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Sponsored: Worldwide Indexing Event

July 16th, 2016

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This post is in partnership with Family Search‘s Worldwide indexing Event.

I don’t know if you know a whole lot about my personal history, but a large part of what got me interested in pointed pen and calligraphy in general was inheriting an exemplar book from my great-great grandfather.

My great-great Wilfred Anderson had written various notes and scrawlings. Best of all, he wrote his family tree on the back of one of the exemplar pages.

Flipping through those pages was an answer to me in a time of a lot of confusion. After we moved back from the Bay Area we didn’t know what was ahead of us. Going through that piece of my history gave me personal clarity on what passion I needed to pursue.

So why this story and why talk about indexing? I’m such a visual person. Being able to search visual records is CRUCIAL for learning about our history. So would you join me in the world’s largest indexing party?

Learning calligraphy has helped tremendously with reading records! It’s been fascinating going through and decoding script! I hope you join me. See below for instructions.

Here’s how:

From July 15-17, FamilySearch International will sponsor the third annual “Worldwide Indexing Event,” bringing 72,000 people from around the globe together online during a 72-hour event to save the world’s records by making them searchable to the public.

During the 72-hour indexing period, volunteers participate by downloading the FamilySearch software and completing as many names as they would like. Anyone with a computer and internet connection can join.

Volunteers have made over one billion historic records searchable online since FamilySearch introduced online indexing in 2008. The demand for indexed records continues to grow as millions of historical records worldwide are added every year.

To join 72,000 teammates in saving the World’s records, visit https://familysearch.org/worldsrecords.

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. It is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,921 family history centers in 129 countries.

Sponsored Style: Striped Tunic Shift Dress

September 24th, 2015

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This post is sponsored by Sven Clogs. Original hand-crafted clogs since 1974. Clogs made-to-order with premium styles and materials for man, woman and child.

Connect with Svens Clogs on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!

After I made Penelope’s sweet summer romper, I knew I needed to make a matching look. I mean, seriously. Gold clogs and red striped fabric? YES. So much yes.

All images by Pierson Photo Company

I’ve got a few of these dresses in my closet now, I can’t stop making them. Can we talk about how awesome shift dresses are?! I can have a giant food baby in there and no one would ever know. And yes. There was a food baby in there. No real baby.

To switch up the style just a touch, I added a tunic-style hem with a slit on the sides and a high-low hem. The blunt high-low hem changes the look from any other shift dresses out there. I feel like it adds a bit of edginess in there. Maybe a slight ’90s vibe? I’ve been crushing on the ’90s hard core lately.

Creepy skull!! Hahah! I love that. This is one of the few stores I’ve been to lately that didn’t have Christmas Decor up already. Sheesh. It’s still September. I’m not sure I want to think about Halloween quite yet!

This dress is perfect for Summer, but I’ve been layering it with blazers and jackets to transition to fall. I think the black leather warms it up for the cooler season that’s approaching.

Let’s talk a little about the sewing process! Here’s what I did:

Used Megan Nielsen’s Briar Tee as a base
Raised the neckline
Lengthened the hem to a dress
Shortened sleeves
created a high-low hem

Creating a split hem isn’t as hard as one might think. It’s a little trickier when serging the side seams, but not impossible at all. Here’s how to do it with a serger:

Serge the side seams before putting the layers together (if it’s woven, if it’s a non-fraying knit, no need for this step).
Sew the seams about 5″ shy of the desired slit spot.
Switch to a regular sewing machine, with a straight stitch sew all the way to the slit line (make markings on both sides for consistency).
Fold the seam allowance back in on itself and sew a top stitch around the slit. I do up over and down on one slit in one go.
Hem front and back as desired.

If you’ve been nervous about split hems like this, don’t be! They’re super easy! Let me know if you need illustrations for the above instructions. :)

Outfit details:

necklace: c/o Cents of Style
bracelets: c/o Tai Pan Trading
jacket: Ted Baker
dress: me-made
bag: Coach (from my awesome Mom!!!!)
shoes: c/o Sven Clogs

Let me just say, I absolutely love these clogs. They fit perfectly. I’m wearing them constantly. They’re the perfect momiform shoes: they’re easy to chase kids in, they’re comfortable all day and they look so cute! I’m a huge, huge fan. Seriously, I can’t seem to get enough.

Sponsored: Penelope’s Summer Style

August 19th, 2015

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This post is sponsored by Sven Clogs. Original hand-crafted clogs since 1974. Clogs made-to-order with premium styles and materials for Man, woman and child.

Connect with Svens Clogs on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!

As evidenced by Penelope’s porcelain skin, she hasn’t been out as much this summer as she was last. I can’t believe it’s finally drawing to a close! Now I’m craving sewing time so I can make a couple of special clothes for the school year.

I don’t often make clothes for the kids because they grow out of them or destroy them so quickly, but this was a fun little number to whip up from extra fabric I had lying around after I made a dress (coming soon!). So yes! We’re totally matching. I have a few mother-daughter looks queued up.

I didn’t use a pattern, I grabbed some shorts and a shirt and started cutting. Next time I make her a romper, I have a few ideas to make it a little more balanced between top/bottom (the bottoms came out tighter and the top looser than expected).

