Taking in the Waist

 Hello Readers. Sometimes when clothing fits in the hips, it gapes in the waist. If it fits in the waist, it is too tight in the hips. It happens a lot with jeans and it was happening with this red denim skirt that I got recently at an outdoor clothes swap.

I hate a gaping waistband. The only way I have been able to get a comfortable fit is to get clothes that fit in the hips and then make the waist smaller. It is easy to fix.

  I decided to make new side seams at the waist of this red skirt. I took off an inch from each side. That 2 inches made a huge difference in the fit. I tapered the new seams out so that the skirt had more of an A-line shape. I just like that style and it flatters all body types. The A-line shape also leaves plenty of room for hips and backsides to be comfortable.

 I found this fun t-shirt at the outdoor clothes swap too. I liked the comic book vibe and it went together perfectly with the skirt.

 I didn't plan to post this right at the election. It just happened that way. It is not an encouragement for anyone to go out and physically fight.

 I was happy because it was warm enough to wear this outfit and I spilled tea on myself while I was setting up my camera to take these pictures. 

I had to go change. 

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

The Fall Dress to Skirt

Hello Readers. I am writing this on election night. I have no idea what will happen tonight or tomorrow. I think 99% of America is anxious. I would think the rest of the world is wondering why the U.S. seems so unstable and if we have lost our minds in 2020. I guess you could say I am a little worried.           So... let's sew for a bit.

Fall is a beautiful season. The changing colors on all the trees is amazing. This fall dress was not beautiful or amazing. I appreciate the fall theme. I guess they tried. But the appliques were just not for me. I don't want stalks of wheat on any of my clothes. The dress is frumpy and long on me as well. What could be done?  

 I decided to make this wrap skirt that I have been thinking about for quite a while. A wrap skirt is great because it can adjust to your body as you gain or drop weight. I have gained during this year so a wrap skirt will be comfortable.

I used the pattern to cut out pieces for the waist tie. I used the bottom of the dress to make my skirt. I could not think of a use for the appliqued top of the dress.

I folded the long narrow pieces and made a very long waistband that could tie the skirt on my body. The pattern looked a bit like an apron. I followed that idea and made something similar.

The pattern called for the skirt to be tied in the front. That put the opening in the back. I preferred the opening in the front and the tie in the back.

The skirt turned out just as nice as I thought it would. I wish I could wrap up this election as easily. Get it? Wrap up the election, wrap skirt. Ha ha ha! (Bad pun, sorry.)

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

A Candy Corn Fail?

 Hello Readers. Do you like candy corn? Honestly, I hate it. It is so over sweet it is too much for me. I love the color combination. That yellow and orange color combination always always appeals to me.  So what did I do to recreate that color combo? First I found a white shirt. Actually, I found 2. 

 These white t-shirts are from my husband. Yes, I have used a lot of his clothes. He agreed to it, I swear. I wanted to dip the shirts in yellow dye but leave the shoulders white. Then I would dye the bottom of the shirts orange. I thought it would be festive but not creepy for fall and Halloween.

I wanted to dye these 2 shirts to get the yellow and orange of these beautiful candies that I hate the taste of but love the look of. 

 I also wanted to try and use a cheaper method of dying the shirts. Would acrylic paint act like dye if I watered it down? I wanted to find out. (Short answer: Not really.) Acrylic paint is water based so I mixed in a lot of water and got very watery paint. I dipped the shirts in yellow water+paint and let it sit overnight. I let the shirts dry out and then did the same thing with orange water+paint. My 5 year old really liked mixing the paint and water and dipping the shirts into the dye bath. I let the shirts air dry completely before the next step.

I used a shirt that fit well to get the size and fit I wanted in the new shirt. 

 What would I wear with this candy corn shirt? Well, leggings seemed like a comfortable option. I found these black leggings at an outdoor clothes swap recently. It was great to have the swap outside where it was safer.

 They looked brand new but the elastic waistband was loose. It had broken or had been cut. I just reconnected it and stitched the waistband closed.

 I was happy enough with this craft. My son and I could could be candy corn twins. The idea of paint as a dye did not turn out as well as I had hoped. The colors were not bright and clear. The orange didn't show much at all. But it was a fun little project to do with my little guy so, that made it worth trying.He liked mixing the paint and dipping the shirts. (Full Disclosure: I gave him a donut to get these pictures.)

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. And Happy Halloween if you are celebrating this holiday.

