Headbands! more coming, promise...

yes yes, i promise, more headbands...
and combs and pins...
i will devote my weekend to bring you more one-off feathery or funky headbands...

i promise to spend my weekend shopping & creating...

...
well, right now im waiting, and praying that i will soon get a serger :)

Breathing New Life To Old Tanktops As Shopping Bags...

every now and then everyone has to clean out their closets, and edit them. I have a mound of old tank tops that i cant wear because either they are now too small (yes, i've gained weight) or streched out/splotched/etc. i couldnt donate them, because who wants a stretchouts splotchy tank top? i didnt feel right throwing them away, nor did i feel like they were in such condition to be cut up to be used as dishrags yet.
i was surfing apartment therapy & instructibles, with all their great ideas... and i decided to turn the tops into reuseable grocery bags. easy to do: the arm holes are ready to be used as handles, and all you really need to do is just to sew the bottom opening... so... TADAAAA! a have a stack to use when i go grocery shopping (reduce plastic useage!) and they also work as lunch & emergency bags. nifty!


well... once they are falling apart even more, maybe then ill use it as a dishrag...

whites. the fix-em-up tops...

to kick start my white sewing posts, these are the white tops that i have "fixed up" from older white tops...

sleeveless top with darts, remade out a short sleeve xl mens shirt from Suicide Glam that someone gave me...


sleeveless top made out of the fornt panel of a cardigan attached with a faux shirt front. made into a skirt backed sleeveless top with 3 different weave white fabics.

took an xl mens shirt that had a cigarette burn on one side of the chest and made some pin tucks along the front & neck/shoulders to hide the burn, as well as making the shoulders fit better...

change of heart...

ok... maybe its not change of heart...
I've just been "greeniefied" and "re-imagined", something that has been there in my mind for ages, but i intend to finally just do it.
its reducing want thus reducing waste and utilize better what i have in hand...
i suppose i have mentioned it in previous post, but i guess ill say it again...
i am finding pleasure on not merely having new shiny thing, but knowing the new & shining thing was something i already have in hand, re purposed or in some was "responsible"...
makes me feel good about making things, finding it to take creativity to a new level...

besides i already have a lot of stuff... i dont need to add more, but make the best out of what i have... yes. im pretty sure, thats the best thing to do.

while driving for the last 2 days (my personal brainstorming time) i thought about

• how to utilize water in my (dream) house,
• getting a hybrid car
• designing recycled material lamps & furniture
• working on my balcony garden
• taking apart mom's old clothes & making them new
• wearing dad's old ties as belts & scarves (ok, i HAVE been doing this, but just not so much lately; this is just a reminder to do it more often)
  
• whether to donate or garage sale my old clothes
• how to store the materials for re purposing crafts
  
• wallpapering a wall with old phone books using rice flour paste,...

well, im happy with my thoughts. its a good day & a good purpose :)
*note at 3:16pm... might just keep adding as the day progresses...

doodled bag...

so while watching random tv shows last night i took out my gold marker and started doodling on a knock off elle computer bag i found at a local market (at Rp. 50.000,- its very cheap, but i'll never wear it an pretend its real, bad bad bad).... so i had fun doodling... and used up all the gold in the pen... heeheeeheee... yes i was inspired by the pretty prada fairy bags...

ps: no i dont support fakes. i got the bag as a joke, and as a cheap canvas. i would not paint on a real branded bag, but i love to torture the hell out of a fake...

birdie birdie...

there was a wedding out of town this weekend, a big drum'n'bass event, and a day of taking mom shopping... so there was really no time to sew or make any big projects, even if my hand were reaaally itching...

but i did have time to make a little stuffed birdie out of left over fabric from my reversible jacket, using the pattern i found on spool sewing... i used the fabric from the head of the sarung, and used the smaller pieces of scraps for stuffing. no waste here... i believe i will make a few for galang (my second cousin's lil boy) and immy (my best friends' baby girl). hopefully its good teething toy...

oh, on the wedding trip i almost finished my circular knit (done whilst talking to aunts over ginger tea & cigarettes) which is going to be a cap to make my favorite helmet (in my brothers collection) fit me. ill do the finishing in the morning & post it then. i also started on a new "watching tv project", taking old tshirts and making the hook rug i talked about on the previous post...

so much i want 2 do... no time 4 me...

there is so much i want to do, yet, the time doesnt seem to be cooperating...

there's this pile of fabric in my room(i counted around 23 different kinds), that i have to reduce to half the size before im allowed to buy anymore fabric... yesterday a dear friend just gave me 2 pieces of traditional fabrics from the trip she took around indonesia, so thats 2 more to figure out what to do with...

not to mention the box of decent sized fabric scraps that begs to be used (instead of trashing)...

i just try to keep the ideas listed in a journal, so when i have free time i can go ahead and do something i wrote down instead of sitting wondering what i can do...

so heres some excerpts from the lists...

sewing:

• black silky kerchief edged kaftan
• black cotton bias cut halter
• reversible fitted jacked using a reversible jaquard in green/grey with contrast bias binding
  
• reversible long jacket using red fabric with pillow embroidery and light batik pekalongan

fabric scraps:

• hobo bag
• quilt (using old wornd down bali blankets as batting)
  
• sewing machine cover
• old tshirt hook rug
• stuffed toys for family & friends who has kids ;)
• box pillows (buy the filling from lokal walking merchants that pass by our house every so often. give back to community. feel good, look good)
  

"recycling" older garments(yes, inspired by the show i've go nothing to wear):

• mom's yellow embroidered jacket (smaller! more fitted! so cute!)
• an oversized shift; begging for pockets, belt or darts
• that paisley top that looks like pajamas; fixed the arms, but the body is still all wrong. what to do what to do...
  

other ideas:

• a light, bright lampshade for my work room (saranwrap over wire? cut out vellum?)
  
• recycling my ID cards into a cute hanging planter inspired by the credit card planter found here (i wont cut my IDs, instead just tape 5 together and use a clear tape so i can still see the colourful IDs; the loops from the ID will be the hangers)
  
• grafittied/doodled cheap bags (actually i've made 2 of these, and one is carried around as a computer bag by a Cosmopolitan Indonesia stylist; but i still want a white one hand doodled)

not to mention ideas how to make my balcony more green. its a big balcony, about the size of my room. currently it has a few pots with adeniums, and an old satelite dish as a vine plant planter. i want to add lemongrass, aloe, small pringodani bamboos, those tiny oranges plants...

so no more shopping for me. just use what i have :)

ok. maybe buy some plants. just a few. then again i can "steal" from mom & granmas' garden...