Beeting Hearts

HAPPY EARTH DAY!
I like to celebrate Earth Day every day, but the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day is this Thursday. I have three or more events to go to that day. Yay! This will be my Earth Day outfit. The shirt I got over the weekend at my friends Clothing Swap Extravaganza. The necklace is from UgaBeads and is made out of recycled paper and the vintage skirt is from the 40's, I got at a thrift store.

I have been interested in doing applique. The word applique is a french word that, in this context, means "that has been applied." So basically it is a needlework technique in which pieces of fabric, embroidery, or other materials are sewn onto another piece of fabric to create designs, patterns or pictures. I found this wonderful organic cotton patch with the design of two beets. It is called "Beeting Hearts." It brings a smile to my face and reminds me of how important our Earth is. I ordered from the designer who painted it at Etsy and she sent me the bird design for free. http://www.etsy.com/shop/trumblydesigns I sewed the patch onto the skirt. I think it is a little more hippie than I like, but it adds pazzaz to such a plain skirt.

As always fashion can be eco-friendly. There are many ways to be eco-friendly and be fashionable. Here are some examples:

You can buy vintage, used or have a clothing swap

You can re-use materials or fabric. You can re-make clothes out of other clothes. These are made out of newspapers and junk mail

You can use natural fabrics like bamboo, hemp or organic cotton even for fancy occasions. The green and black dresses are made out of the waste from the silk industry.

Earth Day is not about consuming, even if it is "eco-friendly" or "green." It's about thinking about our impact on the earth and what we can do to lessen that impact. I hope you all get to go outside, enjoy nature and our beautiful planet! Remember the "Beeting Hearts."

I dedicate this post to myself!

Dear Sally

Thank you sewsallysew for writing your blog about sewing and such for over a year now. I just noticed that you started your blog on April 1st of 2009. It just proves that you can be dedicated to something for over a year and that sewing and crafting are not just a fad, but an interest that will last awhile. Even though sometimes you ramble on about life and don't always post things about sewing I think you are a smart, cute, funny and all around amazing person and I look forward to reading and viewing more of your thoughts and creations.

Love,

Sally

The Hardest Button to Button

Buttons: They are used for keeping pants up, combining two sides of fabric for shirts, for decoration, they are used in place of a zipper, etc. etc. As a sewer I have quite a collection of buttons.

One way I have decided to to use buttons is to to make rings. I used my jewlery clippers to snip off the back of the rings. The back's have to be flat so that I can glue them onto the ring. Once that is done I glue gunned the buttons to the rings.

And walah, just like that I have some fun rings. They are as cute as a button (wink, wink). They go with everything, even a Sharks hockey game. :)

I found this BeBe skirt recently at a thrift store. I really liked it, but hated the buttons. So I took them off and added these plastic flower buttons.

Old one's

New one's

Buttons will eventually fall off your clothes so it's good to know how to sew back on a button correctly.

Here is an easy to follow lesson on how to sew a button:

http://www.wikihow.com/Sew-a-Button

What is the hardest button to button?

Overall it is like a bipolar experience of hens in a small box!

I got a gift certificate to Britex Fabrics for my B-day! I have a love/hate relationship with Britex Fabrics. It is an amazing high end fabric store located at Union Square that has been around since the 1950's. It has four floors of fabric and notions. Every time I go in there it feels very stuffy and it is because fabrics in there can be $95+ per yard. I am very excited to be able to walk in to the store now and be able to buy something more than a zipper, 4 buttons, or ribbon. Thanks ladies!!!!!

I know this doesn't have to do with sewing, but I had a great B-day and I love this picture!

My Birthday came early this year

Last week I received a surprise cash money deposit in my bank account from my parents and a wonderful diy present from Bert. Bert refurbished my dress form that I found in the dumpster. He removed the 4 legs and made a circular stand, added 4 wheels, painted it black, and fixed it so that the bottom could screw together with the body. Now I can move it around my room easily. Thanks Bert, your the best!

Can you just imagine me dancing with my new body double? We can spin around the room looking into each other eyes.....oh wait my body double doesn't have a head. :) No need to imagine *insert Sally's dream sequence here.....

The dress form is really going to help me with my projects. I didn't think it was the right size, but after putting this dress that fits me on it, I think it is pretty similar to my body type.

