My Handmade Closet

Just wanted to share with you some of my latest sewing creations as I continue to work towards filling my closet with handmade dresses!

Both are so comfy I just love them! and now that my art fairs have wrapped up for the year I have a little more free time for sewing. Yay!

New Summer Dress!

My goal to fill my closet with handmade dresses continues! Check out my latest summer dress creation...

And this week I am working on 2 dresses commissioned by a customer. I am still working on increasing my confidence in sewing for someone other than myself so it's been a little anxiety producing but I am getting more comfortable as the project continues. I promise to post pics once the dresses are all done. Hope you have a great week!

Sewing Makes Me Happy!

I'm up to my sewing again as I work towards my goal of having a closet full of handmade clothes for myself! Here is a new tunic/dress creation that is bright, cheery and oh so comfortable. Don't you just love the bright and fun colors? And of course I had to add some polka dots to the bottom.

It's super comfy to wear over jeans or leggings. And I must say ever since I started making my own clothes I feel so much more comfortable and true to myself! It's a lovely thing.

A New Dress For Me!

My quest to fill my closet with handmade dresses for myself continues! Here is a fun, pastel dress I recently finished, perfect for that transitional Spring time weather. The gray fabric is a soft flannel so it's perfect on those still chilly spring days.

I just love the cute, whimsical little pastel frames that decorate the gray fabric. They remind me of the ornate vintage frames you find in antique shops or estate sales! And I thought the gray chevron fabric on the bottom just added a fun modern detail to the bottom.

Hope you all had a lovely day! I am heading to the art room now for a little nighttime painting so talk to you later!

A new dress for me!

I recently finished a new dress for me! It's cozy, comfy, and colorful! All my requirements in a handmade garment!

Location:A new dress for me!

Handmade Gifts

I love giving handmade gifts! When I take the time to give a gift that I have spent time, energy, and supplies on I am literally pouring my love for the person receiving the gift into the creation. Here are the gifts I made for many of my loved ones this Christmas...

Lovely little handmade envelope clutches! The sewing pattern comes from Michelle Patterns on Etsy and was easy to follow! She has tons of other great patterns to purchase so be sure to visit her Etsy store soon! Did you make something fabulous for your loved ones this year? I would love to hear all about it!

A New Fall Handmade Dress

It's funny how the changes in season make you also want to change your wardrobe. I don't just mean breaking out the warm sweaters and jackets, but also changing the colors too! With Fall's rich shades and falling leaves I also develop a strong urge to wear darker colors, like rich jewel tones, blacks, and grays. While in Spring I cant get enough of pastels and bright cheery colors. As I continue on in my goal to have a closet full of handmade frocks I finished a new dress today and it suits all my Fall desires! Check it out...

I have some more darker Fall frocks in mind and in the making that I promise to show you as I finish them. I hope you had a lovely Fall weekend. Here is how mine ended...

A lovely walk with my mom through the neighborhood where I grew up. Pure bliss!

Fabric Dog Collars!

Hi all! My little dog Lulu really needed a new dog collar. The last one I made for her was several years ago and it was looking a little rough. Not to mention the fact that that she has gotten a little bit more chunky with age (similar to her owner) and the collar was fitting tight. So, instead of buying her an new collar at the store (have you ever noticed how expensive the nice ones are?!) I made a new one for her again, using some fun, bright fabric from my scrap bin, the parts from her old collar, and this free pattern by Michelle Patterns! It was super easy to follow. Check out the results below...

Sorry for the blurry pic on the right side...Lulu was not very interested in modeling! Those wiener dogs can be a temperamental lot!

Upcycled vintage sheet bag

As my original art has gotten bigger in size I have struggled with how to package up these larger size canvases for travel and when a customer purchases the art. After many trials and errors I came up with the idea of making fun fabric bags from upcycled vintage sheets! Now when you purchase a large painting from me you also can get a pretty vintage sheet bag to safely transport your purchase, and to use in the future for what ever suits your fancy!

My Handmade Closet

I have a personal goal to fill my closet with clothes I have made for myself! I find them so much more comfortable, rewarding and simply me! Here is a new dress I made a few weeks ago filled with bright colors and perfect for the summer.

Here are some more details...

I always include pockets! and if I don't I always regret it.

A fun marigold pattern adorns the fabric skirt! Fabulous!

And I recently got a few more fun new fabrics so there are more dresses on the way! Yay!

What are you working on this summer?

A new summer dress!

Just wanted to share with you my latest sewing creation! A new dress for me!


I just fell in love with this fabric...the colors, the modern feel, it just all really spoke to me!


What have you been working on lately? I would love to hear all about it!

A Fabulous New Sewing Show!

Have you heard of this show?

It's fantastic and I just discovered it thanks to my lucky perusing of some of my favorite other sewing blogs. It's a new sewing show on BBC where amateur sewers compete in a variety of sewing tasks to see who is the best.

