FO: The Birthday Skirt

It's my birthday today!

As one who sews clothing fairly often, I just can't go against the urge to make myself something that I deem my "birthday outfit". Last year, it ended up being my Blue Beignet Skirt (which I still love). This year, things have been pretty stressful, I can't lie. I had no real plans on making anything for my birthday just because I didn't want to add additional deadlines on myself, but that all changed when my mom asked me to go to Hobby Lobby with her last weekend. I was just along for the ride, and I was very good about not shopping around, until we hit the fabric section and saw that the spring fabrics were 50% off. There were a few floral printed twills that I had gawked over earlier this year that were all in the sale. Oddly enough what drew my attention to these fabrics was a little baby jumper made from them as a sample (so good job to the sample maker, ha ha). Since the fabrics was on sale, and I knew what I wanted to make AND I would make it up immediately, I splurged and bought the fabric :) It's so cute!

Since I was in the store and the fabric was a spur of the moment purchase, I had no pattern in mind. At first I contemplated a Hollyburn (what can I say, I have Hollyburn fever at the moment), but I really loved a striped coordinating fabric that I wanted to use as a border on the hem line, so the curved hem of the Hollyburn made that no longer an option. Since I knew what I wanted, I just decided to self draft a pleated skirt - which sounds much fancier than it technically is, lol.

Since this was "self drafted", I thought I'd outline how I figured everything to make this skirt and the sewing order I used in case others have never tried it. I used the full width of the fabric, first cutting two long rectangles of the floral print in the length I wanted my skirt to be minus the width of the hem band and the waistband. I cut one piece in half because I wanted a center back zipper (I need a little more fabric around my front so it worked out great). Next I cut out my striped fabric so that the stripes I wanted for the hem had enough to 1) have a seam allowance above them, 2) had an equivalent amount of fabric to fold to the wrong side and enclose everything as a true hem band, and 3) had a little extra on that back piece to fold under to stitch in the ditch and close it all up. I cut two strips of the stripes, also the full length of the fabric, and after some creative ironing, my band was ready to attach. I started by inserting a lapped zipper (my first ever and definitely not my last!) so that I could sew the back seam closed. Next, I attached the hem bands to the front and back pieces. Next, I decided I wanted pockets, but in a split second decision I decided to use the Hollyburn pocket piece - those are my favorite part of that pattern after all. So, I just cut the scoop for the pocket off the front piece, sewed pockets by the Hollyburn instructions, then I sewed the side seams. I prepped my waistband by cutting another 2 strips that were 2" tall and the full width of the fabric, interfacing one of them, then I sewed them together at the top and understitched the seam allowance getting it ready to attach. I wrapped the waistband around my waist and marked where it needed to meet with pins. Next I added inverted box pleats to the skirt. It took a few tries to get it to the right width, but we got there in the end. Next I attached the waistband, and jerry rigged a little flap at the end. I had to get creative and use my "alterations" skills on the zipper area to get it to sit correctly, but it all worked out and in the end I have a lapped zipper that connects to a flap that closes with a button on the other side. My final step was to fold the seam allowance under on the waistband and stitch in the ditch to close it all up.

I added in a few extra areas of top stitching - I like to top stitch my box pleats a little at the top so they lay flat against my tummy area, and the flap on the waistband had to be top stitched because of the order I sewed everything, but I think it turned out just fine :) Making a skirt from scratch like this certainly takes a bit more time and head scratching than using a pattern that already fits, but I think it's a fun challenge. Also, you are making it "size YOU" instead of a number designation - I didn't even have to technically measure my waist with how I constructed this. So if you're dealing with number anxiety, this is a good way to avoid it.

