Handmade Lilou Cat Dress

I made a dress for myself :) This is the first dress I've ever made for me. And while I would hate for a bonefide seamstress to look it over, from a distance it looks pretty fantastic and I love it. This dress is the Lilou dress from Tilly Walnes' book, Love at First Stitch: Demystifying Dressmaking

I chose a gathered waist instead of the original pleated waist for this Lilou dress because I thought it would better suit this fabric. I also added a trim to the bottom. This dress looks so much nicer with the trim. It took me probably a solid 2 hours to put in my first invisible zipper, and it's not perfect, but perfection will come in time, I'm sure.

As usual, I didn't follow the 'rules' of the book and I'm sure I would have been better off had I started with the easier patterns in the book and progressed to this more difficult one. I just couldn't help myself and I jumped right into the back of the book. I made a few mistakes that I probably could have avoided- like not doing a mock up, so I had to take the straps apart to shorten them after the dress was all done. It was a bit of a hack job to put them back together again, but oh well, it's all a process of learning. All in all, I learned a ton.

I'll be back soon with more project inspiration. I'm almost finished making a bag that I'm excited to show you and I've started cutting up the fur for the batch of hairy beasts I will be releasing later this year.

I'd love to see what you're working on too. Share your projects here in the comments if you like, or connect with me on Instagram (@AndreaTeetoo).

Happy sewing!

♥ Andrea ♥

Birthday Loot and Silliness

*image courtesy of ♥ Elycia*

Well, a month has passed since my birthday and the fabulous day Elycia and I spent at the thrift store and getting up to a whole lot of other trouble fun. And I promised to share some pictures of our thrift store finds and us just goofing off though I expected to share them a lot sooner than now. Anyway, here they finally are. I got my polyester shirt and skirt and Elycia her sweater along with a whole bunch of other stuff that day at the thrift store. Also, my handsome hat was handmade by Elycia for my birthday (thank you sooo much).


Once we started shooting we got silly and brought out one of Elycia's Blythe dolls.

*image courtesy of ♥ Elycia*

A couple of other things I found at the thrift shop that day, these great little shoes...

And these two lovely dresses for $5 a piece! I really can't believe my luck with these dresses. They are so well made and they fit like a glove.

Also, I wanted to show you this beautiful hummingbird skull pendant. It was a birthday gift from my dear friend, Helen (I adore it, thank you ever so much).

The last thing I want to mention about my birthday is that Johnny and one of my best friends, Madisyn, thoughtfully arranged special adventures for me that I appreciated so much. I feel so fortunate.

Anyway, that Teetoo giveaway I was speaking of last week is going to happen this coming Tuesday. So come by here and Elycia's blog to see the brand new and totally adorable Teetoo 2012 Christmas item and enter for a chance to win a Teetoo gift certificate.

I hope you're having a fun weekend!

♥ Andrea ♥

Masquerade

I got to go to a masquerade birthday party this weekend for one of my very best friends, Helen. It was fantastic fun! I wore one of my favorite vintage dresses that I've had for a decade but that I've only worn once. At first I thought that I was going to be making a mask but it didn't pan out. So I did a Google search for masquerade makeup and fell in love with this girl's makeup on her beauty blog, the Notice. I tried to mimic her makeup as best as I could with what I had on hand. I was thrilled with the results.

I only use natural makeup on a daily basis but I do use some Annabelle products now and then. I use Annabelle because their makeup is made in Canada and they don't test on animals. For this masquerade mask I used Annabelle's KOHL black eyeliner, Annabelle's Cool Mint Eye Dust and Annabelle's Snowflake Eyeshadow.

*Outfit Details*
vintage necklace ★ thrifted
earrings ★ thrifted
black scarf ★ thrifted
shrug ★ thrifted
vintage dress ★ Deja Vu (I can't find a website, it's in Hamilton Ontario)
vintage boots ★ Kenaione

Going to this masquerade party made me realize that I want to go to a lot more themed parties. It was so much fun to get dressed up.

♥ Andrea ♥

A Night Out and a New Cape

I was a lucky lady this Valentine's day to have had a night out in Toronto with my hubby. We went for a delicious sushi meal at Yuzu (I would certainly go again- food and service were perfection). Then we met up with our friends at the Pheonix to see Die Antwoord. The show was really great and for us the evening was also filled with  adventure and a sprinkling of mayhem.

The night out gave me an opportunity to wear my favorite new item of clothing, this incredible Carnival Raven Cape by the very talented Scary Kerri of Black Orchid Designs. I met Kerri when we did the Bazaar of the Bizarre Frost Bite show in December. I fell in love with this upcycled sweater with gorgeous feather detail as soon as I laid eyes on it. And let me tell you, I have never been approached by so many people wanting to compliment me on a piece of clothing in my life!

While all of her work is one of a kind, I'm sure that Kerri would love to hear from you if you are interested in having a piece custom made by her. Pop on over to Kerri's Etsy shop to see her work or to contact her for a custom piece. Her work is excellent, her prices are incredibly reasonable and she is a lovely person.

♥ Andrea ♥