victorian shirt dress

 i don't know about you, but if i get stuck and loose momentum on a project it can be many months before i pick it up again and finish it.

all the chilly weather we've been having inspired me to finally deal with the collar i was having trouble with, and add the pearl snaps to this figure flattering shirt dress. a prototype for what i hope will become a mainstay of the elzzadoll line.
i designed it after falling in love with the tailoring of the Victorian jacket i made at halloween from a "Truly Victorian" pattern.

 i played with western shirt style cuffs, and plan to add yoke details to future shirt dresses

photo credit to my amazing 5 yr old, my go to fashion photographer

the maiabella holster

introducing the original maiabella holster!

commissioned by my bestfriend looking for more comfortable 

weight distribution than a purse after a back injury

this 5 pocketed, reversible friend will soon be available to the general public

a comfy way to keep your necessities close at hand at outdoor festivals, night clubs, 

or whenever you don't want a big heavy bag

look for them soon on etsy, or contact me for a custom built bag

new ideas

I'm working on some new items for summer, great for festivals, faires, or burning the man:
faerie headbands and recycled t-shirt gypsy fingerless gloves
available now on etsy

check back for more soon

Extreme Batman!

My favorite customer commissioned a pair of double batman littlenerdpants

peter pan

one of kiddo's best buddies is having his birthday party this weekend. his mom says he's been playing Peter Pan a lot lately. so, lacking in green felt, i dug into my sweater stash to see if i could find something to make a hat from.
what i found was even better; a nubby moss green sleeveless sweater someone gave me to repurpose. it was immediately obvious that if i took the sides in, making the armholes smaller, it would make a perfect tunic. once i did that, i realized the pieces from the sides were just big enough to fashion a little pixie cap.

now if i can just find a few more tops like this so i can make more peter pan costumes...

Men's work coat mod

My new favorite spring jacket was a lonely cast off left behind by a friend who moved. I took it thinking if I put new buttons on it, my man might wear it. But he wasn't interested so it just sat there for months.
Always a fan of punk rock work wear fashion I decided to try it out last week, but it needed a little flare. While wearing it I got inspiration from an army green coat w/ ruffles I saw someone wearing at the grocery store. I used some leftover purple velveteen from my Victorian coat, and decided to appliqué some western shirt style detail on the shoulders for good measure.

Wedding vest

We're going to a cousin's wedding next weekend, so I decided to make a vest for kiddo to wear.
Since he has such good taste, & loves the fabric store, I let him pick the fabric. After I dissuaded him from fake tiger fur, and halloween prints (another time) he decided on a floral print.

utility belt

ok, i said this the last time i made a utility belt

(somehow 2 yrs ago? for kiddo's 3rd b-day!)

but i'll say it again: i am totally gonna make a bunch of these for my etsy shop

this one is for one of kiddo's best buds from school who is having his 5th b-day party tomorrow

and this is what happens when i ask my boy to model something for me...

what a ham.

anniversary sweater

this is my first full sized adult sweater.

i finished knitting it just in time for our 11th anniversary...

but, i had intended to make one for our 10th, last january.

however, i hesitated to spend the $90 on the chunky malabrigo i wanted for the sweater i had planned. and then when Beever got laid off in december, i put the whole thing off.

well, he ended up w/ his job back. and some time around may, he happened upon a yard sale one saturday while i was at work. this yard sale was mostly comprised of a mother load yarn stash (who knows how much more there was inside not for sale).  it impressed Beever so much that he called me at work to tell me about it, and suggest bringing me there when i was done.

once there, i found several bookcases and tables full of yarn, many many bags full of the same kind obviously intended to become sweaters. (not to mention trash bags full of roving)

i quickly realized there was no chunky yarn in quantity to make the sweater i had planned to make, and scrapped the idea in favor of finding a yarn we liked, then deciding on a pattern from there.

we chose this gorgeous gray Elann Peruvian Sierra (80% highland wool, 20% alpaca), with flecks of blue and light purple (i don't know that they show up in the photos)
(which i just noticed you can get for really cheap from the above link...)

so then i set about searching ravely.com for an appropriate pattern. i considered several cable patterns, but ultimately was really drawn to this lopi icelandic style, from istex lopi #24. even though i was kind of terrified of color stranding, i decided to just go for it. i went out and found these contrasting Cascade 220 colors (the photos really don't do the turquoise shade justice, even with the nice overcast lighting i had when i shot them) 

and i guess the rest is history. i worked and i toiled, and i freaked out when i found the first several rows of color stranding were a bit tight, but everything turned out all right when i finally blocked it.

...and, i have enough gray left over to make a sweater for the little man now...