Civil War Ball Gowns

 

I never did get around to posting pictures of our finished dresses for the Civil War Ball last year.  Here they are.  It was a lot of fun.  One thing I did learn about making the dresses is to make the corsets FIRST, then measure the bodices to fit the corset.  You'll notice the bodices are both a little baggy at the top.  Better luck this year.  There is a ball coming up later this month, and another in April.  We are hoping to go to at least one of those, if not both.  However this year I'll have three dresses to make, because my twelve year old will be attending as well.  Hopefully my husband can be dragged out as well, but that remains to be seen.

How to Make a Chemise

Civil War Skirt Tutorial

EHow has two simple Civil War skirt tutorials available. The first set of instructions is for a skirt with a waist band, and the second is for a draw string skirt. No pictures or video are included, but the instructions are simple enough.

Hoop Skirt Tutorials

I found an ingenious hoop skirt tutorial at OneWalking. No need for expensive boning from the fabric store. This hoop skirt uses water tubing from the hardware store. Awesome idea.



Also found this awesome tutorial for a cage hoop skirt at TheDreamstress.com. I'm not sure what pattern I'm planning to use for our upcoming event, but either of these will do nicely.

After looking a little longer at patterns I ran across a step by step flash tutorial by Yiji at DeviantArt.com . Her tutorial is possibly the best, but since it is flash you can only view one page at a time.

Corset Tutorial from ThreadBanger

Looking for a quick easy corset pattern? This video from ThreadBanger may help. Step by step instructions can be found here, but the link to the pattern instructions is missing from the ThreadBanger post. Some basic instructions on making a pattern can be found at this link.



I dug a little deeper, and found a site that generates a corset pattern/instructions based on measurement inputs. The corset pattern generator can be found on ElizabethanCostume.net.

Doodle a Day

Birthday Card by Coral

The cute card Coral made for her best friend's birthday party tomorrow. I just love the detail. Looks like they may have a tummy ache if they get to eat all of the goodies she has in mind.

Pink not Peach

So, my computer crashed prior to Christmas. Luckily I keep my documents, photographs, etc. on an external drive, so I didn't lose anything. However, Christmas is a very bad time fo computer repairs. After giving up on resurecting my internal drives, I canceled all of my outstanding Christmas orders from Etsy, and decided to try to get things back up and running after Christmas. Of course that means a complete system re-install, programs, fonts, everything. Still not done with that by the way, but I do have my fonts and Photoshop installed.

After starting fresh, I could not for the life of me get my printer to print pink again! I went from forum to forum looking for the answer only to find a bunch of really silly people telling other people it was a problem with their monitor. No, no, actually it is not a problem with your monitor. If you are using the code for "pink", and you are getting "peach", it is not a monitor issue.

"What is the right answer?" you ask, well let me tell you, mostly because I know that a few years from now I'm going to run into this again, and will not be able to remember how to print pink!

In the print dialogue box that comes up in Photoshop, select "Printer Manage Colors". I selected "Perceptual" under rendering intent, but I'm not sure that matters, because it didn't help the first five times I tried it. Then I switched from "Color Management" to "Output" in the drop down menu at the top. This is seems to be an important step..not sure why, but it is the only way I can get my settings in the next stop to save.

Now click "Print Setting". That will bring up the printer properties. From there I went to the "Advanced" tab. There is an area on that tab called "Color Management". In that area I selected "Color Controls". In the "Color Mode" drop down box I selected "Adobe RGB" and "1.8".

I'm sure that from printer to printer the settings will be different, but the key is to go to the printer properties instead of just trying to fix it in the Photoshop print window.

I'm not sure if this little tidbit will help anyone else, but I'm sure it will help me in the future.

Farm House Doll Bed Plans

I was looking for baby doll cradles to go with the baby dolls we bought for Christmas, when I ran across plans for this adorable farmhouse doll bed from Ana-White. I must try to make this for daughter's American Girl dolls.

Link to the free plans from Ana-White.com: Another Farmhouse Bed

Rolled Hem Tutorial

I found a wonderful tutorial by Vanessa over at Little Big Girl Studio, that details how to use a Brother 1034D to sew a rolled hem. It is great to find someone that is actually using the same machine that I am. The other tutorials I've seen have been some what helpful, but her tutorial showed me the exact settings I needed for my machine. It worked wonderfully. I'm so happy I found this.

The tutorial can be found here.

SCAL vs MTC Round 2

It looks like I may have to hold off on my purchase of Sure Cuts a Lot. The MTC version that is to be released soon, looks very good. However, the creator didn't share all of his improvements on the web cast Tuesday night. I may hold off a little bit just to see if he includes dashed lines in the next release.

One thing that did catch my attention is the ability to create very easy rhinestone templates, and lattice work.

