Sew Fancy

new blog...

2011-10-04T10:29:00.001-04:00

I have moved onto new blogging adventures with my friend Alexis over at 1 Stitch at a Thyme. It's brand new! Go check it out and follow me over there!

http://1stitchatathyme.blogspot.com/

thanks!!

Baby Burp Cloths with Tutorial!!

2011-02-15T04:36:00.001-05:00

Big surprise, 2 days until my due date and I am posting yet another baby project. This one has includes a little tutorial. Since I don’t really do tutorials, let’s see how this one goes. It’s simple, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Are you ready? I think I am. Here we go!

Remember those cute bibs I made a while back using Rae’s tutorial from Sew Mama Sew? I decided that I wanted to make some matching burp cloths.

Here’s what I did:

BABY BURP CLOTHS TUTORIAL:

1. Make yourself a pattern. I traced a Gerber burp cloth to make my pattern, but if you don’t have one, no worries! All you need to do is draw a rectangle that is 7” by 18” and round the corners. Easy, right? (So that it would fit on a normal size piece of paper, I just folded it in half so that it was 7”by 9” with a fold line.)

2. For each burp cloth, I cut out 2 pieces of terry cloth using my pattern. You could use 1 if your material is thicker, but I wanted to make sure these were extra absorbent. You will also need a pack of bias tape (or you can make your own, like I did- here’s a great tutorial from Dana) and any embellishments you may want to add. I chose simple strips of fabric that matched my home made bias tape.

3. Decide on the placement of your embellishments and pin and stitch in place to one layer of your terry cloth:

4. Grab your second piece of terry cloth and stitch or serge to your pretty top piece. I serged mine as I love any excuse to use my serger. But I would think any stitch close to the edge would work. We’re just doing this so the next step is easier as this stitch will be covered up by the next step.

If you serged them together, you could probably stop here and have fully functional burp cloths, but I’m not quite done yet!

5. Attach your bias tape and you are done! Wait! How do you attach bias tape? I’m not going to re-invent the wheel here, so I’m going to direct you to another one of Dana’s tutorials.

And there you have it! Super simple burp cloths that are pretty and functional!

I have been working on more than just burp cloths recently. I made yet another of my simple baby blankets. This time I made a Snoopy one for me:

The print on it makes me happy!

Oh yeah, you may have noticed a new name up there ^. Sew Fancy. I’m trying it out. I think I like it, what do you think?

I have a few other things in progress that I will post when I get the chance. But if you don’t hear from me, hopefully that means our little one has decided to show up. She is due to arrive any day now! We are so excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Christina

Boppy Time!!

2011-02-02T12:04:00.001-05:00

Since I’m iced/snowed in today I decided to knock at least one thing off my to sew list. This morning I made a cover for the Boppy Pillow I bought at Joann’s. Well, they don’t call it a Boppy since that is a brand name…they call it a Nurture Nest. I was so excited to find it on sale for less than $10 a few weeks ago!! I believe a real Boppy costs around $30 and then you have to buy a cover for at least $10-$15. Bonus: I got the fabric for the cover out of the remnant bin! I love when projects come together for so little money!!

Here’s my Boppy!!

The front is a cozy flannel:

And the back is cotton:

The cover is easily removed since it has an invisible zipper attached to the back seam. I will probably make a few more covers. A pattern for the cover was included on the packaging for the pillow. It also suggests a couple of Simplicity patterns if you prefer one of those. I think one of them may use Velcro instead of a zipper, but the zipper was actually pretty easy… I just followed the instructions on the package. On to more baby projects!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Christina

Baby things I made for my husband to enjoy.

2011-02-01T13:37:00.001-05:00

I made yet another pair of Big Butt Baby Pants and another one of my super easy baby blankets. I used leftover Sponge Bob Squarepants to make the pants. I may get around to making a matching top, but if not they’ll go perfectly with just a onesie. The blanket is made from a skull and cross bones fabric Rick picked out at Joann’s and the remaining fleece that I got out of a remnant bin. The other half was used for one of the Care Bear blankets from my previous post.

