No-Pattern, Baby Girl, Gift Set

About two months ago, I decided I absolutely had to sew a personal gift for a friend's baby shower. I had an idea, so I went out and found the nearest Joann's. Yep, I bought full priced fabric. Thankfully it was baby-sized, so I didn't have to get much. :)

My original idea was a stylish tag blanket. I bought a minky-style, pink star fabric for one side, and a lovely black and grey baroque-patterned (I think?) flannel for the other. I also chose an approximately 1" wide pink and white chevron ribbon, and a 1.5" wide silver and white baroque-style ribbon for the tags. Unfortunately I didn't even get a phone picture of the finished product, but this gives the basic idea and shows all the fabrics.

After making the blanket, I ended up having a lot of fabric left over. I was afraid I would never use it up, so I decided to see if I could throw together a little dress as well! I don't have any of my little girl dress patterns with me though, so I also decided to try my hand at creating something without a pattern. On top of that, I wanted to make it reversible. And once I got designing, I thought a contrasting band around the bottom edge was a cute idea as well! I really forgot how much I enjoy sewing and creating. I had a lot of fun creating it, and I think it turned out very cute.

But I still had a good bit of that pink minky fabric left over, even after the dress! So I immediately thought "Diaper cover! What baby girl dress is complete without a diaper cover?!" I was a lot more nervous about this idea though (still am, actually. Baby girl's not here yet, so I have no idea if it'll fit her!). Drafting pants is a lot more difficult than a basic dress. So, Pinterest. I found a pattern, and drew up the basic lines, and just decided to go for it. Hopefully it'll work for her. :)

New Look 6899

Did you just about have a heart attack when you saw this post?! That title on this blog can only mean one thing! I ACTUALLY SEWED SOMETHING!!! Yep.

Ta-da! Based on New Look 6899. I've had the brown part (yeah, that darker fabric that it's mostly made out of is brown knit.) more or less finished for a while now, but then we got involved in a totally awesome sewing room remodel that made sewing more or less impossible for a while.

However, we're headed to Disney World (!!!!!!) in less than a week, and I was determined (since I got the fabric) to have this tunic top for the trip. So when I finally had - or rather, took the time to sew, I knew exactly what to do.

Obviously the brown part was the original patter, only lengthened quite a bit. Also obviously, the neckline was huge. Like, fall-off-my-abnormally-broad-shoulders huge. (Granted, it got slightly better when I added the neckband piece, but it still was too big for comfort or modesty.) So, I knew I was going to have to somehow add to the neckline. After thinking about this off and on for weeks, I decided that probably the quickest and easiest thing to do would be to add a contrasting color, using the same pattern pieces to get a similar shape. And that's what I did. I pulled all the pattern pieces back out, traced the neckline edge of each one, added 2.5 inches (could've gone 3 to 3.5 inches I think, but it's okay as it is now.), and cut them out - after a minor brain lapse, which thankfully ended before I cut every piece out. Of course I also cut out another neckband piece.

My vision was, more or less, to have a shirt that would have the layered look without the bulk or warmth of actually layering. Not completely sure that's how it came out, but I like it anyway.

Finishing this tunic too WAY longer than it should have for several reasons, which, for brevity, I will list rather than explain in great detail:

• Neck was too wide - took a long time to cut out, sew together, and sew on the additional, contrasting pieces.

• Back gaped really bad - quick fix, but annoying nonetheless.

• Had very little shape - again, quick fix. Took in nearly 4" from the sides...

• Armholes were very large. Nerve-wracking, imperfect, good-enough fix that I'm only okay with. Also added the contrasting band there to add length. I'd still call 'em cap sleeves, but they're more modest cap sleeves now.

• Front right side of the neck was gaping weirdly... Had to make (from the scraps - just sorta guessed, didn't have a pattern or directions, so not bad, I think) and sew on that bow. I feel like it's on the wrong side of the shirt - not sure why, but I think I looks fine, and it did help the odd gaping problem!

