I sew, too, ya know

 

I finally did it! I started sewing slowly [again] by doing some mending here and there. I even took my sewing machine out on the balcony. My inspiration for this was from a Threadbanger friend, Addie. I frequent the the forums there. Anyhoo, she blogged about sewing on her porch and she makes the most beautiful dresses, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. After doing some mending for a few days, I got the courage and energy to attempt a dress. A full fledged dress.

I'm always collecting fabric, but when I saw this one, I knew it had to be a summer dress. My 6 year old saw the finished product hanging up and said to me, “Mommy, I like this dress. It looks like a bunch of PacMans eating each other”. My facebook and Threadbanger friends liked that.

I used the top of one dress and the bottom of another dress as my pattern. One of the biggest problems (and I knew this going in but didn't care or assumed I'd deal with it later) was that the fabric was not jersey knit; it wasn't stretchable at all. So, the finished product:

Since I had forgotten to compensate for the length of sash in the back, I ended up with the back not being long enough to reach the shirt part. I improvised by sewing a triangle on each side in the back. Each piece gradually bringing the shirt piece to the skirt piece.

Its not really noticeable as a “mistake”. In fact I see it as OOAK (one of a kind).

My husband’s mother took the kids last week for a couple days. No need to be envious at all; she does this maybe twice a year and we have to beg her. Since I didn’t want to spend the whole time cleaning, doing appointments, and running errands, I allowed myself to work on another sewing task. This one: a shirt.

I spent forever [hand] sewing on this cute little circle accent on the hip.

And since I chose this easy to work with non stretchy fabric, I got to try my hand at shirring for the first time. Threadbanger had an episode teaching us how to do it, and it was just as easy as it looked.

Closer look at the shirring.

I think I need to add some elastic to the top hem, above the shirring. I also need to make the straps shorter. Notice the shirt is not modeled on me? It was rather low-cut and having way too long of straps made it practically obscene.

On another note, I am participating in a crafting gift exchange. It’ll be my first ever, and I’m excited! It looks like I’ll be sending something to a stay at home mom with two kids, married 7 years and has a cat. Just like me! Cool! Wish me luck!