Inside a Mannequin's Heart

Crochet, Octopuses, Dogs

2011-08-03T18:05:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been really wanting a dog, it’s insane how badly I would like one. Unfortunately, my mom said we cannot afford a dog, and our landlord does not really like dogs, since the previous residents owned a dog, and that dog destroyed everything.

I’ve decided to save up and buy my own dog. I know I can’t actually buy my own dog since I am underage, but if I give my mom the money… maybe I can convince her :)

I started by counting all the change I have. After counting, I discovered that I had $21.61 lurking in my piggybank! I’ve decided I’ll probably need about $150 for the dog, possibly a bit more. At the humane society, dogs are $100 which includes fixing, checking for worms / deworming, implanting a microchip, and a bag of food. The other 50 I will use for a carrying case or maybe a kennel, food/water dishes, a leash and collar, and toys.

My friend wanted me to crochet him an octopus a while ago, and I finally got around to finishing it today. He is paying me $20 for it. I’m not sure if that is overpaying or not… perhaps I will put in some chocolate chip cookies as well :3 Another friend of mine wants me to crochet him the reddit alien, and he will give me $20 for that he said. More cookies most likely… Also, my dad said that he wants me to take some pictures of him as a magician (he is a magician) for his business and facebook, and told me he would pay me $10. I’m pretty sure he also wants me to sew on this inside pocket to his vest, so I’m guessing I might be able to get another 10 out of that. That is already 80 dollars! Oh my, I really hope I can save up the money. I want a doggy so badly :(

Here is the octopus :3

Simplicity 2250

2011-07-27T09:24:00.001-07:00

I’ve heard a lot of things about this pattern, especially that it is difficult. At first, that is what I went in thinking. “I will never get this dress done.”

Honestly, I’m not the fastest seamstress in the world anyway, but so far I’ve sewed the entire bodice front (not including lining, sigh) and it has only taken me an hour and a half. That includes ironing and pinning it to my dress form to make sure it doesn’t look too terrible. You should see the bra that is on my dress form right now. It is hysterical.

After I sewed the right part of the bodice with the “I’ll never get this done” attitude, my lines were off so I decided to redo it. When I redid it, I thought “yes, this pattern is challenging, but I will be able to accomplish it.'”

Soon I will go back to that lovely pattern, after I have had my protein smoothie.

Dress Making

2011-07-23T10:56:00.001-07:00

I’m going to start sewing a dress soon, which I am excited about because school is starting soon and this will be a back-to-school dress. It is a deep red, almost plum color, and it will be beautiful. Yesterday, when I went to buy fabric at Joann’s, I couldn’t help but notice they don’t really have much of a selection as far as fabrics go. I found that really, my only choices were either 100% cotton (impossible to iron) or a polycotton blend. I don’t really like polyester, especially not in Florida. It is hot and itchy, but it was really the only thing that made sense to get. I really wish I had more of a selection when choosing what I wanted to buy.

I might just try and buy fabric online soon enough.

Take Note

2011-06-19T10:34:00.001-07:00

talk2thetrees (I’ve been reading her blog almost nonstop!) posts inspirational pictures and quotes in posts that she calls “take note.” I would like to do that here, starting with this.

How To Be Happy

Handmade Dress

2011-06-18T17:26:00.001-07:00

I’ll just post all the pictures I have of it, even though I look so awkward in pretty much all of them!

I really love this dress, though. When I messed up on it, I was so discouraged, but then I put away all that negativity, buckled down, and fixed that dang neckline! Now, it is beautiful. It was so light and nice, I love summer dresses.

Relatives

2011-06-18T17:16:00.001-07:00

Do you ever get that feeling, where you know you love the people you are with, but you just want to be alone? That is my problem at the moment. I guess, what I mean, is that I can’t just go multiple days, hanging out with someone each day. I need there to be enough days where I can just lounge around, doing what I want and need to do. Ever since Thursday, I feel like I haven’t had a single moment to myself. Even now, I am sitting in my bedroom all alone, but the heavy bass music that the neighbors are blasting makes it feel like I am in a crowd of people, searching for that one person that I lost.

Yesterday, my relatives came to stay with us for a night. I didn’t get any pictures last night, but I did get some today from the pool.

That bottom picture is Trinity. She’s very beautiful, and a lot like me, but unfortunately, since she is like me, she loves to bother people. Well, I guess she wasn’t exactly bothering me, she just wanted me to teach her stuff. How to make a dress for her stuffed dog, how to cross stitch, how to knit, things like that. I didn’t really mind teaching, but some of the time I just wanted to be by myself. That isn’t really possible when there are relatives. I did have some fun, though, and I got a tan.

