A week before my sister’s wedding, I decided to sew myself both a travel bag and a dress. The travel bag took way more time to complete than I expected, and the dress took way less. I wanted to try making a maxi infinity dress, which seemed easy enough. But there are a lot of […]
My Handmade Travel Bag
After my most recent trip, I realized that I needed a better travel bag. Since I’m flying down to California this weekend for my sister’s wedding, I decided to whip one up. I thought it would only take a couple of hours to design and sew a large, fully-lined bag. This was a vast underestimate. […]
DIY Jello Mold to Plant Pot
For the longest time, I thought that those thin metal molds that are common in thrift stores (often in a lobster shape), were cake molds. Turns out that copper doesn’t make a great baking mold, and they’re actually for gelatin. I guess they’re left over from the era when Jell-O concoctions were chic dinner-party side […]
Vertical Garden Update
This weekend I finally hung up the succulent vertical garden I made out of a shadow box (tutorial here). Here’s what it looked like right after I finished planting it about 3 weeks ago: And here’s what it looks like now, hung on a fence in my yard: Seeing these two photos next to one […]
DIY Braided Thread and Chain Wrap Bracelet Tutorial
This fun bracelet DIY is a great way to update your wrists for spring. It’s pretty easy to make, and very customizable. I used gunmetal chain and cool colors (or mermaid colors, as I came to think of them), but with different colors or a gold or silver chain you can go for a totally […]
DIY Waxed Canvas Tote Bag Tutorial (Part 3)
Finally, the last part of this three-part tutorial. First I sewed the body of the bag, then I waxed it, and now I’ll show you how to add leather straps. This bag, by the way, is super sturdy. It’s designed so that the bottom, which carries the most weight, has no seam, and the addition […]
DIY Waxed Canvas Tote Bag Tutorial (Part 2)
In part 1 of this tutorial, I showed you how to sew a simple canvas tote bag. Today I’ll provide instructions for how to waterproof the canvas by waxing it with a mixture of beeswax and paraffin. Until I experimented with this bag, I had never waxed canvas, or any fabric. But it turns out […]
DIY Waxed Canvas Tote Bag Tutorial (Part 1)
As you may have heard, it rains in the Pacific Northwest. A lot. That’s how we grow those giant moss-covered trees and all of that local produce we’re so fond of. But sometimes that means that you need a waterproof bag. So I recently experimented with waxing canvas. I started with this tote bag that […]
DIY Vertical Succulent Garden
June 3, 2013 update: Here’s the vertical garden, hung up: I’ve been wanting to attempt this project for the longest time, but I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to do it. There are versions out there (like this one), that use a picture frame, but then you basically have to build a box for […]