I got a little creative with the quilting on the blanket….

Can you see the heart and crossbones? Rick really likes it.

Oh yeah, almost forgot…. the backside of the pants! I fussy cut the back panel so that it features Patrick in a bubble!!!

I have a few other quick projects I hope to get to before the little one gets here. I would like to make a boppy cover, her name in felt, a snoopy blanket, and some other things I can’t think of right now. But of course I would have to wait to show off her name in felt until after she’s born….you thought I was going to slip and give it away early, didn’t you?? I also hope to start some clothes from the patterns and the Sew for Baby book my aunt gave me. The book was my grandma’s and both my aunt and mom used it when we were all babies. I am so very excited about this!!

Sew for Baby the Fun Way is by Kerstin Martensson. From what I can tell, it is out of print, but Kwik Sew’s Sewing for Baby looks to be very similar. I can’t wait to get started on these great patterns!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Christina

Baby Blankets!!

2011-01-17T07:57:00.002-05:00

I know I have been M.I.A. from this thing, what can I say? I have been tired and the only things had had been working on for the last month or so had been Christmas presents and I couldn’t post those. And then Christmas was over and I took a little break from the sewing. Well, I picked up some simple projects recently and finally have something to blog about. I may get around to showing off the Christmas presents I made, but that will have to be another day. This is meant to be a short and sweet post (and yet I started it with all of this rambling…let’s see how this turns out…)
I had been meaning to make some baby blankets for my baby that is due in about a month and yesterday I finally got around to starting them. I found some great Care-Bear and Sponge Bob Squarepants fabric at Wal-mart and decided that these must become my baby blankets. I purchased these fabrics and some flannel to go with one of the Care-Bear prints. I decided that I had enough cozy fabric at home to go with the other 2 prints.
For each blanket I used a cotton print for the front and some sort of soft and cozy material for the back. 2 of them are backed by a soft flannel and the third is backed by fleece that I think I got from the remnant bin at JoAnn’s.
Here are my cozy baby blankets:

Here’s what I did:

Cut out a piece of cotton and a piece of flannel or fleece into pieces that were about 30” x 40”. Round the corners if desired.
Place the right sides of the fabrics together and stitched around the edges, leaving an opening so that I could turn them right side out. I used my serger for this step :-)
Turn the blanket right sides out
Iron the blanket so the final steps are easier.
Top-stitch along the edge of the blanket, closing up the hole.
Finally, quilt the pieces to each other. Just do something simple like a few straight lines or wavy lines or whatever floats your boat. I used the walking foot that I got for Christmas for the last 2 steps, but this is not necessary…I just wanted an excuse to try it out.

The Care-Bear blankets were quilted with simple freehand wavy lines and the Sponge Bob one just has straight lines forming a grid on the blanket. As you can see I also left the corners on the Sponge Bob one square…I thought it was appropriate... Very simple and very quick. It was a perfect project for a very tired pregnant lady that still wants to be crafty.
I have some more fun fabric set aside to make a few more. These were so easy and I have a feeling that they will get a lot of use. I can’t wait for my little one to get here so I can wrap her up in these! Thanks for stopping by!
~Christina

Pink Polka Dot Ruffle Butt Pants!!!

2010-12-01T12:40:00.000-05:00

I have been working on Christmas/Birthday presents, so there hasn't been too much that I can blog about. But I did make myself a new purse that I need to share with all of you but today I am sharing with you more baby sewing! I used Made By Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants pattern again to make these adorable pink polka dot pants:

Now these aren't just any ordinary pink polka dot pants, no sir! These are pink polka dot ruffle butt pants!!

Rae has on option on her pattern to add knit ruffles, but I wanted to use the same material that I used for the pants to make the ruffles. And I decided to stop after 3 ruffles. I love the results! I think every little girl needs a pair of ruffle butt pants, don't you?

