Hey, it's SJ!

I've Moved!

2019-02-25T20:20:00.002-05:00

You can now follow along with my sewing adventures at www.sarahjeanwright.com. Or for the most frequent updates and more dog pictures, follow me @ohheyitssj on Instagram.

Off-the-Shoulder Dress | M6558

2016-05-20T07:30:00.000-04:00

I don't know how the weather has been in your part of the country/world, but here in Central Virginia it seems like we have had more cloudy/rainy days than sunny and I could count on one hand the number of days the temperature has gotten above 75, which is completely atypical for this area. It's basically felt like March for 3 months now and I CAN.NOT.WAIT. to be complaining about how hot and humid it is. Seriously! Consequently, this dress that I finished at the beginning of April hasn't been worn except to snap these photos :( It looks so sad hanging in my closet being all but ignored as I try to find sweaters and jackets that I'm not sick of wearing since October. My hope is that by blogging about it, some warm, sunny weather will be encouraged to head this way and stay for a while. Summer will come. It has to, right? I really hope so.

As you can see, I have punched my ticket for the off-the-should-trend bandwagon and I am not even slightly sorry! I used McCall's 6558 View B a modified it a little to get the look I was going for in my head.

I made a quick muslin of the size 10 and decided not to make any alterations for fit, so even with the muslin step this was a really quick sew. I only made a couple of design changes, specifically shortening the length to mid-thigh (using my Southport dress as a guide) and also shortening the shoulder ruffle by about 1 inch. If/when I make another version, I might give the skirt more of an a-line shape to add a little fullness.

I picked up this fabric on my very last trip to Hancock Fabrics (R.I.P). I am super bummed to see them go as the only places in Richmond to buy apparel fabrics are Joann or Hancock and I have never been impressed with Joann's selection/pricing/quality of apparel fabrics. I guess that means a lot more online fabric shopping for me! I picked up a few different wovens on this trip, this one being a cotton/linen blend that was super soft even before washing it. It sort of has a mid-weight hand to it but because of the content I'm sure it will be nice and light and comfortable to wear if the weather ever decides to warm up.

Construction on this dress was really straight forward. The hardest part for me was feeding the elastic through the casings as it was a veryyy tight squeeze. The armholes are finished with bias binding leftover from my Easter dress (yet to be blogged). I serged the side seams, and the hems on the ruffle and skirt are double folded and topstitched. My favorite sewing hack as of late is using doubled sided tape (like this) for hems. I used the 1/4" wide version for the hem on the ruffle. Just place it along the raw edge of the fabric, pull off the paper, fold up the fabric the width of the tape, fold up again, and stitch in place. The result is neat and even and there is no measuring involved! Love it.

While I was cutting and sewing this dress, the thought of adding pockets came to mind more than once but was rejected each time out of sheer laziness. Of course, the first thing I said to myself when I put it on to go take these pictures was "Man, I wish I had some pockets." I guess I could do some unpicking and throw in some inseam pockets, or maybe patch pockets on the front would be easier? I don't know, the lazy voice in my head is telling me it's not that big of a deal. Perhaps I will wait until I can really get some wear out of the dress before I make a final decision.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about my favorite part, the tag! This is one of those garments where it is impossible to tell the front from the back, so I knew I needed to add something to help me differentiate between the two. I went a little computer nerd and designed this guy in Inkscape then converted it to a digital embroidery file. I used one of the embroidery machines at work to embroider him onto a piece of scrap fabric which I made into a tag and sewed into the dress. And then all of the heart-eye cat face emojis. I love him, I really do! I realize that when I'm wearing the dress, no one will know it is there (except for you guys if you see me wearing it, haha) but there is just something about it that makes me happy. Maybe thats weird, but I don't care.

Anywaysss, I think that's all I have to say about this pretty straight-forward make. I'm going to go savor these last little bits of sunshine before it rains all weekend (again).

Pattern:	M6558, View B by McCall Pattern Company
Fabric:	Striped Cotton/Linen Blend from Hancock Fabrics
Body Measurements:	Bust 36.5/Waist 27/Hip 37.5 (in inches)
Size:	10
Adjustments/Alterations:	shortened skirt to mid-thigh length, shortened shoulder ruffle 1 inch

Geometric Southport Dress

2015-09-25T08:09:00.000-04:00

Wednesday was officially the first day of fall, so of course I am posting about a summer dress today! My timing might not be the best but I actually think this Southport Dress will be a good fall transition piece when layered with a cardigan/tights/boots (but it was in the upper 80s when these pics were taken so you won't see any of those things today).

I have a "dress" that I bought years ago from Forever21 that I love (I think it is supposed to be a dress but it is completely inappropriate without leggings, so I wear it as a tunic). It is a tank with a front button placket and elasticized waist. It is one of those items of clothing that I seem to wear whenever it is clean, so when Kelli of True Bias released the Southport Dress pattern that is so similar to my well-loved "dress" I knew I wanted to make one.

I found this rayon challis at Hancock Fabrics. Black & white geometric print in my favorite textile ever? Yes, please! I can't remember exactly how much I paid for it but I know they were having a really good sale that weekend. It was probably about or just under $10 for the 1.5 yards I needed and that's not a bad deal for a dress at all. I am pretty impressed with the quality, too; it is definitely one of the softer rayon challises that I have come across.

I don't really have a whole lot to say about this pattern except it is awesome and I love it. The instructions were great and for me the fit right out of the envelope was awesome. I opted to leave off the front bodice button placket for this version. It's a pretty busy print and I felt like the buttons would just get lost anyway so I saved myself some time by cutting the front bodice on the fold at the center front. I also decided to use elastic in the waist instead of the drawstring that comes with the pattern. This required a little modification to the construction, but not much. I lengthened the casing so that it would be the entire width of the dress, then instead of sewing the casing into the waist seam so that it folds to the outside of the dress, I simply sewed it so that it would fold to the inside of the dress. I stitched all around the bottom of the casing like in the pattern instructions, left a hole to feed the elastic through, fed the elastic through, and then sewed up the hole. And voilá, no drawstrings to fiddle with.

I finished the neckline and armholes with some vintage lavender bias tape that was gifted to me by my boss's mom (seriously, I may never need to buy bias or hem tape ever again). I'm still working on getting necklines to lay flat when finishing them this way, as you can see from the photos. Surprisingly, the pokey-outey-ness bothers me way more in these photos than it does IRL, so that's good, I guess. I used french seams throughout the dress, even on the side seam pockets which was interesting (I used this tutorial). The point where the pocket and the side seam intersect was a little funky but overall I'm happy with how they turned out, and from the outside they look just like any other side seam pocket.

I had a lot of fun during the whole process of sewing this dress but I think my favorite part was the fact that I did not have to make any fit adjustments! I had read a few other posts mentioning that the bodice runs a little big and the skirt a little narrow so I wanted to play it safe and sewed up a muslin. My body measurements are exactly a size 8 on the size chart, but based on the finished measurements I decided to size down to a 6 and the fit is pretty spot on. Don't you just love it when that happens?

I absolutely have plans for more Southports, though they might be put on hold until the spring to make way for some more seasonally appropriate sewing. But I think it would be super cute to add a shirttail hem detail to the skirt. I don't own any maxi dresses (gasp!, I know) but I am definitely interested in giving the maxi version a go, too.

Do you have any favorite patterns that fit right out of the envelope? Do you like making fit adjustments to patterns? Sometimes I find the whole fitting process fun (I love a good challenge/puzzle) but being able to skip it is such a time saver.

Pattern:	Southport Dress by True Bias Patterns
Fabric:	Rayon Challis from Hancock Fabrics
Body Measurements:	Bust 36/Waist 29/Hip 38 (in inches)
Size:	6
Adjustments/Alterations:	no adjustments for fit; cut front bodice on fold and removed front button placket; removed drawstring and added elasticized waist

Mandy Boat Tee | Version 2

2015-09-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

I know ya'll have probably been on the edge of your seat waiting for this post that I promised a month ago... okay, probably not, but I am super happy to be catching up on my blogging back log. So let's get straight down to business, my second version of the Mandy Boat Tee by Tessuti Fabrics. I talked a lot about the pattern and adjustments I made in this post about my first version, so this time I'm going to focus on the additional changes I made the second time around.

I have a slight (and sorta random) obsession with high-low split hems right now. I can't really explain why, I just love them, and I thought the Mandy Boat Tee pattern would be a great pattern to add a split-hem detail to. When I was doing research on techniques on how to sew a split hem for a shirt I realized that most of them involve adding two different length bands of fabric to the bottom of a shirt. For mine I really wanted the front and back to be continuous pieces of fabric, so I was just going to "wing it" until I found a men's shirt at Urban Outfitters that had the exact hem I wanted. I used this shirt as a guide for how long to make the front and back and also copied the technique used to construct the hem. Here is a brief synopsis of the steps I took:

1. Add 1 inch of length to front and 2 inches of length to back

2. Serge side seams, stopping 1/2 inch from where split will start (mine was about 4.5 inches from bottom of back piece)

3. Sew short line of straight stitching along side seam starting 1/2 inch above where serging stops and continuing to point where split will start

4. Finish/hem bottom of shirt on front and back

5. Fold under unfinished sides of hem twice and straight stitch in place

6. Stitch perpendicular to side seam just above spilt for reinforcement

I might put together a full tutorial for this technique (with pictures and all that jazz) at some point but in the meantime I hope that makes some sort of sense. Here's what the inside looks like:

I'm not super proud of my craftsmanship (it's a little sloppy) but I gave myself a break since it's my first time using the technique. And as you can see, I used neon yellow serger thread as a fun detail. You can kinda see it through the fabric but it doesn't bother me--I kinda have this thing for neon accents (see here, here, and here).

I made the same fit adjustments to this version as I did in my first version (remove width from side seams, lower font neckline), and in addition I removed 1 inch from the center front and center back (inspired by Kelli's version here). This version sits much better on my shoulders thanks to that adjustment, so if you have made this pattern before and were having similar issues, then I definitely recommend trying it. I also added clear elastic to stabilize the shoulder seams since the fabric was pretty stretchy and I think this also helps keep the shirt from stretching out as I wear it and therefore stays on my shoulders better.

The fabric I used is a lightweight sweater knit from Hancock Fabrics. I found it in their value fabrics section and I can't remember the exact fiber content. It's probably some blend of cotton/polyester and maybe a little bit of Spandex. The recovery is pretty awful (especially in the arms, which you can see in some of the photos). I was nervous about the split hem, having never sewn one before and not having a tutorial to go by, so I didn't want to mess up nice fabric. Now that I have made this shirt twice, I think I'm ready to sew it up in some better quality knits. I do love the color of this version, though, and I'm looking forward to wearing it more once the weather cools down a bit. I love the way it looks with leggings or skinny jeans and boots!

The weather here hasn't really started to cool off much yet, but I've been thinking through some ideas for fall/winter sewing. I LOVE this Beatrix Top by Erin over at Sewbon and I'm pretty sure at least one version will make it into my wardrobe very soon. Have you started making your fall sewing plans? Are there any patterns you are just dying to sew up? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

Pattern:	Mandy Boat Tee by Tessuti Fabrics
Fabric:	Mystery Blend Lightweight Sweater Knit from Hancock Fabrics
Body Measurements:	Bust 36/Waist 29/Hip 38 (in inches)
Size:	N/A, one size
Adjustments/Alterations:	4 inches from front and back side seams graded to nothing at shoulder seam, lowered front neckline 2 inches, removed 1 inch from both front and back center seams, lengthened front 1 inch and back 2 inches, added split hem detail

Mandy Boat Tee | Version 1

2015-08-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

This post has been a long time in the making as it has been quite a while since I finished this shirt (it actually made an appearance in this post about what was going on with me this past fall/winter). I have come to believe, though, that there are merits in waiting to blog about finished garments, like knowing how it fits in my wardrobe (i.e. if I actually wear it) and also how it fits (can I make any adjustments for future versions). With that being said, I *probably* didn't need the 8+ months that have passed since I completed this shirt to find out that information. Oh well. Better late than never, as they say.

