How to make a Playstation Protective Cover with Zipper

Here is a little something-something for my Asian art loving brother, William. It is super easy to make and actually serves a purpose: Playstation 3 Protective Cover (shock, right?). The inside is lined with quilt batting and is closed with a durable black sports zipper.


I found the beaded Buddha on a dress shirt at Goodwill, as well as the green satin (it was a curtain). The tan, red, and black fabric were purchased at Joann's. The tan and red fabric actually came from a pre-cut quilt block, saving me time and money.

All you have to do is:
-Cut out 2 large squares (for the from and back)
-Cut out 16 (8 of each fabric you want to be the strips) 3 inch stripes
-Cut out your beaded design leaving a 1/2 inch border for machine applique
-Position your strips on top of the large front square in a star like pattern, then pin and hand baste into place.
-Use a zig zag stitch to machine applique the edges of the stripes down. Use a medium width and a very short length.
-Position your beaded design in the center, pin and hand baste to secure the position. Then zig zag applique the same way you did the strips.
-Cut off any extra fabric.
-Sew your batting on the front and back squares.
-With right sides together, sew your front and back pieces together, leaving the top edges open for the zipper.
-Simply sew in your zipper and POOF You have a Playstation Protective Cover!

It is all over.

Well...it was over like 2 1/2 weeks ago. I've been catching up on rest and editing some pictures of the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful! It was held at The Elm in Baltimore city. This place was soooo cool! It has a really cool vintage artsy look to it. The building is actually a barn. The reception area was surrounded by huge custom paintings done by the owner and the whole place was saturated with a kind of vintage indie, some-what bohemian decor. Check it out - http://www.the-elm.com/photos/galleries/inside/index.htm

Now, to the wardrobe! Only by the grace of evolution did that dress get finished. And with some zipper assistance from Jill Andrews...from Jill Andrews Gowns..oh yeah...so awesome! Jill Andrews made my now-official-Aunt Lorie's corset for the wedding in a week! And she so graciously taught me how to install an invisible zipper properly. She also gave me a free garment bag for the dress...apparently they work better than the garabage bag I was using...who knew?

So here it is...

Look at the beautiful couple! And the most awesomest shoes ever! *notes: To a certain person, I know "awesomest" is not a word in the english dictionary...but I typed it anyway! I'm such a rebel...

And they really love each other! So rare these days...*cough*

Sigh, it was really an awesome experience. Part of me is sad it's over...the masochistic part. I feel like I learned so much from making this dress. Not just more sewing skillz, but more about my family and myself. We truely all came together to make this happen. My mom watched my son every weekend and during week nights without complaint. She helped to keep me motivated and talked me through many style dilemmas and technical difficulties...and there were many technical difficulties. Aunt Jackie and Aunt Lorie came up to baby-sit whenever they could for FREE! Oh AND my fiance let me take my frustration out on him!

*Disclaimer* No actual fiances were hurt during the making of this dess.

So, did I stop at the dress? Hellls to the No. There were two little flower children expecting rainbow capes. And Caden needed a vest to match Aunt Jackie's dress. So here we go:

Capes:

(They aren't my children, so their faces are blurred). I don't think you can tell in the pictures, but the collars are decorated with gold metallic thread. They are magic rainbow capes, thus they are infused with the power of magical gold thread...what? The capes were for kids....don't judge me.

Vest:

Can't you tell how much he loves his vest?

I think that is everything that was made for the wedding. Well, I would love to continue writing about my latest fabric adventures, but people are beating each other on MTV Road Rules Challenge and it is beaconing me to watch. I can't look away...I'm being sucked it...Itss soooo beautiful in a really pathetic and violent waaaaayyyy.....*scene*

AHHHH!!!!

