Easy Banded Top for Me

A few weeks ago I came across some gray knit fabric at Joann's and thought I could use it to make a new top (which I have been wanting to do all summer, but keep finding other things to make instead). Anyway, I spent an evening with my sewing machine and came up with this! 

Basically, I just traced another shirt I already own on top of the fabric, then cut and sewed up the sides. 

My sleeves ended up being longer than I wanted. So I cut them. I didn't bother with a hem. I did, however, fold over the neckline to neaten that up a wee bit.

For the band at the bottom, I used two strips of leftover fabric from this skirt and made the band about an inch or so less wide than the bottom of the top, sewing the raw edges together.

Not bad for an evening's work. And it has already seen a few uses, which is good because I have found that, for some reason, I make things for myself, hang them up, and then forget about them. Like this skirt - I never wear it (probably the last time I had it on was for those post photos. Oops.). 

Do you ever make something simply because it's fun to MAKE -- I mean, the challenge is fun, but maybe the end product is not something you really needed (or wanted)? I have done this more than once, for sure.

But I do wear this striped top that I entered in Rae's Spring Top Sewalong quite a bit, and that's why I made this new gray one, as a sort of scaled-down version (band vs. ruffled sides, raw-edged sleeves vs. tailored sleeves). The structure is basically the same.

Well, here's to making useful (and easy) garments! Wa-hoo!

Thrift Skirt Re-Fashion

This is one of those moments for me when I feel like I actually made something useful! As in, something that I will actually wear, on a regular basis. Yay!

At the last minute, I bought this skirt at the thrift store (I actually put it down, left, and came back for it. Crazy, I know). It was $4.49 and I have a weakness for jean skirts, especially founcy summery ones like this. So I bought it. But when I got home, I realized it was a tad short. As in, I-wouldn't-want-to-bend-the-wrong-way uncomfortable. And that's when it hit me - I'll put some of this sewing that I do to good use!

So I pulled out some orange/blue flowery fabric that I got at a yard sale a few weeks ago (also seen in this skirt). I did two long pieces for the bottom strip (front and back) and then hemmed the bottom when I was done. I then made a pocket pattern of my own. I sewed two pieces with wrong sides together, then turned and topstitched each pocket in place. Then I finished by pressing all the seams. 

 Though the pockets aren't huge, they can hold coins or dandelions, and what's more, they pull the whole thing together with the bottom band. I ended up wearing my skirt to the playground for a community picnic over the weekend and it worked out. I felt comfortable in my new skirt!

Easy fix for something that was very close to being stuffed in the back of a drawer for eternity!

Little Ruffle Skirt

 This was fun to make. And relatively quick. Got it done during naptime -- and I am NOT a fast sewer/seamstress. 
So, really, it was quick.

I found this ruffle fabric at Joann's a couple weeks ago. Could not believe it. I loved it immediately. I have been ogling it and trying to decide exactly what I would do with it. But, I think, all along I knew I was going to make a little skirt.

I followed Dana's Simple Skirt tutorial and, because this is ruffle fabric that is stretchy-knit, it didn't need to be hemmed (sigh). All I had to do was measure, cut, and insert the elastic. Oh, and I made a little label too. I love the finishing touches. (But I didn't get around to pressing the--one--seam for these photos. Lazy.)

Still trying my best with another uncomplicated piece of clothing for Kids Clothes Week Challenge!

Ruched Mama Top

This week, I finished another top for Rae's Spring Top Sewalong. I'm calling it The Ruched Mama Top.

 This is more of a play top, one to wear with jeans or shorts to the playground. With your kids. When you want to be comfortable and casual.

I used Dana's 90-Minute Shirt Tutorial to make this out of lightweight jersey knit, and black interlock fabric. So it's got that Onesie look at the top -- you know, easy on, easy off over a big head.

But, to give it a more girly (and less t-shirty) look, I ruched the sides. I love ruching.

