My Favorite Gifts to Make

 Hello, Friends! Years ago, I used to surprise my friends who had just given birth with a handmade blanket in the theme of their newborn's room or something related to their name. Well, around 2019, it had been quite a while since someone had a baby, and then in 2020, I stopped sewing for almost a year. Of course in 2021 a number of "pandemic babies" were born, but basically, I forgot that's something I do lol One of my friends had to remind me and now I'm back on the wagon.

I get the fabric and binding for the blankets from JoAnn Fabrics. I use a fleece fabric for the back, a flannel fabric for the front, and then packaged blanket binding to hold it all together.

Although I consider myself a "selfish sewer", I don't mind making gifts for people (especially babies) when it's MY idea lol. If I thought of it, I'm excited to create it and a lot of love is going into it. 

Hopefully, these blankets will keep these new fresh babies warm and cozy for the rest of the winter! 

What are your favorite gifts to make people? Or are you against it completely??

Be back soon!

xoxo,

Tasha

Traditional African Wedding | Simplicity 8394

 Hello Friends! I'm back, and I have been SEWING; just haven't been sharing much...UNTIL NOW lol

I was invited to a friend's Traditional Nigerian wedding ceremony and in the invitation, they made the guests aware of the theme color of the wedding. The color was MAGENTA. So I went into my stash looking for dressy-ish fabrics that would fit into the theme.

Birthday Shirt for Dad | Colette Negroni

Hello there! Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!

Today I'm coming to you with a blast from the past. The past being March... which is not extremely "past" but it's also not present... But actually it IS a present. #inception? no? lol

Earlier this year I set out to make my father a shirt for his Birthday. A few friends of mine and I had signed up for a men's shirt-making class scheduled for February so really, the stars aligned perfectly I his favor lol He also believed I only make things for myself so I decided to prove him wrong. Cuz you know, "parents just don't understand" like Will said...

Moving on, the class was based on the Colette Negroni. It is basic, modern silhouette that I thought would be a smooth intro to the shirt-making world. I was right in my thinking. The lack of button placket as well as the fact that I chose the short sleeve option helped to make this venture feel like a breeze.

the hems meet. shirt just laid crooked

When choosing the size, my dad gave me 1 of his favorite shirts that he likes the fit of and I just measured it and compared to the pattern measurements. Before he gave me the shirt, I did try to get some measurements of his body and when I compared the physical measurements to the shirt he gave me, I realized that he and the shirt were in different Negroni size ranges. His body told me that he was a size Large but his favorite shirt told me that he was an XL. It did eventually hit me that my dad likes quite a bit of ease in his shirts so I made a compromise. I cut an XL all the way to the shoulders but then graded into a Large at the neck and collar.  That seemed to have work well. I feel like if I make this again, I can get away with cutting a large in the sleeves as well. They look big to me but he told me they were fine.

Middle East Florals | McCalls 7566

Hello lovelies!! This is a VERY late post, as it is a blog about the dress I made (and wore) for Easter. I'm going to make this quick.

This is McCall's 7566 view C. I cut a size 12 but a 14 through the bust area. I was hoping that that cheat would suffice and I wouldn't have to do an FBA but I was WRONG lol. It would have worked for the knit view but not for this woven view.  I'll get to that more in a second.

Gifted Ankara | Named Helga Wrap Playsuit

Greetings to all! I've been away on vacay so I've been trying to get acclimated back into normal life but it's haarrddd. lol I was in beautiful Guam with it's hot temps and beautiful beaches, so to be back in the DMV with bipolar temperatures and city pollution is not the easiest transition.

As I had been planning for my trip, I knew that I didn't want to make anything new. I have PLENTY of outfits and warm weather pieces and I didn't want to stress myself out by trying to rush a last minute garment with my schedule being so packed the weeks leading up to my trip. It was decided: NO VACATION SEWING.

......thennnnn Named Patterns came out with their Spring/Summer '17 patterns: The Playground Collection. I basically dropped everything, including my payment information to buy the Helga Wrap Playsuit. If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you may know by now that anything with a wrap bodice is my cup of tea! That afternoon I had already picked up my copy shop print from Kinkos and was on my way home to whip up a quick muslin to check the fit and see if it would be an easy sew.

Mommy & Me Ponchos | McCall's 6209

Promised you I'd be back soon and HERE I AM! lol Back to share a 1 for 1. Something for me and a gift for someone else.  This is my remixed version of "Mommy and Me" outfits because I'm not the mom lol but I'm sure it still counts. :-) Back in my fall/winter sewing plans, I mentioned I wanted to make McCall's 6209 in 2 different fabrics. I'll start with mine:

I have made McCall's 6209 previously. Then I made View A but this time I wanted to try out View E.  I cut a Medium just like I did the other one.

Sewists give the best gifts!

Well hello there! Didn't plan on being gone so long, but no matter that now. My time away has been happily spent sewing but that's not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about how grateful I am to be a part of such a giving community. Sewing friends are one of a kind and I'm always honored when I get to meet someone who I've talked with online in real life! It brings me so much joy!

Sewing Tools Birthday Haul!

Hello friends! I know what you're thinking.. "Wasn't her birthday in July?"

Yes. Yes it was lol but it took Amazon quite a while to send me all of my stuff so I had to wait okay! lol I just want to share the sewing tools I got that I believe will really help elevate my sewing skillsssss.

Say 'Hello!" to my little friend!

