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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Get out your pom-poms

Or.....as my daughter calls them, "bom-boms."

So, my sewing machine has gotten a bit of action lately. Unfortunately, I've been really lax in taking pics of projects. Even after I've finished them. Oops. I recently made a friend who is soon due with #4 a few bibs. I also made a little sun bucket hat for my niece for her 1st birthday.

The problem I have is that I am usually finishing gifts at the last minute.....and I'm so glad to be done, I neglect to take pictures. Will do better, will do better....

Anyhow, I did make myself a spring-y scarf a few months back. I had found this cool geometric cotton print in a mint/seafoam color last summer. I can't recall if it was in the red tag section or if I just had a really good coupon.

My inspiration was a pic of Blake Lively from a year or so ago wearing a scarf with pom-pom trim. I set out to make my superior (and cheap) version.

I made a long rectangle on the fold and sewed it up, leaving a four-inch hole so I could turn it right-side out. After turning it, I decided to turn it back inside-out and curve the corners. I used the edge of a cup to trace it and cut.

After sewing the new corners, turning it out and sewing up the gap, I added some pom-pom trim. This trim was in a bag of trims my mom gave me after cleaning out her sewing room.

And....voila. Please excuse my sweats.....

The pom-poms are a big size. Go big or go home. I love wearing it with pink....and will wear with white and turquoise. Boom.

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Tuesday Talent Show at Chef n Training
Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie Time
What I Wore/What's Up Wednesday at Rae Gun Ramblings
Share Your Creativity at It's Overflowing

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Clothes CPR....skirt shortening

Happy Saturday......we are waking up to a nice blanket of snow here this morning. After having so few snowfalls last year, I almost don't remember what it looks like with snow on the ground!

Lately, I've been taking pieces of clothing that are a bit out of style and trying to revive them. I could always donate them to the thrift store, but I'm trying my hand a bit at making them into something else.

This project was not necessarily a repurposing, but more of a reshaping of a skirt I have had for a long time. I love the tweed fabric of the skirt and it is from several years ago. The trend was longer, calf-length skirts. It resulted--in this skirt--in a really long and very wide A-line shape to it. My aim was to shorten and take it in some. This particular skirt also had an unfinished edge that added some visual interest, so I was going to try to replicate that, too.

I am posting pics of what I did....but I am in no way an expert sewer, so this is not a tutorial. : ) What I did do was read about 4-5 different tutorials to see what people did and then just kind of try it myself. I have to be honest, this was an intimidating project....I just about took the skirt to a tailor. Then, my son said, "Why don't you just do it yourself?" Well, here goes.

Here is where I began....

Great skirt, just did not do a whole lot for my shape with the length/A-line shape. I turned it inside out to see how short to make it and how much to take it in.

I wanted to have the skirt hit right around the knees and then make it a little more straight on the sides. I ended up sewing the sides first and then doing the hem.

To make the edging on the hem, I just sewed a seam where I wanted it, then pulled out one or two rows of the tweed pieces to make it kind of fringe-y.

I wanted to be able to wear boots with the skirt and see the top of the boots.

Here is a pic with boots. Although I do not have a styled pic....

I love that my over-the-knee socks can show or else I can wear tights. I declare victory.

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

Pinspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Tuesday Talent Show at Chef n Training
Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie Time
What I Wore/What's Up Wednesday at Rae Gun Ramblings
Sunday Roundup at A Rosie Sweet Home
Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing

Friday, December 21, 2012

Sweater do-over

Well, how's it going? Anyone else in disbelief that it we are four days out from Christmas?? I had a bit of a freak-out on the 19th, thinking that I had only six days left and quite a bit left on my to-do list!

Although I am still tying up some loose ends, I'm in pretty good shape. A few days of dedicated wrapping and working after the kids' bedtime and I have made some progress. Today was my last day of school this week and although it was high-octane, it was nice. I have some really sweet kids in my classes. : )

Today, I have some pics to share of a sweater that I chopped up for some projects. This was a tunic-style sweater that I did not really wear anymore. I had considered taking it to the consignment store or Goodwill, but I decided not to. The color of it is nice and bright and I thought I would see if I could repurpose some parts of it.

Here is a shot of it before I cut it up.

I cut first straight across under the arms.

I hemmed the raw edge to make a skirt. This worked well since the length of the sweater was a bit long.

It turned out okay, but a little bumpy and thick. I've since read up a bit on sewing knits. I might redo it.

I haven't taken any pics of this skirt styled up.

I then took the rest of the pieces and sewed a hat and mittens.

I cut the top of the hat out of the sleeve with the ribbed part serving as the band of the hat. I also cut out a mitten shape after pinning it and then sewed them together.

After sewing it, I then trimmed around it.

I used the other ribbed section to fashion a little flower.

Not too shabby.....they turned out a bit on the small side, but definitely wearable for a dash of color in the winter.

