(mini) Maxi Skirt

Following Mimi G's tutorial I created the following:

 

 

 

I never made the linen pants(only a muslin and addressed fitting issues) for my son's gf... had to purchase more fabric. They are back from Asia and had a wonderful time. I will get stated on the the second muslin and hopefully I can post them here by the 1st weekend in December... Where did 2013 go?

 

Also I have my first prom dress order! We have to set up and initial consultation but I am excited. My daughter is still undecided on the design of her gown. I had ordered some fabric swatches (for her original design) but none of them made her happy..

 

I have set up my sewing studio in my dining room (with the blessing of the hubby) which will make for an interesting Thanksgiving...

 

Praying for a safe and merry holiday season for all of you!

 

 

Love and Blessings,

Dawn

This is MY Confession...

I am a borderline hoarder. I reached that conclusion by taking a look at the last patterns and fabric I just recently purchased. I have no problem with having lots of patterns and fabric if you use it (even occasionally). I have not been doing that. I love sewing but fitting issues have been my deterrent. So since there will always be new patterns and more fabric sales, I have decided to start making things. At least one item a week. I have to justify my purchases to ME. The above statements have no relevance to anyone but me. You do you and I will do the same. As matter of fact I love reading sewing blogs and seeing other people's stash, but I also know that I love even more looking at the garments that they create from their purchases. I need to stop hoarding and start creating!

So, I spent Sunday afternoon considering what to sew next. I decided to watch the Mimi G's DIY Strapless Jumper tutorial. After watching it I thought about trying my hand at a simple down and dirty maxi skirt. I wanted to make one with the fold over like on yoga pants. I went to you.tube and rediscover a young lady whose DIY peplum skirt video I had watched. Her name is tglashen and I fell in love with her. Not only is she very creative but she teaches the obvious without you feeling like duh… What I love the most is that at the beginning and end of each of her videos she displays bible verses. I love, love, love creative people who know from whence their talents flow!

So I went to my basement fabric stash and found some striped knit fabric I was gifted from my mommy. She no longer sews and she has begun sending pieces my way(adding to my hoard stash)… (She makes jewelry now). The fabric I picked was very familiar. When we would fabric shop we often would go home with some of the same pieces. I had (many, many years ago) made my youngest daughter a cute little summer top from my yardage (she says she still has it somewhere in her bedroom).

Following most of tglashen’s instructions I made the following two skirts. The striped one for me and the other for my daughter.

 

Even after using the exact same instructions, because of the difference in the fabric, my daughter’s came out a little more form fitting than I had desired. She, however, loved it. My next iteration will fit with more ease.

I really need more light in my house and a camera phone with flash. Sorry again for the not so great pictures.

 

Love and Blessings,

Dawn

The hard and soft of it...

Well, I still cannot get my oldest daughter to pose for a picture in her pleather(purchased from Mood) skirt (McCall's 6706).  And now my youngest is unavailable to pose for pictures in her linen pants(Simplicity 2700). Here are some shots of the two pieces on(and I use the term lightly) Dora. Hopefully I can get a picture of both of them wearing the pieces soon.

 

I used cheap/wrong interfacing (see how wonky waistband looks)

First time using both button hole and button attachments

Leg with ribbon sewn on for a pretty hem

 

Next up is Mimi g’s Regal Maxi skirt. I found this yellow shantung at Jo.Mars in Philly. It fit right into the time of a ministry event that I am part of.

Fail: I am having trouble fitting my large abdomen while making skirts/pants. The trouble I had with was also due to time constraints(I was trying to make it to wear later that day! I am not there yet.. lol ) and I got frustrated when I attached the waistband on upside down. (I was trying to make it to wear later that day! I am not there yet.. lol ) I will finish this…No UFOs in 2013

Love and blessings,

Dawn
 

Serging (surging) ahead....

As a young parent I owned a sewing machine. My mother had always had one and I thought that it was a household essential. She would make clothes (mostly summer) for me and for herself.  She never really taught me any techniques and I cannot remember us even discussing sew, but I vividly recall her cutting out patterns at the kitchen table.

As I began my own family I purchased my own machine.  It was used primarily for sewing curtains, pillows and hemming pants (into shorts) that my children had outgrown.  As the children got older I started thinking about sewing apparel. I wanted to teach my daughters how to sew and so I took a home sewing course for apparel and received a new computerized Brother sewing machine at “graduation”.  

After a couple of years of occasional sewing, I began to seriously want to take my sewing to the next level. I was discouraged by the lack of classes available in my area. I found a group on meet-updotcom and joined, along with my mother. That did not last long because of conflicts in dates and travel difficulties.

I started purchasing how-to books, but many of the ones I really wanted were too expensive for my meager hobby budget.  I would ask for gift cards to Joann’s for holidays and birthdays to support my growing fabric/pattern obsession.  A few years ago I asked my husband to buy me a serger for Christmas.  I really tried to use that serger but fear held me hostage….fast forward to last night..

