped off the bottom half (check back for Part 2 when I remake the bottom half!) to turn this baby into a shirt. 

I found this fantastic strategy for hemming knits that I absolutely love: http://www.sweetnsassygirls.com/2011/07/an-easy-way-to-hem-knits.html. Shout out to this blog, this strategy is ingenious and super easy to do. I gave it another shot on this shirt (last attempt was a bit uneven...)

I folded and serged the hem, then topstitched it.

And ta-da! I really love this one, and the long sleeves will be perfect for the summer (San Francisco weather...if you don't live here, don't even ask). 

Stay tuned for Part 2! I have plans for the leftover bottom piece...

-Taft

Black Sweatpants

Hello, Spring! Hello, lacrosse season!

With all good things come the less than fantastic, mainly freezing your posterior off on the sidelines of a lacrosse game. So to protect against frostbite in the southern regions, I went to Fabric Outlet during their 40% off sale and picked up some sweatshirt fleece with the intention of making this pattern that I got from my grandma:

80's sweatpants! (Mom's nostalgic right now, I just know she is.)

However, when I went to trace the pattern, the sweatpants pattern was missing from the envelope.

So, to the internet we went! 20 minutes and a half dozen crafting sites later, I found this pattern from BurdaStyle. They call them "Jersey Trousers", but those are sweatpants. Come on.

Shut up. They're sweatpants. (He's hands-down my favorite designer from Project Runway. #teamchristopher)

They wanted knit ribbing for the waistband and cuff, but after spending so much on the fleece, I was having none of that. Besides, I'm on the shorter side, so losing that length would probably be perfect.

Cutting out fabric!

I'm especially proud of the pockets on these, I think they look really good! They're enormous, so I'll definitely make the next pair a bit smaller.

The elastic on the cuffs is perfect; tight enough that they don't slip too much but loose enough that I can pull them on over my cleats.

When I first wore them, my friend T made sure that everyone on my team knew that I had made my own pants. She said (and I quote directly) "I will make them listen!" She's the best :)

Next up: a pair of green ones and maybe a pair in a lighter fabric? I'm also considering scaling them up to fit over all my goalie gear.

Stay warm on the sidelines, fellow benchwarmers! And have a lovely spring!

-Taft WK

Reorganized Cupboard

So, here's the thing. I love neatness, I love organized spaces, I love being able to find things when I'm crafting. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm neat, organized, or able to find things when I'm crafting. I've pretty much perfected the throw-everything-in-the-cupboard move when our dining room table needs to be clean.

A couple weeks ago however, the situation became really severe. We're talking DEFCON 2 in the cupboard. When I opened up the door, piles of fabric and a jar of supplies fell out onto the floor. I couldn't even shove it all back in, I don't know how it was in there in the first place.

So, I embarked on a mission of epic proportions: Get all my shiznit to fit into the cupboard. In a neat and organized fashion. And have it stay in when I open the door.

It took a while, this mission of epic proportions. A couple hours and a piece of chocolate later, my cupboard reached the neatest state it had ever been:

Seriously, LOOK at that! Isn't that so incredible?

I sorted the fabrics by kind and LABELED them. Now even my family has no excuse to put supplies in the wrong spot.

I even sorted our patterns, too, so next time I go to make something, I can actually find it.

It's pretty exciting. Unfortunately, we all know it's not lasting long. You'll get a new post about my cupboard in a couple months when I have a new organization system cause this one didn't work.

See you next week!

Taft WK

Reupholstered Chair

This one has been in the works for a looooong time, my friends.

We saw this chair while driving home one day (just sitting on the sidewalk next to some other free stuff) and my friend and I walked back to it and walked it home on a couple skateboards.

I loved the shape of it and, after getting rid of my desk, really wanted a chair in my room. However, this thing was pretty gross; the fabric was ripping and stuffing was falling out.

My mom and I got to work (I don't think you realized how long "in the works for a looooong time" means: we started in January 2013. Yeah.) and used upholstery fabric samples to recover the (chair.

I really don't know why we have (well, had because it's mostly on the chair now) so much upholstery fabric samples. They just seem to appear in our closet at all the best times :)

My mom did the back and seat (isn't she just magical? It fits like a glove.) and I took care of the skirt (LUUUURRRRVE the polka dots!).

