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White Knitted Spats/leg warmers

27 Nov

I made these spats/leg warmers awhile back for a friend during the holidays last year(yeah, I’m that behind on post/projects to show). I really loved the results of this project and have been hoping to make more this year. I only had one real hang-up on the knit spats and that was due to both my sewing machines did not like sewing the knits. My newest machine seems to do find as long as it’s not a thicker wool so I’ll just have to watch what I pick up from thrift stores and garage sales.

One exciting thing I did learn about from this experience was how to make button holes. Not actually on the spats themselves mind you, the fabric was way to thick so I had to do that by hand. I did do a a lot of practicing using my sewing machine to make button holes on scrap material to make sure my machine was capable of doing button holes.

Next up, finish my xmas stockings and cards.

Dress Pattern Review-New Look 6375

14 Jun

I started and finished this pattern last weekend.  It’s not technically on the projects page, but I’m counting this as one of the skirts I needed for work.

The project has easy to follow instructions, simple pattern pieces to cut out and the size chart is accurate. You picked  between the 5 different top styles then the skirt is the same for all of them.  I went with D, the cowl neckline with straps.

I used a fabric I found at the local thrift store, it’s a polyester fabric with a little bit of stretch with a black plaid pattern. The fabric cost around $2 and the pattern cost about $3 (think this was on sale at Joann Fabrics when I picked it up) so I’m really happy about the cost :)


The pattern does call for a zipper to be  sewn into the back of it, which I’m still learning how to do and I’m really proud of how well it turned out.  The zipper is from my stash of zippers I picked up at my local thrift store prices 25 cents to 68 cents.  The dress style I went with also called for an eye & hook which I didn’t have in my stash of sewing supplies (used the last one repairing bras, blah) but I was able to find them for 50% off at Hobby Lobby. Woo!

I will defiantly do this pattern again, in fact I have a really pretty brown fabric with pink polka dots just waiting to be made into this dress. I will most likely use pattern D again. When it’s paired with a cardigan I can easily wear it to work.

I really have no complaints about the pattern, I love the dress I made and am looking forward to making or finding accessories for it. I’m thinking red for some reason and I do have some red fabric and lots of the plaid fabric left over.  Maybe I can make a red purse with plaid lining or a reversible belt.

Any ideas?  I’d love to hear them!

How to make a pencil skirt from pants

6 Mar

I’ve had a few people asking about how to make a pencil skirt from pants after my post about pants into a skirt.  So I thought I’d try to write something out for everyone.  I’ll warn you though, It probably won’t be pretty. Also apologies for the crappy images I didn’t take pictures of the process so this will have to do.

First find a pair of pants that fit well in the waist.  It’s okay if they are a little tight in the pants legs, that will get taken care of when you’re sewing it back together.  Just make sure you like how it fits for your waist.

Now take your trusty seam ripper and remove the inside seam so the inside is completly open and resembles a kind of wierd looking skirt that probably doesn’t cover much.

Next flip your future skirt inside out and put it on.  Pinch the front flaps of the skirt closed and pin them in a straight line down.

Repeat for the back.

Carefully take the skirt off so as not to prick yourself with the pins, then take it over to the sewing machine.

Sew along where its pinned taking out the pins as you go.  Once it’s finished put the skirt / pants back on and determine the length you would like.  Mark it with chalk or a pin.  Remove the skirt

Draw out the rest of the line then cut off the excess leaving 1 inch extra for hemming.

At this point I did a top stitch on the front and the back seams to make them a bit sturdier and to give it a cleaner look.

After that trim off the excess fabric and hem the bottom of the skirt, I just folded mine and did a straight stitch, you could also do a blind hem stitch if you would prefer.

Ta-da! You’re done!

**Optional: You can also add a slit up the back or the skirt if you would like a little more movement. When you are sewing the pinned sides makes sure to decide on the length at that point.

Setting up an Etsy store

20 Feb

So I’ve started to setup my Etsy store.  Some of you out there are probably wondering right now “What is etsy?”.  Well Etsy.com is a play you can sell handmade goods, such as jewelry, clothes, soaps, and other handmade goodies.  I really love the community and it will allow me to make a website without the worry of how to accept payments.

In my Etsy store I’m hoping to sell handmade jewelry, crochet or knit accessories.  Eventually I’ll also make items such as purses but I don’t want to go overboard and burn myself out before I even begin lol.

