My Gallery

jenniferjoycreative's photostream on Flickr.

I've been meaning to create a gallery for a long time now. Here's just a little of my work :)

Craftsy

I stumbled across Craftsy this summer and now I'm totally hooked.  Craftsy is a site for online crafting courses.  They have everything from cooking classes to sewing and everything in between.
I took the 50's Bombshell Dress class by Gretchen Hirsch from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing and it changed how I sew forever.  The class is set up into sections with videos for each part of the sewing process.  She explains everything very succinctly and the camera is always at a good angle so you can see what's happening.

The class starts with making a muslin, fitting it to your body, and altering the pattern.  I have to say, I would not normally be able to wear a dress of this type off the rack, vintage or new.  I'm too straight, not a lot of curves happening here.  This class showed me I could make a sweet vintage style dress that fits like a glove!

Some pics of my progress....

Completed bodice outside

All the hidden goodies

Lots of couture hand-stitched details on the inside

Pretty perfectly hidden lapped zipper

Spiral steel boning for the bodice

Steel boning offers lots of support as well as flexibility

Boning casing in the liner (I see some corset-making in my future!)

Finished interior: vintage style pinked seam allowances, pink ribbon waist stay, hand-stitched in liner with spiral steel boning, grosgrain ribbon zipper guard.  Love all this and no one will ever see it :)

Happy alterations!

Today I was digging through my closet trying to find something cute to wear to school.  I have been hoarding this dress for about 10 years now and it has never really fit me (too big in the bust, too small in the waist). 

So I tried it on out of curiosity and VOILA!  Waist fit like a glove (thank you spin class) and with some minor alterations in the bust, I now have a sweet 60's dress perfectly tailored to me. 

Finding my love of vintage again...

I love the ruched waistband and covered button

The fabric is a beautifully soft cotton lawn

Handspun Yarn I covet

Some beautiful and inspirational handspun yarn I found today...

Tuscan Walls by bluecocoonyarn

Yellow Daisies by aspenmoonarts

Flounce by Bricolage Studios

Textiles + Organic Farming with a sprinkle of German

I just have to share my most recent school experience.  A caveat here:  its only the second day of the semester so the classes are new thus exciting and not stressful yet.

A bit of background first.  I decided to go back and pursue my bachelors degree after 12 years of being a stay-at-home mom.  Both of my kids were in school full time and I was looking to do something completely different than making clothing, which I had lost interest in.  This was a year and a half ago.

I settled on Michigan State's horticulture program because it offered a Sustainable and Organic concentration and being the garden freak I am, this sounded perfect!  After 2 semesters, I could feel myself questioning what I was going to do in the end.  I didn't want to farm nor manage a greenhouse or work in the boring pointsettia industry.

I stumbled on a new and exciting option while talking one of my friends out at the MSU Student Organic farm.  She was in a program that allowed you to get a BA in Interdisciplinary Humanites.  You just needed to pick 3 areas of concentration and have 15 credit hours in each area (other college requirements also apply).  Now I could design a degree to my specifications that I would feel good about spending money on.  I chose Horticulture (because I DO love organic horticulture), Studio Art (because all of my photography credits from our local community college satisfied this portion of the degree) and Apparel and Textile Design (because its what I do and I really love it).

Fast forward ahead...I got my spring schedule all adjusted and here it is : Basic Apparel Structuring, Elementary German II,  Textile Materials and Organic Farming Principles and Practices.  These are my textbooks for Organic Farming:

How awesome is that?!

A New Year

What better way to resurrect a blog than with a pretty picture...more profound thoughts coming soon

Abandoned then found

Since I created a page on facebook, I find it really hard to blog. Not that a lot hasn't been going on! Jennifer Joy Creative is sort of being quiet. I headed back to school in January to pursue a degree in Sustainable and Organic Horticulture. Its been fun and hard at the same time. School uses a part of my brain I haven't touched in years :). The organization part has been hardest for me. I'm used to working at home, running from one half finished project to another and multitasking like crazy. I've found that I can't function like that with school work. I have to sit down in a quiet space and really really concentrate. Which I have to admit is pretty satisfying.

I have one more semester at LCC before I transfer to Michigan State University in the spring. I'm really nervous. The idea of writing a paper is terrifying. Up until now I've had all science and math courses. But I'm also very excited. The program has classes like pruning techniques, greenhouse construction and management, Organic Farming Principles and Practices, and Compost Production and Use. Nerdy gardening stuff I can't wait to get into.

At home, I creating a monster of a garden thats doing great. Minus the fact the rabbits ate all my beans. Next year I'll have it tilled bigger and fence it in with a cute fence with a gate. I already have 13 pints of green beans canned, 24 jars of jam, 1.5 gallons of broccoli frozen, 5 pints of pickles and tons of potatoes and onions. My tomatoes are just starting to ripen and I should have enough to can by the middle of next week.

Off to study for finals...I'll leave you with some pretty garden pics