I love all the little touches on this skirt. I adore the lapped zipper - so much so that as I was making the pleats I wished I didn't need them so that the lapped zipper would stand out more. I've sung the praises of Sunni's free zipper class on Craftsy ever since it was first released, but until Meg of Cookin' and Craftin' asked for zipper advice and then ended up going lapped, I never even saw the final lesson in Sunni's class that had lapped zippers! And I was one of the ones who recommended the class to her, lol. I've looked at tutorials before about lapped zippers, even ones that are reputed to be so easy, and I could never wrap my head around it. Watching Sunni go through all the steps though made it all sink in and now I will be using this method fairly often since it's so pretty. I also love the pockets - these pockets are great in anything, I swear. Also - the hem band! Isn't it cute! I've never used any form of border print before, nor have I really ever used two coordinating fabrics to feature any aspect of them before. It was definitely more work (and caused much grief at Hobby Lobby trying to decide how much of the striped fabric to buy), but it was so worth it because I think it really makes this skirt have a little something extra. It takes the cutesy floral print and adds a touch of modernity, if that makes sense. I don't feel quite so twee with that cool striped bottom going on, I guess. Plus the inside of the band is just as pretty as the outside :) Also, I used a really pretty antique glass button that was orphaned in my stash - it's mint green! It perfectly matches my mint green vintage zipper (also from my stash - yes!) and it's always nice to use those single buttons, don't you think?

And I haven't even mentioned the colors on this skirt yet. This skirt's color scheme is quintessentially "me" - mint green, navy, coral, peach, gray - these are all my favorite colors to wear and therefore I will be able to wear this with several shirts and sweaters already in my wardrobe :)

And there you have it - my birthday skirt :) I'm wearing it today at work (my one little bit of birthday excitement. Ah, adulthood, right?) and I know I will get lots of wear out of this in the coming years. Yay for fun skirts for a fun occasion!

Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 yards of floral cotton twill from Hobby Lobby (I only used a little over 1.5 yards, but I'm counting all that I bought) - $11.23, 5/8ths yards of striped floral cotton twill from Hobby Lobby - $2.80
Pattern - None!
Notions: 9" zipper - $0.10 (stash), single button - free (stash), interfacing - $0.50, thread - $3.00
Time: 8 hours
Total Cost: $17.63

Not a bad cost for my birthday :) And I still have almost a yard left to make something else.

*Craftsy links are affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own (and the class is Free!).

Christmas FO: Lukey's Lizard PJs

I've made my nephew all kinds of toys and whatnot over his 3 years, so I really had a hankering to make him something different. My sister used a PJ onesie that already fit him to make a pattern for his Halloween costume in October (he was Curious George), and I had picked up a large piece of this super cute lizard print knit at a thrift store this summer so I decided to make him some fun pjs :)

So the pattern my sister gave me was just for the body and sleeves and I had to make my own gusset - I've never sewn a true gusset before, but after a little internet learning I was good to go. It's not really that hard, you just need to take your time. The fabric is a knit, but it isn't incredibly stretchy. I believe it's a polyester blend French terry because it has a loopy texture on the wrong side. It makes it nice and snuggly though.

I was going full stash on this project, so I dug through my box of thrifted zippers and found a bright green one that matched the green lizards = perfect! Luke really likes doing zippers up himself, and I likes that this one is colorful.

Details! Here you can see the crotch gusset and the color of the zipper. I did stabilize the zipper opening with knit stay tape, but that was the only precaution I took. Everything else was just sewn with a lightning bolt stitch. The neckline was just turned over and stitched with a straight stitch, while the hems on the sleeves and legs were stitched with a twin needle.

All in all this was such a simple project and Luke really likes them :) As soon as he opened his present, he asked if he could put them on. I was worried I would be "that relative" who gave him clothes, but he was really excited about his lizard pjs. The only fit issue is at the sleeves - I may borrow these and add a gusset at the sleeve hem because they're just barely big enough, so they are a smidge tight when he tries to get them off. That didn't deter him though :)

So, I've officially made toddler pjs :) He was dancing around and spinning on the floor (they made for a great slick texture on the tile), and he loved that he could get in and out of it by himself (he's potty training so this is very important, lol). I'm so glad he liked them so much and now I have the confidence to make him more clothes in the future. Merry Christmas, Lukey!

Summary:
Fabric: 1 odd cut yard of poly blend French terry lizard print knit - $0.25
Pattern: copied from rtw
Notions: 18" zipper - $0.10, knit stay tape - $0.15, thread - stash
Hours: 2
Total Cost: $0.50

FO: Pretteh Kitteh Skirt

I am proud to announce that I actually finished something that I planned fro a sew-along and I absolutely LOVE it :) I call this my "Pretteh Kitteh" skirt.

