Another Christmas gift.

my sister loves octopus’s, and sometime this year I came across the most adorable pattern for one made out of felt. this is made with all hand stitching so it was again something made while watching a movie I had already seen. this time it was the fellowship of the ring. yeah I made this before Hobbes, even though I posted about him first. I liked this pattern it was easy, though time consuming sewing all those little tentacles. actually cutting them out was harder then sewing them. I don’t know why, it took less time, I guess just the fact I had to cut out sixteen of the same thing. the pattern gives tips on how to make this easier, which I of course didn’t read till after I had them all cut out. oh well, that’s typical of me. I glance over directions, but don’t really pay attention till I have an issue. and yes I do that with every pattern. the pattern also explains what order to sew the body in so your knots all end up on the bottom, making them less obvious. and as you can see the pattern turns out the most adorable little octopus ever!
http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2006/3/sigmund-octopus.aspx

Hobbes plush

now that Christmas is over I can post about what I made people. I only made two gifts this year, which is about normal for me. my sister told me about this Hobbes plush her husband really wanted, and gave me a link for a pattern and tutorial. the pattern was easy to follow, and the hand work made easier by doing it while watching “the return of the king.” yes the best way to get through tedious tasks is to do them while re-watching rather long movies. I did have to resize two of the back stripes, by making them both an inch longer, but that wasn’t a big deal. the one thing I found aggravating about both the pattern and tutorial is I couldn’t find where is said how much fabric to buy. I don’t know if I just missed it, or what. in any case I ended up buying too much fabric. its better to have too much then not enough right? in the end I think a 1/4 yard of each color would suffice. which is actually too much for the white, but all the places I have been that is the smallest cut you can get. you can also see if you look at the tutorial that my placement on the stripes for Hobbes’s arms and legs is slightly off. that is due to the fact I we lost internet for several days, and I guessed at the placement. (should have saved a picture right off) I think it looks alright though,. my brother in law seemed to like it, which is really all that mattered since it was for him. and really I was pleased with it as well. I mean come on its adorable!
Pattern and tutorial here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Stuffed-Hobbes-with-pattern/?ALLSTEPS

A little princess dress

I finished the dress for my niece, who will be turning six in two weeks. I used simplicity pattern # 4764 the only alterations I made to the pattern were because of the scalloped edge on the fabric I didn’t want to turn under the hem, I went ahead and added three growth pleats to the skirt. that way it can be lengthened when she grows if it is something she wishes to have done. plus it looks cute. also I wanted the scalloped edge on the sleeve. I wish now that I had made the sleeve just a bit longer then it is, I didn’t take into account that on the pattern they added a band to the sleeve, which would have made it an inch or so longer. instead of the band I made a casing on the inside for elastic. I’m sure it will be fine, that’s just me being ticky. the other thing to note is I used less crinoline then called for . last years I made her a princess dress as well and its so fluffy its hard for her to navigate, this year I decided to not go quite as big. which in a way is selfish on my part, I don’t care for making the crinoline, its scratchy, yeah I’m a wuss when it comes to that type of thing. the dress though went together really nicely. I did have to add an extra layer of lining to the skirt , but that had to do with the fact the fabric has eyelets and the crinoline would have shown if I didn’t. I’m making a matching dress for her 18 inch doll so they can be all matchy, matchy, when I finish that I will post it too. my niece chose the fabric from my stash, yes I told her to pick whatever she wanted, she of course chose the fanciest thing then went on to tell me exactly what she wanted. “a dress that goes all the way to the floor with puffed sleeves.” so I think this qualifies.

a few detail shots

making a gift.

Eep! what am I making? its a surprise. I am working on this and another little thing, for holiday gifts plus a dress for a little girl who is turning six next month. With the holidays around I have been busy doing things other then sewing, but I need to keep up with my sewing. Sometime in January, maybe February I am going to start on another decade project dress. I think my goal right now will be to focus on the twentieth century first, then move on to earlier dates. I do have a few patterns picked out. Now I just need the fabric. because of course what I have in my stash just wont work.....well...I could make it work, but.... I want to go fabric shopping!

