What Willa Make?

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United States
Chicago, IL
What Willa Make?

Handcrafted goods made from up cycled materials.

07/11/2024

I never stopped loving you or thinking of you. I deeply believe we both did the best we could. A girl couldn’t ask for a better fake husband, messy divorce and all.

04/21/2024

Things I know now: If a friend spontaneously invites you for a weekend trip to Mackinac Island in the off-season after a late winter of bronchitis and heartbreak, say YES! Fly in a wee prop plane, wear your wellies in the cold lake to look for sea glass, weave your way down empty streets on your bike without the thought of a car, have a beer and french fries in a local bar, knit, crochet, and breathe in the stillness before you drive home. Thanks , I needed that.

10/07/2023

Should you require a black light reactive project bag to hold your project made from black light reactive yarn, I got you. Get yours here in the booth at the . Come say Hi!

08/21/2023

I built a shelf! I’ve installed shelves before, but shelves with brackets which were pre-cut, so all I really had to do was put anchors and screws in a wall. This I made FROM SCRATCH, because we needed another shelf for shoes. This winter the whole back entry area will get a coat of paint over the wood paneling, and glue on ceiling tiles over the existing old ones that I assume are asbestos…

08/17/2023

This weeks projects:
I’ve named this dress my “Test Dress.” I drafted the pattern myself, first time I’d done so for a dress. The fabric is a 100% cotton sheet I bought secondhand for $3.99 - not only is it upcycled, but the low cost frees my brain up to experiment. So far with this dress I:
1. added a bustle to see how I liked having an irregular hemline, decided I didn’t like how the bustle looked and ripped it out.
2. I added 2 darts in the back yesterday, didn’t like them, ripped them out.
3. Decided I would rather add shaping to the sides, googled how to use my curved tailors rulers to do that, measured, marked, and basted in the curve. loved it. Sewed it in, trimmed and finished the edges!

I am also working on one other clothing project, and one home decor project! I will share those as they are finished in the next few days. Also finishing two bags from the WIP lineup for the shop!

08/14/2023

Next on the WIP into FO list… some alterations… these pants originally had elastic at the bottom. I didn’t love how it felt so put in a regular hem. Hopefully they get more use. The second pic is joy4knit in a dress I altered for her. She accidentally ordered this dress from the UK in the wrong size, so I made it fit!

08/13/2023

Some mornings you wake up with the lyrics to “Do-Re-Mi” in your head and don’t know why but decide to watch “The Sound of Music” anyhow and work on the collage you started for your vintage-navy-lesbian themed bedroom. Halfway through the movie you remember that it is the answer to one of last weeks crossword puzzles you were trying to think of while falling asleep. This is one the WIPS i’m working on.

08/12/2023

I rode my bike to the beach today with Matthew, and these are the rocks and sea glass I have found so far… Yes I bring an organizer for my finds after I collect them at the waterline in an upcycled bag.

08/11/2023

Here’s a bag in my WIP queue for the shop, available now. My favorite aesthetic to play with is combining seemingly dialectic fabrics, i.e., fancy and banal, masculine and feminine, formal and casual, sequins and denim.

This tote is HUGE: 13.5” x 14” x 6,” has six inner pockets, and a fabric loop for stitch markers.

08/10/2023

I experimented with a tent-like sensory bed when I lived in Mpls, and liked it. Feeling cocooned in a space which limits potential sensory input really helped me. I wanted something more aesthetically pleasing though and decided to purchase a canopy bed upon our move. However, multiple sets of new curtains can be expensive, and finding the right fit for my vintage-navy-lesbian-aesthetic can be challenging, so I waited and thrifted. I found 4 Pottery Barn Kids curtains in navy blue for $2.50 each. They weren’t the length I wanted, so eventually found these navy blue gingham sheets, also Pottery Barn. I added red pom-pom trim to the seam and voila! I love them. Last night I slept a SOLID nine hours. The first of my sewing WIP queue complete!

08/08/2023

so, I got distracted… I have this curtain rod from which I hang all my sewing WIPS. Placing them in a visually obvious space helps me remember they exist. The thing is, i can’t take it anymore - all these unfinished items. Some are bags for my shop, some are gifts, some are clothes I want to alter or make for myself, some are home decor projects. I am going to tackle them, clear the rack so I have room to hang current projects. Check my stories for the two embroideries I finished and hung as part of completing house decoration.

08/02/2023

Hey All! I laid low last week because I ran out of spoons for the Instagrams. Post diagnosis I’m learning “how much” is “too much” for my brain, while also realizing it fluctuates and so consistency will not be a thing… and learning to be okay with that… which is a process. Thanks to everyone who follows this account and supports me despite the ableist algorithm giving preference to consistency. I am more grateful than I can say. While un-instagrammed I altered some clothes for friends, dog-sat the world’s most adorable chihuahua, and embroidered up a storm- i’ll share my embroidery FO’s in my stories. Today I am bouncing between three different bags I hope to put in the shop soon!

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Chicago, IL

Website

http://www.whatwillamake.com/

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