So let's talk about Mandy. The Mandy Boat Tee is a free pattern offered by Australian based fabric store Tessuti Fabrics. There are couple of things that instantly drew me to this pattern: FREE (because, duh) and the drop shoulder (because, I like them). I was skeptical about the "one-size-fits-all" and the boxiness of the top. I tend to stay away from patterns that use boxy in the description (for me usually boxy = not flattering), but I figured it's a free pattern, so what did I really have to lose? Luckily, I don't think it turned out too bad after all!

The fabric I used is a dark eggplant purple rayon blend knit from JoAnn's. It was a red-tag fabric and $5/yard, so if things ended up going bad I wouldn't cry over the loss of fabric. I knew the rayon would give the shirt a nice drape which I would need/want with this style top, and it also has a very subtle metallic heather to it that I liked, which you can see in the close up below. It's not the most terrible quality fabric I've ever worked with; it's pretty soft (thanks to the rayon, I'm sure) but it does lack a little bit in the recovery department. For $5/ yard it is pretty much what I expected.

Even before I hit download on the pattern I knew I was going to have to do some altering to get a fit that I liked. For this version I only made two changes: I ended up taking 4 inches from the sides of both the front and back pattern pieces and graded to nothing at the shoulder seam. I used a shirt from American Eagle that I have had foreverrr but really like as guide for how much to take off. I also lowered the front neckline by 2 inches. For the construction I kept it simple; I serged all the seams and did a simple turn and topstitch on the neckline, arms, and bottom hem with a twin needle.

Overall, I am OK with how this first attempt turned out. After wearing it, I knew the biggest thing that needed adjusting was the neckline. It's realllyyy wide and tends to want to slide off my shoulders. I don't mind that slouchy off-the shoulder look but I find myself constantly pulling the shirt back onto my shoulders throughout the day which is kinda annoying. The not-so-great recovery of the fabric also means the arms stretch out a bit and I find myself always pushing them up. If they were a bit tighter or I used fabric with better recovery so they stay in place then the off-the-shoulder problem might be alleviated a bit. Despite the not-perfect fit and fabric, I still got a decent amount of wear out of it this winter/spring (Central VA summers are a bit too hot and humid for 3/4 length sleeves) and I actually made a second version-- stayed tuned for a post with all of those details.

Have you ever tried the Mandy Boat Tee pattern? Did you make any adjustments to the pattern? How did it turn out for you? I do have plans to make more, so I would love to know!

Pattern:	Mandy Boat Tee by Tessuti Fabrics
Fabric:	Rayon Blend Metallic Heather Knit from JoAnn's
Body Measurements:	Bust 36/Waist 29/Hip 38 (in inches)
Size:	N/A, one size
Adjustments/Alterations:	4 inches from front and back side seams graded to nothing at shoulder seam, lowered front neckline 2 inches

Hey What's Up Hellooo

2015-04-30T08:48:00.000-04:00

HEY.

My blogging these last few (cough *6* cough) months has been sporadic at best. I could lie and say "I didn't have time" but that's a pretty lame excuse. It's actually my least favorite excuse. I wholeheartedly believe that we make time for the things that are important to us, so to say I didn't have time to blog(sew) is to say that blogging(sewing) is not important to me but it IS! I love this little space I've created to share and document projects that I put so much time and heart into. It was a tough winter for me (for a laundry list of reasons that I won't go into here), and I just didn't get much blogging or sewing done. But I don't want to focus on what didn't get done, instead let's talk about what I HAVE been doing these last 6+ months.

SEWING. I have actually been sewing more the past 6 months than I ever have in my entire life, because it's my job. The entire month of February and some of March, I made Roman Shades. Every single weekday, and even a few weekend days, too, I was making Roman Shades. I think I made an average of 20 a week. It was ridiculous. As far as sewing for fun, I made a few skirts, a couple shirts, some scarves. Not a whole lot, really.

BLOGGING. I guess you could say I've been cheating on this little blog of mine, because I have been blogging for the company I work for. At the beginning of the year I was tasked with creating content for our blog and parts of our website and it's been a great learning experience. I still feel like I have a lot to figure out and I feel like there is so much more I want to do, especially with the blog. But Rome wasn't built in a day, right? #supercheesycliché #sorrynotsorry If you are curious you can check out our blog/website here.

BUYING STUFF (fabric, patterns, and machines!). I just told ya'll that I haven't been doing much sewing for myself, but you wouldn't know it by the amount of fabric and patterns I've been buying. I think I finally got myself under control and have an embargo in place on spending in both of those areas, at least until I have another amazing idea that I just have to have that fabric/pattern right then. No, but really though, I'm not, because I am NOT buying fabric or patterns (probably). Oh and by the way, I got a serger and an industrial sewing machine!! *Does crazy sewing lady happy dance* I purchased my serger back in October, a Brother 1034-D. My regular machine is a Brother and I have been nothing but happy with it, so I figured this machine, which is super popular among the home sewing crowd, would be a good place to start for someone who has no serger knowledge or experience. It's sorta a long/complicated story but I also came into possession of an industrial sewing machine. All you need to know is it was bought for a specific project, that project is still on my to-do list, and I'm still so intimidated by the machine that I have not even attempted to teach myself how to use it. But I'll be sure to keep ya'll posted with any updates on the #GreatIndustrialSewingMachineSaga and eventually give ya'll the whole back story, too.

MOVING MY SEWING AREA. Up until a couple of months ago, the only place for me to sew was in our (fairly small) living room. Now one of the bedrooms has opened up and I get my very own sewing ROOM, which I've never had before and am very excited about. It is still very much a work in progress, but I already feel so much more organized which I hope will translate to more productive. My favorite part? This huge mirror I found at a local thrift store, Class and Trash, for ONLY $15! You can fully expect an influx of #mirrorpics on Instagram and I am not even the least bit sorry because ONLY $15!

That pretty much sums up what's been going on over here for the last several months. If you want to see what I'm up to when I disappear from the blog, you can always follow me on Instagram (that's where you can find me most consistently).

P.S. The inspiration for the post title is probably the best worst song in my life right now.

#handmadescarfswap

2015-02-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's cold here. Like REALLY cold. Like single digit temperatures cold. I understand that in parts of the country/world this is not uncommon for February, but I don't live in those parts of the country/world for that very reason. I live in Central Virginia, it is not supposed to get this cold here! I've always said I don't mind the cold as long as there's snow, and we got a bit over 6 inches on Monday/Tuesday that is still sticking around so I can't complain too much. I would still rather be soaking up sun on a beach somewhere that doesn't know what 3 degrees with a wind chill of -5 to -10 degrees feels like.

On the bright (and slightly warmer) side, I got some new handmade scarves! Specifically, these two beauties from Korie Su of ReTied Headwear during the #handmadescarfswap hosted by SewCaroline and SewBon. I don't knit/crochet and I am such newb that I don't even know if these are knitted or crocheted. Regardless, I am more than thrilled to add some handmade knit or crochet items to my out-of-control scarf collection that is (sadly) mostly store-bought. The red is a beautiful, vibrant color and nice and thick (read: WARM). And I think the oatmeal colored rope scarf is super fun, though I may have to save that one for some warmer temperatures.

A photo posted by Sarah Jean (@ohheyitssj) on Feb 19, 2015 at 5:35am PST

I received two beautiful scarves, and I made two scarves to send to my partner, Crystal, as well! The first I made out of 2 yards of a lightweight sheermist cotton/poly blend. I knew I wanted the scarf navy and I've been on a neon accent kick lately, so I decided to embroider a plaid design onto the fabric using my sewing machine and some neon green and neon pink thread.

The original plan was to play around with different decorative stitches and widths for a more authentic plaid look, but the fabric was so lightweight I was getting all kinds of tension issues with the wider stitches. I ended up using just a simple straight stitch and I actually love the simplicity of the design. Plus, it took a lot less time! Here is a graphic showing the design and dimensions I used.

I finished the two longer edges using a narrow double fold hem and frayed the shorter edges. To fray the shorter ends, I "stay-stitched" about and inch from the end of the scarf (just a straight stitch to keep the entire scarf from unraveling) and used a pin to help pull out the threads running parallel to the stitching. Here is a close up of the ends...

The second scarf I sent was ridiculously easy to make. I found this scarf fabric at Joann's (can't find it online though) that was nice and drape-y, and I loved the metallic stripe detail. I think the fabric was around 44" wide and I just kept it that width since the selvedges were nice and that meant I wouldn't have to finish them. I frayed the short edges like the plaid scarf. It was that simple!

Even though the fabric is fairly light weight, the extra width gives it some thickness and warmth. Here is a picture that shows the drapey-ness and stripe detail a little better.

I might have liked this one so much that I bought another 2 yards to make myself one. Whoopsies!

Thanks to Sew Caroline and Sewbon for organizing this swap! Did any of ya'll participate? What did you make/get?

2015 Monthly Calendar FREE Printable

2014-12-31T14:43:00.000-05:00

New year, new calendar, and this clean and modern 2015 monthly calendar is FREE for you to print and use!

Click to download the PDF document (406 KB)

[The link will open in a new window]

The PDF document is 13 pages long and contains monthly calendars for January through December 2015. Don't need the whole year? You can just print the individual page! The page numbers correspond to the month: for example, if you only need January, just print page one(1), February page two(2), March page three(3), etc.

Please note this calendar is free for personal use only. Please contact me in regards to using the calendar in items for sale, or if you have any other questions.

You can check out how I use these monthly calendars combined with free weekly planner pages to make my own DIY planner here.

Potential Project Tuesday Vol. 2 // DIY J.Crew Inspired Vest

2014-10-28T09:29:00.001-04:00

So I don't know about you, but now that it's fall I can't seem to get on Pinterest without coming across this J.Crew vest. I've never actually seen this vest in person (I really do need to get out more), so it was only the other day that I realized that it isn't actually made out of tweed, it's just printed nylon. WUT?! Maybe I'm just super cheap but for a $100+ jacket I expect it to be made out of something other than polyester. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could make an actual wool one for less than half that price.

(Click on images for product information)

One of the hardest parts (which I don't even think would be that hard) would be quilting the fabric. I would cut the outer, interlining, and lining fabric into smaller pieces that are several inches larger on all sides than each of the pattern pieces, make a little interlining sandwich, and then get to quilting. This post about cross hatch quilting would be a good reference.

Here's a quick little list of the materials needed and some sources:

Lining-- I would probably use an affordable Ambiance/bemberg lining, but silk charmeuse or silk crepe de chine would also be options for a luxe vest.

Interlining-- For a super warm vest, I'm really interested in using Thinsulate.

Fabric-- LOVE this herringbone wool coating from Mood.

Bias Tape-- The quick and dirty way would obviously be to use store-bought tape. Alternatively, you could get a really nice quality cotton and make your own.

Zipper-- My only condition would be that it is separating (obviously), and metal, because I hate the look of those plastic parka zippers that they sell at Joann's/Hancock. Something like this but in black would work.