Using Small Pieces of Fabric

 Hello Readers. If you sew at all you know fabric scraps tend to multiply quickly. Before you know it you have lots and lots of fabric scraps. (They are like rabbits!) What can you do with them? You can make so many beautiful things by piecing them together in a patchwork style. If they are a bit larger you can make throw pillows. I made Christmas stockings for my family out of sample pieces from the fabric store. Samples are usually 2' by 2'. At least all the ones I have are that size. I decided to use a couple pieces to change up 2 chairs at my house.

  These chairs have been around for a while. They were both items I have scavenged from a yard sale and the side of the street. I wanted to put the floral chair in my school room but it doesn't match. The room is blue and the chair is yellow floral print. 

The little stool was blue and white but it has been used so much it looks a little dingy. I want it in my room at my little desk. The stool is small and the desk is small, they will be perfect. My bedroom is yellow and red so it would be nice if I could find a piece of fabric to match. 

 

I went digging around my fabric closet.......

Most of this fabric came from my mother-in-law. She doesn't sew as much as she used to and after working at a fabric store for 20 years, she had stashed away a lot of fabric. She (And her coworkers.) always took the fabric samples that were going to the trash when the fabric was discontinued. Some of the fabric was extremely expensive and way out of my budget. I love working with the pieces.

I unscrewed the chair seat and used a staple gun to attach the "new" fabric on top of the old fabric. I like these kind of chairs because it is easy to recover them yourself at home. Goodbye floral print! Hello muted blues and greens.

 

The final result looks great and only took about 15 minutes per chair. (Not counting the amount of time it took me to reload the staple gun when it ran out of staples. It took much longer than it should have. I have been using the same staple gun for 20 years and I can never load it correctly the first time.)

 I love this rosy shade of red. And darker colors seem to hold up to kids and real life better than white ever does.

 

 The stool is perfect in my sewing room/office that is also my bedroom. It is a small corner office area and the stool doesn't take up too much room. This little desk is actually a sewing table that belonged to my Grandmom. There is a removable piece in the top and you can set a sewing machine in perfectly. I keep the piece in so I can use it as a desk. This is where I write these blog posts.

 

 

And one more idea for using small fabric pieces. Frame them. I loved this garden scene but only had a tiny scrap of this fabric. It is now at my desk.

 

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

 

 

A Classic White Shirt

 Hello Readers. I think Fall is here. There are leaves all over the ground and it is cooler and nicer outside. I love the change of seasons. I also love classic simple clothing that is easy to wear. A white button-down shirt is always fresh and stylish. But I didn't have one. (First world problem, I know.)

What I did have was this white shirt that my husband didn't want anymore. (He doesn't need to wear a shirt and tie to work anymore so he cleaned out his closet.) I really liked this simple white shirt.

This shirt was too big. The sleeves were too long. The whole shirt was too long to tuck in and is close to being a mini-dress. I can't wear a short dress to work so let's make this into a shirt that fits.

I did some re-fitting. I made the whole shirt shorter and made the body more narrow.

 I also made shorter more narrow sleeves. I wanted them 3/4 length. I removed the cuffs, shortened the sleeves and reattached the cuffs. The sleeves were roomy enough to make little box pleats on each sleeve.

The over all fit is so much better. The shorter sleeves make the shirt look a lot better. It looks like mine and not my husbands.

I can tuck the shirt in because it isn't so long anymore.

The jeans I wore with the white shirt are a refashion favorite.

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

And if you are in the US, please go vote!
 

 

 

 

The Flowy Jacket

 Hello Readers. I love layering pieces but sometimes they don't always love me.

 This jacket was just one of those pieces. I loved the colors and the design of the material. It looks a bit like a bathrobe. The material is in great shape but the fun fringe is worn out.

I cut the fringe off. It was a little faded and tangled. It was best to just remove it. Some things can't be fixed. It's OK to let them go.

 I really wanted to make those sleeves more narrow and make the body of the jacket more fitted. I hemmed the bottom after I had the side seams done.

  

What would I wear with the jacket? Well the color of these stretchy pants was wonderful. The thick stretchy fabric was really soft and nice but they made me look frumpy and I didn't like the look of them when I actually put them on. I thought they would make a great skirt.

I cut the inside seams open and folded the pants so the sides were laid flat. You can see the crotch of the pants flairs out. I pinned them to make straight seams so I would have a pencil skirt.

I did some sewing and cut off the excess. I checked the length and made a hem at the bottom.

This skirt was nice with the new jacket.

I was pretty happy with how these pieces turned out. I wore it to the doctor for a boring check-up. My son is very healthy but I found out that his Epi Pen expired 6 months ago. I am expecting my "mom of the Year" award any day now.

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