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! ;-)

Maternity Skirt Alterations

I recently bought a maternity skirt from NewCreation Apparel, and while it's a really cute style, the elastic on the maternity band was too tight. Well, maybe not too tight if the skirt is worn above the belly, but that just feels weird to me. So, what's a girl to do? Fix it to the way she wants of course!

Here's a before picture of the maternity band. Notice the cute pockets just under it. In order to make sure the band is well covered most of the pockets have to be covered too. A bit of a bad design there, huh?

Okay, so the first thing I did was to cut off the elastic band leaving a bit of selvage to it for another project I have in mind, then to serge the skirt part of the band with the serger I'm still borrowing from my MIL.

For the new waistband, I used half inch elastic because I figured it would be more comfortable. Plus, that was all the room I had on the back of the skirt! For inserting the elastic into the casing I got a sudden inspiration to try something I'd never thought of before. I cut the end of the elastic to a point. You wouldn't believe how much easier it was to slide it through that lightweight jersey!! I know, you're probably thinking, "Well, of course! I've been doing that all along." I guess I'm a slow learner. ;-)

I can't believe I forgot to take an after picture of the new waistband! But here's one of me wearing a much more comfortable maternity skirt. :-)

My First Maternity Skirt!

I came across a really neat idea for making maternity skirts last month from reading this article on a blog that I follow. Four and a half months along, and I can only fit into one of my everyday pre-pregnancy skirts, so I decided it's time make my first real maternity skirt. Unfortunately, I only had one skirt that was a candidate. This sweat-skirt that I bought from NewCreation Apparel a few years ago:
The elastic waistband has always been rather tight, and I figured it'd probably be too tight for comfort after the baby is born anyway. The rest of the skirt is very stretching and wonderfully comfortable.

There's a pocket on the back of the skirt that I didn't want to lose, so I couldn't cut it straight across the hips as directions said. So I gave the front a nice rounded down angle instead.

For the maternity band, instead of using an old camisole, I used the shelf bra that had been cut out of a camisole. It is actually the perfect size, and has a wonderful elastic band across the top. :-D

I've also been borrowing my mother-in-law's serger and decided to use that instead of zigzagging it to the skirt. I figured since both fabrics are so stretchy, it would be more stable that way. Unfortunately, the serger stitching didn't want to stretch, so I had to stretch out the fabric as I sewed. That's why it looks so bumpy. But it's perfectly smooth when I wear it! And that's what matters, right. ;-)

I can't believe how comfortable this skirt is to wear now. I can't wait until I can make some more!

Recycled Skirt Redone!

Last April I made my very first recycled skirt. Because I didn't use any kind of directions and pretty much made it up as I went along, I was never very satisfied with it. So I searched around, and finally found this wonderfully detailed set of directions, and as they say, the rest is history!

For a while I was too busy with making other skirts to sell, and life in general to get back to my black gray skirt. But then after I found out that I was pregnant, and started quickly outgrowing my skirts with fitted waists, I realized that I would probably never fit into it again. Or at least, not for a very long time. ;-) Plus, I always need more things in my shop, so it really wasn't that hard of a decision to make.

So I took the whole thing apart and redid it the right way! And this time I gave it 4 panels instead of just the 2. It looks so much better now!


And the back,
I really had to stuff myself in it for these pictures. But I'm really happy with how they came out. My hubby is a good photographer. Here's the Etsy listing for more pictures. I hope you enjoyed reading about this work in progress!

Bridal Shower Gift

This last Sunday I had the chance to attend a bridal shower for a young lady at my church. Naturally, I really wanted to make her something instead of buying a gift. So I looked through a crochet book that I've been borrowing from my mom, and found the perfect something that was easy, and more important, fast! In case you're interested, the name of the book is Our Best Thread Crochet. :-) Anyway, one of the projects in there is making a lace edging for kitchen towels, and what new bride doesn't need lots of kitchen towels?

And here's a close up picture.


This is a great way to take an ordinary gift and make it extra special. And did I mention that each lace edging only took about 2 hours to make? Which is especially good for someone like me who is a very slow crocheter. :-D In addition I only had the cost of the towels for my expenses! (I already had the crochet thread and hook) So it's wonderfully economical too!

P.S. That fabric you see peaking behind the towel is an upcoming project. ;-)