Launch of EllenJune Designs

In preparation for this weekend's Alamo Square Flea Market....

... which you should totally go to, I decided to whip up some things to try and hawk along with my dad's awesome collection of vintage furniture/beer signs/random things he has collected over the years at garage sales. We are booth 24 on Scott Street, come check us out!

Although EllenJune Designs has a loooong way to go, you gotta start somewhere, right?

I bought some inexpensive (but really comfy and cute) shirts from Target and set about embellishing with things from my sewing box, and these were the results:

 

 

 

 

Gettin' ready for business!

 

 

 

 

 

 A sampling of the vintage dresses I will be parting with!

 

 

Have a great weekend!

Uniqlo Designers Invitation Project Celebration

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a party at the Uniqlo store in Union Square celebrating the release of collaborative designs by a bunch of designers. I mostly went to see SUNO NY, because they make things...

 like this

this

 

and this.

Oh yea, and there were free drinks.

 Let's get shopping and drinking!

 My stylish date for the evening :)

 Note the free drinks

 The SUNO collection was a bit lackluster to me. Those pants look awesome, but the rest was a bit prairie-ish for my taste.

 A nicely constructed shirt, but again, not quite my taste. I was hoping for something a bit edgier.

 

 Now Lulu Guinness (not part of DIP, to my knowledge), on the other hand, I like.

 Her style is sometimes too girly for me, but I kinda fell in love with this stuff. So fun!

 Meow!

Inspiration

Orla Kiely

I have yet to find the swimsuit material section of any fabric store, but I when I see such unique (and hard to find/afford) suits like these, I think, I could tooootally make something as special as this. That remains to be seen...

Ah, Paule Ka:

Paule Ka Spring-Summer 2013

Paule Ka Spring-Summer 2013

Paule Ka Spring-Summer 2013

I love the 50s style, vacation resort look of the Summer 2013 collection. Makes me want to take a seaside vacay, pronto!

Today was productive...

I fixed a tote bag I had made my sis for Christmas. The straps weren't sewn on strongly enough, so I reinforced them. This bag should be beach ready now!

 I also whipped up a coin purse. I like to make these as a warm-up. Although I have far to go to perfect them, they are fun to make!

In lieu of any more completed projects, allow me to offer up some things I have been working on. I have lost a bit of motivation lately, as my sewing machine is not working at the moment and every time I think I've fixed it, it breaks again... argh.

Here are three projects I have yet to see through to the end, but hope to in the very near future:

So far, I've shortened this, but I also want to take the bust in a bit.  It started out as a loose muumuu, so I'm trying to make it a bit more flattering.

 This one is pretty awesome to begin with. It has "Beverly Hills Polo Club" written all over it with palm trees and polo players. Also, already has a lovely open back. It's just a bit on the long side, so a simple hem should bring it up to date.  I'll post pictures of the back once it's finished.

 

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is a really pretty dark purple with lavender pearl buttons.  I'm completely undecided as to what to do with it.  But, something certainly needs to be done.  It's somewhat transparent, so needs a slip- I need to keep that in mind when I start cutting it up.  I also want to be sure to keep the buttons... Check back to see what happens to it!

 

Back from the dead and ready for action

That post title is true for this blog and perhaps me in general.  I've been thinking about sewing/altering/creating for quite a while now and am just too good at putting things off/making excuses/feeling intimidated. Enough is enough!

I'm hoping that regularly posting will help keep me on track...

We shall see.

The first thing I altered was almost six months ago: a dress I found at the Thrift Box, my thrift store of choice.  My mother now volunteers there so I have an inside track to all the new good stuff.  Thanks mom!

It WAS a frumpy, 70s looking frock, but I saw a lot of potential because, a) it had a nice belt, which would eliminate the need to alter the waist (tricky business I assume) and b) it was made of a nice, colorful, kind of shiny? fabric, so at the very least, if I totally demolished it, I could use it for scrap fabric.

And, now, due to my amateur efforts, it looks like this:

I still have a lot to learn, but this alteration was quite simple and therefore boosted my sewing self esteem.  It was only a matter of shortening the sleeves and altering the hem. Although I didn't take measurements or properly finish the edges, it's good enough for me to wear.  I'm hoping I will learn to make a more polished garment (something sellable :) ) in the sewing class I start soon!

Happy V-Day!

Second post.  Exciting!  Again, I have no direction for this blog so far, but am hoping a focus will make itself clear, sooner or later.

Happy Valentine's Day! One of my most favorite Valentine's Days was spent single.  I lived in Manhattan, and I had an appointment for a free (FREE!) Bumble and Bumble haircut.  I walked there (because you can actually do that in NYC)- it was a long walk and after my fabulous (and did I mention free?!) haircut, I was walking home and saw some fun stuff.  Within a few minutes, I realized there was a theme going, and decided to document it.  Not art, by any means, but somewhat interesting, I'd like to think.

P.S.  The soundtrack to this walk was The Notwist, Neon Golden.

The day was capped off by going to one of my favorite bars at the time- Hanger (The Hanger?) where my roommate and I were surprised and delighted to find they were giving away Red Stripes and candy!

Enjoy...