I will have one thing that is consistent among all of my Etsy products, they will be at least 80% recycled materials.  What I mean by that is that each item will be made from items I “rescued” from thrift stores and other shops that sell gently used items. So if you order a hat from my Etsy store it was probably made from an old sweater or maybe a skein of yarn someone was going to toss.  Same with my jewelry and other accessories I’m working on.

Here is one of my Etsy products I’ll be selling.  This necklace was made from old hematite necklaces I was given after my grandfather passed away.

When my grandfather was still with us he would make beaded jewelry to sell at fairs.  From time to time he would also get wholesale necklaces to add a little more variety for the buyers.  After he passed away my family gave me most of the craft items and wholesale necklaces.  Originally I was going to try to sell the wholesale items through ebay or craigslist, but it just didn’t sit well with me. Seemed like I was giving up on what he had started off t0 do. I think it was about a year later that I realized I should make the wholesale necklaces into one of a kind jewelry.

It’s kinda therapeutic to take apart something that makes you sad to look at and make it into something brand new.  I really hope my Etsy store works out. It would make me feel like I’m continuing what my grandfather started.

Pencil Skirt Made from Pants

1 Feb

Hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays through this winter season.  Mine has been pretty good, I was able to do more crafting than I did last year.  I gifted myself this year with a new sewing machine and am very happy to have done so.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my 40 year old Kenmore sewing machine, but the years of neglect it went through before my parents rescued it from a yard sale took their toll on it.

I feel very lucky to have had that as my first sewing machine.  It gave me a better understanding of a sewing machines workings then I would of had if I had a brand new sewing machine right away.  Which is why I’ve handed it down to my sister in hopes she’ll be able to use it and love sewing as much as I do.

The first project I did with my new machine was to take an old pair of office pants and turn them into a pencil skirt.  I think it turned out pretty well.

New skirt from pants

I opened up the inseam of the pants and sewed them together, then hemmed it.  Not the most intense project but the sewing took less than 30 minutes which would have taken over an hour on my old machine.

edit: Check out my new post How to Make a Pencil Skirt from Pants for instructions on making this pencil skirt.

Angel Halloween Costume with Tutu

1 Jan

Working on catching up on posts I saved from the holidays. Hopefully in the next few days I’ll be posting about the different cookies and treats I made but first I’ll start with what I did for Halloween.

For Halloween my sister asked me to make her an angel Halloween costume for a party she was going to. We ended up finding a white dress at Goodwill. It had the right silhouette for what she had in mind and was a little a couple sizes too big so we had plenty of fabric to work with too.

Jerrica's CostumeSorry this is the only picture I have of her in the tutu :(

Originally I was going to make a petticoat to go under the dress to make it more poofy but my sewing machine is old and it doesn’t like a lot of fabrics(including tulle). :( So I searched around and found a no sew video for a girls tutu on YouTube. I linked to the video below.

My sister ended up feeling the girls tutu was the best part, so the dress became more of a body suit that went under the dress. It was shorten and an elastic band was added to the bottom, also I added a fake corset to the back to make it a bit more form fitting.

The tutu had to be the easiest part of the whole costume. Since then I’ve even made two smaller ones for my little cousins.

Pet Bed

17 Aug

Our “kitten” Hobbes has started to chew on fabric at night when he is locked up in the bathroom. So far he has destroyed 1 pillow, 2 blankets, a bathmat and a towel. We know he’s doing it mainly because he’s cranky about being locked up, but since he runs around at night which causes our neighbor to get cranky we needed to come up with something he could sleep on but not chew on. LT and I decided a pillow that was made out of a tougher material and rounded might hopefully keep Hobbes from eating it.

I had some canvas material laying around for making grocery bags so I decided to try using that. So far he’s had the pillow around a month and has bit it once but never chewed up it. Our other cat Doomy ended up getting jealous of Hobbes’s new bed so I made him one a couple weeks after that.

Since the first one was so successful with the cats I decided to take a few pictures of how I made it.

cat-pillow-1
Here’s Doomy helping me with the pattern. I made a circle out of cardboard with a 22 inch diameter then I traced it onto the fabric I had folded over so I could cut out two circles.

cat-pillow-2
After I cut out the two circles I measure a long rectangle for the center, I made it 8 inches wide and about 70 inches long. At the time I didn’t measure the length I just kinda made a circle with the fabric around my cut out circles to guess the length needed.

cat-pillow-3
After it was all cut out I just sewed the circles onto the edges of the rectangle and added stuffing. Here is Doomy modeling his new pillow.

Both pet beds turned out really well. I’ll probably make more pillows shaped like this for the couch next.

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