Spending the Coupons

Are you like me? Where you have a coupon or get an e.mail discount code and you immediately need to go check it out to make sure it is worthwhile?  Groupon does not help to feed this impulse either.  I had bought a Groupon about a year ago to this lovely local boutique that I love called Rowe.  This store has so much pretty in it but unfortunately it is nearly all out of my price range or it simply does not look good on my body.  Typically when I do pick something up from there it ends up being jewelry.  My Groupon was $50 for $100 worth of non-sale items.  I tried in vain to find some clothing but nothing really struck my fancy.  I did however find these gems from the Jewelry.

 I got this Gold vampire teeth necklace which I thought was charming and quirky.  I'm not a huge vampire fan but I do like quirky things.  Also these two Nylon Method Rings were on Sale for $8.00 a pop so how could I not get them?  I had heard about Nylon Method previously through my friend Brook.  She knows one of the people that make them.  I had wanted one and they aren't going to kill you in price but just one of those things I never got around to.  I heard that they were also local to Columbus which intrigued me more.  Every since that Laser Cutting class at the Idea Foundry  I've been keeping my eyes open to new technology for jewelry. 

 Close up you can see the details on the teeth which are fun.  Looks like they had a mold of someone's actual teeth and then sculpted out the fangs before putting it into the final mold.

 This is the Snowflake ring which looks really delicate but it is pretty resilient.  The rings also fit about half a size smaller then they say.

 This is one they no longer have on their website but it is smaller and more delicate looking.  It looks like it would be hard but this one will bend around and not lose it's shape or design.  It is also so light it feels almost like I am not even wearing anything.

This is the original packaging that the rings came in which I thought was really neat and unique.  I can see why it didn't really sell at Rowe, with the packaging it has a much more industrial feel to it and I think people who are into new technology and art are the ones that will appreciate this product much more then the fashion forward women that usually shop Rowe.

Criss Cross makes me JUMP JUMP

I had seen these tights posted by Style Bubble and instantly fell in love with them.  Who can seriously afford tights that will snag and ruin eventually that are over a hundred dollars?  Certainly not me. Contemplating this I figured how one could potentially make them on your own if you were so inclined with a masochistic fetish for sewing and pattern work.

The shoes on the other hand I would buy in a heartbeat if I had the income!

The easiest way to do this is getting a skinny jean or legging pattern and then dividing it into your separate sections.  Don't forget to either notch, number or code them in some way so you know how it all pieces back together.  This is all of course with no seam allowance at all (since you are using 4-way stretch materials).

**I would avoid using a wide fishnet in this but if you are DEAD SET on making it the most difficult stretch project ever my advice is use water soluble glue to glue the edges to water soluble facing so that you have something to sew on and then it will dissolve when you wash it or make some 1/4" or less binding for those edges out of a solid 4 way stretch to match your thread.**

  I would avoid using actual tights but getting 1/4 yard pieces ordered from House of Spandex or Spandex World.  As new tights have been manufactured in the round and are not suitable for being cut up and old tights are already stretched so the fabric would not be even.

The Final step is sewing it all together on your serger not sewing machine.  For this project the only thing to bind all these stretch fabrics together is using a 3-thread rolled edge with Woolly Nylon in all the loopers and I would even go so far as the needle.  There is not good way to thread it except with tweezers, needle threader tool and lot's of patience.  There are other stretchable threads advertised but in my experience Woolly Nylon has been the best.  It just has more stretch in it then any of the others I have tried.  not only are they separated nylon strands but they are also loosely braided together to also give a much better finished edge.