Mini Corkboards

I loved these mini corkboards and thought I could probably make a set for myself. I purchased a roll of sticky-back cork liner a while back (heavily discounted at Michaels - who could resist?!) and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bust it out. Since the lining is pretty thin, I stuck seven 4"x4" layers together before reaching a suitable thickness. I finished by gluing ribbon around the edge.

I made three but may make a few more!

The sticky-back makes the finished corkboards easy to mount onto the wall - peel and stick!

Pardon the lighting. I'm still familiarizing myself with the lighting in my new room.

Altering Dresses

For the past year, I've been hoarding dresses. I'm not really sure what started the craze, but I do know I wore a lot of dresses to stay cool in New York over the summer. I am now the proud owner of too many dresses. Several have been unwearable because they were in need of simple alterations. Before I moved to the Big Apple, I made sure I got all the alterations done.

Dress #1 - I picked up this bright (practically day-glo in these pictures) striped number from J. Crew Factory for around $30. It felt like such a steal. However, it was a little too big around the chest and upper arms.

Before:

 

After:

It's hard to see the difference in the pictures, but trust me - the dress fit a lot better after I took it in. As you can see when the dress is inside-out, I modified most of the arm, through the armpit, and down to the waist, and the edge is finished with a serger. Yes, I should've used gray thread, but I didn't want to buy four spools of thread just for this dress.

Dress #2 - This dress was free! I received a birthday gift card from Banana Republic, and it was more than enough to cover the cost of this dress. The dress fit great around my lower body, but it was unnecessarily baggy on top. That may explain why this dress was on final sale... plus an additional discount.

Before:

After:

Nothing easier than sewing a straight line! The great thing about using a serger is it trims off excess fabric as it sews, so you end up with clean, professional-looking edges.

Dress #3 - I am a lover of all things Marc Jacobs. Sadly, I'm too petite, so the smallest sizes have always been too big on me... until I laid eyes on this pretty yellow silk Marc by Marc Jacobs dress. The drawstring definitely helped make the dress fit better, but the length was still too long. I also didn't realize this until I got home, but there were dirt streaks on the bottom of the dress.

Before:

After:

The silk layer along with the polyester lining underneath were very slippery, but I found that if I just left less space between pins, I didn't encounter any problems while I was sewing. This made for a positive first experience sewing silk. I am no longer intimidated!

Now I can't wait for the weather to warm up, so I can wear my three 'new' dresses. Happy Friday!

Coffee & Tea Cup Sleeves

I made a set of cup sleeves for one of my favorite admins at my former company. She's been one of my biggest supporters and encouragers during the career transition.

I took advantage of the situation and practiced some photo styling. I definitely still have a lot to learn about photography. Regardless, I thought the pictures weren't too bad.

My New Room

I made it! I moved to New York yesterday, and the OCD-neat-freak part in me has driven me to frantically unpack everything. I hauled a lot of stuff with me, but I also have three more boxes of stuff coming in tomorrow.

Here is my new room:

As you can see, this is pretty much a blank canvas ready for me to organize and decorate. I'm looking forward to it!

Nursing Covers

Jen is expecting baby number two! In preparation, she asked if I could make a nursing cover for her as well as another for her friend. Since I don't have any personal experience with nursing, I turned to the trusty web to learn about best practices. Nearly all websites I read suggested the same features:

• boning in the neckline to allow the mom to easily see the baby
• flannel pockets on the backside that can also be used to wipe the baby's mouth
• d-ring straps for ease putting on and taking off

I pretty much stuck to the standard features and only took liberties with the pattern and color selection. Most examples I saw online were made with the same patterned fabric throughout the body and straps and white flannel pockets on the back. I felt that made the resulting cover a little boring. Instead, I accented the main pattern with a secondary color for the straps and the top and bottom edges and used a coordinating patterened flannel for the pockets.

Here is Jen's cover.

Here is her friend's cover.