Another Used- to- be- Maternity Skirt

Here's a little number that went from this:

Maternity Friendly Circle Skirt; Tutorial [here.]

to this: 

I started by removing the maternity waist band and opening up the side seam. I basically cut a panel out of this circle skirt to make a smaller, less full circle. I needed to add a zipper and finish off the top but was able to leave the original hem.

Polka Dot (No-Longer-Maternity) Skirt

I've decided to demote some of my maternity skirts to the regular, not so pregnant type.

Skirt number one, my polka dot bubble skirt, became an A-line skirt with front ties. 

Then...

Now!

Voila! 

Basically I cut the skirt apart at all the seams and removed the pregnant belly waist band.  I sort of eye balled an A line skirt, held it up, decided that it'd fit and sewed up the side seams. I went to try it on and... holy hips. Oh yea, those things. Now a zipper was a good option. But, I didn't have a zipper. I also didn't think hauling the two kids to the store for a zipper was worth my time. Especially since we'd have to walk. And walk. And walk some more. We're a one car family and Dear Husband has dibbs for driving back and forth from work. Anyway, I added some inverted triangle pieces to the top of my A line skirt to widen the top enough to slide over my freakishly wide hips and my no way is it that big, and not big in a good way, butt. (Curse you pregnancy! Love you babies.) Anyway, I used some knit fabric cut from another would be maternity skirt to make a waist band and after it was attached everything fit just fine. The fabric around the hips kinda popped out from my triangle improvisation, so I added the front tie to (hopefully) distract from that. 

I had fun making this! My daughter had the very important job of pushing down on that handy little lever to lock my stitches in place whenever I started and ended a seam. She seemed to enjoy that. Ha ha. Get it? Seam, seemed... That's a funny one right there! I'm pretty proud at how well the skirt turned out because most of my sewing equipment is packed away in a box somewhere. That means I had to do it all, even the hem, without pins or measuring tape/ seam gauge, etc. Don't look too closely, k?  

Blazer WIP

I ran into Kohls a while back to pick up some bed pillows and something perfect caught my eye. The Lauren Conrad jacquard blazer in marshmallow white!!! Doesn't it just sound... yummy? Oh, it's beautiful and textured and has pockets... 

kohls.com

It's just the thing I've had in mind for myself. Prior to the find, I had been pinning all sorts of fresh colored blazers on pinterest. Take these for example:

A cotton Linen Blazer selling for $118 at Loft.com 

The white sateen blazer, $158 at Banana Republic

And, the adorable outfit ensemble featuring a white blazer put together over on tumblr.com

Yea- I love the look. The only problem with the LC jacket I saw in stores was the price tag... At $70 I admit, I totally considered it. $70 isn't so bad... it's more affordable than if I had ordered the jacket from Banana Republic or Loft... but ever since I started sewing I have this mean little I can make that alter ego that pipes up when it should be quiet, "You can sew that for a whole lot cheaper!"

"Yea, maybe," I reason... but, ain't nobody got time for that! I reach out to grab the jacket, but then that voice starts chanting:

$70 dollars... 28 gallons of milk, dinner for the family every night for a week, and diapers- oh gosh, that's a lot of diapers.

Fine. I pull my arm back without having grabbed my marshmallow blazer. Look like somebody gon' make time for that! A few minutes here, a few minutes there over the past week and here is my muslin work in progress jacket:

It's not exactly praiseworthy right now... I didn't even complete it. I just wanted to make sure I could figure out the pattern (which I did after a couple phone calls and several texts to my grandma), that I'd be happy with the sleeve length, and that it'd fit alright. I'll pay a little more attention to detail when I start on the real thing. As you can see, the collar is pretty sloppy. It really did give me trouble. Hopefully, I'll figure it out a little better the second time around... Gotta do something with those raw edges; must've missed a step in the instructions.

So... Easier to have just bought it? Yep.

Is it really going to save me money?

I think so. The pattern I am using, NEWLook 6035, came from walmart and only cost a few bucks. I already had the muslin on hand, but even if I'd had to buy it, muslin is really inexpensive. Guess it depends on the cost of fabric I use in the end. Either way, my inner sewing ego is satisfied. It's been a fun project so far and I think after all the hours put into the blazer, I'll appreciate having it a whole lot more.

DIY tutus!

 Every girl needs to feel like a princess!

