It’s Been A While

… since my last visit.

My Dad would have been 57 by now, had he lived. But he went too soon.

He was just 43, and I miss him dearly. It’s not just me who misses him.

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I know things would have been a lot different had he lived longer and I can’t help but think about the might-have-beens.

Still, I am thankful for these two rascals. It hasn’t been easy and I am often at my wit’s end.

At the end of the day, these two remind me to keep going.

DIY: Sabrina Neckline Straight Cut Dress

So, the recycle reuse sandals are a no go yet. I got sidetracked by another dress project which is thoroughly described by the title.

This came about when I finally found this neat sublimation company that prints your own design either on a jersey shirt or on plain fabric. Awesooome! I’ve made graphic designs perfect for this and just had to try it out. So, I had one of my designs printed on a jersey shirt which I gave to The Mister and another on a fabric.

Test Run: The jersey turned out too bright and too pink for The Mister’s taste. Hehe. I should have switched the colors but it was a bit difficult for me to be accurate with the colors while working on the designs and I think it could also depend on the type of fabric.

As, I have mentioned one too many times, I don’t know how to make patterns. So I opted for a straight-dress, and to avoid having to measure armholes and whatnots went for a sabrina neckline. Make sense right?

What’s with the blue fabric?

The printed fabric does not stretch, unfortunately. And the work around I thought up was to add panels of stretch fabrics on both sides. Added bonus: No need to use zipper or buttons! The strips of blue jersey fabric I added on the side is a fifth short of the length of the printed fabric to make room for armholes.

Final Touches: Sewing up the top most ends of the fabrics to complete the armholes.

So there you have it. Literally, a straight dress, or a rectangle dress if you want to call it that. It’s easy peasy to make without needing a machine!

I’ll slip this on in a week or two and will Most likely post here.

Now to jump in bed and catch me some Z’s… 😀

DIY: Kimono

Ola! I had meant to post a week ago when I started on THIS project.

A KiMONO jACKET!

It’s neon because I need to wear something neon on our office Christmas party this coming Friday. Yay!

I made this from scratch. I bought the jersey fabric from one of my favorite fabric store in my home city, cut the fabric, had the design pressed onto the fabric, and sewed up the shoulders like so…

I made this print as well and had it print pressed onto the fabric. I should have taken a photo during the pressing. boo.

And then it’s done!

I’m so happy!

Will post here about the goings on and the outfits on our Neon Christmas Party happening two days from now!

And onto another diy…

A gift for Fifi. I’ m her secret Santa. Hope she likes it 🙂

It’s very easy to make! Made this one tonight. I also plan on recycling a pair of plastic flats to wear on Friday. Hopefully I can make time.

For now, desperately need to float to slumberland.

Path Halloween Cutters

Excuse the title.

I want to go on a holiday… go to the beach and just while away the time enjoying the horizon, the salty air and the sound of rolling waves…so relaxing… But enough of that for now,  perhaps in a few weeks or months, I’d get to relax and enjoy a few days.

It’s been a while…

But there had been a few good days. For instance? Halloween at the office 🙂  There were contests and everyone was happy to participate. I had to rummage through my closet and put together a few items for a costume. All I was left to do was cut and dye MissL’s ruined tights, revive the Dr, borrow one of MasterD’s toy guns and rub some face crayons on… et voila!

 

Guess who…

So, yeah, I just had to post this before November ends. Looking forward to the good things hoped for this December… 🙂

Aaand, I’m really loving the changes on WordPress. So cool!

D-signs: of prints and dresses

OK, I really do want to learn to make clothes. But, aside from my attempts at the craft by cutting and hand-sewing this and this from scratch, I’ve mostly just restyled other garments by hand.

I thought I could make time to take some lessons but I’ve had my hands full for I don’t know how long anymore that I end up doing other fashion related designing instead.

The past weekends, when I do find the time to do something I enjoy, I ended up making graphic designs for dresses. You know, those designs that should be digitally printed onto the fabric? Yeah, it’s been popular these past years, hasn’t it? And I’ve been obsessing over making digital print designs myself for years… for about 3 to 4 years now, I think.

I’m just glad that before I expire, I did get to do it. And I made several! I made 20!

But I’m just posting thumbnails, of sorts, of four of those here.

Only now, I’ve been obsessing over having them actually made. You see, I’ve not only made the print designs but came up with dress designs for the prints to be on too. Boo!

If ever I do get the chance to have the dresses made, even just a fraction, I’d be ecstatic, I’ll be posting them here, naturally.

Will grab some dinner now… starving…

Thanks for swinging by!

My Valentine

…is a two-piece dress that I prepared for a dear friend’s wedding last month, the love month. I’ve had the brown mesh fabric for sometime now and was super happy to finally get the chance to use it. Lately, I would rather have an outfit customized than buy a ready-made one, unless maybe when I’m out of time.

Which almost was the case. Yes, I almost bought a dress for Karen’s wedding as I’ve been busy. But try I did and checked with Aunt Lucy, to whom I usually go to have dresses made, if she could make my dress despite her full schedule. Luckily, she said yes! So in the days I waited on the dress, I came up with the design to embellish the dress with.

I drew the outline on a bond paper to use as guide.

As soon as I got the dress from Aunt Lucy, I immediately started sewing the embellishment onto the dress. I only had 5 days left before the wedding and only had a few hours in the evening to work on it.

I used cord, cotton embroidery floss, sequins and sew-on crystals.

To wear under the mesh fabric, I just restyled the LWD, which has gone through several transformations.

I added studs and sew on a decorative crystal on the upper bodice.

I also added ribbons at the hem, and done!

My next post will be about the wedding and there, of course, I’ll be donning “my valentine.”

Thanks for dropping by…!

Cheezus

I’ve been wanting to brag about these…

I’ve mentioned before that The Mister reads a lot of fantasy fiction, right? Well, some time last year he started reading the series, Malazan: Book of the Fallen, penned by Steven Erikson. He was totally taken by it that he decided to create graphic interpretations of the characters.

And here are more of my favorites:

I have read the first book myself and enjoyed it very much. I’ll have to make time to read the rest… around 9 or 15…?! A lot, huh? But, yeah, would love to be able to do just that.

Makeup Works

On my trip to IloIlo last December for a batch reunion, I got the chance to reunite with a dear friend who did my model’s make-up for a project back in college.

She’s now a make-up artist, based in Singapore. She does costume make-up, bridals, and fashion.

Here’s one of the many brides she did her magic on, and get a peek at some of her works.

Well, for those interested in getting a HMUA for special or production events, here’s how to reach her…

email: annamarie_salovino@yahoo.com

Missing out… Pit Senyor!

Yet again… Oh, Cebu. How I miss thee… Just a quick break on backtracking the events of last year (what- already?)…

I had been kind of hoping I won’t miss the Sinulog Festival this year, but fate has a great sense of humor (check all that applies) as always… Anyway, here are some photos I grabbed from dear friends’ Facebook timelines…

grabbed from Venturer Rover

grabbed from adveturetimewitheman

And so the kids and I spent the day lounging at a mall. Well, outside the mall… They got new toys and just couldn’t wait until we got home.
Thanks for dropping by… Have a lovely evening, ladies… G’nyt

MissL

… had her First Communion on Monday, December 8. MasterD had his, January of this year. And while the rest of the Philippines had been busy preparing for and surviving Typhoon Ruby, also known as Typhoon Hagupit, I’ve been preoccupied with making sure MissL gets to the church on time. And we made it, not without a mishap or two…

And here she is…

With friends…

 

The weather looked bright and sunny. It was actually gloomy in the morning, bright at noon, and a bit rainy in the afternoon.