A Ken Costume For a Dog

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make Little Gordon a Ken costume. You remember Ken from the Barbie movie. Little Gordon is going to be Ken for Halloween. 

 Gordon has a bit of an attitude and a lot of diva demands. He will make a great Ken.

I started with this fuzzy sweater. Look at those sleeves. I saw a tiny Ken costume when I saw those sleeves. 

 

I made a sweater vest from the sweater yesterday and I saved these sleeves for my little Ken.

 

 I did some size and shape research. 

 

I cut the sleeve to fit a dogs body. The under/stomach is shorter because Gordon is going to need to do his business. The wrist of the sleeve will be the neck and this curved cut will be the other end of Gordon's new sweater.

 

I cut the holes for the front legs and used my serger to finish the edges. I had the other sleeve and that would be the collar. 

 

I hand sewed the second sleeve into a circle shape. It is going to go around Gordon's neck. Ken wore his fur coat open but that won't work on a dog. 

 

Giant fur collar done!
 

I think I got as close to original Ken as I could. I wanted to make something that Gordon would wear without getting upset. (He can be a little high-strung.) No trauma on our fun Halloween night. 

 

So why did I make a Ken costume? Because I am dressing as Barbie of course. Thanks for reading along, have a happy Halloween.

***Later Edit***

Let's go get that candy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weird White Sweater to Sweater Vest

 Hello Readers. I honestly have no idea where I got this cropped sweater. Maybe from my daughter. It was soft and fuzzy but the fit was wild. I decided it would make a fun sweater vest. Let me show you how I did it.

Before and after.

The sweater was obviously supposed to be cropped and it was meant for someone with longer arms. That's not me but let's look past that. This could be a really fun cropped sweater vest. 

The first thing I did was cut off the sleeves. I saved them for a later project. 

I knew from trying on the sweater that it was too big in the chest so I cut the sweater a little on each side. (About 2 inches on each side.) Cut a sweater? I know that sounds crazy but it can be done. I pinned the front and back together so it would lay flat and not shift around while I was cutting it. I want each side to be the same size so if the sweater isn't cut evenly, it would not work out well when I tried to wear it. 

 

 Those pins also mark where I wanted my armholes to be. I marked that when I tried the sweater on too. I tried to be accurate but sweaters can stretch and adjust to fit. This sweater was very stretchy, that will make it easier to get a comfortable fit.

 I knew I needed to sew new side seams quick because sweaters will unravel. I went straight to my serger. I re-folded the sweater with the front and back facing each other. I sewed my new side seams on the lower half of each side of the sweater. I left the arm holes open for my arms. I used the serger all the way around the arm openings to keep the whole sweater in one piece. 

 

I broke a needle? How? It is a soft sweater! Ugh, I changed the needles out and got back to work.
 

I turned the edge of the arm openings in and used a needle and thread to tack them down and hid the serger stitches. They would hols the sweater yarn together but they were not very pretty. That's OK. I hid them. No one will see them now. 

 

I love this fuzzy little sweater vest. It is fun and looks great now that the super long sleeves are gone. The fuzzy texture and soft knit makes this very comfortable and cozy. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Golden Wrap Skirt

 Hello Readers. I have a small stash of fabric that my mother-in-law gave me and I am always trying to use it instead of buying new fabric. (I am really cheap like that.) I really liked this golden fabric. It was a weird shape and there wasn't very much of it. What could I make? 

Before and after.

 

It's not really gold but it is silk. This fabric came from my mother-in-law's stash. It was kind of a strange shape because it is a scrap from some other project. I like mustard yellow so I decided to try and make something out of this. 

 

This book has so many good patterns. I like the wrap skirt a lot. It doesn't take a lot of fabric to make so it will be perfect for this piece of gold fabric. 

 

I cut out the skirt. It was a simple shape.

 

This pattern has several darts. I marked all of those on the fabric. 

 

I sewed all the tucks and I hemmed the skirt.

 

I wanted to use a button closure. I dug around in my button collection.

 

This skirt was a quick and easy project to make and I love the sheen of the fabric. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Yellow Dress That Gave All It Could

 Hello Readers. This yellow dress has given more than I could have ever asked for.  I got it at a thrift store and shortened it. Then I shortened it again. Then I cut part of it up and made a jacket. But I still had the bodice and lining left over. 