new machine

I purchased a new sewing machine on a black Friday sale for $50, nothing fancy, its a very basic brother. nearly identical to the one I already had, only newer. ( all my old parts will fit. yea!) my other one is ten years old and I have put it through the ringer, sewing things that really it should not have been able to sew. anything from chiffon to six layers of dense fur and everything in between. so now your asking if it could do all that why did you get a new one? because the answer is it couldn't really handle the abuse I put it through. recently I am finding myself having to help it along more then I did before. when the control pedal went out on it a year and a half ago (in the middle of making my sisters wedding dress! now that was a freak out the wedding was only three weeks away!) I almost bought a new machine, instead though I just got a new pedal. but recently its been getting more and more obvious I needed a new one. so here is what I decided I wanted another basic machine with no frills, no computerization or anything. I will use it for basic sewing but I’m not entirely retiring my old one. it still works so I’m going to use it till it dies on the more heavy duty sewing, in hopes that I wont do the same to the new one as I have to the old. so far all I have done on the new machine is set the tension, it was a bit off, but then that is normal on a new machine and I gave it a drop of oil since its been sitting for who knows how long after leaving the factory in china. I hoping this machine will serve me well. if it can last ten years it was well worth the $50.

red from the pile skirt.

yep I’m just going to call this red from the pile skirt. its basically made from scraps I pieced together by pinning it till I liked the shape. then did some draping to pull up the bustles. or something like that. I have no idea what technical terms are for sewing so I just make them up. besides this skirt has no rules, the only thing on the skirt has a consistent grain line is the bias strip on the hem. I’m not done with it yet, though this is the final shape, I am going to try my hand at some beading. which I have done a tiny, and might I stress tiny bit of in the past. I’m not going to do anything outrages just a few beads on each tuck to help it look more finished. this is meant to be an over skirt, I have started the plans for the underskirt in my head, but nothing definite yet. I’m kind of going for a steam punk look. so I will see how this turns out. since really I have no idea what I’m doing. and have yet to figure out a top. first things first though, the skirts.

front


back

Giselle costume

here is my Giselle costume. I wore it at the Halloween festival in our town has every year, what fun! I needed better elastic as what I used folded in half. I hate when that happens. I just went with it though as getting non roll elastic last minute was going to be too difficult. other then that I was pleased with how the costume turned out.




Happy Halloween!

finished on time!

I finished my Giselle outfit, but I keep forgetting to take pictures till its dark outside. my camera is not that great nor is the lighting in my house. so it needs to be light outside to get a good picture. but pictures will be taken tomorrow of me wearing it. and I will post some of them.

Giselle costume

I opted to be Giselle for Halloween. I chose to be her for a few reasons. one it was the first costume I said I was going to be. I saw the ballet earlier this year and fell in love with both the story and the costumes. two it was going to be easier to make. I don’t have a huge amount of time to make this costume. only till the twenty seventh. I had the design for charmander in my head but it was going to be more complicated. since I would be once again frankenpattering and drafting out my own patterns. I’ve never taken any classes or been taught anything for this so its slow going with many mistakes. Giselle is pretty straight forward, I had a pattern for the shirt, the skirt is a skirt, I have made so many of those its easy, (at least I’m hoping it will be.) I am going to make my own pattern for the vest. I thought up the pattern already and I’m thinking it should be easy enough. though I do still have to draft that out. I have finished the shirt already. and am currently working on the skirt. yea to progress!

halloween

I really want to get back to my decade project, but with Halloween approaching I need to work on my costume. can you believe its already the seventh I and I have yet to start on it? I still am not sure what I want to be. I narrowed it down to two things. Giselle from the ballet Giselle, or Charmander from Pokemon . what I really wanted to be was Snow white from Mirror, mirror, but have been unsuccessful in finding my fabric. I think that is why I have been putting off so long getting started; I cant be what I really want to be. I need to decide and soon. I still need to make a trip to the fabric store.

