DIY: Matching Monster-Mash Dress and Sweater

This is my sadistic Trick-or-Treat-If-You-Dare face. Although, five days a week, it's known as my Continue-to-Annoy-the-Art-Teacher-and-this-Smile-is-Gonna-Be-the-Last-Thing-You-See-Before-You-Enter-Timeout-Town. I blame said Town for the gray streak.

  Alright, I know what you're thinking: another Halloween DIY?! Um, yes. And a couple more to come. I know, I know. But before you think I'm employing a sweat shop in my sewing room (not a bad idea) or getting all jacked up on a candy corn/coke combo and working into the night (closer to the truth), lemme just put rumors to rest and tell you that this dress has sat finished (and unworn) in my sewing room for a coupla weeks. Mostly cuz, after putting in the final stitch, I tried the dress on and the words, "I hate this dress," came outta my mouth.

 Now when I spotted this monstrous fabric at Jo-ann's, I had to scoop it up because of it's retro-y awesomeness. This was after I made a vow at the start of September that I was Not Going to Make Another Halloween Dress. I mean, I made three last fall! That el Dia de los Muertos number, the Be-witched dress with that adorable Tammis Keefe-inspired fabric and the Horror Flick dress. A fourth dress was absolutely unnecessary! And, yet I found myself at the cutting counter loading up on a coupla yards. Because a vow made by me (even to myself!) is about as lasting as a fart in a windstorm.

After digging through my pattern stash, I settled on ole Simplicity 1803 which I've used more times than I can count. That pattern needs to be taken away from me -- it's like a bad boyfriend I just can't get away from. (My apologies, Brad Pitt, for bringing you into this blog post. But you know our relationship went on far longer than it should have. I just can't help that your enchantment for my good looks and charm was not reciprocated. Ole Ang will have to do.) 

 So sorry you had to witness that. Poor Brad.

Now, where was I? A fart in a windstorm...my break-up with Brad... hatred for this dress...ah, yes! That's it. When I got the fabric home and had settled on ole Simplicity, I decided to use black cotton on the side of the bodice as well as the back and the straps. I just thought that'd break up the pattern a bit as it's rather busy. But when all was said and done...I just had to shelf it and step away. I wasn't loving the dress and that bummed me out.

This fabric immediately had me singing Bobby "Boris" Pickett's 1962 chart topper Monster Mash. If I could get my mitts on that original album, that'd be totally Rad Pitt. By the way, this linky-loo is truly a monster mash of the best retro horror flicks ever made. Watch it.

I blame Jo-ann's and this adorable fabric for my vow-breaking. It really is all her fault. Darn that Jo-ann.

After a week-long pouting session that involved guilt-free retail therapy at the local thrift store, I came across this perfect snotty-green cardigan. I thought I could wear it over the dress and it might hide the bodice which was the source of my dress-hate. But first, I just had to felt-orize (you know, accessorize with some felt) the thing.

Like a real pro, I sketched directly onto the sweater with an ebony pencil (which, as it turns out, you can't erase for sh**) and commenced needle felting. By the way, it's nearly impossible to felt teeny-tiny details (which my subconscious kept telling me but I silenced that ole bag with a glass of wine or three) so I took to embroidering such small stuff as Drac's teeth, tie, facial features and outline.

You can clearly see the embroidery on Frank's face. I enjoyed this technique because the felt made the fabric stiff and easy to embroider. I'm definitely going to remember that for future felting/embroidering adventures.

Now, lemme interrupt this hear blog post so we can talk about My Hairs. I've mentioned before how I've gotten rather lazy with my hair stylings of late. Well, recently I received an email from the folks behind the website The Amazings. If you've not heard of it, The Amazings is a website that offers classes by mature and experienced artists with a multi-mission: Preserving knowledge. Celebrating handmade. Encouraging generations to collaborate. Sharing stories. We don't have one purpose. Our craft classes are a means to many ends.