Unfortunately, the staple gun we used the first time around was not quite strong enough and the skirt started to come off last winter. During Ski Week, I finally got around to getting the heavy-duty staple gun from downstairs (nothing like a heavy-duty staple gun to make you feel like a badass) and reattaching the skirt.

The leopard fabric on the seat is one of my favorites. As long as I can remember, we've always had a little of it left in the closet. We used it when we decorated my bedskirt and made my curtain (also from upholstery fabric samples....where is it all coming from?!) and now there's just a little left in the scrap boxes (Yes, that was plural. We have multiple scrap boxes and Sheldon tried to start another last weekend.). I'll make sure to do something extra special with it.

I'll keep you posted on the status of our scrap buckets :)

-Taft WK

Yellow and Blue Party Dress

Remember that pattern I sewed for Winter Formal?

This dress is the first time I sewed the pattern (Formal dress was second).

The yellow teardrop fabric was picked up at Britex last summer (yay for discounts!) and the blue floral fabric is a Pottery Barn bedsheet. I'm really appreciating the clash going on here :)

The pattern is from this book, with a few alterations to make it fit properly.

Much of what I said for the Formal dress goes for this one: comfortable, flattering, not too difficult to sew, and totally on my list of things to make again.

Keep up the crafting, y'all's.

Taft W-K

Winter Formal Dress

*sings loudly and off key* ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES!

Yes, my friends, it is that time of year. Winter Formal has come and gone, along with being the lucky every-fifth-person breathalyzed ("Just breathe into the straw until it beeps, and then we'll see if you're in trouble") and the spectacular people-watching at our Hollywood-themed dance.

And of course the eternal problem when faced with a school dance: What to wear?

I solved this problem myself this year by dropping some serious cash at Britex Fabrics (shout out to the employee who helped my mom and I!) and making my own dress, using a pattern from this book, written by Mary Adams.

The dress is a princess-seamed bodice with a circle skirt and a sheer, sparkly overlay. Here's the bodice partway through construction:

(Ignore the awkward black bra straps. The mannequin's boobs are ridiculously small, so I had to stuff an old bra to get them to the right size.)

Of course, time-management-skills-lacking me was sewing this dress when my friends showed up to get ready, 2 hours before the dance (hence the unfinished overlay hem in the night-of pics).

I'm super proud of the zipper on this dress. I was able to completely encase it in the lining, so no raw or serged edges on the inside.

I did have one little mishap with the iron, though. I ironed the fabric for the overlay on too high a heat and accidentally melted off some of the glitter (don't worry, there was plenty left to spare).

Party iron!!

Overall, I loved this dress. It was super comfortable to dance in and moved so nicely! I would definitely recommend this pattern and book to other people.

Party on, Single Ladies!

Taft W-K

Interview with Lick-Wilmerding's The Hyphen

Last week, I had the pleasure of talking with KK and Zoe of The Hyphen, our school's online newspaper, about my Etsy shop and blog. They asked excellent questions (good job, ladies!) and I really enjoyed talking with them.

Here's the interview: http://sites.lwhs.org/hyphen/2014/02/crafts-with-taft-lick-student-turned-blogger-and-business-owner/

This was the first time anyone has ever asked me questions such as these about my business and I really enjoyed the experience. KK and Zoe were genuine, curious, and have great senses of humor :)

After talking about them about the history of my Etsy shop (how it got started, what I've learned from it, etc), I'm inspired to revamp my Etsy About page and rewrite my story. It's been three years since I wrote the original and the only edits since then have been changing my grade and the name of my school. I've got a week off school coming up, so be on the look out for a fresh, new About page.

On a completely unrelated note, I will be taking a cue from The Hyphen (who posts a new article every Tuesday) and updating more regularly. Starting with this post, I will be updating the blog every Wednesday (because I know how much you all miss me when I'm gone for so long).

Thanks to KK and Zoe! You two are doing such amazing work with the Hyphen (I'm in love with their new section, Humans of Lick-Wilmerding: http://sites.lwhs.org/hyphen/category/humans-of-lick-wilmerding-holw/).

Street Art found at Ames @ 22nd Street, San Francisco

-Taft WK