We've all seen 'em. The easy, no sew tutus that little girls just love to wear and moms love to make.

Recently, I made a few for my little girls dress up bin. Elastic for a waistband and strips of tulle tied slip knot style around the elastic. I learned that optimum fullness was achieved when the slip knots were tied in alternating directions, as pictured below: 

I get the feeling she'd wear these more often if I'd stop pulling the camera out. 

What can I say? I just want to capture all the poofy cuteness! 

DIY baby gifts and birthday bags

It's a rare occasion when I sew for someone other than myself and here I am posting my third and fourth not - made - for - me project in less than two months! Truth be told, I'm dying to sew more for myself again, but this pregnancy weight is just not falling off fast enough. Anyway, I had fun making this baby blanket with matching burp cloths for a friend who is expecting a sweet, little girl. I paired a rose printed flannel fabric to a hot pink fleece for the blanket and just love how it looks together! Oh, little girls are such a treat; I'm so excited for my friend to become a mommy!

When I was done with that, I made a bag for Auntie's birthday. I'm getting braver about adding detail and I hope she likes the lace applique hearts and the knotted front.

Taggy Rug

Yea, that's taggy- not tacky!

Inspired by a baby blanket my sister in law made me when my daughter was born, I turned a piece of pink home decor fabric from my scrap bin into a rug for my daughters room.

 Just some loops and a zig zag stitch around the perimeter...

 It has been dubbed the official picnic spot.

Little Chef Attire

This was such a fun project! Not only did it not take very long (only two nap times; one for the apron and one for the hat) but I think it turned out darling! Now, my little girl needs a toy kitchen to go along with it! She wore hers out trick or treating for Halloween as we went as a family of chefs.

For the chef hat, I followed a tutorial posted at Curly Pops. I wish I could have used snaps like she did, but I have no clue how to go about sewing them in. Instead, I used Velcro and it works just fine.

Simplicity 2319

The apron pattern is Simplicity 2319. Loved it! Few pieces, easy to customize, easy to understand... The pattern makers were even so brilliant as to make the arm edges finished with a casing that the neck and waist ties feed through so that everything about the apron is size adjustable! Of course, I didn't realize this until after I finished the arm edges my way... But next time, I will be sure to follow their directions more closely because I think it's a fantastic idea! Instead of two small pockets, I attached one larger pocket in the center of the apron. Better for my toddler to fill with little treasures. I added the little waistband and am still absolutely in love with the little cupcake fabric I found at Joanns. It's such a nice feeling when a project actually turns out as well as I'd hoped!

Circle Skirt Tutorial (maternity friendly)

A while back, I made my very first circle skirt. I found an excellent tutorial at Dana Made It.com and I in no way want to steal any of her credit; she is, after all, the math genius who explained the method for creating a proper fitting circle skirt.She did a great job and I really appreciated having her tutorial. I am however, posting my own tutorial here for three reasons:

1. Dana walks you through creating a circle skirt pattern first. I'm a nap time sewer which means I'm short on time and would like to skip any steps that aren't crucial. No pattern needed here!
2. Danas measurements are for a skirt that requires no side seam. Great for little girls, or smaller women who also purchased 60" fabric. By adding one simple seam, my circle skirt fits more sizes and with less fabric too!
3. Instead of elastic, my instructions are for a waistband made from a 4 way stretch fabric. This is less rigid than thick elastic and so I find it to be more comfortable. While it works for anyone, it is really wonderful for my pregnant belly. I like anything with a nylon blend, try looking near the dance/ swim section. Yes, this type of fabric gets pricey but you don't need very much at all and I can often pair it with a coupon! We're actually going to be creating something similar to the tutorial I have posted for a DIY belly band so if you like a stretchy jersey knit- that works too!

Ok, let's get started!

What you will need:

*2 yards of 45 inch fabric. (I bought mine on sale for 2.50/ yard at Joanns! Score!)

1/4 to a 1/2 yard of 4 Way Stretch Fabric (I like anything with a nylon blend.)

Scissors and other typical sewing necessities.

 * I am of average size and 5'7'' tall. Two yards of 45 inch fabric was enough for me to make this circle skirt about 21 inches long. If you think you will need it, you may want to consider buying a quarter to a half a yard more of fabric to achieve a larger and/ or longer skirt.

