Simplicity 3842 with Upgrades!

Remember this pattern:
And this fabric:

I combined them to make this top!

Ok, so I wasn't able to use the Diamond Mine fabric but I've got enough of it to make myself a purse to go with this outfit!! WOOHOO! lol That'll be in 2 weeks though.

This was a very easy pattern to follow and make. I did have to make a couple of "upgrades" though. lol The first change was a major one; the sleeves. I mean look at that pattern picture, they look like sausages or something! I envisioned for my top beautiful, flowy sleeves. It took me the better part of an hour learning how to make the changes necessary to the pattern to remove the gathers and change the shape. But they do look lovely! The second change was just not making the inset for the front. Since I had to wear a camisole for this top anyway I thought I might as well skip it.

One change I wish I would have made is the tunic bottom. I should have made it 1 size larger to give me slightly more ease. Other than that the top is perfect!

I decided to add this lace trim to the front after finding it in a large bag of notions I scored from a garage sale. I think it really finishes off the front of the tunic.

Here is a pic of the inside looking oh so lovely with french seams and all! Since this top was unlined I decided it needed a nice inside finish. It was my first time doing them and it does take longer with the extra step but it is so worth it!

You also get a peek at the bias binding that finished off the V neck. I didn't realize I needed it (I should have read the pattern thoroughly) but was lucky to also find this in my big bag of notions.

Working with this fabric was a dream! If you haven't tried sewing with Anna Maria Horner's Voile line I highly recommend you do so especially if you like to make yourself lovely clothes! It was so soft but not slippery. Very easy to sew with.

This top is going to be perfect for my trip to the hot and humid midwest next week.

Voiles are Heavenly

Little Folks Voiles
Coloring Garden - Sea
Diamond Mine - Ink

Isn't this picture just beautiful? And it's even more beautiful in person when you actually get to touch it! My new acquisition has been so fun to work with! It has even made pressing after the wash a pleasure just for a chance to handle it. I'm going to start cutting into it today and work on my new top.

Definitely Spoiled!

Last night I was browsing an online fabric sale and I was able to purchase some beautiful fabric to make a top for myself. My husband definitely spoils me. When he first saw me browsing, he mentioned that he thought I had enough things to make right now but he still said ok to buying the fabric!

What I bought was some of Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile fabric. I've been dying to see this fabric in person and be able to touch it but none of the local fabric stores carry it.

Coloring Garden - Sea (Main Fabric)

Diamond Mine - Ink (Accent Fabric)

Melanie at Above All Fabric was helping me out last night via Twitter figure out my yardage. At first I wanted to get the Torii Tunic pattern from her shop then I remembered I had this pattern:

Simplicity 3842 - Bias Tunic Top

I wanted to make a very "flowy" tunic top and this fits the bill! I'm not keen on those sleeves though. I'll be changing them to bell sleeves.

I've been wanting to fill up my closet with clothes that I've made for myself and this will be a nice addition to that.

Pretty Fabric!

It sure was a good thing there was so much beautiful fabric that I was able to bring home today because otherwise this shopping adventure would have been a shopping nightmare!

The fabric stores I frequent are in the next town 20 minutes away (there are no fabric stores where I live besides Walmart which has a woefully lacking fabric department).

I received mailers recently for sales that were going on at both stores! I was excited to check them out. I loaded up my 4 children and we were off! I went to Beverly's first where they had all their print knits on sale for $2.44 a yard. After going through them all for an hour I was finally able to whittle my selection down and went up to the counter. (During this hour my children were behaving less than stellar. Plus there was a very grumpy grandma behind the cutting counter who didn't seem to like children that made any noise.)

I made my way to the registers where there was a nice lady ahead of me that thought my children's antics were very cute. She let me go ahead of her in line so that I could corral my wayward bunch out the door. Upon reaching into my purse I discovered that I had left my method of payment at home. I was not happy. The nice lady behind the counter offered to hold my fabric for me so I loaded the children into the van and we drove the 20 minutes home. I grabbed my forgotten items from off the counter and we drove 20 minutes back to the fabric store. At least the kids got in a nap during that 40 minute wait in the van.

The fruits of my labor from Beverly's:

Once we made our purchase at Beverly's we went next store to Betty's! Where the woven cottons that were on sale for $5/yard were now on sale for $4/yard.

The kids were better behaved in Betty's (I think the nap helped) except for a very embarrassing episode with my 3 year old by the register. There were so many beautiful fabrics that I spent WAY TOO MUCH time making my selections. I had wanted to be home at 5pm to start dinner, we didn't get home til 6:20.

My haul from Betty's:

2 Selections for the Pretty Pillowcases

A Stack of 5/8's for the Origami Handbags

5 yards of loveliness for the Phoebe Bags

I also wanted to find some boy fabric for some boy themed Crayon Wallets but there wasn't much boy stuff that I liked (in the sale section that is).

Unless I'm able to sweet talk my husband into letting me buy this Pirate Cove Bundle from Above All Fabric. There won't be much in the way of boy Crayon Wallets in the shop until I'm able to sell some of what I've purchased today.

Have a great day everyone and have you been to a great fabric sale lately?