Doesn't that sound...amazing?! Let me tell you, it truly is. I was generously offered Glamous Retro Hair Do's taught by hair stylist Michael. This course was broken into six separate mini-classes which demonstrated how to set and style three retro do's: a 1930's chignon, a 1950's rockabilly look and a 1960's Bardot style. I literally sat with a pencil and paper, took notes and made sketches, that's how informative I found this to be! For today's Bride of Frankenstein-esque look, I watched Michael demonstrate how to roll one's hair in rollers (correctly as I've been doing it all wrong!) and style to achieve a desired look. My favorite take-away tidbit was when Michael said you don't have to make your hair look exactly like some specific retro style but make it "your own interpretation." 

I'll be certain to try out more hair stylings in the future from this course and, when I do, I'll let you know. There are so many other amazing (sorry, I had to say it!) craft courses on this website, I'm excited to try some more.

 Once my felting was complete, I re-tried the dress on, added the sweater and belt and was...much happier, I gotta admit. Now I'm the proud creator of FOUR Halloween dresses. Surely there will be no need to make any more...(don't call me Shirley).

Until next time, I hope you have an exciting couple of days getting ready for the most spooky holiday of the year! I've got a costume to put together (hint: I'm dressing as this month's Artist of the Month!)...fingers crossed I finish in time. 

Are you dressing up? Whatcha gonna be? I'm dying to know! Oh...Brad's IM'ing me...again...gotta run!

Read more »

DIY: Felted Floral Sweater

Warning: This post is full of photos taken by my hubs. Usually the photos you see on this here blog are taken by me and my 10 second timer. Press the button, run in front of the camera, attempt to look natural and SNAP!, picture taken. With hubs, it's a little different. Strangely, I'm more self conscious. Probably because of the constant commentary which has me cracking up. My favorite? After I complained that the photos didn't look so hot, hubs quipped, "well, let's take some more and attempt to put some whipped cream on this crap-pie." And, yes, I do believe I was the crap-pie he was referring to. Sigh.

So, as usual, this DIY story begins with me drooling over some uber expensive piece at Anthropologie. Case in point: that lovely embroidered number on the left. Them crazies wanted something like $198 for that thang! Do you know how much whipped cream that would buy?! Why, I'd be the best tasting crap-pie in town. And I already had this thrifted Banana Republic sweater just sitting in my closet like a blank canvas. So, in normal Cassie fashion, I decided to copy that little piece. Like I said, same DIY story, different day.

I know what you're thinking: dang, girl, another felted sweater? Or maybe that's not what you're thinking, my ESP skills have always been lacking. Regardless, can you believe I've not gotten over this felting bug that bit me way back with this first Anthropologie DIY?  Since then, I've felted sweaters of birds, flowers and my cat. I've found I really enjoy the process because it combines two things that I love: creating pictures and creating clothing. 

But enough about that. Lemme show you the basics of how I crafted the flowers. To begin, hit the thrift store or your closet and get yourself some sweaterage. Wool roving and needle felting tools can be picked up at your local craft store. I began by pulling a long thin amount of roving and folding it over my finger as shown on the left. I slipped that off my finger and ended up with the loop on the right.

Lay it onto the sweater...

...and commence stabbing. As you punch the roving, it's fibers sink into and interlock with the sweater. This causes the size of the roving to shrink a bit. That's why the blue flower on the left looks so much smaller than the one I'm punching.

Once finished with one flower pedal, follow the same steps to create the second one. They resemble heart shapes and already have me thinking up a Valentine's Day sweater. Never too early to get a jump start, says me. For the dot in the middle, I used a very small piece of felt that I rolled between my fingers and punched into place.

For the flower stems, I initially used green roving. But I just couldn't get the felt to cooperate. So I discovered a stash of 100% wool yarn in my sewing room (the things I have buried in there!) and decided to try it instead. It works beautifully. In the photo above, I've simply laid the yarn out where I want it to be punched and started stabbing away.

