Woggy #23: DJ Dress

While on a visit to my sister in Phoenix, we were shopping in this nifty clothing boutique as we are sometimes wont to do, and I saw a t-shirt with a really awesome DJ and stereo graphic. The one I had spied was on the men's shelf, so I began looking around on the female shelf for its smaller more ladylike companion. But unfortunately, there was no ladylike companion (as apparently, there are either assumed to be no females interested in DJ t-shirts, or there are so many interested as to cause a run on the t-shirt shelf...)

I tried to resign myself to the fact that there was no DJ tshirt for me except, I couldn't bring myself to put the shirt down. I carried my ill-fitting shirt around the store, trying to fill the now DJ-tshirt-sized hole in my life with some other fine piece of clothing, but to no avail. My sister suggested I try on the t-shirt anyway, because, hey, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad fit. A hopeful trip to the dressing room proved this theory quite ridiculous. I mean, the thing was almost big enough to be a dress, for goodness-- and it was at that precise moment of course that the solution to my problem became clear. I would snip here and sew there, and turn this gigantor ubershirt into a fantabulous shirtdress.

When I got home from my trip, I planned out my new dress, and even picked a few fabrics out of my pile for consideration as additional yardage at the bottom. But of course, as often happens, it has since been sitting in my sewing cabinet as yet another UFO waiting for it's day of liftoff.

A recent visit to the most awesome indie craft fair this side of the Mississippi, if not the Milky Way, has me thinking all about my dress again, and hopes it will be finished someday soon. In reality, the amount of actual time and effort needed for this particular project should be quite small, it's really just a matter of getting to it. Now, if only I had managed to attend the adding LEDs to your clothing workshop, maybe I could have figured out how to wire it for actual sound...

Things Left to Complete This Woggy Project:

• try on t-shirt inside out
  
• pin shirt for alteration
• remove and even out pin lines
• stitch new side-seams and sleeve areas
  
• decide on bottom skirt fabric
• cut and pin skirt fabric
• sew skirt fabric to tshirt
• press and check for fit
• make any needed alterations
• consider pockets or other details
• add other details, if doing
• hang new dress in closet!

Woggy #21: Game Night Bag

My husband plays board games as one of his major hobbies, and belongs to two local game groups, which meet weekly for game-playing sessions. Attending these usually means bringing along at least a couple of his own board games, plus a snack to share. For years he made use of a sturdy old canvas market bag that we got as a member bonus for being members of San Francisco's KQED. Now we've been living in Seattle for over 10 years now, so I'm sure you can imagine the shape this bag has reached by this point in time.

Last year at the big local indie craft show, I saw some bags that were pretty similar to this and thought it'd be fun to give my husband a board-game-themed bag for him to use as a replacement for the dilapidated old tote he insisted on continuing to use. But, as it turned out, these bags didn't come any bigger than a large handbag, which is nowhere near the capacity needed to carry actual board games.

So eventually I began to wonder if I couldn't make him a bag myself. While I never could figure out how those craft people managed to attach a hunk of cardboard to a vinyl bag, I did eventually find a supplier for novelty game-themed quilt fabric, and bought enough to make some sort of sturdy large bag.

My husband thankfully has been enthusiastic about the idea, but while he was helpful in choosing the fabrics to use for his bag, he has as yet been not so forthcoming about his actual size needs for a bag. Once we can finally work that out, I can come up with some sort of a pattern and turn this pile o' fabric into the fabbest game bag this side of the Cascades.

Things Left to Complete This Woggy Project:

• get bag need measurements from Chad
  
• sketch up a pattern plan, including a plan for sturdy straps
  
• cut fabric to sew
  
• sew bag together
  

Woggy #18: Homemade window shade

Seattle is infamous for its dark and dreary winters. What is perhaps not as well known are our bright and cheery summers, of which I am beginning to be reminded of again at very early hours of the morning through my upper bedroom window, which under most circumstances brings a welcome amount of extra light into the room. The exceptions to this welcome would be during late spring and summer early hours of the a.m. when the sun peeks through and tries to wake you up, or on bright moonit nights, or perhaps on an evening when a neighbor with a porchlight is staying up to all hours...

