Crafts of July, including Patriotic Boy-toys.

I'm still recovering from a whole month of painting, drawing, and lost sleep (in between foosball, Insanity workouts, violent films, & large quantities of pasta) at the Imaginism Workshop in Toronto. I made some great friends and learned a lot of technique & professional advice (and foosball technique) from the talented Thierry Lafontaine & Bobby Chiu. Even though it was usually sunny outside, the house we stayed in was pretty cold, so I got a lot of use out of my Rocket Popsicle scarf!



 As shown here, when I stepped outside to document a foosball match before a bbq dinner:

Hey, I match the little foosball guys! Anyway, while I was there, I did find some time to crochet some cupcake tops, out of that fluffy white Lion Brand Homespun yarn, from Twinkie Chan's book. So I should work on finishing that through the rest of this summer. I'll add red cherries later.

I even participated in Worldwide Knit/Crochet in Public Day and crocheted a cupcake top on the Toronto subway.

Now that I'm back home, I'm eager to get back to my sewing machine & stash of summer fabrics. For July 4, I ironed out this steamy print... should I make an apron, pillow, or both!?

Hello, drummer boy. Bang that drum!

I'll also use some patriotic starry & striped fabric as an accent for this patriotic beefcake print.

AND, San Diego Comic-Con is coming up in about a week, and I'm going to attend for the first time! I already have a Wonder Woman costume I can wear, but part of me is tempted to sew an additional costume to wear... maybe something from "Adventure Time!"

But I'm afraid that may be a bit ambitious, in between more important things I should do between now and then. Well, maybe if I get revved up sewing the patriotic fabric, we'll see if I have momentum to start a costume! If not, I also have that spacegirl quilt & the tropical print dresses next on my list. TOO MANY THINGS TO MAKE –story of my life.

Oh, you seductive fabric, YOU

Usually what compels me to want to sew something is finding an enticing fabric. Like the other day, I found these on sale and couldn't leave Joann Fabrics without them:

So I started browsing dress patterns for ideas, and discovered that Vogue had re-issued vintage dress patterns from the 1940s & '50s, like these!

Oh man. Then I found maybe 10 dress patterns I wanted to try, but it's been ages since I've sewn apparel, so I settled on a simpler one that I could try. Eventually I got myself out of the store, and this was my haul from Joann Fabrics:



But I also have a stash of fun fabrics left over, some from NY Elegant (a shop that was recommended to me by Fashion Designer, Diana Eng). That's where I had found the fabric that I used for my cute reversible apron and also this fabric that is out of this WORLD:



I mean, just look at those colors, rockets, buildings, and Barbarella-inspired pin-up girls! How could I resist?

So I have some plans for those, in addition to this quilt that I'm working on, that uses fabrics from my stash, Joann Fabrics, & Brooklyn's Fiber Notion (Park Slope).

(That orange gingham is leftover from my apron, and the yellow's leftover from my dessert quilt.) Now excuse me while I go iron & trim some of that fabric.