Comfy and Easy Skirts

If you haven't made yourself a circle skirt yet I highly recommend it! After seeing how cute my daughter's skirts were I wanted one for myself. This morning I set about it and made myself my very own. It is sooooo comfortable and so easy to make. You don't even need to buy a pattern!! It's very easy to make yourself and here are 2 great links to tutorials on making them:

Rosie's Whimsy Circle Skirt Tutorial

Whitney Sews - Tshirt Resize and Tshirt Circle Skirt Video

I foresee many of these making it into my closet and many more trips to the thrift shop and garage sales for graphic tees.

Keep on Sewing

WOW! Has it really been 2 months since I posted last! Goodness. Well, I certainly did not put my sewing machine away. It did sit dormant for a few weeks due to life in general and surprises that the Lord had for us but I've sewn a few things here and there.

I've made 2 crayon wallets one for a birthday present and one as an order. The mother of the girl I gave the 1st one to wanted one to give as a birthday present for her daughter's friend. She wanted a little purse to go with it so I made a matching Origami Handbag to go with it.


Next I made a pillow case for a girlfriend's birthday. It wasn't just any old pillow case though. My friend is a flamingo fanatic! And I wanted it to be special for her as her husband is on deployment.

I had so much fun making this pillow! I had so many ideas and the design changed a million times before I finally settled on what you see here.

I was going to embellish both sides but opted to leave a side plain so that she wouldn't wake up with unsightly stitching lines on her face. lol

Then on Monday I wanted to get out and make my daughter a circle skirt out of knit fabric but after looking at the state of my garage/sewing area I decide to clean instead. I was able to unload 2 large black bags, 2 large boxes, and 1 small box full of fabric that I didn't need/like from my garage. Most had come from a buy sight unseen selection of fabric I picked up at a garage sale. There was plenty for me to keep but a lot I didn't want that was cluttering up the area.

Now that the area was decluttered the creative juices were flowing freely! I picked up my scissors and attacked repurposed a Hersheys Milk Chocolate T-shirt into a circle skirt for my daughter.


I always make things so hard on myself. Instead of a simple 1 hour to make skirt this skirt with it's bits of this and pieces of that took W-A-Y too long. But it sure is fun!

This entire skirt was made from repurposed fabric. Three t-shirts and some leftover floral fabric from an earlier project went into this skirt. There are white shorts sewn in as well to keep her modest when playing. =)

After the Hershey's Skirt was complete I whipped out this pink skirt in one hour. Oh if only I had made this one first like she wanted. lol My little girl loves all things pink and when given her choice she'd pick this skirt over the one mommy spent so much time slaving over making for her. ;)

This one also has shorts sewn in.

Now that she has 2 new skirts I may make one for myself tomorrow! They are sooooo easy to make! I've got to keep repeating to myself "Keep it simple! Keep it simple!" I tend to go overboard with the design of my little creations that I don't get done nearly what I should.

To anyone who actually read this and made it all the way to the bottom, Thank you! Thanks for sticking with it and waiting for me to finally post again.

Pattern Challenge and Double Layer Twirly Skirt

To keep myself on track for sewing this season I joined a pattern challenge at Come and See the Seitz. Here are the goals I've laid at for myself:

1. finish the jumper planned for Glory.
2. make matching skirts for the girls.
3. make a Sunday dress for each of the girls.
4. repurpose 2 shirts for Caleb.
5. make a tie for each special Sunday for Caleb. (Easter, birthday, etc.)
6. finish the planned shirt and skirt for myself.
7. And to do this all before Summer.
   

Ok now I can keep going on and on here but I better stop. There are so many other things I have on my mind to make but one of the things that Sarah states is to make these attainable. So I can't put too many things on this list or else I'd never get them all done.

One of the things that I wanted for this list was this Double Layer Twirly Skirt but I finished it before I was able to post about the pattern Challenge. I made this skirt sans pattern and I'm happy with how it turned out for the most part. I made the waistband too wide so I'll be fixing that later. I like how my gathers turned out. (I don't like gathering!)

I don't claim to be the genius who designed this skirt. I saw the Modkid Julia pattern pics by Patty Young and thought it was so cute but too impatient to wait to order a copy so I thought I'd try it out on my own. It's not exactly like the Julia skirt (remember, no pattern) but what do you think of it anyway?

A Project A Day

I've had a very productive week! And it isn't even over yet!!

On Monday I was finally (after being absent for quite a few months) able to visit the sewing class I love to attend. I took 2 different projects with me to work on but of course I had to browse the fabrics at the quilt shop the class is held at and came away with this project instead:


I finished almost the whole thing during the class and all I needed to purchase was 1 charm pack and 1/2 yard of backing. It now sits on our kitchen table. All that's left to do on it is to quilt it but I want to get some variegated (sp?) thread for that.

To continue on the fabric shopping spree I bought some pretty fabric from an online shop last night to make a skirt for my oldest. She's growing so fast and I've only made her 1 skirt and she's about out of it now so I thought it was time for another. However, waiting for the fabric to come in to make the skirt is another thing completely. Since I got the idea in my head I was itching to get started so I pulled out some beautiful fabric that I had gotten on sale last year. It was already washed and ready to go.

I didn't want to mess with ruffles and tons and tons of fabric that some of the twirly skirts call for plus she's getting older and she's so tall that I'm not keen on that style for her. So I went with a simple A-line. Used my Sew What Skirts book and made myself a pattern for her.

I thought it needed something extra though so I added some pretty bead trim that I got at Walmart on sale.