This project sort of started out a year or so ago when I decided I would like to replicate one of my favorite ready to wear skirts. I bought a Liz Claiborne skirt years and years ago that is just over knee length, a fun polyester print with a lining, and has a ribbon waistband on the inside of the lining. It always seemed like a simple construction and I knew I could replicate it if I set my mind to it. A few months ago when I was walking through Hancock Fabrics (I was there for 99¢ patterns and a zipper, I swear!), I passed by this kitty ca fabric and I was in love. It's a nice, light fabric with a pretty drape, but mostly I was so in love with the print that I knew I had to have it in my life. I'm not even a crazy cat lady (I do have a cat, but I think most cats are jerks), but the print was just so fun and I love the colors. I bought 2.5 yards with the plan of finally remaking my beloved skirt with it :)

It's so wonderfully swishy!

Construction on this was fairly interesting. I started by just taking my measurements and drafting a simple a-line skirt pattern for the lining. I dug through my stashed lining fabrics and settled on the only one I had that didn't show through the front and wasn't too heavy - this thrifted pink mystery fabric. I think it might be bemberg rayon, or at least a much higher quality polyester lining material than I've used before because it was much nicer feeling, though it still did fray like the dickens. I think the pink is pretty boring to be perfectly honest. I don't really think it looks complimentary inside the skirt either - I loved the look of a brown fabric I had, but it showed through to the outside :( Oh well, it was the main fabric I was concerned with anyway :)

Ugh, talk about a lack of hanger-appeal!

Once I had the lining fitting well, I added a 1/2" wide orange polyester ribbon just outside the seam allowance to act as the "waistband" but still be invisible from the outside. Next I just measured my original skirt and cut two pieces of the cat fabric across the entire 60" width (the pieces I cut were 26" long). I sewed the side seams first and inserted the invisible zipper, then I sewed the lining to the zipper - I had never done this before, so I followed the free Craftsy zipper class to do it and I am so proud of how professional it looks! The hardest part of this was figuring out the size to make the pleats. This took a few hours of measuring and pinning each pleat as I went, trying to make the main fabric the same width as my waistband. I finally ended up fudging it a bit - the pleats aren't all perfectly even, but I don't think it's very noticeable unless you're really inspecting it close, so I can live with that. These pleats are sewn down as rectangles and then all of them are laid in the same direction inside the skirt. Once I got the pleats situated, I sewed the lining to the main fabric and under-stitched the seam allowance onto the ribbon. It kept everything very neat and tidy inside :) Sadly, when I tried it on I discovered a big mistake - I had sewn the pleats 5" long and straight down - I didn't angle them out for my hips at all! The result was that my waistband had to sit up under my boobs to even zip up - not a good look. I was really bummed, and I certainly wasn't going to unpick the under-stitching and everything at the already graded waist seam. I had to unpick the bottoms of the rectangles until they were only about 2" long, and when I tried to stitch the bottoms back at a perpendicular angle, I kept sewing the pleats together accidentally since it was pretty impossible to separate each pleat enough to get my foot onto the original seam line at that point. I ended up hand stitching them back, which is certainly less than wonderful looking, even from the outside :( I still plan to finangle it somehow into my machine sometime soon to keep it from falling apart on me. That would be tragic.

Here are the detail shots. Isn't the fabric great?! I love the occasional blue cats with stars on them - so fun! And I am still impressed at how good the inside of my zipper looks, even though the ribbon doesn't match exactly - oh well, you can't have everything. I also am thrilled with my narrow hems! I've only done narrow hems a few times, but I am fast becoming addicted to it - it's really simple with the rolled hem foot on my machine, and it just looks so professional. And I'm pretty proud of the outside of my zipper as well, even though I didn't pattern match at all - the pattern is so crazy that it didn't matter to me.

