I Sew!

I saw this fabric at Purlsoho and then City Quilter, and kept thinking about it, so I bought a half yard and whipped up a little something for the Phoebster.  I thought it would be a nice memory of our London trip last summer. Ah! Londontown! I want to go back!

I quite like it. I sewed really straight on this one….I hope she likes layering it up with some leggings for the fall.

*Headband.

I Sew: Elastic Waistband Skirt

My Mom and I attempted a chevron skirt from a 70′s pattern while she was visiting in June. I succeeded sewing a zipper and cutting and sewing on the bias, but never quite finished. I still had some extra fabric, so I challenged myself to make pockets for this skirt.

I LOVE the wide elastic I picked up at Mood for this skirt. I DON’T love that even though I measure and sewed the elastic very well, I did not measure it on my waist before completing the skirt.  It’s loose.  Luckily the elastic is stiff enough that I don’t think you can really tell.

Hey, how about those pockets?

Follow this tutorial for the pockets, then switch to this one for the elastic waistband.

I Sew!

I found this rose bias tape at M and J trimming last week while I was looking for suitable ribbon to make into costume belts for the girls’ Willy Wonka show.  I fell in love with it. Thankfully I was hosting sewing circle that night (which right now just consists of one friend and me) and so I made this skirt!I was too lazy to iron it for the photos, sorry.  Also, too lazy to iron it before wearing it out.  I love this skirt because it is my new favorite length and it’s light and breezy.  It’s a miracle I finished it because my sewing machine was on the fritz the entire night until I realized I’d put my needle in backwards. Oh my my my. Sewing can be so frustrating.

 

I Sew!

I did a good job on this skirt. I followed this tutorial!  I think it will be so cute in the winter!

I Sew!

I bought some affordable fabric from my favorite cheap but quality fabric place in NYC, in hopes to make some summer skirts. I was INSPIRED by Miggy’s summer skirts!

I wanted to start sewing right away, but I am also committed to making them the best I can make them, so I washed my fabric the first night, like a good seamstress is supposed to do!

The next day I carefully measured, ironed, pinned and cut the knit fabric for Lolly’s skirt and got to the very last step of sewing the elastic when my sewing machine jammed again.  I had recently spent a chunk of change to get it fixed, so I was so frustrated when I was back to the broken place again.  And all I had to do was sew like 3 more inches of fabric!

I tried it on Lolly anyway and she fell in love with the skirt, because it was “soft, and swishy, and it doesn’t show my panties when I jump!”

I intended it as a summer play skirt but she was set on wearing it to church the next day. She woke me up the next morning already completely dressed, and begged me to paint her nails to match her outfit.  Church was in 5 more hours, and 1 hour before we left, she had an accident in the bathroom, destroying her ability to wear the skirt to church that day.

I was frustrated because my daughter has been potty trained for several years now, and she has the periodic, pee-on-the-floor-right-in-front-of-the-toilet moments that she blames on wardrobe malfunctions.  AND because I was going to have to wash the garment again before I actually finished it!

Despite all the drama with the sewing machine and the pee, I am not discouraged, and I intend on finishing my summer skirt sewing projects, hopefully before the summer is over.  And Lolly intends on wearing her skirt as soon as it leaves the dryer.  It made me feel pretty good that she was thrilled with a silly knit skirt.

Costume Progress

I am reaching the home stretch of the costume compiling.  The theme for my costume design (yes, I am the self-appointed 3rd grade class play costume designer) is “1950′s homemade with a French twist”.

I have crocheted 10 pairs of monkey tube gloves, changed 12 pairs of monkey ears from their former mouselike position to a more monkeylike position, made 3 pairs of pants, 2 vests, 2 mermaid tails (just have a little tulle left), shell headpieces, starfish wristlets, dyed a dress, a pair of monster leg warmers, gone fabric and trim shopping countless times, shortened sleeves, embellished a jacket and hat, ebayed for vintage little girl dresses and put lots of love into each of these costumes.

My sewing machine broke last week, so now that it’s tuned up, I can FINISH what I began back in April.

I think I’m most proud of the pants (every time I put on a pair now I am so impressed–pants are truly a miracle) that I made and this white royal collar. I studied collars on etsy and bought some fabric and trim in a shop and I even followed a scalloped edge to conceal my stitching.  I did good on that.

I really wanted these military monkeys to look like the illustration in de Brunhoff’s Babar and Zephir, and I think we (another mom helped me sew pants and sashes and embellish jackets) really did a great job.  This black hat I was given by the costume department, and I used Phoebe’s sleeves for the white fluffy stuff on top (recycle!)

Of course I never would have felt empowered to do this without encouragement from my BFF.  Without her, there would be no red bubble pants or mermaid tails or dyed dresses.  My hope is to get some really great photos at our Costume Parade in a month, so that I can post the final final pix here!

Special thanks to Jason for dealing with all the piles and piles of fabric and costumes.

PS. These bags have been AWESOME for organizing and distributing costumes.  I also do other things that are not costumes-related, like give Baby Showers.

Quilt

I was looking for some art supplies and I was reminded that I still have this quilt that I handmade when I was in middle school.  I got a kick out of seeing the care I put into each patch and the border.  I love that I put my GUESS jeans in there (I was so proud of that triangle on my butt, weren’t you?), and a few Barbie fashions from my Mom’s old barbies.

Basically this is scraps from old Girls Camp clothes/shorts, a sash from my Children’s Chorus Days, Crosstitches that I did, but were not displayed anywhere, pieces of old sheets, dish towels and t-shirts, and other randomness.  I kind of love that I still have it.

Spring Break Sewing

I’ll never forget the image of thisiscarrie walking up the stairs from her apartment to mine, holding up her sewing machine to her chin and saying: “$50 bucks!” It was a question actually, and of course I said: “Sold!”

I think I have used it 3 times since then:

1. finish my crosstitched stockings.  She helped me line and pipe them!

2. bean bags for an easter bean bag toss.

3. These tablecloths.

Ok, there has to be a few more…I just can’t remember right now.

Jason always wants to get rid of the sewing machine because it takes up space.  I won’t let him. Someday I will sew more. Someday.

I’m not a great sewer. I skipped important steps for these, like ironing.  I was also pretty intimidated by the round hem, but I just forged through. Lolly and Phoebz both helped with pinning, unpinning, pedaling and pushing. I was patient, they were excited, I think they learned something…and most importantly, the dolls are happy. Things get a little crazy around here when the dolls aren’t happy.