December 31, 2014 by Born To Organize

Happy New Year!

We’re enjoying a quiet new year’s eve celebration at home this year. San Jose is experiencing heavy winds and below average temperatures, so it will be good to stay in. The winds pulled our Snowman inflatable out of the ground along with the air-pump, stakes and electrical cord. It all went tumbling into the neighbor’s yard. I haven’t heard the wind howl like this in years.

The pretend skating pond in the fairy garden could be the real thing as our temperatures drop to freezing. I can’t complain too loudly as our neighbors to the north have it worse.

Fairy Garden Ice Skating Rink

Fairy Garden Aerial View

Happy New Year

Christmas Selfie

We receive an amazing number of cards from around the globe this time of year. The novelty of turning the cards into an eclectic dress on my dressmaker’s selfie has been a lot of fun. I’ll definitely do it again next year. I promised to share another picture when the dress was ‘done.’ What do you think?

All dressed up with Christmas cards

I ran out of tiny clothespins so I had to improvise towards the end. Just an excuse to go back to the craft store for more.

How do you plan to see in the new year? Or perhaps you’re reading this an it’s already new year’s day.

Wishing you joyful tidings and wonderful connections in the year ahead. Thanks for being here.

Me, Myself and I

December 16, 2014 by Born To Organize

Dressing-up My Selfie for the Holidays

Earlier this year I bought a ‘selfie’, commonly referred to as a dressmaker form. I kept her busy throughout the month of October, patterning and draping my Under-the-Sea Halloween costume. You can read more about that here and here.

When the fun was over, my selfie took a month off. She hung out in a corner of our room wearing a rarely worn velvet wrap.

Now she’s back for the holidays, all dressed up with a new purpose. She’s in charge of displaying our Christmas cards. I found inspiration for this idea on a Pinterest board of dress forms. If you follow the link, you’ll see an antique dress form wearing a tulle skirt and a peplum sporting the word Noel. I love the simple elegance.

My Christmas Selfie

Braving the long, holiday lines at our local fabric store, I bought a few yards of tulle and a packet of blanket binding. I also bought sheets of silver tissue paper for the bodice. Safely back in my car, I vowed not to return to a fabric store before January. A week or so later, I set up my sewing machine and whipped up a fancy pretend dress.

Tissue paper bodice, left. Lace shell bodice, right. Seam binding bow at the waist.

Though my dress form is modern and functional, it was fun dressing her up in a vintage vibe.

The ‘dress’ continues to evolve as projects like this often do. I wasn’t thrilled with the way the tissue bodice turned out, so I covered it instead with one of my summer lace shells. I added bits of my birthday gift wrap bling (from Boomdee) around the neck and bodice. A small hair clip adds additional sparkle.

Birthday bling makes the dress zing

One big bow at the waist for some added flair and then I called it a day.

christmas dress form ribbon and card-001

Tiny clothespins hold the cards in place

Originally I planned to use safety pins to attach the cards to the skirt, but instead I found these:

Miniature silver clothespins

Aren’t they cute? They are the tiniest clothespins I’ve ever seen and perfect for the job. They add a bit of shine without creating too much weight.

My teenage boys aren’t interested in Christmas this year, so I needed to find something new and different for me. Dressing up my Selfie did the trick.

I received a pile of cards in the mail today. I can’t wait to add them to the skirt. I”ll post an updated photo later this month.

Are you trying anything new this holiday season?

October 7, 2014 by Born To Organize

A Different Kind of Selfie

A selfie is a photo of oneself taken with a smart phone for posting to social media.

This is a different kind of selfie.

It’s soft and full-bodied like me and it closely approximates my size. This selfie, however, is headless.

[cue the horror movie soundtrack]

Introducing my body double:

Dress Form Selfie

While working on a degree in theatre arts, I learned a variety of pattern-making techniques. In the fashion industry, the person making patterns is a pattern maker, however in theatre we’re referred to as cutters. In addition to flat patterns, you can create costumes by draping fabric on a dress form. I fell in love with this technique working summer stock. I draped half a dozen, bias-cut, ball gowns for a scene in the Sound of Music. I’ve lusted after a dress-making form ever since.

The theatrical versions are heavy and I assumed quite pricey.They also come in pre-determined sizes so costume shops have several. Then I found this:

Singer Dress Form Selfie

I looked at several versions on different sites and finally decided upon the Singer. It was on sale for $107, no tax and free shipping. Score!!!

The form has several adjustable dials so you can get a more precise fit. You can adjust the height, the neck and the bust, waist and hips. Most importantly for me, the length. I have a long torso and find it challenging getting the right fit. I’m really having fun with her.

No-Candy Countdown:

Throughout October, I’m keeping track of the candy I **don’t** eat. Candy is not my friend. I’m trying to whittle my waistline and develop better eating habits. Please join me in the countdown.

Yesterday I tried downloading several calendars for my countdown. Everyone else makes it look so easy but in my ineptness, I finally gave up. I’ve just re-read yesterdays blog and saw the dangling sentence suggesting as much. Oops. Sorry about that.

I mentioned that I was looking for a candy alternative to give out Halloween night and Pauline had this to say:

Congrats for the ‘so-far-so-good’ score on no candy. And kudos for considering a swap for something else. Not having the foggiest notion of what else might work, I Googled and found this site: Family Education and thought maybe you could offer a bookmark with those pretzels?

Thanks, Pauline. I love that idea, and many of the others featured in the article. If you’re looking for a candy alternative for the door-to-door goblins, please give it a look.

Under-the-sea Costume Updates:

Now that I’ve assembled my form and it accurately reflects my size I’m ready to drape my costume. I’m starting with this peacock patterned dress from The Cancer Society store. I picked it up for $9.

Under the Sea Costume Components

I’ll be layering from here, using the chiffon from the bottom half of a second dress, and making trim from a third dress. I shopped at three different thrift stores and made purchases for a song: two yards of silky aqua fabric for $4, another panel of fabric for $3 and the dress. I spent much less than I would spend in a fabric store, and the money goes to a variety of non-profits.