Weekend Projects

Even though I had to train on Saturday and I had to examine and help out with the open house on Sunday, I still managed to make three (count 'em: three) new things this weekend.

First I took this H&M dress I bought in Stockholm, which I adore. 

The problem is the shirring on the bodice: it slips right between bits of flesh that do not need to be highlighted in hot pink with white polka dots. So I cut the top off:

Then I pinned down a casing for belting...

...which I stitched closed...

...then fed a black belt-like thing from another skirt through. Ta-da! Cute new skirt with none of the roll-enhancing qualities of the dress!

The next thing I made was a sandwich wrap, which I took from Sewing Green.  I used the two raincoat fabrics I'd bought last week at Season.

This is the bread I usually make my sandwiches out of, which I needed to use as a template.

I had forgotten to bring in the book into the office to photocopy the pattern, so I winged it a little while cutting the pieces out.

I hemmed up the bits...

...and connected them all, creating a maxi-pad looking thing.

Then I stitched on two bits of velcro...

...and wrapped up a sandwich! Supercute, right?

Of course it matches my lunch tote to a T. The last thing I made this weekend was another project from Sewing Green; a little girls' dress from an old pillowcase. I still had the pillowcase which matches the duvet cover I used to make the flamingo skirt so I thought I'd make a little dress for my darling niece Lorelei. Here are my materials:

First I cut off the top of the pillowcase and cut out the armholes...

...then I found my old stash of leftovers from the flamingo skirt to use as bias tape to bind said armholes...

...which I did.

Next came making the casing for the ribbon ties at the shoulders...

...and then threading the ribbon through. I think working with ribbon is my favourite thing in the world.

Then I sewed the rickrack along the bottom, to keep the flap used to cover the pillow flush against the dress and, voila, a little girl's dress! I love it.

Productive Weekend

Project: make a skirt
Goal: I need a white skirt to match the sweater I made last weekend

So I couldn't wear the sweater I made last weekend last week because it doesn't match any skirts I already have, which was a bit of a surprise since I have a ton of skirts. So I decided to make a white skirt out of the remaining fabric from the sheet I used in previous projects.

I wanted to use one of the patterns in my Burda magazine (to practice with patterns) but I don't have a perforating wheel-cutter so I couldn't. Instead I followed the same basic ideas as the flamingo skirt (this time from memory). I ran into the same problem as last time: the waistband is too big. I just can't figure out how to make it fit better. Luckily I have tons of belts to cinch the skirt up but still.

Also, since the sheet was not the newest of sheets it had some problems (slight staining and some rips) but I think I worked around them alright. I'm particularly proud of the button and zipper, and I did a very careful job on the hem. If only I could get the waistband right I'd be superhappy.

I also decided yesterday morning to turn this purple dress I bought from Kohl's a few years ago into a skirt; the problem I had with the dress was the bodice part never fit right and the dress was quite short. I didn't want the skirt to have the same problems (surprise, surprise, though; it did, in terms of length).

I took the elastic I had used to make the Morsbag and stitched it into a pouch at the top of the skirt. I like the way this turned out, even though, for silhouette- and modesty's-sake I'll have to wear it layered under a longer top. And it was superfast. Plus I elasticized something, so that's another skill I've learned. So here are the two finished pieces:

Not bad for a weekend's work, I don't think.

The Flamingo Skirt

Project: The Flamingo Skirt

Goals: make a skirt from a pattern I found on the internet

After Googling skirt patterns I found this one, which is adorable and amazing and I thought it would be a good match for this duvet cover I got from Ikea.

I cut the pieces as prescribed from the pattern. I don't have a craft table or a yard stick, which did make it a bit more difficult, I think. I also got craaaaaazy body conscious and added a couple centimeters to the waist measurements because I was terrified of making it too small.

Then I zig-zag stitched the ends, which turns out to be one of the more clever things I did; I'm not the straightest cutter so the zig-zagged bits helped me later to line the thing up.

Next I pinned the zipper in. Looking gooooooood. The zipper is one of the things I'm most proud of about the final project.

After I pinned the rest of the back panel, I sewed it all together.

Then I pressed the fabric for the waist band. Here's where my "add a few centimeters" idea didn't pay off... it's way too big but oh well, better too big than too small.

I stitched the band together.

Then I sewed a long stitch in the top of the front and back panels...

... and gathered the fabric along it.

Then I stitched the top and bottom panels together. It's starting to look like a skirt! At this stage I was terrified that the gathers would come loose.

I turned the skirt inside out and pinned the band to the top...

...and stitched it in.

Then I folded the band over and stitched it from the inside.

I added a button to close the band and voila it's finished!

As mentioned above it's a bit big so I'm going to fold and stitch the band to take some length off of it, then split the side seams to reclose them. I also think at this point I'll add pockets to it, because then it would be perfect.