Spring Top Week

You know what?  It has been over a year since I took that sewing class.  It has been over a year since I started this blog.  I am so psyched about what I can do and about what I see others doing!!

Part of that is Spring Top Week by Made by Rae.  Rae's Ruffled Top was a new entry last year on Sew Mama Sew when I had first started sewing.  I soooo wanted to try it, but I didn't have the confidence to start sewing for myself until August.  Even then, I didn't do it often.  It is just so much easier to sew for kids: less fabric, faster results, a real need for those growing kids.  Finally, I started sewing for myself about two months ago and after a few successes, I so wanted to take part in Rae's Top Week.  It is like coming full circle.

I have tried for a month to figure out what top I should make.  I wear t-shirts.  I mean, I ONLY wear t-shirts.  I only wanted to make a shirt if it was wearable.  I only have two non-t-shirt shirts that I like to wear.  I thought about trying to replicate one of those (the one that is NOT a button down shirt), but let's face it, that is a bit intimidating in itself even after my latest success with Sophia's dress.  Then I thought about how that shirt was similar to the Ruffled Top.  Even though, it is probably "so last year" (must be said with a snotty teenager voice), I thought it worth doing.  So, I jumped up Saturday and started measuring and sewing.  I am pretty pleased with the outcome.  I especially appreciated the pockets that will keep little toys and tissues for the kids!

The fabrics are from my stash (the one that rocks!)  I used to say that I would never wear clothes that match my kids.  I have found in the last several weeks that indeed I will due to the stash.  I mean, 3 yards of each fabric will get something for me, for S, for A, and perhaps, for someone else.  I can not say that I am sorry about that!

So, here is to Top Week.  Here is to improvement and growth!

Having a Stash Rocks!

So, did I tell you about that crazy shopping spree at JoAnn's Fabric a month or so ago? 

Well, let's just say I am not allowed back and honestly, I should not need to go except for detail items like buttons.  I also have several items from my closet in the sewing room just waiting to be repurposed.  One such item was a floor length jean skirt.  I had finally chopped it up for use in my second quilt (no, the first quilt is not complete.  The class has 2 more weeks to go.  After that I plan on being a speed demon!)  The skirt had a nice waist area that formed a triangle in front and back that I preserved for use in a skirt for the girls.  I added the waist to some of the fabric I had bought during my spree and brought home thinking, "What in the world am I going to make with this?"  It ended up looking like this for Amelia...

I like it lots.  I also got to try out a peasant blouse/dress tutorial that my sewing circle friends informed me of.  I had been looking for one for a while.  You can find it and lots of other cool stuff at indietutes.  It is amazing to me that my friends always find new stuff on the web.  I feel like I spend soooooo much time surfing that I should have found it all by now, but apparently not.  We should just have a surfing circle so that we can see all the cool stuff that each one of us finds. 

I then tackled a replica of one of Sophia's Old Navy dresses that she had last summer.  It is just too small now.  I still need to add some details (pockets, embellishment on the top yoke) and get her to wear it, but other than that it is finished.  I am pretty happy with it, although I think I need to work on the attachment at the bottom of the yoke.  I bet there is a "way" to do it, but I don't know of it.  I just forced it to work. 

The cool thing about the dress and A's skirt is that I used elastic just in the back.  I had been wanting to try this and it seems to have worked fine on both items.  It helps give the outfits a less homemade look without having to deal with those pesky zippers and button plackets. 

I might be off to work on a shirt for me.  I so wanted to take part in Made by Rae's Top Week, but I only have 5 more days to get the shirt done and I don't even know what shirt I want to make.  Yikes!  Off to sew!

At least one of them will wear it...

I haven't been blogging much because I am taking a quilting class and progress is ssssslllllloooowwww.  I did want to share A wearing one her Easter dresses though.  She looked so cute yesterday with her purse and keys ready to go, go, go!

Then she got distracted by the Glee trailer I was watching on Hulu.  Oh, a girl after my own heart!

A New World

A new world full of jeans that fit.  What a dream.  Well, the dream has come to my home.  Thanks to this tutorial from Freshly Picked (yep, the same wonderful blogger who supplied me with the elastic waist skirt tutorial.)  I had several pairs of jeans that just did not fit.  I had been fortunate enough to lose weight after Amelia turned one (yep, it takes me that long to lose all my baby weight.  yep, I know that I am lucky to lose all my baby weight.) A couple of jeans had been on the big size before pregnancy #2 and one I had bought about 5 months after A was born.  Well, the ones that were already big were really too big.  Finally on Tuesday, as I was taking S to school in the biggest of the big, I had had enough.  I mean, I was showing everything.  I came home, put A to bed and started ripping the seams.  An hour and a half later, I had jeans that I could wear without being embarrassed.  It was amazing.  It was the first time in a long while that I HAD to show someone what I had done. 

Two pairs and several days later, I have realized that this is why I learned to sew.  The joy that comes with being able to produce something tangible is so wonderful.  Yay sewing!!  It doesn't hurt that this is the first time that I got a real financial benefit from it. Jeans are expensive.  The time it takes to find jeans that really fit is also a cost.  With this tutorial, I saved both.  Honestly, it took a lot of time and flashing to get to the point of trying this tutorial.  I am not fearless, but I am happy! 

I wish I would have taken before pictures, but I was too intent on the results.  So, here they are: