Embroidery hoop ornaments

I made some pseudo ornaments with embroidery hoops the other day.  For now they're hanging on our mantel hooks, but they'll be distributed elsewhere once I break out the Christmas decorations for reals and I make new stockings. 

Super easy and I really like them.  I spray painted the hoops, put some fabric in them and gussied it up, then twisted some wire wrapped some wire around the top and bent it into a hook.  Maybe this will get me back in my crafting grove.

Sad face shirt fail

After the old man shirt skirt, I wanted to make myself more stuff.  It didn't go well.

 

 There's the fail.  I very carefully removed some ruffles, but it didn't go well.  Well, I started started removing ruffles carefully, but then after I made a bunch of little but noticeable holes, I gave up and ripped the second ruffle off (those are the bigger holes you can see).  

I'm pretty sure the real root of the problem was not having a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like.  After I realized my original idea wasn't going to happen because I wouldn't have enough shirt left over, I didn't take time to adapt my plan.  

It started off well, at least:

I've learned my lesson- next time I'll make sure I have a doable plan.  There will be a next time, too.  I realized I can make a whole army of embellished tees from knit shirts from the thrift store, and I want to do it.

Some headbands

I made these awhile ago.  They were presents for my sister-in-law that I repeatedly forgot to give to her.  Simple to make, but I really like how they turned out (hope she does to!)

Old man shirt skirt

See?  It's a skirt made from an old man shirt. 
Its beginning:

We had this old man shirt floating around our house and I was going to make a dress for Mim out of it.  Then I decided I wanted a skirt.  Mim has a ton more clothes than I do, so it's justified.

I cut it up first:

 

And here's how I put it back together:

 

I can't decide if I'm glad I preserved the original hem shape or not.  My original plan didn't call for a ruffle, and that's why I wanted to preserve the hem at first, but maybe when I cut it off to add the ruffle I should have just done it straight across.  I can't decide.  Here it is for now, at least:

In reality, I'd wear it with boots.  

And from the side:

It's super comfortable.  The flannel is all worn and soft- I think this is an ideal fall/winter skirt for me.

It was so stinking hard to take pictures of myself in this.  I was bending over all awkwardly, stretching out as far as I could to get a wider angle...it was awesome.  Oh, and I was totally in an ugly pink t-shirt and my hair was in a towel turban.  It was super.

This one was a miss, but check out those gorgeous leaves behind me.  I can't remember a fall in Utah ever lasting as long as this one has.  It's fabulous!

Halloween, nerd style

My husband and I are both nerds, and we're both cool with that.  Mike's nerdier than me, though.
And we love Star Wars.  And I wanted costumes that Mike would get excited about.  So:

{Mike felt like Han Solo probably didn't smile for pictures, so he didn't, either.}

Han Solo, Leia, and our little ewok.  I made/put together most of our outfits myself.  

Mike's wearing a cheap-o Walmart shirt that was the right color under a fishing vest I dyed black (one of my dad's old ones that he said I could have).  He had some navy blue pants already, so I just attached a red ribbon down the sides.  I bought some gaiters at Walmart, but I wish I'd had time to make some- I could have done a much better job.  The holster belt, which you can't really see in this picture, was mostly made of fake suede and spray painted cardboard.  

For the Leia costume, I used a pattern with a high neck as a guideline for the neck and armholes, then just widened it out from there and cinched it with a felt and spray painted cardboard belt, which you can't see.  The collar was easy and totally meant I didn't have to do any type of facing or lining for the top.  

Mim's costume was definitely the toughest.  Turns out, I do not have the skill necessary to work with a fabric that tricky.  I even used my mom's Bernina for most of it and still struggled.  I broke about 8 of her needles, as well.  Uhg.  Three of the four appendage holes were hemmed with hot glue.  Whatever.  It's a costume, not a day to day wear item.  I used a pattern for it- a McCall's one for a lion, tiger, duck, or sheep.  All I really needed to modify was the hood part and then make my own ear shape.  Oh, and I left off the mitts, since I knew that would be a lost cause with Mim anyway.  The leather hood thing was separate- I cut slits for the ears and hot glued that sucker together and left all the ragged edges.  

{One of the most awesome things about Mim's costume is that she really looked like an ewok from behind.}

{A picture of Han's belt- Mike was totally excited when he came home from work and saw it.  It really unbuckles.}

{She was not a huge fan of the costume at first, but once she associated it with candy, she would leave the hood on!}

I hope everyone else had a Halloween that was as much fun as ours!

May the force be with you.