Lulu Bliss

New Tutorial is Up on the Craft Blog!

Things are happening behind the scenes here in my studio.  Sometimes it is stuff I can't talk about while I am working on it, sometimes it is stuff that has taken me forever and a day to actually finish (so embarrassed) and then there are those ongoing projects that I just wish I could snap my fingers and be done with them.  

I recently wrote a fun tutorial for Craft on how to refashion old or ill fitting tee shirts, into this tank top:

The tutorial went up onto their site today, so check it out when you have a chance.  It is a pretty quick project, some basic sewing and crochet skills are necessary.  

Remember this post from way back in October, about starting the Stitch Diva's Hourglass Jacket?  Well, it is finally finished!  Geez, took me long enough.  I love it.  I did need to rejigger a few things, but I am happy with the end result.  

Oops, I just realized I forgot to button one button, before taking the picture.  Typical.

Another, sort of ongoing thing I have been working on has been reorganizing the studio.  It has been a challenge, since I also still need to work here, but it is coming along!  I hope to post some before and after shots soon.  I know I always like to see where people create, especially when they have small work spaces.  My studio is not huge, it is only 9' 6" x 8' 6" and I have a lot of crafting crapola.  Don't get me wrong... I know I am lucky to have a room devoted to just me and my work, but I still can't fit all of it in here.  I have been able to bring more of my stash out from the basement, which has triggered some new ideas.  My next project for the studio is to make fabric valances (is that what they are called), to hide my rolling window shades when they are up.  I will keep you posted.

Vintage Dress Bonanza!

Thanks to my best friend Olivia...  We went through all of her vintage clothing she no longer wears over the weekend and I came home with over 20 mostly 1960's frocks.  Even some very collectable Lilli Ann styles!  I have so far put 6 in my shop, but there is a lot more to come.  Here is a peak a few I have listed:

- lovely linen number with oval lace trim.

-beautiful robins egg blue dress that has a great keyhole back detail.

-I like to call this one the mod statement dress.

Want a sneak peak at a few that I haven't posted?

-mint condition stewardess dress.

-fabulous Lilli Ann futuristic mod dress, in great condition.

-this one is a Lilli Ann collectors dream!  It is in almost perfect condition.  

I really haven't been totally slacking off!

Want a little peak into what we have been up to here at Lulubliss...

-Growing leek and jalapeno seedlings.

- More leeks and tomato seedlings.  

- Make my own worm compost bin!  I was too cheap to buy one for $80, so I made this one for $12.  Here is a video on how to do it.  I have some bricks set inside the bottom one, so the top one (where 400 of my new wormy pets live) has some air circulation.

- My first contribution to feed our wiggly worms.

As I am sure you have already guessed, the gardening bug has bitten me.  So here is what I asked my sweet husband to help me with while he was on his spring break.

- Marking the territory for our two raised beds.

- We had to dig up all the grass, where the beds are going.

- Fantastic 10'x3'x1' bed my sweetie made for me, in place.  Mikey has to check it out.  

I missed taking a picture of the next couple of steps.  We dug out a good portion of the dirt pictured above, then lined the sides of the bed with some heavy duty plastic sheeting, laid down 1/2" grid wire mesh on bottom (to keep the gophers out) and finally filled it with some "veggie mix" soil (that was so stinky).

- Bed #1 all planted.  There are zucchini, lemon cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, jalapenos, leeks, spinach, carrots, radish and a variety of lettuces all in this one bed!  I am so excited for things to really get growing.  We had to put up the little wire fence up to keep the dogs out, they were eating the stinky manure dirt (yuck).  Domino still tries to sneak a taste now and then.

- Here are both beds, the covered back bed measures 12'x3'x1'.  We have to keep it covered and unplanted until we can make the other doggie fence.  I am going to plant more peppers, lettuce, herbs and persian cucumbers in this bed.  

Holy Hawaiian Dresses!

Here's a quick little post for your enjoyment...

Here is a sneak peak at the great vintage hawaiian print dresses that I scored at a thrift store today!  Six dresses!  That never happens.  Anyhow, keep an eye out on my Etsy store, because all but one of these babies will be going up for sale.  They will be perfect for spring picnics, drinks at your favorite tiki bar or summer poolside parties.  They will be going in within the next week.  A couple of them might get shortened, because they are a weird unflattering mid-calf length.  

Here is a fun link to check out when you have some time, Snippets.  It is an online magazine that is part of the crafty website Cut Out and Keep.  I haven't taken a lot of time to peruse the entire site, but I thought I would share, since I just stumbled upon it.  

