Rock Star Tank

There seems to be a running theme in this blog regarding craft ideas I have that turn into something pretty different, but I'm moderately okay with the outcome. I made this shirt during a manic crafting phase last summer, inspired somewhat by my Generation T book.

The plan was to cut rips into a wife beater and have another shirt peeking through. So I placed a gray one inside a black one, and used some red thread to sew a series of vertical lines down the front. The red looked pretty sassy. Then I cut the black tank between the red lines, but left the gray intact. So far so good. What I didn't bank on was that "A-shirts" (the more politically correct term for these men's tanks) are very fitted, and stretch a lot when placed on a body. Even a modest sized chest like mine.

So instead of the nice straight lines I cut with a little gray peeking through, I got wide gray squiggly stripes that all aimed in at the top and out around the boobs. I decided maybe cutting a notch in the collar would help alleviate some of that tension, and then I just got more squigglier lines.

Alas, crafts are not meant to turn out as visualized, and I love the end product anyway. I wore this shirt last week for the first time all summer, and got a ton of compliments on it, so I'm pretty happy. It's back in the rotation.

Peterson Halter Top

I've been looking for photos of this project forever, and finally found the disk when I moved last week. That's right, I've got a new pad, and that means lots of crafty DIY solutions to new space needs. Expect wonderment ahead.






Anyway, I made this shirt last summer when my hometown of Peterson, IA celebrated its sesquicentennial (that's 150 years, in case ya didn't know!). I loosely followed some instructions from my Generation T book.




I used a HUGE old Peterson t-shirt my mom gave me back when big shirts were in. The rest is pretty self explanatory. Throughout the weekend, I kept taking it in a little more and adjusting the straps, because t-shirts stretch. Next time I'd sew the straps on, since the holes I cut to tie them in kept getting bigger and bigger. I'd also leave more space above the graphic, because cut t-shirts roll, and this one kept rolling down over the graphic.

Luggage Tags

Last Christmas I gave Kate luggage, and I made the luggage tags. Since they're shiny, they don't photograph well, so you'll have to use a little imagination.

I cut tag shapes out of photos and some cardstock for backing. I cut a square in the cardstock for an address card to show through. Then I got the pieces laminated at Kinko's. I used an upholstery needle and thread to sew the front and back together.

It was pretty tough to sew through the lamination, so I ended up using a pliers to save my fingers. I think the end product is pretty fun.


This one is made from a photo from our vacation in Hawaii, November 2005.

This one is made from a photo from a Duluth winter getaway.

With any luck, my new craft will be remodeling

I've been spending the last couple of months picking up the pieces of my life after a breakup and looking for housing. I'm hoping to become a first-time home buyer in the next couple months, but in the Minneapolis housing market on a nonprofit salary like mine, that means I'm going to be buying a tin shack next to a crack den. Look for lots of DIY remodeling blog entries in the future. But in the meantime, back to craft blogging.