Not yo' mama's Cross-Stitch

The first thing out of Dave's mouth when I started this project was, "Please don't show that to anyone."  Followed by, "Please tell me you're not hanging that in our house."  Then followed by, "As soon as you're done with that thing, I'm punching a hole in it." No sense of humor, this one.  The cause of this oh so serious marital strife?

Here ya go!

Oh yes I did.

(I jest on the marital strife.  If you know Dave, you know that the real message he was really trying to get across was, "Wife, I'm so proud of all of the DIY projects you do.  They really add to the beauty of our home, and they also keep you busy so I can enjoy a glass of whiskey in silence.  PS...you're beautiful."  True story.)

I can't really give you step by step DIY instructions on this piece, as I didn't create it, but I can give you the link on how to get it done yourself.  I came across this lovely little Etsy shop awhile ago, and wanted to make one of her pieces.  The shop is called GranniePanties, and the owner, Chrissy, creates templates/directions for various cross-stitch patterns.  My favorites include the 90's rap lyric patterns...they're cute enough to hang on your wall, but naughty enough to cause someone to do a double take when they read it.  Since most of her patterns only run around $5-6, they're super affordable to buy and make yourself.  Here's a link to the website:

GranniePanties on Etsy

And here's a breakdown of my costs to complete the project:

Pattern: $5
10" Embroidery Hoop: $1.79
Needles: Already had them, but they only run around $2 for a pack
Embroidery thread: .39 each (for 6 colors)
Cross-Stitch Fabric: $4.99 (but there's leftovers for another project!)

All in, if you need to buy everything, you're spending around $15 for hours of couch sitting fun.

Isn't your heart just going pitter-patter with excitement right now?
I know...you're too excited to even think straight.

Be warned, this isn't a quick project.  But, it's also pretty mindless.  All you have to do is be able to count squares, and loop thread through holes in an X.  Plop your butt in front of the TV while there's nothing on during a summer full of re-runs while it's pouring buckets o'rain outside, and you've gotten yourself into a prime cross-stitching situation. 

I didn't follow Chrissy's instructions exactly, because, what fun would that be?  To be honest, I really just messed up and counted wrong.  Apparently counting squares isn't as easy as I thought.  Oh well, it still turned out nicely, don't you think?

Cross-stitching outside on a lovely summer afternoon.
Yes, that's the pattern on my iPad with a delightful oak tree glare.

I also didn't use the suggested thread colors, as I wanted the finished project to hang in my guest room.  So, I took an extra piece of the wallpaper I have in that room to Michael's, (the store, not someone's house, in case you were confused.  It happens.) and matched my thread accordingly. 

Oh yeah, look at that progress.  Fancy.
Beautiful lap picture, no?

If you're lucky (and if I'm motivated enough to do another cross-stitch/want to blind myself), you may just find yourself on the receiving end of one of these hilariously inappropriate pieces for Christmas. Send me your wish list now...no promises.

Now...how to finish this project off?

Option 1: Make into a lovely bed pillow.

Option 2: Make a hole in this wallpaper (GASP!)
to hang the piece in a square frame on the wall.

Option 3: Finish and hang in a round frame here.

Thoughts?

Pretty in Pink

Now that spring is here, and sunnier skies are overhead, that can only mean one thing:  It's Dress Wearing Time!!  I made a recent trip to my local thrift shop to scour the racks for some gems, and it did NOT disappoint.  I walked away with several ugly and outdated dresses that were just begging for a new life!

While I've been sewing for quite awhile, last year I stumbled on a delightful little website called Refashionista that details all of the thrift shop refashions that one blogger creates...she's got some real doozies.  I've taken some pieces in the past from thrift shops and remade them into new outfits and dresses, but the website has spurred me to see the potential in the ugliest of dresses and fabrics at my local thrift shop.  Thanks for getting the creative juices flowing, Refashionista!!

Today's dress refashion started its life as a delightful little hot pink number with full sleeves and shoulder pads.  Oh, those shoulder pads.  Who invented those things??  The body of the dress actually fit quite nicely, which was my main motivation for buying it- I knew I wouldn't need to make too many alterations to freshen it up. 

Making faces is necessary so that everyone
knows this is the BAD version of the dress.
Baseball cap wearing is also necessary.

I started off by chopping those ugly sleeves off to elbow length.  Done. 

Snip, snip!  They're gone!

My next chop made orphans out of those lovely puffy shoulder pads.  Aww...where will they go now?

SOOO sad to lose these puppies.

The sleeves were slightly looser than I wanted them to be, so I made a few passes with my machine to test out how fitted I could make them while still enabling me to move my arms without looking like a robot.  Don't mind the gray thread, I was too lazy to go upstairs to grab my matching thread for basting stitches.

iPhone photo.  Not impressed.

After I got the sleeves to the appropriate fit, I cut off the excess seam fabric and sewed a tight zigzag stitch to finish off the raw edge.

Zig to the zag to the ziggy zag zag.

Now that the sleeves were fitted, they needed to be hemmed.  I folded the raw edge over twice and pressed it flat before sewing a quick straight stitch (using matching thread this time!)

Sticheroo!

I tried on the dress, and while it looked good, I still wasn't satisfied.  From the side, the pleating made my lady lumps look quite saggy....not good.  So, back to the machine I went to sew a quick seam on the sides from the armpit to the waist.  That cinched the upper portion of the dress in just enough to give my girls the appropriate lift.

No outfit would be complete without trying on various shoes
and texting the pictures to your sisters for approval!

Sorry for the weird shadows and sizing of the picture.
Dave was not very interested in spending time on blog pictures.
He had a lawn to mow!

From start to finish, I clocked this dress redo:  one hour.  If I had a dress form and didn't have to try it on a million times, it probably would have been quicker.  Oh well.  The dress itself was $6 (which truthfully, I thought was a bit expensive...I think the interior facelift of the thrift shop I go to has gone to their heads...I may be searching for some alternate shops soon!). 

Full disclosure...I am really happy that I recently created a "craft room" in the basement for myself.  All that dress trying on and off got too annoying, and I ended up sewing in my underwear...something that might have given the neighbors quite a show had I kept my machine at its previous home on the dining room table in front of 2 windows.  Yikes.  Anybody else sew in their underwear from time to time?  (crickets.....)  No...just me?  Sigh.  It's fine.

From ugly to adorable...my once outdated dress now has some new life and is loved once again!  Hooray for giving new life to old things!