In fact, I ended up cutting the bottoms too small entirely. I got clever and grabbed some white fabric with tiny red anchors on them and made stripes to add width to the bottoms. Hindsight, I should have added more. But she owns them.

Here’s what I did:

I traced a pair of shorts and sewed them up. Seeing that they were snug, I added the racing stripe by cutting down the sides and adding the strip.
I topstitched the strip to make it look more finished.
Next, I found a loose fitting shirt and cut out a pentagram shape. Leaving the top part a little longer so I could make a loop.
I cut the back taller than the front.
To assemble the top and bottom, I sewed up each of them separately, attached elastic to the shorts, then put right sides together and added the top (two rows of stitching at the waistline).
I hemmed the shorts, the arms and the neckline. I cut a tube of extra fabric and threaded it around the loops at the top and tied it in a bow.
Fini!

Penelope knows how to tie bows, so getting in and out of the romper isn’t a big deal for her. It would be a little more complicated for a younger child.

Sometimes I wonder how she got so old and grown up, then I get her a My Little Pony and I realize she’s still in the throws of her childhood. I sigh in relief.

She’ll be starting second grade any day now. Am I the only one that loves back-to-school season? I love getting supplies, I love the new clothes, organizing everything and a fresh start with new teachers, new classmates and new things to learn.

Outfit details:

romper: made by me
necklace and earrings c/o Tom Design Shop
shoes: c/o Sven Clogs (here)

Designed: Gold and Silver Foil Bee Tattoos

July 6th, 2015

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This post is sponsored by Fashion Tats. Shop, wholesale or create your own gold and silver foil temporary tattoos.

The dreamcatcher and the roses are my favorite. What are yours?

I’ve been aching to design foil temporary tattoos for a while, but I just couldn’t think of a design! Designer’s block got the best of me for a good portion of a year.

Image c/o Alix Adams (via IG) – I love that she put it on her cheek.

I was writing a gift card for a Melissa when I thought I should add a honeybee flourish, since our name means “honeybee”. I couldn’t find any exemplars to go from, so I designed my own. It dawned on me that was what I needed for my foil tattoo design.

At Alt Summit this last June, I handed out my business cards (above) with silver and gold bees. Since my name is Melissa and I hail from the beehive state, it only seemed fitting.

Thanks to my awesomely tan neighbor for modeling these for me. I noticed that foil tattoos don’t photograph particularly well on my pasty white skin. Perhaps I need to get out of the house more?

Now that I’ve done one design, I’m ready to do more. I’ve got a few ideas. Mostly words that I want to design. What word(s) should I do next?

Sponsored Style: Sweater Tunic with Indiesew

February 16th, 2015

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This post is sponsored by Indiesew. Get bundles of PDF patterns from your favorite independent apparel pattern makers at a discount!

Find patterns, browse projects made by community members and beef up your sewing skills all in one spot!

I’m thrilled to be partnering with Indiesew to help debut their spring collection! It’s been fun to find out about new-to-me designers through their collection bundles.

The Marianne dress from Christine Haynes really caught my eye. I love the possibilities for pattern play in View B and the sweet collar in View A is screaming to be made out of some sweet floral (which I need to find).

Mother Nature has a funny sense of humor this year. We have absolutely NO SNOW in our mountain (we should have 4-5′ of snow drifts this time of year). I’ve even seen a couple of tulip sprigs pup up between the mounds of dirt in our front yard. We need snow! I need more winter!

It’s still fairly chilly, so between that and my desperation for more snow I sewed up a sweater tunic variation of the Marianne. Printing and taping the PDF took longer than cutting and sewing the pattern. The instructions are very straight forward and the fit is true to size. Even with hemming and finishing edges (I like lots of topstitching), this still took me about an hour to make.

Here’s what I did differently from the pattern:

I cut the sleeves 19″ from the shoulder seam notch, tapering them in gradually just like the pattern
I cut the front and back bodice short to make it a top. Front piece is 16 inches and back is 17.5 inches (not including seam allowances)
Since I was planning on the side slits, I didn’t cut as dramatic an a-line for the bodice
I sewed the side seams to just about 9 inches below the armpit seam and made slits on both sides

I’m thrilled with the final piece. I didn’t do any tailoring or fitting afterward. Mega win. The only thing that I could have changed was that I accidentally cut the bottom knit perpendicular to the grain. So it stretches vertically instead of horizontally. There’s still some horizontal stretch, so it works. But if you look at it closely, you’ll see the knit is horizontal when it should be vertical. OOPS! That’s what I get for rushing. :)

I’ve been kind of in a little bit of a dark grunge zone lately. The black nail polish, monochromatic clothing and acid wash jeans are all things I’m totally crushing on lately. Now all I need is the right leather jacket and I’m set! I found one this weekend that’s close, but the fit wasn’t quite there. Any suggestions on places to hit up for a leather jacket?

Outfit details:

necklace: H&M
bracelet: THP shop
top: handmade (fabric from Miss Matatabi, Marianne Dress)
jeans: H&M
shoes: Chinese Laundry

Save an extra 10% for the first 25 people that purchase the spring bundle! Use code: SPRING15

This post is sponsored, but all writing/thoughts/opinions are my own.

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