Tonight, I am going to Rocky Horror. Tomorrow, I will be spending the night with my dad in honor of Father’s Day. Monday, I am supposed to go to the beach with Yarko, and Tuesday I will see Super 8 with Aaron and Kyle. I have a very busy next few days coming up, but on Wednesday I will finally (hopefully) get another day to myself.

Insomnia

2011-06-17T23:30:00.001-07:00

I don’t know if what I have is actually insomnia, but I have been staying up so late and sleeping in until noon for the past week, that I now cannot go to sleep at a regular time. Hopefully, tomorrow (or I suppose today) I will be rudely awakened at around 9, I will eat waffles, and oh wait no ugh I have to go to Rocky tomorrow. I was hoping for a normal sleep schedule but never mind I suppose. All I want to do right now is something productive. I want to create, clean, or organize. This cannot be normal at 2 o’clock in the morning, it just can’t! I won’t bring myself to turn on the light in my bedroom because then I will have to accept complete defeat.

I have so much that I have to do. Maybe if I write it all down here, it will get off my mind and I can just be at peace.

Tomorrow (Saturday):

Tidy up room
Run laundry
Put on face and finish at least body of octopus
Start reading 40 Studies book
Start reading The Great Gatsby
Read camera “digital field guide”
Finish Are We There Yet?

I know that those last four seem like a drag, actually the very last one won’t be since that is an enjoyable book. I need to take some pictures tomorrow of the family (my uncle and cousins are down), and hopefully start on that school stuff. I really wish I didn’t have anything school related haunting at my back, but unfortunately I do. Wah, wah, wah, wah, I wish I could just be in peace! I want to play all the time without worrying about actually doing anything productive. To me, crochet and sewing is fun, that isn’t something that I worry about. Well, not anymore. When I am overloaded with stress (aka when I am in school), it is something I worry about greatly. I am beginning to hate school, seeing it as a waste of my time. I know I want to go to college, but what for? Honestly, all I want to do is be a child for the rest of my life. Is that really too much to ask for?

By the way, I forgot to mention this in my last post, but when I went to the park, a couple hundred feet away from the picnic bench I was sitting at was another bench, with a creepy man, chanting about Satan and death. It was seriously the scariest thing I have ever experienced. I wanted nothing more than to go up to him, and ask him what he was doing, but I didn’t for fear that he would blast me with his laser beam eyes.

I think I will work out tomorrow. Add that to my to-do list.

An Adequate Adventure

2011-06-17T20:57:00.001-07:00

Yarko and I decided to go on an adventure today. We packed up a picnic, laced up our shoes (well, Yarko was wearing flip flops), and off we went to the park.

As always, Yarko made funny faces the whole way.

These leaves looked fancy, I thought it was kind of strange that there are crunchy dead leaves just as spring is ending….

Hooray! We are almost out of the neighborhood!

I wanted to build a fort… those boxes were just so tempting!

Did I mention that I love flowers? They are so naturally photogenic, and beautiful to look at.

I also ran into a fellow photographer…

I thought this was pretty cool. I think it means that all the plants are native to the area, and things like that. No invasive species here!

We reached the park! I was actually kind of disappointed, because I expected it to be more foresty so Forrest and I could take adventures! Unfortunately, it was mostly just a path with some trees.

Here is a squirrel, it go so close! We were eating at a picnic table under a gazebo, and the squirrel was on the next picnic bench over! It was begging for food, and Yarko threw it some watermelon.

After we are (I forgot to get pictures of that, the food was just too yummy! I asked Yarko to take pictures of me while I modeled the new dress I made. Well, I guess I need to take a few classes in modeling because it didn’t go too well, but I’ll try harder next time.

Another squirrel!!!

The park also features a nice lake area, but I was disappointed to see that there was so much trash in it. There was pretty much trash everywhere in the park. I’m going to try and make it a Key Club project to clean up the park a bit.

Some more of Yarko being strange… but he is still cute :3 In that last picture, he was speaking to me as if he was a Brit from the 1950’s. It was very odd.

Then our adventure was over, and all we had to show for it was weird pictures and full tummies. Next time, we will go to a different park. One that is better for exploring!

P.S. We also met an older couple, Yarko thinks they were Polish. They had an adorable dog (which I was too shy to ask for a picture), and the man gestured to Yarko, saying "who is this man? is he your boyfriend? he is nice." in his thick accent. I thought he was Russian.

Dress Inspiration

2011-06-15T10:15:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

Don’t you agree this is gorgeous?

One day, we will make something like this together.

Love always,

Emily

Unleashing My Creativity

2011-06-13T22:16:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

I think today you did pretty well. You did not destroy yourself when the partial tank top you made didn’t fit because you didn’t use a stretchy knit. You kept calm.

