I'm vampchick21, or Vampy, or just Teri I suppose. I craft. Specifically, I knit, crochet, sew, occassionally paint (not very artistically thought) and conduct other craftly activities that catch my fancy. So I figured, a blog, why not? All the cool kids are doing it, and I'm nothing without caving in to peer pressure.
That and well, I've got so much stuff on the go right now that I figure it'll be a bloody good place to catalogue all my crap.
Now, I've come to the conclusion lately that I spend WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to much cashola on clothes. Clothes I don't even need at that. Impluse clothing shopper, yup, that's me alright. And I wondered, what happened to me? I used to lurve thrift shopping, I swear I got high off the smell of dust and old clothes, I loved the thrill of stumbling over some little gem tucked on a rack between a mumu and hideous pink polyester pants. Seriously, I once discovered two 100% silk Chinese dresses, handmade ones at that, between the two aforsaid icky items. For $2 a piece. Oh hell yea! I'd raid my parent's closet for stuff they didn't wear anymore (oh how I loved that old brown plaid shirt of my dad's) and lay claim to the items my little brother outgrew. I even took Fashion Design at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, although I didn't finish the course. I made my own clothes in addition to thrifting.
And then somewhere along the way I got horribly caught up in buying the latest, greatest in fashion mass produced buy it now before it becomes soooo 5 minutes ago. I don't even want to think about how much money I could drop in one half hour shopping spree after work.
It has to stop. I can sew. I can knit. I can crochet. And I'm returning to that. Hell, I'm wondering why I bought ten pairs of socks at H&M back in the fall when I can knit my own in a snap!
So here, in addition to keeping track of my creative projects, I'm logging my return to my old, thrifty ways. And I'll be a thousand times more fashionable and myself as I do so. I'm going through my closet, and yes, my husband's. Asked my folks for their old clothes, and to pass on the request. From here on in, I'm going to make and refashion as much as I possibly can.
Undergarments and slinky things to taunt my husband excepted. Sometimes. Because I happen to have a book full of knitting patterns for things to taunt my husband. It's called Naughty Needles, I highly recommend it. :)
Ok, so here's some of what I have on tap right now.
This is a top I bought last spring at Suzy Shears. Suzy's is a fave store of mine since it's actually quite cheap. However, the top did NOT flatter me at all and it languished in the back of my closet. But I love the fabric, so I pulled it out and decided to make a bag out of it. So I got my hands on NewLook Pattern #6425, and modified View D. I used the straps of the top, sewn together, as the strap of the bag. I still need to add snaps to close it, but I'm very happy with the results.
I even used the fabric from the top for the lining. I'm eyeing the fabric scaps to make toys for my two cats, since they didn't use the pattern pieces for a bed while I was cutting.
I bought this pair of jeans a while back at Jacob's outlet on sale, but failed to match the size on the price tag with the size on the tag inside the jeans, therefore, the damned things never fit.
These are destined for skirthood. Pics to follow in a few days.
I also have a few knit projects on the go. One that I do have a picture of is a knit bag, the pattern for which I obtained from
Knit Today, Issue #17, a British knitting mag. Scroll to the bottom of the link to see the image of this bag from the magazine. I'm using the recommended yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed (a very yummy yarn) in red and in orange, since I only had two skeins of red, not enough for the bag. But I estimate the red should be enough for the front and back panel and the orange is for the handle and the appliqued leaves. Here's a finished panel
And a close up of the panel that I hope shows the cables and the bobbles.
I'm also working on a sweater from Knit Simple, another British mag that gives freebies (I love freebies). Pics in a few days as the pieces are kinda, well, buried under a bunch of knitting and sewing stuff. Actually, this weekend I hope to list all the UFOs I have and put them up here so I know what's what. And I'm making a crocheted rug that I hope doesn't look too much like I threw an afghan on the floor.
Although that might be neat actually.
