Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Silver Tone Feather Rhinestone Brooch Vintage on sale @ SeptemberCarolan.Etsy.Com

While looking through my jewelry collection to find what I can part with, I found this sparkly vintage brooch I've had for quite sometime.
Even though it is so gorgeous, I know I should give it a new home.

It is listed on my etsy shop @ SeptemberCarolan.etsy.com

Take a look! ^_^


SILVER TONE FEATHER RHINESTONE BROOCH VINTAGE - FREE SHIPPING

SILVER TONE FEATHER RHINESTONE BROOCH VINTAGE - FREE SHIPPING

Monday, April 26, 2010

Elegant Gothic Lolita Silver Tone Jewel Ankh Dangle Earrings For Sale on Ebay

As I mentioned last week on Twitter, I was going to start listing some long forgotten jewelry I had in my collection.
My jewelry box was the only place I didn't think to clear out, since I don't really have an abundance of accessories, but there's plenty that I have not worn! ^_^

And here is the first listing!

Take a look at these gorgeous Elegant Gothic Lolita Ankh Dangle Earrings.

Get them quick before they are gone, this listing is only for a week, unlike my other auctions that have been set to 10 days!!

ELEGANT GOTHIC LOLITA SILVER TONE ANKH AHNK EARRINGS - FREE SHIPPING

ELEGANT GOTHIC LOLITA SILVER TONE ANKH AHNK EARRINGS - FREE SHIPPING

Friday, April 23, 2010

Baby Doll Blue Satin and Black Lace Camisole listed for Sale on Ebay!

Yesterday I forgot to post the new listing here, (oops!) So to-day I'm doing just that.

Here is one cute baby doll camisole, this one is new without tags and a perfect addition to your intimate wear collection.

Take a look at this cute cami! Get it before it's gone ^_^


BABY DOLL BLUE SATIN BLACK LACE CAMISOLE -FREE SHIPPING


Baby Doll Blue Satin & Black Lace Camisole

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Un-Cut Simplicity Costume Patterns on Sale @ SeptemberCarolan.etsy.com

Even though Halloween is just umm...6 months away. It's never too early to get your costume patterns!

Like these un-cut, Womens Costume Patterns by Simplicity!!
There are a total of 5, that's right FIVE patterns available in this lot!
Each pattern has instructions and patterns, all un-cut, new, click the link below for pattern number and size details.
Get them before they're gone like last year's candy corn!

COSTUME PATTERNS SIMPLICITY UN-CUT LOT OF 5 DESTASH - FREE SHIPPING


Simplicity patterns

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Suprising Find in the Attic or A Look At Vintage Patterns

Earlier this week I ventured into my parent's attic, hoping to find more vintage items to put up for sale. As I did this, I found a box of patterns...lots of patterns.
While looking through this box, I noticed some that were enclosed in a plastic pack, they looked old and torn.
I check out the pattern only to find that it was one of my grandmother's patterns she used back in the fifties, even the pattern was a classic 50's design. I was amazed!
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Of course, I had to be sure of what it was.
It is a McCall's pattern number 4971 from 1959.
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The pattern was quite tattered, most of the envelope had disintegrated, but the actual pattern pieces were still usable. Of course I would never use this pattern, it is best left alone. I'm sure it made many a beautiful dress, especially if it was my grandmother's hands sewing it together.
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There is even a name written on the front of the envelope, no doubt my grandmother naming who the finished dress was meant for. She made so many clothes for her family and friends, and still does!

One thing I HAD to do was open up the instruction leaflet, it was in extremely good condition, no tears or tattered pieces save for the ones on the folds, it wasn't even rigid from oxidation.
So I checked out the pattern layout and was surprised that the pattern pieces were relatively simple for such a popular style of dress.
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There were more patterns I found of similar design, a lovely Vogue pattern then another in a Jacqueline Kennedy-esque style.
After looking at the McCall's pattern, I didn't want to open up any others.
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Seeing this pretty much brought me back to the time my grandmother taught me how to hand sew, I was not aware back then that I would use these skills and put them to projects and designs of my own at this age.
I'm so grateful for that. Sewing is what my grandmother loves to do, there are still many more patterns that she has, some have been given to my mother, there is one box...but that isn't even scratching the surface of the amount of patterns my grandmother really has.
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Vintage Lace Trim Listed On Day 16 Of De-Stash Sale.