Sewing in the Rough (and some Baby Shower Gifts!)

I finally blew the dust off of my machine and got to work. With a baby shower only 1 day away I needed to get cracking! My goal was to have a matching Nursing cover, 2 spit up cloths (one for each baby, she's having twins!!), and a diaper clutch ready by tonight. Well, I got 2 out of 3 done. The nursing cover and the spit up cloths. I had enough material to do the diaper clutch just not enough time.

I still didn't get my sewing area cleaned up I just worked around, on, and through it. I finally braved up and will show you a pic of what I worked through.



Everything I need an arm's length away! You just have to dig for it. lol My stash of mini-Snickers I think are the most important thing on this table. I learned this from Cassie at You Go Girl! just read her Pencil Roll Tutorial and No Snit Binding Tutorial and you'll see why. ☺

No really, I don't like working with my table like this. Usually I would have cleaned it all off before starting but there was no time.

So now to the sewing! I finished up the nursing cover in good time. I still have one more to make for a friend of mine.



She loved the colors! YAY! I always try to ask about favorite colors and since her wedding colors were red and green (in July not a Christmas wedding) I thought she would like this fabric. Carnival Bloom by Michael Miller.

This time I added pockets on the inside bottom corners of the cover. I wanted to use a knit fabric but there were no white knit remnants at the fabric store so I re-purposed a onesie that Glory had outgrown.



I then moved on to the spit up cloths. I got my inspiration from this one:



It was a gift given to my sister-in-law's sister from her Sunday School class. The snag was that the lady who made them has a machine that does embroidery, hence the lovely lettering.

I do not.

When an amateur seamstress tries to copy above artwork on her own machine, freehand you get this:



Not Pretty.

I had already sewn on the fabric onto the bottom so after wasting time doing the above work I had to pull out Mr. Seam Ripper to take off the fabric and add it to another cloth.



See all the thread still hanging onto the ruined cloth.

Then I decided to use my lettering that my machine can do but thinking I had to enter in the letters a certain way I came up with this:



Luckily, I used a scrap piece of fabric to see how it would come out instead of wasting another cloth.

After correcting my mistakes my finished product finally came to this:



I really like how they turned out and I loved how everything matched!!

I usually don't give cards at baby showers. Since I'm right there when they open it I can let them know it's from me! =) But I thought I'd use a piece of scrap fabric to make a matching card as well.



Too pretty to wrap up! This fabric is awesome!

The diaper clutch never made it even to the cutting board but since I have enough fabric for it I'll still be finishing it up and getting it to the Mommy to be.

It has been awhile since I was sewing last and I really enjoyed getting back to it. The Lord has really blessed me with a wonderful way to create lovely things for my friends and family (and for myself ☺).

Recent Acquistions and More Repurposing

Well, after getting dinner done early, packing up my machine and a project to work on, I had to miss sewing class. =( I couldn't find my notebook with the instructions for my project that I wanted to work on. I was very stressed out in not being able to find it. My husband even helped me to look for it. It wasn't until I decided not to go and I unloaded my machine from the van that I found my notebook.

Such is life.

So instead my husband took me out shopping to my favorite fabric stores (well really the only fabric stores in our area) and I had a great time!!


There were a lot of nice fabrics in the 1/2 off bin at Beverly's! They even had some Michael Miller's at 25% off but I didn't grab any of that (I may go back though! lol)

I grabbed some new needles for my machine, just universal. I need to learn more about needles and the different types and what's the best brand. If anyone has any pointers I'd be happy to learn!
I've been wanting to make myself some new hot pads and I've had this Fresh Squeezed charm pack for awhile but didn't have any coordinating fabric so I found that orange striped in the 1/2 off bin and it was perfect for it!

But even better is that I thought it would make a cute baby blanket for my little guy! I've been wanting to make one ever since My Spare Time posted her tutorial. So I got the binding, thread, and blue camo flannel for the entire project. I just need to wash the fabric now so I can start on it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this piece yet but I bought 2 yards of it. It was also in the 1/2 off bin! I may make a skirt or perhaps a top for myself. Just not sure yet. But it sure is pretty!


This piece is t-shirt fabric and I've not worked with anything yet except 100% cotton. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it yet either but it is pretty!

Here is the last piece of fabric that I acquired. It was in the sale section at Betty's Fabrics and my youngest daughter LOVES Mickey Mouse. Not sure yet what I'll make her. Maybe I'll try a jumper and a bag. Any suggestions?

While putting away laundry today I came across this dress which belonged to my eldest. But if you can see them there are many stains on it. And it has gone through the wash many times and they have still not come out.

See them now?

Well, there are even blue stains on the back right shoulder due to laundry problems (husband was doing it) so instead of throwing it out like I normally would I'm going to repurpose it! I've started ripping out the stitching that connects the ribbed top from the plaid skirt. I'm going to use some of the unstained ribbing to make a waistband and make a skirt for my middle daughter. It should turn out really cute and I like being able to keep using it instead of just tossing it.

Well, here is the last picture. It is of the skirt I repurposed and my daughter actually wearing it. When I finish projects and take pics of them it is usually very late at night so no one gets to model them. I wanted to show that it actually fits her. lol

Until the next project!