Too cute! My cloud being modeled

I'm sure everyone remembers my Cloud bib I embroidered and gave away. I would like to interrupt everyone's day with a moment of cuteness....

Thank you to Lovely Light and the adorable model! It is so cute to actually see it on!

Cheers,
Lauren

Satin Jones New York Refashion- Iron Craft Sleep

I found this lovely dress one day and the color is gorgeous. However once I put it on, it was sort of bleh. I mean it fit well. But...

It is sort of a weird length. And really what am I going to wear this to? Really? And there was some sort of sheerness to the bust. But I think this would make a great PH! And oh! This Iron Craft Challenge is sleep! Ding I got my project! :) Let's refashion this into a Nightie!

I decided to use this pattern from Vogue... V8888. 

I used the shorts pattern to make a pair of short shorts from the bottom part of the dress. 

It was a really easy pattern to sew. I did not sew the lace like the pattern calls for. After the shorts where done then I just hemmed the bottom of the top. And poof! I have a new cute PJ!

Much more appropriate for sleep! I am happy that I was able to participate in the iron craft!

xoxoxo,

Lauren

Another white button down shirt

Nothing really exciting here--- just a white button down... snore...

I did not like the shinniness of the shirt so I thought I would try out RIT Dye in lemon yellow

My goal was to dye everything but the shiny stuff and get a 2 toned top. But that is not what I got!... oops! I lost the picture! Basically it was a bright and I mean BRIGHT yellow top! Too bright for me to wear near my face- it just does not work with my coloring. It looked like this

Tho on my shirt the ribbon accents were yellow. Everything was yellow. OMG so much yellow. I tried adding things to maybe change it up but it just didn't work. I needed to change the color or give the top away b/c it would just sit in my closet. So when I was doing my peacock top, I used the rest of the dye bath from the blue RIT dye.  I thought it would turn it green and I could work with green.

Well here is the green I got. Actually the entire result made me say ... WHAT??????? Did not expect this!

The shirt is a light army grey green and the ribbons dyed blue!!! Here is up close!

Now I am happy with the outcome. If I had tried to plan it this way, it would have not worked out like this. Love the surprises!

Cheers,
Lauren

Peacock feather reverse dyed shirt using the blue glue

Here is my attempt at dyeing with using the blue elmer's glue to draw patterns on clothing and then dye. I have seen them on pinterest and thought I would try it out. First I started out with a top that was big on me and the color I wanted subdued some

I inserted a piece of cardboard between the layers and grabbed the blue elmer's glue. This is a MUST!

Also here's a hint on finding the blue glue. I went to many stores trying to find this here in D.C. Office supplies, general stores, etc. I found it at Joann Fabrics. By accident after trying 5 stores prior!!!

Now I decided I wanted to draw peacock feathers on this shirt. Here is an easy way I figured out how to draw them. First, draw an upside down heart where you want the eye of the feather to be.

draw a circle or a tear drop around that heart. Then draw another circle around that.

Now to draw the thin parts of the feathers. I drew a stem from the eye part of the feather. Really I just had fun with it. And then kept drawing lines that curved off the eye and off the stem. It doesn't have to be perfect.

My first feather. Now to repeat adding more feathers! Here is the second. Notice again I start with an upside down heart, then tear drop, tear drop...

My third...

And then the forth. I had a lot of fun drawing these and excited at how simple it was to draw them!

I actually drew some dots and squilly lines on the top b/c I don't like empty space. Yes I am weird like that! Now let the glue dry. Overnight is fine but I went 2 nights b/c that was when my free time on the weekend was coming up. This is what the shirt looked like... this is NORMAL to shrivel up.

Ok on to the dye bath. I choose RIT dye in blue.

Now I made the mistake of adding salt later. Which greatly helps increase the darkness of your dye bath. Also this is cold water. It has to be cold water. I also should have did longer than 30 mins in a cold bath. But I was super excited when I first pulled it out

My jaw dropped and I was excited. Tho what I should have done next was rinse it prior to washing b/c I lost some of the distinct colors. So I went into the wash with HOT water to dissolve the glue and wash out the excess dye. Here is my final shirt.

Up close..

It isn't bad, I have also now read somewhere that I should have let the wet shirt dry overnight with the dye before I washed it. Makes sense. It is a subtle detail. I like the feathers. And now the hot water wash shrunk the tee and it fits much nicer now.

