It seems that about $50 worth of lingerie/swimsuit sewing supplies I had ordered from Sew Sassy awhile back have gone missing. I went to gather all my swimsuit supplies today, and I can't find them anywhere. This includes all my cotton-covered rubber elastic, bra hooks, molded bra cups (much nicer for my less-than-there broobs than the flimsy cups that JA sells), picot-edged lingerie elastic...you name it. I have searched everywhere I can possibly think of, and all that stuff is nowhere to be found.
I feel pretty awful. Not only is this possibly money down the drain, but I was hoping to finish a couple of suits by Monday. And, I know this sounds really batty-sewing-lady crazy, but I feel emotionally attached to pretty much all of my sewing related items, so like...I miss them. These beautiful, feminine pretty things went bye-bye, and, well, sniff. *boohoo*
Okay, taking a deep breath here. This is truly not the end of the world, and--hello--some people have real problems.
I think I will just put off the swimsuit sewing for a couple months or so. If our move in June doesn't magically unearth these supplies, I will re-assess and re-order from Sew Sassy then.
As for Monday, I suppose I will just have to make an emergency swimsuit run. UGH.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Owls
Okay, apparently my cousin is the fastest person to read my blog, ever, because I posted last night that I had forgotten to take pictures, and this morning I had them in my inbox! Yay! So now I can share these with y'all.
Pattern: Emmaline Apron by Sew Liberated
Fabric: It's a Hoot for the Alexander Henry Collection in cotton canvas for the main print. The straps are from one of Heidi Grace's quilting cotton collections for Joann's. The potholders have Insul-Bright sandwiched inside.
The owl print is in slightly muted colors, so I really flip-flopped on what color/print I wanted to go with it. I eventually settled on this print because the line-drawn circles made me think of knotty owl-holes in a tree, and because my cousin has green eyes. Both prints sewed up beautifully and were a joy to work with.
I didn't use a pattern for these potholders, but instead traced around a circle shape we had in the house. My sewing steps were as follows:
1. Fuse square of owl fabric to same size square of Heat n' Bond. Cut out owl shape with paper backing still on. Remove paper backing. Fuse owl shape to fabric circle.
2. Sandwich Insul-Bright circle between a plain circle and an owl-fused circle, wrong sides facing in. Serge or baste around the outside. (Hindsight being 20/20, I think I would do this part by hand next time.)
3. Top stitch around the outer edge of the Owl. I used a straight stitch to keep the drawing nice and crisp.
4. Cut 2" wide bias strips to make double-fold bias tape that is 1/2" wide. I use a Clover bias tape maker for this, but it's not necessary. Or you can use pre-made double-fold bias tape.
5. Shape bias tape around the circle with your iron, leaving a tail at the end to make a hanging loop.
6. Sew the bias tape around the circle. I use my left-edge top stitching foot for bias tape, which makes it a lot less painful. When you get to the tail, sew it over the beginning of your bias tape, and then swing it upward and continue stitching for a few inches or so.
7. Loop the tail down behind the potholder and experiment until it looks right. On the top side of the potholder, stitch back and forth over that section of the bias tape to hold the loop in place. When you're done, flip the potholder back over and trim the bias tape a little below your stitching.
Voila!
------
I also sewed up a couple quick tank tops for my little girl cousins out of some owl knits I had in my scrap box.
Pattern: Ottobre tank top from the 4/2004 issue.
Fabric: Gray waffle knit from Sewzannes, white Mis-Tee-V-Us interlock from co-op. Brown rib knit from Joanns.
I thought the tanks were a little plain on their own, so I added a pocket to the gray one, and a faux placket to the white one. I used my coverstitch machine to top stitch the bindings, and I'm just loving my new clear foot! It makes bindings soooo much easier.
K, that's it for now. Hopefully I will have some swimsuit sewing to show next!
Pattern: Emmaline Apron by Sew Liberated
Fabric: It's a Hoot for the Alexander Henry Collection in cotton canvas for the main print. The straps are from one of Heidi Grace's quilting cotton collections for Joann's. The potholders have Insul-Bright sandwiched inside.
