Category Archives: Sew-Easy

Tis the Season to be Jolly!

Posted on by under Christmas, Home Sweet Home, Sew-Easy, Walnut Creek

Fa la la la la…la la la la. There’s something about the Christmas season that makes me think that I can sing opera in the most off pitch tone and often forgetting the correct lyrics but I enjoy it (not to say that others do haha). I guess it’s a talent I’ve acquired over the years and well I love traditions so I’ll keep this one going.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree was of course my song of choice as Mas and I went to go get our very first Christmas tree together! I promised him that he would love the 5′-6′ foot tree, unlike the 3′ft he was sold on BEFORE we arrived at Lowe’s. We brought Douglas home, along with a wreath for our front door and our place turned into Christmas. Douglas is a true beauty and mmmm our apartment smells sooo good.

I’ve always wanted to make my own stockings so this year was indeed the year for just that! Of course with my obsession with Hello Kitty and Domo seemed only appropriate to base my stockings off of those two. I seriously love the way that they turned out! If you are interested in the main shape of the stocking, email me and I’ll send you the template that I created.

Button Up!

Posted on by under DIY, Sew-Easy

This insanely awesome button collection was handed down to me from my amazing friend, Sue. After I discovered my new found love for buttons, Sue promptly emailed me that she would send me her button collection that had evolved over the years. Boy was I surprised when I opened up the box! My eyes lit up and I couldn’t help but to start sifting through the hundreds of buttons! My mason jars have definitely come in handy, I started to separate by color and style. I have some pretty good ideas behind what to do with some of these buttons that I hope to share with you soon.

Thank you Sue!

DIY - Skinny Jeans

Posted on by under DIY, Sew-Easy

So I’ve had a stack of old jeans hanging out in my closet. Most are too long and when I’d wear them, I’d roll up the bottoms. I was visiting one of my favorite blogs, Melissa Esplin and saw her blog post with a pair of re-fashioned jeans. She provided links to tutorials, I took a look at one of them and it was for kids pants. I went took the general idea from the tutorial and had a stab at it myself.

Steps to re-fashion a pair of jeans

1. Flip the jeans you’d like to alter inside out.

2. Find a pair of jeans that fit you well and would like to mimic. Flip these inside out as well. Tip: my first attempt at re-fashioning my jeans was unsuccessful because I didn’t use a pair that fit tight through the thighs and waist.

3. Lay your good jeans on top of the one’s you want to alter. Make sure the good jeans are aligned to the inner legs of the old. This will show you how much that you’ll need to cut off. I call the extra material “the flare”.

4. Get out a ruler and sewing marker. Draw a straight (this could be a bit slanted) line down. Hold them up and see if it looks like a good fit.

5. Now this next step took sometime. Hop on your sewing machine and sew right along that line. Try the one leg on and see how you did. Not a great fit? Go back to the drawing board and adjust where your line was drawn. Yes, you’ll have to use your handy dandy seam ripper. Don’t worry its not as painful as it seems.

6. Good fit? Nice job! Now do the same to the other side. Visually gauge how far in and where you started the seam for the other leg.

7. Now for the hem. Leave about 1 1/2″ - 2″ and draw a straight line across for both legs. Fold the fabric twice in 1/2″ folds. Sew!

That’s it! 7 easy steps and you have yourself a pair of re-fashion skinny jeans!

Antique Fair (Danville, CA)

Posted on by under Danville, DIY, Sew-Easy

We visited Danville again today, this time during a bright and sunny day! We came across an Antique Fair that was going on, I swear I hit the jackpot. Definitely right up my alley, yes, yes go ahead call me a grandma haha. As we were rummaging through the amazingly, historical hidden treasures we came along a button booth.

Within the booth, there was a general area with the inexpensive buttons and loose earrings then there were the collectors items. These you could tell were the special ones! They were arranged on cardboard with the prices to accompany. We came across a Lady Geisha button that definitely caught my eye, it was amazing and would be perfect for my purse. This particular button didn’t happen to have a price associated with it, so I was thinking uh oh does that make it market price haha. I asked the Lady and she said she could do $20 and that it would sell on ebay for at least $50. Although uninterested in the resale value I found that piece of information interesting, I had no clue that it would be a hobby or job to sell buttons and that they would be of that much value. I was dazed by the great detail but hesitant to purchase a button for $20. Mas of course pointed out how unique it is and that I shouldn’t pass it up, so he offered and purchased my first real button. :-) I also found an ornate loose earring that I thought of removing the pink beads and re-purposing for a sewing project.

Labor Day Weekend

Posted on by under Date Night, DIY, Japanese, Sew-Easy, Walnut Creek

Happy Labor Day Weekend! It has been so nice out up here, we had quite the cold spell for a couple of weeks. Yesterday we made a trip to Walmart, originally for a blow up mattress but we ended up finding some cleaning supplies + toiletries that we needed. We had such a hard time deciding on a blow up mattress, you’d think that it was something we were going to use everyday with how long we stood starring at the 8(?) that they carried. Final decision…Simmons Beautryrest 15″ rise full size! It will be used for when we go back home and when guests come to visit.

Speaking of, Chris and Taka will be coming to visit next weekend from Japan! We’re totally excited and can’t wait! For those who don’t know them, Mas has known Taka since he was 5 years old and Chris since 2nd grade, a very long time! I’ve already started asking Chris for info on how to become a teacher in Japan, as that’s what he is currently doing. I wouldn’t mind going to teach in Japan for 6 months - 1 year. :-) I’ve started to learn Japanese through Pimsleur, it was suggested by a friend of a friend. Very similar to Rosetta Stone but it’s more audio related. I recommend it for people wanting to learn a new language!

Mas has been designing away this weekend and I’ve been organizing my mess of sewing projects and trying to convince him to work on a DIY shoe rack. I want to sew but for some reason just can’t stayed focused. I’m working on my “official” purse prototype and it can be quite draining conceptualizing and ensuring that all of the pieces will come together. I will be sure to share as it starts to shape up, I’ve added a picture below of a purse I made a few months back that inspired my purse line. I didn’t realize how much hardware was required to make a clutch and purse, so I finally had a reason to buy mason jars! They remind me so much of my Grandma Rose, an amazing lady that would often show the people in her life the importance and value of the simple things in life. One of those things was canning jam and jellies, yum!

Last night we went and grabbed dinner at a local, trendy restaurant Modern Chine Cafe, they serve dim sum and although it only got 3 stars on Yelp the live outdoor music drew us in. It was pretty good, the prices were reasonable with the exception of Mas’ teal leaf Salmon that thing was $19! Not worth it. After we went to go see what was playing at the movies. My friend, Stacy and her boyfriend, Mike, had recommended the movie Crazy Stupid Love. So hilarious! Totally give it 5 stars, Mas and I cracked up throughout the whole movie.

What are your plans for the weekend? Any DIYs in your near future? If so, please share!