In the Art Room: School-Wide Collaboratives!

Hey, kids! I'm comin' atcha with a mere two and some change weeks o' summer vacay left before The Return. Which means, if you are anything like me (and, Lordie help you if you are), you are dreaming up ideas for the new school year. One of my fave things to do to kick off the beginning of the year is have a big ole school-wide collaborative (or "scollab" as I like to call 'em). And lemme tell you why:

1. It gets the kids creating right at the start of the school year! If your kids are anything like mine, they spend their first full week learning rules -n- routines everywhere they go. The cafeteria. The classroom. The playground. The bus. WHICH I know is important BUT I'm dealing with the under-10 set. When they come to the art room they are soooo over that mess. Not only that, but I've had most of my students since kindergartenland. If they don't know my R-n-R's by now, well, when they see that we're gonna create on the first day o' art, they learn 'em real fast. Nothing like a big ole fun and messy carrot to get 'em behaved and ready to create, amirate?!

2. It makes the school look lovely! At the start of the school year, our school halls are empty and nuthin but wall to wall BLAH-eige (my friend Debbie coined this term: blah + beige = BLAH-eige). What better way to spice 'em up than with some kid-created masterpieces?!

3. It shines a spotlight on your art program! Let's face it, you ARE the Donna Summer of your school:

Sing it with me, "I work hard for the money. So hard for it, honey! I work hard for the money so you better treat me right!" However, you just can't run around tellin' folk how hard you and your young artists are working. You gotta show them. Put up a show stopper at the start of the year and you'll have everyone talkin' about your art program. 

Now, I know y'all are thinking, "That's all well -n- swell but what scollabs should I dooooo?!" Well, I'm here today to share with y'all some of my very faves with linky-loos to the blog posts that will walk you thru all of the steppies. Let's start with this fourth grade legacy mural! And, good news, if you are attending this Thursday's AOE conference...

You can hear me chat at length about each of these projects! As well as me questions live at the conference. AND take a tour of my school and get an even better view of these masterpieces. However, if you can't attend, don't you sweat it. I've got ya covered in this here blog post!

The mural is proudly displayed in the front lobby of our school and give a fair amount of fun -n- funk to our entrance way, doncha think?

Another fun scollab we did this year was our Village of Kindness mural/installation. 

Our theme for the school year was Be Nice and what better way to do so than with a village full of houses with kind messages to greet the viewer.

This also incorporated a fun backdrop that was painted by my rockin' second grade artists! More on that process here. 

This scollab is prolly one of my all time faves and it was purely by accident. Our school hosted a "street painter" or sidewalk chalk artist who introduced the kids to her trade. The kids were then supposed to try their hand at chalk art outside on our sidewalks but the weather decided against it. So we used the flip side of ceiling tiles instead! Full details here. 

Now we're thinking of doing this project every year because my administration loved it so much!

 If you want a scollab that will have EVERYONE feeling all warm and fuzzy at the start of the school year, have I got the one for you. The Gallery of Gratitude is an idea I played with forever...and I totes wish I had done it sooner. It meant so much to the faculty and staff to see their portraits and words of kindness written about them. 

Who doesn't love to feel appreciated?! This project def did the trick.

And, last but not least, the final scollab I've got for you here in this post is the Johnson Elementary has Heart mural! If you need a heart stopping show stopper (sorry, had to), this is it, kids!

So, what do you think? Are you ready to tackle a scollab to kick off the start of your school year? If so, what do you have in mind? I'd love to know. Leave me a lil sumpin sumpin in the comments, would ya? Til then...

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!

DIY: Artsy Sew Along 1, Pattern Cutting/Pocket Making

 

Super cute sewing fabric from fabric.com.

Hey, my stitches! I hope all y'all are doing swell and, if you are stateside, having a lovely holiday weekend! It's been a rainy one here so I doubt there will be much of a fireworks-y celebration in my neck o' the woods. To that I say, c'est la vie and pass me my cuttin' scissors. I've got a skirt to stitch!

The pattern we're using: Simplicity #2226.

If y'all have joined the Artsy Sew Along, hurray! I'd love to see the fabric you are stitching with. Please post away on that page or share on Instagram #artsysewalong. Since many of you have mentioned that you are new to garment sewing, I thought some videos might be of some help to y'all. Granted, these are my videos, so take my tips and tricks with a big ole grain of salt. In fact, invest in a salt lick, ermkay? 

Sewing machine fabric and cute buttony fabric. 

 In this post, I'll chat with y'all about:

* How to prepare your fabric and your pattern pieces for cutting.

* Just how to go about cutting your fabric properly and making sure to get all of your markings correct.

* How to stitch those super cute pockets onto the skirt!

