A Tutorial

So last weekend my son had a birthday party. I was busy with a lot of sewing, a new puppy (and bunny), and who knows what else. Usually I am very efficient with these things, but I forgot about goody bags. His party was at an indoor kart racing place that has arcade games. I decided, instead of getting icky candy and plastic toys that will break within one second, I'd make pouches and fill them with quarters for the arcade. Originally, I used this tutorial to make these pouches:

But then I thought I could maybe take these a little farther. The pouches (above) are based on an 8" circle. I wanted to make something a little bigger, and a little tighter at the top. The drawstrings in the pouches I made originally are an inch apart. I made these new ones with a half inch space between the holes, 1 inch from the edge of the circle, not the petals. First I traced a circle from a 10" embroidery hoop. I originally used a marker that disappears with water, but it does not work well on the felt.

Next, I measured an inch from the circle, and a half inch between dots. These dots are where the holes will go for your string, cord, etc., to tie the bag closed. I had to switch to a permanent marker here, and it bled a little, so make sure to use a marking tool that will show up but won't screw up your design!

Then I took a petal template I had and traced petals, close together, above the edge of the 10" circle I originally traced.

After tracing the petals, I cut out the design, using smaller scissors around the intricate petals.

To make the task quicker, I used a hole punch to make holes for my ribbon. I used a punch with a bigger hole than I needed, so you can see the holes better.

I took 1/8" orange ribbon and weaved it through the holes I made previously. I could have used cord, lace, etc. to put through the holes, as long as I can tie it.

They would be cute as party table favors! This example, of course, is very simple, but one could embellish the petals, sew in a contrasting lining, however far your imagination takes you...

Coats, Puppies, Bunnies, oh my!

I've been doing a great deal of custom work as of late, and haven't had much time to post new clothing that I've made! Also, we have acquired a poodle puppy (I'm allergic to dogs, so the poodle is the least allergenic), a tiny bunny - for the lonely guinea pig we have, and another Robo hamster to replace the one that died. So that's one dog, a bunny, a guinea pig, and two hamsters. It's crazy, I tell you! The puppy is more like a cat, the bunny and guinea pig will cram themselves into their hidey castle together so they look like one animal with two heads, and the hamsters run around like maniacs in their Habitrail...photos at the very bottom of this post. This is a coat I made from scratch - it was a present - this guy wanted to surprise his girlfriend with a jacket, so it was a challenge for him to get correct measurements on the sly, and he did his best.

Here are a few customs - one coat is a recon - the original coat is on the left. There is a bustle style denim skirt I made from scratch, and a skirt that was white, which I dyed in an ombre style, to match a shoe.

A Back To The Future Jacket from the second movie made from scratch...the wrist and waist decoration came from a designer who works with latex molds. I attached them to the jacket. Pretty cool, huh?

A Fox Coat...

And lots of other things I haven't even had time to photograph! I'll keep you updated, though, when I have more time. And here are the promised cute pics: Riley Mocha catching a few winks...

Jumpy (the bunny) and 3/5 (the guinea pig). Sorry the photo is blurry - I accidentally scared the hell out of them.

Until next time..Mara xoxo

Costumes!

So I'm a little bit caught up with things - except posting more stuff to my website - I wanted to show you some of the costumes I made for Halloween. A couple of customers were kind enough to send me photos. I know sometimes they forget, but when they do, I really appreciate it!!!: Dark Archer

Khaleesi

Daria (the jacket)

Naruto

Wonder Woman

Joker (Jack Nicholson version)

More things in the works - also if you are in Albuquerque, I just put some warm weather stock in at The Octopus and the Fox if you are in that direction! Mara xoxo

SORRY!!!!

Some of you have been trying to access www.indiscretion.us and can't get there! I have never had this happen, but I exceeded my site bandwith. I am very sorry you were not able to access the site. I plan to fix this shortly! Mara

More Costumes!

As my website product pages languish....I am working on many custom costumes. Just finished another Leeloo. However, this one has hidden pockets. The outer part of the above-knee band has a hidden pocket, on each side. Pockets have been a big request this year, hidden or otherwise. Who wants to carry a big bulky bag when you can hide your junk in your pocket(s)?

Now it's onto Naruto, for a really adorable girl.....and possibly Strawberry Shortcake...

Can't remember if I posted this before, but this is a photo of a final fitting for Loki (made for a girl) - it wasn't quite finished, but I can't wait to get photos of her with all her armor and weapons!

Anyway, I'll be back! Mara x0x0

Halloween is already upon us!

No joke kids....as soon as I finished SDCC costumes, I already got Halloween costume requests and some other costume requests for upcoming cons. Here's a customer photo of a green Daria jacket I made:

Ok, have to run! But I'll try to post more as I get them done! Mara xoxo

SDCC!!!

Hi! Long time no Blog! SDCC just came and went, like the wind. I made a bunch of costumes for it, but managed to snag one photo from one customer - from her Twitter. :D The Baroness!!!

I've got other things to make for upcoming cons, and the slowwwww revamp of the product area of my website. I keep saying that, I know, but when you're doing it yourself, it takes forever! Also, I get a lot of requests from LGBT community members - they are sometimes hesitant to ask me to make something. Just so you know, I am LGBT FRIENDLY. :D I need to add that to my website so there's no question about that.