Here are some things I made a while ago but never remembered to post!

I had a brown faux-leather coat that I just loved, but it got a tear in it near the sleeve that just wouldn't stay sewn shut -- it would simply rip again because the cheap material couldn't take any tension.  The solution?  Remove the sleeves completely, along with some other bits, and attach them to a great old denim vest I've had for, oh 8 years or so.  Easy recon!

I also added a strip of vintage lace along one side.  I'm a big fan of asymmetry.



The back:



Action shot -- aviator cap optional but recommended.  Dorky socks an absolute must! XD



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Next, I had to do something with the remnants of the jacket!  So I took some faux fur and covered the cut edges with it. 



Back view:



And I made some nifty epaulets for the top!  They are made from a quilted piece of fake leather that I salvaged from a pair of ruined boots.  I sewed on the chains by hand, which were taken from a vintage necklace. 



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And finally, a black miniskirt I made from an old pair of pants.  The zippers are nonfunctional and came from the same pair of pants.  I attached the whole thing to a stretchy waistband from some gross old sweatpants.  It's wayyy too short to wear without leggings. XD





Thanks so much for looking and reading!

I got a great bag from shopping at Wet Seal a few years ago, and I loved the sassy girls printed on it so much that I kept the bag, knowing someday I would use it for something!  Well, inspiration finally hit!

I spent no money on this project -- it's all from things I had lying around my house or in my stash.  The zipper was salvaged from a hideous orange makeup bag, and the long chain is from a wallet chain and a funky necklace.  The leopard fabric came from a pair of little fingerless gloves that I bought at Claire's but never wore. 

Here's my favorite side:



Although the other one is growing on me as well:



The side panels are made from an H&M bag that I also saved because I loved the colors.



Inside is a liner made from another bag.  There's also a layer of denim sewn in between the two plastic layers for a little extra sturdiness.



Action shot!  This is the perfect bag to bring to concerts because it stays close to my body, isn't at all bulky, and will still hold all my essentials... it even fits a paperback book!



Thanks for looking. 

Recently I spent 2 weeks at my boyfriend Jon's family's house, and I had the opportunity to get to know his younger sisters.  They were all really sweet girls so I wanted to make something for each of them!

This is a monkey (well, duh) I made from this pattern: http://quesera.ojaru.jp/osaru-pattern.html  It was for Jon's youngest sister, Grace -- I think she's 8.  She had all kinds of monkey items in her room, so I figured this would be perfect.



I only used items I already had, and it was also a stashbusting project, since I used up most of the pink yarn I had.  I have too much goddamn yarn, I need to use it up!  There are plastic pellets in the hands, feet, and lower body.




Next up is a snail for Alisabeth, who's 11 or 12.  The family has a fishtank and they got a snail for it while I was up there at the house in June.  Alisabeth called it Gary (after the snail in SpongeBob) and every day I would get an update on where the snail had moved in the tank.  It was predictable but cute... so here's an amigurumi snail, made from this pattern: http://amigurumibyknotty.blogspot.com/2009/04/free-snail-pattern.html



The multicolored yarn is this awesome stuff my aunt sent me.  It's 100% silk and I have a scarf made from the same yarn.  The antennae are cut from this leather cord I removed from a pair of boots.  




Finally, we have... a donut!  This is for Brynn, 14 (I think).  We had this running joke about how I ate a jelly donut that she wanted, and she pretended to be mad at me.  So I included a Dunkin' Donuts gift card with this, figured the girls could go out for a treat together.  This is the pattern I followed: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32761



The tan yarn was the only thing I had to purchase specifically for any of these projects.  The "sprinkles" are bugle beads that I sewed on.  I think it looks pretty yummy, and Brynn actually texted me saying she thought so too!  I covered the box in wrapping paper to make it a pretty package.



All three patterns were very clear and easy to use; I'd definitely recommend them.  I got a nice thank-you message from Jon's mom about them, so I am pleased! Thanks for looking! ^_^

What do a pair of steampunk fans do over their spring break?  Make badass aviator hats, of course!

Ingredients:
1 pair of ugly thrift store leather pants ($4)
half a yard of faux fur from Joann Fabric ($7)
4 D-rings ($0.23 a piece from the hardware store)
a hell of a lot of patience for working with impossible fabrics

We based our hats off this pattern: http://cristophine.deviantart.com/art/Aviator-Cap-Tutorial-84150949 although we had to make some modifications.  The leather pants we used had a lot of seams in them, so we had to split some of the panels in half to get enough fabric for them.  Also, we added delightful chinstraps!

The hat can be worn open...



... or strapped under the chin.



