Veda's Blessing Dress - And Some Tips

As promised...I'm actually posting!! HOORAY!!

In our church, we bless our babies within a few months after they were born. It makes their membership on our church records official, and we're able to hear a wonderful blessing with it. It's similar to a Christening.

Veda was blessed in church the first week of September, and I was able to make her a little dress. I didn't make a tutorial for it, but I have listed some helpful tips when making a dress with no pattern, to let you know how I go about it, almost everytime I make something.

It was pretty simple, though it was my first major project in awhile, so I was a little intimidated. It felt good to spend a day at the sewing machine, and reap the reward of my labors!

 I went for a vintage feel with this dress. I was thrilled when someone at church asked me if the dress was handed down from a great grandmother or something. I said no, but that that was sure the look I was going for!

P.S. Our Camera is on the fritz...so sorry we have to take less-than-amazing pictures for a little bit (not that they were awesome before, but now they're "phone-quality")

The edge of the mesh fabric over top on the bottom is scalloped

Now for some TIPS!

1. When figuring out what you want to make ALWAYS draw it out exactly how you want it. Make notes as to where you want it to hit in the waist, length, and sleeves. Put all the little details on it.

2. Whenever doing laundary, shopping, etc. notice the way clothing is made. Study the lines, techniques, how they finish hems, where gathers are made, and how they are attached. This helps me to figure out how I'm going to accomplish a particular design.

3. Use clothing you already have as patterns. Always, ALWAYS use like fabric. If you are making something with a knit, use a knit as your pattern. That wasy you know the pattern you are using was made to stretch. If you are using a woven fabric in your project, use a woven as your pattern. That way, you know that the pattern wasn't made to stretch.

4. Always remember when tracing clothing to remember to add room for the hem.

5. Always reinforce hems. If you don't have a serger, use a zig zag stitch. Sometimes I like to use a faux-serge reinforcement, which I achieve by sewing another straight line next to the original (on th inside, toward the edge), then I do a really tall and close together zig zag stitch. Then I cut off any fabric that extends beyond the zig zag, so the zig zag is right at the edge. At first sight, it sort of looks like you used a serger!

6. When sewing with lace or mesh, without anything behind it, use toilet paper underneath as an interfacing, of sorts. You can then rip it off, and soak it in water, and the rest will dissolve out.

7. Arms and sleeves can always be tricky, so measure, and measure again! Look at lots of sleeves of different clothes you have and memorize how they are attached and shaped.

8. If you flop the first couple of times...KEEP TRYING!! You will only learn more and more the more you do, and you will then become that much more familiar with how clothing should be sewn. I can't even tell you how many pieces that I was excited about ended up in the trash. But - I'm always extra careful about those mistakes now!

New Maternity Clothes, Please! Stretch Pants

"Sometimes, when you are a man...you wear stretchy pants...in your room...it's for fun."

I was able to get this project finished before the big move, which has been nice because I've been able to enjoy these bad boys most of my pregnancy.

This was a pretty easy alteration, and pretty straight forward. Truth is, I miss stretchy pants from the 80's, and had been wanting to get my hands on some for awhile. Then, while spending countless hours on my miserable back during the first + trimester of pregnancy, the thought occured to me... why not alter some black stretchy workpants from my first pregnancy??? Though my pregnant brain was fried with hormones and I forgot to take pictures before and during the process, I have conveniently illustrated as best I can the process for alteration. This process would work for altering flare jeans into skinny jeans as well, but make sure you use heavy duty needles and thread!

Here is a representation of what the pants looked like before: just your standard black, stretchy maternity workpants. Convenient, but plain.

The first thing you want to do is to turn them inside out and put them on. Decide how tight or loose you want them.

After you have a feel for where you want parts taken in, pin the pants in a vertical pattern so it creates an outline of where you want to sew. Remember, you should still have your pants on.

Take your pants off carefully, I think I got stuck a few times in this process, but I did rush it. If you're not home alone, it might be a good idea to replace them with another pair of pants.

Sew along the pin line, removing pins as you go, so you can sew in the exact area of the pins. Reinforce your hem to your preferrence.

Do this for both sides, and cut the excess fabric off as close to the reinforced seam as close as you are comfortable with.