And last but not least:

A peek at our under-construction sewing room! I am so excited about this project. When we get it all done, it's going to be AMAZING!

Anyway, there you have it. I'll probably never use New Look 6899 again. It's just too huge for me, and doing all those alterations was way more work that I bargained for - at least this time around. Still, I'm pleased with the end result.

The $1 skirt

So, I found this mens XL long-sleeve tee/sweatshirt at Walmart yesterday for $1! I had to get it - especially after being so inspired by all the t-shirt-to-skirt tutorials I've seen around lately! Well, this one didn't turn out how I expected, and it's not 100% me, but it's so comfy I'm sure I'll wear it often! Here's how I did it (more or less - knit has the wonderful quality of "fudginess" - fudge it, and it'll probably work without too much trouble.)

Step 1:

Cut the neck and sleeves off just below behind the seams.

Step 2:

Take the sleeve seam out and lay them out flat.

Step 3:

I was envisioning a wide waistband. Since I'm really small (as in 25" waist), I could do this; I didn't have a whole lot extra. If you're thinking wider waistband as well, try that first; it's not that hard to go back and cut them in half for a narrower, but longer, waistband.

Step 4:

Sew the front and back waistband pieces together.

Steps 5 &6:

With right sides together, sew the waistband into the neck opening, easing as necessary. Then sew up the side seams. Depending on the shirt you're working with, you may or may not want to do as I did - sew to/from the bottom all the way. When I thought about just going to the existing side seams, it seemed like it was going to hand awkwardly.

Step 7:

The potential last step! Fold the waistband down with the skirt and side seams inside. Make sure the waistband is down over the skirt seam, and then stitch-in-the-ditch: top stitch as close to the skirt seam as possible. Check to make sure you caught it all the way around, and go back over what somehow escaped. There you have it! I really like this version, like, really. It was almost exactly what I had envisioned! The only issue? It was quite tight around the rear end... Yeah, not exactly something I wanted. So, back to the drawing board - sorta.

Finished!

I didn't get pictures of this process since I wasn't really sure what I was doing. There was not enough fabric left for a long godet, so I had to piece my own (thanks, Olivia, for the idea!). I added a pocket (a very narrow pocket...) with an extra piece of fabric on top of the second section from the top, and I pleated the bottom section. Oh, I bound the pocket opening with a random piece of satin ribbon we had laying around; probably not the best material, but hey, I just wanted to get it done! Trust me, there was NOTHING hard about this (except when I tried to to chevron strips for the bottom section; THAT failed...). I just cut the skirt roughly 6" from the left side seam right through the waist band and hem. In hindsight (which is never around when you need it...), I would do it rather closer. Then I flare the opening and started laying random pieces across it, cutting them to size. And that's what I ended up with, folks! I may do a little last-minute/after project top-stitching, but then again, I may not.

I very much hope to be doing more sewing in the near future; I need to! So hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back here agin. 'til then! :)

Dress to Skirt

So, I bought a dress the other day. $15 for a plus size, brown knit, tube dress (I guess - no sleeves anyway). When I got home I was pretty sure I was crazy, but I had a vision for it. The trick there is to get it done before the vision escapes you, or else you are crazy. So it got washed and dried, and I set to work on it at the earliest possible moment. But I am getting ahead of myself. Here is the original item:

I'm only guessing it was supposed to be a dress. It's really long on me as a skirt, and I don't have short legs.

My first order of business was to see how long I actually wanted it. I was hoping I could just cut off that top part, fold over the top of the skirt, and insert some elastic, but it was going to be a little shorter than my vision then. So, I took out the tack-down stitches from the top part (it was about 6-8 inches wide once not folded over), cut off about 2 inches of that, and folded the rest down, roughly in half:

In this picture you can sort of see the piece of thin elastic that's been stitched over in two rows. Well, I stitched my folded over piece along the top row of that stitching - if that makes sense. I made a casing, leaving about 3 inches open.

