Run, Kat, run!

After completing a 5K this weekend, I got to thinking about the plethora of race shirts I have.  I'm a graphic tee girl.  I swear, I keep trying to grow up and wear real people clothes but it just does not happen.  Okay, it happens sometimes.  But most of the time?  Give me a graphic tee with a cute character, logo, ironic saying, or a combination of all three and I'm happy as a clam.

That being said, I'm not a fan of the boxy cut of unisex tees that you usually receive at races.  It's not my style to have a super high neckline that almost makes me feel like I'm choking.  Ditto that feeling re: turtlenecks.  Soooo not for me.

The 5K I just completed was just for women, therefore the shirts were a more flattering cut.  Now I've been upcyling a whole bunch of graphic tees lately, some that I had, some that were thrifted.  I'd debated using my race tees to make a tee shirt quilt, but I just wasn't feeling it, and...I love graphic tees.  I love NEW graphic tees, but I love not spending a lot of money on them.  So if I already own them and can modify them...even better!  Upcycling at its best.  Cost = free.  Sold.

Here's the tee for my first 5K ever, which was at Disney's Animal Kingdom with my friend Nicole, her brother Kyle, and his then fiance now wife Sarah.  We had a BLAST, so the memories that go with this shirt are wonderful and something that make me smile just looking at it.  I also did this 5K in memory of my mother, since I was determined to prove I could do something I previously thought I never could (run a race).

I've taken inspiration from this blog tutorial right here, and modified it to suit my own needs.  Since both shirts I worked on were larges, I didn't want to do the drawstring neckline, as it would potentially make the shirt too tight and defeat the purpose of getting rid of the high neckline.

I can't really describe enough how much I love this shirt.  Put together Disney and pumpkins, and I'm pretty much in heaven.  So it's thrilling to me that I can wear it again, it's comfortable, and cute!

The second shirt is from my second 5K at our local Y.  I modified it in the same way as the previous tee, creating scalloped edges on the sleeves and bottom, and a new scoop neckline.  I think it looks pretty snazzy.

So there you have it!  My fun upcyle fashions for this weekend.  I absolutely love taking something old and making it into something new!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog, Pumpkin Craft!

With all of the interest in my Etsy shop by the same name, Pumpkin Craft, I thought it was high time to start a blog about all my crafting and artistic adventures.  My Etsy shop gets its name from the childhood nickname my mother gave me.  She always called me her Pumpkin.  I'm an October baby, obsessed with pumpkins, Halloween, and autumn in general, so that nickname fits the bill!

My mother passed unexpectedly when I was thirty...she was still calling me her pumpkin, even then...and I inherited her fabric stash and sewing machines.  Previously?  Terrified of learning how to sew.  Fear of making a mistake, fear of doing something wrong....fear of fear, honestly.

Losing my mother changed my perspective on all of that.  What is the worst thing that could happen to me?  Ripping out stitches and starting all over again?  Learning from my mistakes?  Imagine that!  Sewing has been a huge growth experience for me.  It's given me a creative outlet that as a stay at home mother I had been struggling to find.  I have a BFA in painting, but oil paints and toddlers?  They don't mix.

Sewing was so easy to fit into our lifestyle, so sewing it was.  Determined to learn, my initial efforts were just that...initial efforts.  I am quite proud though of how far I have come, and how much more I can create.

Here are some of my favorite shop items right now that I have had SO much fun making.

I'm a little in love with this Disney Minnie Mouse inspired tote bag.  You can find it here if you fall in love as well. ;)

And just recently, I made a Disney Pop Century inspired tote that is so bright and cheerful, I cannot help but smile when I look at it.

Embrace your inner flower child right here.

I love making these bags and pushing my creative limits to come up with ideas that are not your standard printed character fabric, but fabrics that when you bring them together, evoke a specific theme or memory.  In that way, sewing is a lot like painting.  Color choice, fabric selection, bring it all together...much like putting the binding on a quilt is like framing a painting.

All these artistic and creative endeavors are inextricably linked in my brain, perhaps in yours as well. It's these endeavors that I'll enjoy sharing with you here.