Turn pants back right-side out, and you've got yourself some genuine 80's stretchy pants to comfort your growing body (or regular body) during pregnancy!

This isn't supposed to be a belly shot, but sometimes I like to emphasize that it is actually a baby there, and that I'm not just a super-sized Sarah in a mu-mu.

And isn't it kind of nice to focus on something on your body that isn't quadrupling in size?? Well, I guess at least from the knees down...

Shawnte's Baby Gift #3

And finally, here is the last of the gifts that I made for Shawnte's new baby girl...like 3 months ago now. Man, what is wrong with me???

This is was what took up most of my time with the gift. It was a dress I decided to make for baby Demi. I remember not having very many dresses that would fit Sienna when she was first born, so I wanted to make a dress she could wear to church in her early months.

I didn't use a pattern for this, but used Sienna's baby blessing dress as a guide for size and shape.

It took awhile, and I definitely ran into some bumps, but in the end it turned out alright, and Shawnte' loved it, so that's what matters, right?

*On a funny little side note, when Shawnte' pulled this gift out, and found out that I made it, she exclaimed, "I seriously thought you bought this from a store!" Though no presents were being passed around, she insited on passing it around, and when it got to someone that was there that I've known for awhile, this person was overheard to say, "Umm, you can totally tell it's homemade." Duh! That's because it IS! That's the point! I just laugh about it. Goofball.

Smocked Dress for Emily

I made this little dress for my friend Lyndee's little girl Emily for her first birthday. For instructions on how to smock your own fabric (an easy way to do it, I should say, not THE only way), refer to my first post on Sienna's smocked dress (not the 4th of July one).

Fall Apparel: Knit Strips Scarf

I've seen a lot of those scarves lately that are basically a bunch of strips of knit fabric bound up into one scarf/necklace. I thought they were really cute and I wanted one, but of course I didn't just want to buy one...I knew I could make it!

It's super easy...all you need is an old t-shirt you aren't wearing anymore!! (and of course altering supplies such as scissors, sewing machine and thread)

Here's my old t-shirt. It was in my highscool- "I'm-a-punk-rocker-and-like-all-black" phase.

I just cut off the top so I had the straight trunk of the shirt left.

From there I cut the strips. I cut them about 3/4 - 1 inch in width

And there they are.

I stretched them out a little at this point so the rolled into themselves a bit.

And there they are... again.

Now figure out how long you want them to hang down. Put them around your neck to see how far they go. decided how much of the length you want to take off, if any. If you do want to take some length off, then bunch them together, and make one big cut in a single line, then trim the ends to however long you decided you wanted them.

 Now you're ready to sew. Make sure that the ends are rolled up before you sew each one down. This ensures they stay rolled after they're sewn into place.

Sew them one at a time, one right after the other.

 Repeat for other side. This is what it looks like when you're finished with this part.

Now, with it laying flat, as pictured above, loosely roll it up a little on each sewn end, so it it looks like a tube, and matches the picture below.

Once you have a straight tube of sorts, take just one of the ends, and twist it once or twice, depending on how twisted you want it. See below. I twisted it once.

Join ends together now, keeping all your rolling and twisting in place in your hands until you reach the sewing machine. Sew the ends together.

Now all you need to do is to make a little covering to go over the ends that you sewed together. I just used a block of fabric from the sleeve of the same t-shirt. I didn't take pictures of me attaching the strip on, but just cut it as wide as you think you need it to cover up the ends, and sew it around the scarf. You can then hand stitch it in place so it doesn't travel down the scarf.



This is what it looks like attached.

And then you are finished! Here she is!

Fall Apparel: Victorian Collar Scarf

This is another one of my "Fall apparel" Projects. Please don't ask me how I did it...I don't remember! Well, I'm half kidding, if you really want a tutorial on this, I will post one, I just didn't really pay attention to what I was doing as I was making it...I just sort of...did it! I can tell you though, that I used the shell stitch, and to get the ruffle, I did a scalloped-edge border, then 2 dc in every stitch on top of that. The lace is two pieces of lace gathered, and sewn to the scarf.

I love the ruffley look of the turn-of-the century Victorian period. Since scarves are really the thing right now, I wondered if making a Victorian collar of sorts would be cute. I was really pleased with the outcome, and it's really warm too, so it will keep me warm when it starts getting a little colder!