I would like to point out how disappointed we both were when the dress I had been making didn’t quite look as I had planned it to look. Of course, I will still wear it sometimes, but it will definitely not be my go-to dress. I understand that it doesn’t look bad at all in these pictures, and everyone that I have showed it to thinks it looks great, I was just expecting a lot more from it I guess.

Here is the front:

And the Back:

The straps are a bit messed up, and it is a little lose. I just don’t feel beautiful in it, the way a dress should make me feel. Anyway, since I haven’t been fabric shopping in quite a while (really about a year), tomorrow my mom is going to take me and hopefully she will let me splurge. I have a list of things that I need to buy, and I would like all of them. I really do need to get a job as soon as possible. Maybe after we are done fabric shopping, we can go to Oakwood Plaza and get an application from the Moonlight Diner and possibly even Michaels. I should also submit an application for Subway while I’m at it.

I decided to crochet a jar cover today, and I am pleased with the results.

I decided to change up the green tie after these pictures were taken, but you still get the effect. I’m using it to hold my knitting needles. My room will soon enough be a wonderful creative studio, if that is even possible.

I’m proud of you, heart, for pushing through the difficulties of the dress and moving on to new things. For actually finishing the crochet project that you have been meaning to work on. You’re doing well, I know you are. Now, it is time for some sleep because if you stay awake any longer you might just burst.

Love always,

Emily Rose

P.S. I will take real pictures of everything as soon as I get my camera back!

P.P.S. 12 Ways To Bring More Creativity Into Your Life

Fashion and Food

2011-06-11T13:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

Fashion and food are your two favorite topics, I know. Let’s talk about the food first, shall we? Today, I went to a Peruvian restaurant with my mom and step-dad. I must say, it was the most delicious food that I have had in a while. I had breaded steak, rice, and plantains (it also came with beans and egg but I gave those to my mom). I wish I had taken a picture of it, because the presentation was wonderful, the food was excellent, everything was just great. I also had this soda called Inca Kola, which is supposed to be chamomile flavored. It was actually quite good although at first I had my doubts. For dessert, I had this passion fruit cheesecake type thing (I’m not sure if it was actually cheesecake, but it was tasty!). Like I said, I wish I had taken a picture but unfortunately I did not.

Now onto the fashion! Yesterday, I went on a date with my darling boyfriend Yarko. Lately, I can never be pleased with my clothes. It is impossible. I want a brand new wardrobe and I want it to appear at no cost to me. Fortunately, things like this can happen when you learn how to wear things. I’ve been looking around at fashion blogs lately, and I have discovered that is perfectly acceptable to both knot a t-shirt and to wear said t-shirt over a dress. Here is my end result.

Patterned dress: Walmart (I forgot how much it was, but it was obviously cheap. Sorry I didn’t feel like ironing.)

Knotted black t-shit: Delia’s

Bird Necklace: Forever21

All of these pieces were under $20 (probably under $10 even), and they went very well together. I also paired this with black converse, because we were only going to Chipotle. It’s very exciting to take things you already have and revamp them into something acceptable to wear, something that no one has seen, don’t you agree? I hope you are pleased with me, because I sure am pleased with myself.

Love Always,

Emily

P.S. I will finish that dress tomorrow, as soon as I go back home! I promise.

Goals

2011-06-08T14:37:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

Summer is almost here again, and with this lazy season comes the obvious – laziness. I know that all you want to do is rest yourself after a stressful year of school, and I definitely do as well. Between all those lazy naps on the beach (or not, because my skin is so fair I will get burned, and we don’t want to get skin cancer, now do we?), lounging by the pool, and going shopping. Unfortunately, we can’t just do that. We have to get stuff done. Finally your creative outlet can be unleashed and maybe we will have some new clothes for the upcoming school year :)

Sew more (I don’t want to put a specific number of garments, because that will probably just add pressure on and make you not want to do anything. Don’t forget, though, a nice bag will be great!)
Improve crochet skills
Knit, knit, knit!!!
Complete all 6 cross-stitch pieces that came in that cute little kit
read all the AP English summer reading books – that means 1 book every two weeks!
Don’t forget you need a job
Baking is nice as well :3

I hope this isn’t too much, but I already know it is!

Love always,

Emily

Troubles with Elizabeth

2011-06-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

Yes, I did just decide to name my sewing machine Elizabeth. Do you have a problem? Maybe that will help us out when she acts out the way she did today, we can coax her out of being bad.

