Sakura Top & Beach Bags

A had little bit of rayon fabric leftover from my Simplicity 7500 dress and realized that it was just the right size for a pillow case tunic. I used the dimensions for a pillow case top using the tutorial from the blog A Beautiful Mess. I added red straps using some red jersey fabric I had lying around. Unfortunately, my photographer was too busy to take a picture of me wearing it so Yukari (my dummy) will model it for me.


 I was really pleased with how easy this top came together. I think its because I used my serger for most of the seams. No need to worry about fraying like the first time I used this fabric.


 And because pillow case tops are very shapeless, which isn't very flattering on me. I decided that I needed some type of sash or belt for it. I remembered admiring some American Apparel scarves (see below) that can also double as a sash.

So I made one myself using the same jersey fabric that was I used for my straps. My scarf ended up a little bit skinnier than the American Apparel versions, but I still like it. Reminds me of the "spring" scarves that I used to see people wear.

I am so in love with it and how easy it was to make. I didn't use any pattern or tutorial. Just cut out two 6" x 2 yard lengths of jersey or any super stretchy material. Pin fabric pieces right sides together and serge (1/2 inch seam) all the way around leaving room at one end to turn the fabric right side out. Sew your opening closed, iron if you want to and sit back and admire your work. I might even make a tutorial with pictures if anyone is interested. I'm planning on making more scarves using some leftover knit fabric.


 

I was also in a bag making mood after I was finished with my top so I made myself a canvas beach bag using some IKEA fabric that my baby brother picked up for me two years ago. I used the tutorial from Elle Apparel. I love how the bag turned out. The bag has lots of room and the picture below has two towels and lots of swim suits. I might make some small bags to hold mine and Buni's swimsuits and maybe a bag for dirty clothes.

You can't really tell since the fabric is so busy, but I sewed my first pocket and even added a little bit something if you look closely. Do you see it?


 How about now? A little Apple-Buni tag. Back to some more sewing. Happy weekend everyone.

Crayon Roll

I've been wanting to make one of these crayon rolls ever since I first saw them on the web 2 years ago. Now that my daughter Buni is really into drawing I thought this would be perfect thing to make for her so she can color when we are out and about.
The web is chock full of tutorials on how to make crayon rolls. Just GOOGLE crayon roll tutorials and whole bunch of tutorials will pop up. I got the idea to make mine from reading a tutorial on how to make a purse organizer. My crayon roll is 12 inches wide by 5 inches tall and holds twelve crayons. The fabric I used are two fat quarters I got on sale at Joanns. The acorn fabric is an old Michael Miller design.

Front View

I didn't take a picture of it, but the top half of the crayon roll folds down to cover the crayons and keep them from falling out.

Back View

If you have questions on how I made this than leave me a comment. Happy sewing.

Stitch Diaries & Sewing Feet

During my hiatus I celebrated my birthday by purchasing some (Distinctive brand) sewing feet from Amazon.




As soon as I got my sewing feet I started to try them out and realized that I needed a way to document the settings that I used on my sewing machine since each foot requires different settings. I also thought it would be useful to have something visual regarding what type of stitching each foot did. Thus my stitch diary was born. My mom told me that they made a similar stitch diary back in High School when she still lived in the Philippines except all the stitches were hand stitched.I initially purchased a SMASH book like the one pictured to act as a mini scrap book, but realized that it is also the perfect size for a stitch diary.

As you can see I sewed on scrap fabric using the various sewing feet I purchased, taped them to my SMASH book with some washi tape and recorded the settings I used.



The edge joining foot on bottom left was a personal favorite. I also loved the ruffler, but have yet to try it on a real project. The narrow hem foot on the top left wasn't my favorite since it took forever to figure out how to use it properly and even then the results weren't very good.




Do you see the button and button hole on the right? That was the first time I sewed a button and buttonhole. So easy after I read the instructions for the one step button hole for my sewing machine. I can't believe I was so afraid to use it. Now I need to find the perfect project to use it on.



The side cutter overlock foot on the left was kind of like having a serger foot for your sewing machine. The side cutter overlock foot cut and overlocked at the same time. Also the picot foot was very similar to the overcast foot so I wasn't too impressed with. Still trying to get my head around all the different kinds of feet. I still have to try my bias tape foot and my pintuck foot. Hopefully I'll be adding more entries into my stitch diary real soon.

