What the Art Teacher Wore #168

Welcome Back Monday: Yep, just like that, we're back at it! I know, I can't believe it either. It's been a wonderful summer...but busy! I'd love another two weeks just to recovery from my "vacation"...but I suppose that will have to wait. Time to do some art teacherin'! dress: Bernie Dexter; belt and crinoline: Amazon; converse: Um, DSW, I think

Howdy, friends! I dunno why I feel this way, but it seems I've not chatted with y'all in ages. I think it's because with the freedom of summer, I got out of my routine of blogging...but all that's about to change. I'm back to art teacherin' and, hopefully, back to a regular schedule. Cuz I don't think I'll be able to keep up those til-2am-sewing nights much longer. I'm excited to be back and I'm excited to be chatting with you!

I've gotten a lotta emails lately from y'all about heading back to school, how to prepare, how to set up the art room and all the rest. If you've messaged me and I've not responded, please accept my sincerest apologies. I am making an effort...but, honestly, I'm never gonna win the Best Emailer Award. If you'd please leave your questions in the comments, I can address them but the best part is, other folks can chime in as well. Don't think you are the only one with questions, we are all right there with ya. The more knowledge we share for all to see, the better. Also you might wanna subscribe here as I've been addressing those questions in Art Teacherin' 101. 

Now, if I can get my act together, I have some fun DIY and In the Art Room posts planned for you this week...so stay tuned! In the meantime, have a super duper week, y'all!

Calendar of Kindness, Day #1: Write a Thank You Note. True confession: I love writing letters. Mostly because I love receiving letters. When I was a kid, I lived far away from my extended family like my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I sent them tons of letters and LIVED for the day to get one from them. As I got older, I had pen pals all over the world: Yugoslavia (back when there was a Yugoslavia), Australia, Japan, Canada, you name it. I still have those letters and love rereading them. So writing thank you notes, or notes of any kind, is one of my fave things to do. 

I hope you are joining in on the fun! Some of the prompts are hard to post and reshare on social media (like giving a high five)...but I do love the daily reminder to do something, no matter how small, kind. Snapping a picture and sharing it with the interweb is just a fun way to get that wee reminder out there. You can find me (over)sharing here. 

I thought it would be fun to make a kid-friendly edition too! I just might have to continue this on a monthly basis. My thought is to plant the seed with these daily reminders...and also to use them as prompts for my early finishers. Done with that painting? Write someone a Thank You note! 

 Meet the Teacher Tuesday: Our sweet students come to school in the evening on this day to meet their teachers! It's such a fun way to welcome the kids back. Definitely one of my favorite events as a teacher. The enthusiasm is contagious! dress: by the brand CowCow, found on Amazon; belt and crinoline: Amazon; converse: DSW; sweater and scarf: thrifted; necklace: Paper Source

 How can you quickly become everyone's favorite? Bring a ton of chocolate to those long back-to-school meetings. Nothing makes data-mining sweeter. 

 Wonder Wall Wednesday: When I'm at school, I often snap my photos in front of my Art Rocks wall. You can read more about that here. I love how this dress from Wearing History matches so well! 

Like, WHUT. So my friend Beth Moore turned me on to these inexpensive (under 20!) dresses on Amazon. Search the brand-name Cowcow (if that doesn't make you feel self-conscious...). My buddy Rebecca found TONS of dresses by them in different themes like space, Halloween, Christmas, the list goes on. Go get yourself into some trouble and get you some new back to schoolin' duds. Then we can be twinzies!

 Back to School Eve Thursday: We were so fortunate to have this day to work in our rooms and prep for the kids. I am STILL not ready but I'm ready enough! And excited for the new year, so much fun stuff is in the works! I can't wait to share with y'all how we are kicking off the school year. Stay tuned. dress: Bernie Dexter

So I decided to "Thank an Officer" by taking a couple dozen donuts to the police station. I know, stereotype much? They certainly didn't seem to mind. At the end of the school day, we had about four dozen donuts left over from our morning treat that were sitting untouched in the copy room...so I took those to the police station as well. The sweet woman working the desk must have thought I was nuts! "You're back!? Well, the night crew will love it!" 