The owl print is in slightly muted colors, so I really flip-flopped on what color/print I wanted to go with it. I eventually settled on this print because the line-drawn circles made me think of knotty owl-holes in a tree, and because my cousin has green eyes. Both prints sewed up beautifully and were a joy to work with.I didn't use a pattern for these potholders, but instead traced around a circle shape we had in the house. My sewing steps were as follows:
1. Fuse square of owl fabric to same size square of Heat n' Bond. Cut out owl shape with paper backing still on. Remove paper backing. Fuse owl shape to fabric circle.
2. Sandwich Insul-Bright circle between a plain circle and an owl-fused circle, wrong sides facing in. Serge or baste around the outside. (Hindsight being 20/20, I think I would do this part by hand next time.)
3. Top stitch around the outer edge of the Owl. I used a straight stitch to keep the drawing nice and crisp.
4. Cut 2" wide bias strips to make double-fold bias tape that is 1/2" wide. I use a Clover bias tape maker for this, but it's not necessary. Or you can use pre-made double-fold bias tape.
5. Shape bias tape around the circle with your iron, leaving a tail at the end to make a hanging loop.
6. Sew the bias tape around the circle. I use my left-edge top stitching foot for bias tape, which makes it a lot less painful. When you get to the tail, sew it over the beginning of your bias tape, and then swing it upward and continue stitching for a few inches or so.
7. Loop the tail down behind the potholder and experiment until it looks right. On the top side of the potholder, stitch back and forth over that section of the bias tape to hold the loop in place. When you're done, flip the potholder back over and trim the bias tape a little below your stitching.
Voila!
------
I also sewed up a couple quick tank tops for my little girl cousins out of some owl knits I had in my scrap box.
Pattern: Ottobre tank top from the 4/2004 issue.
Fabric: Gray waffle knit from Sewzannes, white Mis-Tee-V-Us interlock from co-op. Brown rib knit from Joanns.
I thought the tanks were a little plain on their own, so I added a pocket to the gray one, and a faux placket to the white one. I used my coverstitch machine to top stitch the bindings, and I'm just loving my new clear foot! It makes bindings soooo much easier.K, that's it for now. Hopefully I will have some swimsuit sewing to show next!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Hung Up
Things have been a little crazy lately, so I haven't had as much time to sew as I'd like. I did get the chance last week to make some owl stuff (an apron, potholders, and a couple tank tops) for my owl-loving cousin Erin, but darned if I forget to get pictures, ack! Maybe she will be sweet and take some for me?? *wink wink*?
Right now I'm torn between 2 different projects:
1. A patchwork skirt from my Urban Chiks Summer in the City charm pack. I've actually already started it, but I had to switch out all my thread/needles for several other projects, and I haven't gotten back around to finishing it.
2. My Kwik Sew ruffle front swimsuit. We are going to an annual pool party for Memorial Day, and I was thinking I might want to finish my swimsuit by then. Unfortunately I will have to re-thread all three of my machines, trace and cut my fabric, and then, y'know, actually sew the dang thing. For some reason I am really dragging my feet on this project. I think I'm just not in the swimsuit mode, and sewing for myself is not my first choice these days. It's just a lot easier to sew and fit things for my DD, so that's what I tend to gravitate towards.
Hmm. Well, hopefully I will get a chance to get some sewing in tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I really don't want to be stuck without a bathing suit on Monday, so I will probably have to make that a priority. Sigh.
Right now I'm torn between 2 different projects:
1. A patchwork skirt from my Urban Chiks Summer in the City charm pack. I've actually already started it, but I had to switch out all my thread/needles for several other projects, and I haven't gotten back around to finishing it.
2. My Kwik Sew ruffle front swimsuit. We are going to an annual pool party for Memorial Day, and I was thinking I might want to finish my swimsuit by then. Unfortunately I will have to re-thread all three of my machines, trace and cut my fabric, and then, y'know, actually sew the dang thing. For some reason I am really dragging my feet on this project. I think I'm just not in the swimsuit mode, and sewing for myself is not my first choice these days. It's just a lot easier to sew and fit things for my DD, so that's what I tend to gravitate towards.
Hmm. Well, hopefully I will get a chance to get some sewing in tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I really don't want to be stuck without a bathing suit on Monday, so I will probably have to make that a priority. Sigh.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Alice in Wonderland T-shirt Dress
Another trip to Disneyland, which of course requires a last-minute outfit. DD loves these t-shirt dresses, as they are super twirly and fun, yet comfortable. She calls them her "cozy dress-up dresses."
