Scrubba Dubba

I've been really interested in soapmaking lately, and thought I'd start easy. For Christmas, Sam and I decided to make some soap to send to his family in addition to the usual cookies. They're melt and pour soaps, meaning you just grate up the soap base, melt it over a double boiler or in the microwave, add scents and color, and pour in molds to cool.

Our first batch was chocolate mint scented goatsmilk soap. Here's what they looked like after coming out of the loaf-mold and cutting:

I tried to do a marbling technique with the green coloring and the natural white of the soap. I think it came out pretty well.

Here's some close ups:

My next batch used a nice Christmas-y scent called "Sleigh Ride." It smells like oranges, peppermint, and some other fruity things. The scented goatsmilk soap went into the massage bar molds in layers. Here's the finished product:

The one on the bottom right is a little lighter because I had run out of the colored batch prematurely and had to mix the rest with the leftovers. I think I actually like the lighter color better.

And a closeup:

My last batch was olive oil based soap colored a deep jewel blue. (Sorry, forgot to take pictures when I was taking them out of the molds!) I scented them with a somewhat strong jasmine scent, but I really like it. I used a heart-shaped muffin tin to mold them. We had a hard time getting them out of them, so I'm not sure if we'll ever use them for soap again, but I like how they came out. I still have them around, now wrapped in plastic wrap (we haven't sent them yet), so if I ever get around to taking pictures of them, I'll post those too.

...And a Wallet to Match

I'm catching up on posting all the pictures I took over the past month. I made this wallet to match my hipslinger, so I could put my money and cards in there without having them flop around all disorganized and stuff.

I use it all the time now, even when I'm not using my hipslinger, and it holds all my cards with room to spare. I used the same green swirly fabric for the outside...

...And super cool blue butterfly fabric for the inside.

See? Fits perfectly in my hipslinger with room to spare! Thanks for looking!

Overall, It's a Nifty Knapsack!

One day, someone's head will implode from my corny titles. ^^

I spent the better part of the weekend making this:

If you can't tell, it's a knapsack made out of a pair of overalls!

I cut off the top of the overalls, split the back down the middle to make the straps, and took material from the pantlegs to make the bottom, sides, flap, and back of the bag. I sewed on a white button in the middle and a little loop of elastic to keep the flap closed. I don't have much more lining material (from making all those skirts, I'd imagine), so I lined the inside with lots of blue flannel:

There's a pocket inside on the back. And it's super roomy inside.

My knapsack in action (sort of):

It fits me really pretty well, but if I needed it higher up or closer, I could easily adjust it because the overall straps are already adjustable.

The best part of using the overalls are the readymade pockets! There are those little skinny pockets for pens, pencils, crochet hooks, etc. And then there's a big pocket where I can put my cellphone and keys for easy access:

And the inside is big enough to hold a big book (or several little books), my wallet, and a few essentials:

I'd have to say that this is my most professional-looking venture into sewing so far. I'm very proud of myself! I think I'm getting a lot better at sewing, and I really took the time to get things right. There are a few things I'd change if/when I make this again (I'd make the bottom corners round, for instance), but it was a huge success and I think it looks great. What's even cooler is that I only paid like $2 for these overalls at the thrift store. I bought 2 pairs of overalls and a book at the Salvation Army for $4.55 (Sales at thrift stores is the coolest idea ever). I'm still deciding what I want to do with the other pair of overalls. Should I make another backpack, or a messenger bag? Hrm...

Slinging Hips

Behold! I bring you... the Hipslinger!!

Okay, yes, it's technically a fannypack. But this one's cool. And I made it.

The outside is a black corduroy-like material. The lining and outer part of the belt is a green quilting fabric with pretty green scrolling.

Here it is on my hip. (Side view of my ass!!) I added the leaf button to the front cuz the black was kinda boring. I think it's really cute. I have more leaf buttons, but after some thought, I decided that one is perfect.

View from the front. I put the green fabric on the outside of the belt because I thought it needed some color. I don't know what it is about me and green lately. It's a nice color. (Still partial to blue, though)

The belt attaches by looping through D-rings...

...And is then secured into place with velcro. Nicely adjustable! (I still made it a little snug on me, though. ^^;;) Using both the D-rings and velcro make it really secure. I don't think I'd be afraid of anybody snatching this.

I added some velcro to the flap too so it'll close securely. I need to make a thinner wallet to fit in there, but it should be able to hold my cellphone, keys, some money, and a couple cards. I was running around with it tonight (I was really excited at how well it turned out...), and it barely budged. It'll be perfect if I go dancing or clubbing sometime (it could happen) cuz it's light, secure, and just roomy enough for everything I need.

And check it out! If I decide I'm too cool for a hipslinger (it could happen), it turns into a small handbag at the drop of a hat.

See? Just looped and velcro-ed, and it's a purse! (Aren't mirror pics trippy?)

Whatcha think of it? I love it!

Paint me green and call me Kermit!

I finally got off my ass and started sewing again. As promised, here's my new skirty skirt skirt.

It's made out of fabric that was supposed to be for quilting, but quilting fabrics always have some of the best patterns.