Basically what I did was made a tube out of the fabric and pressed it flat. I gathered the top edge of it using the longest stitch length I had on my machine (4) and set the thread tension to the highest number (9). This created an instant ruffle. I pinned it to the rear panel and stitched it along the gathered stitches. I used Rae's suggested placement for the ruffles. Then I continued to follow the pattern as normal. Check out these cute ruffles!

I can't get enough of them! I will be making more of these! I figure these pants will go great with a cute onsie.
Thanks for looking!
~Christina

3 Baby Bibs

2010-11-08T12:59:00.001-05:00

I decided that I wanted a simple project to make, so I decided to make so baby bibs. Rae of, quite possible my favorite blog, Made by Rae, shared this tutorial over at Sew, Mama, Sew. I decided that these would be the bibs I would make. They were super easy to make. Rae shows you how to make your own pattern using found objects. I did get lazy while I was hand sewing the snaps onto the second one and bought myself a little snap fastener. It was cheaper than snap pliers and I get to use a hammer. Double bonus!

I used some pink and brown fat quarters for the tops and pink terry cloth for the bottoms. All fabric came from Jo-Anns. I think my daughter will be stylin' at lunchtime while wearing these!

Now I may have to take a break from baby things and get started on Christmas presents. I have been going back and forth as to whether or not I was making them this year. Right now I'm feeling ambitious and think I can do it. We'll see how that goes. Third trimester is approaching...
Thanks for looking!
~Christina

Lady Bug Jammies

2010-10-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

I have definitely caught the sewing baby clothes bug! They are so cute and don't take much time and I get excited with the completion of project thinking about how cute it will look on my daughter in a few months! Last night I finished up a cute set of baby jammies. You might recognize the material from the PAJAMA PANTS I made for myself earlier this year when I taught Rick how to sew. I made these tiny jammies from material I had left over. The material is a cozy soft flannel that I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Tiny Jammies!

I used the pattern called Lucy's Kimono from HEATHER ROSS'S WEEKEND SEWING. It was so easy to make. I think I will have to make more! When I showed it to my mom, she said this style of top was her favorite for a little baby because you don't have to pull it over their head. In fact, she made some for us girls when we were little babies. If I can find a picture, I may share.

Here it is with the top flap open. I may use Velcro for the inside flap instead of a bow so that there is less bulk and I can be extra lazy :-)

All bundled up! All that is missing is a cute baby!

The pants were made using the BIG BUTT BABY PANTS from MADE BY RAE again. This time I added the optional fold-up cuffs. I used the 0-3 month size to go with the sizing of the kimono. I love the little lady bugs!

Big Butt Baby Pants! One cuff is folded up and the other down so you can see the options available:

And here's the back view:

I can't wait to try these on my daughter in February. Ooh! she just kicked me in excitement! Now I have to decide what to sew next. There are so many great patterns and tutorials out there. What shall I make next?

As always, thanks for looking!!

~Christina

Big Butt Baby Pants

2010-10-23T20:27:00.000-04:00

I went to Wal-Mart and, of course, I was drawn to the corner of the store that has cute little socks and onesies and dresses. And on this day there was a cute little sweater that called my name. I had to buy it. My daughter will be born in February and she is going to need things that will keep her warm. So, I bought it!

Isn't it cute? I was looking at it and thinking that baby girl is going to need some pants to go with her new sweater. Rae of MADE BY RAE had finished up a great pattern for her BIG BUTT BABY PANTS not too long ago. So I went over to her awesome blog and purchased it and was oh so excited to download it and get started!

The sweater is a 3-6 month size, so I went with the 3-6 month size for the pants. I didn't want to go out and but more fabric, so I checked out my stash. I found some purple material that matched the purple on the sweater. If you have been following my blog, you might recognize it from a previous project for another cute girl. Remember THIS? That's the fabric I used! And I have to say that my niece approves of the fabric choice!

