DIY: The Scarf Blouse

In my newly completed Scarf Blouse. Or slouse. Maybe blarf. Whichever you prefer.

So I have this new habit. Whenever I experience a craft failure/disappointment/disaster-of-epic-proportions, my new thing is to step away, calmly, and leave the scene of the crime. From there I usually wallow around with a bar of dark chocolate, a cup of tea and maybe a cookie or three and find another craft to attempt. I find this really helps me get over the frustration of time lost and effort spent. And, sometimes, helps me come back to the mess with fresh eyes and new ideas. Even if that idea is, "craft project, meet trash can." 

I snagged this sweet little scarf-to-blouse pamphlet during a recent thrifting adventure. I quickly learned that the 20-30 minute bit was just false advertisement.

Which is how this Slouse was born. This little pamphlet had been sitting on my sewing table for ages. So, after a recent craftastrophe, I decided to give it a shot. One of the first things I began collecting in high school were vintage scarves. I loved the patterns, the texture of the silk and the fact that they were cheap. In college I went through a period where I wore them 1950's style around my neck. These days my collection just sits on my sewing room shelf.

Just a few of my favorites. I don't think I'll be able to cut into some of my scarves, I love them too much. I mean, look at that puppy pattern, swoon!

So I chose a scarf from my stash that I didn't think I'd miss if I messed up. It had a small tear and some discoloration but I loved the color and pattern. After deciding on my scarf, the first thing I had to do was add more fabric to make it large enough.

If you decide to create your own Blarf, and I believe you should, keep in mind that these measurements are from the 1940's. People were so much smaller back then. I used the measurements as suggestions.

I happened to have some green striped taffeta (er, I think that's what this fabric is) in my collection that once was a curtain. Adding that fabric to the scarf turned out to be the biggest chore as I had to hem it, attach it to the scarf and then figure out a way to miter the corners. Super fun times. But once complete, I was finally ready to follow the pattern.

While I love this shirt, it's not my usual style. I was hoping for a 1940's look...but I'm afraid I may be a little closer to Mrs. Roper.

I began with creating an opening for the neck. I did have to expand the measurement for the opening by an inch or two as my head is kind of large. Especially when you take into consideration that there is usually a bumpit making it even larger.

When following this pattern, I pinned, tried it on, repinned and tried again. I made many alterations to the pattern but this gave me a great starting point.

Really, creating the opening was not the hard part. It's this sewing silk business that drove me mad. It's so stinking slippery that it's like maneuvering a snake through your machine. And I found it difficult to measure accurately. But my sewing skills are extremely limited, so I'm winging it most of the time. For you sewing smarties, it would be a snap.

The back. Duh. I was concerned about how the backside looked, but if you look at the illustration, the bottom of the shirt is a little more tight fitting.

After the opening was complete, I was tempted to just leave the thing as a poncho. But, after taking one of those aforementioned breaks, I came back and set to work on the side seams.

Follow these measurements with caution and lots of fittings.

 What I found helpful was getting one side seam sized correctly and making a tissue pattern. That way I could use the same measurement on the other side. After creating that tissue pattern, the rest was just a zip through the sewing machine, ironing and done!

While snapping these pictures, I found it kind of funny that I have the very same pallet of colors in my house. Must be what I'm drawn to. The skirt, by the way, came from Target.

I do hope you'll give a Scarf Blouse Shirt Top a try. And if so, please send me a photo. I'd love to see what you create. I'm thinking of making a couple more myself. Enjoy your week!

What the Art Teacher Wore #10

Swing Your Partner Monday: I love my Mondays. Seriously. It is a slightly lighter day as far as my schedule goes and it just makes coming back to work at the end of the the weekend very pleasant. It also helps that I love my job! shirt: Paris Market Vintage in Orlando; skirt: vintage, thrifted; tights: Target; boots: Seychelle's

Well, hello there! It's just...me. Sorry, this week you only get to see what ridiculous ensembles I threw together as Lauren has kinda sorta moved on. And I've missed her so! Thankfully the room hasn't been too terribly quiet as I've had an army of amazing parents in my room all week. You see, my school was awarded a grant to participate in a fundraiser that will help feed the hungry. The deal is that my students are to create a clay masterpiece that, on the night of the art show, will be exchanged for canned goods. All canned goods will then be distributed to those in need throughout our community. 

The difficult task is helping twenty children successfully complete a clay sculpture in under half an hour. That's where these amazing moms and dads step in. They've helped clean, prep and assist any little artist in need. I honestly couldn't do it without them. So, if you're out there, thank you, parents! And any parent that helps in anyway at your child's school, know that you are truly appreciated.