Day 16 of de-stash sale!
To-day I listed some very gorgeous vintage lace, over 7 yards!
It goes quite well with the freshwater potato pearls that I listed yesterday :)


LACE TRIM FLORAL CREAM 7 YARDS VINTAGE- SHIPPING IN PRICE

LACE TRIM FLORAL CREAM 7 YARDS VINTAGE- SHIPPING IN PRICE

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Day 15 marks the start of the supply listings. 16" strand of lovely Potato Pearls

It's Day 15 of sale!

Now since all the vintage clothing has been listed, let's get to the supplies!

Newly listed on SeptemberCarolan.etsy.com are these lovely opalescent potato pearls!


4-5MM FRESHWATER POTATO PEARLS 16 INCH STRAND DESTASH - SHIPPING IN PRICE
4-5MM FRESHWATER POTATO PEARLS 16 INCH STRAND DESTASH - SHIPPING IN PRICE

Monday, April 12, 2010

LAST VINTAGE ITEM ON SALE!

Day 14 marks the final day for vintage listings on my de-stash sale.
There are 8 vintage items on sale on SeptemberCarolan.etsy.com and 3 clothing items left on my ebay shop.

Craft items will be listed starting tomorrow. ^_^

For now, check out this newly listed vintage dress!

LEOPARD PRINT LONG MAXI SLEEVELESS DRESS VINTAGE - FREE SHIPPING
LEOPARD PRINT LONG MAXI SLEEVELESS DRESS VINTAGE - FREE SHIPPING

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Saturday Shopping: Ebay Auctions!

This week I re-listed 3 clothing items! So if your doing some ebay shopping this weekend, be sure to check out these adorable items ^_^

RETRO SHEER BLACK POLKA DOT BLOUSE - FREE SHIPPING
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ELEGANT GOTHIC LOLITA BLACK LACE TOP - FREE SHIPPING

Black Lace Top

RETRO 50'S BLACK WHITE POLKA DOT DRESS - FREE SHIPPING
BLACK POLKA DOT BUTTON-UP DRESS - FREE SHIPPING

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Adventures with Kombucha Tea!

For almost a year now, I've been interested in the awesome benefits of Kombucha tea.
What is it?
Kombucha is a fermented tea that is imbibed for medicinal purposes. There is limited scientific information supporting any purported benefits and few studies are being conducted. Kombucha is available commercially, but can be made at home by fermenting tea using a visible solid mass of microorganisms called a kombucha culture or mushroom.
{taken from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha}

The kombucha culture they are talking about is known as a S.C.O.B.Y.
Symbiotic
Culture
Of
Bacteria
and
Yeast

Since I've tried it and felt like it's fizzy goodness was meant to be made at home. Of course I did a great deal of research to get a clear and concise tutorial to start making at home.
There are so many tutorials out there, Google yielded so many.
The best place to look is Instructables.com and within that site is a tutorial from a
website that sells the actual S.C.O.B.Y. kits for your own brewing at
Organic-Kombucha.com.

Of course, I didn't want to purchase the culture kit. If there is a diy method, then I'm ready to do it myself!
I mainly went with the Organic-Kombucha.com's version of brewing, since most of the other tutorials went the same way, but they gave me actual measurements of tea and water.
For growing the culture, I went with FoodRenegade.com and their ultra simple way of growing.
My first issue was getting a bottle of pre-made Kombucha, you can find at any HFS. Grabbed a empty glass jar I had, some Sencha tea I had, sugar, and distilled water.
I grew the culture first, it took a bit longer than I wanted. Mainly because there was another culture growing, but it grew too weak and fell to the bottom of the jar after which another one grew on top and was much stronger and resilient.
This one I named Rocko! (he's technically Rocko II, but oh well, Rocko the first didn't make it)
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I had the option of flavoring the Kombucha, so many tutorials suggested to wait until after the tea is fully brewed with a S.C.O.B.Y. so I had a bunch of options. I've had Regular, Cranberry, and Ginger so having tried each one I chose to flavor mine with Ginger. The pre-made kind tastes so much like Ginger Ale! ^_^