The pattern was easy to follow and was very quick to put together. I can't wait to put them on my little girl. Are you ready to see them? Here they are!

Front View:

and Back View:

Aren't they cute! I love the back panel because I'm sure that will make them fit so much better over a diaper. Comfy and cozy for a little baby. I think I need to make a ruffled butt pair. Ever little girl needs a pair of ruffle butt pants. Oh,I have one more picture for you. Here is the complete outfit:

Now that I have started sewing for baby girl, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop. I have been checking out all kinds of great blogs for patterns and tutorials and I just need to pick something to make next!
Thanks for looking!!
~Christina

New Fall Purse

2010-10-14T19:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Fall! I made myself a new purse to celebrate the changing leaves and cooler weather. Rae of Made by Rae posted a really cute owl bag that she made using her Lickety Split pattern with some modifications. I loved what she came up with and had to make one of my very own. I started this last week and officially finished it today. (I should add that the pattern is simple; the only reason it took me so long is that I couldn't decide on what to use for the closure and I was being lazy about finishing the top-stitching.) I love all the pockets! It has 4!

Here's my Happy New Fall Purse!

Instead of a button and loop for the closure, I used a fabric flower and loop! I used the Rolled Rose tutorial over at Portabellopixie to make the fabric flower.

I love my new purse! I love this time of year. :-)
Thanks for looking!
~Christina

Fall excitment!

2010-09-15T13:36:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon blog readers (if I have any left). I'm embarrassed that I have posted anything in about 3 months. I've been so tired lately...... because I'm pregnant!! I have finally got some energy back and hopefully that means more craftiness! :-) We are also in the middle of doing some remodeling/rearranging to make room for the baby, so I still may not post all that often. But it will be easier to because our internet connection is faster (YAY!) I do have several projects that I haven't posted that I can share with you while I am creating new things to blog about.

I am very excited about fall. So excited that I bought some cheap fall fabric at Wal-Mart to play with!

I have to say that these fabrics sure do make me feel crafty! What should I make? Well, I have some ideas...but I'm not going to tell you! What do you think I should make?

I promise not to go 3 months without a post without giving some kind of warning first. Thanks for reading (if there's anyone out there) :-)

~Christina

Pink and Brown Buttercup Bag

2010-06-11T19:34:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Here's a Buttercup Bag that I made last month for my sister Rebecca's friend Rachel. This was my 2nd custom order (my first being this bag Rebecca ordered for another friend's birthday).

Rachel like big purses, so this is the larger version plus 3 inches added to the length. It makes for a very roomy purse!

Rachel picked out the fabric. I like pink and brown together.

Thanks for looking!

~Christina

Cute blue skirt

2010-06-02T12:45:00.002-04:00

I found this awesome fabric at Wal-Mart for $2 a yard and knew that I needed to make a skirt with it. I didn't use a pattern, I just kind made it up as I went. Real quick, here's what I did (if I make another, I write down what I did and maybe take process pictures, like a tutorial!): I cut 3 layers of fabric and serged the bottom edge of each layer to make my hemline. I just kinda guessed on the width the skirt because I decided I was going to shir the waistband. I attached all layers at the top edge, folding the back layer to the front to create a clean edge. The I stitched the sides of the layers. Then I shirred the waistband. I had to wash it a few times to shrink it down because it was a bit big initially. It helped that I didn't pre-wash the fabric (even though I usually do). I got it done in time to wear to my cousin's graduation. Enough talk, on to the pictures!!

*****EDIT*****
Ok, This morning I drew up some quick sketches of my process...or what it will be next time to make it easier. I think it will work better this way than they way I did it. Basically, I switched the order of 2 of the steps, this way will create nicer seams I think. This will me a lite tutorial, meaning I didn't include any measurements as I didn't really measure much of anything. It was more of an eh, that looks good process for me. Ready? Here we go! (please don't laugh at my sad little sketches...)

