Projects on My Plate

  • Veda's Birthday Party
  • Sienna's Birthday Party
  • Sienna's Pencil Skirt
  • Pencil Skirt
  • Wardrobe re-do
  • Floral Skirt for Mommy
  • Breck's Bedding
  • Sienna and Veda's Bedding
  • Apron

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Shout Out to Other Bloggin' Gals

This is just kind of my "Thank You" note to all those bloggin' gals who have been so sweet in the last month or so.

First of all, Thank you to Mique form 30 Handmade Days for the Shabby Apple Dress giveaway! I got it in the mail a couple of weeks ago and LOVE it!

Second, Thank you Kelsee from Pumpkin Pie Crafts for your Apron giveaway! She made this beautiful apron (pictured below), and I won it! She also made the flower pin, but I decided to stick it on my necklace for the picture! If you haven't been to her blog, stop by and wish her a happy belated birthday, she just had one! Plus, she makes really cool things, while being a wife, and mom of two!


(Sorry this picture is kind of funny, sometimes I get awkward when I'm the only one being photographed...hence the funky right foot)

Third, Thank you Disney at Ruffles and Stuff for featuring my Anthropologie inspired dress! It was such a pleasant surprise! She has an amazing blog as well, so be sure to check it out!

And Last but certainly not least, thank you to all you of who found my blog through Ruffles and Stuff (or anywhere else) and left such nice comments and became followers! You guys are great, and I was so touched to recieve such support!

You guys are the BEST!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sienna's Valance


I finished this awhile ago, but hadn't taken a picture, because I kept spacing it. Basically, You cut and hem two pieces of fabric that are 1 1/2 to 2 times the length of the window. For the height of the peices, cut one about 3 inches taller than the other. Once all hemmed, sew them together with two different lines that are about 2 inches apart, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches on the top for the ruffle.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Copy Cat Design/Another Refashion

Does anyone else remember the Favorite Tee from the Gap? They may still have it, I don't know, but it used to be the biggest wardrobe essential before Down East Basics came up with the Wonder Tee. They were just basic, crew cut tees in long sleeves and short sleeves, and different colors. They lost their steam when The Wonder Tee came out with a more up to date neckline and body length. That's about when I lost my steam with them too, having a need for a longer tee shirt to fit my afore mentioned large frame.
That didn't change the fact that I had literally a dozen of them, just laying around, waiting to be worn.
Around the same time I was pondering what to do with these shirts, I was looking around at one of my favorite idea stores (I say idea store because I can't afford to shop there, so I just get "ideas" from it), Anthropologie, and was noticing their cute little dresses, that were just so basic, yet chic and comfortable. It was this one that really caught my eye:

It was then that a little light bulb went off, and I realized i could make a sleeved version of this dress with one of my "Favorite Tees". I had a different idea for the top, however, because I wanted to save this beautiful circle ruffle for another top. Here's what I did to re-create this lovely piece:

First, I cut the trunk of the shirt across where I wanted it to hit.

I then, used the bottom that I cut off to cut 4 2 inch thick strips. (It doesn't really matter how thick, just as big as you want your ruffles.) I then took them to the sewing machiene, where I adjusted the tension on the machiene to the highest tension, and the stitch length to the longest length. I then only had to sew one straight line on the edge, and it came out like this:

I then sewed each ruffle to the top half of the shirt, starting with the bottom ruffle. This is how it turned out once finished with that part:

Next I found another "Favorite Tee" that I had used the trunk of to make the gaucho pants I posted about earlier. I used just one of the sleeves for the mid section, evening out the width before sewing it on.

Later, after this next picture was already taken, I decided to put vertical gathers in it every 4 inches or so. I did this by attaching elastic that was cut about an inch shorter than the width of the band, and stretching it out as I sewed down the width of the black section.

After that, I found some material that I thought would look cute with it, and cut it to the length I wanted, leaving the width the same as it had come. I hemmed up the bottom, then I measure the right size of elastic to fit around the t-shirt at the open end. I attached this elastic to the top by using the same method for the gathers above. Then I folded it in half with the wrong side facing out. I sewed the sides together, then turned right-side out again. I then attached the skirt to the top, and was just about done when I decided I wanted just a little more flare. I found this tutorial for fabric flowers, and took some black satin to make it, and I sewed on the pearl beads after I was done. I also hot-glued felt to the back to kind of seal it all in, then I attached it to a pin.

The finished product:

Just add some black skinny jeans and some pumps, and your ready to go!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Re-Fashioning Again...Skirt

I love pencil skirts. They are so sleek and classy, and can go with virtually anything. I've had the hardest time buying one. Not a whole lot of places sell the type that I like, that is, one that is a dressier skirt, rather than having zipper, button, etc. on the front like jeans. Anyway, even when I would find the dressier kind, they'd be too short, meant to hit above the knee, which of course in itself is not what I want, but it also means that it hits my 6'1" frame mid-thigh.

Well, I finally found this beauty and snatched it up. It hit me just above the knee, but that was the best I could find. So I decided to dress it up AND lengthen it by adding some pretty trim.

Now of course, since I had EXACTLY what I wanted for the trim in mind BEFORE actually shopping for trim, nothing met up to my vision. So I made the trim myself.

I made it using black satin. First, I measured how much I would need. For this kind of trim, you need 3 X the length of the measurment of whatever you are trimming. I cut the strip 4 1/2 inches wide. I then hemmed the strip, then pleated it by ironing folds into it. After ironing, I sewed the top of the strip to keep it in place. All I did after that, was treat it like normal trim and sew it to the skirt! Pretty fun and simple!



This one is so you can see the fold/iron pattern:

Diaper Stacker

If you want a tutorial for this stacker, refer to my previous "T-Shirt Stacker" post for a link. I did the same thing with this one as I did for the first, except it's smaller (for diapers) and I put bows on the top to attch it rather than a hanger.


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