If you are interested in the sewing feet I used than do a search for "Distinctive Sewing Feet" on Amazon. The prices are very reasonable. The home decorator kit and the kit with various hemming feet were $50 each. The feet are for low shank sewing machine that can snap on and off. The feet worked for my Brother sewing machine so double check before you purchase it. Happy sewing.

School Bags and Such

Sorry for my absence. I've been busy, busy, busy with lots of birthdays, first day of schools and being just plain lazy. Luckily I've been sewing for most of my absence with most of my sewing being centered around making things for my little three year old: Buni.

The fabric is called Momotaro and it came from Kawaii Fabric on Etsy. I used red cotton for the lining and black cotton webbing for the straps. You can also see my sad attempt at making labels using twill tape, fabric stamp pad and stamps.



Buni just started pre-school in March and I decided several weeks later that she needed a school bag to bring all her school things: clothes, snacks, art work, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't really measure her while I made the first bag so it ended up too long in both the straps and the bag itself. Lets just say she wears the straps around her neck instead of on her arms. The bag fits me perfectly, but I was thinking about Buni when I was making it. Seriously I was!

The second version of her school bag was smaller and zippered, but ended up too small to fit anything school related. Luckily it fits her Leap Pad perfectly, but I still had to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to make a bag she can use.



Zippered tote bag version with red polyester webbing for straps. The picture doesn't do a good job of showing my lining, but it's brown pre-quilted fabric from my mom's fabric stash. Don't recommend using pre-quilted fabric for a lining as its really bulky.



Another Apple-Buni tag that I made.



The third version of her bag fit her perfectly. Thank gawd. This will teach me to measure her first before making any future bags. Fabric was a Japanese cotton from Kawaii Fabric and the straps were brown cotton webbing from Joanns.



Here's a glimpse of all three bags from Buni's Spring pre-school bag collection. I'm sure I'll be making more bags this coming fall semester.



Another little project I had finished recently for her was a pillow case cover for a small pillow that I bought from Joann's over a year ago. Yeah I know. I am a major procrastinator. I am trying harder to not let projects sit there. I kind of winged it when I made the pillow case cover. Measuring the length, width and adding an inch to each measurement. Than I decided that the pattern was too busy so I added a solid color panel and some ric rac. I'm just glad that in the end that the pillowcase fit. Floral fabric and red fabric were both from Fabric Mart and vintage jumbo white ric rac was from eBay.

Stay tuned for more past projects and hopefully some present projects.

Peacock Taffy

Does this fabric look familiar? Of course it is. It is the last bit of Peacock print Rayon Challis that I used on my Juliet dress. I made my first Taffy blouse from those dress remnants. I was lucky to have a lot left over since the blouse was cut on a bias and required some creative positioning, but I managed to fit everything in. I can't wait to wear this top to a birthday party tomorrow.

Back View

Pattern Review (The Pros): The pattern only consisted of three pieces and was very easy to put together. Plus the instructions in the book were easy to follow and had great drawings. I was a bit apprehensive with this pattern because it was the first time I cut pattern pieces on the bias and the first time I sewed the sleeves on first before sewing the side seams. That technique worked perfectly and I'm wondering if you can do the same technique on regular sleeves. Hmmm..

Source

The Cons: I did not have any major cons with this pattern. Can you believe? My only gripe is that it was bit difficult discerning the pattern lines when you try to cut it out.

Did it come out like the pattern picture? Yes, it did.

Do you need to make adjustments? Not really. I cut out a size 10 and used some pre made black bias tape because I ran out of fabric to make my own bias tape. Although, I do want to try that out next time. I also used single fold bias tape on the hem instead of folding it over.

Pattern Level: An experienced beginner can breeze through this, but a novice can also work with this pattern.

What could I have done better? I think I will make the sleeves a little longer next time and probably move the ties closer to my bust line. Also I want to make sure I have all the bias tape I need since I wasted a lot of time looking for the right color, size, type of bias tape to use for the shirt. Be warned you will need at least two and half packages of store bought bias tape if you don't want to make your own.

Would you sew this pattern again? Yes. I would love to make a version that
is tunic length or maybe dress length.
Pattern: Taffy blouse from the Colette Patterns book.

Fabric: Rayon challis from Fabric Mart.

Techniques: Cutting fabric pieces on that bias, bias tape and french seams.