The inside and the earflaps are lined with fantastically soft fake fur.  When you strap the hat shut, the fur in the earflaps blocks out some noise... helpful for when the rabble of your airship pirate crew gets to be a bit much.



Me and my adorable boyfriend/sewing assistant. <3



Thanks for looking!

My mom had this weird old dress that she gave me to do with what I would.  The skirt portion was this great, light fabric with thin stripes, and somehow I got the inspiration to make bloomers out of it.  (I'm considering this not to be a recon because once I cut the skirt off I basically had a big blank rectangle of fabric!)  I just traced a pair of pajama pants to get the right size pieces.

They can either be worn as pants, or under a skirt or dress.  It's freezing outside today but I decided to dress like it was spring and not leave the house.




The most fun part is that there was embroidery down towards the hem on the front of the original dress.  Soooo onto the booty it went!




And I got some really pretty vintage-looking lace at A.C. Moore for a buck a spool to put on the bottom:




This was my first time making any kind of pants and I'm thrilled with how they turned out.  If I were to do it again, I think I would make them a little longer and maybe a bit thinner at the leg openings so the flare isn't so dramatic.  I'd also like to experiment with different methods of gathering the legs at the bottom -- elastic, drawstrings, maybe even straps.  I like the casual look of the simple ribbon for these ones, though.  But I definitely hope to make more -- they're so comfortable and versatile.  Thanks for looking! ^_^

Ingredients:
- vintage watch face
- metal butterfly wings
- metal clock hands
- gold beads
- skull bead
- striped fabric
- fake leather backing
- pin closure
- craft wire



Everything was wired, hot glued, or sewn together.  Most of the materials came from a local craft and hobby shop, the fabric and backing I had lying around.  Originally I thought I would put some feathers behind the wings, but I had difficulty positioning them, and ended up liking the striped fabric better!  Props to my dad for helping me get the heavy mechanisms off the back of the watch.

Thanks for looking!

A friend of mine gave me a VNV Nation t-shirt since he knew it's one of my favorite musical groups.  It was a men's medium but actually leaned towards the small side, so I wore it once or twice and then decided it needed to be improved.  So I took it and an old grey Old Navy t-shirt and made a cute halter top!

This was originally the back of the shirt, but I thought it would look better on the front. 




Nifty side stripes!




This was originally the front but it fit perfectly as the back of a halter style top.




And with an outfit!  I am too smiley for these boots, haha.  Please ignore the massive amount of sheet music and craft supplies kicking around my room...




Thanks for looking!

I made this scarf for my boyfriend.  We go to school way upstate in New York and it gets brutally cold, so he really needed it!  It's made with Caron Simply Soft yarn so it's very soft and warm.  I used this pattern: http://www.crochetme.com/love-scarf  but only half the width.  He absolutely loves it, and I think it looks great on him!




Next, I made this ruffle scarf.  I love it, it makes me feel like a couture clown. XD  I followed this pattern: http://nikkishell.typepad.com/wardroberefashion/2008/10/snowcapped-ever.html




I made this one for my friend who loves baking and all cute things.  I saw a similar one here on Craftster and knew it would be perfect!  Here is the pattern:  http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=2252




And the bonus bag!  I made this little drawstring pouch to hang from my bedpost to contain little items and also provide a handy place to hang my glasses at night!



Hope you all like them and maybe get some crochet inspiration too!

Not an actual fashion show, sadly.  "Military Fashion Show" is an excellently dance-able song by electronica group And One.  You can listen to it here http://vampirefreaks.com/AndOne if you care to do so. =P  I think it's a great title and that's what inspired this skirt.



Ingredients:
- 1/2 yard camouflage fabric
- 1 yard olive fabric
- 1 old olive fishnet top
- pink tulle left over from a Halloween costume when I was about six
- two brassy buttons
- eight eyelets
- pink ribbon



I didn't think and cut the waist too big, so I had to add the lacing in the back to remedy it.  I like how it came out, though!  I think I need to shorten the bow a bit, it's kind of ridiculously long and loopy.  And do forgive the wrinkles, that's what happened after I wore it out to dinner and squashed it a bit. =P

Buttons!



And with an outfit... don't look at the clutter of my room, haha.  I've been living out of suitcases for the last four weeks.



Thanks for looking!

1. Chop legs off jeans
2. Make ruffles
3. Attach

This ended up taking me all day, cos I had to learn the workings of my shiny new sewing machine (!) as well as learn how to do proper ruffles.  I used these instructions: http://www.wikihow.com/Gather-Fabric-into-Ruffles  and they were very helpful!

Here are the pics:






And while we're talking ruffles, here's a bonus jabot I made out of various ribbons. ^_^




Thank you for looking!