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:

More Spring Clothes

So, I know that I made the girls Easter dresses, but then I saw this tutorial on Freshly Picked that was just like those dresses at Target that I have not been buying since I was sure that I could make them. I used some of the Easter Fabric that was used for those change purses.  And it turned out like...

 this, and...

this. 

Amelia's was so short though that it stuck straight out in the back.  I ended up adding another layer just so her modesty would not be offended.

The picture above was so blurry that I thought Amelia needed another photo to show off her cuteness. So...

Here she is modeling her sister's hat.  And since A got a cute pic then so should Sophia. 

 

I have been wanting to show off her blue hair anyway.  It matched her bunny.

I also made myself some pants using the shorts pattern. 

It worked quite well even though I had to fudge on the bottom hem and do something like bias tape or they would have been too small. I think that they will be nice for spring and summer since the cotton is so thin. 

The only bummer about all these new clothes is that they wrinkle very badly after being washed and dried.  I have been meaning to mention that.  It is ok since I always have my ironing board out in the sewing room, but man, it makes those store bought clothes all the better.

A Spring Wardrobe

Well, as you may remember, blogs are wonderful things. This time I say that because my blog seems to have some psychological effect on me. After posting my entry about my dress and being intimidated about it, I finished it in the next couple of days. That is the second time it has happened like that. There is something about expressing your fears, in this case blogging about them, that allows you to get over them. Very strange and powerful.

The dress

turned out okay. I am pleased with it for several reasons.

1. I can actually wear it. This is my second dress, but it is the first one I will wear. The first one ended up looking like a hospital gown and I ended up cutting it off and using it as a skirt.

2. It contains a lot of firsts. My first sleeves (for me), collar, and button placket. I think they all turned out pretty good.

Things I still need to work on and change:

1. I need to remember to add pockets. I know that can mess with the style of some clothes, but with this dress it would have been fine. I could have added them in the seam and since it is quite loose at the hips (due to #2 below) it would have allowed me to carry tissues or little toys. I always say that the clothing industry is trying to keep women down by either not adding pockets or making them so small that nothing can fit in them. Do you realize what an advantage men have over us by being able to carry around their most needed supplies in their pockets? It is a conspiracy, I say!

2. I really need to figure out how to size myself. I am even contemplating making one of those duct tape dress forms of myself. Hubby is ready! We watched the videos the other night and it is amazing how happy men can get just thinking about using duct tape. I tried to fix my sizing on this dress by taking in the waist at the sides, but it caused it to lie a bit oddly at the hips. I could have added darts, but I thought that odd also since it has gathering at the top back. I don’t think darts and gathers belong on the same dress. However, since my knowledge of garment making is quite limited, I could be wrong.

So, I finished my dress. I also repurposed two of my old shirts for Easter dresses for the girls.

I like them lots, but neither girl seems thrilled. They will wear them anyway for at least that one day! I am thinking of having them wear leggings and leaving the dresses open after the third button so that the under skirts show more. I made the extra ladybug under skirts because I thought the shirts were a little thin for dresses.  I also thought it tied in well with the red buttons and ladybug ruffles.

After the dresses, I started on shorts. I made two pairs of shorts last year, but to be honest, I sort of wimped out and made them like pajama bottoms – no zipper, just drawstring. They are not the type of shorts I would buy at a store. Well, during one of those sales I am so fond of, I bought a pattern for “real” shorts. I have now made two pairs (the second one from one of hubby’s old shirts) and I love them. They DO look like shorts I would have bought. Yay!

They also have some of the problems store bought clothes have. The first pair is just a bit tight around the hips and gapes a little in the back. Story of my life! (FYI while trying on the shorts to take this photo, I decided they were not too tight, just too low.  I don't know if it was just another day or if washing them loosened them.)

I tried to make the second pair a bit bigger in two ways. I wanted a little more room in the hips and I wanted the waist to be higher. For those who know me that is strange, but these were really low waisted. I added an inch to the crotch area to raise up the waistband. I also tried to add a bit of fabric on the side of the front section of the shorts to make them roomier. Unfortunately, with the way the pockets are inserted, I needed to have increased the size of them and I didn’t realize that until construction. I ended up cutting off the extra fabric and just decreasing the seam allowance from 5/8” to ½”. It WORKED!