Perhaps I'll find another old sweater that needs an update. Gives new inspiration to old sweaters you can find at the thrift store.....; )

Enjoy the pre-Christmas weekend! I'll be hitting the mall tomorrow AM when it opens and taking care of some last minute errands before we head out of town.

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

Pinspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Origami wrap sweater

Happy weekend....I hope you all have a good one planned! Yesterday I had a day off and spent some time getting my sew on. I found a great tutorial for a sweater wrap....and I think it's been in my favorites for the better part of a year. : )

I had found this fabric in the red tag bin...I like to shop there when the red tags are 50% off.

It's a lighter-weight knit with a subtle gold zebra print. I have been tending to use knit fabrics that don't require as much finishing on the edges. Could be a bit of a cop-out due to my skill level, but also helpful when my time for sewing is...shall we say....limited by my two little rugrats.

The pattern I used is fairly easy. I cannot remember how I found it, but here it is.....click here. It is a free pattern. Love! As she recommends, I pinned it up and tried it on to make sure I had it right before starting to sew.

Fabric laid out and folded.

Pinned in the corner....just 6".

You then pull down the corner part to make two sort-of triangles and a line down the middle.

Here is the tricky part....bringing the top of the triangle down to meet the sewed part so it makes a T.

I snapped a pic pointing where you would put the seams to make the T.

Sewing.....

Here is the sewed part, wrong side.

And right side....

And here it is on. Please excuse my fancy sweats look. First I tried it on this way and figured something was wrong. It's upside down! But...this could be good for warmer weather if you wanted something more sleeveless and more cropped.

Ah, the right way. Nice and long.

I think when I wear it, I'll consider belting it, too.

I'm pretty pleased! Would be good over jeans, skirts and dresses. It was easy-peasy lemon-squeezy (as my son would say), too. I'll post a pic of it styled once I break it out without the high fashion sweats look. ; )

Party Time......

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

Pinspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Sunday Salvation at Sassafras Salvation

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

My new tote bag

Hey, there.....I hope you all are enjoying a fine August Monday. I'm starting to feel the impending doom of school upon me. This is my last week of FREEDOM......; )

I recently did a big sewing project.....kind of a first for me! I made a tote bag with a lining, zippers and a pocket. Wow. As a new seamstress, this was ambitious for me. But...I do feel that you just gotta do it and learn from it.

I found this great tutorial at Sweet Verbena, a great DIY/sewing blog written by Katy. I'm looking forward to trying out a few more of her tutorials. Click here to see her tutorial. There is no way on God's green earth I could show how I made it, step-by-step!

I started with a pink print and a taupe contrast fabric. I used home dec fabric for both of these for durability.

Here are all of the pieces cut and ready to go (probably the trickiest thing for me to do).

Sewing on the casing...

The straps for the handles. I cut them a bit too small and they were awful to turn inside out!

The hole I cut for the zipper.

My zipper.....turned out a little wonky. Thanks be that it is on the inside of the bag.

Here is the lining with zippers, before it got put into the bag.

And....the lining inside. The spot on the right is the only part I struggled with!

Here is my cinch bag.

Not bad for my first one!

I'm loving my new bag!

Party Time......

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

Pinspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Sunday Salvation at Sassafras Salvation

Monday, August 6, 2012

T-shirt to skirt

Good morning and happy Monday to all you beautiful people.....Last week, I made a cute and easy skirt out of a t-shirt. And no lying here....it took me very little time, maybe twenty minutes?

I haven't yet jumped on the neon train this summer as far as fashion goes. Well, I guess you could say I'm ON. I saw the idea for this skirt in a book I was perusing at the bookstore one day. When I saw these neon t-shirts on sale at the fabric store, I thought I'd give it a try. If I failed miserably, it was only $3.....right?

Basically, you cut your t-shirt into a square and then sew a seam to make the skirt. I started by slicing off the sleeves and then cutting across the top.

I wasn't sure how long to make it, so I then decided to try it on a see what it looked like.

As you can see, there's some extra fabric. My t-shirt was an XL, but you could buy two shirts if you wanted more fabric. I decided to cut off the part by the sleeves to make it a bit shorter.

Then...I cut up through the front. This t-shirt did not have any seams, so I just picked a spot!

The next part was deciding how to shape it.I put it on in front of a mirror and pulled the top around my waist to the tightness I wanted. With my pins, I pinned it there. From the top, I pinned down, forming a ruffle. I kept a sort of A-line shape. I used the bottom seam of the t-shirt as my waistline, so the bottom would have a raw, unfinished edge, but I could have done it the other way too.

Here you can sort of see the pins.

Once I carefully took it off, I laid it out so I could see where I had pinned it.

I straightened out the pins a bit and made them a little more in line with each other...

I sewed a seam down, just making sure I backstitched at the beginning and end. I used white thread on the neon yellow......I'm not sure they sell neon thread at my fabric store?