I was determined to figure out how to use it so I could finish the inside of the linen pants I am making for my youngest daughter using Simplicity 2700. Lately in church I have been hearing a lot about being bound by fear. I prayed about all of the areas that I can identify where fear is keeping from the best God has for me. I decided NO MORE. Last night I went in my basement, and dug out my serger. I cleaned it, re-threaded it and read the owner’s manual, and two other books that I had (one is The Easy Guide Serging Fine Fabrics and the other I cannot think of right now.). After about three hours total of cleaning, reading and trial and error, behold the fruit of my labor:

 

 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I did finally finish the pleather skirt for my oldest, but I am having a hard time catching her to get a picture. Of course the zipper was not installed as perfectly as the original one.

 

Blessings,Dawn

Pleated pleather panic...

My daughter turned 23 yesterday. She asked me to make her a pleated pleather mini skirt for her. She told me that she needed it for the weekend after her birthday.

On Monday past, we (two daughters and a cousin) went to Mood to look for prom dress fabric and the pleather. We found the pleather but the prom dress fabric is a story for another time.

On Tuesday she told me that her co-workers were throwing her a party on her birthday and that she really wanted to wear the skirt. Well, I had women's ministry on Tuesday and so I did not have much time to work on it.
Yesterday after work, I started working on the skirt. She told me that she was leaving out at 10:30, so I put the petal to the metal and tried to grind out the skirt.... I always make dumb mistakes when I rush. ......

I was watching a tutorial on inserting a zipper and I wanted to keep the slide out of my way... so I placed the top of the zipper up over the desired insertion spot, but I forgot to create a new stop!  I did a great job. The zipper was great zipped up! the best I ever did...After sewing the waist band facing and the waistband along the short edge (right sides together then trim and turn) to create a clean edge to the zipper tape, I pulled the zipper up again and right off the top of the skirt. I screamed NOOOO and my grandson, asked me what was wrong. I told him and he told me not to be too sad. He just turned four last week. I few minutes later my daughter came in to get dressed and he said "You cannot wear your skirt because mom- mom pulled the zipper right off the top of the skirt!"

Needless to say she wore something else and I will be spending a lot of time with my seam ripper this evening.

You can see the zipper slide on the pattern envelope

 

 

Love and Blessing

 

Dawn

Fabric goodness or stash building

Just recieved a package from Fabric Mart...

Five colors of a Linen Blend Jersey and two cuts of an Iridescent Taffeta(orange and purple).

The jersey is for lounge wear and the taffeta is "possible" fabric for my DD jr. prom.

Renewed determination or a made up mind

I cannot believe that I have had this blog since 2007  and have only written 27 post.  During that time I have read hundreds of post by many exceptional bloggers and I am grateful for their inspiration.

 

I have determined in my heart to see this thru.

It may not be the most creative, it may not be the most informative, or even the most entertaining.... but I have made my mind up. I will sew, I will post, I will grow.

After all it is a reflection of me.

Just to wrap up loose ends...

Here is a picture of the wedding dress I made back in April. Maybe one day I will finish the post about the journey but for now, onward and upward.

 

 

 

God bless,

 

Dawn

Thank you,

Sewing by the seat of my pants PT 2"edited"

Since Blogger will not let me create a new post!? Here are some pictures of the finished dress at the wedding:

 

 

Let me back up a bit.
The B2B decided to order a wedding gown from China. She came over to my house to go over some wedding details...(did I mention I was co-coordinator with the matron-of-honor?).She showed me the dress she was going to order. Now I am not to keen about ordering form outside of the continental United States so when we could not get clarification on the color of the waist ribbon, I took that as a sign that maybe, just maybe, this was not the best idea. A day later I convinced her not to purchase from that retailer due to reviews about some of the China dressmaker sites.

(below image from http://www.dress2sale.com/Elegant-White-Dot-Lace-With-Bowtie-Wedding-Dress-MA-670.html )

So that began our quest to find a wedding gown. After checking a couple of local dress shops, including Da.vid's Brid.al she still could not find what she wanted. We even traveled across the bridge to Jersey to an annual Goodwill dress event. She found two that her sister and I both thought were beautiful on her but she left without a purchase. You see, I had received the guinea pig text message already and although she was full of confidence in me, I was not.. I secretly hoped hat she would find a RTW gown.

I found butterick 5325


She liked it, I took her measuremnets, found some fabric in the stash for a muslin and got to work.

Next:  "The long road of fittings".

Blessings and Love

 

Dawn

Sewing by the seat of my pants! pt 1

text thread:

cousin: Can I be your guinia pig?

me: huh?

cousin: no seriously, I mean I am tired of looking!

me: no seriously what are you talking about?

cousin: can you make my wedding dress?

me (after a 3 minute pause): I do not know if I can do that...

cousin: I have faith in you!

me: let me pray about it.

cousin: I will pray too!

So began my adventures in sewing by the seat of my pants!


Love and God bless,
Dawn