Friday, December 23, 2011

white ruffle skirt



I had a bunch of this white fabric and so I wanted to test out this skirt pattern. It is the nie nie skirt from pink fig. The pattern still calls for 2 more layers of ruffles but I like the length of this one on her. The fabric is a little thicker than the normal cotton quilting fabric so this skirt is extra puffy and quite heavy with just the four layers. I have been doing all the ruffles on her clothes the old fashion way with a basting stitch and pulling the threads. It is soooo time consuming. I enjoy doing it, it is almost therapeutic pull gather, pull gather, pull gather. I feel like I go in a trace;) But because it is so time consuming and I'll be making skirts with ruffles for my Etsy shop I bought a ruffler foot for my sewing machine! I played around with it all day yesterday trying to figure out the learning curve for it. There are so many factors that you can change to make more or less gathers or pleats. It is really a cool little foot and I know it is going to save me a ton of time and actually be more precise on the gathering placements. I whipped up another nie nie skirt in black and it took at least half of the time or maybe even less from when I did it all hand gathering on the white skirt.

Last month I got a new machine! I have had my viking designer for about 9 years and my daughter broke the embroidery part on it a couple years ago. I thought about just getting it fixed but it is a floppy disk and I would also have to upgrade it to a USB and so I decided it was also just time for a new machine. I went with another viking, The Ruby and I love her!!! It is so nice to have my embroidery part back. Everything from my old viking I can use on my new one so all the feet and hoops I've collected over the years is not a waste. I am keeping my designer as a backup and if I get really busy I can use it while my other machine is embroidering. It has been so fun! The shirt she is wearing is an embroidered applique rudolph and then her name. So stinkin' cute!

I am hoping to have my Etsy shop up and open in the next week or 2. It is called She Sew Sassy. It will mostly be for girls clothing but also I will have a few random other things occasionally. I am nervous and excited and it has been a few years in the works and the timing is finally right now. I will post when it is open.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

skeleton animal fabric



When we were out shopping my daughter said mom I love this material. So how could I not get it and make a cute dress with it! I also love anything polka-dots so I grabbed this black and white dots to got with it. I made a mistake when I was cutting the skirt part and it didn't get cut on the fold so I had a seam down the middle. Well I was just going to put it in the back but somehow it got on the front so I had this ugly seam down the middle of the dress. I sat and looked at it and decided it had to get covered so I made the ruffle and sewed it down the center. I love how it turned out and looking back many of my mistakes end up working out for the better! It causes me to get creative and it always seems to work out to my advantage! This dress might be a gift for my niece if we happen to draw her name for Christmas if not it will have a home here. It just needs a button in the center of the flower and it is done.

Monday, November 14, 2011

ruffle mania




This is my daughter's christmas dress. It was a lot of ruffles but I love how it turned out and can't wait for her to wear it. The pattern is the stella dress from izzy and ivy designs. I am a glutton when it comes to ruffles! It is my love hate relationship with them. love how they look but there is just no easy way to do them other than the old fashion way of gathering and pulling the thread. I have gotten quite efficient and can whip out some ruffles quickly. It is true practice makes perfect. After I finished this dress I said it would be awhile before I did another but I quickly made a skirt from the pattern for thanksgiving. I adore those ruffles down the sides.











Tuesday, November 8, 2011

upcycled jeans


These jeans had a hole in the knee and were too short in the length but still fit in the waist so I seam ripped open the legs, cut the length and added fabric and a ruffle and presto the jeans have a new identity and another year of mileage left in them. I got the idea from pink fig and just started cutting and pasting;) I love how they turned out and I think I see a few more pants that are going to go under the knife









Monday, October 24, 2011

ruffle pants






Another great pattern from pink fig! These are the bella pants. The material is a brown suit type fabric from Joann's. I was originally going to make a skirt for me but ended up using it for my daughter. I am all about ruffles and all things girly but I really love it in these basic brown pants. I prefer lots of color but it is also nice to have more dressy neutral things too.
My next project is getting some labels printed up so I can sew them into my clothes. My hubby is always asking which way do her pants go. It is hard to tell the front from the back if you don't know what you are looking for. My daughter is also dressing herself a lot so she knows tags go in the back but when her clothes are tagless it makes it harder. I just need to design something in photoshop and print them out on fabric paper or iron transfer stuff....not sure what would be best.......time for some research.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Halloween skirt



I just love riley blake fabrics! The colors and patterns are always so perfect! This is called trick or treat. The pattern is a take on the patchwork skirt I just cut some blocks even smaller and left some bigger. I have used this pattern a million times and with all the different materials the skirt seems a little different each time.






This is the same pattern just the blocks were cut a tad bigger. I also did a bunny applique on the tank to make a set. I loved this material!! It is sparkly in the fabric. It is called urban angel by studio e. They had it at my mill end textiles and I grabbed what was left....not much. Pink is my downfall anything that is pink my eyes drift towards and I HAVE to have it. I was so happy to have a little girl because I have a feeling my little boy would be wearing a lot of pink much to my hubby's dismay.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

How time flies

I have been sewing I just haven't been blogging about it. I have been blogging about my bunnies! I show american fuzzy lops and that has been a huge part of my last couple years. Now that fall is approaching I find myself at my machine sewing more. I spend most my time making my daughter clothes and the other time is spent quilting or making other crafts. I made this back to school outfit for her now that she started preschool she needs to be stylin'. The teachers commented on how they all look forward to seeing what she is wearing the next time at school! Those are big expectations to live up to to try and create something new each week;) This fabric is from Robert Kaufman it is a corduroy material and is super soft and lightweight. I love it. The pants are the bella pants. I have used this pattern so many times for pants for her over the last couple years. Every time she wears a pair someone always comments on them I am also a sucker for ruffles! The shirt is from baby gap and I just appliqued some material on it to make it a matching set.