An epic train.

a friend of mine got married recently, I helped her out some with the dress.
we live several hundred miles away from each other so I actually had no idea I was going to be helping her with the dress till we arrived a few days before the wedding.
she was making her own dress and I knew she had been struggling with getting everything done before the wedding,(there is just so much to do before a wedding, a lot that has nothing to do with the dress) but she had a back up dress and said she would be fine with wearing it if she couldn't finish the one she was making. but really it was not what she wanted.
she had come up with a design that really was very practical, a slim fitting under dress that could be worn under a removable skirt with a 12 foot train. practical because a train that long is really only good for the ceremony and pictures. it would have been a nightmare at the reception with everyone stepping all over it and a nightmare to bustle because that is lot of fabric!.
when we got there she was making good progress on the under dress. it was mostly done, but she was having trouble figuring out how to put the lacing in the back. Her cousin was coming over to help with that. they talked back and forth about how to do the lacing, and I kind of jumped in the conversation with a few ideas. then basically volunteered to put the lacing in, because I have done that before. it went together very nicely, I sewed silk cord to a strip of cotton, curving the cord back and forth where needed to make the loops, then installed the strip of lacing loops into the back of the dress.
meanwhile, while I was doing this, my friend, her cousin, her mother and my sister were cutting out the train. yes it took 4 people to even cut the train out! and it took up the entire living room!


the next morning I woke up early, added a waistband and hemmed the train.
the train wasn’t exact, exactly what she wanted but it was as close as we could get in such a short amount of time and it was pretty close.

and I just want to say she picked some of the most beautiful fabric to work with. the under dress was a beautiful silk, that was a dream to work with. it didn’t fray and it didn’t slide all over the place and was not full of static. it just did what it was supposed to do, sewing up beautifully. the over skirt train, was a polished cotton that was also a very nice quality. there is just something so satisfying about working with high quality fabric.



the wedding itself was absolutely gorgeous, she did a nice job planning exactly how she wanted the ceremony to go, that honored both her family traditions and her new husbands. the dress of course was quite a statement, and she looked just like a princess in all that white, with her bridesmaids walking in behind her guiding the train.

my sister was one of the bridesmaids and I made the lace top she wore over her gown. I need to make her wear it again so I can get some good photos of it and make a post about it.
I wanted to make myself a dress to wear to the wedding but I ended up buying one, because work was insane the two months before the wedding and I just couldn’t find the time. I did pick me out some fabric and a pattern though so that will be a project for another time.

the reception was also very nice with good food and fun dancing that went on well into the night. the bride was beautiful in her slim fitting white silk dress with a corset back.

we didn’t know if we could all get the dress done in time but in the end with a group effort, it all worked out beautifully.

photos by:lizzardtears. (me)


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Teddy bears!

several years ago I had copied a pattern from a magazine because it was just so cute! I made two of them for cousins. but had never gotten around to making one for myself. back in the fall I decided it was time to make one for myself. I had acquired a small scrap of a soft cream minky faux fur. the fabric was so soft and cuddly I had to make something. it wasn’t really enough to do much with but there was enough to make this bear.

and can I just say that this fabric was a nightmare to work with. it slides every which way no matter how you pin it and it sheds like crazy so the entire time I was working with it I breathing in and eating fuzz. I hate working with furry fabric and always have. but it had been a while since I had worked with it so I thought I reinforce that dislike by making something adorable.
and it did turn out adorable. I very pleased with the finished product and put in out so it could been seen whenever I went into the room.

now skip ahead a week or so and my niece came over. she saw the bear and about freaked out because it was so cute. she wanted one and begged me to make her one. to which I told her I had no more of that fabric. which was true, so she told me it was okay she would like it in any type of fabric. I told her maybe for her birthday and left it at that because really I didn’t want to make anymore bears.

but being the sucker I am for my niece about a month before her birthday I went ahead and looked through my stash, I was pretty sure I had some brown faux fur and I was right. and so began the process of once again eating fur as I sewed. I am thinking if I ever make another of these I may want to wear a mask, it can not be healthy to breath in the fur.
the brown fur at least was not minky, it sewed up a lot easier as it was more stable. I had it done in plenty of time to give it to her for her birthday and she was ecstatic. she loved it. its such a great thing to give someone something that I made and have them love it!

something I did different then the pattern called for is they they wanted me to buy a special piece to make the arms and legs move but I just did it the old fashioned way of sewing a button on the inside of the arm or leg and another to the inside of the body so they sewn together effectively making a joint that moves. I figure several loops of thread should hold together just as well as a plastic piece, and its not as if either of us are going to be rough on the bears so the arms and legs should stay together just fine.

such naughty bears! breaking into a bee hive!



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Ice cream Jammies!!!!

this is one of those projects that has been sitting in my stash harassing me for years.
I bought this fabric, pattern and the buttons together years ago with the intention of making these pajamas but one thing or another would always get in the way. so it sat there and laughed at me.

I
finally decided to just go for it! sew the PJ’s and enjoy them this winter.
I used McCall's pattern #6249. I have made the pants out of this pattern a few times and knew that they would go together pretty quickly which they did. the top though I knew would take longer and it did. in fact it took a lot longer then I thought it would because the pattern directions were wonky.


the top was going together perfectly fine till I got to the collar then everything started to go wrong. I had carefully marked all the circles and triangles as indicated on the pattern pieces then carefully aligned them as instructed, sewed everything together and took a look... it was bad. the top part of collar points were lined up to the bottom part of the collar so there was no V, it was just a straight line that refused to lie down properly. I knew it was wrong so I tore it off, or rather I carefully picked out the stitching, then took a wild guess as too how much I should back the collar off, and of course came up with the wrong measurement. the top collar now stuck out too far and looked weird. so again I tore it out, this time I pinned it in, checked it then pinned it in again I forget how many times I did this but finally I got it so it looked right and went with it. this time when I sewed it I was happy with it.