Just one of those weeks!

We all have had them.  Start off the week on the right foot, ready to conquer everything on your To Do list... Then it all comes to a halt, because you get sick.  Ugh, I am so tired of feeling sick and tired.  As of today I am on the mend, but I think that allergy season is now in full swing with a vengeance, so I am very sniffly and I look like Rudolf the red nosed reindeer.  Oh yeah, I had to deal with two dead birds in our yard this week too!  I stumbled out of bed on Wednesday to go to the store and post office.  On my way out the front door I see a hawk on our front lawn with a headless pigeon in it's mouth (not a great thing to see when you are feeling well, but being sick it was almost to much to handle).  The hawk got scared and flew away, but left the pigeon on our lawn.  Great!  Then yesterday I see Domino playing with something in the back yard and go out to investigate.  Get up close to him and he has a dead bird in his mouth!  Again, YUCK.  

Enough of my pity party.

I have been meaning to post about this for awhile, but I just got around to mending the hole in the cushion cover.  Remember the cushion cover I made way back in November... Well I was sitting on it with Domino, rubbing his belly (forgetting that I had put Advantage on him earlier that day).  When he got up the nasty Advantage stuff had eaten a hole in the cushion cover fabric!  

Okay, grated this fabric is vintage repurposed drapes (and I have no idea what the fiber content is), but for this stuff to eat a hole in it!?!  What was it doing to us and our dogs?  I haven't used it since, but now need help finding a good natural remedy to rid the dogs of fleas.  

I did patch the cushion cover.  Luckily, I had underlined the drapery fabric with a layer of cotton.  So I sewed a straight stitch around the hole:

Then cut away the torn fabric:

Zigzagged the raw edges:

I had some left over drapery fabric, so I cut out a piece of it, trying to match up the pattern.  I applied sticky back fusible webbing to the patch, to hold it in place while I topstitched around the patch edges:

Viola!  A mended cushion cover:

So if any of you out there have a natural way to get rid of fleas on your pet, please let me know.  Right now, they are getting bathed weekly and I am putting eucalyptus oil on their collars.  I am also washing their bedding often, vacuuming often and spraying where they hang out with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water and a few drops of the eucalyptus oil a few times a week.  But would love to know if any of you have better ideas.  

Spring has sprung... and I am a bit looney!

I love this time of year.  When the weather gets warmer, flowers are blooming, days are getting longer and I can indulge in my favorite Easter candy...  Yummy, candy covered malted milk eggs!  Oh joy.  

Now for the looney part.  I have mentioned before my love of vintage sewing machines and I need another one like I need a hole in the head.  But this weekend I brought another one home!  I can't believe it myself, but as I am writing this I am looking at my new girl Lucinda.  She needs some work, but I hope you can look past that and see her in all of her vintage Singer glory.

She is an 1898, model 27 Singer treadle sewing machine, sometimes known as the Sphinx.  I have been wanting to learn how to use a treadle sewing machine, for quite some time.  I grew up with one in our living room, it was my great grandmothers and the sewing machine that my mother learned how to sew on.  I remember playing with the treadle pedal and pretending to sew great things, on that machine. It never had a belt and I don't remember the condition of the actual machine (the cabinet was in great condition).  It wasn't as old as this machine.  Anyhow, I really looked forward to getting that machine from my mom, this past year I asked my mom if I could have it and found out that she sold it a few years ago, without letting me know.  I was heartbroken and very mad at my mom for a while, but realized that I needed to let it go.  So in comes Lucinda.  

-She came with instructions on how to use all the attachments that originally came with this machine, but Lucinda didn't come with them (they are readily available online).

-Also, the original bill of sale! 

I will keep you updated on how her cleaning and tune-up goes.  I can't wait to sew something on her!  

Hello Again and a Refashioned Cashmere Sweater

OMG!  Has it been almost two months since I have posted?  Where has the time gone and what have I been up to?  Geez!  I don't have much of an excuse, but I have been concentrating a bit more on some freelance work.  

I have always wanted to be the one that keeps a journal religiously, and can look back years later at all my oh so interesting entries.  But I have never been good at it and the entries end up feeling way to self conscience and not at all interesting.  I guess that is kind of how I have started to feel about my blog.  Don't get me wrong, I love blogs!  But sometimes I feel like I don't have much to say and don't want to bore you.  I need to change my way of thinking about it all and just blog and create things to blog about.  So here goes!

