Lunchtime Productivity

A personal goal of mine is to finish one sewing related project a week. Since I am the epitome of a person with no free time I started to bring some of my projects to work where I work on them during my lunch breaks.

I actually have told no one about my secret sewing projects...not because they aren't fabulous but because they are incredibly nerdy and I am well aware not everyone has the appreciation for nerdiness like I do. People just don't know what they are missing!

So, with that said, here is an example of a lunchtime project I did this week. Enjoy! I know I did!

Monday Night - I made the shell (the actual hat) modeled after one of video game's classic characters,

Mega Man

Tuesday at lunch - I cut out the felt details of the hat using random office objects as measuring devices.

I borrowed the lid of a scented candle off the desk of a colleague for part one of the ear piece

Here's a lid from a cleaning product that I also borrowed from another colleague's desk for part two of the ear piece

                                                        

I used the lines of the notebook paper (that I actually had at my desk) to help envision scale

Wednesday at lunch - Finished cutting out the detail pieces and pinned pieces in place

The mouth of this little smiley face was the hardest part...felt is difficult to cut and to keep straight



All pinned up!

Thursday at lunch - Started sewing!

Everyone should have one of these in their desk

Friday at lunch - Finished sewing

Now we are ready for anything!

Aprons in Action!

Tonight was the first time in my life I was introduced as a designer. It was awesome. For months, I have been working with Tell Tale Preserve Company on their store front and kitchen aprons trying to find the balance of form and function…and I think we found both.

The blue apron is for the store front and the grey apron is for the kitchen

Tonight was an open house/trunk show at San Francisco’s Big Daddy’s Antiques. My friends at Tell Tale were there showcasing their fantastic treats and also were celebrating their new pastry spot at the front of the shop. Starting tomorrow Tell Tale will have a coffee and treats spot in the front of the shop six days a week. Of course, they will be sporting the aprons. Tell Tale’s own store front will open in San Francisco in February of 2011. I am glad to be a part of it.

They look so cute!

Tell Tale's pop up shop at Big Daddy's Antiques

Product development opportunity for Tell Tale and friends

"Super Toy" Comic and Collectible Show

San Jose, CA hosts a comic and collectible show a few times a year. Every time I see a flyer for the show I think, "Dude, I am totally going to go this time" and then never make it. Honestly, it makes it tough to remember to go to local events like this when they are advertised over three months in advance and held only on a Saturday.

But anyway, I went this time and honestly, it was a lot of fun.

The crowd was older than I thought it would be in that there were essentially no children, which was only a surprise because it is technically the holiday season when families tend to do more things together. Perhaps the older crowd was part of the reason why the show had a more toys as collectibles feel as opposed to toys are toys and some happen to be collectible.

Justin and Tim outside the toy show's entrance banner.

Either way, the best part of the show was the massive collection of nerdiness from a multitude of generations (and yes, I just used the term "nerdiness" as a real word).

Who doesn't need a vintage tin space gun?!

Star Wars had A-Team vans?!

In the end, I came out with a Wampa and Micro Machines Sand Crawler! Justin is holding my Wampa in the picture earlier in this post. Ha. Somehow, that didn't sound right.

More Comics in the Collection...

I've had my comic wallet for a couple weeks now and get compliments on it when I pull it out of my pocket  (thank you very much) and I got to thinkin'...there has to be other stuff I can make kinda like this wallet.

So...I made a travel bag. Sure, you can call it a makeup bag, but you could also think of it as a nice manly way to carry your toothbrush and razor while you travel.

Sadly, a comic in good condition was harmed during the production of this bag. It was a fairly recent Hellblazer comic that I had a duplicate of. I don't plan on hurting any more comics in the future unless they are in some way torn or have way too many copies on the market. 

Meet Rowan, A Fashion Forward Game Girl

My Friend Rowan is from Malaysia who studies 3D animation in San Francisco and has a passion for Japanese street fashion, building characters for video games, and staying up at all hours playing PC and console games. She is also very personable...every nerd guy's dream.

Rowan. (Yes Rowan, I jacked this photo from your Facebook. Ha!)

For months my professor raved about Rowan's awesome fashion sense and how I would appreciate meeting someone else that enjoyed fashion and video gaming. So, after a while of my professor pestering me, I finally met Rowan and her awesome closet on the same day. I am glad I did. I liked both instantly.