I am super thrilled with my progress in garment sewing, but I’m sort of projectless now that I don’t need anymore dresses or shorts. I may have to start on tops soon. I need to use some of my Easter fabric for the girls, but hate making things that I know won’t be worn more than once or twice. Suggestions for my next project are welcome (as long as they don’t involve stuffed animals. Sophia gives that suggestion every other day!)

Come on Spring!

Intimidated…

I am supposed to be working on a dress for me (Simplicity 2885).

 I got to the point of buying the pattern (yay Joann’s 5 for $5 sales!!). I measured myself. Yuck! I cut out the pattern pieces. Then I got scared. I really hate sewing garments. I never seem to get them quite right. I think it has to do with my fear of making things too small and my desire to make things quickly. I also want to use a brown with pink, green, and white dots material, but I am not sure if it is appropriate. So I was stalled…

Then, out of the blue, I decided that I needed to make Easter gifts for Sophia’s class. I had bought this cute little change purse in Hot Springs, NC over New Year’s.

 This was the weekend my parents took the kids (Gott sei Dank!!) and hubby and I went to NC with my sister and hubby and Gina and hubby. It was the first time the six of us were together without kids in SIX years. We love each other lots. We enjoy each other’s company so much, but the kids have put a bit of a damper on our wild and crazy ways! So, my sister set up this weekend in honor of her FIFTEENTH wedding anniversary. Oh my! She got the grandparents to take charge of children. She begged couples to come. It was so nice. We should have sent her flowers. We didn’t. She is family. One never thanks family properly.

The point: while in NC I saw these cute little change purses made by some local sewer. At first I just said, “How cute. I will have to try that when I get home.” Then I felt some sort of need to support people who do such cute things and bought one for SIXTEEN dollars. I thought that a bit steep, but “support, support” went through my head. After I got home, it was a big hit since I had chosen the frog (Sophia’s current favorite). The sewer had sewn so many cute appliques to choose from it was hard to make a wrong decision. Anyway, I got to the cutting of the dress fabric and I…thought it was best if I made Sophia’s class change purses reminiscent of her new frog purse. Logical, right?

I have been tempted to repurpose some of my old clothing partly due to guilt of my need to buy fabric and partly due to all of these blogs that show just the cutest transformations.  So, I finally took some scissors to an old denim skirt of mine.  I used that skirt, some Easter fabric, and then scraps from my ever increasing scrap collection.  The only thing that actually cost anything was the thread, the velcro, and my time.  Since it was procrastinated time (such a thing?) I don't count it!  Thirteen change purses later, I am quite pleased with myself.  There are different insides for each and I tried to make the boys manly.

Each one has a letter on the front representing first names.  I used a straight stitch to try something new and to save thread.

While making the change purses, I was also inspired by my Sewing Circle Friends to make something for Sophia’s Go Texan Day. For you non-Texans, perhaps non-Houstonians, Go Texan Day is a day when the kids wear western clothing celebrating our past and our Rodeo present. Sophia’s is next Thursday. I decided to finally tackle one of the true repurposing projects-transforming adult clothing into children's. I used one of my old t-shirts that had just gotten too short, too tight, too old. I did this for two reasons: first, I have been unable to find plain, long sleeve t-shirts for the girls and our weather has been too erratic to assume she can wear short-sleeves next week (Crazy for us!). Secondly, I have been reading for MONTHS about these type of projects, and honestly, have just been too afraid to try. This pushed me into it.

I knew that a cute bandanna skirt would have been the best option. You know the ones, like these. It is easy and cheap and sooo cute with a LONG SLEEVE WHITE T-SHIRT. Wait, I couldn’t find one of those AND S HATES skirts. I think she might be growing out of this, but this was no time to really test my theory. So, instead, I bought a blue bandanna and went to work on the old t-shirt.  Like most first tries, it is not perfect. But, all-in-all, I like my first woman’s tee to child’s dress repurpose project. I might even try another. I might even embellish this one a bit more with a bandanna ruffle on the end of each sleeve (covering up the fact that I made the sleeves a bit too long ;) )

So, here I am. It has been several weeks now since I cut out those pattern pieces for my dress. I have almost run out of excuse projects. I might actually have to cut fabric and give it a go. I am still intimidated….Hey wait, don’t I have to make Easter dresses and perhaps even Easter PJ’s (yes, I did buy a lot of Easter fabric last year on clearance right after I started sewing)? We shall see…