In recent groggy mornings, as I have clambered in the wee hours for my eye pillow to shut out the light, I am reminded of a long overdue woggy project that I began a summer or two ago, which is to create a lovely, decorative but importantly functional window shade to cover this upper window when sleeping assistance is needed.

I considered the various prefabricated options, but the unusual shape & size of this window, joined with the way the window is normally used, really made most conventional alternatives difficult to find and rather inappropriate to the task. The solution I ultimately came up with was a decorative shade that could be raised up and out of the way like an awning when its use was not required.

I remember coming up with a complete design for this project, and some patterns, and I measured and cut out all sorts of fabrics, pinned, sewed, etc. I began working out exactly what sort of hardware I'd need to attach this shade to the window area, and was feeling pretty psyched about the whole project in general, most especially as this would mean complete sleepytime peace without need for an eye-shade, which I have never found to be completely comfortable.

However, it was at just around this time that a large and unexpected construction project began on my apartment building (yes, the self-same one that originally interfered with my bed frame woggy...) Since this would be involving among other things the tearing out and replacement of all our windows, I carefully folded this woggy up, bagged it, labeled it, and put it up on a shelf for safekeeping until all the window construction business was over.

Over a year later, when all work was complete, I was so busy restoring order to the chaos of my construction-ated home that pulling out another big project was the last thing on my mind. so the project sat and sat, up on the shelf.

Now that the longer days are on us again, and I have sufficent time and energy to devote to the shade, I've pulled it back out in the hopes that I will actually get some solid sleep at least a few nights before the end of the summer rolls around. Unfortunately, the notes I left for myself regarding my design plans are a bit scanty. So it will first take me some time to figure out exactly what was the design I was going for, or at least figure out some way to make all the pieces I already cut out work in a new design.

I have hopes that a dark and cozy slumber will be ours again someday...

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• lay all the pieces out and figure out a general idea of the intended design
  
• draw up some specific pictures to indicate how everything is supposed to look
• begin sewing all of the items which are already pinned together for sewing
• pin the rest of the pieces together following the design
• sew all the pieces
• put the various layers together and sew up remaining seams
• Make a list of necessary hardware
• buy necessary hardware
• Install hardware and attach shade to hardware
• Put shade down and enjoy a lovely complete night of sleep!

Woggy Project #4: Crushed Velvet Shirt

Like every good crafty person worth their salt, I have a dazzling array of what is known in the crafting community as UFOs, or UnFinished Objects. These come in several flavors, but today I present you with an old favorite UFO, my fabulous crushed purple velvet shirt.

As the creative among you can tell from the pattern package and the fab fabric, this is going to be one fabulous shirt. And every fall, when I go through my wardrobe to out with the old and in with the new, I think of my velvet UFO and pull it out again with renewed hope that this year, I will actually finish it, and in time to actually wear it suitably for the weather!

So far, I have cut all the pieces, marked them, and removed the pattern tissue and pins. I have reviewed the pattern instructions thoroughly, but have not yet begun pinning anything together for sewing. Several of these already accomplished items may have had a year pass between each of these being done. This year, I have a good feeling, may be the actual year I will complete this shirt!

Despite the "Simplicity" on the pattern envelope, this shirt is complicated, to be sure, due to the stretchy fabric and tailored fit. However, it isn't anything I can't handle, as I've actually sewn formal dresses before. But it has been a while, and it will take me a while to remember how to do all that crazy armhole stuff (the fitting of which might actually be made easier if I actually accomplished Woggy Project #3...)

But basically, what I need here is a block of uninterrupted time and a clear work surface. The first one I could probably swing but the second would require first clearing my work surface, which also would require some uninterrupted time....

Things left to complete this woggy project:

• set aside an evening or an afternoon for work
• clear work table, or create household discord by using dining room table as work table
• begin pinning pieces
• Find my purple thread, and load a bobbin
  
• sew next batch of pieces
• puzzle over next batch of instructions
  
• repeat above steps as needed until complete
• adjust fit
• admire self in fabulous new shirt