So as of right now, this will be ginger flavored as soon as it is fully brewed.
Here is the jar of Sencha tea next to the growing Rocko.
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I had to use the top culture, and the original Rocko had to go to that great big Kombucha jar in the sky (the trash).
So now Rocko will be in his new home for a few weeks, then I'll add some Ginger goodness ^_^
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I will post updates on Rocko as the Kombucha is fully brewed ^_^

Monday, April 05, 2010

Friday, April 02, 2010

Turn Pleated Shorts Into A Gathered Skirt Tutorial (w/pics)

It's been a while since "Jumper Skirt Out Of A T-Shirt" that I've posted a tutorial.
This is not a "made-from-scratch" tutorial, but it's something pattern-makers and seamstresses may appreciate.

Since it is Spring, (if you view my favorites on SeptemberCarolan.etsy.com) you know what is IN this season: Floral patterns!

Enter, this lovely garment. It has one of my favorite floral patterns (Cabbage Roses) that is, for me, very hard to find. So this garment is all I have and what do I notice...they are Pleated Shorts! Yuck!
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When I think of a garment bottom made of a Cabbage Roses textile, it should be as feminine as possible. Like a skirt!
So I'm given the choice of letting that specific design of pleated shorts (that I did not like) be made out of a lovely textile.
On top of that, the shorts are too big, so there are no photos of me wearing the them; they are at least one and half sizes bigger than me.
The only pics I could find is a shop photo, in which it looks like a skirt.
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Here is a close up of the pleats in the shorts:
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I grab the shorts, grab my notepad and write down the fate of this fashion mistake:
Turn Pleated Shorts Into Gathered Skirt:
Keep the zipper
Remove waistband
Remove pleats
Adjust waistband
Remove crotch
Gather skirt
Replace skirt onto waistband

These are essentially the steps, documented with photos and instructions.



You will need:
Shorts
*This tutorial is for a pair of low crotch shorts that are made of 4 panels.
How do you know if they are? There is a seam-line at the center-front, center-back, left, and right sides of the garment.
Of course not all shorts are made like this, but I mainly want to show you how to remove the crotch seams to create a skirt and to work with pleats when you want gathers instead.*
Scissors
Sewing kit
Sewing machine
Seam ripper
Straight pins


Time:
2-3 hours


******


Keep the Zipper
While we are adjusting the waistband and skirt, we are not going to remove the zipper or remove the waistband where the zipper is, this will stay intact.
Why? The factory stitches are fine as they are, it would be a more complicated process to remove and replace the zipper.


******


Removing Waistband
Remove top-stitching and the stitches that attach the skirt to the waistband, do this carefully. Leave about an inch intact at both sides of the zipper.
It took me a while to undo the stitches with my seam ripper, but the work was worth it.
Pictured here is the inside of the waistband and the fusible interfacing attached to the fabric.
You can see the seam at the waistband, the band is made of 2 strips: 1 front and 1 inside. (to be technical, there are 6 strips if you count 3 inside strips and 3 outside strips; that are separated with seams)
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Here is the waistband partially removed (remember we are keeping the zipper attached)
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Here is a closer look at the waistband and its seams between the strips.
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******


Remove Pleats
Now that the waistband is partially removed we can remove the pleats. Luckily for me, they didn't cut off the excess fabric where the pleat was taken in. It generally looks like a pin-tuck. Remove these carefully with a seam ripper.
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There are about 10 pleats in this skirt. Each pleat s about one inch. This gives me more fabric to gather up in the waistband later.
You can see the extra fabric in comparison to the waistband, this came out to about 51" of shorts to the 34" of waistband. You can see clearly how baggy the shorts were designed at.
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******


