Sleep for Days!

It is official. I participated in my first runway show. And. It. Was. Amazing. I was so blessed with an opportunity to design for a runway show for ITMA, the International Textile Market Association. I promise to post more details, pictures and, if I could ever figure it out, video too! But for now I must sleep! Working full time,7 days a week and being a fashion design at night really takes it out of you! Until I have the time and energy to give proper thanks and recognition to everyone involved, this will have to do: Thanks everyone for making last night amazing!

Holy Fascinating Fascinators!

Dear Graduate School,  Why do you eat up all my free time?  It makes it very difficult to keep up on all of my creative projects.  It also makes it even harder to blog about my creative projects!
Sincerely,
A very burnt out student

So, since my last post I have been very busy!  I have had classes and clinical placements!  I have had work and babysitting!  And most recently my fiance came over from England to visit with me for two weeks!  I have been sewing madly when ever I had the chance (and trust me, that ain't often!)!  I have put my quilt on hold (though I did totally finish the front of it!  yay!  will post pictures when it is complete) and started working on another quilt for a client/best friend/bridesmaid/mostamazingpersonIknow, and have also been working on my dress and fascinator for my engagement photos!  Well, the photos were taken while the fiance was here!  And I will share them with you lovely readers!

After being engaged for something like over 2 years, Dickon and I finally had the chance to take some engagement photos.  We are so lucky that a good friend of ours, Ellen Trowell, was gracious enough to take them for us.  We took a road trip and went up to the Swannanoa mansion in VA, and set up a lovely 'mad hatter' tea party in the middle of the fountain there!  It was so much fun and there are so many photos I want to share!  But for the sake of this post I am limiting myself to just a few that show off the fascinator I made!
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  When marrying a Brit, wear funky hats.  Now there is some logic for you!  Like I really needed an excuse for fancy head wear!

Maybe in my next life I will make fascinators for a living....

(I also made the dress,  I will post more photos later that better show off the dress details)

The fascinator was made up of a sinamay base and ribbon,  netting, some lace from my wedding dress (don't worry!  my fiance still doesn't know what the dress looks like) and some purple millinery flowers.  I picked up the base, ribbon and netting on etsy.com 

It was so much fun to get all dressed up and see my vision play out in photographs!

This is one of my favorites!  The way the light plays shadows from the veil on Dickon's face is just fabulous!

  Isn't he handsome!?  I am certainly a very lucky girl!

And since it shouldn't be all about me and what I am wearing, lets take a moment and admire this gorgeous man!  We found this amazing vintage jacket on ebay, and the boutonniere I made from vintage millinery supplies that a co-worker generously donated to me.  He is such a peach!

Save the Dates

Thanks to The Graphics Fairy and Spoonflower I am having quite a time with my Save-the-Dates!  The Graphics Fairy is an amazing graphics site where I pulled free images for our wedding stationary and Spoonflower lets you print your own fabric!  Blows your mind right?  Combining these two sites I have created the most gorgeous and original stationary ever!  Or at least I like to think so :).  And it all reflects back very much on who Dickon and I are as people and as a couple.  I am so pumped to get assembly started on these bad boys it makes me wish I could invite everyone I know to the wedding, if for no other reason than to send them one of these masterpieces!  But of course I can't show them to you yet, it will have to wait until after they are out in the mail.  Bummer, I know.
After two years of being engaged it feels amazing to finally, officially, start the ball rolling on the planning process!

Thanks, Graphics Fairy!  This is what it looks like in my apartment every weekend!

Dabbling in Jewelry

Recently, I started dabbling in jewelry design/construction.  Before school got totally out of hand, I had a weekend where I just needed something repetitive to do with my hands, and hours to kill.  Here is the result!  This is being posted on my Etsy site.  Check it out, the link is in the top left of this blog!
Enjoy!

Hundreds of beads!  All done by hand!

I loved this large white bead!  I found it in Charlottesville, VA and had to have it!

The chain is adjustable.  The necklace hangs front the tip of the white bead to the end of the chain  between 12' and 13'.