And this is a little what the end result of that looks like. For such things as the flowers with multiple pedals, I followed the same steps as the heart shaped flower. Really, you can create any ole shape with roving. Just use your needle tool to shape the flower, strawberry, leaf, stem, you-name-it as you go.

Wait! This pie needs more whipped cream! By the way, that dip-dyed blouse under my sweater is yet another Anthro-copy that I plan to share with you next week.

Probably my favorite photo from our day out. You can see the back of the collar and the little sprinkle of flowers on my shoulders. Did I tell you I kinda love this sweater? You know what I really love? $198 in my pocket.

Now I'm not gonna lie, this sweater took me ages. Mostly because it was one of those work-on-here-and-there projects. But I'm happy I finished it even if I've only got a matter of weeks to wear it. You'll have to let me know if you've given felting a shot. I'd love to see what you've created!

Read more »

DIY: Anthro-Inspired Sweater and Skirt

What's this?! A DIY Double-Header? That's right, just for your DIY'ing pleasure, I bring to you a double dose: my felt -n- applique sweater along with my tulle-tastic skirt.

You know that whole "you can do anything you set your mind to" crap they tell you when you are a kid? I remember the very moment I realized that was all a lie.

 I grew up a pretty lanky and unsightly teen. Adolescence painted a particularly ugly picture complete with those giant round glasses all the hipsters now wear, braces/headgear and a feeble attempt at 1980's tidal wave hair all on a flat chested 72 lbs frame. There was not doubt: I was Freak Show Fugly. And, like some cruel joke, my family decided I should send in photos for Seventeen Magazine's Teen Model competition. 

Needless to say, setting my mind to becoming Seventeen's Next American Super Hot Top Pre-Teen Model just wasn't enough to make it a reality. After such a traumatic experience, you'd think a relatively intelligent person would have learned their lesson and stop wishing on a star. Since there is no intelligent life here on this blog, the wishful thinking continues in the form of the bottom half of this Anthropologie knock-off: The Tulle Skirt.

 When I first spotted this skirt in Anthropologie, I knew I had to have it in my life. I mean, look at it, it's all fluffy and soft like some sort of magical 1950's cotton candy skirt. However, the $188 price tag was enough to make me slap my mama. It was then I knew I had to attempt my own version.

When I purchased the tulle at the local craft joint, I asked for all that was on the bolt. After measuring, the fabric cuttin' gal informed me that I'd be purchasing 17 yards of the fluffy stuff. That's when this convo transpired: 

Fab Cuttin' Gal: 17 yards is a lot (duh, lady). Are you sure you need that much?

Me: Well, yeah. And it's only like a dollar a yard so I'll just take it all.

FCG: What are you making? (do they pay them to ask that question?)

Me: Oh, a tulle skirt! I'm so excited.

FCG: Oh, for some little girls? That will be so cute. Little girls just love their tutus!

Me: Oh, I know. Don't they though?!

Humph. Tulle skirts are for kids?! Me thinks not. 

After some serious trouble shooting, I decided to create my skirt using the same pattern I did for this DIY skirt. I layered seven pieces of tulle for each of the three pattern pieces (one large front panel and two back panels) with a gathered-waisted slip underneath. Now the thing about working with tulle is that is should come with some warning labels. Might I recommend the following:

WARNING: So Super Staticy. Like, super duper. A close look at my skirt and you'll find thread, bits of paper and maybe a cat hair or twenty between the layers of tulle-tasticness.

WARNING: Do Not Iron. Okay, really, I know I should have known this but I thought a quick hit on a low setting would be okay. Turns out it's not. 

WARNING: No Tools Should Work with Tulle. And I am a serious tool. I realized that when I was seam-ripping the waist band, my hand slipped and I put a hole in the front of this skirt. It was then that I put down the seam ripper and said, "Tulle, you've won." And I decided the skirt was complete.

Thus ending my long-winded story of my DIY tulle skirt. I'm happy-ish with the end result but most excited that I never-ever-ever have to work on it again. 