And an estimated cost break down...

$20/yd for a decent wool outer fabric (and I would get 1.5 yards to be safe) = $30
$8/yd for lining (again, 1.5 yards) = $12
$8/yd for Thinsulate (again, 1.5 yards) = $12
$6 for bias tape (store bought or homemade)
$5 for a zipper

Total = $65 IF everything was purchased at full price (and that's a big if because you know I love a good sale!)

I think this would be relatively simple as far as sewing outwear goes (there are no sleeves!) and I think the results would be absolutely amazingggg. And for only about $65 worth of materials it wouldn't break the bank! Someone please make one of these up so I can live vicariously through you :)

DIY Reversible Kimono Refashion

2014-10-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was pretty excited when I found this dress at my local Goodwill. You may be wondering why, since it is obviously just a big shapeless sack on me. Well, let me tell you: 1. The larger size/longer length means more fabric, 2. It was actually 2(!) whole dresses (the outer tank dress and inner short sleeved one) sewn together at the shoulder seams, which means double fabric, and 3. It had a yellow tag, which just so happened to be that week's 50% off color. SOLD.

Since I had a lot of fabric, I thought this would be the perfect time to jump on the DIY kimono bandwagon (seriously, these things are all over the blogosphere right now). Although my sister (who was shopping with me that day) didn't care for them, I really liked the prints on both of the dresses. I played around with the idea of doing a contrast sleeve or back, but then decided to just make two kimonos. This quickly turned into sewing the two together to create a reversible kimono, and voilà!

As far as the pattern/construction goes... I based my measurements for my pieces on this tutorial, but my front pieces were slightly shorter and my sleeves were a little more narrow. I sewed the shoulder, sleeves and side seams with french seams, and inserted the sleeves "on-the-flat" (before sewing the underarm or the side seams together, see this post). Inserting them this way was a lot easier with the chiffon, but I would also recommend it for any fabric with this pattern since there is absolutely no difference in the finished product and it is SO much easier.

To make it reversible, I sewed up the two kimonos, one from each of the dresses. Then with right sides together, I stitched along the front and bottom hems, leaving the back of the neck open to turn, and then turned the kimono right side out. To finish the sleeves I folded a 1/2 inch hem to the wrong side of each of the sleeves (each side has two sleeves, so I had to do this 4 times), then I pinned the two sleeves on each side together and top stitched them, creating a single sleeve with no raw edges. I closed the hole in the neckline just by topstitching, and then also topstitched around the front and bottom hems to give the edges a cleaner finish.

I have to say, I struggled through pretty much every step of this process, not because it was hard, just because I didn't enjoy it. Cutting/sewing the chiffon was a nightmare; it's one of those fabrics that I love to wear, but then I sit down to work with it and it frustrates me to no end. But I sucked it up. I figured that since it was just a bunch of rectangles it wouldn't be too bad. Well, it's not easy to cut any shape out of slippery chiffon (which I knew going into the project, but that still doesn't make it any easier to actually do). Then, after I started cutting, I realized I wasn't going to have enough fabric to make the front panels and sleeves quite as big as I wanted. No biggie, I just cut them a little smaller and dealt with it. Then, even though this kimono was going to be reversible with no exposed seams, I had the *genius* idea to use french seams for a super professional finish. So I had to sew each seam twice, and since it is reversible, I had to do them on each of the two kimonos. UGH. This greatly increased the amount of time it took me to sew the whole thing together, turning what could have been a quick and easy project into a long(er), more dreadful one. But I finally got it finished, and I don't know, it just doesn't wow or excite me. Yes, it's a kimono, it's reversible, and I like the prints, but I look at it and I just think "meh." I am happy with the construction; I think most of my dissatisfaction is with the fact that I want it to be longer in the front. I don't know, I'm going to give it a few weeks and wear it some and see if it grows on me.

I didn't get very many (good) photos of this make because it was crazy windy the day I decided to take pictures and of course chiffon + wind = impossible to photograph. I did get some good outtakes though!

And I even got this one with the cows grazing in the background. (I also didn't pick the best time of day, and the lighting was less than desirable.) Still a pretty unique picture, I think!

I really don't want to discourage anyone from making one of these; I think with a different fabric choice and enough fabric to make it the way I wanted I would absolutely love this project, and to prove it to myself I will probably give it another try. In the meantime, I think this one will be nice to wear on these cool but not cold, transitional fall days.

Now, I'm curious to know, which side do you like better? The one with the circle-y things, or the one that's just lines? Also, would anyone be interested in a more detailed tutorial about the reversible part? I'm thinking about writing one up, with diagrams and everything!

I am also sharing this project over on Refashion Co-Op. Here's the link to check it out, if you so desire.

Potential Project Tuesday, Vol. 1 // A Raincoat

2014-09-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last week was pretty much all clouds and rain here, and as I was getting my things together to leave my Wednesday night class, I had this conversation with myself:

"Man, this lightweight, waterproof jacket is so functional."

"It really is ugly, though. I wish I had a cuter one."

"Oooh, I want a pink one! No, a printed one! A polka dot one! Better yet, plaid!"

"I could totally make one, I would just need the right pattern and fabric. I'm going to look into it when I get home."

Once I got home, I started searching through online pattern catalogs and trying to source fabrics, and I realize I do this all.the.time. I'll find inspiration from ready-to-wear clothes/accessories/decor or wandering thoughts like the ones above, I'll research everything I need to make it, sometimes I will even buy some of the supplies, and then I won't have time to get around to it for weeks/months/years, if at all. Then, if I do finally get around to working on the project, I have to track down the pattern and fabric sources AGAIN because it has been so long since I first found them. I waste all that time researching and sourcing and the idea just floats around in my head. So, I have decided to start a new blog series, Potential Project Tuesday, where I can get all of my ideas down on "paper" and have a resource when I do get around to the project. It may also serve as inspiration for you if you are looking for a new project and need ideas, making it a win-win for us both! Here are the ground rules:

I might not have a potential project every Tuesday, but I'm aiming for at least bi-weekly
The series will probably focus mostly on garments, but some accessories/decor items may creep in, too
Each post will contain my inspiration, 3 potential patterns, and 3 potential fabrics. I feel like 3 is a good number that gives some different options, but limits me so it's not overwhelming (and when it comes to me and fabric, things can get out of hand very quickly, so I think it's good to have a place to make me stop).

Anyway, without further ado, the first Potential Project Tuesday, a lightweight, waterproof rain jacket!

Inspiration

Replacing my current ugly one (see above). My current jacket is a short, sporty one like the first image, but after looking around online at some other jackets I kinda like the idea of a longer, dressier, trench length one.

From left to right: Helly Hansen (via Nordstrom)
Ilse Jacobsen (via Nordstom)
French Connection (via Nordstrom)

Patterns

McCall's 6517: This is a more classic take on a raincoat. I don't love the button front, but I like the length, the sash (not pictured), and it has front pockets.

Sewaholic Minoru: I love that this pattern has a zip front and a hood, but I think my favorite part is that the hood can be hidden in that awesome wide collar! I also think the ruching would be very flattering. I would definitely have to figure out a way to add front pockets, though.

Jalie 2795: This is obviously a sporty, windbreaker style. The pattern is written for stretch fabrics, but I think with a few minor tweaks it could be easily made in a non-stretch fabric.

Fabrics

Sport Nylon in Royal Blue: If ya'll don't know by now, I have a serious soft spot for royal blue. I think the Minoru jacket would look uh-mazing in this color.

Polyurethane Laminate in Black: This is a more classic raincoat fabric and has a bit of a sheen in real life. While making it up in the McCall's pattern may be a bit on the boring side, it's sure to be a classic jacket that would never go out of style.

Diagonal Waves Waterproof and Breathable Polyester: A jacket in this fabric would definitely be a statement piece! I know it's a little loud, but I love the colors and the abstract plaid print. I think this fabric would work for any of the patterns as long as you aren't scared to stand out in a crowd.

So are you feeling inspired?! Do you have a favorite raincoat pattern or one that you are dying to try out? I think that royal blue Minoru is calling my name, but I have a ton of projects in the line up that I need/want to get to first.

One Last Summer Sewing Project: A Tunic Refashioned into Prefontaine Shorts

2014-09-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

I know what you're probably thinking, yet ANOTHER pair of Prefontaine Shorts. But this particular pair is special for a couple reasons. First, I refashioned them from an unworn lightweight denim tunic I had hanging around in my closet. Also, this is my first contribution over on the Refashion Co-op!! I'm really excited to be one of the newest contributors, and I'm looking forward to being able to share my refashions with a whole new audience.

You can head over to the co-op to check out the history of this shirt, and since I've made this shorts pattern one, two, three times already, I'm just going to talk about the modifications I made for this particular pair.

--I used the same inseam length as my American Flag pair, about an inch shorter than the longest inseam on the pattern.

--I kept the front pockets on this pair, but to prevent a line of stitching from showing on the front of the shorts, I added a pocket lining piece. I picked up a fat quarter from Joann's to use as the lining for the front and the back welt pockets. Speaking of the back welt pocket, I did it a little differently than the pattern. Instead, I used this single welt pocket technique from Poppy Kettle. It definitely took a little longer than the pattern instructions, but I think the results are a bit better so I think it was worth it.

--The only other change I made was with how I applied the bias tape. Unfortunately, there wasn't quite enough fabric to make self bias tape from the tunic; however I was able to find some dark lightweight denim at Joann's that was very similar (By the way, chambray and lightweight denim are not the same thing. This tunic was made out of a 4 oz. denim.) While both fabrics felt and looked the same, after I prewashed the new fabric there was quite a noticeable color difference. I wanted the shorts to be all the same color, so I decided to turn the bias tape to the inside of the shorts rather than leave it visible on the outside. I used the same technique that you would if you were finishing a neckline or armhole.

I absolutely love how they turned out! I've already worn them more times that I ever wore the ill-fitting tunic, so in my book that is a super successful refashion!

Welp, this officially marks the end of my summer sewing for this year (sad face), but I already have some of my fall sewing projects in the works. I plan on sharing at least one as part of Selfish Sewing Week, so stay tuned later in the week for that post(s)!

Planning for Fall Sewing

2014-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Things have been a little quiet here on the blogfront lately for a few a reasons...

--School is officially in full swing, so my homework has been cutting in to my sewing and blogging time. I knew that going back to school was going to be an adjustment so I haven't been putting a lot of pressure on myself to post. But don't worry, I plan on getting back into the swing of things in the next couple of weeks.

--Also, I've been working two jobs since last Tuesday; I put in my notice at the Lab so I was riding out my last weeks there, but I've also been working at my new job in the mornings. It's not like a super big deal or anything, but my new job title is SEAMSTRESS!! Ok, so it is a humongous deal to me, and I am so over the moon not only to be able to do something I love everyday, but to also get paid for it. The company I'm working for is called Bloom (you can check out our website here). We have various home goods and accessories, and it kinda works like 31 where you get to pick the fabric and personalization. But unlike 31, everything is made by hand here in Ashland, VA by me and some other very lovely ladies. I have to give a huge shout-out to Mrs. Lent in case she is reading; I will forever be grateful to her for letting me know they were hiring. There really is no way I could thank her enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

So enough about life stuff, let's talk about the end of summer. If you're anything like me, this isn't a happy conversation. I totally get why people love fall; the cooler weather, the changing leaves, football. But for me, fall just means we are that much closer to winter and I do not like winter one bit. Unfortunately fall and winter are coming whether I like it or not, so that means reluctantly setting aside my summer sewing projects and starting to think about clothes for cooler weather.