Through those 3 inches, I threaded some wide elastic (the length of my waist) all the way through the casing. Then I stitched the ends of the elastic together, being careful to make sure the elastic wasn't twisted inside the casing. At this point, it's a good idea to make sure you measured the elastic correctly; try on the skirt. If you like the way it fits, sew up the 3 inch opening. If you don't like how it fits, adjust as necessary. I ended up adjusting mine after I sewed up the opening (it was late. I was exhausted. I didn't want to try it on when I should have. It did fit... etc. etc. etc. It fits much better now.). I also added a line of stitching from the center back seam straight up to the top of the waist band as well. My casing was really a little too big for my elastic, so it was laying weird. Thankfully the line of stitching seems to have helped that.

The finished product! It's floor length on me, but that was my vision. Anybody who's been following me on Pinterest lately knows that I've been slightly obsessed with knit maxi skirts. I'm definitely happy to add one to my wardrobe for $15 and maybe an hour of work (probably not even that).

Butterick 4154

Well, I can't find a correct link to this pattern anywhere! :( It's a historical patter that I've used the skirt pattern from several times. I really like it - not the least because it's super fast and easy! ;)

I got this lovely plaid from Sir's when we went a few weeks ago. I think it's a wool blend. Whatever it is, it's really pretty lightweight, and hangs excellently! LOVE it! The pattern is a half circle skirt. 

To do a half-circle skirt, you fold the fabric in half with the cut ends together, if that makes sense. It's not like most other patterns where you fold it selvages together. Anyway, then you cut your waist size out of corner on the fold. Then measure however long you want it (I usually go as long as I can, so I make my first length measurement along the selvages.), mark that down from the waist cut all along the hemline. Cut that out, then cut out your waistband. I usually make my waistband piece about 3" wide, and I usually cut it along the selvages (I know you're not supposed to, but I prefer working with it that way...). Sew up the back seam of the skirt, but leave 5-7" up at the waist for the zipper. Sew in the zipper. With right sides together, sew on the waistband piece (after interfacing it, if necessary), finish the waistband by flipping it up, rolling it inside (double it... kind of), and stitch in the ditch (top stitch on top of the seam you just did). Add a hook and eye, and hem it up! Ta-da! Not sure if all that made sense, but there you go anyway. If you had trouble following all that, I'm sure there are many great tutorials out there - some of them probably even have helpful diagrams.

You can pretty well see the stitch I used for the hem in this picture. From very start (cutting out) to the very end (hemming and adding the hook and eye), this skirt took me about 4 hours, maybe less, and I wasn't even particularly hurrying! I tell you, I love this skirt pattern! :)

2 more down!

Woohoo! 2 more sweater alterations out of the way! Again, not too creatively, but done nonetheless, and I'm happy with them. :)

6 Shirts

4 Skirts

Tally Update

Until today, I hadn't sewn at all since Wednesday. Sorta lose motivation, you know? Well, that and the fact that Thanksgiving lasted through the weekend, the Lord's Day was full, and yesterday and Monday were busy with other things, including getting over a cold. I'm going to try really hard now to stick to my 2-a-day goal. I went a long way in accomplishing that today since I successfully, if not overly creatively, conquered 2 sweaters! Which brings us to the tally:

4 Shirts

4 Skirts

Alteration/Repair Count

I worked a good bit of the day Wednesday on that stack of stuff next to the sewing machine. I knocked out 1 shirt and 4 skirts, and I'm sorta-kinda in the middle of another shirt (although I'm pretty close to just calling that one a failure...).

Just thought I'd pop by while I had a minute and create a tally! I think the total (of successful alterations or repairs is something like this:

2 Shirts
4 Skirts

My goal is kind of a 2-a-day thing on normal days, which, obviously, wasn't yesterday, and isn't today, seeing as how we're about to leave for another day with family! Gotta go!

Been a while...

Heh. No excuses really, except that I've been busy with farm work and THIS project. I've got a whole stack of projects to work on now though; I just went through my closet! Whew. It's a rather discouraging pile of alterations/adjustments/changes/re-purposes/repairs. I suppose I'll get through it somehow...

