SUB GIRL - That girl with a sub

When Kat and Ari asked me if I wanted to sew along with their latest edition of Sew Geeky I jumped at the chance. When they said it was TANK GIRL, I did a triple back flip. I was OBSESSED with the Tank Girl Movie, and Lori Petty, holy heck.

Tickle tickle!

I decided to base my outfit on Sub Girl, Tank Girl's lesser known side-kick chick and gal pal. She's cool, sassy and has awesome hair so I felt like I related to her a lot (good one Betty you'll have the sewing community in stitches).

Sub girl is only in the movie for a short scene and to be honest they made her out to be a bit of a jerk. In the comics she's more like tank girl. They dress very similar and have the same style of hair except that Sub Girl's is pink. She has that same fighter, kick-arse kind of persona but with a great deal less grot than Tank Girl.

I would say I'm definitely a beginner sewer so I was plagued with the 'Amazing ideas/Lacking skills to make said ideas' conundrum. So although I know my end result isn't like groundbreakingly awesome, I think it's cool to show that any so inclined Joe Sew (Joe Blow whatever) can make something similar.

 

The denim vest is a pair of recycled men's jeans that I acquired from my husband's stash. I tore them and added patches to get the grungy look (I didn't have to do much they were already pretty grungy).

For my singlet top I used a basic tee pattern and modified it to the style I wanted. Then using some cool font on ze computer I copied SUB onto some freezer paper and then used that and fabric paint to stencil my singlet. I intended to cut it shorter but I liked the length for everyday use so I just tucked the shirt under for the photos.

I made my skirt from two sided stretch knit and used a stretch skirt that fit me really well as the pattern. Then used the two different sides to get the spotty and stripey contrast. The skirt is actually knee length and super practical for work but once again I folded it up for the Sub Girl look. I mean seriously who can kick butt in a modestly long skirt...

I used the sleeve of an old shirt for my leg warmer and a leopard print cardi for my arm warmer and paired it with my black docs, fishnets, an army helmet and a purple spotty bandana I whipped up.

Just imagine the RSL and Shed aren't there ok!

Just a heads up, don't google sub girl... you don't end up with pictures of the girl with the sub from the Tank Girl comics or movie. It took me longer than I'd care to admit to connect the dots when a lot of the pictures were (ahem) bondage... I'll leave it at that.

Okay hop along to see the rest of the girls and their looks - Max at Max California, Kat at Sew Chibi and Kelley from Casa Crafty!

Bleach Boys- Jeans Update

Here's an actual progress update on how my jeans are going!

They were sad, lonely, jeans hanging on the line, pathetically getting cobwebs. Although that's kind of cool I thought I'd put them out of their misery and got crafting.

What you'll need:

Bleach - I used the cheapest one I could find at the store. Homebrand lemon scented!
Jeans
Gloves
Sink, bath or bucket
Something to measure the bleach/water with I used the bucket
Old spatula that you can turf afterwards

 

What I did:

I soaked the jeans in the sink to make sure that I got an even coverage with the bleach later.

Then I prepared my bleach and water solution. I used 5 litres o water and about 2 litres o bleach. I used an old spatula to push them down into the bleach until they were completely submerged. I also used the spatula to push the jeans around a bit, every 15ish minutes, so they got an even dose of bleachy goodness.

NB: So the disposable gloves I used were ones for dying my hair and were pretty much useless. Note to self: buy thicker gloves.

I bleached them for an hour, drained the excess bleach off and then put the jeans in the washing machine. After a quick wash I could see they were nowhere near light enough. Back into the bleach solution they went for a further hour. This time they looked much much lighter. Perfect!

Now remember my jeans were very dark when I started so if you're using lighter jeans or a stronger bleach mix I would keep checking their progress.
 
I stuck them back in the machine for a huge wash and put them out to dry on the line overnight.

Here's my jeans up until now. I thought I'd better take a few photos before I get much further. Oh no, we're not done yet... Not by a loooong shot!

I'm also wearing my husband's band shirt (they've since disbanded) To The Teeth. I think they still have a myspace somewhere. Anyway to grunge this shirt up a bit I diyed the back. It's a very simple no-sew technique that you can find all over the internet. It took me about 4.8 seconds and I even went so far as to use a safety pin to secure the top instead of stitching. My sis showed me how to do it many moons ago... On a bus... That was moving... That's how easy it is!

Also check out the foxy leopard print maternity bra my mother-in-law bought me. OOOOoo yeah!

Don't worry, be happy ^_^

Here's a little poster I made to remind myself to stay positive. Sometimes we all need a pick-me-up.

I used the iPhone app made by the beautiful girls at A Beautiful Mess. Go check out their blog you won't regret it.

Nesting Projects - Little Geranium

If pregnancy was a long distance race I totally nailed it. I had my due date changed to a week later and then still almost made it to 42 weeks (groan). I finished work at 36 weeks and it was a hot hot summer, I was massive and daytime telly just ain't what it used to be. So I spent A LOT of time doing crafty projects and surfing blogs.