One of the projects I've had on my mind for a while now is a plaid flannel collared shirt, specifically one like this from J.Crew. I've had both the pattern and the fabric purchased for a while now, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to be working on a flannel shirt when it is 95+ degrees outside, does it? Now that the weather has started to cool off I can't wait to get started. Since I've never made a collared shirt, I will definitely make a muslin but I think I might also make one up in a solid fabric before trying to tackle plaid matching. I'm also very interested to use this pattern since it has different pieces for A/B, C, and D cup sizes in each size. Fingers crossed that it will save me a lot of time fitting!

(You can click on each swatch/line drawing for more fabric and pattern information.)

One of my favorite fall/winter "uniforms" is a skirt or dress with tights and boots. Most of the skirts I own now are dressier pencil skirts from when I was working at the bank, so when I found an amazing deal on some wool-blends I knew I was going to be making some skirts. I want to try this simple straight skirt pattern for one, but I also want to hack it and add a flounce/ruffle hem, a la this Topshop skirt.

Since I've started sewing my own clothes, I have pretty much steered away from tackling any knit projects. I'm not intimidated by them (I did make my own bathing suit, which is about as intimidating as knits get I think), but I don't have a serger, which I really think is the best way to finish seams on knit garments. So as to expand my garment sewing repertoire, I have plans to purchase a serger in the next month or two, and then I have a few different projects I want to dive into.

If skirts/tights/boots are the bottom half of my cool weather "uniform," then cardigans and scarves are the top half. I love this cardigan pattern from McCall's, especially the peplum-like detail at the waist on views C and D. Sewn up in some wool or sweater knits, I am sure it will become an instant fall/winter staple.
I am definitely pro-leggings as pants (as long as my butt is covered by a shirt/tunic) and I purchased this pattern during one of those $1.99 pattern sales at the fabric store. Actually, I only purchase Big 4 patterns when they are on sale at the fabric store, but that is beside the point. I obviously would like to make a classic black pair, because everyone needs at least one black pair of leggings, but I also really want a pair of royal blue ones, too.
Last but absolutely not least on my list is the Papercut Patterns SJ Tee. I mean, it's called the SJ tee. That means I have to make it, right? I can see SO.MANY.POSSIBILITES. with this pattern, from a slouchy short-sleeve version in a light weight knit to a long-sleeve version in a heavier sweatshirt knit. I would also love to lengthen it a bit for a tunic to wear with my new handmade leggings.
This list is sure to keep me busy, but I also have some scarf projects from last year that I plan on expanding on, along with some new ones in the works this year. And if by some crazy miracle I have some time and a ton of motivation, I would love to start working on some jeans. I'm still searching for a good pattern, so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear.

(Although it may seem like it, this post was in no way sponsored by McCall's. For some reason I just always happen to be pattern shopping when their patterns are on sale for $1.99. I had all of these patterns in my stash already, and I purchased each one with my own money.)

Do you have big sewing plans for this fall? Are you planning on buying any fun new toys or tackling a project that you have never tried before? I may not be looking forward to the weather, but I am definitely looking forward to some fun new sewing challenges!

DIY Calendar and FREE 2014 Monthly Calendar Printables

2014-08-26T10:49:00.000-04:00

**UPDATE December 2014: My new 2015 monthly calendar is available (and it's still free to print and download) !!

Just a quick little post today! I mentioned last week that I was starting school full time this week... Well yesterday I got all of my syllabuses (syllabi?) and these next 16 weeks are going to be BUSY. I realized I don't have a planner, and after browsing around Target realized that most of the ones on the market are either out of my budget or not exactly what I am looking for. So of course I decided to DIY one!

I created some printable monthly calendars so I can keep track of the big things at a glance.

Then I printed off some of these free weekly pages from Passion Planner. I probably would have just purchased one of these planners, but they are sold out (sad face). Don't worry, I totally plan (pun intended) on buying a 2015 one! Until then, the free pages will do just fine for breaking down each day and organizing my to-do list on a weekly basis.

To keep all these loose pages free, I just punch some holes in them and stuck them in a 3-ring binder. Not the fanciest planner, but it was essentially free and has everything I was looking for.

The best part of all of this is YOU can make one, too! Below are links to download my printable monthly calendars for FREE. Right now I have them through then end of 2014, but stay tuned for 2015!

Just click on the images to download that month's calendar. The calendars are in PDF format, so you will need Adobe Reader to view and print them.

Please note that the monthly calendars are free for personal use only. Please contact me in regards to using the calendars in items for sale.

What are your tips for keeping your to-do list organized? Do you have any tip for making sure all those things actually get done? I can pretty much use all the help I can get right now!

Back-to-School Senna Tote + A Life Update

2014-08-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

I'm kinda a sucker for a canvas tote; they are classic and practical, perfect for the beach or school and everywhere in between. So when I came across the Senna Tote pattern by LBG Studios with its fun, fold-over design twist, I knew I would have to have one, and now I do!

I actually really enjoying sewing bags. They are usually just made up of a bunch of rectangles and you don't have to worry about anything fitting onto a body, which for me is absolutely the hardest part of sewing clothes. But if you have never sewn a bag before, here's what you need to know: 1. They might only be made up of rectangles, but there are usually A LOT of them, and 2. The materials can get pretty expensive pretty quickly. Both of these facts come from one thing: interfacing. Now, interfacing and I have a love/hate relationship. I hate buying it because it's expensive, it usually only comes in 20 inch widths so I need ridiculous amounts of it, I have to cut all of the pieces out AGAIN as if just cutting all the fabric and lining pieces wasn't bad enough, and then I have to sit there and fuse all of the interfacing to the aforementioned fabric and lining pieces. Ugh. But it is an absolute necessity when making any type of bag, and I do love the structure and weight it gives to the fabric. Once you get past the whole cutting and interfacing process, the sewing part of the bag making process is so much fun, it totally makes it worth it. Plus you end up with a brand new bag you can sport around town everyday (unlike a self-made top or bottom that people might look at you funny for wearing to work 5 days in a row).

But anyway, let's talk specifically about this AMAZING pattern. I was super impressed by the thoroughness of the pattern in general. The instructions were well thought out and easy to follow, the cutting layouts were spot on in minimizing waste, and the construction was exactly in the order of how I would have done it sans-pattern. One of the only major things it was missing for me was lining for the outside pockets. If you follow the pattern instructions, the inside of the exterior pockets would have just been the canvas interlining. Maybe it was designed that way to reduce some of the bulk in the seams, but to me that is too unfinished of a look, especially on the back outside pocket where you would see the stitching from the handles. Unfortunately I didn't realize this until I had already purchased my fabric, and and I didn't have nearly enough of the lining which is what I would have preferred to use. Instead, I used the main fabric to line the front pocket, and I pieced together some of the lining and main fabric for the back pocket. For next time, I know to get a little bit more lining fabric than the pattern calls for.

Speaking of next time, I will definitely keep the lining on the back pocket free when sewing on the handles. I kind of hate that I didn't think about this until after I had already sewn on both handles, but you live and you learn. I am probably one of the few people who will actually see the inside of that pocket, still annoys me, though.

For me the most challenging part of making this bag was sewing through the multiple layers of thick fabric. Each exterior piece is fabric, interfacing, and canvas interlining, as well as the pockets and handles. Needless to say the seam where the bottom meets the main piece, as well as the side seams, were more than a little tricky to get through. I had a whole new sewing machine debacle that started in the middle of sewing the handles on that I don't even want to get into because it makes me so upset (sad face), but my little Brother machine ended up saving the day and I somehow managed to get all the pieces together without breaking a needle (I used a size 16 jeans needle that helped tremendously). Some of the topstitching isn't anything to write home about, but I'm still proud of my machine nonetheless.

The only change I made to the pattern was adding the lining to the exterior pockets. I also used a bottomweight cotton twill for the bottom and handles rather than a quilting cotton. These are the parts of the bag that will get the most wear, so I figured something more heavy duty than a quilting cotton, even with interfacing, would hold up better. Because of this, I omitted the extra interfacing the pattern says to add to the canvas interlining for the bag bottom. For the interlining throughout the entire bag I used duck cloth canvas from Joann's, the same stuff used to make cornhole bags. I think it is a little thicker than the weight that the pattern recommends, but I had about a yard of the white on hand so I used that up. It definitely adds some great structure to the bag, but it probably made everything a little harder to sew through and next time I will probably try something a little lighter weight. Other than that I did everything as directed.

Speaking of fabrics, the main fabric is a print by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics from her Sun Print collection. I used the Feathers print in charcoal, purchased from Quilting Adventures. The bottom is a navy bottomweight cotton twill that I got from Joann's, and the lining is a Country Classic solid also from Joann's, I believe the color is called spray green.

I finished the zipper pull with a split ring and some suede leather lace from Michael's (yay for finally using up some birthday/Christmas gift cards!).

That's my mom's cat, Miss Kitty, and I think she likes this tote, too! I have to give a little shout out to my lovely and talented mother for snapping these pictures for me with her fancy-pants camera. I know you're reading, so thanks, Momma!

So, you might have noticed that I dubbed this my "back-to-school" Senna tote, and that's because I'm going back to school!!! Actually I've been in school part-time for about a year now, and I finished my Certificate in Accounting (34 credit hours) at the local community college in May. I was studying accounting when I was in Asheville, so I figured I might as well have something to show for it, and I only had to take 4 more classes. But this fall (actually next week, eek!) I will be taking a full course load while working part-time and sewing and blogging. I will be working on my Associates in Information Systems Technology, again from the local community college. I still haven't decided if I want to concentrate in Programming or Web Design, so I'm gonna take some different classes before I decide, and who knows, maybe I will end up doing both!

Now as if all that wasn't enough to keep me busy, I have also joined the local Junior League! If you are not familiar with the Junior League, you can check out the Richmond chapter's website here. Basically it is an organization of women committed to volunteerism and service in the local community. The year hasn't officially started yet, but all of the women I've met so far have been amazing and I can't wait to start really getting involved in the upcoming months.

So lots of new and exciting things going around here. Now that the summer is getting closer and closer to turning into fall, do you have anything new or exciting happening? Have you started making plans for your fall/winter sewing? I'm in denial that summer is ever going to end so I've been putting mine off!

A Simple Shirt Refashion + A New Mantra

2014-08-17T13:09:00.000-04:00

Hmm... another refashion? I'm sensing a theme, but more on that later. Let's talk about this shirt. When I found this little number on the Target clearance rack, I immediately fell in love. The cold shoulder sleeves (love that term), the high-low hem, and the sheer fabric made me immediately say, I have to have this (OK, so the price didn't hurt either). The only problem, though, was the smallest size they had was a large. There are definitely cases where I have to size up in tops to accommodate my bust, but for loose, flowy shirts like this one I tend to size down because otherwise they swallow me, which is exactly what this shirt did (and then some).

See how it is super boxy and there is all that extra fabric hanging on the sides? Yeah, not flattering. But I justified the purchase by telling myself I would just wear it belted, and I did. But no belt loops and all that extra fabric meant I was constantly adjusting and readjusting throughout the day, so this shirt has just been hanging in my closet pretty much unworn for the 3(!!) years I've owned it.