So, there you have it - I have a ridiculously fun skirt With kitties AND goes along with a sew-along AND goes with my Swedish Hasbeens wonderfully :) I'm so excited about this skirt, and even in spite of its flaws I know I will wear it like crazy. Hooray for sewing!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards Polyster Value Print from Hancock Fabrics - $ 7.00, 1 yard pink mystery lining (possibly bemberg rayon) - $0.25 thrifted
Notions: 9" invisible zipper, $1.00
Pattern: self drafted from rtw Liz Claiborne skirt
Hours: 6-ish?

Ha ha, these were just too ridiculous not to include in this post. Enjoy!

FO: Luke's 2nd Birthday Present

(Warning - this was a large project which translates to a long blog post with lots of pictures - you've been warned!) :)

Well, it's that time of year again - when I come up with some awesome idea for my nephew's birthday and then give myself barely enough time to accomplish it, lol. In my defense this time I have had this planned since July/August, and I had all the amigurumi completed by a week and a half ago, I just put off the sewing until last night. At least it's an improvement from last year when I made the fishing pole about 30 minutes before the party :) Yay, progress! Anyway ... here's what I made this year:

It all started when I discovered Lucy Ravenscar's patterns - which include all the main characters from the old Star Wars series. My sister and her husband are big Star Wars nerds (I mean, their son's name is Luke, ok? this was no coincidence), so I knew that these would be a big hit. Luke himself may not know who these people are, but he certainly will soon anyway. I figure he may not appreciate this so much quite yet, but he will grow into them. So, let's look a little closer at these guys :)

Originally, my plan was much grander. I wanted to make ALL THE PATTERNS! But when October rolled around and I realized how much time each one of these figures take to make, I shortened my to-do list a bit. I figure I covered the top 5 here (and then I have more characters to make for other occasions - I'm looking at you, Christmas!). I did make one small change to how these are made - I used worsted weight yarn and a size H hook like I always do. This made the figures bigger than the pattern intends, but I think that's a good thing :)

Luke Skywalker came first (of course). I made half of his head and when I went to get eyes for him out of my safety eye stash I discovered a hiccup - the pattern calls for 7.5 mm eyes which are a specialty size (meaning Joann's and Hobby Lobby don't have them, and therefor I don't have them). I had to make a decision - spend $15.00 ordering all the eyes I would need for the whole cast of characters (so I didn't have to order them again in a month or so), or make felt eyes. Since I'm trying to be ultra frugal right now, I opted for felt eyes. Thank heavens for Sizzix Paddle Punches :) Love those things. Anyway, I made all of the figures first and added their eyes later. I majorly raided my stash for all the yarns used in these since you need very little of most colors. Luke is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (his skin), Chocolate (his belt), and Linen (his boots) as well as Loops & Threads Impeccable in Yellow (his hair) and Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (his clothes) with some random scraps of black for his mouth.

Han Solo came next since he and Luke are the same, just different color combos :) Han was a bit more complicated due to his colorwork, but still nice and easy :) I love the little stripe of red on the sides of his pants! Such a cool detail. Han is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Toffee (hair), Chocolate (belt),and Black (vest and shoes) as well as Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (shirt) and Really Red (stripe) and Red Heart With Love in Peacock (pants).

Princess Leia followed. I was worried her buns would be hard, but they are just flattened 3-d circles - so simple! Leia is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Chocolate (hair), Cranberry (lips) and White (dress) as well as Patons Canadiana (Vintage) in Silver (belt). I decided to get fancy and add eye lashes to her eyes as well.

Yoda was another simple design. The pattern includes two versions (like this or with a removable robe) - I went for the simplest option. His ears are also very cleverly made. Yoda is made using Red Heart With Love in Lettuce (skin), Patons Canadiana in Flax (clothes), and Vanna's Choice in Chocolate (belt) with a scrap of black for his mouth.

Darth Vader was the last figure I tackled for this gift. I'm glad I waited to make him last because he was definitely the most complicated of all. He wasn't too difficult or anything, but much more so than the others. The construction order is pretty neat and I love that the head is all one piece including the helmet (meaning you don't sew the helmet on later). You do sew the nose on, which I just couldn't get quite as triangular as the pattern example photo - sadly mine looks a bit more like a black pig snout, lol. Oh well, you have to look really close to even see it at all since it's all one color. I do really love the embroidered tummy area. It was a pain to do, but totally makes the design. Darth is made using Vanna's Choice in Black with Patons (Vintage) Canadiana in Silver along with scraps of green and red. Darth has felt eyes as well, but I didn't add white French knots since they are just part of his helmet. Darth's cape is a solid piece of felt that I whip stitched to the back of the neck. The pattern includes an actual pattern piece for the cape, but since I used larger yarn I had to scale it up considerably. 