I've put this off for way too long... :-/

Brown Bear, Brown Bear - Simplicity 3955

I finally took the plunge and ordered some fleece from Fabric.com! Seemed expensive to me, but it was cheaper than Joann's, I'm sure. Anyway, I had this in mind when I ordered, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. The pattern's not the easiest to follow, and I had to take out a bunch of my seams. Of course, the mistakes were just me being brainless, but the instructions just said sew this piece to that piece - not to make sure they come out to be the different sides of the bear (make sense?... I didn't think so.). You know, that the finished product was the mirror image of the other finished product? See? ... Ummm... Like, you don't want to come out with 2 left feet, so to speak. Now you see? I hope so, 'cause I'm not sure how else to 'splain it in the short amount of time that I have.

Changes (other than the obvious color difference): I added the tan pieces in the ears and on the feet. That was pretty much it though. I didn't trim all the seams before I cut them, only the ones on the face, but I can't remember if I was even supposed to do that now... :P

Anyway, like I said, I'm please with how it came out, and extra pleased that it only took me 2 days from start to finish!!! I cut out the pattern and washed the fabric yesterday. I got as far as having the head and feet and legs done yesterday, but I did everything else today. And yes, my thumb does now have a blister from all that cutting.

Gotta go now; who knows what project will be next!

Simplicity 4087

Sorry, these pictures are horrible, but I don't want to go try to take some good ones. Blame it on the terrible camera - you'd at least be partially right, though I dare say the person behind the camera had a good bit to do with it as well. :P

Here's my version of Simplicity 4087, which the Simplicity pattern site apparently considers nonexistent. I can't find it anywhere on there, but I found it HERE instead.

Front. Yes, it's got a yoke; I didn't just randomly add trim in that shape. The yoke is not mirrored in the back. Just FYI.

Side. The zipper's on the other side.

Details, details! You know I love 'em - especially when they're productive as well as pretty. :D

Stories. Pretty much every garment I sew has one. This one is a happy story. :) After lunch yesterday, I decided I wanted to sew. As I had nothing cut out, or even remotely planned, I thought I'd better jump on that inclination. If I hadn't, there's no telling when I would have sewn. Anyway, we've had this pattern for a long time. I actually have made it before... or rather, I started it before. Mama practically did it for me - because I begged, I think. The fabric I used back then was a stretchy, gray plaid, wool-blend. It's extremely comfortable, and I love it. I've often pulled the pattern out since then and almost started it, but the thought of that last time has always haunted me. So, I continued to put it off until I finally decided to conquer my unreasonable reluctance yesterday.

This time the fabric was probably easier to work with. It's thick and not stretchy at all. Probably upholstery fabric (my usual picks from Sir's...). It's sorta like a black brocade, but not really. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it worked well, and, for me, that's all that matters. :) I'd determined to use this fabric for another church skirt. My church clothes are rather pitiful, especially my warm-weather clothes. Yeah, I know. BLACK upholstery fabric for a warm-weather skirt?!?! Well... that's me... :) Anyway, I was pretty sure I didn't have quite enough to do the whole skirt in that fabric and make it long enough, so I just planned on that from the start and found some black toile to add to the bottom for length.

I did everything according to the pattern except that I added the toile flounce, trim, and did the zipper like I do pretty much all zippers. For the flounce, I just measured the width of the bottom of the skirt's gores, the width of the toile fabric, and determined that 2 widths of toile fabric would be more than enough. Then I guesstimated how much length I would want to add, and measured 7" width across the toile fabric (folded in half, selvages together). I cut 2 of those, and gathered one on the front of the skirt, and one on the back before I'd sewn the side seams. Don't know about y'all, but I sure do prefer gathering straight strips of fabric as opposed to gathering rings of fabric.