Pattern: None. It's, er, basically a bunch of gathered tiers attached to a t-shirt. My tiers, including 1/4" seam allowances, were approximately:
Tier One: 4" x 42"
Tier Two: 5 1/2" x 84" (two 42" strips sewn together along their short ends). Ruffle strip = 3" x 84")
Tier Three: 3" x 168" ( four 42" strips sewn together along their short ends).
For the t-shirt bodice I:
-cut open the side seams
-cut off the sleeves
-gathered the sleeves along armhole edge
-re-sewed the sleeves to the armholes
-sewed the t-shirt side seams
-hemmed the exposed armhole edges (with my sewing machine)
and lastly, I:
-cut off a suitable amount from the bottom of the t-shirt before I attached it to the skirt. For this dress I had to cut off some of Alice's skirt on the graphic. I was unsure how that would look, but the dress was waaaaaaaaaay too long otherwise, and it wouldn't fit over DD's bum. In the end I think it doesn't matter that the graphic isn't "whole". It looks fine.
Fabric: Alice in Wonderland graphic tee, various sparkly and printed quilting cottons. I got the tee and fabrics from WalMart the other day while I was waiting for the garage guys to change my oil. Hey, I was kid-free and stuck in a store with a fabric department. You better believe some sort of sewing project would emerge from that scenario!
The skirt is so full that this dress doesn't look the greatest lying flat. Not a problem. I think that's one of beauties of home-sewn clothes--we don't have to make them look good on a hanger. Ready to wear manufacturers make all sorts of adjustments so that their clothes will look good flat. Those adjustments don't necessarily translate into good fit or wearability. I know I'm talking about casual play wear here, but still. The dress looks better on a human model, as it should.
I really love how the cap sleeves turned out. Because I used a larger shirt size than usual for dress though, the armholes did end up a little big. I think that makes them nice and cool for Summer though, so no biggie.
I happened to have this sparkly, multicolored wooly nylon thread on hand, so I decided to use it in my upper serger looper for the rolled hem. I got the thread on a whim when it was on clearance at Joann's a long time ago. I have often stared at it since and thought, "what was I thinking? When would I ever swirly black for something?!" But then it matched the Alice lettering perfectly, so there ya go.
Because I gathered each tier at a 2:1 ratio, the skirt is pretty much a full circle. Every little girl's dream, right?? If only DD could twirl properly. She does, like, 2 turns, gets dizzy, and stops. :p~
I wish I would've had some wide, black velvet ribbon on hand, because I would have done a real Alice headband. Alas, I only had red, so I hot glued a quick bow to another one of DD's inexpensive headbands. It looks okay, but I still want to do the black velvet one eventually.
We had a wonderful time at Disneyland, and by chance, we actually ran into Alice and the Mad Hatter! I can't seem to get the photo of that off my phone though, so I will have to add it later. Alice was super excited when she saw the dress, and pointed out, "oh! And there's Dinah on it, too! I have to tell her, she will be so proud!"
Next up I need to finish a charm-pack skirt & tank set for DD!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Anna Maria Horner sundress
I've decided to try this new thing where I start my post with a picture. That way you don't have to read through all my wordy crap before you know just what the heck it is that I've made this time. (That's sort of how my mom asks me what I'm making: "Leah, what are you making now?" As if I'm stirring up trouble for the umpteenth time, sigh. I know she doesn't mean to come off that way; she just can't help it. She's a sigh-y mom.)
I managed to finish up the Anna Maria Horner dress I was planning in my last post. That's right; I planned something and then actually sewed that exact item, according to plan, in a timely manner. Who knew. I completed it in time for Mother's Day yesterday, and then we had some sort of freaky wind storm thingee that made me freeze my a__ off at church while futilely pulling my sweater around me--fate is always on my side! Then my sister told me that I look like a little kid in the dress, mainly because it accentuates my chestless state. I dunno. I asked DH for his opinion, and he replied by running down the hall away from me. Such is the life of a youngest, I suppose.
