IC#16- Momma & Baby Galaxy Wear

I was thrilled with our Iron Craft challenge for this week.  It's a virtual baby shower...for me!  Everyone is making baby crafts in honor of my little one.  I know the baby has been doing happy wiggles in there just thinking about it.

For my project, I chose to make a galaxy onesie.  Galaxy print has become pretty trendy in the craft world and I wanted to try my hand at it.  Then I decided to take it one step further and make one for myself too!  I started with a plain navy onesie and a plain black maternity top and here's what I got:

I'll show you what I did in case you would also like to make one.  I was inspired by this tutorial and this tutorial, although I didn't follow either exactly.  I started by laying the clothing in a sink and giving in a scrunchy swirl in the middle.

I then used a spray bottle to spray bleach diagonally across each piece.  I did light sprays on either side and then concentrated my sprays in the middle.  Then I impatiently waited for the bleach to dry so I could see the effect.  Once dry, I flattened out the clothing and give it a look.  For my shirt, I added a few extra blasts in the middle to strengthen the effect.

After the bleach was dry, I washed the pieces before moving on.  Then I used fabric paint to start adding depth and interest to the design.  I tried to take pictures of these steps, but it wasn't really an exact science.  I used sponges, paintbrushes, and my fingers to just keep blending.

Finally, I used a toothbrush to add splatter.  If you have never done this, just dip your paintbrush in the paint and then with it facing down, pull your thumb all the way along the brush.  This shoots out paint splatters.  I focused white splatters on the center and blue splatters along the outside.

Let it dry and you are done!  I tried to take some pictures of myself wearing my shirt and failed miserably.  I'll have to get my husband to help me with a photo shoot later.

Modern Poodle Skirt DIY

I'm really excited to share this project today.  Last month, our blogging business artisans challenge was on the theme, "summer lovin."  Although I was the one that suggested the theme, I did not actually get a chance to make my project till last week.  Oh well!  I'm glad I waited rather than rushing it.  I was inspired by the movie Grease and chose to make a modern poodle skirt.  Want to make your own?  Here's how!

Supplies
-2 yrds of fabric (or however much you need for your pattern)
-craft foam
-block of wood
-fabric paint
-any other sewing supplies you need

1. To start, cut out the pieces you will need for your skirt.  I used this tutorial to create mine, so I won't go over the specifics here.  Go to the tutorial if you want to make this exact skirt!

2. Now make your stamp.  Start by drawing a poodle shape on the craft foam.  I did mine free hand but you are welcome to use my picture as a template.  If I get enough people asking, I can also use my stamp to make a printable for you if that's easier.

3. Cut out the poodle and glue it onto your wood block.  This will stabilize it for stamping.

4. Now, apply your fabric paint to the stamp.  I used a paint brush to brush it on.  Do a few practice stamps.

5. Once you feel comfortable, you can start stamping all over the fabric pieces you already cut out.  I stamped my poodles in every direction to make the pattern.

6. If you make any mistakes, you can go back over the poodles with a brush to touch them up.  I also used the other end of my brush to add a dot pattern all around.

7. Let dry overnight and then sew your skirt together.  Try it on.  You look amazing!! 

Can you see my belly growing?  I think it looks really big in this picture.  I only hope the skirt fits so well after the baby is born :)

IC#11- Typography Skirt

Today I have another Iron Craft project to share.  This time, the theme was letters.  I thought it would be fun to cover a piece of clothing with a letter pattern.  I originally wanted to do a t-shirt, but decided to use something I already owned rather than buy something new.  I decided this light blue skirt would be perfect.

If you want to make one yourself, here is what I did.  I started with my skirt, some alphabet stamps, and several colors of paint.  I used Martha Stewart brand. 

Brush the paint onto the stamps and then start stamping on your fabric.  Do a few practice stamps on paper first; it took me a few tries to get it right.

Continue going with different letters and colors.  Since I was working on a skirt, I had to do several sections and let it dry in between.

Some of my letters didn't turn out so well.  I just used a small paint brush to fill them in afterward.

That's it!  I was going to put it on and model it but it's cold and rainy here so that just didn't happen.  (The spacing around this picture was being really weird in my preview of this post and I couldn't figure it out.  Sorry!)

