Where's Mine?

Ah.  The Sewing Assistant is at it again.  I haven't been posting much because I'm so busy with client orders, most of which I'm reluctant to post in case someone steals an idea.  That wouldn't be cool, but it does happen. There is one client, though, that I think the Sewing Assistant would marry if he could.  She custom dyes and creates blankets & things from stretch bamboo velour, which is so ridiculously plushy you just want to spend all day curled up with it, and let the rest of the world go hang.  (TakaraBaby.com - click on Photo Gallery to see oodles and oodles of custom dyed awesomeness. When you get there, click on her Flickr stream and check out DS Co-op 2011 and Stripes.)

So you can understand and possibly forgive Neko for his obsession with this client and her goods.  I think these photos explain a lot:

This is NOT for client.  This is for the Sewing Assistant.
You MUST be mistaken.  Check the order again, please.

Apparently, you did not hear me correctly, Mom.  MINE.

Sleeping on three blankets, pins and all.  Right in back of
the sewing machine, so I couldn't move the fabric through.
Once again, the Sewing Assistant is fired.

And he still did not get the memo.

It was at this point that I begged the client to please give me
scraps of any color, any size, so I could piece together a
decoy blanket to distract him long enough to work on the real ones.

(Drool.....)  She brought this big blanket here for me, right?
(Calculating....speed.....distance.....jump strength.....trajectory...)

Mom keeps shooing me off my big blanket.  I KNOW there are
some scraps in here for me.  I just KNOW it.

Maybe they are just a little further in.....

Cool stringy thingies.  But no scraps.

Sad face.  The client forgot to bring the scraps this time.

(Recalculating......)

So, like I said.  This blanket is.....

...MINE.  

Craft Fail = Refashion Opportunity

Ever have one of those moments?  When you're in a craft store or fabric store and something just jumps off the shelf and into your hands, your mental gears start turning and you're just positive you can make something really special?  So exciting!  You run home, find one of the thrifty t-shirt purchases you've been making for moments just like these - beautiful fabric, nice shape, and only a dollar at the county swap meet - just the right thing to dress up with the iron-on transfer you just bought (at full price, because it was so pretty).

It says it can be ironed onto light or dark color fabric, as it has a white background so it should all show up. Out comes the beautiful black t-shirt.  I follow the instructions to the letter and wait for the results.  I can't wait to wear this out and let people know I did this!  :)

So imagine my distress when the iron-on becomes something more of a nightmare than a dream come true:

UBER CRAFT FAIL!

It ironed on, but only in certain areas. It bubbled.  It peeled.  But not everywhere, and certainly not when I tried to pull the whole thing off the t-shirt I was determined to save, even though it only cost a dollar.  It was the principle of the thing.  

Thoroughly disgusted, I tossed the shirt aside in my workroom and moved on to some other project.  I threw the shirt into the trash the next time I ran across it.  Then rescued it from there again minutes later.  I so could not admit defeat.  It's a problem I have.  

Months later, I was straightening up in my workroom making a spot for my new (used) purchase when I find another t-shirt I had found at a 99 cent store.  It was sized for a small child, and it was the only one of its kind, but I just had to have it - I figured I could do something with it eventually.  The lightbulb went on - the graphic that had drawn me to this t-shirt would just about cover the meltdown on the black t-shirt - I might be able to save it after all!

Stitching that is supposed to look like ribbons.  Only I forgot to
stabilize the upper t-shirt fabric before I pinned it and started
sewing.  Oh, well - Halloween was coming up and I figured it
would look more....Frankenshirt-ish.  

Oof.  More wonky stitching.  But it actually complemented
 the graphics.  

It needed a bit of something else.  Something to go with the red.
When you have nothing to lose, especially when working with
one humongous craft fail and two one-dollar t-shirts, go for
the gusto.  Go ahead and experiment with some of those fun
decorative stitches you have on your machine.
But next time, use some iron-on interfacing for stability.  :)

Looks appropriately Halloween-ish.

Strangely enough, all the mishaps seemed to
come together as a success at the end of the day.

Yeah.  Mostly.