I Don't Always Shop at Anthropologie, But When I Do, It's from the Sales Rack: cardigan and dress: anthropologie; shoes: vintage, thrifted; belt: Pinkyotto

Thrifty Wednesday: Everything I'm wearing was a thrift-store-score: sweater: Free People, thrifted; dress: Ann Taylor, thrifted; shoes: Dolls by Nina; tights: fishnets and gold tights from Target

Springy Thursday: I almost bought a knock-off vintage dress in this style at Anthropologie. So glad I didn't when I found this one at a vintage shop in San Francisco. dress: vintage; tights: Target: shoes: vintage, thrifted

Finally Feelin' It Friday: I admit, I'm officially tired! Notice the random artworks strewn across my floor and it's not even 8am! sweater: thrifted; dress: BCBG

In the Art Room: Leaf Relief

A lovely leaf relief with a dotted background by one of my former students.

Hey guys! This post has been very popular...if you are interested in other leaf related projects, be sure to look at this Leaf Printing post and my Leaf Press Project. Thanks!

While second grade was completing that project, I was working with my third graders on these Leaf Reliefs. It's a very spring/summer kind of project, so I thought I'd share it with you.

A close up of one of the 3" X 4" reliefs. I love that this artist chose a less than perfect leaf.

I like that I can talk about all of the elements of art when looking at something as simple as a leaf: the shape of the leaf; the lines and texture of the veins; the varying colors of each leaf; the cylinder form of the tree that the leaf came from. And when we complete this project, we chat about the values we created and the positive and negative space of the leaf. I do a lot of what's called "call and response" in my classroom which is where I say something and the kids finish my phrase. For example, when I point out an "element of..." they all respond "aaahhrt". Because we are fancy artists that speak with funny accents. Whatever helps them to remember, right?

Completed by an adult during an art afternoon I hosted a while back. I love that she chose to use a dandelion.

For this project, you'll need to gather the following:

• matte board ... I used 3" X 4"
• leaves, delicate flowers, lace ... really anything flat with some sort of texture
• 3M Spray Glue 
• inexpensive aluminum foil
• the $1 a can matte black spray paint found at Home Depot ... seriously, you want the cheap stuff
• 0000 steel wool 
• canvas, matte board or even cardboard for the background

One adult used impatiens and they turned out beautifully. I like that she even added some color to the foil with watered down acrylic paint.

In the art room, I had the kids gather around a table, pick a piece of matte board and lay it in front of them. Then I would lightly spray the glue on the board. The kids then chose from a pile of leaves laying their leaves on the sticky board veiny side up. I then sprayed the board again, laid a piece of tin foil over the board shiny side up and sent the kids back to their seats. At their seat, they used their finger to rub the surface of the board and reveal the texture underneath.

Once that was complete, we took our boards, a large drop cloth and some cheapo spray paint outside. I attempted to let the kids spray paint but I ended up giving the boards a final coat to insure complete coverage. We let their boards dry until the following art class.

Rubbing the spray paint off of the matte board to reveal the textured leaf underneath.

Using the softest of steel wool, the kids burnished their leaf reliefs. Some kids chose to burnish the boards completely while others liked the variety of values. And even though I emphasized not to rub too hard, we still had several incidences where the kids tore their foil. Usually they noticed right away and the foil could be gently glued back into place. In other cases, we repaired by using a black or silver sharpie to camouflage the tear.

For the background, I have tried a variety of things. In the classroom, we have used canvas boards that we've painted (after a long chat about color theory and mixing, of course) and applied a texture with our texture combs. Not familiar with texture combs? I picked mine up from an art supply catalog however they can easily be made by using either a plastic comb or cutting notches into cardboard.

I picked up a ton of matte board at a local framing shop when it was going out of business. I'm sure any such shop would make a donation. I love the burlap texture on this matte board.

This background here was created by an adult using a leaf stencil. I love the combination of two reliefs.

Once paintings and reliefs were complete, I hot glued the metal work onto the canvas. I gave the kids the opportunity to either have their reliefs flat or popping up by adding a bit of stryofoam to the back of the relief.

Another adult example. I love her use of type and found objects. So many possibilities!

The works of art were a real show stopper once hung in the hall as a group. What I loved so much about this project was that I was able to start the year with a solid introduction to the elements of art. Not only that but all children were successful which is a huge ego bust. In fact, my principal-at-the-time loved them so much, she stayed after school with me for a couple of days so I could teach the lesson to her! Her leaf reliefs are now proudly displayed in her home. Gotta love a project that inspires everyone!

Hopefully this will inspire you as well. Enjoy your weekend!

Spoiled Rotten

Just some of the birthday loot: great books from my aunt, my bro and a sweet friend; beautiful bouquets from favorite friends.

 Holy cow. I am super spoiled. My birthday this past Friday was quite the momentous occasion complete with entirely too many cupcakes, Happy Birthday songs (once on our school-wide morning announcements, several times during art classes and once again at a restaurant during lunch -- hey, anything for free dessert, people) and a treasure of birthday booty. These goodies were just too great not to share. Not included in photos were the countless notes and drawings from students, the mountain of trashy magazines and chocolates from hubs (does anything beat that combination?) and cards and gifts from friends. I don't suppose turning thirty-ahem-seven will be that bad after all.