Rowan spoke a lot about her clothing style and how she believes in looking well put together whenever she leaves the house. That makes sense and honestly, I wish more people here in the US thought that way...I know we did at about 50 years ago. Anyway, where Rowan is from it is crucial to look presentable when in public and she brought that same mentality here to the US. Of course, with a little twist.

Two of Rowan's greatest fashion influences are the Lolita style and Mori girl styles from Japanese street culture. Rowan likes the detailing and general forms of the Lolita styled clothing but prefers the not so "matchy matchy" sense of the Mori girl style. Lolita style is indeed matchy. Here is a an example:



Lolita Style. Seriously matchy and seriously cute...but a little much to maintain on the regular 

 If you'd like to know more about Lolita style check out their wiki here. Here is an example of Mori girl style:

Mori girl style. Less about being perfect and more about layers and textures.

After to talking with Rowan and her mischievous cat, Ku, she brought out some of her favorite dresses and accessories for me to see and share with you. The clothing in the following pictures were purchased online  second hand. Clothing like Rowan's is hard to come by and very difficult to size (many things are in one size only) so she relies on her livejournal network to show her the way.

Here is a small glimpse into Rowan's house of style:



One of Rowan's favorite's. She bought this dress during her goth stage.

 

One of Rowan's winter dresses. She loves the tailoring and the "super dress up" feel to it.



Rowan's first Lolita dress. She wore this dress about two times...before she knew what was flattering on her.

She says this dress will be up for sale soon.







 

Rowan's favorite dress that she also likes to call er "safe" dress in that
she can wear it to class and then out to a nice dinner.

A girl's got to accessorize! Many of these necklaces came from Etsy.

An outfit's final touch.



Comics for your Wallet

As I was thumbing through one of the many craft books I have piled in my office I saw a pattern for a wallet made out of an old comic book. I was totally surprised that I have had this book for who knows how long and had never noticed this pattern! Of course, upon seeing the pattern I knew I had to try to make the thing.

The first few times I tried to make it I was unsuccessful. I had never used iron on vinyl. I mean really, who knew there was such a thing as iron on vinyl and that it would work with paper?! So anyway, after a couple times I think it worked out just fine. Check it out:

The comic I used I found in an antique shop for a dollar. It was an old Star Trek comic. Don't worry, I didn't rip the whole thing about. I just used the center advertisement.

Just in case you were wondering, this is what iron on vinyl looks if you ever need to purchase it. Most craft stores carry things like this in the same aisle as their interfacing. Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy to use. Beware though, this stuff comes in two yard packages and is about $10.00.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

This last weekend some friends and I went to a Gamestop in Oakland, California to participate in the Call of Duty Black Ops tournament. This was a totally random decision on our parts especially since none of us, except for one, had ever spent more than 1 hour playing. The tournament took place at 9pm and had about 20 participants at our location. Of course, the five of us, were the oldest people in attendance including the store employees. Everyone else was under 21! Hahaha! I suppose we weren’t that surprised, but still.

Anyway, the tournament set up was like this: there were about 10 rounds of 1v1 with a time limit of 5 minutes. Whoever had the most kills in those five minutes was deemed the winner of the round and thus, moved onto round two.None of us made it past round one or even placed within round one. It was pretty funny. All of us had about 15 kills against us and Scott, “the best player” out of all of us had only five kills against the other player. After all of us epically failed the kids who were continuing onto the next round told us that they swore they were going to lose because we are older and must be more experienced gamers,etc. Ha. Not so much.

It’s okay though, it was fun, random and we didn’t have time to play through the ranks and finals anyway, except for Scott, he doesn’t have a job. Here are the prizes just in case you were curious.

Round One Tournament Winners

 1st place Mad Catz 1GB Dog Tag Flash Drive and Xbox 360 throat mic , (wow…first place gets an off brand 1 GB flash drive?! I really missed out…)

2nd place Limited Edition Black Ops Flag

3rd place Limited Edition COD: Black Ops T-Shirt Online part

Top 8 finalists from online ladder play qualify for a trip to the Finals Event (Location TBD)

Finals 1v1 – 1st place $4,000 and Championship Trophy

From Left: Scott, Dan, and Justin. Right before getting their asses handed to them