*I* love the dress. So there. :p~~~~~
Pattern: Anna Maria Horner Evening Empire Dress. View A, above knee length with straps. Complete honesty: I like my dresses short, so I cut, like 4" off the pattern length. If you do not like your dresses short, this pattern will be plenty long enough for you as is.
Fabric: Very lightweight cotton print from Joanns. I got this fabric off the quilting wall, but it seems much more apparel-y than that. It is truly beautiful, and I really enjoyed looking at it the whole time I worked with it (shouldn't this be true for every sewing project?). I lined the skirt section with a thin cotton jersey.
See? It is not maternity looking, IMO. Even though it has an empire waistline, the lightweight fabric combined with the stretchy jersey lining makes it fall nice and flat.
The topstitching voice won on this dress. Because of the simple lines, I just thought it looked a little more professional with a nicely topstitched bodice & straps.
I cut the jersey skirt lining at least 15"-20" smaller around than the outer skirt to reduce bulk. I noticed on the pattern envelope that the skirt section can look a little puffy, so I really wanted to avoid that. Rather than hand gather it, I just pushed and tucked it under my presser foot as I sewed it to the bodice. Lazy sewing, that's me.
Topstitch-ed-ness. I use my left-edge topstitching foot for a great deal of my topstitching, bindings, and hems. The foot is not necessary, but it has pretty much changed my life. I can sew a straight line of topstitching, but the special foot makes it go a lot quicker and stress-free. For topstitching the straps and other fabric edges, I like to use my clear seam guide foot. I don't think that's really what it's for, but the increased presser foot area makes my fabric feed a lot better than a standard A or B foot.(Side note: I typed "foot" so many times in that paragraph that all of a sudden it doesn't look like a word anymore. Damn you, weird English language!)
I used a pretty green invisible zipper from my stash. Don't you just love an unexpected colored zipper? It makes me happy.Hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day!
Friday, May 7, 2010
New Kwik Sew patterns!
I admit that I am a pattern junkie. I'm not a snob, I love them all. I subscribe to every major and minor pattern manufacturer's email updates: McCall's, Vogue, Butterick, Simplicity, New Look, Kwik Sew, Hot Patterns, Jalie, you name it. I stalk European pattern magazine websites like a hawk. Any time I get a whiff of new patterns (which is quite often, when you think about it), I pop on over to the appropriate website and click with breathlessness. Ah, new patterns; so full of promise and imaginary sewing.
Recently Kwik Sew released their Summer 2010 catalogue, and well, LOVE. I found so many that caught my eye, I just had to pick up a couple on a recent Yardage Town trip. Now, I have to mention that I am a very lucky sewer in the Kwik Sew department. I can get them at my local Yardage Town for a whopping 40% off, every day. Yes, that's right, whichever never-go-on-sale, not -available-very-many-places Kwik Sew pattern that I want is instantly available to me at a ridiculous discount on any given day of the week. Thank you, sewing gods.
Here are the two I picked out:
I want to make several of these tank tops to go over my leggings this Summer. This pattern happens to be drafted for woven fabrics, and I hope make view A out of a really floaty, champagne-colored silk I bought a while back. Kwik Sew also released a very similar pattern for knit fabrics, but I told myself that I don't need two patterns for basically the same thing. I will just adapt this one for knits and get more use out of it.
I was attracted to this bathing suit pattern, as it's becoming that time of year again (ugh) where I have to take my kids to the beach/swimming pool and feel like a pale, dumpy mom while surrounded by hot young things in do-me bikinis. Yay. My favorite season. I know, I know. I have an arguably slim figure and should not complain. But the fact is that people who look tan and hot and pre-childbirth in bikinis make everyone else feel bad, regardless of your size/shape. And I live in SoCal, where they seem to grow beautiful skinny girls on trees. With my pre-kneaded bread dough tummy and negative A-cup floppy breasts, looking cute in a swimsuit is a little bit more of a tall order than it used to be. So, I am planning to make view B in a pretty teal print and sew supportive bra cups into the bodice. How awesome does that shirring look for concealing mommy gush? Already I'm feeling better.