Begin by taking your measurements. Measure around your waist, or for those of us with a baby on board- measure under your belly. Then, add 2" to that number. This will be helpful when it comes time for the seam allowance and also for a slight gather to help the skirt pull on over your hips once finished. (Myself: 38 and 3/4 inches + 2 inches = 40.75")

Divide this number by 6.28 (Myself: 40.75 / 6.28 = 6.48  *I rounded to 6.5)

Multiply your new number by 2. (Myself: 6.5 x 2 = 13") This final number is what we will use to create our waist line!

Fold your fabric in half, right sides together, and draw a collection of dots the distance away from the corner according to your final number. (Myself: 13") Sketch to connect the dots. This will create a nice curve, and makes a lot more sense once you look at these pictures:

My sketch is a little easier to see than the dots on my busy fabric!

Now, measure the distance from that curve to the end of your fabric on the shortest side. This will be your skirt length. Obviously, if you had purchased more than 2 yards of fabric you can make your skirt longer. I, however, found that I had 22 inches from the waistline I just created to the end of my fabric. Now is not the time to stress about whether or not you're going to like your final skirt length. Just take the measurement (mine was 22") and go with it.You can always hem it to be shorter later.

Make another series of dots to create your skirt length and once again, sketch to connect those dots. See pictures:

Cut out your skirt along those two lines.

One side of your skirt is on the fold. Pin the other side together and sew your side seam together with a 1/2 inch seam.

Set your skirt aside and focus on the waistband. Measure around your waist again and add 1/2 inch for a seam allowance. Decide how thick you will want your waistband, double that because it will be folded in half and add an inch for a seam allowance. (Myself: I want my waistband to be 5 inches thick, double to get 10" and add an inch for a total of 11 inches.) Cut yourself a rectangle with those measurements out of your stretchy fabric.

*Note: I should have written "Waist Measurement + 1/2 inch for seam allowance" on the vertical line

Sew up the side seam and then fold the tube like band in half.

Feed the top of your skirt through your waistband and sew raw edges together using a zig zag stitch. This is very important because it allows the thread to stretch with stretching of the waistband.

All you have to do now is hem the bottom of your skirt. Make your hem as thick or narrow as you want depending on how short or long you want your skirt.

Handsome Appliqued Onesies

I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy now, and preparations for a baby boy are in full swing! A while back I made a few handsome appliqued onesies... cannot wait until he is here and wearing these!  I absolutely love it when little boys dress like men. Maybe this is because I was lucky enough to have had such wonderful male role models in my life. I couldn't have asked for a better father, and my husband is the most genuine, dependable person I know. I am certainly going to be encouraging my son to emulate his daddy, and he can start at birth by wearing this handsome apparel.

I LOVE how these turned out- but I cannot believe how long something so tiny took me to make! Actually, I think the tiny factor was part of the problem. Little openings in little onesies are difficult to feed through the sewing machine. A *trick* I discovered along the way is to iron the applique onto interfacing before attaching it to the onesie. This not only keeps the applique fabric from sliding out of place while you maneuver the onesie through the machine, but it eliminates the need to fold under seams for a nice finished edge that won't unravel.

{Tutorial} Remember, if you need to- you can click on a photo to see it enlarged.


To make this handsome get up:
1. Create your template
2. Cut your fabric appliques
3. Iron appliques onto interfacing
4. Sew onto pre washed baby onesies.

The tie applique is very simple to make. Here is a picture of the pattern I created and used. The tie is 7" inches in length and I sewed them onto Gerber sizes 6 - 9 months. As Gerber runs small, I think a 7" tie would be perfect for other brands 3 - 6 months. Ties certainly don't have to be perfect; different widths and lengths can add character and charm!

I cut the top of the tie away from the bottom of the tie and angled the top piece on the fabric when I was cutting it out to resemble more closely how a real tie looks when worn by handsome grown up men. (Just an FYI: This awesome material was once my grandpas shirt, but then he handed it down to my husband who wore it a couple of times before I decided it needed to become a baby tie!)

The bow tie and suspenders I just kinda eye balled, but I created this sweet little vest like so:

I began by laying the onesie- folded in half- onto a piece of paper and marking where the edge of the onesie was, where the fold was, and where the shoulder seam was.

I drew a tab out a quarter of an inch from the fold line so that the vest would over lap at the center and then I just eye balled the rest of the lines in.

Here is the template I ended up with:

Once again, I sewed this vest onto a Gerber size 6 to 9 months.