My only mistake was my bottom tier. I wanted it to be 4 inches but I forgot to factor in taking away for the hem. So instead of the 1" hem I wanted I had to make it a 3/8" hem so that my bottom tier wouldn't completely disappear. Other than that I love how it turned out. I can't wait to see it on her!

Next I want to make a red tutu with rose petals inside for a little girl's birthday present this Saturday.

I am a Refashionista!! (sort of)

lol I love reading all those blogs that give you such great little tutorials and show you how they amazingly re-purposed or refashioned an old article of clothing into something super cute. So awhile back while doing some laundry I came across this dress that belonged to my 6y/o:


It was a very cute dress with one problem. Stains. After multiple tries at trying to remove the stains (front and back) with no luck I usually would have just thrown this dress away. (It's not nice to give away a dress with stains on it.)

But, "AHA!", I said to myself, "I can re-purpose this into a cute skirt for my 4y/o!!"

So about 3+ months later I finally took it upon myself to finish this project and WALLAH!! the finished product:


Every piece of this outfit was re-purposed from something else. The skirt and all pink trim from the dress and the leggings were made from an old black maternity t-shirt.

I used a pair of shorts as the pattern for the leggings. I wanted them fitted so I had my 4y/o put on the shorts then pinned them so they were fitted. Then I when I cut out the pattern I cut 1/2 inch from the pin instead of the edge of the shorts.

The crotch area is a little too long but I'm not worried cause it gives her room to grow. I'll just know better next time.

This will be perfect as the weather is starting to get cooler even in sunny California.

I am still planning on adding a reverse applique pink heart to the bottom right of the skirt. Hopefully it will get done tomorrow. Too tired to finish it up right now. =)

Thank you Make It and Love It for the tutorial on making girl's pants. It gave me the idea to make the leggings instead of just shorts.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!

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!

Repurposing

Quite a few months ago I found 2 pairs of very large jeans for 99Cents each. My mind was whirling with the possibilities that these jeans could be made into. I've finally repurposed one pair into a peasant skirt for my oldest.

I love how it turned out!! I used a peasant skirt she already has to make the denim one. It should have been done a long time ago but that last layer with all the gathers looked so daunting. I buckled down to get it done tonight and it's finished!

What are some things you've repurposed?

The Finished Product!

The photo is courtesy of my 5 y/o (soon to be 6 in a few days I better start sewing some presents that I had in mind.)

I love how it turned out! Especially the pocket from Made By Rae. If you get a chance go visit her blog and wish her congrats, she just had an adorable little girl!

I really liked being able to make my own skirt with being able to make the length I like and have it sit where I like. The only thing I need to change is to take 1" off the ease that I put in.

I'm planning to make many more skirts so now I need some fabric to do it with!! Ahhhh, I see shopping in my future!

Progress!!

Tonight I made progress on my skirt! I finished sewing the seams together and finishing them. I added the pleated pocket and I did my first buttonhole and made my casing for the drawstrings.

Tomorrow evening I will finish the hem and make the drawstrings, press, then voila! It will be ready for wear on our ladies outing on Saturday!

I placed the pocket at an angle and I'm really liking how everything is turning out. I hope it looks good on me. lol

My First WIWOW

One of my current projects (I've got many WIPs sitting around my craft area) that I'm working on is a summer skirt with the Summer Skirt Sew Along at Sew, Mama, Sew!
I'm using the new sew what! Skirts book that I bought recently and I've got the main pieces cut out. Today I want to get a pocket cut out for it but not the one in the book I want to use Made By Rae's Pleated Pocket with some cute fabric I found at Michael's that would be cute with my linen skirt.
I should have finished this skirt in no time yesterday but I've been busy with our Ladies Night Out at our church. So instead I was making these yesterday:


They are little purses (our theme is Purse-onality) with styrofoam inside. They will be used as table card holders. When I have a completely finished one I'll take a photo of it. =) I've got 6 made as of right now and have 6 more to make.

Hopefully, next WIWOW I'll have a finished skirt to right about.

Sew What! Skirts

I bought this book yesterday and I'm excited to start making skirts from it. Since skirts are the main staple in my wardrobe I figured it would be a good investment. To quote the book:

This book is for the risk-taker who bucks authority and doesn't like being hemmed in by rigid rules, sewing patterns, and instructions.

That is so me. lol Even in high school when my teacher gave instructions on how to do a report I wanted to do it differently in my own unique way.

I've read through this book twice now and I've got a simple piece of linen I'm going to start with to make my first skirt then move on to some great pieces of fabric for others. Hopefully I'll be posting again soon with pics on the progress.

Sewing with a Delay

A little over 2 weeks ago I cut apart a pair of supersized jeans I bought at Kmart for 99cents to repurpose them into a skirt for my 5y/o. I finally started sewing the pieces together on Friday and was hoping to finish it up on Sunday afternoon between services. (What's taking so long you ask, well I'm copying a skirt that she has and it's a peasant skirt so a lot of gathering.) I was hoping to add the last and bottom layer Sunday afternoon and add the elastic to the waist then, "Wallah!" It would be finished. . . .
but. . . .
instead I spent my Sunday afternoon using a shop vac in my bedroom sucking up the water in the carpet that leaked into the house after I had left the water on in my hydrangeas all through the morning service. So no project was completed. =( The carpet is still wet. Our bed sits right on top of it so today we will be moving it hopefully.
Once it's all dry I can pick up with sewing again because my bedroom floor is my craft table. It's where I cut my fabric, piece it, pin it, etc. I so wanted to get done with this skirt because I joined a sew along at Sew, Mama, Sew and I wanted to start making my own summer skirt. It would be my first piece of clothing made for myself. I am anxious to get started on it. Well, see you all again when my floor is dry.