Giselle

Charmander

snow white, whom I really want to be.

sailor dress

here is the sailor dress I made. I finished it a few weeks ago however I wanted to wait till I was at the beach to get pictures of it, because it just looks so much better in character.


the tie is attached at the shoulders. I tried to make it a removable tie but that didn’t work, it bunched up all funny under the collar, so I cut it in half, got the length I wanted and sewed it to the shoulder seams, which worked great. I used a navy button I got from my grandma’s house. which probably dates its back at least forty or more years. I thought it looked cute with it. once I finally made the trip to the fabric store I got all my black bias strip. which was easy enough to sew on. I love tailors chalk it makes my life so much easier when I have to sew things on evenly like stripes. I used an invisible zipper in the side so it wouldn’t have to mess with the collar. the dress went together fairly easily once I figured out how to put the dickey in properly. Please try to ignore my dork faces, it was so incredibly bright, I tried not to squint but alas I failed.

bathing suit

I finished my bathing suit. I wanted something with a bit more coverage then what I was finding in the stores. my solution make my own. I already had the fabric. it was bought several years ago for a project that was scraped nearly as soon as it was thought up. I bought a top off the clearance rack so I could have cups, it was cheaper then buying the ones from the fabric store, plus when I tore it apart, I got some lining and boning which came in handy. the top is completely my design, I looked at a few pictures to get ideas then came up with what I wanted and what was feasible. one thing I really wanted was crisscross straps so they wouldn’t fall off my shoulders, I thought about a halter but then didn’t want to do that either because they hurt my neck. the bottoms were made by tearing apart a mismatched bottom I had, and used to make a pattern for the underneath, then mapping out a skirt to attach on top it. I love the way it turned out. and that it fits me pretty well.

projects

right now I am sipping tea, thinking about how much sewing I have to have done in the next two weeks, I really should be sewing rather then just thinking about it. I am making some progress on my many projects though. I have finished my sailor dress and am satisfied with it. I’m going to wait to take pictures of it though. it won’t fit on my dress form due to the fact it has a side zipper so it I cant get it over her stiff shoulders. I have finished all the ruffles for my petticoat. now I just have to make the skirt part and attach them. my other project is something I have never done. I am attempting to make a bathing suit. I finished the bottom, now I need to work on the top. I will write more on that later, but its actually surprising me how well fabric is cooperating. usually these spandex things just don’t do that. I can only hope the top goes together as well.

ruffler foot success!

okay so I tried to wing it and was having no luck what so ever, I looked it up online found a tutorial on youtube and started watching it. through the whole thing I’m going; I did that! I totally did that. then she said something about making sure the screw was tight enough on the shank. I had thought I had it on tight but since the whole thing just wasn’t working I decided to try that. and it turns out I didn’t have it on as tight as I thought. it was messing the whole thing up. who would have thought that would make such a huge difference but it did! I’m so excited. its so much faster to ruffle things this way. its going to make my petticoat so much less daunting. this was totally worth the eleven bucks I spent on it.

ruffler foot

I bought this ruffler foot in hopes it will make my life easier. I haven’t used it yet and have no idea how. it came with no instructions. I’m going to try it out probably tomorrow. I’m making a petticoat to go over my hoop skirt, all those ruffles seemed so daunting I broke down and bought this. plus it seems half of what I make has to be ruffled. so it made sense to buy it. hopefully I will be able to figure it out. if not.... well I should be able to find instructions online. right?

Red from the pile.

in the no rules sewing department. I had a bunch of scraps in this red fabric left over from making a red riding hood cape last year. the grains were all over the place and pieces were of all shapes and sizes. I didn’t want to just throw out the fabric as some of the pieces were rather large. this is what I I have done so far. it is no where near what I want. I’m going to gather up the train in hopes it will hide the fact there is no real grain line in this. I have no idea if it will work. but hey I’m having fun playing. I did set this aside for a bit to work on my sailor dress. yea for having more then one project going on at once! I’m having a lot of frustration going on with fit on things though. what would really help is a dress form in my size. it close but just not quite there. oh well maybe one day. and you know what I think would be an excellent feature on dress forms is flexible shoulders. I have more trouble with the stiff shoulder things then anything. it makes the dresses hard to put on and off. okay enough complaining. and back to work.....

more sailor dress

yea sleeves! well sort of, they still need the cuff.