I was really happy with all of these patterns. Everything is explained really well and each figure took 2 to 3 hours to make, so really not bad at all. Interestingly enough you can no longer buy these individual patterns, but it's because Lucy Ravenscar got a book deal! How exciting :) Star Wars Crochet will be available to buy in spring of 2015. You can see all her particulars here.

Now for the bag ...

I hadn't really thought much about making a bag until I came across this adorable fabric on Spoonflower (I would post a link but it seems to not be available anymore). I ordered an 8x8" swatch of Eco Canvas knowing I would incorporate it somehow - I just didn't know how until Friday night, lol.

The black is actually some kind of old polyester table cloth that felt canvas-like. I got it at a thrift store in their fabric section a while ago for something like $0.50. The previous owner had already cut a big section off, so it was perfect for my purpose. Even my zipper was one of the crazy bag full that were $0.10 each. Hooray stash busting!

So since I only had a few hours, I buckled down and decided on a bag design. I chose to make a box bag with handles and I wanted to make it big enough to accommodate the whole collection of figures when I get them done. Look at my "oh so official" pattern, lol. I decided to make it 12" tall x 11" wide and 3.5" deep - I just added 1/2 seam allowance to all sides and and cut them out with a rotary cutter.

I put in the zipper first - the one I had in my stash was 9" long so I had to get creative with extra fabric to cover the space it left since I wanted the zipper exposed from the top for a nice pop of color. I used Wonder Tape to set the zip in place before sewing it in - man how did I even insert a zipper before I knew about this stuff?! I'm not sure if I did the rest of construction in the "correct" order, but I sewed the narrow strips together for the sides first. Next I turned the edge under on the pocket twice and sewed it on as a patch pocket - I did it this way so I could use as much of the swatch fabric as possible. Once the pocket was on, I sewed the front and back pieces to the edges. I added the strap after the rest was completely constructed - they are just two lengths of polyester grosgrain ribbon from my stash. I made sure to really go over where the straps connect to the bag several times to make sure they are very secure. Once that was done, I finished all the inside seams with pinking shears and then pressed the daylights out of everything to make it look more professional - it's amazing the difference that makes, really.

And here is the finished product :) I figure the bag can be used for lots of other purposes as well. It doesn't stand up on its own, so I stuffed it with netting for these pictures, lol.

All the nice finished details :) Look at the insides of that pocket! Mmm... love it. I burned the heck out of my fingers while pressing under those tiny edges, so I am particularly proud of the insides. I wanted to make sure the canvas wouldn't fray with use though, so it was worth it for the bag to have more durability. The top stitching isn't perfect since I used a weird foot (I just grabbed one with a guide I could follow and it didn't have quite as much tension as usual. It's close enough though and like a kid is really going to notice anyway :) I'm also quite proud of how nice the zipper looks. All in all my bag came out very boxy just like I wanted :) And as you can see all the figures fit in it quite nicely.

I love the results :) It's funny - this year's gift was so much more work, but definitely not as well loved by the kiddos. I know Luke will grow into them though.

Poor guy - he was much happier than he looks in the photo. He hadn't napped all day and it was about 6:30 pm when we did presents at his party. It was a Halloween themed party and he was Russell from UP! My sister was Kevin (the bird) and her husband was Carl. They looked really cute :) Luke was a little preoccupied by his other noise making presents, but Kelly and Nick were very excited so it's all good. I think these will end up as room decor until Luke is old enough to know what they are, lol.

Anyway, the secret is finally out! Yay! lol I hate keeping big projects like this a secret, but I do love the reactions to the reveal. The cat is now out of the bag for subsequent gifts since I plan on increasing the set, but I know they will be well loved. 

Happy Birthday, Luke!