Sewing Room Redux 3

Do you remember when I talked about how I installed cabinets in my second floor room over the garage because I was going to use it as my sewing room? Well, I changed plans during the winter and moved my fabric stash and everything else to our spare room on the third floor because I was tired of having to go from one room to another to gather all my items for sewing. Anyways, after my relocation I decided a month later that it would not work and relocated again to the first floor. All because of this thing.

Yes that is a library card catalog you are looking at. One of those coveted items that one can only wish to find. I was lucky enough to win this one at an online government auction for a steal.

As you can see I replaced the labels with some of my own. The green labels indicate craft type supplies while the hot pink (looks red in the picture) labels store my sewing supplies. Thankfully I only managed to fill up half of this thing. The card catalog is so heavy (despite removing all the drawers) that I was only able to move it to the first floor. My little study is now my new sewing/craft room.

I replaced the books in my bookshelves with my craft and sewing supplies. Reams of scrapbook paper, my cricut, sizzix, boxes of trim and tons of stickers are stored here. Mister is not very happy with this arrangement because he says it looks messy. Guess I can't please everyone. I do plan on cleaning this area up in anticipation of my daughters birthday, but for now I've been sewing up a storm ever since my new move.

For now here is my current work in progress: my first taffy blouse from the Colette sewing book.

All I need to do is hem the bottom and finish adding some bias tape to the sleeves. I am prepared to cut out and start some more of these this weekend. Stay tuned for my review. Lastly is a picture of another sewing project that I completed last weekend.



I got tired of looking at my plain notebooks that I use at work so I used up some of my scrap fabric and covered them. I even added a lopsided pocket to hold a pen. I will have to raid my scrap stash to make one more cover for my third notebook. Felt like I had to do something to brighten my day at work. Have a great weekend everyone.

Juliet in Peacock

I finally got myself together and decided to finish the Babydoll dress (McCalls 4762) that I had cut out last October. I blogged about the first version here.

I called my first version of this dress my Marcia Brady dress and absolutely loved it. My follow up dress is called Juliet in Peacock and its made from another rayon challis with a peacock feather type pattern that I purchased from Fabric Mart last year. Here it is.

Again the construction was very straight forward and easy. The changes I made this time around was to remove the 1/2 inch that I added to the bodice side seams and 1/2 inch from the skirt side seams. I kept the 1/2 inch that I added to the side seams of the sleeves. These changes resulted in a better fitting dress bodice.

I also added black piping to outline the bodice since I didn't want the shape of the dress to get lost in the pattern like it did in my first dress. I finished the sleeves and hem in black double fold bias tape. I love the contrast and the flow of the dress. This dress really reminds me of the dress that Juliet wore in the Romeo and Juliet movie. The one from the 70s not the Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes version.

The dress fabric flows beautifully and I love wearing it. I actually wore this for two days straight. Last night for its debut at Misters cousin's birthday and today at work. I even received a compliment from my supervisor about it.

I love the fabric so much that I used what remained to make a Taffy blouse from the Colette Pattern book I talked about here. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on that.

Vintage McCalls 4762 Baby Doll dress Pattern from 1976 aka the Marcia Brady Dress

Marcia! Marcia! Marcia! Finally finished the baby doll dress that I think Marcia Brady would have love. As I previously mentioned I was working on this floral baby doll dress using my vintage McCalls 4762 dress pattern from 1976. I will be the first to admit that I am a fan of fashion from the 60s and 70s. I was a big fan of the 60s and 70s fashion revival that happened in the early to mid 90s. Baby doll dresses, mod styled dresses, velvet leggings, long vests, palazzo pants and bell bottoms. Okay I didn’t really wear the bell bottoms, but I did wear my dad’s Navy issued dungaree pants which were pretty retro to me. I was pretty styling during my high school years. I still have a love for that era, which is probably why I was drawn to this pattern. Very Marsha Brady. I see a whole slew of these dresses made from various fabrics for my Fall wardrobe. For now I finished my first version using Rayon Challis from Fabric Mart.

Pattern Review (The Pros): The pattern was very easy to follow and came together rather quickly. Does this mean my sewing skills are getting better? The dress would have probably been finished earlier if I hadn’t insisted on using French seams to finish the seams for most of the dress. I love how finished the dress looks from the inside.