I wrote a couple weeks ago about cleaning out my closet, and this is one of the pieces that fell into category 3 along with the other clothes I like but never wear because they need a little attention. Once I realized just wearing it with a belt wasn't going to get this shirt into regular rotation, it hung around while I pondered how to take it in. Because of how it is constructed, simply slimming it at the sides would cause issues with the armholes, so that wasn't an option. There is already a seam down the back, so that would be the next logical place to ease out the fullness, but I really like the shape of the hem and worried that doing so would distort it. So it hung there for a little while longer until it hit me.

You know when you go into those little boutiques and the clothes on the mannequins always fit them so well? Well trust me, they don't come off the hanger that way. The secret? Usually just a clothes pin that holds all the extra fabric in the back. What I needed to make this shirt wearable was a permanent clothes pin! All I did was pinch a bit of fabric about 4 inches to the left and right of the center back seam along the waistline. Then I brought the two pinches to the center and tacked them together by hand. So simple, and even with the measuring, pinning, trying on, and hand sewing it only took me 15 minutes!

It's not a very dramatic change from the front, but I love the fullness it created in the back and I am 100% more comfortable wearing it now. For such an easy alteration, it really is shameful that it took me three years to get it done. But now that it is, this shirt has quickly become one of my favorites.

In that same post about cleaning out my closet, I mentioned that I purchased Elizabeth Cline's book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. Well, once it finally arrived I finished it in about two days; it was an interesting but quick read and really gives a perspective on retail clothing that we as a society simply don't think about. One of my favorite takeaways from the book and my new sewing/fashion/life mantra is her chapter title "Make. Mend. Alter." Such a simple concept that has become pretty much extinct in our "quick, easy, disposable" society. I could go on and on about this topic but I will leave it at this: I want to make clothes that fit, alter the ones I already own that don't, and mend the ones that need it to get as much life out of them as possible. By doing so I hope to reduce the amount of clothes that end up in landfills and the secondhand clothing industry (read chapter 5 "The Afterlife of Cheap Clothes" if you want to know more about what really happens to those donations that you write off every year), and also of course to have a wardrobe I love and am proud of and that lasts. Obviously there will still be occasions where donating a garment is the best option, and my latest big purge has resulted in a laundry basket full of clothes that are headed to Goodwill. Hopefully this mindset will prevent me from ever having to do a big purge like that again, and instead I can focus on "working with what I've got" and creating clothes that I love to wear. So in short, expect to see some more refashions and alterations of clothes I already have in my wardrobe along with all my new makes!

Has anyone else read Overdressed and want to gush about it? I'm not usually one to fall for hyped-up, sensationalized media but the numbers and facts presented in the book seem to tell the story pretty clearly. What are your thoughts?

Seersucker + Neon Prefontaine Shorts

2014-08-07T10:02:00.000-04:00

According to Instagram, I finished these shorts 8(!!!) weeks ago. First of all, AHH where has this summer gone?! I can't believe it is already August. Second of all, why in the world has it taken me so long to blog about them? Well, because for the past 8 weeks, if I haven't been wearing these shorts, they have been hanging out with the rest of my dirty clothes waiting for laundry day. As soon as they are clean again, I wear them to go do this or that or the other and they are right back in the hamper. It's been a vicious cycle that hasn't exactly lent itself to good photo opportunities, but the cycle has finally been broken and I officially have some non-iPhone pictures. Yayyy!

Speaking of pictures, I want to say a little bit about these. Usually I take my pictures in the morning when everyone else is at work. This typically works better with my schedule, and to be honest when I get home from work I'm not usually in the mood to get dolled up and smile for the camera. Because everyone else is at work, it's just me, my tripod, and the self timer. The whole process takes a while and I end up with a lot of super pose-y pictures. This session was a little different because I did wait until later in the evening and my sister was around to snap them. We had a blast and she saved me so much time! Some of them are kinda crazy and of course LuLu joined in on the fun. Oh and that barn I'm standing in front of and that field I'm standing in? My front yard! Good photo backgrounds at your doorstep are one of the perks of living out in the country on a farm.

But about these shorts... I freaking love them. You might recognize them as the Prefontaine Shorts for Women by Made with Moxie, otherwise known as one of my favorite patterns of all time. These were actually the first pair I made; the second I made for my sister and are unblogged (but you can check them out on Instagram), the third were this festive pair I made for the Fourth of July, and I might actually have a fourth pair cut and waiting to be sewn up. "Hi, my name is Sarah Jean, and I'm a Prefontaine Shorts-aholic." Seriously, I can not say enough good things about this pattern. But let's talk about this pair in particular.
When I saw these pants at J.Crew, I had one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments. To me, seersucker and neon are the perfect mix of classic and fun, and I just knew I was going to have to use this combination somewhere for something. Then the Prefontaine Shorts pattern was released as part of Perfect Pattern Parcel #3, and its like the sewing gods were telling me I had to have a pair of seersucker and neon Prefontaines. I got this black and white seersucker from Joann's. It is a little thin and the weave is a little loose, but it is light and airy, perfect for a hot and humid Virginia summer. The bias binding trim is handmade using a lime colored quilting cotton from Hancock Fabrics. It's not exactly neon, more of a lime green, but I think it works, and neon colored fabric that isn't nylon is really hard to find.

This was actually my first experience making my own bias binding, and I think it went ok. I used this tutorial from Prudent Baby. While in the end everything turned out fine, I still have some fine-tuning to do with the process, mostly with getting all the lines to line up right after sewing the two sides together. Anyone have any tips for making your own bias tape? I actually didn't fold and press the tape before sewing. Instead, I followed the pattern directions as if I were using the t-shirt bias tape. This saved me a lot of time and hassle and it worked perfectly.

As far as sizing goes, I made a size 2 with the short inseam. One of the things I love about this pattern is that it fits in the hips and the waist on me. I have, like, zero hips, but a normal sized waist, so most shorts/pants that fit in the hips are too small in the waist and if they fit in the waist then they are too big in the hips. Definitely not one of the worst problems to have, but the elastic waistband really helps these shorts fit me in both places without any alterations. Like I said I chose the short inseam, and I would say it is probably pretty short for most people. I like my shorts short so it works just fine for me, and it's perfect for pajamas or a swimsuit coverup.

I kept the front pockets on this pair, and went with the welt pocket on the back. Instead of using the neon for the back pocket trim, I just used the seersucker but cut it on the crossgrain so the stripes ran horizontally instead of vertically. I also took the time to match up the stripes on the front pieces and the pocket. I know it probably would have barely been noticeable if I didn't, but having control over little things like that is one of the reasons I really enjoy making my own clothes so I think it's worth the extra effort.

Per usual I used French seams wherever I could (still serger-less over here). For the pocket edges and the sides that didn't get binding I just used a simple zig-zag stitch. For the waistband I used the exposed sport waistband method from the pattern. This was also my first experience with such a waistband, and I wish I had more to say about it but I just followed the directions in the pattern and it turned out great.

I could seriously wear these shorts all day, everyday. They are super comfy without looking frumpy and they sew up so quick and easy, I really just can't get enough of them! So far I have worn them out around town, I've worn them to work (love our dress code), I wore them for a 4 hour car trip to the beach back in June, I sleep in them all the time, and I wear them around the house on a regular basis. They easily win the award for most versatile item of clothing in my wardrobe. I just wish I had the time and fabric budget to sew them up in all of the fabric and color combinations I've imagined. For now, I guess I'll just give the ones I already have cut out some attention :)

I'm entering this project as part of the Summer 2014 Shorts on the Line Sewalong. Be sure to vote for my project, and all of your favorites, on Kollabora! Just click the little heart icon on the right hand side of the page to vote.

More Culottes! - McCall's 6965 Refashioned from a Skirt

2014-07-31T08:09:00.000-04:00

When I moved from my mom's house into the house I'm living in now, a lot of my clothes and stuff ended up in big black trash bags. Coincidentally, so did some of my mom's old clothes that were headed to Goodwill, and by some stoke of luck a bag containing her old clothes and this skirt ended up with me:
I know you're probably thinking it was a stroke of BAD luck that made me the owner of this seriously dated number, and you can tell by the look on my face in that picture that I knew I had some work to do. BUT THAT FABRIC! I immediately fell in love with the print, and it's a rayon challis so it has a lovely drape and feel. However, the elastic waistband, drop waist, and midi-length were not doing it any favors. No worries, I knew I could make it into something fabulous that I would actually wear. Enter McCall's 6965.
It's no secret that I have a major clothes crush on culottes, and when I spotted this pattern in McCall's spring pattern line, I knew that skirt was destined to become a pair of cute and trendy culottes. First, I needed to deconstruct the skirt to see how much fabric I had to work with. It's hard to tell in the before pic, but the skirt is actually pleated along the drop waist so there was a bit more fabric hiding there. It had one front panel and two back panels with a center back seam (not sure why since it had an elastic waist??), so after I unpicked all the seams I had one larger panel, two smaller panels, and that whole elastic/drop waist thingy. I didn't take a picture of this step (boo) but the larger panel was about 30 x 30 inches and the two smaller panels were about 20 x 30 inches each.
The front and back princess seams on the McCall's pattern meant smaller pattern pieces that were easier to fit onto the smaller pieces of fabric, and I had just enough fabric to cut out all of the pieces including the waistband. I folded the larger piece in half and cut the side front and side back pieces from it, then placed the two smaller pieces wrong sides together and cut the front, back, and waistband with almost nothing left over. I didn't have nearly enough fabric to even attempt to pattern match, but with this print the seams and zipper pretty much disappear anyway.
The pattern directions were easy to follow, and since it is one of their Palmer/Pletsch patterns there are a bunch of tips for fixing fit issues and making pattern alterations. I sewed view B in a straight size 14 with no alterations (ironically not using any of those fit tips). I think this size actually sits a little lower on my waist that it is "supposed to" but it's very comfortable. And I'm going to go ahead and say what everyone is thinking: they are SHORT. If they actually sat on my waist where they were supposed to then they would be TOO short. I like short shorts so this length is fine for me, but if/when I make this pattern again I will probably add at least an inch to the hem, mostly for more butt coverage when I sit down.
As far as construction goes, I used french seams on all the seams except the center seam with the zipper. I really do wish french seams and zippers could learn to resolve their differences (haha), but in the meantime I finished that seam by simply folding under the seam allowance and stitching it in place. I followed the directions in the pattern for a standard lapped zipper, but next time I will probably use an invisible one. The zipper is far from my best, but again the print on this fabric is super forgiving so I didn't stress it too much. The pattern recommends a blind hem, but I used a 1/4 inch double fold hem. The blind hem just seemed like a lot of work for a fabric that you can't even see the hem stitching anyway.
Of course I had to steal a picture with little Lu.
Even with all the french seams this pattern sewed up pretty quickly, and I was able to succesfully take that dated skirt and make it into a modern pair of culottes that are now one of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe! And one of my favorite parts of this project? The price! Since I got the pattern at Hancock Fabrics during one of their $1.99 sales, the zipper during one of their 50% off notions sales, and I had thread and black interfacing on hand, it only cost me about $3!!
I'm entering this project as part of the Summer 2014 Shorts on the Line Sewalong. Be sure to vote for my project, and all of your favorites, on Kollabora! Just click the little heart icon on the right hand side of the page to vote.

I made a bathing suit!

2014-07-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Ya'll, I have a couple of confessions. Confession #1: I have had this suit finished since the middle of June, and I am just now getting around to blogging about it. Confession #2: I haven't blogged about it because I hadn't taken pictures. I even finished it in time for a short beach trip, brought it with me to take pictures, and then never even wore it! I know, it seems stupid to make a bathing suit and then not wear it, but we were only down there for a couple of days and I wanted to soak up as much sun and relaxation as I could (at least that's my excuse). Confession #3: It was really awkward for me to take these pictures of myself, in this bathing suit, in my yard, in the middle of a cow field, so there are only a few pictures and please don't make fun of me!

