You are currently browsing the archives for February 2012.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 13 entries.

i’ll be

  • Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:35 am
    i’ll be

if you’re sinking
if you’re losing control
and your heartache has taken its toll
if there’s things you’ve never thought before
like you’re all alone
afraid that love won’t come home

you will find me
i’m at the point of your breaking
behind all the noise
when your world is
darkest i can still see
cause when there’s nothing left
i’ll be

i’ll be the light to help you find
all the things you left behind
wondering will love still come back
when loneliness invades your mind
you’re gonna be alright
you will find me
i’m at the point of your breaking
behind all the noise

newsboys

its been one of those days…. this sunrise was the highlight so far
sunrise

glamour challenge accessories….

  • Posted on February 28, 2012 at 10:22 pm

once again i took a break from making the dress to work on something else, in this case beading a necklace to go with it. after several attempts that yielded nice necklaces that just didn’t work with the dress i finally made one that i think will work

necklace
the white looking beads are actually clear aurora borealis beads and look much prettier in person. even if it doesn’t end up working with this dress i am happy with the result

eyelash heaven

  • Posted on February 28, 2012 at 5:54 pm

i love doing face ups and seeing how i improve with practice, but always hated adding the lashes ’cause i just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. it would usually take half an hour of fighting and glue everywhere! not to mention i would be unhappy with the result. so when trying on a dress caused ember’s lashes to come partly unstuck i decided to try andreja’s method and it worked amazingly. who would have guessed that cutting them in pieces and using tweezers instead of trying to push a full length strip into place with a toothpick made such a difference. less than a minute per eye and i have perfect lashes!

new lashes

new lashes

new lashes

for anyone else who would like to see how she does it here is a link to her video

glamour challenge underskirt

  • Posted on February 19, 2012 at 5:07 pm

i decided to go with the underskirt idea to add the bottom ruffles. i made a net underskirt with just enough volume to allow movement and gathered it to a waistband, which i finished with a hook and sewn eye.

skirt ruffles front 1

the skirt is raised in the front so that it is easier to walk without stepping on it, and flares to a slight train in the back
next step will be to finish the top…

glamour challenge:the skirt

  • Posted on February 18, 2012 at 1:30 pm

i started on the skirt for the dress. the first layer of skirt ruffle is done, and that is the end of my “art quilted” fabric. i’m happy with how it is coming out so far. i made the ruffle to be flat in front and increasing in fullness to the back. i’m thinking now i may make the rest of the ruffles as a separate skirt so that the dress can be worn long or short. as long as i keep the top part narrow and soft, it shouldn’t wreck the lines of the over skirt.
skirt ruffle layer one

here is a side view
skirt ruffle layer one side view

and a back view
skirt ruffle layer one back view

it is just pinned in place at the back as i still haven’t decided on the closure and also need to add the top ruffle.

glamour challenge: the bodice

  • Posted on February 18, 2012 at 12:27 am

i finally got a chance to sew the bodice together from my “art quilted” silk. i have to find time to work on this or the challenge will be over before i’m done. so today i put it together and tried it on ember for final fittings. it’s hard to see in the photo, but the bust is a little big, and needs to be pulled in. the tiniest change in cutting out the pieces shows up when sewing this small, as does changes in the fabric. it will look better after a good press, but i want to fix the bust first. i also need to be careful not to stretch out the top edge which has nothing to hold it in place yet.
bodice fitting 1

here is the bust line fixed. the underarm seam looks a bit high, but that should be right once the lining is attached. the extra height is just my seam allowance. my “quilting” lines are showing up nicely on the bodice now. i don’t know if its the angle or the light that makes the difference, but i’m very pleased with the result.
bodice fitting 4

i also have to somehow fix her posing. she was pretty “kicky” today, i’m almost sorry i switched her from a cutie bust to a small bust. her old body posed better, but wouldn’t really suit an evening gown, she just looked too young to me. however she is going to be hard to pose in the requisite “glamour” shot if i don’t figure something out.

new every morning

  • Posted on February 17, 2012 at 11:49 pm

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

su

i find sunrises endlessly fascinating. each one is a unique and constantly changing light show. the light in the house windows perfectly matched the sunrise as i first looked out, so of course i grabbed my camera and tried to capture it. a few minutes later those lights were gone, faded to oblivion.

visual conundrums

  • Posted on February 11, 2012 at 9:33 pm

yellow violet

if violet is purple, how can it be yellow?

riches

  • Posted on February 8, 2012 at 11:14 pm

no progress pictures tonight. i finished embroidering the next piece of challenge fabric, but too late to take pics. i’m going to wash it then go to bed, hopefully it will be dry and ready to cut tomorrow. in the meantime let me share with you one of the riches that feeds my soul….
sunrise

“ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. in your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” oscar wilde

glamour challenge: embroidery continued

  • Posted on February 6, 2012 at 10:32 pm

i played around with my embroidery patterns and the layers and decided on a line drawn paisley. the stitches will be close enough together to hold all the threads from the hankie in place, but open enough to let the colors come through. i chose pink point d’esprit for the top layer to brighten up the hankie which was a little to pale for what i wanted. it also mutes the greens and makes them more subtle.

my first attempt was done in white thread to add another dimension to the fabric. it was nice but not quite what i wanted. a good thing since i accidentally grabbed a cutaway stabilizer instead of the tearaway i had planned on. the fabric was much too stiff, and the stabilizer showed through far to much. upon reflection i realized the tearaway would end up with similar problems since the stitching was so close together.

for my second attempt i used a heataway stabilizer instead and my palest pink embroidery thread.. success! i loved the colors. the green was still there but very subtle and the pink had lots of dimension and definition. only one problem… i failed to read all the fine print that said this stabilizer should not be used on silk since the heat needed to remove it could scorch the silk :doh!

undaunted i used a press cloth and with great care was able to get rid of most of it, without scorching the chiffon bottom layer or melting the point d’esprit 🙂 (happy dance). the fabric is still a little stiff but that should work out well for the bodice. i’ll just use a lighter weight lining than i had planned.)

here is the finished fabric
quilted silk
in real life the quilting forms a definite pattern rather than the random stitches you can see here. i’ll have to figure out how to photograph it properly.

tomorrow i’m going to try to make some more fabric using a water soluble stabilizer, since i need to skirt ruffle that will be made out of it to drape better. i didn’t try it before because the silk can stiffen when it gets wet, so i’ll just have to cross my fingers. if it does stiffen i can probably soften it by crunching and wiggling it.