Burda Style: Open Source Sewing

I spent the last 3 hours drooling over the amazing sewing projects at Burda Style. It's a website community for open source sewing. There are alot of talented folks over there sharing their designs. The coolest part is seeing how people alter patterns and customize for individual style. It's an amazing resource for all skill levels. Wow, I sound like an infomercial. But really it is a cool resource I recommend everyone check out. I wanted to share a few of the projects that have free patterns that I'm really excited about!
Wool Hat.
Franzie vest
Orange Dress

On a side note, I went thrifting this morning and got a whole pile of supplies to make more stuff. (Not that I really need any more stuff, but thats a different story) I've been working on altering a men's dress shirt into a shirt dress. More on that later :)

Faux Paper Bag

Check out this leather, not paper, bag. I want one. 

via design milk

Oh Snap!

This wallet is designed by Kenji Miyazaki to hold cigarette butts when there's no trash can around. This is so totally cute. 

via Sub-studio blog

ABC stuffed letters

This was my latest homemade gift for my niece's b-day. I think they turned out pretty cute. I don't think I realized what I was getting myself into with this project. It turns out some letters take 45 minutes to complete. Whew.  Totally worth it though. 

Designer Office Supplies

I'm not sure why, but office supplies make me gitty with delight. It's kinda sad, but i get a small high off of buying sticky notes and pens. Anyways, I wanted to share some of the things I'm liking in the online world.

See Jane Work has a plethora of beautiful things for the office.
This cute little desktop birdie with paper clip wings makes me happy.
These dog and cat eco staplers don't actually use staples at all. Brilliant!


I love the bold simplicity of this Notebook.
And these for organizing all the papers.
And this I can see this architecture notebook from The Naked Binder coming in handy for presentations. It fits tabloid paper which is hard to find these days.

Official Tooth Fairy Kit

I am very happy about this find. Look how gorgeous the letter pressed form turned out. The whole kit looks well crafted and just adorable.  I'm kinda jealous I didn't think of the idea first. Go here to purchase for $16!

Valentine's Gear

All via independent artists

Top: Giantdwarf

Middle: Essimar

Bottom: My Little Underground

Hand Drawn Map Association

How cool is that!?! Maps are very pretty graphically, so I'm glad someone decided to do this collection. Go here for the official hand drawn map association website and add a few of your own. Also check out episode 110 of This American Life called mapping. It opened my eyes to the different kinds of maps out there

Gorgeous Hats

I love wearing hats in the winter time, so when I saw these I literally squealed a little bit when I saw these. Claudia Schulz's 2008 collection are beautiful and seem very well made. They are inspired from 20s and 30s fashion but have a modern twist on them with the simple structural lines. The color palettes are very sophisticated and not too fussy. Yes!