 First Day Friday: We started our school year with a half day. No kids in my art room...but we do grade-level assemblies to acquaint the students with the school, school rules, procedures and expectations. I'm itching to get 'em in my art room! dress, crinoline and converse: Amazon; sweater: Target

Calendar of Kindness said to plant something...so I planted my beautiful spider palm, Mildred Pierce, in the Jungle Lounge. I got tired of watching Asha (my sweet tabby) chew her leaves off. I'm excited to have something with bigger hair than me in my art room!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #148

 Sharpen Those Pencils Monday: So my students no longer get letter grades on stuff. It's like numbers or happy, sad, neutral faces because, apparently, letter grades are confidence-killers (tho I don't recall good ole D in algebra ever doin' me any harm). So this sweater was mighty confusing to the wee ones. sweater: Urban Outfitters, couple years back; skirt: thrifted, vintage; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

Hi, friends! It's been nearly a month since I shared one of these ole What the Art Teacher Wore blog posts and I dunno why. Well, I do know why, it's cuz I keep forgetting to snap photos. And, when I do remember, it's the end of the day and I'm no longer looking fresh as a daisy. In fact, I more closely resemble a trampled-on dandelion. Mostly cuz I think the kindergarten are secretly trying to kill me. Lemme tell you what happened to me last Friday:

Imagine, if you will, a group of bright-eyed and bushy tailed wee kindergarten friends gathering their art supplies, strapping on the aprons and gearing up to paint masterpieces. When suddenly I hear from across the room: Mrs. Stephens! I got paint on me!

Now, if you are an art teacher, this is something you hear a lot. So you probably have a stock response. Mine is: IT'S ART CLASS! If you get a lil messy that is...(and the kids know to respond here) OH-KAY!

It's after that sentence I hear a collective Uh-Oh! from the class and I turn around to see said Paint-On-Me has decided to disrobe and go topless in the art room. "It's okay!" she shouted, "I got the paint off now!" and before I could reply I hear "I can see her niblets!" from across the room.

AND cut! That's a wrap. Kindergarten for the win.

I'll just leave that lil story there and share with you what I wore when I decided NOT to go topless and reveal my niblets. Ahem...

 Wardrobe Changeover Tuesday: So, like, as you mighta guessed, I have a buncha clothes. Y'all have seen my closet, it's a bottomless pit of dresses, skirts, scarves, belts, shoes, you name it. Fall marks the time that I do that wardrobe changeover thingie. You know, putting away my summer clothes and busting out the fall/winter stuff. Please tell me I'm not the only clothes hoarder to do this. I'd love to leave everything out all year cuz I live in Tennessee and you never know when one day it's gonna snow and the next it's gonna be 85 and sunny. However, I suppose the hubs would like his side of the bed to remain uncovered (ugh, he so needy) so for that reason, I swap out my clothings. dress: Ann Taylor, thrifted; sweater: Anthro found at Buffalo Exchange; hair bow: belt from dress; shoes: Minnetonka; belt: Anthro; necklace: Forever21; crinoline: Amazon 

 Art Will Rock You Wednesday: In the art room on this day, I debuted the Art Will Rock You song in the art room. But the best part of this day was when I was putting my kindergarten friends on the bus when one of them shouts at me: Mrs. Stephens! What in the world are you wearing?! Kid. I don't even know. dress: vintage, etsy find; fox sweater: DIY, details here; necklace and scarf: vintage

The Best Smell of the Year Thursday: I seriously think that fall is the time of year with the best smells, don't you? When I was taking this photo, I couldn't stop sniffing and I was all, what is that amazing smell?! Crunchy leaves smell the very best. sweater: thrifted; dress and belt: vintage

 Love this Star Wars Halloween pin I picked up on our last trip to Disney. I've managed to purchase a pin each time we visit and my collection is growing! I'll have to share it with you sometime. They are so much fun to shop for and wear. If you love this one, you can find them on ebay. 

Happy Fall Break Friday!: Since we started schoolin' way the heck back in early August (like, the first or something) we get this amazing week off thingie called Fall Break. Yay! I'm so thrilled! I literally spent all day Saturday in my pj's in sloth-like celebration. I can't wait to relax, spend time with friends and head out on a lil vacay with the hubs. I'll keep you posted along the way. top: embroidered by me, blog post here; skirt: ancient Target find

I hope y'all have a fab-o week! In the meantime, keep that top on. Don't nobody wanna see those niblets!

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Winner-Winner Chicken Dinner! The Results are In!

 Well, y'all, the results of the What the Art Teacher(s) Wore//Back to Art Teacherin' Contest are in! Thank you so much to all of you who entered and took the time to vote! Without further ado, I present to you our winners:

First Place with 994 votes, Katie Romanic! Her hand painted zentangle-inspired dress, bow and shoes were adorable. Katie will not only be featured in School Arts Magazine but also receive a free year's subscription. Congrats, Katie! 

Second Place with 934 votes, David Meade! It was a seriously close race between David and Katie. David also created his colorful look by crocheting his beret and making his mustache. He also wears that apron everyday to teach art! David will also be featured in School Arts Magazine. Congrats to you, buddy!