As far as the suit goes, I used the Bombshell Swimsuit pattern by Closet Case Files. The pattern came in Perfect Pattern Parcel #3 and is my second make from this bundle (fourth if you count each of the three pairs of Prefontaine shorts I've finished). I don't really have a lot to say about the pattern that hasn't already been said by one of the MANY bloggers who have conquered it, but here are some of my notes/thoughts...

--I sewed view B in a straight size 10 with no alterations. I did add some bra cups for modesty. Their purpose is mostly coverage and they don't really provide any support. Still, besides my really expensive bra-sized swimwear, I feel more secure in this suit than any of the others I own.

--I barely looked at the pattern instructions while sewing. Instead, I just followed along with the sew-a-long on Heather's blog. She has detailed instructions for each view and lovely pictures to illustrate each step.

--SO. MUCH. GATHERING. The gathering really is what makes this suit and it is super flattering, but it was one of the most time consuming parts of making the suit. It's not difficult, it just takes a while, so be prepared if you are planning to make it.

--The design of the suit is very clever, especially the front panel that is actually separate from the crotch (see below). In fact, the suit could actually be made sans-ruching by leaving off the front panel and using the back lining pieces for the main suit as well, which I think would also be really cute!
--There has to be a way to finish inside seams so they aren't exposed. I don't have a serger so my seams are less attractive than they could be, but even if I did I still think I would prefer encased seams of some sort. I might ponder on this and try to come up with something, and of course I will let you know if/when I do.
--I purchased both the fabric and lining from my local Hancock Fabrics. Another confession: I'm not in love with the color. I let my sister talk me into it, and while I don't hate it, I really think I've should have gone with a hot pink or royal blue, or even more ~~boring~~ classic black. Oh well, that just means I will have to make another one!
--I think the most challenging part of making the suit was actually just working with the fabric. Again, I don't have a serger but my regular machine behaves pretty well with knits. I always just work a little slower and when I feel myself start to get frustrated, I take a break and come back to it later. Patience is definitely the name of the game.

Overall, I really like this pattern! This is officially the only one-piece suit I own, and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it when I decided to make it. But it is so comfortable and I feel so secure in it, I think it will be great for more active days at the river or beach without having to worry about "accidents."

If anyone has any good bikini recommendations for someone with a small band/large cup I would love to hear them! I don't know if I feel comfortable making major alterations to a pattern so I've been looking for something that will pretty much fit "out of the envelope" and support is always a major issue. I ran across this bra-turned bikini pattern from ohhhlulu that I think could have some potential, but I'm still searching and any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I have too many clothes.

2014-07-24T09:22:00.000-04:00

I guess I've always had a lot of clothes. Growing up, my mom loved to shop. I can still remember her dragging us to department stores, me and my sister throwing fits after we got bored of looking at the toys and clothes in our size. Her love of shopping definitely wore off on me, and once I started working, most (if not all) of the money I made was spent on clothes. I worked at Old Navy in high school and part of college, so I was constantly surrounded by clothes. Being at the mall on a regular basis with money in my pocket (and an employee discount) exponentially added to the size of my wardrobe. I was also no stranger to retail therapy; especially when I was in college and 6 hours away from my family, a trip to Target or the mall was the quickest way to cheer me up. After I left college and moved back home, I worked at an upscale lingerie boutique. I was no longer working at the mall (just across the street from it), but I still spent a good portion of my income on bras (that actually fit and were totally worth it) and cute clothes that were within the dressy casual dress code. Then I started working at the bank, and my shopping habits COMPLETELY changed. There was no mall within a 10 mile radius of my branch, but because my wardrobe was severely lacking in professional business wear, I was still buying new clothes. I did show a little restraint and told myself I wasn't going to buy anything that I couldn't wear to work. After an initial splurge because I was pretty much starting from nothing, I noticed my trips to the mall and clothes purchases start to dwindle. Maybe going to the mall was inconvenient and I didn't have as much time because I was working 40 hours a week, maybe shopping wasn't as fun because my options were much more limited, maybe not having an employee discount helped deter my spending. All of those factors probably contributed to the fact that now I only buy a couple new pieces each season, and I only go to the mall maybe once every 6 months. I pretty strictly stuck to my vow to only buy clothes I can wear to work (and the couple things I have bought that I couldn't are still hanging in my closet with the tags on, go figure!). Still, I can't fit all my sweaters, jeans and t-shirts into my dresser. I'm running out of hangers to hang my dresses, skirts, and tops in my closet. And I have stacks of clothes on my floor that I have no home for. 5 years ago, if you had told me I had too many clothes, I would have vehemently disagreed with you. Yes, I had a lot, but I needed all of them and I wore most of them. But today, I am finally admitting it: I have too many clothes.

Words of Wisdom from the Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book, published in 1961, from page 293.
Funny how some things never change.

At the end of March of this year, I quit my full time job at the bank. I am working part-time as an administrative assistant, and now that I have some extra time, I have been putting a lot more effort into learning to sew my own clothes. I sewed a few (ill-fitting) dresses when I was in high school, but my sewing since has been primarily bags, pillows, curtains, and even a bed skirt. But I truly believe nothing is more satisfying than making my own clothes. It would take a lot more than just a blog post to explain all my reasonings behind this statement, but this post pretty much sums it up. The last thing I want to do is invest time and effort into sewing a piece of clothing only to have it hang in my closet unworn, so making my own clothes has really forced me to examine my wardrobe and assess what types of clothes I already have, what types of clothes I have but don't wear, and any holes (things I don't have but want/need). I have found that all of my clothes can fit into one of these 6 categories:

1. Things I love and wear over and over: This one is pretty self-explanatory. These are the clothes I reach for every time they are clean and I would wear everyday if I could. They spend more time in the hamper than on the hanger because it is never long after I do laundry that they get worn.

2. Things I don't love but still wear on a regular basis: These are the clothes I wear because they are practical and/or comfortable and flattering, but I don't love them because of the color, pattern, or some other reason.

3. Things I like but don't wear because of fit issues or they need minor alterations: This one is also pretty self-explanatory. I like these clothes, but they are missing buttons, have small repairable holes, or minor fit issues, so they just hang in my closet, teasing me every time I get dressed.

4. Things I would wear, but only for certain occasions: For me these are mostly "dressing up" and "going out" clothes. They are a bit more risqué and/or formal than what I wear normally, but I hang on to them "just in case."

5. Things I never wear (and would never wear) but can't seem to get rid of: These are clothes that are no longer my "style" or are damaged beyond repair, but I am for some reason or another emotionally attached to the item and haven't been able to donate or throw it away. This also includes the few items I have that no longer fit (too big/small).

6. Things that I have ideas for "refashioning," but haven't taken the time to do so yet: These are items that I look at and see a way that I can make them better and more wearable, but they just sit neglected in a pile on my floor while I work on new and more exciting things.

Great advice from Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, published in 1976, from page 50

In order to help me make more conscious decisions about what I decide to sew (and also what I decide to wear), I have come up with this game plan for cleaning and de-cluttering my closet:

Purge. I found this really great guide for a wardrobe detox on into-mind that includes everything I want to accomplish with this step. This should take care of #5, the stuff that has just been taking up space. I know this will be easier said than done because a lot of it will be overcoming emotional obstacles, but I'm going into it with the mindset of the more stuff I get rid of, the more room I have to make things I love. I also want to get rid of about 75% of #4 during the detox.

Fix and Mend. Once I have gotten rid of everything that I see as having no potential for fitting into my new and improved wardrobe, I'm going to conquer #3. Either I am going to sit down and fix whatever issue is keeping me from wearing it, or I am going to get rid of it. I'm thinking about taking this pile of clothes and dedicating one day to tackling it. I mean, it takes like 10 minutes to sew on a button, and I would rather just knock it all out in one day than let it lay around for weeks(months?years?) longer.

Recreate. Once I have all the easy fixes out of the way, I can focus on #6 and the things that are going to take a little bit more time to get them into rotation in my wardrobe. Realistically, this step will probably be an ongoing effort, since I will always rather reuse something I have than go out and buy something new (which is good for both my wallet and the environment). There are a few projects, though, that I know I want to tackle right away.

Create. The first three steps are all just paving the way for this, my most favorite one. Once I have the rest of the categories under control, I can focus on making more of the things I love to wear (items in #1) and filling in any holes. I also want to look at #2, and figure out why I wear it even though I don't love it, and what I can do to make it something I love or replace it with something I love.

I realize this isn't going to be a one and done process, and I will have to go back and repeat some steps from time to time. I think having it all laid out like this gives me a good starting point and a way to keep myself accountable. Plus, having a plan means I won't have to stop and think about my next move: more momentum = more likely it will actually get done and I can reclaim my closet/dresser/floor full of clothes!

If you're looking for some inspiration to tackle your overflowing closet or for building a wardrobe you love, I've listed some resources that inspired me to tackle my out of control wardrobe, as well as some food for thought on the state of fashion today.

The Wardrobe Architect - This excellent 14 part blog series will help you get down to the roots of your personal style and build a capsule wardrobe of clothes you will actually wear. Just skimming through Sarai's posts got me thinking about what it is that makes my favorite clothes my favorites and ways I can make my wardrobe more versatile with less pieces.

into-mind - This amazing website is dedicated entirely to "personal style, minimalism, and the perfect wardrobe." Along with the detox I mentioned earlier, this post about building a capsule wardrobe is a must read. I could spend hours on this site, there is just SO MUCH excellent information.

The Outbox - While not directly wardrobe related, I love this idea for setting up an outbox from Apartment Therapy's January Cure series. In fact, this whole series is awesome and who knows, after I'm done with my closet I might start to tackle the rest of the house!

A Considered Wardrobe - Maddie wrote this wonderful piece about fashion and sewing, and how much thought and consideration goes into building a wardrobe you love. Make sure you check out the rest of her blog, Madalynne, while you are there. Everything she does is just lovely.

Fast Fashion and Fast Sewing - I found this other short piece by Maddie extremely thought-provoking. I have so much to say about this topic, but I'll just let you read it and draw your own conclusions.

Overdressed - I ordered this book from Amazon last week and I CAN NOT WAIT for it to get here (I bought it used, so yay! environment, not yay for no Prime 2-day shipping). I read the first chapter with the little preview thing and I already know I am going to love it. Just reading the description makes me rethink my perspective on some of the "affordable" items in my wardrobe.

I know I've touched on a ton of different topics today, what are your thoughts about fashion, sewing, or wardrobe planning? Any tips or tricks for de-cluttering or organizing closets? I'd love to hear about them!

Patriotic Prefontaines

2014-07-03T10:29:00.000-04:00

I have really been feeling the American pride this week. Between the big soccer game on Tuesday and Fourth of July weekend coming up, I feel like all I see and think about is red, white, and blue (not that I am complaining). However, my one pair of American flag shorts just wasn’t going to cut it for this week full of patriotism. I thought some stars and stripes would perfectly complement Made with Moxie’s Prefontaine Shorts for Women pattern, and I think I was right!

Plain and simple: I love this pattern. These are actually the third pair I’ve made; I’m still working on posts for the first two put you can check out pictures of them on Instagram. The star fabric is Michael Miller “Star Struck” and the stripe is a “1 Inch Stripe” from Riley Blake (I got both from Fabric.com). Both are quilting weight cottons, and I think they look fabulous together if I do say so myself.