After I got the flounce attached to the front and back panels, I sewed up the skirt just like the pattern said. I did my little trick/experiment, and sewed up the hem with a decorative stitch. At that point I was tempted to call it done. I decided that the gathered seam could use sewing down... er, up, as it were. In comes the purposeful pretty details! I dug through some of our trims and found a really long piece of trim that we've had for years. (We'd gotten it to add to a formal dress about 6 years ago, and never added it. Go. Figure.) It looked really good with the toile, so on it went. I sewed over that (just a straight stitch), which sewed down the gathered seam at the same time. Then I tried the skirt on. The trim looked a little ... odd... on there all by itself. So, on went the trim just above the yoke seam; I was then pleased enough with the product, though I wish it had pockets of some sort.

Things to note if you're thinking about making this pattern! I think it runs kind of small. I usually, almost on principle, make the smallest size a pattern comes in, waist-wise. True, this one comes with sizes smaller than most (4-12 or so, as opposed to 6- or 8-12). However, I make the size 6, and it fits me wonderfully! So, be sure to measure the yoke pattern pieces, subtracting the seam allowances, before you begin your project. Actually, that's probably a good idea to do with any project. But... I'm lazy, and only do it on the ones that strike me as seeming unusually small. :P

And there you have it. A far too lengthy post with rotten pictures as a reintroduction to sewing after far too long away from it.

I got to SEW again!

We got the sewing room usable yesterday! I was so excited; I couldn't wait to try it out! (Not to mention, I had/have TONS of projects in mind.) Mama, Claire, and I went on our annual Sir's pilgrimage a week or two ago, and, though we mainly went for (and got) fabric for new curtains throughout the house, I found some magnificent pieces for myself that I really just couldn't pass up. One of those pieces was a khaki corduroy, perfectly drab - just the way I like it. :P When I got it I had the basic idea of what I wanted to turn it into. I'd just read a post by a good friend, and fellow seamstress, who mentioned one of her staple skirt patterns, Butterick 3134. Now, I love, love, love a-line skirts, but I wanted a bit more flare. The question was... how to you add flare to an a-line corduroy skirt, and a drab one at that?!? I decided to add a flounce. I figured I'd want it longer anyway, so that was a perfect way to add length and flare at the same time! Somehow I forgot my solemn vow never to do flounces again, because of the hemming issues... Oops. Anyway, here's how my new skirt came out:

I like it a lot. :)

Before I show you a close up of the details, I have a little tip about adding to/altering pre-existing patterns: DON'T FORGET TO ADD/INCLUDE SEAM ALLOWANCES!!! I noticed that the pattern had a convenient little bit of information on the envelope which stated that the bottom width of Skirt C was 88". Wonderful! I didn't have to measure anything to get that info! Love that (don't love that the pattern didn't include a waist measurement...). Because of my fabric, and the angle I wanted, I ended up having to cut my flounce as four pieces. That's gonna be 22" wide at the top of each, right? WRONG! Or at least it should have been. It should have been 22" + 2(5/8") = 23 1/4" each. Thankfully, I realized what I'd done wrong before I'd sewn anything up, and was able to make it fit by taking the bottom of the skirt in a bit, and sewing the flounce seams a little smaller than normal. Still, seems like sloppy workmanship to me, and, when possible, I try to avoid it.

Lately I've had a thing against completely blank slates. Much to my own surprise, I've been paying much more attention to the little things, the details that give the garment a finished touch. I focused all my detailing for this skirt around the flounce. I really love the extra stitches one of our machines has. The one I used to hem the skirt kind of looks like rick-rack! I also added two rows of regular stitching above the seam line where I added the flounce. I wanted to sew down the seam allowance, and I just decided to include it in the detail work. I'm pleased with the result. :)

Crocheting

Well, howdy! I've got a sewing blog, don't I? Hmmm... The extent of the sewing I've done since we moved is just putting elastic in a skirt I bought at Goodwill. Not overly interesting, to say the least. However, this past week I've done an awful lot of crocheting (gotta do something while listening to boring lectures!). I thought that might not fall entirely out of the realm of this blog, so here are my projects:

Ummm.. Yeah. Not really sure what this one started out as, but it ended up as something that could be used as a doll dress, or perhaps an infant dress. I guess I was mostly just trying some new stitches I've never done before. Not bad for that sort of experiment. ;)