I just love my hair in this picture. it looks pretty cool swishing in the sunshine. but I think next time I get the big idea to go barefoot in winter I need to remember this day and put some shoes on! the ground was freezing!


the rest of the pattern seemed to go together just fine. and after fighting with the collar was happy with how the final project turned out. now I have some super cute jammies. another part of the directions I completely ignored was how to put in the sleeves. I had decided to do it differently then the directions from the moment I read them. they said to sew up the side seams first, then add the sleeves. but I find it you attach the sleeves first then sew up the side seams it easier because you are sewing on a flat seam rather then around a circle. circles I find tend to fight against the machine. so why do it the hard way when its so much easier to do it the easy way.
I think maybe I would make these again but I need to remember pin the collar in first so I there is less tearing out and less frustration and more love for the garment.

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Belle costume

Happy Halloween!

this year for Halloween I was Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. the costume is based from the live action movie with Emma Watson. I absolutely adored the blue outfit in the movie, thus decided last year to make it.
yes I made this last year to wear last Halloween but due to unforeseen events I was unable to wear it. those unforeseen events happened to be a car breaking down. I needed new breaks and while I thought this was not going to be a big deal it turned out it was a big deal. the part that holds the breaks on literally fell apart while being changed and new parts had to be ordered so what was supposed to be a quick job turned into a three day job and I was left with no car for my Halloween weekend plans and ended up staying home.
so I did what any one who had spent hours upon hours sewing a costume I I saved it for this year. Yea!



unfortunately being made last year I cannot remember what patterns I used. I should have written it down but I didn’t. I actually only used a pattern for the skirt. and the back of the vest. I drafted the front of the vest on my own. the apron I didn’t bother with a pattern as its just a rectangle gathered onto a strip of cloth with the edges all hemmed.
the pocket was pretty fun to make. its a dish cloth that I made the slit in the front by sewing the edges together about 1 1/2” in leaving an opening for my hand, I then clipped the edges and turned them to the outside and hemmed around the opening. I then centered the opening and sewed up the ends then added that to a waist tie like a apron has.



the scarf was again just a rectangle I sewed the edges around.
the shirt I didn’t make I had it already and incorporated it in.
I also made a necklace that is Okay but nothing to brag about.
the shoes are just some shoes I had as are the socks.
I thought it came together rather well and am definitely happy with the end results.

attic window quilt

I saw this quilt pattern for attic window in a better homes and garden patchwork & quilting book from 1977.
I saw it and I loved it. so I kept the book to save for when I could make the quilt. move ahead a few years and a friend was given a huge amount of quilting fabric from a fellow seamstress that was moving. in that stash there was quite a few batilk’s which my friend does not like so she let me have some.
I was really excited about the black with polka dots because it was perfect for the centers of the windows.
I went through my stash and found that if I tried really hard, and pieced just a few of the pieces together I had enough to make a lap quilt, which turned out to be perfect because I also had that size batting just sitting there wanting to be used.
in the book they show this quilt as a small wall quilt in a frame which looks really cute but I wanted a useable quilt, so I had to refigure for the bigger quilt, which was not hard. the piecing together was not hard at all. the only thing I wish I had done differently is made the top and side also have the points on them. but the pattern itself didn’t have the red and yellow at the top and one side. but to finish it off I wanted the colors all around. I still like the way it turned out though it looks really cool.

for the back I didn’t have one piece large enough so I pieced the back using the some fabrics I had.
so all in all I used just pieces of fabric I had left over lying around and the pieces given to me. even the batting was a left over piece. so all in all I made this from my stash. which is a good thing because I really need to use what I already have rather than buying new.


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yetti! plus another blog

just a quick little post.

last year I made all the little ornaments from simplicity 8035 except the yeti because I didn't have any fur. I didn't want to buy fur just for a tiny little ornament, so I waited till I had a bit of scrap before putting together this cute little guy. it was super easy to do. and now I have the whole set!

also I started a side blog about cooking! I'm not like this wonderful cook or anything but I am working through an alphabet cookbook that has a recipe for every letter in the alphabet. it ought to be fun!
my side blog lizzardtears cooks

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falling hearts shirt

I came across this multi color heart fabric at a second hand shop. I very rarely bother looking for fabric at such places unless I want something for a quilt, as the pieces tend to be no more then scraps, but I was there so I thought I would give it a look see, and found this fabric. its a very soft knit, which I knew would make a comfortable shirt, and the print reminds me of ,and probably is something from the 1980’s.

it was about 1 1/2 yards of fabric, but 60” wide so the possibility of it being enough for a shirt were high enough I spent my $1 on it.
I had in mind immediately what I wanted to make, and was pretty sure I had a pattern to work with.
I wanted to make something that kept the idea of the 1980’s but not quite all the way 1980’s. so I used a... 1940’s reprint!
yeah, I know that doesn’t exactly make sense but I knew the pattern had the basic shape I wanted. I used simplicity 1692. a pattern I have used before when I made my Bamboo shirt.
I cut out view C extending the length by 1 1/4” and the sleeves by 1”. I only used the two pieces then made my own bands for the sleeves, bottom and neck line. I also extended the neck line a little so I wouldn’t have to add the buttons to get it over my head.

I cut it out one size bigger then my size so it wouldn’t be so fitted and didn’t add the pleats the original pattern calls for.
this shirt is really comfortable and I think it turned out really cute. definitely something I can wear for everyday wear.



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