Inspirations

Friday, May 11, 2012

New sewing spot

I told you it was coming, and here it is! My new corner:) I took the kids' toy cupboards and made them my fabric storage. Now I can actually see what I have rather than sorting through totes!

Both machines (serger and regular sewing) and ironing board set up at all times. Now this is big! AND they are all plugged in so I don't have to reach down and plug in the machine I want to use! Big bonus!!! :) Plenty of room to cut out. Plenty of room to lay fabric out. I'm loving it! Just need to spruce up the walls but that can come later.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

What I've been up to

Wow! It's been a while since I posted, but I'm still up to my same craftiness:) Here's a rundown of what I've been up to lately.

Remember the shades (on my last post) that I tried to make "not roman shades". Well, when I delivered them I found out that the customer has had 2 shoulder surgeries and really couldn't reach up to button them very well. So, back to the drawing board:) And, I'm glad I did because now I have mastered roman shades! Yay! Bring them on. . .

Complete with pull cord. . .

And folds up nicely. So glad she stuck with me and believed in me!

Then I had the challenge of a Cinderella outfit for a friend's daughter. She needed it the next day, so we worked with what we had on hand:)

We have her ball gown on the left and the mismatched work skirt on the right.

I added a big bow to dress it up

And velcro closure on the back for easy on/off.

The same friend had ordered ruffle curtains for her daughter's bedroom. Good thing because I used the leftover fabric to make the Cinderella outfit!

Time for another dress for my girls. I saw this dress on pinterest and fell in love! What a darling bubble dress!

I'm loving gray and yellow and found this fun fabric to make the bubble dress.

Fabric yo-yo's embellish the top

Comfy knit lining to make the skirt "bubble"

I made Easter dresses for the girls. Got my inspiration from an etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/listing/93224388/flower-belt-in-carrot-with-organza?ref=v1_other_2

How cute and grown up does she look? Darling! Loved the cowl neck and belt embellishment.

So I set to work and made these!

This was taken before I changed the belt to white/purple.

Then, I went to MN and had some awesome craft time with my sis! Look what we acomplished (along with taking care of 8 kids!!!) Bibs, burp cloths, 2 dresses for her girls matching my girls' Easter dresses, leggings, and 4 jean makeovers (we made 1 pair into shorts, 1 into ruffled skirt, 1 into knee length jeanskirt, and zig-zag stitched the last pair). So much fun sewing together!

Whew! I think that brings us up to date. But I do have one more project in the works (well actually quite a few more than one but one I need to share here soon!)

I completely outgrew my sewing closet. The idea when we moved in just one year ago was to have a nice little closet I could keep my sewing machine set up in but close the doors and the mess would go away. Well. . . I kind of outgrew the closet! A lot! So, now I am downstairs. We partially finished the basement and I get the back corner (which is a good spot by the window). I plan to share pics of the finished sewing area when I get it organized!

Here is the before. . .

The after will be coming:)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Curtains/shades

I had an order for roman shades but I put a twist on it and came up with these.

Just a plain straight shade with fairly thick fabric to block the suns heat in the summer.

That folds up nicely to this curtain when you want to let the sun shine in!

*Note: These are hanging from a curtain rod in my house and actually fit the windows they will go on. These pictures were just for demonstration purposes!

Keep spreading the word that I love to sew for others!

Paper bag skirt tutorial

Mom G. got the girls darling J. Crew sweaters for their birthday. I thought they would be fun with white skirts. I looked around at different styles and decided on paper bag skirts. Here is Mariah ready for Spring with her white paper bag skirt!

Want to make your own?

Decide the length you want your skirt. I wanted my girls' skirts to be11 inches. Double this and add 1/2-1 inch for the seam (23 inches). This is the length to cut your fabric. Then double the waist measurement for your width (40 inches). Cut a square of fabric using these measurements. I cut mine 23" x 40". Fold this fabric in half the short way (along the 23" side) and serge/sew the long edge to make a long tube like the picture below. Turn right side out and iron flat with your seam on one of the long sides (not the middle).

You can barely see my seam on the bottom of the tube of fabric.

I used 1 1/2 inch elastic because I like the bigger waistband look but you could use whatever size you like. To make a casing for your elastic, sew one seam about 1/2-1 inch from the top of the tube (along the long side). Then lay your elastic below that seam to judge where your second seam should go. Sew the length of your fabric again.

Your elastic casing should look something like this.

Thread elastic through casing. Be sure to pin the ends so your elastic doesn't slip too far through. (sorry about the upside down picture - not real sure why it's like that!)

Remove your pins holding your elastic and sew the 2 short ends of your fabric tube together to create the skirt.

Turn right side out and put seam in the back center.

Make a smaller tube of fabric for the tie/bow. I cut a piece of fabric 5"x48", folded it in half, serged the edge, turned right side out, and ironed. Then cut then ends on an angle.

Tuck the angled ends under and sew.

This makes a nice finished point for your tie/bow.

Find the center of your tie strip and sew it onto the skirt right over your back seam.

Done and ready to wear!

Jeans to shorts

If you have boys, you know about holes in jeans:( I try to come up with unique ways to patch my boys jeans which sometimes works and sometime not. In the picture below the left leg shows one of my trials. A large, sort of zig-zag stitch over the remaining threads of the hole. This actually has a square fabric underneath it to help keep the hole together. It worked for some holes and not for others. I think it is best on small holes. So when the warm weather came and some of my patches weren't holding, I decided for the next best thing . . . shorts!

I used the same technique as I did hemming jeans for Kelly on my earlier post. This way you can keep the same hem. It works best if your pant leg is straight all the way down (thigh width is the same as the ankle width).

1. Fold the jeans up to where you want your shorts to end. Sew at the hem line.

2. Cut off excess fabric. If I did this over I would cut a little further down and then serge or zig-zag stitch the edge because it tends to get stringy with wear and washing.

3. Iron the hem flat.

There are your new summer shorts!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Curtains

My latest and greatest project has been bathroom curtains. I was given two pictures to copycat and then was on my own which I love! I much prefer making up my own way rather than going off of a pattern.

This is the picture of the window curtain.

And here it is in purple made by me! It's a little hard to tell with it lying on my bed instead of hanging up so you can use your imagination:)

Here is the picture of the shower curtain for me to copycat.

And here is mine! I love, love, LOVE how it turned out! So, hopefully Kasey does too! (the friend I made these for)

Want to know a little secret? I bought a full size sheet set to make this shower curtain. This way I could just hem the edges of the flat sheet and have no seams in the middle of the curtain. Then I used the rest of the flat sheet, pillow cases, and fitted sheet to make the flowers. Saves on work (piecing fabric together and hemming) and is comparable in price (or maybe even saves a few $).