Adjust The Waistband
As I mentioned earlier, the waistband was over a size too big for me. It was at 34", to measure where I wanted to skirt to sit (low on my hips) I measured, and I even double measured by wearing a skirt that fit me low on my hips. This came out to 30"
Remove the stitching at the waistband, refer to the photo of the strips and seams of the waistband. This was an arduous task, since so many seams make up the waistband, just work slowly and carefully.
Here is the waistband after the seam was undone.
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I only took apart one side of the waistband, since it took me so long to get one seam undone. Plus, I can still make the seam at the waistband even with the untouched seam. This took some planning, I only took in the 4" at the front portion of the waistband and not 2" in at both portions.
Since there were so many seams to sew back together, I hand-stitched all 3 seams that connected to each other with a partial back-stitch, since this is the strongest hand-stitch for permanent seams.
You can machine stitch the waistband back up again with the deducted inches, if you have trouble remembering the construction of the waistband, do what I did and take a few close snapshots of the waistband seams. It helps.
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******


Remove Crotch
The shorts are made with 4 panels, this makes it easier to turn into a skirt, since there has to be a seam to take in the crotch of the shorts, (if your shorts do not have a middle-front seam like these shorts do, you can easily make one when you are ready to take in the crotch portion of the shorts)
Remove the stitching at the crotch part of the shorts, where the front and back meet only.
After you have removed the stitches, you will need to find the grain-line, this will help you take in the skirt evenly. You want to match up the grain-line with both panels.
Find where the crotch is, then pin together up until the grainline matches both sides. Here is what it should look like.
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Here is the back


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You will have to undo the stitches at the hemline as well, so you can connect them later after you take in the crotch.
This is the crotch after I took it in. I also hand-stitched this with a partial back-stitch.
Of course, you can machine sew this together.
Notice that I took the hem out a few inches and stitched through it, so I can re-hem the skirt later.
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You can see the stitching clearly, I used a partial back-stitch that is very visible from the back; it looks thick because I used a 4 strand thread for strength.
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After stitching in the crotch, cut off the excess fabric and over-lock the raw edge with a sewing machine.
Leave a seam allowance that matches the uncut seams, mine was about 1/4".
Fold the bottom hem to match the rest of the untouched skirt hem. This will take some time and possibly some more trimming, but don't worry it will not show on the outside of the skirt.
Here is what it should look like when you trimmed off the crotch seam and hemmed the new skirt bottom.
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Do this to the other crotch seam.


******


Gather Skirt
Now onto the gathering of the skirt.
My skirt had some extra fabric from being too big and from letting out the pleats.
Gathering can be done one of many ways, either using extra strength thread in the bobbin and sewing a long, straight stitch all the way around the top of the skirt and gather by way of pulling the extra strength thread until you evenly gather and pin to waistband.
OR
You can do what I did and hand gathered. This is not a process I recommend to everyone, especially if you are not a patient person :)


For either way: you need to pin the skirt seams to match the waistband seams, since there are 4 panels and 3 seams (including the zipper) pin each one accordingly. With the center front seam, just measure the front waistband from left seam to right, and divide in half; that is your center front of waistband to pin the center skirt seam.
Here is what it should look like when you pin all the gathers.
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Here is the entire skirt gathered and pinned:
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******


Replace Skirt Onto Waistband
Now that the skirt is pinned and ready to be sewn, sew it the outer waistband flap (right sides together)
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When you are finished, place inner flap of waistband down.
Before you pin, make sure the raw edges of the skirt and waistband that you just sewn are pointing upwards (like in the previous photo), so the skirt gathers are not popping up on the outside of the skirt.
Here is what it should look like when you are done pinning the inner flap down on the skirt:
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You will sew the top stitching on the outside of the skirt, this is to ensure that the stitching will be along the fold of the waistband. Here is what the top stitching will look like on the outside of the waistband:
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******


After you have finished top-stitching, you are done with the shorts to skirt transformation.


I always like being able to alter a garment to my size, or change the style entirely. Especially if the garment is styled in a way that is too dated or wrong for the textile. :)


So you just went from this:
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To this!
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You now have a cute gathered skirt custom altered to your specifications and ready for Spring! ^_^

Thursday, April 01, 2010