Surprise goodies!

A package arrived in the mail on Monday from my Grandma. She called it a box of sewing odds and ends, things that had been given to her, or she had inherited. What an incredible blessing! How she managed to squeeze everything into that box I don't know, I couldn't get it all back in! But I bet you're ready to see it all now, right? Here goes!

First up these ribbons.
Some bias tape.
These different laces, some of which look like they could be antique.
Some different sizes of elastic.
Next, some knits and a cotton piece of fabric.
And these specialty fabrics.
And finally these un-categorized bits and pieces.
I have the most wonderful grandma in the world!

Church Skirt

Okay, so back in November my mother-in-law bought me two beautiful skirts, and matching camisoles at a thrift shop. I put together the first one rather quickly, but forgot to take any pictures of it. :-( Hence no blog post before now.

I didn't do anything with the second one until just recently, because I did not have a single blouse or sweater that matched it. But with Christmas came a lovely green sweater that matched perfectly. So I decided I'd better get that second skirt made! Just in time too, as I'm no longer able to fit into the few church clothes that were big enough, for a little while, for my growing tummy. :-D

This skirt took a little extra work beforehand to prep before the maternity panel could be added to it. First off, as we have really cold winters here, I wanted it to be as long as possible, but a little thing called a zipper was in the way. So, the first thing I had to do was remove the zipper. Then stitch up difference. Thankfully the skirt was still wide enough at the hip with closing the zipper opening 2 inches higher.
Next up, the skirt had a very high slit that needed to be fixed. Because both zipper and slit were on the same side of the skirt, the selvages were not serged together. That made my job so much easier! All I had to do was take out the stitching enclosing both sides of the slit, then sew the side seams together!
As you can see, there wasn't much space between the bottom of the zipper opening and the top of the slit opening. Interesting thing too, is that with the slit closed up completely I still have plenty of room for movement. Goes to show just how unnecessary the slit was in the first place. ;-)

The camisole I was using was also a bit stretched out, so I had to take the side seams in a couple of times before it was tight enough to hold the skirt up.
All finished!! I really wasn't that big already, I'm only 6 months along! The camera just made me look bigger. I'm very happy with how it came out, and how well it coordinates with the sweater. Thank you Grandma!!

Recycled Maternity Skirt

About a month ago I was visiting a friend a few hours away, and she decided to give me some materials of her's to make some new clothes for myself with. One of the things she likes to do, is take her husband's worn out pairs of pants and turn them into skirts for her daughters. And she thought I might be able to make some use out of a couple pairs as well.

So I picked out two pairs of khaki colored pants, without a clue as to what I would do with them.

After a couple weeks ideas began forming in my mind, and finally I was ready to take action!

The first thing I did was to cut the legs off at the top.

Next I cut out the inside seams and opened them out to see how much flair they'd give me, as I was thinking of making tulip style skirt.

And of course, what sewing project is complete without a cat? ;-)

It turned out that the legs of the lighter pair of pants were actually narrower than the others. So, that helped with my decision on where they would be placed.

Next I started sewing them together! However, four pant legs in a row makes for a very full skirt. As you can see below. Not mention that because these are mens pants I was working with, they were quite stiff. So, I took in a total of 4 inches at the waist. I was still hoping for a tulip shape to the skirt.

Once I had the waist as narrow as I wanted it, it was time to gather it! For the maternity panel I was planning on using the same method I used in this blog post, but knew the fabric was not going to stretch as much as I would need it too. It was actually a bit harder to gather thick fabric like this than I had anticipated, but I think it came out nice.

All done! It's still a lot fuller then I originally wanted, plus the stiffness causes it to stand out more. But all and all, I'm very pleased with it, and especially love that the thickness makes it really warm!



Best of all, I think I may have just come upon a new product for my Etsy shop! I just need to find some more old camisoles! ;-)