Before and after. And after. And after. And after. And after. 

The little flowers were so pretty so I wanted to make the top of this dress useful and wearable. 

I cut the skirt off. I left about 1/2 inch of fabric so I could sew it under. 

I use my serger to keep the fabric from fraying. 

 

I tucked the edge under and used a zigzag stitch to sew it to the elastic waistband.

 

I liked it over this tank dress. 

 

And I liked it under this jumpsuit. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

Reshaping a Dress

 Dear Readers. I found this fall dress at a thrift store for 25 cents! I didn't love it but I brought it home anyway. I thought I could make something out of the fabric maybe. 

 

I liked the fall colors but it was long and shapeless and not much fun. 

 

This looks like a big nightgown. But it had pockets! I did love that. Maybe this dress has possibilities after all. Let's give it a new shape!

 

I cut about half the skirt off. It was too long and I had an idea for how to use that extra fabric. 

 

I cut the extra fabric into 2 long pieces. I wanted to connect them into one long piece. 

 

One of the pieces had the original hem. The other needed a hem to match. This only took a few minutes.
 

This one long piece would be a great ruffle at the bottom of the dress. That would be more fun than the shapeless skirt the dress had originally.

 

I used a needle and thread to gather the ruffle together with big stitches. This would make it easier to sew the ruffle to the dress.  

 

I sewed the ruffle onto the bottom of the dress.

 

I also attached elastic to the waist seam inside the dress using a zigzag stitch. I stretched the elastic gently as I sewed to gather the waist in a little. That would add a little waist definition.

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

Happy fall y'all!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neutral Basics

 Hello Readers. I love wearing all one color. You could call it dressing like a crayon or you could call it monochromatic dressing... Either way, I do it when I can. This olive colored skirt and top seemed like a good combo to me. 

There was a problem with the fit of this skirt. The waist was OK but the hips and the length were not great. Whoever made this skirt thought I would be taller and curvier. I wish that was true but I need to work with what I have. 

I marked where I wanted the new side seam. I left the waistband alone but I needed to narrow the hips a little. 

I cut the length by about 8 inches.

I just needed to hem this cut edge.

I love the new skirt. It's simple and neutral. I always forget to get basics in my sewing. This will match so much. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fin for yourself.

The Bandana Dress

Hello Readers. I wanted to make a dress from bandanas, just for fun. I saw one made by @_diydaisy on Instagram. I thought this would be a super easy sewing project. (Spoiler- It was not.) I had no pattern and was just running wild with no plan. That is usually how I operate in life and it usually works out, so please join me on this little sewing adventure.

 I needed a pile of bandanas. (I used 9 bandanas but I could have use 1 or 2 less as you will see later.) The more bandanas I used, the poofier and fuller the skirt would be.

I have been collecting bandanas for about a year. When ever I saw one at the thrift store, I would buy it and add it to my collection.
 

I sewed 3 bandanas with the right sides together. This will be the top of my dress. (It was 1 too many.)

I made another circle of 6 bandanas also with the right sides sewn together. This will be the skirt of my dress. (I could have used one or even 2 less here.)

I needed to sew the 2 circles together but they are obviously very different sizes.

 

  I used large stitches to gather the large circle of bandanas together to match the size of the smaller circle of bandanas. 

 I also used clips to hold the large gathered circle to the smaller circle. Now it will be easier to sew the 2 circles together.

Sometimes your sewing equipment will betray you. I had to take a break.

 

I realized that the whole dress was too big. The bodice (Pink.) was also too tall. I cut the top 4 inches off

Then I angled the bodice. It was just too wide. I sewed all that together and finished the edges.

This is where I was after all that. I didn't love it but I don't give up. I was going to finish this dress.

 

I needed sleeves. This purple bandana will be the last step. I cut it in half to make 2 sleeves. 

 

I liked the purple sleeves but this was very loose and big. I didn't think I would like this on me. 

I added elastic to the waist and the shoulders to improve the fit all over. This made it look much better.

O.K.! Now, I liked it! Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.