I hope those made sense. You can find many great tutorials for shirring. I love Dana's over at Made. Her tutorials and patterns are so professional looking and full of pictures and suggestions. Someday maybe mine will look like that awesome. Ok, now on to the pictures!!

As you can see, I made the layers different lengths to make it more interesting:

Here's a side by side of me wearing the skirt, both tucked and untucked. I am more of an untucked kind of girl. I just think it's more comfortable.

And of course, here's a pic of me wearing my new skirt:

I mentioned something about a possible tutorial for this skirt, which may happen in the future. Right now I am working on a different tutorial. I am working on a fun summer top that I am making up as I go. Don't worry, I am taking plenty of pictures and writing down little notes and measurements as I go. Hopefully I'll finish it some time soon! I'm excited about possibly posting my first tutorial!! Ok, I have 2 more purses to blog about, I need to take pictures of 1 of them so I can share them with you. I'll hopefully get those up soon.

Thanks for looking! Become a follower if you aren't already! Leave a comment if you like something! I love reading your comments!!

~Christina

Fancy Skirt with POCKETS!!!

2010-05-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I haven't posted this one yet! I made a skirt for me!! I used some of the Tutti Frutti fabric from Jo-Anne's that I had been saving. I used a New Look pattern for this skirt. I love that Wal-Mart sells cheap patterns!

New Look 6899, View F.

I mostly used view F. I made it without the sash and I added the pockets from view A/C. I am so happy that I added pockets! That means that I might actually wear this skirt. I'm a girl that requires pockets!

Here's my new skirt!

Here is is again blowing in the breeze! I posted this so you can see the fullness of it.

Did I mention this skirt has pockets? It does!! And an invisible zipper!!

Here I am wearing my new skirt!! I like the second pic, it's all like yep, I got pockets!

And here I am running like a crazy person!! We have too much fun in the woods!!

Thanks for looking!!

~Christina

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-10T21:03:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day yesterday!! I made my mom a little quilted zippered pouch and we also got her some flower pots. This pouch was my first quilted project and I am quit pleased with it. I used the lining fabric on the bottom edge. My sister thinks it looks like grass. I quilted the batting to the outside fabric then added the ric-rac to the seam. then I added the zipper and sewed it all together.

Here's the pouch:

Here's the inside:

For my mother-in-law, Joy, I made some Picnic-tastic Place Mats. Well, technically this is also her birthday present. For her birthday I told her I would let her pick out some material and I would make her some. Well I ended up making 8 of them and finished them in time for Mother's Day. Rick also picked out some flowers for her and I found a tiny "Joy" book for her at work.

Here they are all rolled up:

Here's the 2 different styles of these place mats. I made 4 of each:

In other news, I didn't make it into the Top 60 for Spring Top Week. There were so many great tops entered this year. I'll have to try harder next year! I'm just pleased that I'm learning how to sew clothing and I completed and entered 5 different tops this year.

Thanks for looking!!
~Christina

Sunday Sewing

2010-05-02T21:45:00.000-04:00

I had a pretty good sewing day. I made Rick another pair of PJ shorts. I realized I never posted the first pair I made so I'll show both of them to you now. The grey pair was made on my sewing machine and the green pair was made on my serger. They are both made using a jersey knit from Joann's. I used stretch stitches on my sewing machine on the grey pair. On the green pair I used a three thread over-lock stitch on the seams and a flat-lock on the waistband and hem.

OK, enough about the stitches, here's a picture!!

I also finally made my sister's shirt that I promised her. She loves this pink tank top so much that she wanted another one. Her only request was for it to have wider straps. I found the fabric at Wal-Mart and it screamed Rebbie!! It's a thin knit with stripes of red, grey and yellow dots. I made the pattern using her shirt and I got to used my serger on it (did I mention that I love my new serger!?!?)