Back View

The Cons: My only gripe about the pattern as it is for all dress patterns from the 70s is the ease they add into the design. I added ½ inch to the side seams for the bodice and sleeves because this was a size 14, but left the skirt portion alone. I found out that I really didn’t need the half inch for the bodice, but should have taken out at least ½-1 inch from the side seams for the skirt portion. The gathering was so big that it made me look pregnant. I had to sew on a sash to get a more fitted and flattering look.

Gratuitous Picture with Buni

Did it come out like the pattern picture? Yes, except I added a sash, which you could hardly see and lace trim around the neckline and sleeve edge.

Do you need to make adjustments? Yes, because I thought that a size 14 might be too fitted for me. I added ½ inch to the side seams for both bodice pieces. Turns out I didn’t need to add it and would have fit the size 14 just fine. Also because the bodice was so loose I didn’t need to add the zipper and could easily slipped the dress over my head. Had to add a sash to give me some shape because the skirt was too gathered to look flattering on me. I will need to keep these changes in mind for the next version of the dress.

Sad attempt at getting the two kids to pose with me.

Pattern Level: Experienced beginner since you will be doing a sleeve and zipper insertion.

What could I have done better? I should have trusted my gut and not added the ½ inch to the side seams although I felt that the ½ inch to the side seams of the sleeve portion made it a perfect fit for me. Also think I should have used a solid colored fabric for my sash since the busy print makes it blend into the dress.

Would you sew this pattern again? Already in the middle of making version number 2 with the changes I noted from making this dress.

Pattern: McCalls 4762 circa 1976 purchased from Retribution Vintage on Etsy.

Fabric: Rayon challis from Fabric Mart.

Techniques: Sleeve insertion, gathering, French seams and invisible zipper.

New Look 6981 Pleated Skirt

Egads! I'm using a modern pattern. A big change for me since as of recently I've been sewing using vintage patterns. I really don't have anything against modern patterns. For some reason I have had very bad experiences regarding fit when it comes to modern patterns. I follow the recommendations for sizing on the pattern and I still get a bad fit. Especially when it comes to skirts. I think its because I have a two size difference between my hips and my waist so it makes fitting really difficult. Especially when it comes to dresses and skirts that have waistbands. Of course I finished my skirt way before I saw this post on the Selfish Seamstress's blog regarding full waist adjustments. Just might try that on my next version of this skirt. Onward to the review.

Pattern Review (The Pros): The pattern was very easy and only required four pattern pieces: a waistband (front and back pieces) and a skirt (front and back pieces). This was also my first time putting in a side zipper (required for the pattern), but it was pretty easy to do. I decided to put the side zipper in using the prickstitched lapped zipper tutorial from A Fashionable Stitch's blog. A bit time consuming, but the end product looks great.

The Cons: I didn't really have any gripes about the pattern, but it lacked any instructions on fitting a waistband that was two sizes bigger than the skirt piece. *Being sarcastic* Because every person on earth conforms to the standard measurement that are used to make patterns so they don't need to add instructions like that.


Did it come out like the pattern picture? Yes, except I added some black pipping.

Do you need to make adjustments? Yes. According to the pattern my hip measurement place me between a size 14 and 16, but the waist measurement placed me closer to a size 18. Not wanting to have a huge unflattering skirt that looked it would swallow me up. I made a size 14 skirt with a size 16 waistband. Sadly this would not fit on my waist comfortably (I blame motherhood for my waist line), but the skirt width was perfect for me. I ended up having to recut the waistband as a size 18 and readjusted the width of the pleats to fit on the new waistband. In the future I might cut a size 16 waistband and do a full waist adjustment as detailed on the Selfish Seamstress's blog.

Pattern Level: Beginner to intermediate. A beginner might have problems when it comes to hemming the skirt. Pleated skirts are notoriously hard to alter. At least for me. I suggest making sure the length is where you want it before you cut out the skirt, because its harder to make sure its even once its attached to the waistband.

What could I have done better? Other than doing a full waist adjustment on the waistband I would do a better job sewing my piping. You can see where I sewed too close to the piping. I would also choose a heavier fabric because the quilting cotton seems to lightweight and tends to puff out.

Would you sew this pattern again? Yes, I really like pleated skirts so I am determined to make this skirt pattern work for me.

Pattern: New Look 6981 purchased from Joann.

Fabric: Quilting cotton from Joann.