I also picked up this super-cute skull print. I am always looking out for girly, dare I say sweet? skull prints, so I was really excited to find this. I'm thinking jammies for presents, and possibly some for DD as well:
In other news, I'm working on a project for me out of this gaaaahgeous light, cotton print from Joanns. See, Joanns has cute, quality stuff sometimes! Never count that store out. This fabric came out of my mom's crappy agitator washer with hardly any wrinkles, and feels lovely. I got it off the quilting cotton wall for, like, $4 a yard on sale. I'm sewing up view A of Anna Maria Horner's Evening Empire Dress, the knee-length version with straps. Maybe I will start to like Summer more if I have some cute dresses? Eh, at least they might make it a little more bearable.
FYI, I don't hate Summer only because of bathing suits, I just plain don't like to be hot. And our Summer here lasts for-ev-er. Like, into November. Gimme Spring, or gimme Fall, but don't give me unending 80+ degree days.
Up next, hopefully I will show off this dress!
Recently Kwik Sew released their Summer 2010 catalogue, and well, LOVE. I found so many that caught my eye, I just had to pick up a couple on a recent Yardage Town trip. Now, I have to mention that I am a very lucky sewer in the Kwik Sew department. I can get them at my local Yardage Town for a whopping 40% off, every day. Yes, that's right, whichever never-go-on-sale, not -available-very-many-places Kwik Sew pattern that I want is instantly available to me at a ridiculous discount on any given day of the week. Thank you, sewing gods.
Here are the two I picked out:
I want to make several of these tank tops to go over my leggings this Summer. This pattern happens to be drafted for woven fabrics, and I hope make view A out of a really floaty, champagne-colored silk I bought a while back. Kwik Sew also released a very similar pattern for knit fabrics, but I told myself that I don't need two patterns for basically the same thing. I will just adapt this one for knits and get more use out of it.I was attracted to this bathing suit pattern, as it's becoming that time of year again (ugh) where I have to take my kids to the beach/swimming pool and feel like a pale, dumpy mom while surrounded by hot young things in do-me bikinis. Yay. My favorite season. I know, I know. I have an arguably slim figure and should not complain. But the fact is that people who look tan and hot and pre-childbirth in bikinis make everyone else feel bad, regardless of your size/shape. And I live in SoCal, where they seem to grow beautiful skinny girls on trees. With my pre-kneaded bread dough tummy and negative A-cup floppy breasts, looking cute in a swimsuit is a little bit more of a tall order than it used to be. So, I am planning to make view B in a pretty teal print and sew supportive bra cups into the bodice. How awesome does that shirring look for concealing mommy gush? Already I'm feeling better.
I also picked up this super-cute skull print. I am always looking out for girly, dare I say sweet? skull prints, so I was really excited to find this. I'm thinking jammies for presents, and possibly some for DD as well:
In other news, I'm working on a project for me out of this gaaaahgeous light, cotton print from Joanns. See, Joanns has cute, quality stuff sometimes! Never count that store out. This fabric came out of my mom's crappy agitator washer with hardly any wrinkles, and feels lovely. I got it off the quilting cotton wall for, like, $4 a yard on sale. I'm sewing up view A of Anna Maria Horner's Evening Empire Dress, the knee-length version with straps. Maybe I will start to like Summer more if I have some cute dresses? Eh, at least they might make it a little more bearable.
FYI, I don't hate Summer only because of bathing suits, I just plain don't like to be hot. And our Summer here lasts for-ev-er. Like, into November. Gimme Spring, or gimme Fall, but don't give me unending 80+ degree days.
Up next, hopefully I will show off this dress!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Pop Garden Scrap Skirt & Nina
Lately I have been looking at my massive amounts of scraps and feeling overwhelmed. I use fabric for a project, and what am I left with? Oddly shaped bits that are not big enough for one project, but big enough that they take up what meager closet/shelf space that I have. This irritates me, because just when I think, yay, I am sewing up my fabric! Looka me! Clearing off space! Then boom! I fold or wad up the scraps and oftentimes it looks like I didn't even use anything! Grr. What to do? Hello, it's not like I am going to quilt with with them. I am not cut out for any kind of sewing that requires patience. So, I have decided to a) use up what I can in creative ways, b) give away a bunch, and last but not least, c) hoard anything that stumps me . (<--I am scared how much this might actually encompass.) Here is one of my first scrap projects: a strippy skirt (inspired by the Pink Fig Girly Stripwork Skirt pattern that my cousin Erin just got) combined with a sweet, coordinating peasant top.