What. A. Roller coaster ride. 2 weeks ago God decided to send me a message. And that message was "I hate you!"  I was finally finished with school and would be using my 2 week break before summer school to completely finish the dress. Or so I thought. My son got sick, then I got sick, then Aunt Jackie got sick...and then my son got sick AGAIN and had to be taken to the hospital in the middle of the night! And we all know that was a quick visit, right? So we are at the hospital all night thinking my son's has the bird flu or something and it turns out just to be a 12 hour stomach bug.
   Baby is feeling better, we are all caught up on sleep, time to get to work! SCCCHHREEEETCH! Nope I don't think so because the tooth fairy decided it was time for 4 new teeth at once, 2 being molars. Oh yes, the Tooth Fairy hates this family as well. Tylenol-Cry-Motrin-Cry-Temperature-Cry-Mommy Cry....oh boy.
   Thankfully, today my little man is doing much better. But that doesn't mean I am scotch free. Because, like an idiot, I still tried to do some work during the whole fiasco and made many, many mistakes. Turns out, I extra suck at sewing when I am worried. Who knew? Let me explain:

This is how many times I tried to redesign the dress:

Look at the third dress! What the hell is that?!?!! It looks like a dwarf in a sparkly tulle costume is camping out in the mannequin's skirt. This picture makes me what to hide.

Now, to get to the stains. On this dress, in places now hidden, are chocolate milk, blood, chalk and spray adhesive stains.

---------Sigh---------
 However, there is good news! The embroidery is finished! All the pieces are sewn together...sort of. After 3 hours of struggling with the invisible zipper, I finally got it sewn on perfectly! But, it only zips up the dress half way. So, my fiance insisted he could "Fix" it for me (because he knows eeeeverything about zipper installation). 10 minutes later, he proclaims "I got the zipper up!"...but it completely separated in the middle. AHHHHHH!

To be continued....

Touche Dear Dress...Touche...

What a week from hell. "The Rapture" may not have happen to the rest of the world, but I can feel the wrath of God in my sewing room. We had a fitting today and it did NOT go well at all. The bodice fit isn't too terrible in the front, but the back has to be completely re-done. Apparently my Aunt Jackie wants to be able to lift her arms without the dress ripping apart. Stupid wedding dance traditions! Oh ANNNNND the midsection doesn't fit either. I have to figure out how to extend the ruched mid section in the back of the dress all while matching it with the skirt seams AHHHHHHHH! Did I mention the wedding is in 3 weeks?...

.....I'm losing it. The past 24 hours have been one big pin-pricking bluuur. In fact, Aunt Jackie will be walking down the isle with a few drops of blood..compliments of my thumb.

The biggest obstacle is my own laziness. In order for this dress to fit well, I'm going to have to manipulate the actually paper pattern. And that requires thinking. And measuring. And focus. And I am out of Red Bulls.

::Sigh:::

On the bright side, we did decide on a beautiful lace trim. Unfortunately, I didn't buy enough, so that is another trip to Joann's. Also the sleeves have been cut out and underlined with tulle. In this picture, the sleeves are just pinned on. When they are finished, the sleeves will have a cute little gathered "Poof" at the shoulder seam. Use your imagination. There will also be another layer on top of the white shirt. It is the same embroidered tulle as the sleeves.

Hopefully I will be able to get some good close ups once the pieces are sewn together. This bad boy is being held together with hundreds on pins. Our poor toes.

It is very late. I have some more dress nightmares to catch up on. Goodnight, I bid you Adieu.

Tie-Dye reusable bag with tyvek

Saturday I spent most of the day sewing the wedding dress, but I randomly became inspired to make myself a  purse/diaper bag. I desperately needed a new one. The one I had been using was infested with cracker crumbs. Sure I could clean out my current bag, but it is just so much easier to make a new one.

I found some awesome tie dye print fabric. The material is a kinda plastic/stretch/waterproof hybrid material. Lucky, it was a remnant (50% off), so it only cost me $4. I also had some tyvek (yes, the same stuff the put on the outside of houses) laying around from a previous project. So POOF!, 2 1/2 hours later, I have something new to lug around 5lbs of diapers and peanut butter cracker crumbs!

I made some boobies.

Finally some progress! And some mishaps...

This is the left side of the dress. These two pieces are suppose to be sewn together...ooopps. However, this miscalculation actually turned into a good thing because I will need extra room to fit 2 more skirts under this layer anyways. So, hopefully I have enough fabric left to cut out another skirt panel...*Gulp*...