Can we please talk about happy DIY's now? Like my latest felted sweater (you can see my other felted creations here and here). I know it doesn't look a think like the Anthro-version (which I spotted on the sale rack for the still-too-high price of $69) but I wasn't in love with that one anyway. I mean, those little gold thinger-mabobbers just look awkward. To me. Pardon me if you are a proud owner of said Gold Thinger-Mabobber Sweater. 

But I do love the idea of having three-dimensional flowers on an otherwise boring gray cardi. Which is how my version came to be.

 AND just in time for Valentine's Day I decided to add a little love to the back of my sweater. What's that Gold Thinger-Mabobber Sweater? You don't have anything on the backside? Oh, too bad.

 Because this sweater was pretty easy and trouble-shooting free to complete, I thought I'd share the process with you. I began by purchasing a couple of 100% wool sweaters at the thrift store. I scored a green sweater for the leaves and a dark gray sweater that I used for the flower pedals. I washed them both in hot water which felted the fibers. This made it so I could cut out the leaf and petal shapes and without fraying. From there I used 100% wool yarn and needle-felted the veins of the leaves as shown above.

 I felted some buttons for the sweater also. For this process I took an inch wide button and wrapped wool roving around it. Then I began the process of wet felting it. Using hot water and soap, I gently rubbed the button between my hands until I felt it shrink. Those dried overnight.

 After crafting a dozen leaves, a half dozen flower petals and a couple buttons, I set to work adding them to my thrift store cardi. Using an applique stitch, I added the flower petals and leaves. I was concerned as I sewed because the the shapes looked warped. Thankfully a hit with a hot iron flattened it all back out.

 Felting the spiral design and the word love were relatively easy. I had originally picked up this wool yarn back in the day I had the silly notion I could knit. Turns out I can't knit but I can felt. As you can see above, I just spelled out the letters of the word and started punching it into place. If you are new to this lil ole blog and you'd like to see a more detailed description of needle felting, please read here.

 Ya see those spirally lines on the sweater front? Those were needle felted in the same way.

 And Ta-Da! This Tutu Skirt -n- Sweater Combo is done. And I think I'm finally ready for my Seventeen Magazine Mid-Aged-Lady Who Thinks She Can Sew closeup!

When I showed my skirt off to hubs, he said, "Oh, is that something you'll wear under your skirt like a tutu?"

Why do I suddenly think that he and FCG are in cahoots together? 

Wow, sorry for the long-winded post, ya'll! If you made it this far...thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your week.

Read more »

DIY: Felting a Holey Mess, Anthro-Style

Hey guys! I'm updating this post with a link to another needle felting DIY I just completed...here AND one here...just can't stop felting! I don't normally stand around with my arms crossed. Unless I'm cold. Or I'm going head-to-head with a fourth grader and their attitude. In which case, one of my eyebrows are raised and my lips are pursed. Neither scenario is the case in this photo. I'm actually trying to show off my felt-y floral elbows.

Just to clarify: Anthro-Style is not at all similar to Gangnam Style. Least you be confused.

Anthro-Style is a way around paying through the nose for some adorable skirt/dress/sweater that you just know you could make. You can see my attempts here and here.

Gangnam Style is a way of dancing if you want to, well, have a female look at you as if you just ate your socks. You can see my attempts here and here (ha! made you look!).

I caught a bad case of Anthro-Style when I was at said store with a buddy. I spotted this sweet felted cardigan and was drawn to it's delicate colors and motif. However, the $138 price tag was just a pinch off-putting (ahem!). It was then I remembered the huge mound of roving I'd acquired during one of my hobby hoarding episodes and decided to attempt my own felted floral cardi.

Now when I say hobby hoarder, I mean that I've tried my hand at just about every craft under the sun. I collect hobbies like some people do baseball cards and coins. And I've got the garage full of potter's wheels, mosaic tiles, looms and jewelry making supplies to prove it. Occasionally I think to myself, "I should really get rid of all that macrame" and then I dream up something to do with it. For example. As I've yet to figure out how to craft a non-itchy macrame dress. But I will. Someday-ish.