Pattern(s):
-Skirt: Based on the Hopscotch Skirt tutorial by Eva, available from the Sewing Mamas website. This tutorial is free; you just have to register on the site in order to download it. I highly recommend this tutorial--it is excellent. I took the measurements for the skirt and fiddled with them a little to get my strippy skirt. I sewed together enough 4" x 9.5" strips along their long side until it matched the length of the bottom skirt section. I then cut the bottom skirt section as two full widths of 43" fabric sewn together x 3.5". Other than that I followed the instructions exactly.
-Top: Modkid Nina with short sleeves. Like all the Modkid patterns I have used, this one is simple and straightforward, with wonderful instructions. This is a great basic peasant top with a slightly different look, so cute.
Fabric: Leftover scraps of Pop Garden by Heather Bailey from this project. Top is made from genuine swiss dot cotton lawn & various trim scraps I had on hand. This was my first time sewing with swiss dot, and I did not find it tricky. Although it is a thinner fabric, it behaved just as perfectly as any quilting cotton I've worked with. All fabrics are from Fabric.com.
This swiss dot is pretty thin. I underlined the bodice front and back with some batiste I had on hand to make it a little more opaque. I waited to attach the placket until I had both layers sewed together. I didn't think the swiss dot would have enough body to support the placket otherwise. Then I sewed on my trims. When I sew on my trims I use Steam a Seam Lite, which I get at Joanns. I fuse it to my ribbons or what have you, peel off the paper backing, then fuse the trims to my fabric. When I move over to my sewing machine, I can stitch everything on with no fear as everything is already stuck down. Soooo much easier than pins!
You can see the skirt turned out pretty full. This is exactly how wide the Hopscotch Skirt will turn out if you follow the directions to the letter. I did not make mine any wider; I just changed the proportions of the tiers.
Gotta have the little tag in the back. This time I used a little bit of leftover bias tape from my scraps. I had to make sure everything on this skirt was a scrap. :)
Against my better laziness, I decided to topstitch every joining seam for the strips. I admit, despite my lazy sewing rap, I am a chronic topstitcher. I am always telling myself, "Leah, you DO NOT need to topstitch everything." And I don't, I truly don't. Sometimes the topstitching naggy voice inside my head wins, sometimes it doesn't. At any rate, since I serged all these strips together, I knew the seams would not be strong enough to withstand normal child-wear unless I topstitched. And so I obeyed the voice. It honestly didn't take more than 20 minutes, and I think it was right anyway. :)
Up next, do you think I might get some cute Summer wear for myself? Oh sewing mojo, don't fail me...
Pattern(s):
-Skirt: Based on the Hopscotch Skirt tutorial by Eva, available from the Sewing Mamas website. This tutorial is free; you just have to register on the site in order to download it. I highly recommend this tutorial--it is excellent. I took the measurements for the skirt and fiddled with them a little to get my strippy skirt. I sewed together enough 4" x 9.5" strips along their long side until it matched the length of the bottom skirt section. I then cut the bottom skirt section as two full widths of 43" fabric sewn together x 3.5". Other than that I followed the instructions exactly.
-Top: Modkid Nina with short sleeves. Like all the Modkid patterns I have used, this one is simple and straightforward, with wonderful instructions. This is a great basic peasant top with a slightly different look, so cute.
Fabric: Leftover scraps of Pop Garden by Heather Bailey from this project. Top is made from genuine swiss dot cotton lawn & various trim scraps I had on hand. This was my first time sewing with swiss dot, and I did not find it tricky. Although it is a thinner fabric, it behaved just as perfectly as any quilting cotton I've worked with. All fabrics are from Fabric.com.
This swiss dot is pretty thin. I underlined the bodice front and back with some batiste I had on hand to make it a little more opaque. I waited to attach the placket until I had both layers sewed together. I didn't think the swiss dot would have enough body to support the placket otherwise. Then I sewed on my trims. When I sew on my trims I use Steam a Seam Lite, which I get at Joanns. I fuse it to my ribbons or what have you, peel off the paper backing, then fuse the trims to my fabric. When I move over to my sewing machine, I can stitch everything on with no fear as everything is already stuck down. Soooo much easier than pins!