On a positive note, I have something to cover up the goods...::please God, no wardrobe malfunctions::

 Shoulders could help...But I would need some help entertaining my son....
-------"The Wiggles" have officially entered my life./facepalm------
The second I turned on the kid-crack show popularly known as "The Wiggles", my 20 month old son was hooked! For about 30 minutes he sat on the floor (with a diaper on his head, long story) and watched 5 grown men sing about the rainbow. Hey, at least they have a steady job in show business, right? 

Finally! Time to finish the shoulders! Or so I thought. I don't know if I was just tired, or if the background children's music was frying my brain cells, but I must have messed up sewing the lining to the bodice and shoulders like 5 times. Now that I think about it, it just seems like a cluster mess of thread and bleeding fingers. It really should not have been that difficult.

ALAS! The bodice, back, and shoulders are sewn and lined!...and my son has ripped apart a stack of playing cards and is trying to make the carpet polka dot with a bingo marker...oh God!

Alright, I got the baby cleaned and now is a lighter shade of blue. Time for a fitting!

This poor bodice has been through some abuse. Now all I have to do is take it apart and make the adjustments for a better fit...better hide the markers...

Battle of the Royal Wedding Dress

Did we all watch the Royal Wedding? I sure did...so did my aunt. That afternoon, my dear aunt text me this:

Aunt Jackie: Question...is it too late to design my wedding dress like Princess Kate's?
Me: Do you want it exactly like Kate's?
Aunt Jackie: Yes.
    ::Cue beads of sweat running down face and nervous body twitches::
Me: Sure...but we are going to need to go shopping for a corset ASAP.
Aunt Jackie: A what? OH you mean that thing that brides wear that's poofy?
    ::/Facepalm::

TGG!!! (Thank God for Google), because if I was going to pull this off I needed to examine that dress from top to bottom. So after a slight freak out, excessive perspiration, and a "Hell No" look from my mother, I got my shit together and browsed the web for ANY dress pattern that was even remotely similar to Kate's wedding dress. Here is what I found:

I figured if I could find a white corset with a sweetheart neckline, then I could somehow attach the skirt to the corset and then sew on the same lace v-neck and sleeves that Princess Kate had. Eventually, I could figure out the back of the dress...Yes, it is so crazy it just might work! I purchased the pattern from Vogue's website and finally I could feel my heart beat slow down...I got this shit...

Feeling slightly more confident, I text my aunt back. I told her I would need some massive baby-sitting and I could set up a sewing home-base in her basement to allow for the maximum amount of sewing time. Wedding Dress Mission Impossible, My Ass!


Aunt Jackie: Ok...I hope you know I'm only joking about making the royal wedding dress.

                 :::::MUTHAFU-!!!!:::

Me: No. No, I did not know you were joking.

Duct Tape Mannequin / Dress Form

I needed a body.
However, our local Ed Gein was out. So, I bring to you the Duct Tape Mannequin! For those of us short about $300 for a custom made body form, a little creativity will take your wallet a long way.

Basically, I had Aunt Jackie put on a loose t-shirt and used duct tape to make a body mold. Now that I think back on it, I really should have taken advantage of my Aunt's vulnerable state. Damn it! Next time, next time...

And yes, that is an old  fake Christmas tree stand. Schhhwing!

Check out this link for a tutorial on making your own Duct Tape Dress Form!
http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/THR_20090403

For something entirely different...

This morning I realized I my son's summer wardrobe was looking pretty bad. So, I attempted to make him a pair of shorts without using a pattern. After all, how hard can it be? Well, hard. After stitching on the wrong side twice and unintentionally creating a very tight crotch area, I gave up. I will be purchasing a pattern on Saturday. However, here is my question: What do you think of the length? I feel that this length is kinda cute. Reminds me of something you would see while strolling on the beach. I think the color and fabric is great.

  I don't know why this photo is sideways. I'm too blog-challenged to fix it. Turn your head sideways.