Here's my usual side by side of the before and after:

Here's a close-up so you can see the awesome fabric:

I'll update later with some pictures of the shirt on my sister. I think she likes it. :-)

Spring Top Week officially starts tomorrow over at Made By Rae. New tops will be posted each day (Mon-Fri) so be sure to check so you can vote for for your favorite! I hope you pick mine if I'm am lucky enough to be in the top 50!! There were so many great entries this year. I'm just happy that I completed my 5 tops.

Here's my five tops again. I like seeing them all lined up!

All in all, today was a pretty good day. Thanks for looking!!
~Christina

Spring Top Week Entry #5!!

2010-04-30T02:59:00.000-04:00

It's the moment you've been waiting for!! My final entry for Spring Top Week!! I used a pattern for this one. The main fabric is calico from Hobby Lobby and the trim is some quilting fabric from Wal-mart. I worked really hard on this. I successfully altered a pattern!

I started with New Look 6895 View E.

On the front pattern piece, I took away the space that was added in for the gathers in the center. And I subtracted the seam allowance from the back pieces so that I could use one piece of fabric instead of two, thus eliminating the back seam and button. The reason I removed the ruffles is because I wanted to add a placket, using Rae's very easy to follow placket tutorial! Oh, I totally used my new serger on this project too! I used the 4 thread mock safety stitch on the seams and the hem.

Here's my fancy new top!!

Some close-up shots of the fancy placket, closed and open:

I love girly gathered sleeves:

Look at that serged edge!! Fancy!!

And finally, here are some pics of me wearing my new top!! I'm all ready for spring!!

And here's my square crop for the Spring Top Week Flickr pool:

I am so happy that I completed 5 tops in time! This was an awesome experience. Thank you Rae for the challenge!!
Thanks for looking!!!!
~Christina

Spring Top Week Entry #4

2010-04-30T02:14:00.000-04:00

Hi! I finished my Spring Top Week entries!! This is is my 4th entry. It's simple, but cute. I got the fabric from Hobby Lobby. It is a pink knit fabric with sweet white flowers printed on it. (BTW, I love sewing knits with now! Not so scary!) This is my first completed top using a pattern. (I don't want to talk about the ones that aren't completed) The pattern I used was New Look 6950, view C.

Sometime I'll have to make those awesome stretch pants...lol. Oh yeah!! I got to use my new serger on this top! I LOVE my new serger!!! I used the basic 3 thread stitch for the side seams and the blind hem stitch on...you guessed it...the hem!

I love this top! Simple, comfy and girly. Good for layering or on its own!

Close-up of top-stitching. I'm pretty proud of it:

My first attempt at the blind-hem stitch:

And here I am, enjoying the sun in my new spring top!

And here's my official square pic for the Spring Top Week Flickr pool:

One more to go! Thanks for looking!!
~Christina

Quick Update

2010-04-27T22:11:00.000-04:00

Hi! Just a quick update on my spring top week progress and some other exciting news. I have completed a pink knit tank top that I plan on entering, just need to get some good pictures. Tonight I have started what will be my final entry for Spring Top Week. I'm very excited about it because I'm using a pattern, but altering a bit and adding a placket from a Made By Rae tutorial. So far so good. I should have it done in time!

One of my tops made it on Rae's blog yesterday!! Keep in mind that this doesn't mean I'm ahead or anything, she just wanted to give peek to all the awesome spring tops that everyone has been making. She has them sorted by color. I'm in the Grey row. Check it out! I'm excited!! I can't believe voting happens next week. Rae is awesome for doing Spring Top Week. I have had a lot of fun trying out new things. It has been a great challenge and learning experience for me.

And now for my super exciting news!! Last Thursday, a very special package came for me. A new SERGER!!! I lost the Janome contest and was very sad. :-( Rick said I should go ahead and get one. Because he's awesome! I found a cheap one on Amazon that got great reviews and it was also featured on Sew,Mama, Sew! So, I got it. And I LOVE IT!!! It's a Brother 1034D 3/4 Lay-In Thread Serger

It's so pretty!! I definitely used on my last 2 spring tops. My list of things to sew has just grown immensely. I'm super excited.

