It came my way on a lonesome day, the long black scarf took my possession

-- Belle and Sebastian (Long Black Scarf)


Shirt made from 2 silk scarves found in a thrift store for 50 cents apiece, (no idea why they were so cheap!). I got the idea to make them into this shirt from Altered Couture, this sweet magazine on how to alter old clothes into something new. Downside of the mag: it costs 15$.

Some poetic pants

My Sharpied pants:



With lots of Sharpies, a little fabric paint, and many of my favorite things, I created these. I started by bleaching out sections to make the colored Sharpies show up better. Then I drew on pictures and wrote some favorite poems and quotes around them.

'

Quote from "The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles" by Julie Andrews Edwards and a bit of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.



My dog, Bridget.



Astronaut... and my favorite William Carlos Williams poem.











Quote from "If You're Afraid of the Dark Remember the Night Rainbow".



Bridget's little puppy paws and the back of my pants. See the planets? And I included Pluto. On purpose.



Man in the moon-- below it is a great Billy Collins poem of the same name.



My favorite drawing on the pants, Michael Jackson's hand.



Better view.



Simplified NYC skyline w/ Brooklyn Bridge.



:)

See more Sharpie creations here at Sharpie Uncapped. Pretty cool marker people out there.

Doing the garden, Digging the weeds

-- Sir Paul, and the Beatles (When I'm Sixty-Four)


A dress I bought from a thrift store-- I added the flowers.



I made a roundish shape from scraps of cotton fabric and then ironed the folds into place. Then I took sheer material and simply sewed a spiral into the light pink cotton fabric. Then I added the pearls.

DIY Collage Shoes

-- Wilco (Summer Teeth)



I got these shoes at a thrift store and then decorated them with some cutouts from magazines and brochures from places I've been.



Abraham Lincoln silhouette on the right shoe and a picture of Indiana on the left.



Honest Abe and rhinestones...



...a painting from the Princeton Art Museum brochure and a zebra on the right, scotty dog on the left.



The gray section in the middle is actually a picture of this old movie theater in my hometown called The Artcraft. There is also a picture of the courthouse in my town on the other shoe.



The courthouse clock can be seen here. The quote from a Philadelphia brochure. And more Indiana, of course.



Marilyn Monroe and more rhinestones.



And of course, the Midwest. :)

How to Make these Shoes:

These shoes were made by just hot-gluing the pictures on and then adding Shoe Goo on top. (You can find Shoe Goo in Walmart, Target, or any other store like that.) You spread the Shoe Goo with an ice cube and it does not stick to everything. I used Shoe Goo instead of Mod Podge because the Shoe Goo is flexible and it won't crack like Mod Podge. :)

Budapest

More vidoetry-- I love poet Billy Collins even more after I realized he has had some of his poems made into animations.

I love how he personifies his hand and makes it into a little creature.



His poetry is like biting into a shiny strawberry and then realizing there is no white middle- delicious and deep.

After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor--

-- T.S. Eliot (Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock)

Finally done with one of my bigger projects this summer.



This dress is made from all recycled materials. I used an old slip as a base and sewed sleeves and the knit roses all over the dress. I had to make the slip longer so I attached some stretchy knit from one of my dad's old undershirts.



The roses are made from sewing tiny strips of knit fabric around in circles on top of each other. (See tutorial below) I used about 7 colored shirts that I had lying around and from Goodwill to make this. It took a surprisingly large quantity of knit.





I really liked working with the slip and the knit fabric because everything was stretchy. While the dress became progressively shorter as I finished, it never became too tight.



Straps again.

I had the idea to make this dress after I saw this tutorial on how to make the roses. Her rose actually looks like a rose. My impatience got the better of me I believe and mine look more like carnations. ;)

If anyone tries Sewtakeahike's tutorial, I would love to see more versions!

Don't you like American music, baby...

-- Violent Femmes (American Music)

Happy Fourth of July! Too bad it is raining drearily here and I have to take pictures inside.



These are my shorts I made especially for today. :) They are an old pair of jeans that I cut off.





Matching shoes. Some of the greatest I own.



Like with previous pants, I used the blanket stitch to go around the fabric. I love the design on the white fabric.



Happy Birthday to the USA.

:)