Techniques: Prickstitched lapped zipper, piping, pleats and bias tape.

Vintage Simplicity 7500 Bonus Basic Pattern from 1967

Back in February I purchased Simplicity 7500 pattern circa 1967, which is a bonus basic pattern composed of a bodice, optional long/short sleeves and a-line/straight skirt. I was hoping to use this pattern as a sloper for myself after a few adjustments here and there. Of course in my world nothing really goes the way I want it. Of course it’s not the patterns fault. I’ve mentioned this time and time again how my choice in fabric always comes back to bite me in the arse! Fabric Mart was having a 75% Sale on their stretch rayon a few months back so I purchased several yards. The prints were lovely and for $2.50/yard I was sold! Of course when Mom took a look at them she shook her head and stated that although the fabric and print looked nice that I would still have a hard time sewing it. Of course Mom never explained why, but shook her head at me as her way of saying “you’ll see!” First, I am not a mind reader and second I love a challenge. Especially if that challenge is to prove my mom wrong and to wow her with my sewing skills. I think you may already guess where this is going. Read below to find out more.

Front View

Pattern Review (The Pros): The pattern wasn’t complicated and consisted of a bodice that zipped down the center back, skirt and optional sleeves. I liked how the pattern was designed with lots of options where you can mix and match the pieces.

Back View

The Cons: Be warned that you will be sewing darts in your sleep after your done sewing this dress because this pattern requires twelve of them. The bodice itself contains eight darts. This was a pain for me since IMHO marking darts is the second most tedious sewing task second to sewing them. Especially if you are marking darts on fabric that doesn’t take well to chalk or disappearing ink. I guess having twelve darts can be a pro too since you have many places where you can adjust the patter to fit you.

Another gripe about the pattern is that the pattern has almost no ease to it. I’ve sewed several vintage patterns from the 60s and 70s and found that size 16 patterns and some size 14 patterns had a lot of ease added to them. Since the pattern was identified as a basic pattern I assumed that it had the same design ease added to it. I’ve read before that slopers are designed to be skin tight and that you are suppose to add wearing ease and seam allowance to them to make it wearable. I wasn’t expecting to do that with a basic pattern, but perhaps I should. Another assumption gone wrong. So if you are using this pattern than I suggest making a muslin (i.e. mock up) and start by adding a ½ inch to the side seams.

Side View

Did it come out like the pattern picture? Yes, with exception that my front bodice darts don’t line up exactly with my front skirt darts. I must have sewn my front darts a little bit too big, but you can’t tell with print. At least the back bodice and skirt darts match up.

Do you need to make adjustments? Yes, because the pattern was tight on me I had to sew my side seams at ½ inch instead of the recommended 5/8. I shortened the skirt and ended up making it a mini skirt instead of the intended knee length skirt. After wearing it the other day I feel that the dress is a bit tight around the midsection and tad short.

Pattern Level: Beginner to intermediate. I’ve previously warned that there are lots of darts to sew so you really need to be precise. Especially when you are trying to line up your bodice and skirt darts, which might be tough for a beginner.

What could I have done better? Not use the stretch rayon fabric. Okay it’s really not the fabrics fault. I wasn’t prepared with all the fraying and shedding the rayon fabric did while I was trying to sew it. I spent two days trying to sew the fabric pieces together because it frayed, moved around and then frayed some more. I mean I pinned the fabric together-it frayed, I ironed the fabric-it frayed, I sewed the fabric together-it frayed, I looked at the fabric and it frayed. I was so frustrated that I wanted to cry. I let the dress sit there for three weeks because I dreaded sewing the hem because of all the fraying. I didn’t want to mess it up so in the end I begged my mom to hem it. Boo hoo! The experienced novice ran to her mommy crying and begged her to finish the dress! Later on I found out that you can apply this liquid called “Fray Block” to the fabric to stop it from fraying. Too little too late there!

Would you sew this pattern again? I will definitely try again with lots of adjustments because the basic pattern looks very versatile and I would love to make other pieces of clothing using the pattern. Also since I am a glutton for punishment I might use another stretch rayon fabric, but with fabric block applied to prevent fraying.

Pattern: Simplicity 7500 circa 1967 purchased from Dawns Divine Finds on Etsy.

Fabric: Stretch rayon from Fabric Mart.

Techniques: Darts and invisible zipper.