I'll be back soon with pictures of my last 2 tops. I'll let you know when to vote next week!
~Christina

Spring Top Entry #3

2010-04-21T12:48:00.000-04:00

Hi! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I meant to post this top sooner, but I have been playing outside too much! I love Spring when everything is blooming and turning green! I just want to go outside and enjoy it in my new spring tops! :-) This one is probably my favorite top so far. I got the fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It's another one of their thin knits that I love. I used a shirt from my closet to make the pattern again. I started buying patterns to try out, so you will be seeing new things on here very soon. I started a top using a New Look pattern, but I don't like the sleeves, so if I get around to fixing them, I'll post that one. And I got distracted by a cute dress that I just had to make for my niece, Cecilia! (What can I say, I couldn't help myself!!) You will see that in my next post, which I will post soon, I promise!

OK, here's a side by side of the original on the left (stripes) and my version on the right (dots):

Mine doesn't have any buttons and the neckline is a little higher. I love this shirt! (I know I keep saying that with each thing I make, but I really feel that I am improving with each project and this excites me!) I also love this fabric. I went back and got more to make a tank top or something else cute.

Here's my nature shot:

And here's my close-up that I will use for my entry in the Flickr pool for Spring Top Week:

Thanks for looking. I promise to post again soon!!
~Christina

Spring Top Week Entry??

2010-04-14T12:14:00.000-04:00

I am a little slow posting this one as I sewed it last Thursday. I finally got around to taking a picture of it today. I used the pattern that I made to make my B&W top in the previous post. This time I gathered the sleeves. I love it! It is so girly!! The main fabric is a knit that I got on sale at Hobby Lobby and the ribbing came from Joann's. It's a Raspberry Sew Classic Ribbing, I think. It was 50% off! So, this shirt cost less than $5!! I love a good deal! I am in love with sewing knits! I love making things that are cute and comfy.

Here I am, modeling the shirt:

For the gathering, I set my machine up for a basting straight stitch and it just kind of gathered it self. Then I pinned it to the shirt, spacing out the gather so it fit in just right. It was much easier than what I thought it would be.

Here's a close-up of the sleeve:

I haven't completely decided if I am going to enter this shirt in Spring Top Week. I already have a shirt like this entered. I hope I have time to make 5 different shirts for the contest. If I run out of time, I will probably submit this one.

Here's my square shot for the if I do enter it:

I had almost enough material to make another shirt, but not quite enough. Then it hit me! I could make a shirt for my niece Cecilia! I borrowed one of her shirts to make the pattern. I added an extra wide strip of ribbing to the hem to give it a different look. Don't think me odd for making us matching shirts, I didn't want to waste perfectly good material! She loves it! I might even have enough to make her a matching headband! I think that would look super cute on her! And a pink skirt if I'm feeling ambitious!!

Here's the 4 year old version:

UPDATED: More cutie girl pictures of the 4 year old version, modeled by my niece Cecilia!:

I have another top that I finished last weekend that I will post soon. It involves polka dots!! I think I might be able to complete my challenge to make 5 different tops! ::fingers crossed::
Thanks for looking!
~Christina

Spring Top Week Entry #2

2010-04-06T22:11:00.000-04:00

I finished my second entry for Spring Top Week! This is my first top made from a stretch material. I used a black and white patterned knit I got from the remnant bin at Hobby Lobby and a black ribbed material from Joann's. Again, I used a shirt that I already had to make my pattern. As scared as I was to sew with a knit, I love it! I want to go buy more knit material and make more tops! To be fair, this was my second knit project. My first was a pair of PJ shorts I made for my husband out of a cozy grey jersey material. I'll have to get him to model them so I can post them. Okay, back to my awesome top (which is also quite cozy).

