6.30.2011

Making It With Allie it's Open!

Hey all! Somehow I really messed up the linky for today!
It's open now!
Click HERE to go right to the party!

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Philadelphia 4th of July

Hello friends!
Miss AuBrynne and I have landed in Philadelphia with the intent to have some fun in the sun!


And catch a fun Independance Day Parade through Historic Philadelphia


And hopefully some truly spectacular fireworks!


I hope you all have a Super Independance Day 2011!

Now,  it's time for the
Making It With Allie Party!
What have you got this week?
I am anxious to see!
You all are SO inspiring, I can't wait!
So, grab a button (below) or a text link is fine too.
Follow along if you like what you see.
I want to visit all of your links,
so link up your direct post, not your main blog page!
 Feel free to link up as many links as you would like,
let's just make sure they are not just pages to sell product...
And visit some of the others and share some comment love!
Party Button
 

If you have issues linking your post, feel free to email me and I can add it directly :)





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6.28.2011

Mom, It has to go all the way down...

So, I threw on a maxi dress yesterday. 
Maxi dresses are a my summer staple in my wardrobe.
Anyway, when Miss AuBrynne took a look at me, she exclaimed:
Oh, Mom! That is how I want my dress! It is SO beautiful! Can you make me one?
I have been trying to get her to agree to something red, white and blue for ages.
So I was quite surprised when she pulled these two fabrics from the stash!
So, before she could change her mind, I threw this little cutie together.
It went SUPER fast!
As I was making the skirt part, I tried to reason with her about the length -I was concerned with tripping.
But she would have NONE of it. She kept saying:
Mom, It has to go all the way down.


And before I finished, she insisted I add some bling.
So out came the hotfix!




I love catching these "model" poses!






Have you visited my Linky-Party Directory?
I like to link my projects up on all the places there!
If your linky party is not listed because I have not linked there, or maybe don't know about it
Please Feel Free To Add It! :)
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6.27.2011

Making It With Allie - Features

Have a look at some of the fabulous highlights from this last week's party!








If your project was featured, please feel free to grab a Featured button from the side!

Have you visited my Linky-Party Directory?
I like to link my projects up on all the places there!
If your linky party is not listed because I have not linked there, or maybe don't know about it
Please Feel Free To Add It! :)
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6.23.2011

Making It With Allie - IT Flora

Welcome friends!
I can't wait to see all of your fun  projects  this week!
This week I want to share a project that I have been working on for my Aunt Shelley.
A while back I started with a piece of IT Art for her very bare new work area:

The art came out very fun and works well in her work area.

Then, as most craft projects do, it expanded...
We decided that there needed to be a floral coordinating arrangement.
The parameters for this were very similar. Same colors but it needed to NOT be too modern and not too rustic or outdated.
I had an idea swirling in my head.
It consisted of old mason jars, paint, shiny, textures etc.
So we went to our favorite HobbyLobby and snatched up a sprig of red flowers and a sprig of yellow flowers and then some ivy.
I also headed over to Goodwill to look for mason jars and I hit the jackpot!
They were half off and somebody had unloaded some pretty ornate ones and in several sizes!
I had an idea of  a cascade of flowers and the different sized jars would work out perfectly.
So I got home to work.
I started by spray painting the inside of jars with black spray paint.
When they dried I started filling the jars with flowers, trying to get a cascading effect.
Then I took some large wood beads and threaded them onto some 18 gauge wire and created some curly ends.
Then spray painted the whole thing with shiny black spray paint.
The final touch was the rustic lime green woody pieces.
I am thrilled with the way it turned out!




My Aunt Shelley sent me some pictures of the whole thing and I love it!




I also made this name plaque for her and next week I have a Silhouette tutorial on a super easy layering!

Have you visited my Linky-Party Directory?
I like to link my projects up on all the places there!
If your linky party is not listed because I have not linked there, or maybe don't know about it
Please Feel Free To Add It! :)
Now,  it's time for the
Making It With Allie Party!
What have you got this week?
I am anxious to see!
You all are SO inspiring, I can't wait!
So, grab a button (below) or a text link is fine too.
Follow along if you like what you see.
I want to visit all of your links,
so link up your direct post, not your main blog page!
 Feel free to link up as many links as you would like,
let's just make sure they are not just pages to sell product...
And visit some of the others and share some comment love!
Party Button
 

If you have issues linking your post, feel free to email me and I can add it directly :)



Have you visited my Linky-Party Directory?
I like to link my projects up on all the places there!
If your linky party is not listed because I have not linked there, or maybe don't know about it
Please Feel Free To Add It! :)
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6.21.2011

Mending Your Favorite Jeans

So, you know that pair of jeans in your closet that you just LOVE?
Yes, those.
The ones you wash inside out and take out of the dryer to finish drying on a hanger...
The ones that can make you look into the mirror and delusionally see this:
Ahh, yes -we all have our moments...

