RUFFLE BUSTLES and a Confessional.

I feel like you should say "ruffle bustle" with a mouthful of Peeps....is that just me?!?

 LOL New  "Chubby Bunny" challenge for us crafters....

I love bustles and ruffles and all fun things like that. 

Sadly, when you wear them in your day to day, you *might* get some odd looks. 

However....if you're feelin' a little fancy, and wanna put some sashay into your day...tie one of THESE babies on.... ba-BOOM.

Detailing the ruffles and lace and sequins!

Ruffle bustles have been on my maker's list for awhile now. But I always had other stuff to do. Now in my fancy new room, I can iron, pleat, sew, press & ruffle in the space of a few hours. (Okay, days but whatever).

I started messing around with fabric and lace I already had (hot pinks and fuschias.

Anyone surprised? No? Ahem.)

 and didn't realllllllly plan this, or use a pattern.

 Just going on instinct and what I thought.

After some extreme seam ripping and googling, I realized, I'm over complicating things. 

(GASP, ME?!)

CONFESSIONAL TIME::: Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to sewing. I can do it, nice & simply, but then....noOOoo. I have to get all fancy. Then the hilarity ensues. And by hilarity, I mean hours of frustration and seam ripping and trying to figure out why my serger hates me & won't tighten the lower looper thread.

But I digress.

Coming soon to my shop. Simple, flirty, fun additions to your costuming wardrobe...

PLUS Sized - length is approx 22 inches and sash is 85 inches. Shown on my size 16 mannequin Bernice.

A finish!

Ties on into a super cute neat bow. Fits up to 85 inches!

Teeny tiny bows, handsewn for details!

RUFFLE BUSTLES!!!

NEW Sewing Room!

The elements are coming together!

So Mr J finished my table!

Shown here, fully in use :)

It's amazing and perfect!

The right height, a new chair, and everything FITS in it!


It's also on wheels so I can push it out of the way when I'm not using it.

It's a bit heavy though, we'll see how our old floors hold up......

I set it up!

Using all the spaces & the drawers from my old storage towers (that were plastic and crumbling with age) I was able to get rid of ALL the storage towers from the sewing room! Seen in the left corner of the photo, all gone now!

It's so roomy now! I was able to get rid of all the bins, even my little table top one that held my things I use the most, like needles and pins and scissors, etc. A rolling tray from IKEA helped clear it all up.



We got the pegboard hung, and I put up the thread and TONS of notions that otherwise just sorta got moved from one spot to the other.
All the folding tables are down in the basement!

The windows were replaced, and are HUGE!

I still need to rehang the curtains, and paint over the primer on the sill.

Lots of work in progress, more to come!

Beware the....Cats (!?!?) of March!

LOL

So while Spring might be coming to a lot of places, it's still blustery and coooooold here in my part of Ontario.

So, to cheer us up, here are my cats!

Because, that's why the interwebs were created!

CATS!

Zazi....she's hiding.

Muffin does NOT share her toys.

Zazi plays hard to get. And yes, that is an ear-tip. She was one of our former feral cats; you can read about her HERE.

I noticed it looks like she's laying in a big ol' butt crack LOLOL

This is Georgia; our senior girl. She likes to sleep and be left alone until supper time.

Sometimes Muffin sleeps like a people. It was too bright in here!

Vamp is slowly recovering from knee surgery. We're about 9 days out now (this photo was taken after day 4) and she's doing really well.

Georgia staring me down.

Vamp after her pain meds LMAO

Muffin will go around and claim all the catnip bananas, and then sleep on them.

Georgia does like to sleep with us. Well, on us. 

Who are your fur babies? Go on, link up & share!

"Sheroes" Quilt!

 

Wonderwoman was my childhood hero. She (and some of her pals from the Justice League) used to be my invisible friends too. 

But um, I'm over that now. 

Ahem.

For the next generation. It was pretty spectacular.

I first found this amazing fabric a few years ago; but it languished until I found the 'right' idea for it.

I'm sure you do that too; that 'special' fabric you find and then it sits...sometimes for years.....

All the Girls are here. Batgirl, Supergirl, AND Wonderwoman.

As always, I use an African Wax Print in a black and white.

Also found this new geometrical print; so I've added that in .

I always reinforce the corners; especially on quilts I know kids will be using a lot.

Alternating the colours of turquoise, bright reds, and light and dark grey in the star blocks.

Here are the finishes! These are available in the shop, allow 2-3 weeks for completion!

This is the Baby version; it's about 3.5 x 3.5

The Twin sized!

CHANGES!

Cha-cha-chaaanges....♪♫♪....LOL Now I've got you humming some David Bowie.......

 Here are some BEFORE photos::

My Inspo board. I hung these giant corkboards myself. Didn't go so well; they aren't too stable. They'll be coming down.

Super excited.

Just before Christmas, we (finally) replaced the old bunk beds in my sewing room with a futon.

I know, I know. But we needed something that was compact, that had storage underneath and could still function when we have guests. (And it was on sale, so there was that)

I have a ton of photos from shows I've done and places I've been, plus art work; they all need to be rearranged and into proper frames. 

Tons of family photos & momentoes.

One of my Christmas gifts from my amazing husband and partner in crime...is a custom made sewing desk. To my specs. AND most importantly; my height. I'm 5'8" with long legs so normal height desks I'm still hunching over when cutting...and that's important when you're cutting and trimming for days.

How my desk was set up. Crammed into a corner and no space.

I scoured Pinterest & other such design blogs to really decide what I needed. And then got lost for HOURS on there. (Anyone else do that? You're laughing at me right now aren't you...) I now also have serious plans for redoing our back deck LOL.

Tons of WIPS just sorta....shoved in.

My fabric is folded (ish) into colour order fabric bins. These shelves are a bit wobbly and some will be replaced.

Too much clutter. This photo was taken during spring clothes clean up. It's not usually THIS bad I swear.

Add in the fact that we were already putting in new windows on our second floor; more light? PERFECT!

In the home stretch.... CANNOT wait to show you my New Sewing Room!

In order to cut and design fabric; I had to set up and tear down each time a portable folding table.