On that note, I do have something to share, that was quick, easy and fun.  On a recent thrift store outing I found this great pink cashmere sweater for $5!  BUT, it was a tad to small, bummer!  I held onto it while I finished my shopping, not sure if I should put it back or buy it (I also was holding the exact same sweater in a pale turquoise, that I am kicking myself for putting back).  I decided to buy it and figure out what to do with it later.  I brought it home, washed it and set about figuring out what to do with it.  

Since it was a tad small, I thought, why not make it into a open loose cardigan.  So I carefully removed the ribbing at the neck.  Just so you know most sweaters (especially ones made from nicer fibers like merino wool, alpaca and cashmere) are fully fashioned.  Well, what the heck does that mean?  You ask.  A fully fashioned sweater means that all the pieces used to make it up are knit to shape (unlike, a tee shirt which is cut to the shape you want), then those pieces are linked together (which is like sewing them together).  Anyhow, this means you can carefully take apart most sweaters without the pieces coming unraveled.  Just a little tidbit for you to know.  Sorry for the tangent.  I removed the rib around the neck and cut a straight line up the center front.

Since I cut the center front of the sweater, I needed to finish off the edges somehow, otherwise the garment would start to unravel.  I had this vintage fabric with pink flowers, that went with the sweater.  So I cut a couple of bias strips to make binding, to finish off the front edges.  

Now what to do about the neck and closure of this cardigan... How about a great shawl collar that become the ties to close this puppy up.  

Here is a close-up of the shawl collar.  It is basically a wide bias band folded over, then I sandwiched the neckline of the sweater between the two layers of the shawl.

WOOHOO!  A great new cardigan to bring welcome Spring in.

Craft Zine #10 Article!

"With funny-lady Amy Sedaris as our cover star, celebration is theme for CRAFT Volume 10. In this issue, we feature instructions to help you create the perfect mixtape for any party, make a keepsake wedding book, design beautiful invitations, and make customized plates and coasters, fancy hats, party cakes and cake toppers -- even put together the ideal cocktail bar. You just found a great excuse to throw a party!"  

-Blurb from Craft about the theme of this issue.  

In this fantastic issue of Craft, that was just released, you will find another crafty article by moi... How to make your very own fancy cocktail hat.  There is also an extra online tidbit on how to make your own hat form.  I didn't like the limited selection of hat forms that I found and thought they were just way to expensive, so I made my own and so can you!  Please let me know what you think.

Interview with the Mad Men costume designer

Swoon!  I am sure many of you are big Mad Men fans, like me.  I love most everything about that show, but the costumes are to die for. 

Here is a link to an interview with the costume designer from the show, Janie Bryant.  Please enjoy!

Thrifting fun stuff and book reading

I have recently found some fun housewares at thrift stores and wanted to share them with you.  

- Matthew found this one for me and I snatch it up so quickly... A Le Creuset 8" covered skillet!  It was marked $9.99, but I had a coupon so it was only $5.  This is one thing I am keeping for myself.

- Two Monterey Jade mugs.  I just love the colors in these.  I am not sure what I am going to do with these, I really don't need them.

- A Franciscan vegetable split serving dish, in the Tulip Time pattern.  I will be putting this in my Etsy store later today.

- A DeForest of California wise old owl decorative plate.  

- And of course more Vera Neumann... two vinyl placemats which are so bright and cheery.  This to, will be in my store later today.

Now that I don't commute 3-4 hours a day, my reading has suffered.  I love to read, but it is hard to find time to do it.  I usually read every night in bed, but depending on how tired I am, I get at the most 30 minutes of reading done (but, lets be serious... most days it is about 10 minutes).  So now it takes me forever to finish a book and if the book totally doesn't capture my attention I don't usually finish it at all.  I was reading my friend Karens' blog and she mentioned a book that I have read before but it has been at least 15 years, "Talking Through my Hats" by Lilly Dache.  I remember loving that book and really wanting to read it, but I don't own a copy and when I looked it up on Amazon and Ebay it was a bit pricey for my budget right now.  I thought I would check my local library but thought there is no way they would have a obscure 1946 autobiography by a milliner.  I also wanted to see if they had any out of print needlepoint/embroidery books, so I gave it a shot.  Well, I hit the jackpot!  Not only did they have "Talking Through my Hats", a whole bunch of vintage needlepoint books, I also discovered "In my Fashion" by Bettina Ballard.  I checked out way too much stuff, but there were still tons of vintage sewing and tailoring books I need to look through.  I love my library!  It is a combination city and university library, so they and 3 floors of research books (which is where I found all this great stuff).