 Good shirt to play in.

And spin and spin and spin in...

 

 

Have a great day!

Easter Outfit ~ Happy Day!

 This morning was a lot of fun. What with waking up to the Easter baskets, eating raspberry pancakes, hunting for eggs. And, oh yeah, dressing up my daughter in her new outfit!! hehe I truly enjoyed this part. I was thrilled to see that The Audrey Cape and Circle Skirt fit. (whew!)

 Photo credit Sara C.

 

 Heading out.

I had visions of her twirling around in the grass WITHOUT her winter coat, but, unfortunately,

 it was freezing out this morning. Never mind the icy cold wind on top of the low 40s temperature.

 But overall, a fun morning. The kids didn't mind about the weather. They just wanted candy!!

Glad the little girl's outfit was made of wool! :)

I'm also entering this outfit into Project Run and Play's Week 1 sewing contest where you had to remix Dana's Circle Skirt. Since this outfit essentially has two circle skirts in it (the cape is a skirt after all), I thought it might have a shot. Wish me luck!

Also linking up with these parties: 
Mommy By Day...Crafter By Night
Sugar Bee Crafts
Funky Polka Dot Giraffe

The Audrey Cape Outfit

I am practically giddy with my latest sewing projects. I am soooo happy with how The Audrey Cape turned out!

 I followed the tutorial found at Simple Simon and Co. for this rather easy project. But what I love about it is that it looks more complicated than it was. (Or at least, I think it does.) I found this purplish-pink wool at Joann's (50% off this week!) and the silky liner (clearance shelf!) and put the the two together to make this cape. I made the button too.

 It has such a vintage look to it, hence the name. I don't imagine my mom would enjoy being called vintage, but this is something that I imagine she might've worn when she was a little school girl. It just has that look to it.

Here's a look inside at the lining.

 And since the cape is made just like a circle skirt, I decided to make one of those too out of my remaining wool. I followed Dana's circle skirt tutorial at MADE.

 Since it's been cooler around here for the last week or so, I figured this outfit, paired with some thick white tights and mary jane stride rites would look great for Easter mass. And egg hunting.

I cannot WAIT to put my little girl in these tomorrow morning!!!

Linking up here:

Our Creative Spaces
Tatertots & Jello

Flirty Friday Top

 Woo-hoo! After a week of cold weather and overcast skies, we finally got a little sunshine this morning to head outside for a fun photo shoot. You'd never know that our two little kids were picking up rocks and chucking them off the patio in the background.

Here's my second entry for Rae's Spring Top Sewalong: 

The Flirty Friday Top

The top is made from Tuxedo Pin Dot Cascading Ruffle Fabric. I loosely followed this dress pattern (same fabric!), but added a black band at the top (with some extra finishing touches), rather than doing an elastic casing. I cut the top on the slim side, imagining I'd wear this out for a Girls' Night and wanting to feel a little less momish (that a word?) for an evening.

 

 In the back, I closed the top using a fancy button and a hairband. You might also be able to see that I sewed in about 4 inches of back ruffle to allow for some expansion in the upper portion of this top (since I wasn't using elastic at all). Inside, I also sewed a hook and eye closure to make sure the band stayed neatly closed.

 I was having so much fun feeling pretty and getting photographed (while praying my kids didn't break a window), that I didn't want to acknowledge the fact that immediately following the photo shoot we were going grocery shopping. Blah. Well, hopefully, I can enjoy this top not only at the Stop & Shop, but on a Friday night--at a lovelier establishment--in the near future as well.

Target Hoodie Knock-off

OK, writing that title cracked me up! Who does Target knock-offs?? 

Well, me.

 I bought this lavender hoodie (below) from Target about two years ago and I LOVE it. It was probably ten bucks or something like that. But I have worn it so much, I WISH I bought two or three of them when I had the chance.

Why is it so awesome, you ask? Because it's soft, stretchy, and soooo comfy to wear with jeans. It's thin and not bulky and adds just an extra layer when needed.