Quilt Teaser

AHHHHH!  So many sorority t-shirts!  What's a girl to do with them all?!?  When I graduated and became an alumni of my sorority I gave away close to 20 pairs of letters!  I thought I was only keeping two pairs for myself. Then when I moved I found more in hiding places!  And I purposefully kept all my "party shirts" because a) those are my pajamas b) those are my "workout" shirts (yea, right) c) they are my everyday wear and d) I wanted to make a t-shirt quilt out of them one day.  Well, that quilt day has come.  It is time for me to grow up a little.  Since starting my practicum placement, I have found that these well-loved and cherished shirts have less and less of a place in my wardrobe.  The tipping point, when I realized it was time to make the leap and cut the shirts, was when a lady came into the fabric shop I work at and bought almost the entire bolt of fabric I had been eyeing, thinking "hey, that would be perfect in my ADPi quilt."  Massive panic set in as I rolled out yard after yard for this lady.  Luckily, she left just enough!  As soon as she left I cut the rest of the fabric for my self and set to work pulling the rest of the colors I needed.  Still on a panicky high from almost losing out on the perfect fabric, I went home and started sewing.  A record fourteen hours later the entire front of my quilt was pieced (sewn together)!  Now, nothing I do can be normal or just follow a simple pattern.  No.  So this quilt is of course not your typical, grided t-shirt quilt.  Have I piqued your interest yet?  Well, I wont show you what it looks like til it is totally finished and quilted (I am mean to ya'll, I know)!  But below is a photo of all my shirts scrunched together!

Love Your Toms Longer!

I don't know about you, but I love my Toms!  I have the silver, glittery Toms, and Oh!  They are just sparkly, fancy, fun!  They have formed to my feet and are super comfy.  Plus they make me feel good with the One-For-One social movement behind each pair sold.  The thing about Toms, though, is that everyone has them!  Now, its quite common to see people embellishing their Toms and giving them a bit of personality.
Not too long ago the amazing Katie Marshall asked me if I would take on her well-loved Toms and breath a little life back into them.  Below are the 'Before' and 'After' photos!  Thanks Katie for giving me free reign, and being so trusting with your Toms!

Before

A common problem with Toms...holes form in the toes over time

There was a small hole in the back heel of one of the shoes

One for One

After!  Katie wanted something a little neutral, but still fun.  I think this color yellow goes with lots of things!  And it didn't hurt that Blue and Gold are the colors of her alma mater, UNCG!

Loved the lace.  Where I could, I hand sewed, though sewing in the toes of shoes it tricky!

I stitched up the hole in the back and reinforced it with some sturdy fabric glue.

Thanks for the great photo Katie!  Enjoy!

Massive C.I.A. Cover-Up (Crafter. In. Action)

Woah!  How long as it been since I last blogged!?  It's not that I haven't been sewing, because I certainly have.  Life in grad school has just been THAT crazy!  A full course load, working a practicum placement and working at the fabric store on the weekends leaves little time or energy to blog at the end of the day.  Soooo...since coming home from England I have had a lot of requests for covers--hence the title.  I have made a hand full of e-reader covers and an iPad cover for various customers.  Check out the pictures below!  Each cover is made with neoprene.  This is the soft, squishy material that a lot of drink coozies are made out of.  It gives your devices a little padding and some shock resistance.  The iPad cover does fit over the whole iPad, including the apple smart-cover that protects your screen.  The e-reader covers shown below are made for Kindles, specifically, but can be made in different sizes depending on the dimensions of your device.  Notice, too, that covers have little corners so you can slip your reader into the cover while you read it as well....added bonus!  The cost of a cover is $20.
Stick around and keep checking back in with me! I have a bunch of new things, including some clothes, to upload soon!

Custom monogrammed iPad cover for one of my very best friend's graduation!

Handpainted

I LOVE wacky prints!

Check out the honeycomb detail stitching!

Here's a demonstration of  the added corners that hold the e-reader in place while in use!

Kindle covers for boys (not as fun, in my opinion....but I guess boys wouldn't appreciate hot pink??)

Christmas in England

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone! With so much to do in preparation for spending Christmas with my future in-laws in England I did not have the time to post all the things I have been working on recently! And now that I am safely here across the pond I am without my laptop where all the photos are. So for now: merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy new year and see you next year with more blogging!!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Oh it has been so long since last I posted!  Things have been so crazy with graduate school, finals, and prepping for Christmas abroad with my fiance's family!  Anyways,  there are plenty of things I have been working on...and slowly but surely I will post them.  Below are some custom pillows done for a classmate. Also, MY BUSINESS CARDS!  Emily Taylor is the most amazing friend and designer and come up with the look, so a huge thanks to her!  To come in future posts:  a precious tutu for my little cousin, a cover for the kindle, an full sized apron and more!

sneak peeks...

