Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Upcycled Raglan T-Shirt

Personally I find raglan t shirts darling! I don't know what it is about them, but I just think they are so cute! I love them on boys & girls alike! I need to make Nathan some now!

This is a refashion of two of my old shirts, a tank top from Holister (the center panels) and a maternity shirt from Old Navy (the arms). Making a raglan turned out to be super easy! Just like making a normal shirt, but the "shoulder" seams were just located lower and there were two for each side! No biggie!




This is what she looked like at the end of the day!
She likes to keep up with Nathan!

Vintage Sheet Romper

I've mentioned it before I have a thing for vintage textiles. And by 'have a thing' I mean I hoard them! Like I have more then I know what to do with, yet I can't stop buying them at thrift stores and estate sales! I love 'em!  Honestly they are a useful thing to hoard though! I mean table clothes, sheets, napkins, pillow cases, hankins...all useful items for their intended purpose and hold such great potential! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Case in point. This lovely vintage sheet upcycled into an adorable vintage romper for Sydney! You know reduce, reuse, and recycle is all the rage these days. I'm just doing my part! Plus it's a million times cheaper to sew with a vintage sheet I picked up for a buck, then it is to go to the fabric store!







Minor confession time...I may or may not have purchased a romper from Old Navy just to trace it, then returned it the next day! What? I needed a pattern okay?! Enough with the chit chat, here it is the vintage sheet Romper!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Brother Serger

This Christmas I was given a SERGER! It was something I had been wanting but was (like always) to cheap to buy myself one! I recently took a class at a local sewing shop to learn the ins and outs of it, and let me just say I'm in love with it!

It has made making clothes with knits  look so much more professional and finished, it handles knits like a dream, and has been a fun learning experience! I'm still learning to do different things with it, and getting the tensions all figured out. But all in all if you are at all into garment construction, or selling your creations a serger is something I would totally recommend!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Making Sydney a Bathing Suit

The first question Alex asked me when I made this was "Why did you make her a swimsuit? Wont' she out grow it before summer?" Probably true since it came out a bit tighter then I had hoped but of well! It was a learning experience and I'm really happy with it!

First of all I've been wanting to make her a suit, but finding swimsuit material proved much harder then anticipated. But I walked into Walmart one day and right there in front of me was clearance plus sized women swimwear...are you following me? Hello 3xl booty short biniki bottoms for $3! I tossed a few colors in our cart and happily went on my way! The cashier looked at me a bit funny, but I was excited!



In usual pattern making fashion I traced a gymboree suit she already had (read about pattern making here) and set out!

The seams on the suit made it a lit difficult to get two good pieces out of one, so I left one seam as an under the boobs seam!



Sewing with the swimsuit material was actually a breeze! I was fully prepared to mess with settings and get frustrated, but it sewed up in normal setting like a dream! I made the suit itself from one biniki bottom and the ruffles were from another, the neck tie is the side ties of the original bottoms!




So now I'm on the hunt for adorable swimsuit prints so I can make her more!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Happy Marti Gras!

Looks like I'll have good luck all year long! Excuse the larger portion sizes we had to cut the whole cake into 4 pieces to insure one of us got the baby! It's gonna be a good year! Hope you had a great 3 day weekend! I've got non stop sewing posts lined up for you all week!!

Friday, February 17, 2012

American Girl Clothes

I've been sewing up some clothes for my cousins American Girl dolls as a birthday gift. I have made 2 matching skirts and one for her. Then 3 dresses. My friend let me borrow her doll as a model!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentines Projects

It's been a bit! I've been busying sewing, crafting and reading! I really am going to work on photographer projects within 24 hours of completion! So then I can blog about them! Here is a round up of all my Valentines Projects I've been working on this week and last!

Felt Heart Garland

Pottery Barn Knock Off Felt Envelopes

I 'dig' you Valentines

I 'wheelie' like you Valentines

'Orange' you glad we're friends
(oranges borrowed from the out of town neighbors tangerine tree) ;-)

Grandma we can a prefect 'pair'. Cuz grandma loves socks!

What kind of fun Valentines have you been up too?