You can see the skirt turned out pretty full. This is exactly how wide the Hopscotch Skirt will turn out if you follow the directions to the letter. I did not make mine any wider; I just changed the proportions of the tiers.
Gotta have the little tag in the back. This time I used a little bit of leftover bias tape from my scraps. I had to make sure everything on this skirt was a scrap. :)
Against my better laziness, I decided to topstitch every joining seam for the strips. I admit, despite my lazy sewing rap, I am a chronic topstitcher. I am always telling myself, "Leah, you DO NOT need to topstitch everything." And I don't, I truly don't. Sometimes the topstitching naggy voice inside my head wins, sometimes it doesn't. At any rate, since I serged all these strips together, I knew the seams would not be strong enough to withstand normal child-wear unless I topstitched. And so I obeyed the voice. It honestly didn't take more than 20 minutes, and I think it was right anyway. :)
Up next, do you think I might get some cute Summer wear for myself? Oh sewing mojo, don't fail me...
Modkid + Mouse?
I have had this project sewn up for a while, just haven't gotten around to posting it. It's a Cinderella-ish inspired Summer sundress set for DD. A few weeks ago a local private school put on a high school production of Cinderella, so of course, I had to make sure I finished this in time for her to wear it! Once I got it done, I reflected that it looks a little more Alice or village Belle, but whatevs. She can make it whatever she wants based on the accessories, I think.
Side note: I have mentioned that we are Disneyland annual passholders, and I love for DD to wear something themed whenever we go. Her favorite thing to wear is--hello!--a princess dress. Except. It is freakin' hot there a lot of the times we go, and I just can't stick her in a bunch of non-breathable polyester *shudder*. So, a few months ago I found this awesome blog by the Scientific Seamstress with tutorials for comfy princess dresses, not to mention her cool Flickr group AND this amaaaaazing Disboutiquers Flickr group. Ahhhh, the mind boggles with inspiration! My is filled with images of comfortable, cool, D-inspired dresses for DD. And so this project (and hopefully more...) was born!
Pattern: Modkid Ava. It's actually a halter top and skirt. I think the pintucks suggest layer-y princess skirts.
Fabric: Pretty Please by Jennifer Paginelli and Fairy Frost by Michael Miller.
She had to wear the gloves. Essential for every princess.
These fabulous "glass slipper" jellies are from Old Navy. It just goes to show you how much princess *I* have on the brain that my immediate thought when I saw them was, "I must get these in yellow for Belle and blue for Cinderella."
A closer look at the pintucks. I was a little leary of these at first, but honestly, they were super easy. I love the Modkid directions, because everything Patty Young has you do is so simple and straightforward. Once I got all my tucks ironed in, I think it took me about 15 minutes of sewing time, total, to sew them all in the skirt and top. I also sewed assembly line style, as I do for most things, so that helped as well.
I always sew some sort of ribbon or tag in the back of my kids' clothes so that the non-sewing inclined can figure out which is what. For this tag, I cut a little crown motif out of some princess fabric I already have, folded in the edges, and pressed them down with lots of heat and steam. I love working with cotton because it can take some serious pressing, and for some reason I get a lot of satisfaction when I make fabric bend to my will.
Again, these bodice pintucks look tricky, but they were actually very simple and easy to put in. Check out my centered flower! I am not always the best at lining things up, so I'm so pleased with this flower.
More Summery girl clothing to follow!
Side note: I have mentioned that we are Disneyland annual passholders, and I love for DD to wear something themed whenever we go. Her favorite thing to wear is--hello!--a princess dress. Except. It is freakin' hot there a lot of the times we go, and I just can't stick her in a bunch of non-breathable polyester *shudder*. So, a few months ago I found this awesome blog by the Scientific Seamstress with tutorials for comfy princess dresses, not to mention her cool Flickr group AND this amaaaaazing Disboutiquers Flickr group. Ahhhh, the mind boggles with inspiration! My is filled with images of comfortable, cool, D-inspired dresses for DD. And so this project (and hopefully more...) was born!
Pattern: Modkid Ava. It's actually a halter top and skirt. I think the pintucks suggest layer-y princess skirts.