I will be 29 on Wednesday. "If you didn't know now you know." I used to think that 29 was old for the first half of your life, but I feel young! I think the video proves it. I don't have a husband, a house with a white picket fence or kids, but those aren't aspirations of mine (although I am looking for a man). As I go into my 29th year on earth I think anything is possible and that's a pretty great feeling. I've also got to say that I have had the most fun in my late 20's then other time in my life. I have a feeling this will only continue.

For the last 5 years I have tried to have a large birthday celebration. I try and get all my friends together from different times in my life and have like a reunion/b-day get together. That takes a lot of planning, organizing and coordination and it can get stressful. So this year I am keeping my b-day mellow. Drinks Wednesday night with the girls for sure and on Saturday my friends and I are going to an indoor rock climbing place. Yeah!

Scenic Outlook Ahead

Last week e-mails were going around with my friends about finding a weekend to go camping. It was looking like April, then May, then June. I couldn't wait that long, so I said to my undisclosed friend (I am respecting her privacy, since I am always telling stories of my life events) let's go Saturday. She booked us at the Escalen hot spring baths, I booked the camping spot and so it was on. My friend and I jumped in my car after work on Saturday and drove to Monterey. We picked up my amazing friend Megan, her super dog Zoey, Megan's friend Molly and drove down to Big Sur to camp for the night.

My first love will always be the Northern Cali Coastal Redwood forests, but Big Sur is an amazing place. Yes it is scenic, you can camp and hike, but for me Big Sur is about a feeling. I knew it was a short trip, but it was a good chance to bring some zen into my life, detox, refocus on what is important, and find inspiration.

I met my friend Megan at Humboldt and we have been friends ever since. She is an Eco-Goddess. She is the one person I really connect with on that level. She doesn't talk the talk she walks the walk. She always has so many projects going on at once: Monterey City Garden, she started Monterey Green Action, she runs an eco-film night, she works on bike/public transportation for the city/schools and she just started a weekly radio show where she will talk about and interview people on green issues. This is just some of the stuff she is doing. She is my inspiration and has such great energy. Whenever I hang out with her I leave energized and motivated. She also has Zoey her super dog. It's always a blast to be part of her dogs world.

My friend has been chatting up the Escalen Hot Springs for awhile now. As I mentioned in a previous entry we are big fans of hot water. The Escalen Hot Spring baths are located in Big Sur at an Institute. They are only open to the public from 1am-3am by reservation. They are located on top of a cliff 100 feet up from the ocean. They are amzazing and peaceful. It's not for the shy at heart if you don't like nudity, but it is dark. (Don't worry mom it is a very safe place and there is no 60's free love or 70's swinger stuff going on there). There's nothing like clean crisp air, the dark sky above, the sound of the waves below, and being in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I recommend them if you are in Big Sur.

http://www.esalen.org/place/hot_springs.html

I have so many interests that it get's overwelming some times. Now that I have a job that fullfills my passion for nature/community it helps. It's important for me to have a work/life balance and be able to be social and creative when I am not at work. The point of all this is that being spontanious, communing with nature, hanging with good friends, having meaningful conversation, and hot springs all gave me a fresh outlook and I am inspired to put some time aside and start sewing again and writing on my blog more. As Spring closes in on us here are the projects I will be working on:

• I want to make this sexy dress with this abstract fabric (no flowers)

• I want to make this for my bed

• I want to transform my Mom's large funky shirt from the 70's into something cute and fitted like the blue one

• Cowboy shirt with this navy paisley fabric

• Skirt- This will be my first project

• I have been wanting a vest so I think I will just make a solid black vest maybe out of sweatshirt material or something super soft

I will stop wasting time and get to work!

P.S. Sometimes I wish I could be the female/liberal version of Anthony Bourdain and travel the world, going to nature/eco/green locations, meeting weird people, tring vegetarian foods, drinking alcohol beverages and getting paid to give my oppinion. :)

One Man's trash is My Treasure

This last Saturday I had my first dumpster diving experience. I was throwing debris away from our planting at a dumpster by my office. I opened the lid and there it was looking up at me. I could tell it was sad because it was thrown away. No, it wasn't a little puppie, but a dress form. Just what I needed! I jumped in and pulled it out. It was in three pieces and it wasn't dirty, just worn a little. It might be smaller than I am, but it will do for now until I make a duct tape one. With a little love and help from Bert I know that I can "make it work."

I have been pretty busy lately and I haven't done any sewing since the temp dress. I have some ideas on the brain though. I will share those soon...