Well, I decided, after reading about pattern making, that I should try making my own clothes. I picked the one item that I loved so much and wanted to replicate. The Target Hoodie.

 Here's my hoodie below. It was a a lot harder to do than I expected. But the challenge of figuring it out was exciting. I made my hoodie a little longer in the length and in the arms because that's the perk of designing your own clothes -- you get it just the way you want it. And I also added a lace/ribbon trim, mainly because I needed to conceal some problems in the process. As a result of some mistakes, I've got a little pleating going on on the chest, but I think it looks fine.

 Here's a close-up of my cuff and pockets. I think the cuffs turned out well, but there are clearly some things I would've liked to look better on the pocket. But heck, when it's on, I don't think anyone will be looking that closely.

 And here's a shot of the back with the wide hood. Overall, I like how it turned out and I'm hoping it holds up! I zig-zagged all my seams (I don't have a Serger - yet). So we'll see. But I'm happy that it's now in the rotation! My Target hoodie will be happy to have a break....haha

Linking up here:
Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
Mommy By Day...Crafter By Night
Sugar Bee Crafts
Tatertots & Jello
Our Creative Spaces

Clothing Labels I Made

 Hello! So this is my next step in the labeling process. I really love the idea of labeling the creations I make -- if only for my own sense of accomplishment -- but I cringe at the idea of shelling out a lot of money and then maybe never using them (gasp!). The labels up above in my header were down by Sweetwater Labels and are very nice, but not exactly cheap ($2.00/ea). I have been thinking about doing Spoonflower, but I'm not sure if I have the right program on my computer to do a really cool looking label...so I have put off figuring that one out. What I'm going with right now is me-made labels. I did these with transfer paper I bought at AC Moore. You just type up what you want to print, "reverse" it before printing, and then iron it on some fabric.

 Here are my labels for my Maxi Skirt and my Houndstooth Skirt before I sewed them in.

 I think they look pretty good!

 And here's a shot of the inside of the Maxi Skirt.

Not bad, right? Has anyone else had luck with doing their own labels? Any advice to give me??

Linking up here: Tatertots & Jello

The Maxi Skirt

 I did it! Yay! 

I finished my Maxi Skirt and I wore it out this past weekend. I kept waiting for some random person to say, Hey, where'd you get that beautiful skirt? But, alas, no one did. Maybe next time. But it did feel VERY good to be wearing something that I worked so hard on. And it felt right. I mean, it fit exactly the way I wanted it too. (How many times can one say that about anything?)

 I followed the tutorial on Elle Apparel and after my first skirt, this one came together a lot easier. However, I did make a couple changes. First, I made the bottom of the skirt less wide (by about 10", I think).

Secondly, my husband had an opinion. 

Before hemming the bottom of it, I tried on the skirt and my husband said it looked good, but would look better with a slit. We had a short conversation about the height of said slit and whether or not I should do one on each side, and then I got my seam ripper and started taking out the stitches on one side. How's this, hubby? Higher. Well, ok. A few more stitches out and I was done. Done with that part of the business. 
I still had to hem the thing. Including slit.

First I used white thread up and down the slit (didn't take out the thread I had in the machine. And it looked bad. Very bad.). So back to the ripping. I ended up using black thread and stitched two parallel lines all the way around after doing a ziz-zag stitch to keep it from fraying. Voila! It looked much better.

 A note on this fabric. It's VERY stretchy and kind of on the thin side. The wrinkles in the pictures I didn't notice in person. It's also a denim-ish type color. I didn't love it when I bought this fabric, but faced with very few stretchy knit choices at my Joann's, I went with it. And, after transforming the 1.5yds. into a skirt, I think I love it now!
Linking up here:
Sugar Bee Crafts
Today's Creative Blog 
Tea Rose Home 
Mommy By Day Crafter By Night 
Rae Gun Ramblings