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.

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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.

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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.



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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?

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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.....

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more sailor dress

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

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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.

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