Next time this is what I would do...
- draw my designs
- set up the water with salt, let cool
- add shirt
- dye for at least an hour
- let dry
- do initial rinse in cold water
- wash in hot water

I think I would get a darker dye. But it worked! This is so much fun!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Bellydance DVD Review: Istanbul Nights by Ansuya

Yay for having some time to do a DVD on my shelf. Actually this choreography taught in the video I am teaching to my troupe. Of course with staging and modifications for a group.

If you are not familiar with Ansuya and maybe been living in a cave, she is a second generation bellydancer who traveled with the Bellydance Superstars from their inception. I have actually have the privilege when I first was learning how to dance to take a seminar with her. She is great and I was excited to get one of her DVDs later on because I enjoyed her seminar many years back. You can find more about Ansuya on her website here. Like many dancers-she is moving to online teaching. Tho I prefer a good DVD, in case I have issues with buffering, etc with the internet here.

Now on to the critique!

Yup sorry for the picture with my camera, I did not find any screen shots online. So we have a great breakdown of the menu. Which I love, I like to choose what I want to do, if I am getting ready for learning a choreography.

And each combination has its own chapter! Thank you Ansuya! There are a total of 9 combos to the song. Including a warm up-which was a really good warm up. She also speaks the combos and explains things while she dances (so not dubbed over a silent person dancing). I really like that b/c you get to see her personality. A few minor flubs while speaking but nothing major. It is just like you are in class.

The production quality is very good- good lighting and it is like you are in a class setting with a mirror and you can follow her butt, which all of us dancers love.

She does give counts with the moves, which is helpful. But her and I count differently, her 8 is my 4 but really it is fine. She has a really great breakdown in my opinion on how to do lotus hands/hand floreos while your arms are in 5th. Probably one of the best I have seen broken down, honestly. She is really good with breaking down and explaining the moves. And for me, a seasoned dancer- there was at least 2x where I said hmmm now that is a good way to explain this! Never thought of it like that! So always good.

There are lots of turns so if you are not a turner you can modify the dance. Also the option to dance the choreography with finger cymbals. Which is the basic triplet, longa, or what she referred to as ayoub pattern. There is also a cool down which is nice b/c not all DVDs have that.

The choreography is performed in a studio and not in front of a live audience. She does 2 versions- the one she taught and then one she improvise dances.

Overall I would rate this DVD as an intermediate level. The choreography is cute. The song is Istanbul Nights by Bodyshock. It could be performed at different venues, which is a plus. I do like this DVD a lot. I would recommend purchasing if you need something different in your collection and you need a choreography. And you can make a bunch of modifications for staging with the choreography for a group, which I am doing. I am glad I purchased this DVD.

Also on another note... what was equally impressive was her ability to dance with this jewelry on the entire time! Those earrings are big! I give her mad props, I only like to wear jewelry when I perform

Cheers,
Lauren

IC '13 France-abstract eiffel tower shirt

After a 1 month hiatus from Iron Craft (family came into town and then just haven't got back into crafting a bit-I have just let things run on my blog. I have been so busy with work, spare time is hard to come by!). But I'm back. This theme is France. After thinking I thought I would give this spray paint a try.

This is what I needed- i chose an Eiffel tower from clip art and printed it out. Then I grabbed some freezer paper. I am ready to go! Nothing says France than the Eiffel Tower!

I placed the image behind the freezer paper so I could trace it. 

Afterwards

Cut! FYI it is easier to cut the flat parts then the accents. 

next my shirt. I decided to pick my pink striped shirt.

Find the center

Iron (the glossy side is down on the fabric BTW)

Pulled the plug, went outside, and covered up the area. 

Eek! sprayed too much. 

And it spread. Well soot! I have to come up with a plan to save this 

So I immediately threw it in water to get everything to spread more. Let's make it abstract. 

Ok so I got it to spread but I still need something to do with it

Grabbed a paint pen and drew the tower

Hey that didn't turn out half bad. Nice save for a mistake! 

Don't know if I will make the next iron craft. Life is very busy and hectic. I miss my sewing machine. But such is life.
But yay for abstract eiffel tower!

xoxoxo,
Lauren