My sister pointed me in the direction of Made by Rae's Little Geranium Dress. There's a free pattern for 0-3 months and then you can also purchase the pattern from her blog for $10.

One look at the dress and I fell in love. This crazy montage flashed through my head of my baby girl in the dress, us frolicking around in the fields. Holding her in my arms. Sunshine. Flowers. Kittens... Yep.

So I printed out the pattern, hefted myself down to my local spotlight and found some super kawaii fabric and some little red buttons.

My sewing skills would definitely fit in the "beginner" region. I can nut out a pattern and knock something together but it generally takes me a while so I found Rae's tutorial really helpful. Especially those little progress shots, always in the nick of time.

Sewing montage ^_^

4 day old Ruby (Still in hospital)

It's such a great basic dress pattern and you can add little details like trims, contrast fabric or  my favourite, heart-shaped pockets to really make it unique. If you need some inspiration hop on Pinterest, this is such a popular little pattern that there's A LOT of different versions available for your viewing pleasure.

The dress still fits Ruby at 5 months - winner winner chicken dinner!

The Ruby Romper

My mum was always a magical seamstress. I have fond memories of choosing beautiful fabrics from her towering piles, peering at retro patterns sporting gangly, teen models and digging through boxes and boxes of mismatched buttons. She would somehow spin it all into glorious outfits for my sister and I, just like magic.

It's an amazing feeling to create for your kids and I've been itching to make terribly girly things for my baby. So this weekend I raided mum's collection and found Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby book.

It has a stack of different items to make for your little one and includes all the master patterns for babies 0-18 months. Hells Yeah!! The book is easy to follow and has plenty of pictures as you go. The language is a little dated and kind of hilarious but the book is totally worthwhile. If you happen upon one, snap it up, you won't regret it.

Spring has sprung early in Australia so I thought I would choose some light, fresh and airy fabrics and make Ruby a pair of little romper overalls.

I drafted the pattern from the master using size large (6-12 months) but I didn't like that the pattern had a centre front seam down the bib of the overalls. My sister, Max of Max California, made quick work of that and drafted me a new bib.

I used a gorgeous lilac broadcloth, twas leftover bridesmaid dress material from my wedding (I will definitely blog about that later), and a matching floral print cotton as lining.

Then I traced a heart pocket for the front of the bib and embellished the bottom with white ric rac.

The overalls went together without too much fuss and I finished them in about 3-4 hours all up. I used elastic to cinch in the romper at the legs and across the back for a snug fit.

Then came the buttons. There were no nice plain buttons so Max showed me how to make some using Kat from Sew Chibi's polymer clay button tutorial you can find it here.

The clay colour was the exact match to my fabric (WINNING) and I made some gorgeous buttons. But then the sewing machine packed it in and neither the automatic nor manual buttonhole would work. And stuff zigzagging your own buttonhole. Ain't noBetty got time for that! So I used some lilac snaps instead, which I think will be far more user-friendly anyway.

Max used the same pattern and made her little girl a pair of overalls. Jump on over to her blog here ^_^ to read about how she gave this pattern an entirely different look.

We had so much fun making different versions of this pattern that we thought we'd make it a regular thing. So stay tuned for future installments of SEW and TELL by Max and Betty. Catchy isn't it, the title was very nearly PIMP THIS PATTERN. Oh gosh!

And now the BABY SPAM!!

 

Project Distressing Jeans - Update

So far I've hung the jeans on the line for 3 weeks straight. Rain, hail and shine. Washed them 8 times with various other denim things. Left them on the floor where my cat made a nest of them and my results are....

THEY LOOK EXACTLY THE DAMN SAME AND HAVE THIS WEIRD FACTORY CHEMICAL SMELL!!

Bring on the bleach I say!

Organic Sugar-free Oat and Molasses Biscuits

Me and baldie stayed a few days at my mum and dad's place this week. It was nice to get away and see my folks. My mum is a total health nut (she eats weeds from the garden, but that's another story). Plus she's a raw foodie so the pantry is always full of amazing ingredients. 

I was in the mood for something yummy and the weather was wild and wooly so I thought I'd do a little baking. I decided to make a variation on the good old Anzac biscuit. They turned out freaking delicious. Recipe below:

1 cup organic wholemeal spelt flour

1 cup organic rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

Pinch sea salt

3 medjool dates for sweetening

1 handful sultanas

2 tbsp organic molasses

100g butter

1/2 tsp bi-carb soda

2 organic eggs

Set oven at 180

Combine flour, oats and coconut in a large bowl and add salt. Pit dates and chop roughly then add with sultanas to dry ingredients (be creative, add walnuts or cranberries if you like).

Melt butter and molasses together in the microwave and add bi-carb soda. Stir until frothy, then add your mixture to the ingredients in the bowl.

Add eggs and fold until its a nice thick consistency.

Grease two baking trays (I used spray on olive oil) then ball and evenly space your mixture onto the trays.

Pop in the oven for 20 minutes.

Then enjoy with a nice cup of tea