Handmade stitches and Second-hand words

Last week I made two dresses. (One out of an old tank top and one for the Fourth of July.) I was hoping to get lots of pictures on the fourth of my newest production… but considering the awesome weather we had that day, (cold, rainy, windy, and dark) I only wore my dress to a bbq and ended up changing into a hoodie and cowboy boots shortly after I got there, therefore not getting any pictures in my picnic cloth inspired outfit.

Today though, my awesome boy friend (Christopher) took a couple of me with my other dress on which I will post.

Youtube is an awesome source to learn how to do pretty much anything. (I learned to knit off of youtube even!) Yet when I’m jumping around from different videos on how to make this and that I get frustrated when videos are lengthy, things are repeated over and over or the maker is talking for the sake of talking. I get bored and even if I was interested in their project I can’t force myself to keep watching. That’s why when I found this gal I was pretty excited. --> http://www.youtube.com/user/GiannyL . She has videos on how to sew a bunch of different cute things for cheap. She doesn’t talk in her videos and you still get all the information that you need to make your own project, plus you see a finished piece at the end of the video.

But where I found the idea for my dress was here --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu9KmoUMwlE . I didn’t really follow her directions at all, but the video got me started.

(^With a belt I stole from my mom's closet a while pack.)

(^With out belt)

Top is an old tank top I bought from Forever 21 back in 7th grade, hah it was time to either get rid of it or re-make it. Bottom is just the cheapest black material I ran into at JoAnne fabrics last week.

Part Two: Second-hand words

Christopher and I spend a lot of our time in a Barns and Noble near his house. I always grab an armful of books out of the craft/sewing/knitting section and sometimes fancy my way over to the new wave section and read the words of Sabrina Harrison. Sadly, I don’t have the money where I can just get a $30 sewing book whenever I want.

Today we ventured into our second favorite bookstore. A secondhand shop; Fugal Muse in Downers Groove. I was looking for cake decorating books for my friend’s birthday, I wanted to be able to get her a big present and I thought it would be cute if I got her five large books all rapped up yet when books are around $30 each that didn’t seem to be realism.

I ended up finding a lot of cute books that where in great condition and looked like they have never been touched. (They do have a lot of books there that are new that they were given from other stores that never sold.) The book I am most excited about is called Hello, Cupcake. Mostly because I saw it at Urban Outfitters over the winter and thought it was so cute.

But what I am most excited about is the two books I saw while walking to get checked out.

They were both two books I would always pull off of the shelves at Barns and Noble but never thought the $40 for both of them was worth it. I got them both today for $10! I read a lot of Handmade Nation, it talks about the history of the DIY and crafting lifestyle and also interviews many crafters and artisans across the country. I am excited to start How to be an Explorer of the World. All the pages are very artsy and well put together.