My First Ruffler Foot

The ruffler foot for my sewing machine came today. If you happen buy one of these, you may want to watch a lot of videos before you decide to tell the seller it is the wrong one.

The foot I received looked completely different than the one that I ordered. It looked more like the attachment for slant shank machines, and the darn thing didn’t seem to fit. It kept hitting the pin that is used to tighten the needle. So I promptly emailed the seller, to tell them they sent the wrong one. Why wouldn’t I think that? After all, it doesn’t look like the one in the picture at all.

Needless to say, it does in fact fit my machine. The little part that kept “getting in the way”, that’s what makes it work. Apparently it is suppose to go “around” pin, not under it. That is how the foot knows when to make the pleat.

I’m not saying it “is” the right attachment for my sewing machine, because it is very hard to get it to fit right. However, it does in fact work.

I also found that rather than cutting fabric piece after fabric piece to practice with, it is easier to just pull each end to break the thread. Remove the loose threads, and start over.

Although the ruffle foot seems more like a torture device than a sewing machine attachment at first, once you get the hang of it is pretty cool.

SCAL vs MCT

I've put a lot of time in to trying out the "Sure Cuts A Lot" (SCAL), “Make the Cut" (MCT), and Cricut's "Design Studio" (DS) software over the past few days since I ordered my Cricut Expression. I think I've finally reached a decision, and the Cricut hasn't even arrived yet.

Cricut Design Studio Software
Cricut Design Studio was the big loser in my book, even though it is a handy tool to use with the Cricut cartridges. You can manipulate the shapes and fonts in the cartridges, and create some good designs; however, there just isn't enough freedom. I think this is a good call for someone that isn't very good at designing in other software programs, or just wants something simple, but more flexible than working straight from the machine. The good thing about DS is that you have access to all of the shapes and fonts in the Cricut library. However, to actually cut the shapes you need to have the cartridge in your machine.

Make the Cut (MTC) Software



Make the Cut (MTC) is a very impressive program. It is great for converting images into SVG files. I love the way that it shows the entire image, so you can tell what areas are being left out of the current selection. I also like the way that you can distort the shapes, changing the perspective. The Bezier warp was also nice. Over all I really like this program, and it almost won me over. I may have to purchase it at some point, especially since updates are included free, and the creator updates the program often. It hasn't been around nearly as long as SCAL, but is pretty much neck and neck with the development. MTC has a few features SCAL doesn't, and vice versa. I won't be surprised if MTC comes out ahead in the end.



Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) Sotware



That said, at this point I'm going to have to go with SCAL. Two features won me over, the dashed lines, and the ability to change the font after it is typed. The font isn't necessarily a big deal, because I could use a graphic program to select the font. However, if I'm going to do that, I can also mimic the features of MTC in a graphics program. The dashed lines however, can't be used in MTC at this time, and I would really like to use them for pen outlines.

I also like the library files in SCAL. It seems that it will be easier to organize my custom shapes in SCAL, than in MTC. However MTC has a really nice feature that allows you to search SVGs that have been added to their database by other users. I do like that feature quite a bit, but it can wait until I have more money to spend.

So there it is, unless I change my mind before I purchase the software on Monday, I'll be buying Sure Cuts a Lot to create custom shapes with my Cricut. I can hardly wait.




Where to find:
Sure Cuts a Lot can be found on Craftedge.com and Make-The-Cut.com. Cricut Design Studio can be found in stores and online all over the place, but can also be downloaded at the Cricut website.

Make a Font in Inkscape

I was browsing through some online tutorials to get ready for the arrival of my new Cricut, when I found a video by CleverSomeday showing steps to create a font using Inkscape. The video can be found at this direct link. It looks so simple; I must try it!

Cricut Winning Bid!

So, my search for a Cricut is over. It ended while setting through two red lights waiting to turn left on the way home from work.

During the first red light I checked EBay on my phone to find that the bundle I wanted was in striking distance, and the auction was about to end. So I put it a bid, and what do you know I was ahead. Refresh…behind.. bid again.. crap the light is green. Oh good, there are too many cars, and the light is red again. Bid again, still behind, and just seven seconds to go, and that light will be turning green again soon. BID! BID! Darn green light.

At the next light I checked again to find to my surprise, I had won the auction. I turned the car around, and took the Cricut Expression that was sitting in the back of my car back to Joann Fabric for a refund.

My final price was $222.50. That is for the Cricut Expression, the four cartridges that I had wanted: “Storybook”, “Paper Doll Dress Up”, “Home Accents”, and “Doodlecharm.” Plus it comes with two different ink packs. $22.50 more than I had wanted to pay, but what an incredible deal!

