A few recent creations.

I'm really busy right now with custom orders. Here are a couple I've recently finished...

This hoodie is a recon- my customer has a friend who loves the Pittsburgh Pirates. She sent a hoodie and different shirts and patches to be applied to the hoodie. The shirt on the front has buttons, so I situated it over the zipper.

This is a custom jacket, it's really pretty!!!

Dolls and TFF

Hi!  Today I finished a a #bjd outfit.  Here are a few photos! I made a fascinator, top, gauntlets, skirt and stockings.  It was a challenge to make things small...

Then, I used my doll (she needs a name, any suggestions??) in a Vine for the TriBeCa Film Festival 6aecfilm contest. Please check it out and vote for me!  💋http://tribecafilm.com/online/competitions/6second?_s=448908822216982529

Handy Tip of the Day!

I bet you're wondering: What the heck is that?!? Here's a good tip for all you sewers out there - instead of spending money on special weights to hold down fabric as you cut, visit your local dollar store. This massager (about the size of my hand) makes a perfect weight for holding down my fabric. In fact, I have a bunch of them. They won't snag anything and store stacked on top of each other. Plus, if you get stressed, you can give yourself a massage.

Face-up Mayhem

I just got ResinSoul Ya in the mail yesterday. She has a face-up already, but it's kinda blah. I have to figure out how to do this better...Cocoa Butter thinks it's amusing.

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

Klingons, Klingons, Leeloo!

I have neglected my blog for a bit, and I apologize!!! Since the new year started, I've been busy with custom work.

More Klingon gear, more Leeloo (the bandage costume is incredibly popular, let me tell you...) and other things in the work.

I keep saying I am going to build up my stock so I have more to post on my website, and that will happen, just slower than I anticipated.

However, with that in mind: I have a shoot coming up soon. I need to get my behind in gear to make a few new things for it though! I always work that way with shoots, so I must like the adrenaline rush, right? :p

Also, I don't have many details yet, but I am supposed to participate in a fashion show in March. Hopefully I won't be sewing the night before that event, hahahah.

Well, back to the machine! Just wanted to check in and let you know I am still working.....

Mara :D :D ;D

Two more things you might like....

I have such a backlog of things to list. Seriously. I love making the things, but I drag my feet when I have to photograph and describe them. Luckily, these last few months I've been invited to participate in fashion shows where I get free photos. So I have no excuse. Here are two I listed tonight...more to come this week:

Photos by Wink More Studios and Lloyd Thrap. Dresses at: Indiscretion and Haute Indiscretion

Four treasuries at once? Me? On Etsy?

If you really want to know, check out my Flickr page.

And thank you to my fellow street team members for creating treasuries!

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