Here are sneak peeks at some projects that are currently underway!  The first two pictures are the fabrics for a commissioned piece for my step sister, who wanted something special, original and customized to give to a friend as a Christmas gift!  I won't post the finished product until after the holidays (as you never know who reads these things) but I will give you a few hints!  It will have ruffles on it (not much of a hint there since I will slap a ruffle on anything standing still long enough!) and I will be creating a custom monogram on it, and it is something I have done before, but haven't done before...curious yet?  I can't wait to see how it turns out!

The third photo is a close up of the fabric choices and chevron detailing on a skirt I am making...it is so close to being finished and I just want to wear it so badly!  But outstanding orders take precedence.  It is on the back burner for the time being.

The last clump of photos are some more fabric flowers I made while working this weekend!  I made the UNC flower during a home game (we won!) since I couldn't be there physically due to work.  And I got an order for some flowers on headbands for younger girls, so I started making smaller ones as well.

Oh Oh!  And guess what!?  I officially have business cards!  Well, I don't actually have them...but they are being made and mailed in the next two weeks!  Thanks and major props to Emily!  Will post pictures when they arrive, and of course will be passing them out along with every purchase!  Ekk!

Email me if you have any interest: sew.abel@gmail.com

need a quick stocking stuffer?

If you are looking for a quick stocking stuffer, look no further!  I make monogrammed drink coozies!  I can do initials, sorority/fraternity letters or university letters (ex: UNC), etc.  Below is an example of a coozie I did for a friend looking for a birthday gift for her roommate.  This one in particular is a large coozie that fits the 32oz. Blue Cups from the bar He's Not Here in Chapel Hill (yes, Chapel Hill residents, you read correctly....Blue Cup Coozies!).  But I can make regularly sized coozies as well.  I hand-paint the letters using fabric paints and set them with a hot iron so they will not fade and will withstand use.  Shoot me an email if you are interested at sew.abel@gmail.com. 

Monogrammed Blue Cup Coozies: $15

Monogrammed Regular Coozies: $10

while on the subject of Emily...

I guess while I am on the subject of Em and Nick, I should post the dress I made for her for their engagement photos!  I had made myself this dress before and always thought it was so "Emily.  " I was so excited to get to make her one too!  I spent what felt like hours in one of my favorite fabric stores, Mary Jo's (which is HUGE!), looking for the right material.  I thought I would never find it.  Just as I was about to give up I spotted this fabric out of the corner of my eye, and just my luck there was just barely enough material left on the bolt!  As an added surprise for Emily, I hand stitched her initials and his over her left shoulder.  It really made for some beautiful photos.
Thanks Em for letting me blog about you!

Aren't they such a beautiful couple!?

I love the shoulder cut-outs on this dress!

Em and her mom found a perfect family broach to help polish off the sash.

"evp <3's rnt"

my best friend's wedding...

I LOVE Emily and Nick Taylor!  They are probably my favorite couple, and when Em asked me to be a part of her...I mean "their" ;)....big day I was beyond thrilled!  I knew that Em would come up with brilliant ideas and I couldn't wait to help bring her visions to life.  I am posting pictures below of some of the things I had a hand in, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Making the flower girl's skirt was probably my favorite project!  I just made the skirt; the top was actually her own little cotton dress.  The feathers were just so beautiful and went so well with the overall feel of the wedding.  Em emailed me a picture of this and I created it with no pattern or instructions...so needless to say I am pretty pleased with my self :)

For anyone interested, I will reproduce this skirt, or one similar, upon request...
I want a grown-up version!

Silk Dupioni flowers

Our bridesmaid dresses were beautiful, and versatile (and pretty comfortable to boot!) but being true to Em's style, they needed a little extra umph!  So I made 12 silk flowers to pin onto the dresses

While at a dress fitting, we put a veil on Em, and loved the look of a birdcage but did not love their prices!  The ones in the salon were over $100 and I am sorry, that is highway robbery.  I told Em not to fret, and not to worry about what anyone else liked, that I would make her whatever she wanted...and of course it couldn't be plain!  So I added some feathers from the flower girls dress and a few pieces of my great grandmothers costume jewelry.  It was perfect!

Here is Em and her mom after just putting on the veil.

These were definitely my largest undertaking for the wedding!  They are yarn balls made with  paper mache paste and balloons!  I made just over 50...though we did lose a few on the car ride up.  Thank goodness I drive a sporty little Honda Fit that can hold a surprising amount!

We hung them in clump down the walkway to the reception and put battery operated votive candles in them.  They were particularly beautiful after the sun had set