 My version of the Anthro sweater. Granted, it doesn't look a thing like the original and I'm okay with that. Mine's the cheery-happy-kiddie version to their sophisicated-grown-up-lady original.

But my cashmere sweater cost $3.99 at the thrift store not $138. So you can add penny-pincher to my cheery-happy-kiddie version as well, you sophisticated-grown-up-broke-lady.

 Wait, what? You too wanna make a Felt-y Floral Anthro-Style Sweater? Duuuude, it is so easy. But you will need the following:

•  A Sweater. I was under the misconception that the sweater must be 100% wool. Oh no. You can needle felt on any fabric. I'd had this thrifted cashmere sweater in my give-to-Goodwill pile because it was a little holey. Turns out you can felt-patch those holes. 
• Wool Roving. I purchased mine at a workshop I attended a couple of years ago. I've made felted soaps and ornaments with it as well as this sweater. So, a little goes a long way. I wouldn't buy it at your local craft store because it will be a rip off. I'd look into some online vendors. 
• Needle Felting Tool. This I did pick up at the craft store. I bought one by the company Clover with three needles in it. They are sharp as a mother so be careful as you stab away on your sweater.
• A Sponge or Bristle Brush Block. Again, I snagged mine at the local craft joint. This is the cushion that you use under the punching of the needle.

Having never needle felted before, I watched a couple videos on youtube. I have found that when learning a new craft, the more tutorials, the better. Here's my feeble attempt:

1. Pulling the roving. When you get ready to needle felt, pull apart the roving carefully, as if you are gently pulling off a piece of cotton candy. Done correctly, it should look like the photo above.

2.  Shaping the roving. I was creating circles in the above photo, so I gently rolled the roving into a ball and held it in place with my finger. Place your sweater on top of your sponge or bristle brush punching pad.

3.  Punching the Roving. Seriously, watch your fingers! Getting stabbed is not a pleasant experience as those needles are not only sharp but slightly serrated. As you needle punch, your roving will shrink in size as half of it will go through the other side of your sweater. You can shape the roving by angling your punching tool.

4. Making Diana Ross Hair. Because that's what you wanted on your sweater, right? To add a circle around your dot, pull roving as in step one, lay onto sweater and start punching.

5. Punching, Punching, Punching. It's like Fight Club but without Brad Pitt. Sorry.

6. Shaping the Roving. I love that you can shape the direction of the roving just by angling the punching tool and moving the roving. Here I am completing my circle by overlapping the roving.

This photo and the one below should give you an idea how much the roving shrinks as you punch it. I formed the roving into a leaf shape...

...and used my needle to do the rest of the shaping. I added a very thin strip of dark green for the vein in the leaf. Again, for those small details, watch those digits!

Here's a view of the back of my sweater. I flipped over the Anthro sweater to see if theirs was as fuzzy and it wasn't. I'm not sure if that means they trimmed the back or if they just didn't punch as hard as me.

And here's a view of my dining room table. Which has now become Needle Felting Central. Sorry, hubs.

Again, I blame the ridonkulousness of this pose on my showing off my felt-y elbows. sweater: cashmere with Target tags, thrifted; wood paneled skirt: old, Target; tights: geez, Target!; boots: Frye found second hand

I gotta tell you, this needle felting business is addictive. I started on this one morning and didn't stop until well after noon. I was so excited when I was finished, I showed it off to hubs and the following transaction went down (you know, I just can't have a single post without a lil bit of dialog):

Me (complete with bedhead and pyjamas at 3pm): Look! I finished my sweater! (realizing I'm still with bedhead and pyjamas) And I'm still in my pj's! And it's after 3!

Hubs: Yep. Just what I'd always hoped married life would be like.

Yeah, well, as I always like to tell him, you're stuck with me now, mister! 

I do hope this here post has inspired you to do some punching of your own. Of the needle felting variety, that is. Happy Punching!

Read more »