Now the only problem is that the reason I was trying to go so cheap, is to save money to buy the Sure Cuts a Lot software, which is what pushed me over the edge from “I would like to have a Cricut” to “I MUST have a Cricut!”

Must Have A Cricut!

I've finally decided I must have a Cricut. I've wanted one for a while, but was holding out until I could pay for the larger one with money made from selling crafts, rather than using my pay check, and take money out of the "family" budget.

That was my plan. Then the little Cricut went on sale for $79 at Joann Fabric this weekend. I couldn't resist the urge to buy anymore, so I grabbed one.

When I returned to the car with it my husband just had to point out that it wasn't the one I wanted. Like I didn’t already know that.

What resulted from his comment was a three day EBay binge, with me bidding and bidding and bidding to get the Cricut Expression for less than $200 without waiting until Black Friday.

I'm not sure how this will end, but I will keep you posted.

This has been one exhausting week. The only night I’ve been able to come home after work, was the night I had to bring work home. The trend hasn’t ended yet either. I will be “volunteering” at the football game tomorrow night. Normally, I would be looking forward to it, but I just want to so badly to come home after work and get some well deserved rest.

I’m looking forward to next week, where my only full evenings will be Monday and Tuesday for Coral’s music school. No appointments and no volunteer duty. Ohh...it I can hardly wait!

Mojo Monday 153 - Birthday Card

This is the card I made for the Mojo Monday 153 challenge. This is also one of the first cards I've made. Just picked up my fist batch of foam adhesive, and distressing ink today. The scallop squares were die cut with the Cuttlebug dies that just came today! Just in time to make the card. I used chalk ink for the green stamps, and I love the smooth coverage it provides. I didn't have any stamps small enough for the "Happy Birthday" at the bottom, so I printed that with my ink jet printer and cut it out with scissors before adhering it to blue card stock.



This one is my nine year old daughter's version. I had to help a little bit, attaching the bow, and cutting out the ovals, but she did pretty good on her own. I like the colors she picked out.

This was a lot of fun. I'll be trying it again next week!

Plastic Storage Bins

Today I'm sharing some more really old pictures. This is my cheap storage solution for my craft/computer room. These are expensive plastic storage boxes from Wal-mart. I printed labels for each of them on card stock, and decoupaged them to the end of the box. Not only can I tell at a glance what is in the boxes, it also makes them look not quite so blah.

These have held up very well. I made them over a year ago, and no labels have pealed off. I wasn't sure at the time, because I had never decoupaged anything prior. The only complaint I have is I've now out grown them, and need to put up some more shelves with more boxes.

By the way, the shelves, they are closet doors from Habitat for Humanity. I think they were about $5. I can't remember if that was each or total. These are much longer than the shelves that were available at Lowe's and Home Depot. They are also hollow, so they aren't nearly as heavy as a regular piece of wood. They are also extremely sturdy.

Stamps from Craft Foam

This my very first attempt at carving a stamp. I tried to find the rubber normally used to carve stamps, but they didn't have it at Michael's or Jo Ann Fabric. I opted to use the cheap craft foam from Dollar Tree, since it was all i had. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I glued the cut out to some recycled plastic and made a nifty clear stamp out of it. After this picture was taken i added a lid from a milk jug as a handle, and it is easier to use now.

I made a couple more stamps last night, and I plan to purchase some thicker foam to see if it is a better medium.

Jewelry Holder

Today I'm getting around to posting a project that was done quite a while back, maybe over a year ago. It is still just as useful as it was back then. This is my jewelry holder. It holds a ton of necklaces, but I'm just about out of space, and I'm going to need second one real soon.

To make the jewelry holder I found an old picture frame from my closet, some cup hooks at Habitat for Humanity, a piece of cardboard, some batting, satin ribbon and fabric.

Step one: remove the glass from the frame.

Step two: If you don't already have picture hangers on the back add them now. They are hard to nail in once the hooks have been added to the front.

Step three: Screw the hooks into the picture frame. As you can see, mine aren't all the same size. That is because I bought all of the large hooks they had at Habitat for Humanity the day I visited, so I had to buy some smaller hooks as well.

Step four: Paint

Step five: Cut the cardboard to fit the inside of the frame, and wrap it with batting. I think I actually used duck tape on this project, but I don't want to take it down off of the wall to be sure.

Step six: Wrap the fabric around the cardboard, and duck tape or hot glue in place.

Step seven: Hot glue the ribbons in place. Every where the ribbons intersect with each other they are glued to both the fabric and each other. Then they are also glued on the back of the cardboard. The remaining ribbon is left loose, and able to hold light weight earrings very well.

Step eight: After everything is glued in place, the cardboard is inserted into the frame, and the normal frame backing is placed back on the back of the frame to hold everything in.