I decided to keep the inseam on this pair a little longer than the first two pairs I made and shortened the longer inseam from the pattern by about an inch. To do this I cut along shortening line number one printed on the pattern. Then I measured up one inch from the cut line on the main pattern piece and drew a line. I then cut along shortening line number two on the pattern pieces and aligned the curved corner piece with the line I just drew and the pattern sizing lines. I took the piece with the crotch seam and aligned it along the line I drew. The crotch seam line didn’t align perfectly, but I just eyeballed it and redrew the curve and it turned out fine. I did have about a quarter inch gap between the two pieces that I just filled in with more paper, no biggie. I really like this length; it isn’t too long but still feels modest.

I left the front pockets off of this pair, partly for the sake of time and partly because I like the prints not being broken up by the binding on the pocket. If I was really adventurous I could have finished the pockets with a regular lining instead of the bias tape and lined up the prints so the pockets essentially became invisible. But I didn’t, and I still love how they turned out.

I did keep the back pocket for functionality’s sake. I mean, it is designed to perfectly fit my iPhone so it’s genius and I love it. Instead of trimming the top of the pocket with the white bias tape I used on the rest of the shorts, I just took a scrap of the striped fabric and sewed/folded it so that only the red was showing. I cut the two pocket pieces from scraps of a white sheet that I used for another project, and the white bias tape is store bought (again to save time and because I was too lazy to make my own).

I used French seams on all of the inside seams, and since I don’t have a serger I just finished the raw edges of the pocket pieces and side seams with a zig-zag stitch. I used the exposed sport waistband on these and the other two pairs I made because I think it looks more professional and RTW-esque, and it is super easy! It might take a little longer than an encased waistband because you have to sew at least 4 lines of stitching, but I think the end result is totally worth it.

Now, I have to admit I am a little superstitious and I wore them on Tuesday for the US Men’s World Cup game against Belgium, and because we lost I think they might be bad luck. So I won’t be wearing them for any World Cup games in 2018, but I definitely plan on rocking them at least once this weekend and throughout the rest of the summer!

Have you made any festive new frocks for the Fourth? Where do you plan on wearing them? I think a trip to the river and/or beach is on the agenda for me. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous here.

I hope you have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Cool New Culottes for Summer - Megan Nielson's Tania Culottes

2014-06-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

You guys, I am OBSESSED. Culottes, where have you been all my life??!!
I'm a late 80s baby, so I had no idea what culottes were before I found this pattern. If you, like me, are unfamiliar with culottes, let me tell you what you need to know: They are awesome! And in more descriptive words, they look like a skirt...

But they are actually shorts!

Women in the Victorian Era started wearing culottes so that they could maintain their modesty and still look like a "lady" while doing things like horseback riding. Nowadays I don't think us girls are going to get any weird looks for wearing pants while we ride horses, but I still love culottes for similar reasons: I can look girly and "cute" without worrying about giving anyone a free show!

Now, about this amazing pattern... Megan Nielsen’s Tania Culottes pattern has made quite a way around the blogosphere, and for good reason. It is relatively simple and quick to put together, but the finished product is polished and fun. This was my first time sewing a pattern by an independent designer and I was not disappointed. I wouldn’t say the instructions are as thorough as some commercial patterns (there isn’t a glossary of sewing terms and it doesn’t walk you step-by-step through installing a zipper, for example) but with some basic garment sewing knowledge and the Internet, the pattern came together without issue. It’s also cool knowing that my purchase supports an independent designer!

One of the biggest differences I found between the indie pattern vs. a commercial pattern was in the sizing. Commercial patterns are notorious for having a ton of ease, while indie patterns tend to be more true to size. Knowing this, I made a muslin before cutting my fabric and I’m glad I did. I cut a small waist with the medium inseam and realized that it was going to hit a little higher on my waist than I wanted. So I ended up cutting the large waist but kept the crotch length and inseam a small, essentially making the shorts a lower rise. The finished waistband sits about at my bellybutton, and the hem falls around my upper mid-thigh. The next time I use this pattern I will probably cut a medium waist with a small crotch length and inseam, as I have just a little bit more room in the waist than I would like.

Check out little LuLu back there keeping a watch out. She did not leave my side the entire time I was taking these pictures. I'm actually surprised she didn't end up in more of them! Anyways, back to the sewing...

Unfortunately, Richmond is kind of lacking in apparel fabric store options (home décor and quilting fabric stores abound, though). I found this silk-look polyester at my local Hancock Fabrics. It is a medium-weight fabric with a little bit of texture on the right side (similar to a dupioni) and the wrong side is satin-y. I try to avoid sewing with polyester when I can, but it does have a couple benefits: 1) It is easy to care for; I just threw it in the washing machine using cold water on a delicate cycle, and dried it in the dryer on low heat to pretreat and the fabric still looks brand new and 2) No wrinkles! I didn’t even have to press it after I pretreated it, so I expect the skirt to wear very well (and so far it has).

The instructions that came with the pattern were very easy to follow and I didn’t deviate from them too much. I don’t have a serger and the polyester frayed like crazy, so I used French seams. Jen at Grainline has an awesome tutorial on French seams that I refer to when I need a refresher. Because of the French seams I switched the order of the crotch and pleats, simply sewing the crotch together before sewing the pleats.

Unfortunately, French seams and zippers do not go together, so I had to change things up a bit for that seam. I inserted an invisible zipper using this amazing tutorial from Sew Serendipity, then finished the raw edges with 2” strips of fabric double folded. You can see (or can you?) the invisible zipper in the photo above. For only my second one ever, I am very pleased with how it came out!

So about that hem… Because the “legs” are essentially two circle skirts, parts of the skirt are cut on the bias. To make sure the skirt did all its stretching before I hemmed it, I put the skirt on a hanger and let it hang for at least 24 hours before sewing (while I worked on another pair of culottes, of course). Boy did that thing stretch all kinds of out of shape! I did my best to even out the hem and the sewing itself was rather uneventful. It was quite a bit of hemming, though, so it was a little time consuming. When it’s hanging on the hanger or laying flat it looks pretty good, but looking at the pictures I think there is some room for improvement. I will probably take at least one of them out and try to even it out a little more, because I’m a masochistic perfectionist, obviously. Also, for some reason I think the uneven-ess is super exaggerated in the above picture; it doesn't look perfect "in real life" but I really don't think it's as bad as that picture suggests.

Cost Break-down:

$12.00 for PDF pattern

$11.00 with tax for 1.5 yards of fabric on sale for $6.99/yard

$3.00 with tax for 9” invisible zipper

Total: $ 26.00

Less than $30 isn’t too bad for a brand new pair of culottes that are definitely a new summer wardrobe staple for me! Have you sewn an indie pattern before? Who are your favorite indie designers? Do you have a favorite wardrobe staple for different seasons? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Did-It-Myself Faux Chenille Baby Blanket

2014-04-27T15:13:00.002-04:00

When a friend asked me to make a baby shower gift, I knew immediately what I wanted to make. I pinned this Heirloom Cut Chenille Baby Blanket from Aesthetic Nest a while ago and was just waiting for a good excuse to make one. Now that the blanket is finished, I wish I hadn't waited so long! It was an easy, albeit time consuming, project and the end result was extremely rewarding. Now let me tell you a little bit about how I chose my fabric, what I did differently than the original tutorial, and what I will do differently the next time I make one of these adorable baby blankets.

First, fabric selection. I knew I needed a premium quality fabric for the top of the blanket since that was going to be the majority of the design, so I headed down to a local quilting shop, Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Va. This was actually my first time in the store (I don't do a lot/any quilting) and I was very impressed with the selection. They have a wide variety of premium quilting cottons, patterns, notions, etc. and the staff was wonderful. {Side note: When the sales associate asked if I wanted a bag, I said no because I carry a fairly large purse and I hate wasting bags for just one or two items. It turns out that every time you make a purchase and don't take a bag, they enter your name into a monthly drawing for a free $20 gift card to the store. Reducing waste and possibly winning some free fabric at the same time, how awesome is that?!} Anyway, I was looking for something in the pink family since that was the color the mother-to-be is using in the nursery and I came across an adorable print from Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics. It is from her Daydreams collection, the print is called Wonder and the color-way is Rose. For the binding I found a solid orange Kona cotton on sale at Joann's, and while I was there also got 3 shades of pink flannel to use for the backing.

Now I had to decide whether to pretreat my fabrics. Reading online about other bloggers experiences making this blanket provided mixed reviews. The argument FOR pretreating was that the colors in the flannel could bleed onto the top fabric when washed for the first time, and pretreating helps lessen the likeliness of that occurring. The argument AGAINST pretreating was that the flannel shrinks and softens up more if you wait to wash until after it is sewn and the chenille is cut. I ultimately decided to pretreat since I wasn't using the highest quality flannel and I was paranoid about them bleeding onto the not inexpensive quilting fabric I was using.

To pretreat, I sewed the cut ends of the fabric with the right sides together using a zig-zag stitch, like the diagram below:

This helped keep the cut edges from fraying too much and also kept the fabric from getting too bundled up or stretched out during washing. I washed the brighter colors in one load and the top fabric and light pink flannel in a separate load to further prevent bleeding. I used gentle detergent with 2 Shout Color Catchers and washed in cold water on the gentle cycle. I tossed them in the dryer until they were just slightly damp, immediately removed and ironed each piece, then removed the stitching along the cut edges. The whole pretreating process added a considerable amount of time to the project, but I think it was worth it since I didn't have any issues with colors bleeding.

Now, here's what I did differently from the original tutorial:

--The flannel I used was only 42" wide, so I used 42" square pieces to make the blanket as big as possible

--I used a good old-fashioned pair of scissors to do the cutting. Joann's doesn't carry the special chenille-cutting tool in the store and I didn't have time to wait for shipping, so I decided to just do it all by hand. It took a while and my hand/arm was definitely sore for at least 2 days after, but I cut slowly to make sure I wasn't cutting the top fabric and I am happy to say there were no mishaps.

--I used regular quilting weight cotton for the binding, rather than satin. I had never bound a quilt, and satin isn't know for being easy to sew with so I took the safer road. I do wish I had time to find an orange polka dot fabric (like this one). I think that would have been really cute, but I still love the way the solid orange looks.

--I liked the look of the rounded corners, but I know enough about sewing to know that sewing curves isn't easy so I wasn't going to try them on my first quilt binding. I found this machine binding tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew and I was sold for a few reasons: 1) NO HAND SEWING! because ain't nobody got time for that 2) the mitered corners looked clean and finished and 3) the technique is straightforward and simple. The tutorial was clear an easy to follow and I just went step-by-step and I absolutely love how it turned out. This is definitely a technique I will be using again. The only mishap was this:

She was so cute I couldn't bring myself to make her move, so got to stay there while I took a snack break.

So what will I do differently next time? Use a walking foot while sewing all the layers together. I had a lot of shifting going on with the flannels, which isn't a big deal since the chenille covers up any imperfections. But when I went to even up the edges I had to cut more fabric off to get the quilt square again, and the finished size ended up being a little smaller (around 39"-40").

I think the blanket turned out absolutely adorable, and it was a huge hit at the shower!

My best advice to anyone interested in making one of these blankets would be, be patient! It is a slower process (think quilting, not sewing) and it is a lot to try and finish in one weekend, but the results are absolutely worth it.