So, you know the jeans I am talking about.
And for as many of us women as there are out there, there are -or should be the perfect pair of jeans.
And when you find that pair of jeans, how many of us are tempted to buy multiple pairs?
Because you know that somewhere down the line, they will discontinue that style.
Inevitably for a style the young teen set are sporting...

So, which style is that for you?
I love to know what you all like best!

My {current} favorite is Suki Flare by Silver Jeans with an extra long inseam om 36 - 37 inches.
(yes, I have long legs)
My bestie, Hollie, had a pair of these on and rather than giving her a bestie-bottom-pinch and making her hubby pass out with that sight, I decided to replace my then current failing pair of jeans... Even if I wouldn't look near as cute as Miss Hollie, they would absolutely be better then the pair that had gone through pregnancy with me....
You may have seen me in them here:

Yea, these jeans put my back-side as close to looking as cute as this little peach-bottom:

Now, Hollie and I have worn both of our pairs into submission.
And upon a visit she said to me,
"We might need to have a funeral and a national day of mourning for my jeans!"
A little alarmed I asked,
 "Ummm, why? If mine can come back from the mishap of the first wearing, I can't imagine you have ruined yours!!"

Then she showed me the inconvenient spot that had given way on her jeans:


I grabbed them and said, "Oh don't be silly! That is fixable!" And I grabbed them from her.

And would you know it, as long after I purchased mine from hers, mine did the same thing not 4 inches away!

What is a girl to do when her favorite pair of denim calls Uncle!
There had been a time when I scoured ebay for extra long Silvers (other styles) without much success.
But now, I fix them! And you know what?
They are better than new!

And I thought I would share my method with all of you!
Are you ready for the fix?

You will need:
Your jeans
One to as many as five thread colors that match or coordinate your denim and its stitching.
HeatnBond UltraHold
Swatch of woven fabric (if you can match the fiber content of your jeans for even better results)

Ok -here we go!

Turn your jeans inside out.
Locate the area of your worn area

Locate your swatch of fabric. I use a fabric that will give me a little smile when I see the inside.
For Hollie's pair I used this cheery orange woven.

Now grab your HeatnBond

With the HeatnBond, you will need to cut a piece that is at least 1 inch bigger on each side to your worn area.


Take your HeatnBond and place it onto the woven piece and iron it following the package directions
Once it cools, cut any excess fabric away and peel the release paper away from you fabric


Place your fabric with HeatnBond side down onto your jeans and press it into place

Make sure you get all the edges ironed down.  At this point, all of your worn threads are adhered to the HeatnBond and if you absolutely had NO more time and had to wear them at this point, they would be fine for a pretty good while. 
But, I wouldn't want to be back here again with the same jeans, so I would continue to the sewing machine.

On my machine I use the free-motion feature.  It isn't necessary, but it sure makes the job tons easier.
If you can do this on your machine, don't forget to drop your feed dogs...
 And take off your walking foot and use the correct presser foot.

A word of caution here: Be Very careful of the tension you create with your hands through the machine.  It is easy to create ripples that will sit funny when worn.
Now, with this pair of jeans, I really only needed one shade of thread.  BUT, if you want an invisible look, you would start with one color and make a zillion stitches in the same direction of the denim weave.  Then you would add another color and another until the look was seamless.
Tip: The smaller the stitch, the more invisible, and I would also NOT use a giant jeans size 90 needle.
An all purpose needle will work well for this.


As you can see, these pockets have some very decorative stitches on them.  If you wanted to REALLY camouflage your patch, you could "extend" the pocket stitch detail on BOTH sides of each pocket into your patch (over your denim stitches).  This would make them look like they were meant to be there if you can't get a even patch-stitch.


And voila! An even more sturdy pair of jeans than you purchased from the store!


If something isn't clear in this tutorial, feel free to email me any questions!


Have you visited my Linky-Party Directory?
I like to link my projects up on all the places there!
If your linky party is not listed because I have not linked there, or maybe don't know about it
Please Feel Free To Add It! :)
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