Here's the zipper. This is the first time I've ever used zippers. Boy, was it a pain in the ass! At one point, the zippy part of the zipper actually came off! (Don't ask how I managed that...) After over an hour of fiddling with it and consulting Sewing for Dummies, I got it to work. The stitching is shoddy, but I don't think anybody will really notice.

The lining is made out of white eyelet material. I noticed the quilting cloth wasn't very thick, so I figured I needed it. More shoddy stitching. It'll hold, though.

And... Action Shots!

Skirts make me feel like I should be silly and girly, so that's why there's all those dumb poses. Thanks for looking!

Norman Normanovich II

...of the Moscow Normanoviches, of course. :)

Norman is the jack-o-lantern we carved for Halloween this year. He's actually Norman II, named after the original Norman, who we carved last year. The original Norman was small and round and had goofy, mismatching eyes. So he looked like a Norman. This year's Norman is pretty generic, except he likes to lean.

This is Norman shortly after we cut him up. The plate on the right is filled with his gooey pumpkin innards! The pan on the left was there so I could toast the pumpkin seeds. Mmm...

Here's a close-up of Norman's pretty face. Actually, it looks like he was an abused pumpkin, from all the nicks he's got on him. If you look carefully at the right-hand side of his forehead, he has a scar. Looks kinda lightning shaped to me. We decided he was Harry Potter for Halloween. :P

Norman and Sam. Or is that Sam and Norman? Who can tell?? (Norman's a little better at smiling in pictures than Sam is. Tee hee...)

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

You Skirty Devil!

I made this skirt using the rest of the fabric I didn't use for the lining of the purse below. I'm really happy with the way it turned out, even though I would have preferred it to be a little more twirly. It's a little itchy, but hopefully that'll stop once I wash it and use some nice fabric softener. I really like the design of the fabric. But anyway...

Here it is on my couch. It's an A-line style skirt with a drawstring waist.

See here? I made the drawstring by braiding blue, purple, and white ribbons together and stringing it though the skirt.

Here's me wearing it while standing on my couch. You can tell I was a little unsure of where the camera was focused. (I used the timer function) I have pale knobby knees. :P

Here's me trying to look all girly and sophisticated while showing off the drawstring.

And zooming in a little... Not bad for a first skirt, eh?

For my next trick, I will attempt to form a precarious union between quilting cloth, eyelet material, and zipper. Stay tuned!

The Little Purse That Could

Eager to try out my new sewing machine, I followed a tutorial from Craftster.org from memory and made my very first purse. It's very simple and a little small, but it's cute and blue and holds things, which is really all you could ever hope for in a first ever made-it-myself purse.

Here it is, kindly modeled by my computer chair. It's a little floppy because I was too excited to wait and buy stuff to stabilize it (called interfacing... isn't sewing jargon grand?). And the strap is a little stretchy. I didn't realize that until after I put stuff in it and slung it on my shoulder. And there's nothing closing the top yet, but I'm trying to sew Velcro into it now.

Here's the inside! Future purses will have pockets and zippers, but as I said before, I was too excited and didn't have the patience to mess with zippers and pockets. It's lined with some super pretty fabric I found in the remnant section of Joann's Fabrics. I think it's called batik, and it looks all dyed and Hawaiian-y. I made my first skirt with the rest of that material, which I'll post sometime in the future. It's a little itchy, but I figure that will remedy itself after it's been washed.

And here it is, bravely standing on its own. Yay! (Don't mind the crease down the side, it hasn't been ironed...) It's quite the floppy bag. I think after I get the Velcro to keep it shut, it'll be a nice little bag for light summer adventures. Right now, though, I'm kinda afraid that all my stuff will fall out while I'm being a klutz. I am often a klutz.

This weekend, I'm aiming to make at least 2 skirts, both with zippers! o.O;; Zippers are scary... Other future projects include a messenger bag, a hipslinger (aka fannypack), stuffed animals, and yet more skirts. It's a good thing I'm starting to shave my legs more often, what with all these skirts that need showing off! ;)

Nimalee's Graduation

There are a ton of photos from Nimalee's graduation, so I thought I'd just post a few highlights. If you're interested in seeing all the pictures I took at Nimalee's graduation, you can visit the album. (It's a little weird... it goes in reverse chronological order...) I'm only going to leave it up for 2 weeks, because it takes up a good portion of my Photobucket account, so if you missed it, or need a particular picture, leave me a comment and I'll email it to you. Anyway, here are some pictures:

This is a slightly boring picture, but way out there is the stage where everybody got their diplomas and what have you... and there are all the people who came to see Nimalee graduate! No, really! ;)

Here's Nimalee with her dad. Hee, it's a cute picture.

Nimalee and her boyfriend Paul! I think the flowers in her hand are the ones I helped him pick out. He was really worried because he knows nothing about flowers, so I pointed out the ones that would be least likely to die right away. :P

Happy Graduated Girl! (I was a little scared she'd fall backwards into the fountain...)

This is what happens when you're really short and behind a ton of people who also want to take pictures...

LOTS of Filipinos! o.O;; I think this is her Liwanag youth group.

Rocking out at Macaroni Grill!! ...The sign we're making is actually the UC Irvine mascot, the anteater. Mmm! Yummy Italian food. Poor Nimalee's dad. I think he felt a little out of place. :P

And that's it! :)