The Battle of the Wedding Dress: Fabric Hunting

  It was a cool, damp morning as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. My small companion and I slowly creeped through a dense forest of polyester and 100% cotton. The smell of plastic foliage filled the air and the surrounding consumer wildlife was muted by the sound of a squeaking shopping cart wheel. Senses heightened, we relied solely on our training to overcome the mission put before us. Fabric Shopping.

  Ah, fabric shopping. My little addiction. Although, I really do not recommend bringing your offspring to Joann's if you can help it. Just today I got smacked in the head with a bolt of fabric my son yanked down...totally ruined my high.

  Now, fabric selection for the wedding dress went like this:
Me: So, what kind of fabric do you want?
Aunt Jackie: Satin.
Me: Alright, let me pull up some photos of Satin fabric and you can pick out the color you like.
-------Pulled up Mood Fabric website, Satin selection----------
Aunt Jackie: I don't like how shiny it is.
Me: You don't like that satin is shiny?
Aunt Jackie: Yeah. It might look too fancy next to a suit.
Me: /Facepalm.

   After about an hour of looking through silk, satin, and charmeuse, our eyes started to bleed and brain matter was oozing out of our ears. We decided to order some swatches and see what happen. Guess what swatch Aunt Jackie ended up choosing? Satin.

  This is the fabric:

Blue Satin- This will be the main fabric used.

Beige Taffeta- For under the ruched opening

Beige Tull-This will either go over the beige taffeta or be an underlining for the sleeves to add form.

And this is why you always bring a sample of the material you initially bought in case you have to buy extra...  I now have mismatched embroidered tulle...which cost $24.99 a yard. /facepalm
One of these will be used to go over the taffeta, to make the sleeves, and to minimized Auntie Clevage,

Up Next - Bondage Baby!

The Battle of the Wedding Dress...

So here's the deal, my Aunt Jackie is getting married in 2 months and I will be making her wedding dress! However, technically speaking I've only made one complete dress...it was a fairy costume..for a 5 year old....

Probably should have mentioned that to her. 

So begins the Battle of the Wedding Dress.


PREP
  You would think that most women (or men, I don't judge) already have a generally idea of what they want their wedding dress to look like. I mean, most of us have been preparing for "The Big Day" since we got our first Wedding Day Barbie (or whatever the hell she was called). Not the case with my dear Aunt Jackie. Here is how it went...
Me: So, what do you want your wedding dress to look like?
Aunt Jackie: I don't know.
Me: No problem. Who is your favorite designer, we can get some ideas from their dresses.
Aunt Jackie:...
Me: Ya know, for instance, do you like Vera Wang?
Aunt Jackie: Vera who?
Me: /facepalm

  We then decided to get out the handy dandy laptop and Google Image the hell out of "Wedding Dresses". And an hour later we were no closer to ANY wedding dress designs. I then decided to banish my aunt to Joann's to hunt down her dream wedding dress pattern and we would go from there. This is what she brought me:

  

 Ehhh. ::Crack Knuckles:: Time to get to work...

Digital Design
...And turn this bad prom dress into a fab wedding dress. I have an old photo program that I have been using since 2006 to edit images called Microsoft Digital Image Suite. And yes, I know Photoshop is better. Send me $600 and I'll start using photoshop. Until then, bear with the bad graphics and use your imagination. Basically, I Google Image a bunch of shit I want on the dress, and photo-collage it all together. Voila!

Theoretically, this is roughly how the dress should turn out. The "lace" is actually going to be this embroidered tulle and there will also be some embroidery on the opening. And it won't be as voluminous. I hope. If we had things my way, she would be going down that isle in something more like this...

But apparently this just isn't her bag, baby. I'll just have to save this style for my wedding dress...(Hint, Hint, you know who you are).


And that is all for tonight, folks. I'm pretty sure all the Mountain Dew I drank is giving me heart palpitations and a stomach ulcer. Time to hit the sack. Judo Chop!

Tomorrow: Fabric selection, Ohhhhhhh yeahhhhhh! And some uber sexsay duct tape bondage body form.
You know you want to see that shit.