Today, Elizabeth’s bottom thread decided to be very foolish, and get all tangled up. I’m not really sure how to describe it, because there isn’t really a way to. You had to have been there, I suppose. I tried everything I could think of, I cleaned the fluff out, I rethreaded, I loosened the lower thread tension, everything. Everything except rethreading the top thread. Why would that need to be rethreaded? The top thread was coming along just fine. Well, it worked. I have no idea how, but it did.

This just goes to show that things are not always what they seem. That, and that zippers need to die in a big, huge, magma ocean.

Sincerely,

Emily

A Bone To Pick

2011-06-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

Dear unstable Heart,

I have a bone to pick with you this time. You keep cracking, more and more each day, from things that you should not be affected by at all. All of this breaking has left me almost in tears pretty much every day, which I do not appreciate, not one bit. I know, you feel as though Yarko is betraying you, but he isn’t. He really does love you, every single bit of you, and all he wants is to make you happy. Stop being so overdramatic and just let him make plans already. Even though you were the first to suggest it, he still wants to hang out with you, I promise.

Don’t forget to finish the projects you are already working on before you start new ones. As of now, you are set on sewing a dress, cross-stitching an elephant, crocheting a teddy bear, and decorating your room. Let’s stick with one for now, sewing the dress. After we are done with that, we can move on to bigger and better things. Remember, you must take everything one step at a time in order to move forward. If you rush into everything, you will just end up taking 5 steps in the wrong direction – backward.

Please never forget to remember that you are wonderful, in every way. Even though sometimes you try to be hard as a rock, I know that you are as soft as my pillow and you can make it through every situation. There is no need to be upset anymore. I know you are feeling under pressure, with the end of the year coming, but you can do it. End the year on a high note, and pull through completely. You can do it, and I have complete faith in you.

Also, you could be a bit nicer to people. I think they may be starting to get annoyed with you.

Love always,

Emily

Disappointment

2011-06-01T12:37:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

I know, those sewing patterns were very lovely, and I wanted them just as much as you did, but there will be other sales, I promise! So what if you were going to get an $80 value for just $30, it’s ok, you can get ‘em next time. Try not to cry too much, for you are already working far too much, and don’t have the energy to waste on a silly disappointment. Soon, you will have a job, and you can pay for all the patterns you like.

Love Always,

Emily

Dress Making

2011-05-31T20:32:00.001-07:00

Dear Heart,

Well, I’m sorry that I’m probably putting some sort of strain on you. I know that being awake at 11:24 P.M. and then waking up at 6 is very harsh on my young body, but I will have to live for two more weeks until school ends and Summer begins, and I can do whatever I want all day, so I will be able to go to sleep on time (if I choose to do so) and wake up later than my normal routine.

As of late, I have been reading Dottie Angel a lot, and she has inspired me unbelievably to craft as much as you (you being my heart) desire. The only problem is, crafting is not the only obligation I have. I am also weighed down by school, and soon I will probably be almost sinking seeing as I have hopes of a Summer job. Right now you, my heart, are torn. You want to spend your summer crafting, having fun, sitting out by the pool and taking long walks in the park. But, you know that if you do that, there will be things you will not be able to achieve. Some of those things are crucial, like getting a car and a license, buying new craft supplies, and saving up for college when it is time for me to go. But I would like to feel that not having a job, especially at my young age, would be a much better way of spending the remaining part of my childhood.

Anyway, I kind of went off on a tangent. I’ve been sewing a dress recently, and it just tickles my tummy. I haven’t gotten very far, but what I have so far I think looks really nice. This is the first project that I have had where I haven’t messed up so far, but I’m biting my tongue so as not to jinx it. Last time I made a dress, it was a disaster (although everyone told me it was beautiful, I knew otherwise).

I did have pictures, but my memory card has decided not to load (yet again) so I will just have to post them tomorrow. I just thought I would tell you want is on my mind.

Love always,

Emily

P.S. my cat is sleeping on top of the dress I am making

Try After Try

2011-05-31T14:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Heart,

This is probably my third attempt at creating a craft blog, and hopefully this time I might actually be able to succeed! I know, I know, right now my theme is too dark to be a craft blog. I'll work on that. I guess this is where I am supposed to introduce myself.

My name is Emily, but most of my friends call me Grandma Em, because of all the crafts I do. I really enjoy crochet and sewing, but I'm also learning how to knit and cross stitch. I mostly started this blog because I've seen a lot of other crafty blogs out there, and I want a place to be able to showcase what I do as well. Maybe, having this blog will motivate me to continue working on crafts that I have left on a very long hold, and start some new ones as well!

I'm very much looking forward to pursuing this. I just hope that maybe I will be able to dig deeper into myself through these crafts that I love to do.

Sincerely,
Emily