It's TIME to Paisley-fy! Clock re-do tutorial

Well it is looking like I am not going to get copies of the pix I took of my Phantom of the Opera Costumes so that's a big bummer.  The moral of the story is "Bring your own camera next time!"  However, life goes on. 

I had a very boring clock on my office wall.  I had to change a dead battery in it and while I had it off the wall and in my hands I decided to paisley-fy it.  First I had to see if I could take it apart without totally breaking it.

As it turns out, the plastic disc covering the face just pops right off when you insert a rusty Exacto-knife (or other skinny/flat object of your choice) near the little tabs.

 

After removing the plastic cover, I traced it onto a piece of white card stock so it would fit the clock face.  I didn't even remove the paper face that was already there.  It it was glued on pretty well and I thought tearing it off might damage the mechanism holding the hands.  Since the card stock I was using was mostly opaque AND I was going to draw and color on that I figured the original numbers would not show through--and they didn't.

 

I worked my doodle magic inside the circle and also marked a smaller circle right in the center where the hands would be.

 

I colored my paisley, cut out my circle and the smaller circle for the hands, then started to put my drawing overtop the original face.  After trying to thread the hands through just the little circle, I realized they needed more wiggle room.  I cut a small slit, about 1 1/2" to get them through.

 

 

Then I threaded the hands through and positioned my improved clock face the way I wanted it.  Lying flat, against the clock's face the extra slit is not visible.

 

I carefully popped the plastic cover back on, inserted the new batteries and hung it back up.   This was super easy to do; the drawing and coloring was what took the longest.  The potential for this project is huge!  You could cover your clock face with anything you want, whether it's a unique drawing, a large enough picture, matching wallpaper or fabric to go with your décor.  The possibilities are endless!

This-n-that

So I have, dear readers, pictures of all of the costumes that I'd made for Phantom of the Opera but unfortunately they are all on someone else's camera!  Mine was missing the day of and I had to borrow one.  As soon as I get copies I will post them here.

It's time again for my yearly clean-up-my-sewing-room/mess.  I don't want to share pictures of that because it's just crazy messy.

On a more cheerful note, it's finally looking like spring! 

Sew What Have I Been Doing?

This week I've been turning an ordinary man's suit jacket into a Hussar's Uniform -- that's the short story.  I've been helping out at my son's high school doing costumes for their rendition of Phantom of the Opera.  It's a lot of hard work but it's also very fun.  This jacket is coming out really cool.  When it is all finished I'll post another pic plus some of the other costumes I've done. 

 

 

Cut off th bottom in a military 'V' style.

 

Adding some shiny gold braid.

 

This gold gimp shifted and moved all around no matter how many pins I put in it.  My solution?  Blue painter's tape to hold it still and that worked very well. 

Almost done!  I added gold grosgrain ribbon for the placket and came up with some clever button loops which I then realized were not practical for a fast change during the play.  I'm going to replace them with velcro.  I'm also having about 30 buttons put on the front and I have to finish the chevrons on the front of the sleeve.  If I  have time I'll make a half jacket/cape thing too.