Third Place winner is Cheryl Buchett! Cheryl's hand sewn dress in that super cute art teacher print was definitely a hit! You'll be seeing Cheryl in School Arts Magazine as well! Congrats, friend!

Fourth Place winner is Dorie Mishael! Everyone was just smitten with Dorie's hair, handmade skirt and Kandinsky-inspired rug! Her colorful personality shines through in her clothing and her classroom environment! You'll also find Dorie featured in School Arts soon! Congrats, Dorie!

Thanks again for taking the time to vote! 

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DIY: A Palette Dress, Purse and GIVEAWAY!

At one point, every summer vacation, I start to fall into a slacker-esque routine. I'll have my To-Do list all written down, my running shoes by the door, a big ole stack of projects to tackle and then I go all meh, not today. The list gets forgotten, the shoes collect dust and  the stacks of projects turn into towers of tasks I ain't never gonna touch. That was today. YESTERDAY, however, I finished off this number and stitched up that thar palette purse! So I can give myself one day o' estate sale shopping and Mad Men Marathon watching, right?!

I'm super stoked about this lil outfit y'all. But, let's be honest, the purse makes the thing. Amiright?

Let's talk about what inspired this outfit: that fab fabric, y'all. I have this habit: late at night, when I should be fast asleep, I scour the interwebs for fabric. I like to google things like "art supply fabric" or "color wheel fabric" OR, you guesser, Chester: palette fabric. The moment I saw this retro-inspired goodness, I tossed three yards in my virtual shopping cart and scooted on over to checkout faster than you can say "fabric hoarder" (although, why would you say such a thing? I like to think of myself as a Fabric Connoisseur, thank you vury much). The pattern I paired with the fabric is a vintage Simplicity 3877. I decided to go with the bodice of view 3 but I didn't love that skirt (flat front, gathered hips? Because I wanna look like a hippo?!) so I opted to use a regular ole gathered skirt from some rando pattern. I ain't trying to be vague. I'm just sayin, it's literally a big a## rectangle that I gathered and attached to the bodice. The.End.

Now, I'll be the first to admit, that this here fabric pattern is a wee bit overwhelming. That's a whole lotta palette action, you know what I mean? So I decided to break it up with that lil dotted cummerbund.  

I do love me a cummerbund. Or any waist-cinching, belt-esque thingie I can get my kitten mittens on. This one was a snap to make. I have a feeling I'll be busting out more o' these in the future. Magic Eight Ball says it's so (actually she said, "Ask Again" which I always take for a YES! WHATEVER YOU SAY! Magic Eight Ball is kinda like the original Siri but without the attitude.)

But can we fur realz just talk about the show stopper here? I mean, that purse, right?! 

RIIIIIIGHHHHHHT?!

It was pretty easy to make (with my sewing machine only having a hissy fit a mere three times during the making) and, if you are interested, ya outta pay close attention so you can make your own! BECAUSE Ima bout to give away the supplies to do it! But first...

I started with two straw placemats I found on Amazon. I then sketched out my plan and placed it on top, pinning it into place.

Then I snipped away. 

The handle proved to be the biggest beast for a multitude of reasons. The first being it was a drag to cut out. BUT I did it. WITH much complaining. TO the cat. BECAUSE no one else will listen. 

Using extra wide double fold bias tape, I pinned that business around the edge of the mat. Sadly, I didn't have enough for the handle so I had to use the smaller double fold tape I had on hand. That proved to be a real joy (insert sarcasm here) to stitch. But I muscled through. 

And then there was The Great Debate. If you follow me on Instagram and Facebook, I threw out a question because I was stumped how to proceed with the paint splotches. So my question was: round or blobby? I had so many sweet friends offer their advice that it was fab! The prob? Everyone was divided! So I took a closer look at the palette on my skirt and noticed that the paint splotches were ovals. That seemed to be a happy medium. Okay, so the Magic Eight Ball is actually the medium, but you know what I mean. 

This part actually went off without a hitch. I just set my machine to the appliqué stitch (all machines have it, it's just a zigzag stitch with the stitches set close together) and went to town.

Originally I was gonna stitch the two mats together on the black bias tape but it was just too thick. I ended up switching to a light brown thread and sewed the front and back of the bag together on the straw mat. Done and Done. 

BUT I'VE GOT THE SUPPLIES FOR YOU TO MAKE ONE TOOOOOOOO. Well, the purse, perhaps. And just a wee bit of palette fabric. And it can be ALLL YOOOOUURRZZZZ if y'all do the following:

* (If you wanna) follow me on Instagram, that'd be swell. 

