Lack of Motivation

I'm sure it happens to all of us. Just getting out of bed is a an effort. I have Fibromyalgia. For the past two days I had done a bunch of work in the garden and was worn out. So every night before I go to sleep, I ask myself.."what are you going to do tomorrow" to set an intention for the next day.  That night I said I would finish this little reversible jacket I started. I saw the video off of Pinterest and loved the style. I had almost everything done except for some trim along the seam line on one side of the jacket. Yep, procrastinated that day and vegged out instead. The next day I turned on Spotify music and got so much done! 

I draped the trim around the manikin so I would keep seeing it and not get distracted. Did I mention I have ADD too? 

First time I sewed it on, my tread tension was off and the top white thread was showing on the inside red fabric. Sooo, had to rip it off. Sewed again, backwards... ripped it off again. Finally I turned on some music and got my head on straight. I also had to sew the trim on the sleeve seams as well. But of course ran out of the trim. So had to search for something for those seams. Thankfully I found a matching trim although it was a bit wider. But it works. 

So the jacket is done. I love it so much. Of course, it doesn't fit me. I used size Large flannel shirts and should have used xlarge. So it will be added to my Curiousorangecat.etsy.com store soon. I want to make at least two more.

So what do you think?

Want to try it for yourself? Here is the video. No patterns are needed. 

Reversible Jacket Tutorial They are a bit addictive. Have fun!

Scrappy Sewing Projects

I'm a bit ADHD. That means I have soooo many projects going at the same time, I get a little overwhelmed. So blogging has been put on the back burner. I'm trying.. really I am. 

I have been having so much fun making patches for jeans and whatever. I have the biggest scrap basket I have ever had! I keep telling myself I really don't need to purchase any more fabric. But it's all soooo pretty!

I had to purchase a large laundry basket with wheels to contain it all. 

What to do, what to do with all these glorious scraps! Every night before I go to bed, I ask myself.. "self, what are you going to do tomorrow?" 

Here are some of my favorite projects so far.

I had a customer ask for little 2" hearts to sew on some jeans. At first I balked a bit. Lazy me usually cuts out my flowers with an Accquilt die cutter. But I didn't have this size, so had to cut them all out by hand. I know boohoo. But the customer loved them and I plan on making more. 

Here is how they turned out. (shown with permission thank you Miss Jodi) 

Next...scrappy cat patches. I really had fun making these and plan on making more. 

Next I made some scrappy heart patches for my Etsy store. 

Oh, what else can I do with all these scraps? How about a scrappy hat?

These were so fun to make! I got the pattern from a wonderful lady. Here name is Opal Annie and the pattern is called "The Crazy Hat Lady" on Etsy. They take a while to make and bonus, they are reversable. Here is the reversed side.

So you get a tidy (kinda) side and a scrappy side. The hat also has wire sewn around the outer rim so you can mold it anyway you want. 

Here is another one.. Scrappy side.

And tidy side: 

This all got started with my denim flower patches. I have sold lots of them and they are fun to make. I do some hand stitching on them. Great way to wind down at night watching my British murder mysteries. ( hello Mr. Poirot, Midsomer Mysteries and Vera). 

Well, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed my creations. I have 4 Etsy stores going right now. Yes, a little overwhelmed. One is a fabric store, two are t-shirt POD stores, I just started a hat only store and lastly my Curious Orange Cat store is all about patches, purses and upcycled clothing. Still need to list a bunch of stuff! So stay tuned. Here is a list of all my Etsy store links.

Curiousorangecat.etsy.com

Awayinthewoods.etsy.com -fabrics

SnarkyRemarks.etsy.com - t-shirts with snarky sayings 

Missbunnysays.etsy.com - t-shirts for cat and dog lovers, hobbies, mom, grandma etc. 

Thanks for visiting!

Call Me Blog Slacker

I'm terrible at blogging. I just wanna sew! (whining voice here.)

But I thought I would at least let you know what I have been up to.

But first a quest for help!

I bought these batiks many years ago at a quilt show in California. They were sold by yardage and yes... very expensive. But I would love to find this company and purchase from them again if I can find them.
So... If anyone recognizes the companies designs.. can you let me know?