sailor dress start

Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted a sailor dress. I dream and wished, but never had. I don’t know why I never thought to make one before but I haven’t. recently I saw a picture of a sailor dress made in gray, I thought oh how cute! then oh I have gray in my stash, so began this new project. I knew I didn’t have a pattern of exactly what I wanted so I went through what I do have choosing what was close to the shape I wanted. in the end I am franken-patterning this out of two patterns and my own devices. the collar is completely mine. I have never put in a collar like this in my life. let alone one that I made up and had to do with no direction. it took me two hours to get the point in without a funny pucker. I knew it could be done though so I kept taking it out till I finally got it the way I wanted. I have unfortunately run out of bias tape, I again just used from my stash and from the start knew I didn’t have enough. I need to purchase more. however the closest place to get it is a forty minute drive. wal mart why did you stop selling it?! oh well I need a zipper too, eventually I will get all of that. I am planning to put a second stripe on the collar, in the mean time however I will sew what I can of the dress. that way when I do get everything I can sew it up right away.

no rules sewing

a pile of fabric from my stash I am going to try to make something out of, I don’t have a clue what. I just felt like starting to make something entirely on my own, no pattern. its been forever since I did that. I used to free hand things all the time. then I learned over the years how your “supposed” to do things. every once in a while though I like to go back to the no rules sewing I used to do and see what I can create.

And meanwhile I am also working on another project, but more on that later.

wrist cuff

I made this little thing, then wondered what will I wear it with? obviously I’m going to have a make an outfit around it right?
I made it out of mostly scraps, and things I already had. I am trying to use up some of the stuff out of my stash. I don’t know why but its really hard for me to get rid of even the small scraps I have left over from previous projects. I need to do more stuff like this. its relaxing and helps me use my stash.

Mirror Mirror costume.

I made this for a five year old. when we went to see the movie she was in love with it and asked if I would make it for her. the most challenging thing about making a costume for a five year old is it has to be one hundred percent machine washable. especially when I know her mother would throw it in the washer and dryer even if it wasn’t. so began the stressing about what to use. cotton obviously for the shirt. some sort of blend for the pants and vest. I used McCall’s pattern # 6530 with some obvious modifications for the shirt and pants. I made the pants legs much wider and changed up the sleeves a bit. the vest I drafted on my own. the leaves I used fabric I had left over from brides maids dresses I made last year. I cut them out then painted them, I didn’t do as many leaves on the vest as it had in the movie. a vest for a five year old is after all quite a bit smaller then one for an adult. I didn’t want to fight with tiny leaves they were already awfully small to work with. the other major change I made is that the vest Velcro's in the front as opposed to lacing. I figured lacing might be a bit complicated for a five year old. the Velcro is quick and easy. so she can put on the vest by herself, without frustrations. when I gave her the costume she was so excited, and wanted to play snow white for the rest of the day.

sisters wedding dress

Last year I made my sisters wedding dress. today is her first anniversary so I thought I would post about the dress. first off she wanted to make a dress inspired by our great grandmothers wedding dress from 1926. it was a simple enough design I told her I would do it for her. so began the journey of finding everything we needed for the dress. I also made the bridesmaids dresses, which were made from the same pattern. this is also the pattern I used to make my 1920’s dress for my decade project. I was quite happy with the way her dress turned out. and she loved it too which is always a good thing when working with a bride. oh and just something really neat my sister wore the neclace our great grandmother wore at her wedding. it was my sisters something old.
a few more pictures under cut. including one of my great grandmothers dress

1970's dress

1970’s dress at first I wasn’t sure I was going to use this dress, but I decided after some research to just use it. what I was having issue with is I used an invisible zipper and I was not sure if that was accurate. even if not everything is authentic I want my zipper to be. but then I was going through my patterns and found one from 1971 that called for an invisible zipper. so yea! I have another dress to add! this dress is probably as authentic as you can get. the fabric is vintage from the 1970’s. I used McCall’s pattern #4535 from 1975. I think it turned out cute. I love dresses from this time.

even the buttons are vintage I was going to use some different ones but then as I was going through my stash I found these and thought they were perfect, so I used them and they are much better then what I had originally chosen.

first day of summer dress.

this is the dress I made to wear for the first day of summer. I just loved the little fairies on the bottom. I used new look pattern #6902 for this one. I’m going to post a few detail shots under a cut.

