My April Snow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

check this out... so cute... and this is one of my fave blogs to stalk... grosgrainfabulous!!!!

My April Snow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

market skirt

I'm still bad at blogging... 

Anyway, just finished up a new little skirt! The pattern came from Dana, at Made, and I love it! SUPER SUPER CUTE! Check it out, and all the rest of her great stuff. Plus, she has gorgeous photos, and I can never resist that! 

The tutorial is great, because it's easy to follow and pretty detailed. I didn't find it to be too tricky, although I did end up spending a fair amount of time with seam ripper in hand! Although, this is definitely typical for me; I do some really goofy things! 

I made a 'matching' shirt, which was a spur-of-the-moment last decision at 10pm last night. I had an extra plain red shirt sitting around, and figured, why not?!?! In daylight I can see it doesn't really match completely, and I don't necessarily like it with the skirt, but that's ok....

Let's add some more pics...

Ok, here is probably why I hate blogging. I add a pic, and it goes straight up top. Can't seem to move it. Annoyed...

Ok, I have to manually move it within the Html by cutting and pasting. Annoying...Well, moving on...

Here we go... 

I really loved Dana's choice of fabrics for her skirts! But since August is speeding by, and Fall is on the way, I opted for something a little different. Although the appliques on the skirt do show strawberries. Too bad I can't change them to apples!

I also screwed up the pocket 3 different times. The fabric I used had been fussycut, and then it ended up being too small... So, in the end I decided to just do some applique. 

It definitely has its little flaws, but it's still cute! And my Sweet Adeline loves it, so that's all that really matters. She has been playing with that little strawberry girl asian print for a year now, and I have FINALLY used some of it!!!

I think I will try this tutorial again... Maybe in corduroy!

Shirred Sundress from Weekend Sewing

From Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. Although to be honest, you can find similar free tutorials if you do some googling... But not to dis her book; it's a lovely one! Very fun to look at and some very cool ideas!

I think I finally got the shirring thing down. A few weeks ago I spent a whole week practicing with elastic thread and NOTHING was working. So I just quit. Decided to give this dress a go, and all of a sudden, the shirring thing works! Hmmmm...I don't know, but I'll take it! 

I think I'll shorter the straps some more. And maybe even knot them! Because I don't think she'll keep them tied otherwise... Too fun to play with!

Not the greatest pics of the dress, as I did not have the most willing model that day. But it really turned out to be a cute dress! Now for some warmer weather so she can actually wear it!

thrift store shirt reconstruction!

I like the idea of reconstructing old clothing and material, and giving it new purpose! With the economy heading in a downward spiral, it just seems like a smart thing to do. Plus, it's fun! And a great way to learn to sew!

I'm relatively new to sewing, and I guess this would really only be my third attempt at something in the garment category.
I found a shirt at the thrift store that was $6.99 and 50% off! Nice! Then I decided I was going to attempt to make some kind of shirt for my 21 month old.

Here's the final product! Actually, it's not so final, as I plan to make a few little changes. But more on that later...



Now, I honestly had no clue as to where to start with this... But awhile back I had found a tutorial that I thought might be a good start...

Vegbee at Just Tutes has a tutorial for a peasant blouse that I found awhile back. Actually, she has a lot of great tutes, and is very nice at sharing!

http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2007/07/peasant-blouse.html

Her tutorial is for making a little blouse from new fabric, but I figured maybe I could at least use some of her pattern ideas to get started on reconstructing my own little shirt. Seriously, check out her site. She has some very cute ideas!

Anyway, here is the original shirt.



I figured I could maybe reuse the front bodice part, and the button down section (does this have a more technical name? I don't know!)
So, here's where I tried to figure out how to cut this thing out and start putting it together!


Trying to figure out where 

to cut this thing out!

And here is what kept me going! Ha ha ha!

Ummmm, notice the small dust bunny there too!!! And how about those seam-ripper ripped pieces of thread from a quilting project gone bad! Ahhhhh!!! 

I got the main part of the shirt put together, and then realized I wanted to make a few more changes/alterations/additions...

I decided to add a ruffle to the bottom to add a little in length. Making a ruffle is something that I have done twice now, and although I seem to screw things up every time, I figured I could still handle it! I also put some new buttons on! Now that's pretty easy! : )
Overall, I'm fairly pleased with this. It's a little big right now, but it's still too cold to wear anyway. The sleeves are a little too roomy; I may add some elastic or do some tweaking there. And actually I have some round, solid red buttons I think I am going to so on instead. Well, I have some more yellow ones though too. So, we'll see!

Here's my cutie!

Let's try this again!

I'm so bad at blogging. I think it's because I get on the computer and end up reading other people's blogs instead. They can be so interesting! Plus, there are so many crafty/artsy/design bloggers out there who share their work and ideas... I can never get enough!

So I recently finished a quilt and thought I should add some pics. The material is all Heather Bailey (well, minus the backing). It's just basic squares and is throw-size. The pictures kinda stink 'cause I took them at night. It was a gift, so I was trying to get it finished and wrapped!