Craft Quandary and a Poll

I'm working on adding some decoration to some yoga pants by embroidering around the bottom of the legs and at the waistband. My first vision was to do a reverse applique technique, where after stitching out the shapes I cut out the middle of the black fabric to reveal blue fabric underneath. But now that I have the stitching done I am having second thoughts. What do you think? Should I go ahead and cut out the fabric to reveal the blue, or should I is the stitching enough? 

These are the pants as they are right now: 

And this is an example of the reverse applique technique, only for the pants the colors would be black and blue, with white thread: 

What should I do with these yoga pants?
	Go ahead and do the reverse applique - the blue and black will look nice.
	Don't do the reverse applique - the white stitching is enough all by itself.
	Other - I'll tell you in the comments.
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Made By Me

Here is a dress that I created. I started it several years ago, but didn't finish it before I moved to Kansas City and my sewing machine went into storage. Now that we're in the new place it's back out and in use. First thing I did was to finish this dress. I was so excited to finally put it on.... until I realized the dress was too small! Oh well. Looks like seeing it finished on a hanger is the closest I'll get to wearing this little gem. It's too bad. Didn't it turn out to be cute?

Sorry I haven't been blogging this week - They've been building a storage / furnace room in our loft, and our place has been covered in plastic. Hopefully I'll be back with outfit photos tomorrow. 

DIY: Bracelets

I made these fun bracelets in just a few hours and for only a couple of bucks each and so can you. Here's a step-by-step of how I created them. 

First, I gathered supplies: wooden unfinished bracelets that I picked up for 3 bucks a piece at a local craft store, paints, a drop cloth (to protect surfaces from paint), decoupage for a glossy finish, paint brushes, and water. 

Next I cleaned and dried my bracelets, then applied an undercoat of paint to both the outside and inside surfaces of the bracelets. 

Then I applied the design. This one was inspired by a perfume ad: 

On the next bracelet I painted some strawberries for a fun summer theme. 

After the design is finished I applied several coats of decoupage to seal the piece. I used a glossy finish, but decoupage also comes in a matte finish if that is more your style. 

Voila! Here are the finished bracelets. 

She's Crafty

We still have workers in our loft, and I've been too embarrassed to take photos of myself while they're here - lol. It was stormy and overcast yesterday, so taking photos outside wasn't an option, but maybe today when Mr. Not-in-Pajamas and I go to lunch I'll take the camera along and show you what I'm wearing. For now though, I'd like to share with you a project I've been working on. It's a tea towel made from deconstructed t-shirts that I bought at a thrift store - it's a green project! I got the instructions for this project from the wonderful book by Natalie Chanin, Alabama Stitch Book. Check out her wonderful site here - there's even a kit to make tea towels similar to the ones I made. 

Here's the finished piece: 

And here is the next towel I'm creating - same stencil, just different colors. After this I think I may try creating a shawl or a skirt.