Okay, our camera is particularly awful at getting good pictures right now (and yes, I will blame the camera. This was a perfectly good picture before I hit the button!), so sorry 'bout that. Anyway, this poncho pattern is great! Two rectangles of equal length sewn together. I can do that! I think this one, and the next one, turned out rather cute too. They're about a size... the pattern says 12-24 months. I crochet pretty tightly though, so it might be somewhat smaller than that. This one looks a little lop-sided in the picture. It's not that bad, really; the black yarn I had on hand was a little lighter weight than the red I used. :)

I've got something against completely plain, at least for projects I'm in no hurry to finish. I couldn't stand this side of the poncho, so I decided to add a little flare. I like how it turned out! If you were going to name this poncho anything you wanted to, what would it be?

Here's the other side of that one.

Oh, and by the way, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y'ALL!!!

Tomboy Toddlers' Denim Jumper

Yesterday I was doing some minor repair/adjusting work on a few of my clothes. I didn't take long, so after I finished, I was dealing with some old overalls that Mama was getting rid of. I'd already taken the hardware off of them, so pretty much all that was left was the denim. I don't know about y'all, but I really can't stand getting rid of perfectly good fabric, especially if it's denim. So then I had this crazy idea: Why not make a little girls' gored skirt? I set about doing just that (terrible timing on my part; we had far too much going on for me to start an unnecessary project!). Once I'd sewn several gores together, I realized that, for the length, it was going to be pretty heavy for a little thing to keep on with only elastic. I didn't want to get into buttonholes, and all the zippers we had on hand were too long. So, I turned it into a jumper!

I was thinking of myself as a young(er) girl. I was usually tomboy, through and through. I figure I wasn't the only one out there. This jumper is for those little tomboys, and for their mothers who have to wash all their clothes. ;) It's cute in an attempt to cultivate the girl in the tomboy, but at the same time it's comfortable and hardy so as not to restrict that vigorous energy she exudes every healthy, waking moment!

Winnie the Pooh Tiered Skirt

I just love how fast these skirts are! I was able to use some of the scrap fabric from THIS outfit to create this adorable little tiered skirt.

I didn't have a pattern, and, to tell the truth, I didn't even measure anything. I just cut according to what seemed to make sense. Of course, I didn't do the elastic casing to what would make sense, but I was having a brainless moment when I did that. It works though, so all's good.

Thrifty style!

This is probably my favorite kind of style: the kind I can create inexpensively and quickly!

Yeah... I don't have a good picture of this, but I thought a post with a picture of a creation was a lot better than no post at all! This jumper was SO easy! I found the denim vest at Goodwill for somewhere around $2. The skirt fabric I had on hand from a trip to my all-time favorite fabric store, Sir's! I just cut out a couple of rectangular panels, and gathered them onto the vest. I put the two seams in front and back, so I left about 4" unsewn on the front seam. That I hemmed and put 3 snaps down. It was probably unnecessary, but it does make getting it on and off easier.

Here's the step-by-step version:

• Buy a cheap vest. Make sure you love the fit!

• Buy some fabric. I probably used 2.5 yds on my jumper, but yardage will vary depending on the desired length.

• WASH/PRE-SHRINK YOUR FABRIC!!! Always an important step. Oh, and you may want to wash your vest too!

• Cut 2-4 rectangular panels out of your fabric. (If I had this jumper to do over again, I would do 4 panels and add in-seam, side pockets!)

• Sew up all your seams EXCEPT for 4-6" on your front seam. Iron the seams open.

• Narrow hem the 4-6" you left unsewn.

• Gather your skirt to the same width of where you want to place it on your vest, and pin the skirt to the vest. COOL TIP! Zig-Zag stitch over a long piece of embroidery thread, and pull the embroidery thread for easy gathering!

• Sew your gathered skirt onto your vest. You're almost done!!!

• Try it on for size, and hem up the bottom of the skirt.

• Enjoy your thrifty, stylish, new jumper!