If all goes well, this post should help you get this far! You'll notice I opted for a contrasting fabric for the pockets...y'all know me, I'm totes tacky and love to play with patterns. By the way, I'll also be throwing in some of my fave sewing fabrics with links for some sewing-inspo in this here post! 

This clip is all about preparing your fabric and your pattern. It's super important to read through all the pre-stitching notes in your pattern as they are chuck full of sound advice. Don't just listen to this clip featuring my lovely voice. Which, by the way, sounds like angels singing. While chewing on broken glass.

Just incase you missed my clip about finding your correct size according to the pattern envelope, here you go!

I love the colors in these prints. Rulers and spools. 

 

If you're new to sewing then I know how overwhelming those pattern pieces can be. Lemme help ya navigate that territory, kay?

Scissors and spools. 

 I really enjoyed this beginning process of skirt making. I love when a project is simple and gives immediate results: yay, pockets! If you have any probs at all, please drop me a line in the comments, on the Artsy Sew Along page or on my Instagram (where I've been annoyingly popping up photos of the skirt progress).

Now, I will say, that I've been reading what some other sewists have said about this pattern and I'm a lil concerned. Many have mentioned that the waistband is too big. What I plan to do is create a muslin of the waistband (this is practice sewing, following the same pattern, but with inexpensive fabrics). This way I can do a little trouble shooting for y'all. I hope to be back with the second portion of stitching -- adding that waistband -- soon. 

Until then, be sure to share what you're up to and drop me a line about your progress, y'all! 

DIY: The Oodles of Doodles Shower Curtain Skirt

Whilest I was on my decluttering bender (which I'm still on. So lemme know if any of y'all are interested in a broken coffee grinder,  a polyester school spirit shirt from 1982 [any Eisenhower Academy alum out there?!] or a Speak -n- Spell, holla at yer gurl!), I found this super awesome cotton shower curtain in my stash. I believe I thrifted it years ago. When I spied it amongst the clutter, it spoke to me and was all, "Hey! Girl! Put down that busted blender and make me into a circle skirt!" And, being prone to ADHD-fueled activities, I was all, "Okay, sure thing!" BTW, only if you are a sewer, crafter or artist of any kind do inanimate objects speak to you, amirite?

Because this skirt is so stinkin' big and awesome, there's hardly a photo that doesn't showcase me twirling around like a demented ballerina. Which is pretty much all I ever did in ballet as a kid anyway, twirl around and wear my little pink ballet slippers everywhere. So my apologies for all of these goofy twirly pics. However, can you believe the size of this thing? In a pinch, it could be used as a tent for a family of four. 

Have y'all ever made a circle skirt before? If you have, WHY HAVE NOT TOLD ME HOW INCREDIBLY EASY THEY ARE TO MAKE?! Hiding secrets from me, eh? I mean, all I did was cut out two big ole half circles, make room for a waist, add a waist band, stitch in a zipper and hem. Now, I will say, hemming took the longest as the bottom of that skirt is exactly the length of 3 football fields. But other than that, it was a snap! I used this pattern I picked up from etsy a coupla years back.

I didn't have enough shower curtain left to create the waistband to I used some heavy pink gingham from my stash. Which you can't see in these photos because I'm conveniently hiding it.

Who here thinks the kids are gonna flip out when they see this skirt come August? It's the perfect art teacherin' skirt, riiiight?! So glad it didn't get donated to the thrift with that busted blender. 

Coming off my Grainline Studio Scout Tee high, I busted out this bad boy in just a couple of hours to match (actually, it took a lot less time than that, these Scout Tees are a snap to make!). I used some Lotta Jansdotter (best name everrrr, btw) fabric found at Joanns. After some debate on my instagram, I decided to go with a pink gingham trim. Most all y'all were like, "don't do eeettttt!" but, eh, I did it anyway. Because I'm toooootally one of those people who asks your opinion and then promptly does the opposite. Nice. 

And now, let's talk about the Artsy Sew Along!

OMGGaaaaah, that face. You know you wanna sew along with this crazy, riiiiight? We're gonna be stitching a skirt from Simplicity 2226. Watch this crazy and I'll convince ya that you needs to do sew, er so.

Because, truly, the best part is FABRIC SHOPPING! Check out these beauties I found just after a short stroll through fabric.com. 

So much prettiness! If you watch the next clip, I'll chat with you about how to measure yourself (always a good time), what notions you'll need as well as how much fab fabric to buy. This is my fave part, the planning. I do hope you'll join the fun! Feel free to share your fabric choices on the Artsy Sew Along page or on instagram with the #artsysewalong! 

If a pattern envelope is Greek to you, lemme translate it for you! 

I'll be back later this week and show you just how to prep your fabric for sewing and start cutting into that pattern. I can't wait to stitch with y'all! Until then, Ima go twirl myself on back to declutterin'!