Here's a side-by-side of the original (yellow) and my version (black and white):

I decided not to do any of the gathering on my version. Maybe on a future top. Originally, I had made the bands with the same print material, but I didn't like it. And I cut the fabric the wrong way so they didn't stretch the right way. I learned lots about sewing with knits with this project. That is my biggest goal with Spring Top Week, learning new things and challenging myself. I'm new to sewing clothes, and my hope is that I make things that I'll actually wear. So far, so good. 3 more tops to go!

Like I said, I learned lots with this project. I got to use stitches I have never used before. I used stitches on the stretch end out the dial. I like learning new stitches on my machine! I used the over-lock stitch and the decorative casing stitch for the top-stitching. The decorative casing stitch is my new favorite stitch! I love how professional it looks! I had no idea the things my little machine could do!

Here's a close-up of the material and a bit of the collar showing a bit of the top-stitching.

Here's my pic for the Spring Top Week Flickr Pool:

And here's some pics of me being sassy:

I love my new top! Did I say that already? Well, I do! Thank you so much for looking and joining me on my sewing adventures!!
~Christina

Spring Top Week Entry #1

2010-04-02T18:03:00.000-04:00

I am very excited!!! I finished my first entry for Spring Top Week over at Made by Rae! I actually finished it Thursday and wore it to work. I'm very proud of it. Why so proud? I created the pattern myself from a shirt that I had in my closet. And this is my first top with sleeves, a collar, and buttons. And, I got the fabric from Hobby Lobby in the clearance section for $3!

First, here's a side-by-side comparison of the 2 shirts. The shirt I used to create my pattern is the pink on the left and my creation is the lavender one on the right:

Some construction notes:

I used my little bias tape maker to make the trim on the sleeves and the hem of the shirt. For the button and Button-hole placket I folded the fabric over a few times and top-stitched it down. I used the buttonhole feature on my machine for the cute buttonholes and for the first time ever I used my machine to attach the buttons! It was so easy. You find a zigzag stitch that is wide enough to go back and forth between the holes and you make sure to change the length to zero.

Here's some close-ups shots. 1) My awesome collar, 2) & 3) the bias-tape I made for the hem and the sleeves, and 4) a beautiful button:

And here's the Front and Back of the shirt on me! What do you think? I love the seam that goes across the back. That was on the original shirt, I wanted to make sure I had that detail on my version. Yes I changed hairstyles in between pics. I wanted to make sure you could see the awesome collar :-)

Here's the pic I am going to add to the Spring Top Week Flickr photo pool:

Voting will take place during the first week of May. I hope you all will be sure to vote for the best spring top!

Thanks for looking!!!
~Christina

They're Picnic-tastic!

2010-03-18T20:02:00.000-04:00

The poll closed yesterday for my blog name and the votes were tied. I loved Fancy Buttons the night I thought of it, but I was missing Thread Fancy. So, It's going to remain Thread Fancy (but I'm not changing the address, it will stay here). Okay, on to the project of the day! I made 2 more Picnic-tastic Lunch Mats! I switched the fabrics so they are opposite from the first 2 I made.

Here's a picture of all 4 of them:

I have to say that they work really well. We took them for a test drive today on our little picnic date today.

They're Picnic-tastic!!

Yum!! That was an awesome picnic! Thanks for looking!
~Christina

Fancy Shirred Top

2010-03-16T22:46:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to try shirring. It was much easier than I thought it would be! You just load elastic thread on the bobbin by hand and use regular thread on top. Also, I used a longer stitch length. I tried it out on a piece of fabric that I wouldn't be too sad if I messed up horribly. I made a simple top out of my practice fabric.

My new shirred top!:

(I looked really tired, so my head is missing). I really like this top...I plan on making more. And maybe a sundress or 2! I'm going to be ready for warm weather. I might make this a Spring Top Week entry. I see what I have made when Rae starts accepting entries. Click on the Spring Top Week button in the side bar for more info.

It's supposed to be nice tomorrow, hopefully it is, because I want to play outside!
Thanks for looking!!