Have you made one of these blankets and have some tips and tricks or words of wisdom? I would love to hear them in the comments!

Did-It-Myself SVG Monogram Tutorial | Part Three: Editing Nodes and Paths in Inkscape

2014-02-23T12:04:00.000-05:00

**UPDATE 4.11.14: You can now purchase the complete circle monogram alphabet SVG file in my Etsy shop!

So far I have shown ya'll how I used Picasa to create my letter templates and how I traced those templates in Inkscape to create a series of nodes and paths. Now I'm going to show ya'll how I edited those nodes and paths to make all the letters clean and crisp. WARNING: This is a lengthy, picture-heavy post. I apologize in advance! But here we go…

Step One: Draw guides

These guides will help me get perfectly straight lines that are also perfectly parallel and perpendicular (alliteration intended). To draw the vertical guides, I simply clicked on the ruler on the left hand side of the page and, while still holding the mouse down, dragged the cursor to where I wanted the guide. Release the mouse, and ta-da!, a vertical guide. I used the same technique to make the horizontal guides, but instead of the ruler on the left, I clicked and dragged from the ruler along the top of the page.

I placed guides along all of my vertical and horizontal lines in my first letter. I also placed guides at important corners where two non-horizontal or vertical lines intersect (circled in diagram below).

Step Two: Edit nodes and paths

After all of my guides were in place, I was ready to start getting all those letters cleaned up. To do this, I needed two very important tools-- the "edit paths by nodes" button and the "zoom" button. Both of these buttons can be found on the left hand side toolbar.

To get started, I zoomed in on my first letter using the zoom tool; I just clicked the button, then clicked on the area I wanted to zoom in on.

Then, I used the "edit paths by nodes" button to select my first letter. After clicking on the letter with the tool, this it what my letter looked like:

All those little gray diamonds are nodes, and the blue lines connecting them are the paths. These nodes and the paths are automatically created when the trace bitmap function is used (see Part Two). The area enclosed by the path is the object, and by changing the position of the nodes and also manipulating the direction of the path, the shape of the object changes. An object can have a million nodes and paths or it can have only a few, it all just depends on the shape.

When editing my nodes, I deleted any extra nodes along the straight lines so there was only one node at the beginning of the line and one node at the end. I did the same along the shorter inside curves of the "A." I didn't have to worry about the nodes along the outside curve of the letter--I will deal with those a little later. Deleting the nodes was as easy as selecting the node I wanted to remove, and then pressing the delete button on the keyboard. Simple!

Step Three: Straighten paths

Next I got to work straightening all of the paths, including those inside curved ones. See these lines with the circles at the end?

They determine the direction of the curve. So even though some of the lines look straight, if they have the lines with the circles at the end when they are selected, they are actually slightly curved.

Straightening the paths was fairly straight forward (pun intended). I just clicked on the path I wanted to straighten, and the two end nodes that define the path became highlighted. Then, I clicked the "make selected segments lines" button on the top toolbar and just like that those lines with the circles disappear and my “curved” lines became straight lines.

In addition to making sure all the straight lines were actually straight, I also straightened the curved lines on the inside of the letters. This gave me a blank slate to work with so I could make sure my curves were exactly the shape I wanted them. Here’s what I was left with after I straightened all the curves.

Yikes! You’re probably thinking, “This girl is crazy, that’s worse than what she started with!” And you are right, but don’t worry; this is one of those things where it has to get worse before it can get better.

Step Four: Align nodes to guides

Now it was time to clean up the mess I had made, and the first step was to get all of my segments in line with the guides I placed earlier. All I had to do was select a node and then move it to the guide that I wanted to align it with.

Inkscape automatically aligns the node with the guide in an action called "cusp node to guide." I aligned all of the nodes with the guides I placed earlier, including the nodes at those intersections. After all of the nodes were aligned, it was already starting to look a little better.

Step Five: Move outside edge nodes to outside of circle

Remember that circle I drew earlier? Here is where it comes in handy. I moved all of the nodes along the outer edge of the circle so that they were outside of the circle. The goal here was to make sure ~~it looked even worse than before~~ I could no longer see the edge of the circle.

Once I had all my nodes where they needed to be, I was ready to move on to the left letter. Don’t worry, I promise I will come back and clean up the outside edge of all the letters at the same time.

Since I was finished moving all of the nodes for the first letter, I deleted all of my guides by clicking on the guide and hitting the delete button on the keyboard. This gave me a blank slate to start working on that funky looking “W.”

Step Six: Repeat steps 1-5 for left letter

The watermark in the original image caused the top part of the “W” to look a little hole-y (that is the technical term, by the way). Although it looks like a huge mess, it was actually pretty easy to clean up. First I got all of my guides in place, then I used the edit paths and nodes tool to select the letter. Once I was able to see all the nodes I decided which nodes I would need to keep and which nodes were just extras that needed to be deleted. I kept two nodes on the top part of the “W” and then just deleted most of the rest. Here is a diagram of the ones I kept and the ones I deleted:

After I all the extra nodes were deleted, here’s the super crazy letter I was left with:

Next, I straightened out all the segments and lined all the nodes back up with my guides (now you can really see how handy those guides are!). Then I moved the nodes I needed to the outside of the circle just like my first letter.

Not too bad! After I had all my nodes moved, I deleted all of my guides and proceeded to work on the middle letter.

Step Seven: Repeat steps 1-5 for middle letter

At this point I made sure my middle letter was centered between my two outer letters. Then I placed my guides, edited and moved my nodes just like with the first two letters, and finally deleted all of my guides.

Here’s what my monogram looked like after the nodes in all three letters were edited. All that’s left is to clean up the outside edge and reshape those inner curves.

Step Eight: Clip outside curves

Now to make the outside edges of the monogram nice and clean and crisp. First, I used the selector tool to select the circle behind my letters. Then I used the duplicate button on the top toolbar to create an exact copy of the original circle.

After I clicked the duplicate button, an exact copy of the circle appears on top of all the letters and the other circle. Now I needed to select all three letters and the circle at the same time. To do this I used the selector tool (arrow on left hand toolbar). I clicked above and to the left of my letters and circle, and then dragged the cursor diagonally to below and to the right so the box covers the entire circle and all three letters.

After all objects were selected, I went to the object menu, clip, and then set, and like magic everything that was outside of the circle, along with the circle itself, has disappeared!

Hey, it's starting to look pretty good! I'm almost done!

Step Nine: Edit inside curves

One last step! All that was left to do was give those inside curves a nice fluid shape, which was easy. Using the “edit nodes and paths” button, I selected the line segment so that both end nodes were highlighted. Then I clicked the "make selected segments curves" button on the top toolbar, and those lines with circles at the end reappear.

Then, clicking in the center of the segment, I dragged the segment towards the outside edge of the circle. I just eyeballed it until it mimicked the same curve as the outside edge.

I repeated the same steps for the bottom of the “A” and the top part of the “W” and once I was happy with the shape of the inside curves, I was finally done!

Now, I know there are a lot of steps and some of the terminology may seem complicated, but after I did a couple letters I found a groove and was able to knock out the entire alphabet x3 in just an afternoon. But if any of the steps are unclear, please feel free to leave me a question in the comments or use the contact me tab to send me an email and I will do my best to clarify or explain.

Now that I have the letters, I can play around with colors, outlines, etc. The possibilities are endless, so I'm off to work on some projects using my new monogram!

And just in case you missed them, here are the links to Part One and Part Two of my custom circle monogram tutorial.

Did-It-Myself SVG Monogram Tutorial | Part Two: Tracing in Inkscape

2013-08-11T11:28:00.002-04:00

**UPDATE 4.11.14 You can now purchase the complete circle monogram alphabet SVG file in my Etsy shop!

Check out how I used Picasa to get my letter templates in Part One of this tutorial.

If I haven't scared you away with all of the cropping and chopping I did in Picasa in Part One, let me see if I can run you off with Inkscape in Part Two... just kidding! Hopefully I have broken down my process enough so you can follow right along with me. But first, let me tell you about my newest best friend, Inkscape.

Inkscape is a vector graphics editor with capabilities similar to Adobe Illustrator; however, it is open source so it is available to download for FREE on both Windows and Mac. (Here's the link) DISCLAIMER: I have never used Photoshop or Illustrator, so I can not speak to the differences between the Adobe products and programs like Picasa and Inkscape. I simply use the latter because they are FREE (I love that word!) and available for Mac OS. I also have no formal training in any of the above mentioned products; I taught myself how to use both Picasa and Inkscape from tutorials online, YouTube videos, and a lot of trial and error. So trust me, I know all those little buttons and tools can be a bit intimidating for a first time user, but I'm hoping that this post might help you get over some of those "first date jitters."

So let's get right on down to the good part...

I started with a blank document in Inkscape. To get my letter templates that I created in Picasa, I simply clicked the Import button on the toolbar and selected the file that contained my first letter.

I did this for all three of the letters I needed for my monogram. Now I needed a circle to place behind my letters and act as a guide. To draw a circle, I simply selected the circle tool on the left hand toolbar, then held the "control" key on my keyboard while I clicked and dragged. Holding the control key locks the aspect ratio so I end up with a circle instead of an oval.

To change the size of my circle, I selected the arrow on the left hand toolbar (this is the selector tool which allows you to select any object on the page). After I selected the circle, some new options appeared on the top toolbar, including a field marked with a "W" for width, one with an "H" for height and a lock in the middle of the two fields for locking the aspect ratio. Since I used the control button when I drew my circle, the two values in the W and H fields are the same. After I lock the aspect ratio, I can change the value in the W field and the value in the H field will adjust automatically and vice versa.

I adjusted the size of my circle to accommodate my letters--the size that ended up working for me was 151.522 pixels. So now that I had my circle template, I needed to get my letters into a format that I could manipulate/scale/change the colors, etc. To do this I used a function called "trace bitmap" (it only sounds fancy, it really is fairly straight forward).

I used the selector tool to select the image I wanted to trace. Then under the "Path" menu, I selected "Trace Bitmap" to open the trace options screen.

I used the "Brightness cutoff" setting and adjusted the threshold to 0.540. I clicked update which gave me a preview of the trace. If it didn't look right, I could change the settings before hitting OK (which executes the trace) and closing out of the window.

After the trace is executed and the trace window is closed, my page looks exactly the same as before the trace. But alas--after simply clicking on the letter with the selector tool and dragging the object a little to the side, a traced copy of the letter is revealed!

TA-DA! Pretty cool, huh? At this point I changed the traced letter to a different color to make it easier to distinguish from my template, and I changed the color of the circle I drew earlier. I chose a light turquoise/aqua-ish blue for the circle and fuchsia for the letters. I liked these colors because there was a good amount of contrast between the two and I was still able to see the outside edge of the circle.

NOTE: The "W" looks a little funny because of the watermark in the original image. That's OK, I show you how I got it all fixed up in Part Three.

After I traced all three of my letters, I removed some of the clutter on my page by deleting the letter templates (since I traced them, I didn't need them anymore). Next, I arranged my letters on top of my circle, in order of course. I tried to get the letters aligned as close to the edge of my circle as possible while maintaining even spacing between the letters. The letters did not align with the edge of the circle perfectly and there's also that "W" to deal with, but it was starting to look like a monogram!

Now that I showed you how easy it is to trace in Inkscape, do you want to know how I got my edges to align neatly with the circle? Or how I fixed the funkiness with the "W"? Check out Part Three of my SVG Monogram Tutorial: Editing Nodes and Paths in Inkscape! And in case you missed it, here's the link for Part One.