The group of contestants are great, and I really appreciate the fact that they are mostly like me...people who love sewing and are pretty much learning as they go. During each task you see them struggle and triumph with parts of sewing that we all do battle with like properly reading a pattern, getting your seems straight, battling the machine, ripping out a seam because you did it wrong, and so on and so forth. Often with shows based in the US, which I love, like Project Runway and Fashion Star, I would often find myself wishing I could see more of how they are actually constructing the garments and projects instead of just bits and pieces and then poof...a finished project! This show gives you both! Anyhoo for more information check out the show's website here. And for full free episodes I simply went to You Tube. For your enjoyment here is the first episode...


I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! I still have a few more episodes to watch and I hear they are already accepting entries for the next season. Oh a girl can dream!

A new dress!

Today I am sporting a new dress I just finished! Making my own clothes is so fulfilling! When I wear clothes I made for myself I feel totally in sync with my true self, not someone trying to fit in but the real me and that feels amazing!


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Love & art!

Working on some new art & a love themed dress this week! Here are some quick snap shots...

Sewing For Myself

I love creating clothes & accessories for myself. Sometimes it's hard to find the time to do it, but when I do I am one happy camper! It's such a nice feeling when I look at my outfit in the mirror & can point out things that I made myself...accessories, jewelry, clothing! It makes me feel happy, unique, comfortable & proud all day long! It also makes me feel like I am being true to myself! Here is a fun top I recently created from a striped sweatshirt top I had laying around. Several layers of fabric later, it had a whole new look!


Here are some closer details....


Fun pockets of mismatched fabric.


And the trim is made from bits and pieces all sewn together.


Paired with a cute pair of pants and I was ready to go today!

Artsy Fartsy Pillows - Brand Spankin New!

I promised you some pics of the 6 new Artsy Fartsy pillows going on sale tomorrow at the farmers market & here they are!




















Hope you can come on down & see them in person!

It's in the details...

Some quick shots of what I have been working on this week...



6 new Artsy Fartsy pillows are all sewn up & ready for some pillow forms! I will share more details tomorrow before they go out at the farmers market on Saturday!


Thread organization by color is never wrong! Never! & so dang pretty to look at!


Almost done with a large new canvas. I will sit with it for a little while, looking & pondering to see if there are any more details that it requires. This pushed me out of my comfort zone a little with the more earthy, subdued colors (subdued for me). Hope to also have it out at the farmers market!

What have you been working on this week?

Just Listed! More To Love Skirts on Etsy

I finally found some time to list some of my More To Love handmade, plus size skirts on my Etsy shop! Be sure to hop on by soon and check them out!

Handmade Linen/Iron Spray

After getting frustrated with my iron for being all clogged up with minerals and gunk from using the tap water for steam, I decided I was going to make my own linen/iron spray! I found this easy peasy recipe where I combined distilled water, vodka, and my choice of a lovely smelling essential oil, and voila! Linen spray that works great in ironing out the wrinkles and pressing seams when I sew, and it smells delicious too! I like it so much I have even begun to spray it around my house like when I make my bed.

Here is a link to the recipe I found in case you also would like to make your own spray...
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-linen-sp-25739

And here are a few helpful tips I learned along my journey of ironing and linen spray...
- Take better care of your iron than I have done in the past! Don't use water from the tap in your iron for steam, it really clogs it up and makes a mess. Instead of buying that expensive iron cleaning stuff at the craft store, try filling your iron with vinegar and steaming it out! It takes a little while and it kind of makes your whole house smell like a salad bar, but it worked pretty good without having to spend a lot of money or use harsh chemicals!

- Recycle a spray bottle to put your new handy dandy, handmade linen spray in! I found that my old bottles from Meyers Cleaning Spray or the Method Cleaning supplies (love these 2 product lines...they're green, smell great, and are available at Target!) works awesome as spray bottles! There not to heavy, but sturdy enough to not break right easily, and they are see through so its easy to see when you need to refill your bottle!

- Some essential oils smell relaxing, while others are rejuvenating. I was going to go with lavender, but then found this lovely vanilla oil that smells like dessert! Now I can't get enough of my linen spray and I feel like eating dessert more than usual (this may not be a good thing!). I spent several minutes smelling and sniffing the wide array of essential oils available at our local Whole Foods Market before I settled on my decadent vanilla choice, but really the sky's the limit, so have fun shopping around and even mixing different smells! If you don't have a Whole Foods near you, I think you could find a selection of essential oils at any natural food store in your area. And of course vodka and distilled water are available at your local grocery store. I went with the cheapest I could find for both of these products.

- And last but not least, have fun! And while you are spraying your new fancy, handmade linen spray, revel in your creativity and thriftiness!