Fall Apparel: Collared Shrug

 You may have noticed that on list of "Projects on my Plate" that I have listed Fall Apparel. Fall is my favorite time of year for shopping. I love the transitional styles. I love the jackets, and love that you don't have to wear a heavy coat over everything yet. I also love the rich tones that you see in fall clothing, and love that you can wear so many styles and layers. I think I have also just gotten used to going "back to school" shopping over the years, that I just naturally tend to look for new clothes evey fall. As August came upon us, I was starting to think about what I wanted for the upcoming season, but shortly after, realized that our budget would be limited this fall due to Josten graduating and having to pay for moving out expenses and really expensive uniforms that he has to buy when he comissions in December. We also have 2 weddings in Utah (10-12 hours away) to budget for, so needless to say, a fall wardrobe wasn't exactly on the priority list. Since I still get that fall itch, I decided that I would, in fact, get a new wardrobe. I would refashion things, trim up things, alter things, and make things so that I would have an array of "new" clothing, to feel like I have something exciting to wear!

There will be several more of these post, but here is one of my first projects...the collard shrug. I made this using some old fabric that my mom had stashed from her mom in their basement for years. I think I wrote that confusing, but bottom line---It had been around awhile, and I got it for free. I used a shrug that I had had before that I wasn't too fond of the fabric on for a makeshift pattern. I also made some alterations to the back, because I didn't like the back all that well. I was pretty excited with how it turned out, especially not using a concrete pattern. I used a hook-eye combo for the connector on the top (also retrieved from my grandma's stash).

The Apron

Some of you may have noticed that I've had an apron on the to-do list at the top of my blog for quite some time now. It was never really a priority, so it just kept getting pushed aside for the last year and some. This is the apron I wanted to re-create. I saw it and LOVED it:



Well, I was recently given the perfect excuse to re-create this apron when one of my closest friends from highschool sent the invitation for her bridal shower. I'll probably eventually make one for myself too, but it's just not at the top of my to-do list right now.

Anyway, I didn't take as many pictures for this as I had first intended to do, but hopefully I can make it straight-forward enough to help you out, if you decide you want to make this.

First, you need to take maesurments. Take measurments from where you want the top to hit, to where you want it to hit near your knee. You'll also need a measurement of how wide you want it, which I got by measuring from just behind my left hip to just behind my right hip. This will be your widest measurement.

Once you have those 2 measurements, cut a rectangle of the 2 measurements (example, if the hieght measurement was 30 and the hip-to-hip measurement was 28, you'll cut out a rectangle that is 30"X28")

Once you've got your rectangle, you need to fold it in half length-wise and shape it like an apron. I don't have any exact formula for you for this part, but if you just look at the picture, I'm sure you can make it work.



So now you open it up, and you've got your apron shape. Now you need to hem the edges.

Next, you're going to cut another rectangle, but a much smaller one for the front pocket. This is just whatever your preference is. I made mine larger, and sewed down the middle to make 2 compartments. I ironed the edges in, and only sewed the hem on the top SEPERATELY, then I put it on the apron and sewed the other sides to the apron (the sewing to the apron becomes the sewing for the hem too.)



The next part is the neck strap. These are pretty easy and straight-forward. you just sew 2 strips about 2 inches thick, and attach them to the top corners of the apron. They only need to be long enough to tie a bow in the back.

Next was the trim for the bottom. The one in the picture uses pleats, but I decided to do a basic ruffle. For that, I measured twice the length of the curved bottom part of the apron, and cut a 3 1/2 to 4 inch thick strip that was the measured length. I hemmed it all up, then along the top, I adjust my sewing machiene to the highest tension and the highest stitch length, and sewed a straight line right through to the end, and came out with a ruffle.

I then sewed the ruffle to the bottom.

Next are the ties for the back. I originally wanted to do them longer, like the orignal picture, but I ran out of that material, so I had to make due with what I had. The ties that I did are both 45" long, and about 3 1/2 inches thick. You sew them up (which I did by just measuring 7 inches thick, and folding it in half then sewing one side, and turning it inside out and ironing flat), then sew them to the top of the bottom portion of the apron.

Now just cut all your threads and you're ready to get cookin' you cute little homemaker, you!

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!

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: