Wanderlust Quilt

I love to travel. Ever since got off of the plane to study abroad in Barcelona when I was 19, it's been in my blood. I lived abroad for 2 years and during that time, traveled to around 15 countries. This wanderlust inspired me to start my globe collection (currently at 7 globes and 2 big pieces of map artwork), my travel-themed scrapbook paper collection, and, though it's harder to find, my travel-themed fabric collection, the latter of which led to this beauty: 

I found the fabric with the cancelled postage stamps a while back and, though I didn't have a specific plan in mind, I just had to have it. 

My mom found these iron-on embroidery patterns on clearance at Hobby Lobby and knew I'd love them. I'd never done any embroidery before, but she was right, I did absolutely adore them. My initial plan was to only use the patterns for the countries I'd visited, but another plan began to take its place once I found this fabric:

I picked it up at a garage sale last summer, and the kitchy world landmarks print initially reminded of Roisin at Dolly Clacket, though I didn't think I was quite adventurous enough to wear it like I imagined she would. I snagged 3 yards of it and once I got it home, it all began to come together. 

I only used 10-12 different colors of embroidery floss for all of the prints - I really like that the instructions have you use colors that coordinate so well.

Once I got the idea, I could barely stop. Even when it came time for all of the tedious bits (interfacing, squaring up), I plunged through it like a champ.

I'm so so happy with the way it turned out, especially considering I'm a relative novice at both embroidery and quilting. I didn't cut many corners on this like I normally would - I wanted it as close to perfect as I could get it. (It looks much wrinklier in these pics than in real life.)

Will definitely approves, too. I barely got all of the cat hair off of it before he jumped on it again! Everything but the bias binding was from my stash - great start to the new year!

Where's your wanderlust taking you these days?

Oh! I also finally joined the bandwagon on Instagram - my username (is that what the kids are calling it?) is forwhoitsfor. Lots of sneak peeks on there, and I'm always looking to follow more crafty ladies (and gents)!

Floral skirt makeover

This is the last project I have to post from 2014 - finally! On to even bigger and better things, right?

 

I'm still really on board with the floral trend that was everywhere last year. I hope it's still on-trend this year, but even if it's not...I'll keep wearing them, because they rock (and most of the fabric I bought last year was floral-print, so...gotta use that up!). 

This skirt started its life as one of my mom's. No idea where she got it from, but it didn't fit her anymore and she figured I'd like the print.

This was horribly unflattering on me. In addition to the bad length, it gave me awful muffin top. So nothing to do but take it apart, right? I kept the original waist band and hem and shortened it up significantly. If I'm being honest, I did not do a great job keeping the hem even. But that didn't stop me from wearing the skirt once a week!

[Blowing in the wind.]

Unfortunately, I wore this so much that the stitching at the waistband started coming apart, and I now have a big hole to mend. Should be a quick fix, but right now I think it's buried in with a bunch of other projects. Gotta get on that!

This is probably my favorite upcycle - what's yours?

Still catching up on 2014

On the docket for today: one of the skirts I made for my business trip in...November?

This fabric was in my grandma's (very very tiny) stash. Since she wasn't using it anymore, I snapped it up! It's a herringbone corduroy and is quite warm, actually - perfect for winter.

I knew that I wanted a simple skirt to properly showcase the fabric (and because there wasn't a ton of it to work with). Since I haven't had great luck drafting A-line patterns before, I dug through my stash. Butterick 5214 had just the shape I was looking for, so I drafted a quick waistband and was on my way!

The hem is finished with bias binding (my new and bestest fave). All together, this skirt probably only took about 1.5 hours to make - just the way I like it!

(I just realized that i was looking at my feet in every one of these pictures. And I still really need to work on ironing. *sigh*)

The sad part in looking at these pictures again, though, is that it's a super cute outfit but I've only worn it once or twice. It sticks to my leggings pretty terribly and I always feel really uncomfortable walking around in it. I really need to work on a couple of slips (they'd help with my circle skirts, too). Add it to the to-do list!

Is anybody else already feeling overwhelmed by 2015?

Top 5 of 2014 - part 3

Happy New Year! For those of you who are sick of these round-ups, I think I've mostly saved the best for last in this year-end top 5 (or top-however-many-I-can-think-of). I'll keep this one short and sweet.

Top 5 Hits:

1. There was a lot of Cascade love this year. I think my absolute favorite is this one, though. I love the colors, I love the layers (fashion fabric plus a lining, because the top one's so see-through), I love how breezy it is, and I love how this red cardigan is the exact same red found in the roses.

[Still my favorite picture of this outfit.]

2. More Cascade love, obviously. I think this one got more wear than the first one, and it's certainly gotten a lot of compliments! Plus, it only cost me a song - maybe $1 worth of fabric? Can't beat that!

3. These Tania culottes. They're by far my favorite pair and got worn to death this spring, summer, and fall. They're pretty darn short, but hey, I have nice legs, right? I have to say that I don't love my other 2 pair nearly as much as I love these...

4. My Aidez sweater. It doesn't get worn as much as it should, but that thing is a work of art. I poured a lot of time into it, and it's my first knit sweater, so I'm proud! Now to find some more outfits to pair it with...(I'm also just realizing there are a lot of reds in these outfits! Good to note for the future...)

5. My rainbow quilt. Full of problems, but also full of...awesomeness?

Now on to even bigger and better things for next year!