Alice in Wonderland dress

I made this dress by remaking an old dress that I was getting rid of anyway. it was a one piece I turned into two. the old dress was blue and had a full tired skirt so I thought, hey why not? I had to completely remake the top. and added the sheer overlay, to both the top and skirt. I hand embroidered the bottom, but I feel it could have been so much better had I spent more time on it. I used a template for the embroidery from here http://alice-kingsley.livejournal.com/ the skirt is a bit shorter then I would have liked but since I was working with a pre-made dress I didn’t have a huge amount of choice in length. I made it as long as I could. and not that you can see it at all in the picture but I am wearing a black and white striped petticoat underneath, like what Alice wore in the movie. I love the way the shoes turned out. I found a pair of cream colored shoes on ebay then spiffed them up a bit with decor. which was in itself a process, that included steel wool, a razor blade, black leather dye, black shoe polish, and a bit of black paint for doing touch ups. glue and black rickrack. I made the gloves with a pair of netted socks that I cut down to be gloves and striped in blue marker. which you can’t really tell in the picture. for the most part I like the costume, I just need to take better pictures one day.

not the happiest with my 1860's bodice.

I was talking to my coworker today about my 1860’s dress. she has been into civil war reenacting for years now and I could tell she wanted to give me pointers on the dress but didn’t want to hurt my feelings since I took so long on it.. but really I wasn’t that thrilled with the way the bodice turned out anyway. she told me I probably need to shorten my hoop a bit. which I agree. its a bit too long. she said I should do it from the top so the hoop is higher and fills in the bodice better. that is the part that was bothering me so much is the fact the bodice points flip out. but then I started thinking about another dilemma and that is even if I shorten the hoop I think the bodice itself is too short. I forget sometimes I have a rather long torso. for now I’m not going to do anything but if I get real ambitious I might remake the bodice. I love the sleeves so I don’ t need to redo those. I had some fabric left over and I’m pretty sure without the sleeves is should be plenty. I’m also leaning more to a square back as opposed to the pointed one. I think it would fall nicer. this is something I need to think on for a while before deciding.

a dress for summer.

currently I working on a summer dress that I intended to make last year. I bought the fabric near the end of the summer though so I only got as far as cutting it out before the weather turned cold and I just saw no need for a summer dress then. fast forward to now. its hot again so I dug it out and am about seventy five percent done with the dress. I wasn't intending on lining the entire thing, only the bodice, but then tonight as I was working on it I decided too. I had an unfortunate event with the lining I had originally intended on using. when I pulled out the piece of the dress that had been stored away for ten months they were terribly wrinkled. I set the iron too hot and burnt a whole right in the lining! it was all I had left of that particular kind so I dug around in my stash and yea! I found something I could use. I had a lot of it, so I am lining the whole thing. hopefully it will look alright lined. sometimes these cotton dresses don’t do well when lined. hopefully everything turns out.

parade

the parade yesterday went swimmingly well. I was the last one to get there in the group but I was still there before the stated time so I figure it was alright. I didn’t really know any of the other people there other then my coworker. I had met most of them, last year. but meeting someone for a few minutes doesn’t mean you know them. and even know after being introduced to everyone I have no idea what most of their names are. everyone liked my dress and one of the ladies kept asking me about putting the design on it. she said she wanted to learn how to do it so I explained to her how I had just used a cotten yarn and zigzaged it on by machine. she was suprised how easy it was. it does look daunting. but really the hardest thing about it is the time it takes becasue it does take a long time to go all the way around the dresss.

1860's dress

I finished my 1860’s dress today. a coworker invited me to be in a parade on saturday. she does civil war reenactments. and since I was nearly done with this dress I went ahead and finished it. what better incentive then a place to wear it. I have seen the details on this dress on several differnt dressses and fell in love with it. as time consuming as it was to aplique the details it was actually easier then I thought. I knew I could do it I just had to figure it out. which meant studying pictures of the design till I figured it out. I used cotten yarn and zigzaged it on. I like the way it turned out. which is good considering the hours it took. I do have to admit to getting frustrated on the sleeves I was going to try something slightly differnt on them, but what I wanted proved to be impossible, litteraly . it could not be done without rewriting physics or somthing. so I settled on what I did, and am happy with it.

what decade shall I tackle next? I’m leaning towrds 1960’s as I have the fabric. but at the same time I’m thinking 1940’s. I have some really neat buttons that came from my grandmothers house and I do believe they are from then.