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Compose Outfits on Polyvore

Have you guys heard about Polyvore? It's a website that lets you compose outfits.  Click on the create tab and you can just chose tops, skirts, accessories, etc. 

Peach and Green by jenny-chang featuring green bags

IC#38- Written in Black and White

Our Iron Craft Challenge this week was to create something black and white.  I chose to take a white t-shirt and add some song lyrics in black.  It was a pretty simple project; I just wrote the lyrics on with sharpie.

I chose lyrics from Break My Stride because it made me feel cheerful and inspired.

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Freezer Paper Stencil- Smokin' Dreams

While visiting family in KS, I had the fun of helping my brother out with an art project.  He and his friends have a BBQ team called Smokin' Dreams.  They make pretty awesome food and will be cooking at some local events in Kansas City.  The only thing missing, team shirts!  They already had a logo which you can see here on a drink coozy (is there a correct way to spell that?) 

We decided to put the logo on the front corner of the shirt and then add a dreaming pig on the back.  I found a pig image online and then edited it a bit to get the dream bubble and simplify some of the lines.  Then we used this tutorial to do a freezer paper stencil.  It was my first time doing it!

It actually turned out really well.  There are a few smudges which makes me think I may have to be more careful around some of the delicate parts of the stencil.  We're hoping to make a few more so I'm excited. 

Pretty Finds

A few more of my recent handmade favorites.  And in answer to a recent question, no I have not bought any of these favorites I've been showing off recently but yes, I really want to.

Nerd Necklace

Vintage Style Clutch

Paper Airplane Cuff

Hand Painted Brooch

WAIT! HOLD THE PRESSES!  I DID JUST BUY SOMETHING! I fell in love with this shirt and when she started selling them I jumped on the chance.  I can't wait till it gets here.

Harry Potter T-Shirt

Whew.  That was a close one.  I would hate to slander myself.

Aqua Dreams

Just a few pretty finds for a beautiful Friday.  Aqua is one of my favorite colors and my birthstone is aquamarine.  Enjoy!

Sea Green and Aqua Brooch

Flower Pin

Earrings

Aqua Dress

Aqua Clutch

Featured Artist: Green Onions Textiles

Today I am very happy to be sharing the work of a very talented seamstress, Nan from Green Onions Textiles.  I know you are dying to see her work, so I'll show off a piece before I tell you more about her.  Here's a stuffed dog that I think is just precious.

Stuffed Flannel Dog on etsy

Cute, right?  Okay, let's move on.  I can definitely identify with Nan who started her etsy shop last February (me too!) and says she started selling because she was running out of room in her house.  In her etsy shop, you can find lots of cute pieces such as the puppy above and this bag below.

Circles on a Circular Bag on etsy

Interestingly, Nan studied art history and now works as the director of an art museum.  Impressive, right?  I think it's really awesome that someone who works with so many great pieces in her professional life also spends her free time creatively.  This has even helped shape her own work.  She says that "as an art historian, a good deal of inspiration comes from knowing about various art movements throughout history.  Sometimes I’ll see something in a magazine or book, sometimes in a store, sometimes on somebody, and I’ll start thinking about how I can modify it or use an aspect of it in a design." 

Red Cotton Skirt on etsy

I also recommend checking out her blog.  A quick scroll through shows lots of great tutorials and inspiration.  Here's a really great post she did demonstrating the way that her different inspirations came together into one cool project.

I hope that helped inspire you.  I'm feeling inspired myself.  Feel free to stop by and tell Nan how cool she is or buy one of her pieces, I won't stop you :)

Skirt Project

Do you remember that I had my friend Mallori in town last week?  Well, she is so cool that she brought me some beautiful fabric all the way from New Zealand.  It is pretty green (my favorite color) with turtles on it (one of my favorite animals). 

She also brought some for herself and we set to work making skirts for ourselves using this tutorial.  We didn't get a chance to make the skirts until the very last night she was here so it was an intense evening of sewing.

Here's the final product.  I'm pretty proud; my sewing skills have not always been the best (aka-I lack the precision required for most projects- "oh yeah, that's about 2").  Luckily this tutorial was really easy to follow and worked well for a first skirt project. 

Sadly, Mallori had to leave the next morning super early so we didn't get a chance to wear our skirts out together.  Hopefully she will send me a picture of herself wearing it so I can post both of us together (hint hint Mallori).