Hey folks! I'm back from an amazing vacation in Myrtle Beach and I took the opportunity to take some pics of my new skirt on the beach but that's not what this post is about lol. For my birthday, my mom bought me something that's sure to elevate my sewing to the next level <3 She bought me a dressform from The Shop Company!

I got a size 12, Professional female dress form with collapsible shoulders! On the site, the size 12 measurements read bust:38, waist:29, and hip:39 (inches). Amazingly, those are my normal measurements! I measured the form when it came and the waist and hip measurements are correct but the bust measurement is only 37.5. And I tried every angle to measure but everything came up to 37.5 max. I'm a little annoyed by that but I can obviously get over it lol. Right now my waist measurement isn't a 29 either, but I will put in the work to get it back to that size lool. More fruit and vegetables for me.

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.

13. One and Only - Named Nuna Hood Scarf | #sew16in2016

Sad to report, it's still freezing over here on the East coast. It got REALLY bad last week. I'm feeling like "Why am I living in a place where the air hurts my face?!"

So my latest make has been really helping out. I've been alternating between my last scarf and this Nuna Hood Scarf by Named Patterns.

Denim Never Dies in the Jungle....

It's February already!! But I've got a score to settle with January... The TMS challenge for January 2015 is/was "Denim Never Dies", which was perfect because I had decided that I needed to make more pants in 2015 and I had JUST bought the Ginger Jeans pattern by Closet Case Files. A little bit after the challenge announcement, they added a bonus challenge to celebrate their pink rebranding! I had some pink denim in my stash so I was just a "Ready Freddy".

Like I said, this is the Ginger Jeans pattern by Closet Case Files. I made View A, the low rise with the stove pipe leg. I cut a straight size 12. This was a wearable muslin for me so I just wanted to see what the pattern would look like made straight up. I made no modifications.  I did take some flat measurements of a pair of jeans I really like to see how they related and the measurements were very very close. 

Merry Christmas!! - LBD & Simplicity 1325

Helloooo! I hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas and were able to spend it with the with people that you love and make you happy! I had an amazing day yesterday with my family and friends. The older I get, the less excited I am about holidays but I do appreciate having time off to just BE with my family. And I thank God for Jesus and all of the blessings that came with that gift alone :-D. 

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to make a dress for Christmas but I knew that I wouldn't have a lot of time. My mom and I were recently going through clothes and deciding what we could give away, when I came upon a stretch velvet little black dress that my mom had when she was my age. Just a basic tank dress. I decided to use it as an easy upcycle project and turn the dress from a basic LBD to something a bit more glamorous and appropriate for the season.

This:

To THIS:

No UFO's going into 2015!

Well not any unselfish ones anyway lol. I have a nice sized pile of of UFO's of projects that I was supposed to complete for other people. Some dating back to April. I know. smh. I have so many things that I want to make for myself but I feel really guilty about making yet ANOTHER selfish project when I have promised these things. I'm not gonna let it go down like that. 

And since it IS the holiday season, this is a time of GIVING. I pledge to finish all of my unselfish UFO's by January 1st. I will sprinkle in some minuscule projects for myself (i.e. lining beanies, xmas dress) but most of my focus will be on others. So what do I have to do?

Birthday Recap! - DR 2014

Sooo my birthday was almost 3 weeks ago and I spent it in the Dominican Republic with 4 of my cousins and one of my best friends!

I turned 24 :-)

None of us had ever been to the Dominican Republic so it was a new experience for all of us.

We stayed at Majestic Colonial, an all-inclusive resort.

It was so much fun! I love interacting with people at all-inclusives!

As soon as they know you speak the language they immediately treat you like your their best friend lol!

Before I do this photo/video dump, I just want to thank everyone that wished me "Happy Birthday", bought me a gift, a card or helped celebrate!

I love y'all man! *sheds single tear*

Okay, on to the trip!

My Birthday Wishlist

My birthday is in 10 days so I just wanted to put my desires into the atmosphere lol

After reading so many blogs and resources and learning more and more about sewing, there are some tools and resources that I believe would be great investments into my sewing!

And I'm putting it out there just in case some of you haven't seen these things and find that they may be beneficial :-)

This is my birthday wishlist!

Needles & Fashion Meetup!! & McCall's 6744

This weekend I met up with some ladies from the Facebook Group "Needles and Fashion"!
We met for brunch at Beacon Bar & Grill in the District of Columbia.

designed by Christina Carter

And now that I'm writing this post, I realize how "new" of a blogger I am because I have no pics of the restaurant, or the setup of the table with the gifts lol
I didn't even start taking pictures until we were done eating SMH

Experience is the best teacher right? lol anyway.

The food was GREAT: Brunch buffet with unlimited mimosas and Tequila sunrises.

But the company was even BETTER!
It ended up being nine of us ladies.

Bibs & Bowties

Went to the baby shower and it was beautiful :-)

The theme of the shower was "Bibs & Bowties"

They had little bib cookies with bowties on them and bowtie shaped napkins and what not!
It was so cute!!

I had decided I was going to make a snuggle blanket, a nursing cover, and some mittens.

I only ended up making the blanket and nursing cover because I cut the mittens out wrong and they would have sewn up really awkward/wrong.

Infinity & Beyond

So this is tardy.. but .. so lol

This year (or "last" year) for Christmas,

My family decided to do Secret Santa instead of buying a plethora of gifts for all these people lol

I pulled my cousin Julisa and I immediately knew what I wanted to make.

I knew that she loved animal print but that her favorite color combo is black in white lol

animal + black + white = PANDA