Unblogged Pieces of 2020

This year, I probably sewed the least I have ever sewn since I started 7 years ago. That's probably true for most of us though, so I haven't been too hard on myself about it. I blogged about 4 of the things I was able to push out but these are the few things that I never got real pics in and never made it to the blog.

Merry Christmas! | McCall's 7243

Merry Christmas, Friends! Here's to hopes that you are able to spend the holiday around people that you love and enjoy... and if that is not the case or possibility, I am hoping that you are able to find peace and gratitude in whatever situation you are in. The holidays are not the easiest times this year (for myself included), but I'm praying things will soon get better.

Today I am bringing to you McCall's 7243 (OOP), View B, in a size 12.

Not sure if I follow directions well | Handkerchief Dress

Hello again! This year, I have probably sewn fewer garments than I have any other year of blogging. It's crazy how different and busy life gets as we get older, that it seems like the things we used to be enamored with don't fit well into our ever-evolving lives. I really have to squeeze in time to sew these days, so I'm pretty proud that I was able to get a few things sewn this summer.

I saw this picture on Mimi G's Instagram back in July and fell in love! And I saw that she had made a free tutorial on it so I decided one of the lighter knits in my staff would be set aside for this cute handkerchief dress!

I followed the tutorial, making sure to add a few inches in length to my skirt and was hoping to be done in about an hour.... Imagine my surprise when I tried on the dress and it was literally falling off of me hahaha. The tank top I used to trace didn't have enough negative ease, so that threw off the measurements of the entire garment.

15. Nostalgia - Linen Floral Skirt | #sew16in2016

Keeping on track with my seasonal plans (even though it's 40 degrees while I'm typing this) and #sew16in2016, I got a chance to make up a skirt that was inspired by a picture that I saw on Instagram in January 2015! The "Nostalgia" category for the Sew '16 challenge is to "Look back through your old sewing notes, doodles or pinned ideas. Pick one of the earliest ideas and make it happen" .I have a "sewing inspiration" folder on Dropbox and this picture may be one of the first ones I ever took a screenshot of to mimic later.

Check out Me:

vs.

My Inspiration:

Peek-a-boo Fringe - DIY Pencil Skirt

Holllaaaaaa! Remember back when I used to make everything out of a remnant I found at JoAnn's? lol Well I'm back at it. I actually made this quite a while ago...June? I was having stitching withdrawals and I needed to make something...ANYTHING.

I found this (little over) 1/2 yd remnant not too long before I stopped shopping for fabric. Lucky me. The first thing that stood out to me was that diamond cut-outs... SO CUTE! And I don't have anything in my closet with fringe so I thought it would be an interesting addition. The fringe was one side of the selvage (the selvage strip was to be ripped off to let the fringe hang freely) and nothing was on the other side. You know what that means? It means that the stretch of this fabric is perpendicular to, instead of parallel with, the fringe :-/

That didn't deter me though. When I bought it, I knew it was going to be a skirt, and a skirt I set off to make. I decided to go for a self-drafted pencil skirt (made twice before |1 & 2) because I just wanted something quick. Only problem is that the other versions have SOME sort of stretch. I decided that just adding some extra seam allowance would do fine.

18. Piles of Styles - Infinity Dress | #sew16in2016

Heyyyyy! I told you I wouldn't be gone for too long! I'm back with a dress that has been a long time coming in the recesses of my mind. I just needed the fabric, time and an idea on how to draft it lol.

My idea came from this dress that I took a screenshot of from instagram:

I loved the way the strap stripes were horizontal and the skirt was vertical. I also loved that it was a maxi and looking at the waist, I realized it was an infinity dress. That made it an easy make. I found the cotton knit fabric at Fine Fabrics in Atlanta. The stripes weren't as wide but that didn't/doesn't bother me.

April Showers... but I have FLOWERS!

Happy Thursday folks! A number of weeks ago, I was trying to help my friend out with a hair photoshoot he was doing and he needed some pics that would stand out in some way. So I thought, what a better way to make natural hair more interesting than to add some bold accessory?? I got together with a friend of mine to make some flower crowns and they came out better than I could have imagined.

I thought I'd share a little about how we made them and then show you all a couple of pics from the shoot.

OMG... I sewed clothes for a baby O_O

In my last post I talked about my fabric shopping trip in Atlanta. Let me talk about my original reason for going down to ATL to begin with. My goddaughter, Brooklyn,  was born on March 8, 2015. She was turning 1 year old and I had to make sure that she had a birthday that she would never remember. Get it? 'Cause she's ONE lol. But that didn't stop me. When she gets older and looks back at pics, she'll know she was loved and she'll appreciate the effort we put into making her day awesome.

The theme was Minnie Mouse per request from her grandmother so I knew immediately that I would be making her an outfit. I asked her mom "dress or skirt?" and she replied "skirt". I went to JoAnn to find some red fabric with white polk dots that I knew I would find in the quilting cotton section. Later, I was perusing Michael's to find crafting materials for other party favors and I came across some cute golden frilled elastic on clearance and I scooped it up. I looked up a few different resources to see what the general measurements were for 12 mo and then I found a quick no seam circle skirt tutorial. These are the results:

Below are the other crafts that we put together:

5. Quick Sew - Selvage trim Scarf | #sew16in2016

I finally managed to sit down at my machines for the first time ini 2016. I got rid of all of my small alterations projects and felt comfortable enough to start some new things. The first thing I'm going to share was a quick project to get my sewing juices flowing.

I've been holding on to the scraps from my cape project back in Nov2014. It has a black selvage trim. The scraps I've been holding onto on have one side of the selvage left. I had 1 big rectangle of the fabric with the trim on one long edge.

Windy Remnant Kimono

Heyyyyyy guys! I was on a roll last month with getting projects cranked out and I'm not trying to slow down now. I went to California this past weekend to and I wanted to make something for my trip since I never really do vacation sewing. I needed something super easy because I didn't have a lot of time to make anything. After rummaging through my stash of remnants, I found this pretty chiffon and decided a kimono would be the quick project I was looking for.