fabric hunting

I failed at finding any fabric for my snow white costume yesterday. I did happen to find some brown fabric, with a very similar print, but not yellow. I guess yellow is not the color right now. needless to say I din't buy anything. I was only able to go to one fabric store, there are a few more to hit. and a new one opening next month. I could look online, but there is just something about touching the fabric I need. I can judge weight, feel, how well it will sew, the way it will drape, and of course get the colors just right. but its not like I have to rush this costume I don't have anywhere in particular to wear it. I was thinking if I can find the fabric maybe Halloween

snow white's dress

I want to make this dress. I have since the first time I saw pictures of it months ago. seeing the movie only made me want it more. so today I am going in search of fabric. I wonder what I will find. and I am going to need petticoats, but I already needed those anyway. good thing I already bought a hoop for my 1860’s dress its one less thing to get. and I already have the pink satin. I’m pretty sure I have enough to make the top, I should pull it out and check. its a tad bit brighter then her top, but I have already done the checking for something not quite as bright, and have determined it does not exist in this area. hopefully I can find something comparable to the yellow.

1860's skirt

finished my 1860's skirt yesterday, the double pleats worked, yea! double pleats equal putting one pleat directly on top of the other so there is more fabric in the front. I also went ahead and did the flat part an inch smaller. it took three tries to get it right. I don’t know how women did it back then. the skirt by itself is rather heavy, then adding all the petticoats and other undergarments. how did they not faint from the heat? now I need to figure out the top.

pleats and such

currently I am frustrated with my 1860’s dress. I have not even started on the bodice , I had to put it off as the pattern was missing a few pieces. but the company sent me a new one so I don't have that excuse anymore. I need to get working on it. while the design on the bottom of the skirt turned out pretty good, I probably could have made it more even but I think it will be alright. I highly doubt anyone is going to be measuring them. the thing though that is frustrating me is the pleats in the front were pulling weird when I put the hoop on, so I pulled them all out and am currently trying to figure out how to make it work the way I want it. the pattern isn’t going to help with this, as I am going for a slightly different look then on the pattern. I was looking at pictures of the dress I am using for inspiration, AKA nearly copying, and realized that that the front pleats appeared to be double pleated. so I am going to try that. because it seems there is not enough fabric in the front of the skirt. I am trying to make it flat in the front. I may need to make the flat part not so wide, but I am going to try the double pleats. if it doesn’t work I will try making the flat part smaller. if that doesn’t work.... well I will try something else.

1920’s dress

I realize the fabric is not historically accurate . in fact I have no idea what it is, as the bolt said made of imported unknown fabric but I thought it looked pretty good anyway. I made this dress about a year ago. I copied my great grandmothers wedding dress for the style, so the pattern is authentic at least. I had to make the arms larger since people then had the tiniest arms ever. they had to have, or else how did they wear the clothes? I had fun figuring this out, and very carefully handling my great grandmothers dress. now all I need is some cute shoes to go with it....

my dad brought me this new sewing machine desk! the cool thing about it is the drawers pull out on either side so they can be on either the right or left. we decided we think its from the 1960’s from the shape and design. and of course vintage has got to be better right? the other thing I like about it is it doesn’t have a support across where my legs go. I was forever hitting my knee on my old desk. and the drawers are way bigger. its always nice to have more room for stuff. the actual table top is smaller but I don’t think that is going to affect my sewing much, as it still has plenty of room. I’m excited and yes right now the desk is really clean but...... I know it won’t look so pristine for long.

1860's dress

sometimes when I start a big project I find myself wondering why in the world did I chose something so complicated. then when it all starts coming together I look at it and think oh yeah that is why! I am currently working on a 1860’s style dress. mauve in color with a back design at the bottom. I am putting the design on myself using a cotton yarn, its turning out really well. I have seen the pattern on several dresses from the period. I wanted something a little more detailed then a plain dress, but I didn’t want to go with the over used calico. I already have a calico dress form the period that a coworker gave me last year. it was one of her old dresses I had to resize it, but I wanted something that I made completely on my own so I am making this one. I finished the design on the bottom. and while no its not completely uniform I think it came out well. I want to finish the skirt this week. its a two piece pattern. then I will start on the bodice. so far for my through the decades project I have 1920’s and 1970’s I need to take some pictures to post. but for now I will do a preview of my 1860’s skirt. my little kitty Cole helping me sew. whenever I sew she thinks she needs to help.