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.

Life Updates and this Jacket I made months ago... Simplicity 1688

*taps mic* Is anybody here?!?! -- Oh! hey! Nice to see that you stuck around lol

Life gets busy and things happen and reasons and stuff. You know the narrative. So let's skip all of that and talk about some of the things I missed! 3 milestones were hit while I was gone so we can have one big 'ol celebration for all of them :-)

1. My blog turned 3! June 9th marked 3 years of blogging and sometime here in July will mark 3 years of sewing! It still amazes me how this blog has connected me to so many interersting, exciting and inspiring people all over the world. And they like... know me too! It's crazy and awesome at the same time. This addicting hobby has given me skills and friends I never thought I'd have. It also gave me a closet full of fabric that my mom would've never thought I'd have either (but that's besides the point lol). Thank you to everyone that has been following my journey from the beginning and shoutout to everyone who just joined. I'm honored that you want to see what I have to say :-)

And thank you to the people who checked in on me while I've been MIA. <3

2. June 25th marked 5 YEARS since my last relaxer! Being natural has been a long hard road but it definitely gets easier.... but it kinda stays hard lol Ya'll know what I'm saying ;-) I was hoping to have waist-length hair by this time but that hasn't quite worked out with all of the unplanned set backs and my inconsistency in care. I'm trying to be more deliberate in keeping it healthy now so hopefully by this time next year, I'll be at waist-length :-)

my hair right now at full bra strap length

3. MY BIRTHDAYYYYYY! I turned 26 on July 10th! It was a quieter than usual celebration but I absolutely enjoyed it. I love being around my family and my friends make it even more special. I'm grateful to have made it to another year and I pray that I continue to grow in God's purpose for me. Shameless plug for my birthday wishlist on Amazon. I was able to get a lot of the things I wanted thanks to folks' generosity! There are a few sewing things on there that I'm still wanting. I hope to do like.. a birthday sewing haul at the end of this month. I'm so excited to share some of the things I got!

 Alrightyyyy now that we're all excited from celebrating lol There has been very little sewing going on around here lol. And this jacket ain't even a part of that group. lol I have a couple more pieces to put up here soon though so I'm not going to just disappear ;-)

I made this jacket, Simplicity 1688 to wear with my Easter dress. I really wanted something easy that didn't take a lot of fabric because I was stealing a yard (and some change) of my mom's fabric lol. I needed something that had yellow in it and the tweed she got from Hancock's more than a year ago was perfect. I cut a size 14 so that I could have a little bit of wearing ease.

How to Read the Bible Without Falling Asleep

I've been going to church for at least 20 years. I have believed that Jesus died on the cross for me for 18 of those years.

For 14 of those 20 years, I can't recall if I'd actually read the bible outside of church and on my own. It's not that I didn't know that I was supposed to read the bible. It's just that, when I tried, I would get two sentences in and start to yawn and my eyelids would get heavy. Not really sure WHAT to read, I would pull the "I'll just open it up and wherever it lands, that's what I'm supposed to read" card. And when that plan didn't provide me with anything that made sense at the moment, I kind of lost interest. I'd just wait for Sunday mornings or when I went to bible studies for someone to pick the passage and explain to me what things meant. For many years, I did not understand the depth of importance there was to read and know the bible for myself (And I thank God for His grace throughout all of that time!).

I knew all of the common old testament bible stories (or so I thought lol) and of course I knew about the gospel story. I think I tried doing that whole "Bible In a Year" plan, but, honestly, all of that jumping around was confusing and I really wasn't comprehending nor retaining the things I'd read. I'd rather just wait for Sundays.... Someone else would pick the scripture to read and then explain it.

I can't tell you what happened, or even when it happened, but at some point after those confusing 14 first years, I started reading the different letters of the New Testament. Most likely a desire to search for practical instruction and application, I found interest in the things Paul was saying to the different churches. I came to LOVE the New Testament over the years. Reading and re-reading different books like John and Romans, really understanding what Jesus did and how I have a brand new life, and learning how to live my new life through books like James and 1&2 Peter. I had really discovered a whole new world! The New Testament had opened up my eyes but the Old Testament still did a good job of making them close and making me snore lol.

The New Testament provided so much illumination and revelation for me, and still does. In contrast, the books of the Old Testament, namely the Historical books and the Prophets, were BORING to me. And because I thought they were so boring, I stopped trying to read them. I felt like, if I'm not under the law anymore ANYWAY I could really just focus my studying on the New Testament and be good. These days I see how flawed and flat out wrong that logic is lol (Thank God for grace!).

A little before the start of 2016, I really started to have a desire to KNOW what the Word of God says. I've sat in many sermons and classes where the teacher or preacher would link events from the New Testament to ones that happened in the Old Testament and would provide more illumination of who God is or why "this and that" is so important. And even though the Holy Spirit has graciously gave me revelation about things in the New Testament, I couldn't imagine how much I was missing out on just because I didn't KNOW what happened in the past. Being that the entire bible is about Jesus, to me, knowing Him really means knowing what happened throughout the whole thing.

When 2016 hit I decided that I was/am going to read what happened in the Old Testament. Surprisingly, it's been MUCH easier and more edifying this time around. I wanted to share some things that I did differently that could probably help someone who also feels the same way.

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:

7. Share the Love | #sew16in2016

You may have thought I forgot about the Sew '16 Challenge... alas, I did not. This installment is titled "Share the Love" and we are supposed to sew for someone that we never have before. Who better to pick than little humans that have just been (or will be) welcomed into the world! I made some baby blankets and I think they have become my favorite gift to give. They can be personalized so much. I had 2 girls and 2 boys on the bill. So far, 3 of them are here and one is soon to come.