My mother-in-law is an estate-sale-aholic for which I am very glad. She showed up with this vintage paper suitcase wrapped in a bow. I love how it looks as though it is smiling!

Here's a peak at just some of the vintage goodness inside the suitcase: vintage fabric and aprons, never-used watercolor sets, a child's sewing basket, books and a group photo of women with their children from the 1920's. This is the kind of stuff that I could sift through, hold, touch and smell for hours.

One estate sale had been at the home of an artist. I was so excited to see the artist's charcoal landscape drawings but this portrait is my favorite. I am now on the hunt for the perfect thrift store frame to put her in. Isn't she a doll?

Watercolor set. I wonder if the Bradley is the one of later Milton and Bradley, the game board makers, fame?

I love the cover of this vintage coloring book, so cute!

A close-up of a child's vintage sewing basket. Her wee little embroidered stitches are far better than mine.

A lovely little hat and gloves set. Too bad my man hands are too big for 'em.

On the day of my birthday, my sweet student teacher returned with a book she had created with the kids while I was away in NYC. She snapped a group photo of each class and quoted each student (that's almost 400!) on what they like about me as their art teacher. Can you imagine? She presented it to me during one of my classes, so I read what that particular class had to say. Needless to say, I almost lost it. It was the most touching gift I've received in a long time. Thank you, Lauren!

I thought I'd share with you some of the funnier things the kids had to say...it's hilarious what they pick up on.

General consensus? I'm silly, I talk funny, I dress wacky, the kids love art. I do hope they're learning something as well!

Yeah...there's probably a reason. Like the other teachers have taste.

Thanks for indulging me, I just had to share my birthday bounty with you!

DIY: Late for a Very Important Date

I think I was asked, "Excuse me, but do you have the time?" about a dozen times when I wore this dress. Yeah, I do, it's time for you to get a watch, fool! Don't ask me why that question requires a Mr. T-esque response. It just does.

Lemme tell you, this DIY dress has been a wee bit of a headache. It began with this uber short dress that I snagged from the resale shop Plato's Closet. Don't ask me what I was thinking when I bought it. I mean, the thing is short. It would require me to shave my legs above the knee and, well, that just ain't happening. So this too-short dress was doomed to the back of my closet along with my high school prom dresses. Yes, I still have them. Hoarding is a disease, people. I can't help it.

I've always loved Alice in Wonderland, especially the freaked out, late-for-a-date white rabbit.

The inspiration for this dress came from the little rabbit above. I've had this idea of printing my own fabric for a while so when I couldn't find any pocket watch themed fabric online, I decided to create my own. I used a piece of 3" X 6" Soft-Kut and some carving tools that I happened to have at the house (because I'm a hoarder, remember?) However, if you don't have such things at your very well-organized and unhoarder-esque pad, then I suggest you drop by your local hobby/craft shop and snag you some.

Erm, yeah. So after just finishing a big printmaking unit with my fourth grade students in which we discussed how with printing, everything is in reverse, guess who forgot when carving the numbers on the clock? Originally, the right side had the III carved into it when it should have had a VIII. Headache #1.

Even after messing up the numbers on the pocket watch, I was still determined to roll with it. I convinced myself that I'd hand paint the correct numbers on the clock later. Oh the lies I tell myself.

I decided to use black fabric paint to print the block. That turned out to be Headache #2. The paint was too runny and printed terribly. The details of the clock were lost among big blobs of black paint. So I did a little research online and found that some folks had better luck printing on fabric with oil based inks. I ordered some immediately from amazon.com which proved to be Headache #3. The order did not ship directly from amazon but one of their suppliers who decided to take two weeks to ship the ink. My recommendation? Buy directly from an art supplier online.

The good news is that the ink printed beautifully on the fabric. I  let it dry for over 24 hours before sewing it to the bottom of my dress as the oil dried very slowly. And don't even ask me how I plan to wash the dress (dry cleaning? spot washing?) as I'm sure that will prove to be Headache #4.

To complete my White Rabbit dress theme, I decided to order these tights from this super amazing tights shop on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TejaJamilla.The seller is very sweet and always quick to respond to emails. I have another pair of her tights in my collection, a super cute pair tights that you can see here: http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-i-wore-this-week-not-that-i.html

Finally, I decided to change out the buttons to match the hem. They were originally some plastic blue buttons. I used one of those make-em-yourself button makers and used the same mustard fabric from the bottom of the dress. And, of course, I had to wear one of my white rabbit belt buckles. I even managed to find this piece of vintage fabric in my stash that brought all of the colors of my look together (according to me, anyway). So being a hoarder has some benefits. Now, don't forget to reset your clocks!