Handcrapted · Sew-sew · Stichin' Post · Style · Trashion · Tutorials

Incredibly Basic Skirt Tutorial

Leggings are a blessing. They can stand in for pants or tights, hide unshaven legs and dance party bruises, and generally function as work-appropriate pajamas. For those of us who buy our leggings from cheap fast fashion chains and wear them daily, the unfortunate truth is that one pair of leggings won’t last a year.

I have a plethora of ripped, hole-y, basic black leggings strewn around my closet. (I like to keep them around so that I can wear them in a leggings emergency.) Recently I decided that they needed to move on. Like a sartorial organ donor, they needed to be stripped for parts and put to new use.

First up: I used the waistband from a pair of old leggings to help create an incredibly basic skirt. I grabbed a yard of rayon fabric from my stash and threw together a tutorial. The skirt turned out incredibly comfortable – as comfortable as leggings – and with any luck it won’t fall apart in the wash. (Let’s be honest, the vast majority of my homemade clothes are held together by luck.)

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Food · Handcrapted · Stichin' Post

10 Ultimate Crappy Hosting Tips

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This is an actual item crafted by your esteemed Handcrapted authors.

Being crappy is a way of life, and like all ways of life, it has seasons.  Sometimes, being crappy means holing up in your lair while the rains of winter dribble around.  Sometimes, being crappy means it’s summer and so you decide you’re having social engagements.  Webster’s dictionary probably defines hosting as “letting gross bugs nibble your skin flaps,” but we can define it as “having people over and wanting them to think you are 25% less crappy than you actually are.”  When that pressure strikes, I clean furiously, decide to make 5 new recipes, and end up yelling at the victims who live with me.  That makes everyone feel GREAT by the time guests arrive!

Really though, the heart of crappy hosting is understanding that being not-so-great at it should NEVER be an impediment to your socializing.  Your friends want to hang out with you.  They don’t really care about your house. At the same time, the level of squalor you can tolerate may necessitate finding a balance.  These tips are about where that point really resides. Continue reading “10 Ultimate Crappy Hosting Tips”

Faves · Handcrapted · Stichin' Post

“The Office Fridge Smells Bad”: a new short story by Cormac McCarthy

refrigerator

The kid eyes the coffee urn. The crust around its edge is a vestige of more profligate times, before the glass carafe shattered. That morning, the hiss of continued drips on the hot plate had punctuated his musings on grammar, an exorcism of squeals amid the spurts of dark, arterial fluid.

His eyes dart left. Another misbegotten has entered.

Did you bring your lunch today?

The question carried a threat, borne on the winds underpinning the fattened rain clouds that drifted in yesterday, and stayed. They were there Monday, too. The coursing rains swelled the sewer pipes and threatened to overspill their bounds.

Naw. I’m going out. Continue reading ““The Office Fridge Smells Bad”: a new short story by Cormac McCarthy”

Crafts · Handcrapted · Other People's Crap · Sew-sew · Stichin' Post · Style · Trashion · Tutorials

Sleep Mask Non-Tutorial

Any good vampire knows the importance of blocking out as much sunlight as possible from dawn until dusk. Unfortunately, after years of use and abuse my sturdy sleep mask finally turned into dust. What’s an undead creature of the night to do?

Bust out the stash and craft a new sleep mask!

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