Fabric: Pretty Please by Jennifer Paginelli and Fairy Frost by Michael Miller.
She had to wear the gloves. Essential for every princess.
These fabulous "glass slipper" jellies are from Old Navy. It just goes to show you how much princess *I* have on the brain that my immediate thought when I saw them was, "I must get these in yellow for Belle and blue for Cinderella."
A closer look at the pintucks. I was a little leary of these at first, but honestly, they were super easy. I love the Modkid directions, because everything Patty Young has you do is so simple and straightforward. Once I got all my tucks ironed in, I think it took me about 15 minutes of sewing time, total, to sew them all in the skirt and top. I also sewed assembly line style, as I do for most things, so that helped as well.
I always sew some sort of ribbon or tag in the back of my kids' clothes so that the non-sewing inclined can figure out which is what. For this tag, I cut a little crown motif out of some princess fabric I already have, folded in the edges, and pressed them down with lots of heat and steam. I love working with cotton because it can take some serious pressing, and for some reason I get a lot of satisfaction when I make fabric bend to my will.
Again, these bodice pintucks look tricky, but they were actually very simple and easy to put in. Check out my centered flower! I am not always the best at lining things up, so I'm so pleased with this flower.
More Summery girl clothing to follow!
Bon Voyage Emmaline
I am happy to report that I have successfully been sewing up my gobs of Bon Voyage fabric, just like I said I would. This is cause for celebration, because my sewing plans change constantly, and my whims can easily push a "must do!!" project out 6 months just like *that*.
This time I have made an apron for myself, which I am very proud of. Aprons are one of those utilitarian items that I love to make for other people, but I can just never bring myself to make for me. So this is definitely an accomplishment.
Pattern: Emmaline apron by Sew Liberated. It's lined! Excuse to use up more of this fabric! Annoying if you want to purchase new fabric for it!
Fabric: Bon Voyage fabric by Timeless Treasures. Pink bikes, pink Paris print, brown dots, and brown birds for trim.
I think this pattern would be flattering on lots of girls with, er, *girls* because of the nice bust gathers goin' on. As I don't have much of a chest, it just conceals the area, which is good. So basically, it's good for both the well- and anti-endowed.
Look, Ma! It's reversible! You can see the wind whipping it out a little bit. The skirt section is nice and wide, so it has great coverage and, again, is suitable for all shapes and sizes.
Yay, reversible topstitched goodness!
I accidentally centered the Eiffel Tower on this, go fig. I didn't have enough fabric to be super picky, but as fate would have it, it worked out. I am not one of those super anal matchy-matchy matchers (too impatient and lazy!), but I do try to line things up when I can.
P.S. My bodice is not crooked, but my picture is. Sewing skillz = adequate, photography skillz = suckage w/no patience to learn. C'est la vie!
I still have at least one more project out of this fabric, as well as some scrappy ideas for all the leftover odd bits, so stay tuned!
This time I have made an apron for myself, which I am very proud of. Aprons are one of those utilitarian items that I love to make for other people, but I can just never bring myself to make for me. So this is definitely an accomplishment.
Pattern: Emmaline apron by Sew Liberated. It's lined! Excuse to use up more of this fabric! Annoying if you want to purchase new fabric for it!
Fabric: Bon Voyage fabric by Timeless Treasures. Pink bikes, pink Paris print, brown dots, and brown birds for trim.
I think this pattern would be flattering on lots of girls with, er, *girls* because of the nice bust gathers goin' on. As I don't have much of a chest, it just conceals the area, which is good. So basically, it's good for both the well- and anti-endowed.
Look, Ma! It's reversible! You can see the wind whipping it out a little bit. The skirt section is nice and wide, so it has great coverage and, again, is suitable for all shapes and sizes.
Yay, reversible topstitched goodness!
I accidentally centered the Eiffel Tower on this, go fig. I didn't have enough fabric to be super picky, but as fate would have it, it worked out. I am not one of those super anal matchy-matchy matchers (too impatient and lazy!), but I do try to line things up when I can.P.S. My bodice is not crooked, but my picture is. Sewing skillz = adequate, photography skillz = suckage w/no patience to learn. C'est la vie!
I still have at least one more project out of this fabric, as well as some scrappy ideas for all the leftover odd bits, so stay tuned!
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