* Leave me a message in the comments! I want to know...Who is your fave painter (ya know, since we're talking palettes and all) and why? Also! Don't forget to leave me your email addy so I can let you know if you won, you big winner, you!
 
AND, I'll see you soon! Artsy Sew Along friends, I'll be back shortly with more video clipp-ies of our next phase of skirt stitching. Toodles!

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DIY: A Colored Pencil Dress (and Bolero!), Many Dif Ways

I know what you're thinkin', "Holy cow, Stephens, another stitched dress?!" (by the way, teacher buddies, don't you love how the minute you became a teacher, every other adult in the school addresses you by your last name? I mean, the only other time I've been called "Stephens" was when I forgot to feign cramps during P.E., walked onto the volleyball court and promptly got whacked in the head with a volleyball. Tho I vaguely recall a "Look out!" before "Stephens" which obvi did me and my molasses reflexes no good.)

Wait. Whut wuz I saying? 

Oh, yes. Another dress. 

Weelllll, don't hate me because I'm so athletic, hate me cuz I scored an entire week off! That's right, y'all. That snow day I mentioned on Monday morphed into a glorious thing called a Snow Week which is just as glittery, sparkly and absolutely divine as it sounds. Especially since we've got built-in days so we won't have to make up for lost time. And especially-especially since this dress has been an UFO (UnFinished Object) in my sewing room for the last coupla weeks and now I can scratch it off my never-ending list of UFOs (y'all. There are so many UFO's up in my sewing room that they are thinking of filming the next X-Files movie in there).

But enough of this rambling (guess who hasn't left the house in 4 days nor spoken to anyone besides the cat and her hubs?!), let's talk dress, y'all! 

So when I showed you this dress, I tole ya that there were three more from the same pattern in the works. This here's dress #2! I've never worked on three dresses at once before and I gotta say, I kinda liked it. The progress was a lot slower, obvi, but I liked working piecemeal like that. I did manage to screw up the pleats every single time on every single dress but, you know. When you work with limited brain capacity, you come to expect such things.

 

The fab fabrics I used were the pencils by Alexander Henry and these scribbles by Ed Emberly. Super cuteness, right? In fact, Anthropologie used that pencil fabric in navy for a skirt they sold last year. I love the color palette of this light green fabric, it's feels very retro to me.

For this dress, I opted to go sleeveless mostly cuz I didn't have enough of the scribble fabric. Which is cray because I always over buy my fabric. This is also how the dress is supposed to be worn. But as you mightah noticed in the early snaps, to make it work with the bolero, I did something a lil different. 

But wait, DID SOMEBODY JUST SAY BOLERO?!

Das right, y'all! I made a wee jacket to go with my dress! I decided I needed a new outfit for the art teachers conference (NAEA for those of y'all in the know) in New Orleans where it might be a lil chilly without sleeves. AND everyone knows a jacket is all kinds of professional-looking which I'm hoping to fool people into thinking I am when I present a whopping four times. Yikes! In reality, I should prolly be working on my presentations...good thing my Magical Totally Professional Looking Jacket will fool folk! 

"Golly, Janet, what was that presentation even about?!"

"I have no earthy idea, Eunice, but it sure was professional. I mean, did you see that jacket?!"

Not to mention, it's reversible, y'all.

Re.Ver.Sah.Bulll.

 

 And I kinda dig it with a lil faux lapel, don't you? It's like a lil peak-o-pencil, know what I'm saying?

 Here's how it's supposed to be worn without the faux lapel. It's a lil too blue with this ensemble. Not to mention between the jacket and the waistband I do look a lil bull-fighter-esque. Toro! Toro! 

Like I said, reversiBULL. It's all coming together now, riiiiight? 

 So the pattern I used was that vintage number shown above. It's called "Advance". Not to be confused with "Advanced" which I would never use. The silly pattern did call for me to do some hand sewing and I was all "whuuuuut?" and the pattern was all, "yeeeeeesssss." But I had to lay down the law. It's 2015, I ain't hand sewing nuthin when I got a machine that can do it in a blink. So my bolero is all sorts of top-stitched where it isn't supposed to be. But whateves, tis the reason I ain't advanced. 

 By the way, tell me honestly, does this look like I have red toilet paper accidentally tucked into the backside of my dress? Well, does it?! A good friend would be honest with me, ya know.

But wearing it this way, with the straps criss-crossed (will make ya Jump!Jump!) around the waist and tied in the back works best when wearing it with the bolero. Says me. AND I kinda dig this look all on it's own. But that's because I'm all about the big fat belt. 

And there ya have it, folks! I promise I won't share another dress post for at least a couple of days (ahem). Until then, stay warm, buddies! 

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