So Altered Couture contacted me again for submissions. That was very cool. Of course I sent a few things along. We well see if any of them are chosen. The issue they were asking for was the Summer issue. Fingers Crossed! I'll let you know how it goes.


So here are some of my recent projects to let you know... I'm still at it.

My son's roommate in the Marines is a major hippy type and asked me to make these for him.

They are made from numerous corduroy pants I purchased at local thrift stores and ebay. I had enough to make one more pair. You can find it on my Etsy store here at Curious Orange Cat.

I have also started an Etsy store for children's clothing too. Check out www.sweetredbird.etsy.com.

I have been making crossback aprons for little girls from upcycled fabrics mainly. But I am going to start adding aprons from new fabrics as well. As for the batiks I am searching for... this is the latest addition to my SweetRedBird shop.

You can see it in my new shop here...Batik Crossback Apron

So I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Hope to post again soon.

Blue Jeans Upcycle...A work in progress

Being a child of the 60's patched blue jeans are nothing new to me. I use to sew all kinds of stuff on my jeans. Crochet flowers were my go to most of the time. Oh, I was soooo cool.

Fast forward many years.... I'm needing some new inspiration. I keep hearing from family and friends that I need to do patchwork jeans. Ok, I get the message!  After a bit on Pinterest for inspiration I came up with these. I LOVE the waistband.

I couldn't find a good source to credit for the picture. So all I can do is say, check out the thread on Pinterest and maybe you can find the original source. I could not. So sorry who ever you are... but your jeans are AWESOME.

So here is where I begin...

 Boxes and baskets filled with fabrics some with Wonder-under already ironed on, some not. I dump everything out and start looking for cool stuff.

I used my seam ripper to cut the outside leg seams. That way I can use my sewing machine to sew everything down and sew it back up again with no one knowing the difference!

I found this really awesome flower from a Kaffe Fassett fabric I had cut out long time ago. It was so big I just couldn't decide how to use it. These jeans begged me for it. Yes, the clothes do talk to me. They can be so bossy!

I ironed it on the front of one pant leg.

I'm still working on what other things to add. But this is my base inspiration.

So I also needed to deal with the waistband. That was my favorite part of the Pinterest jeans.

A bit of un-stitching was in order. I needed the belt-loops to get out of the way! So I used my seam ripper to cut the threads on the top part of the belt-loop only. I kept the bottom so I could just sew the top back up without having to try to figure out where it use to be.
Now for the fun part. I measured the waistband and cut pieces of fabric a little longer than needed. ( I'll cut it down later. They all had Wonder-under on them so I ironed them down the best I could.

Note: I used a Teflon ironing sheet to keep the sticky stuff from getting on my ironing board.

I will messy sew them down later..... To Be Continued.....

Fall is On It's Way! Time to Break Out the Sweaters.

I made a very cool oversized sweater dress for my Etsy store. I kinda wanted to keep it for myself, but as I have said many times before... don't make any money if I keep it all!!
It sold in two hours after I listed it!! OH MY!!
Here it is.

Pretty cute huh. I was glad and sorry to see it go. I get too attached to my creations.
But someone is going to have a very cool sweater top for winter.

Well, that meant I had to make another one. I couldn't find another fun doily for the front, but I made this one.

Not quite as fancy. but check out the back....

I added a sweet little tie for smaller sizes.

Ok, this one was my favorite too. I could see someone wearing their Wellies Boots in the garden and this dress....

I added a pretty rose linen skirt underneath.

Anyway, I have been busy! These will be added to my Etsy store in the next few days.

Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.

Make it Custom One of a Kind Just for You!

I have added a new listing to my Etsy store. So many of my clothes are Favorited but I know they are not purchased because the size is not right. So I decided to add custom listings with just labor charges. My customer purchases the clothes they want their outfit made from and I make it awesome!
Here is what my customer sent. I LOVE everything!

She added a pink and white stripped blouse in her size for the top. These 5 shirts are for the bottom skirting.
So this is what I came up with....

I had so much fun making this dress. Hopefully I will get more as time goes by.

I do 3 custom styles right now.

 Click link to check out my listing. Dresses. These are longer tunic dresses.

 Tunic Dresses These are great with leggings or even over jeans.

Tunic Tops These are best over pants or a skirt.
Enjoy!