Monday, February 21, 2011

Sewing Projects


Some of these projects are recent and some are just pictures that were in my "sewing" album - -

First up is my first ever sewing projects as far as I can recall -- a nightgown and robe for a Barbie doll. I was still in elementary school I think and Mom probably did most of it  . . but I can remember trying to get the tiny little seams to go under the foot of the sewing machine correctly. I never attempted another doll outfit. I think I took this picture while I was packing everything up to move/store a couple years ago.  Ok - on to things created in the last decade!





      


 Last fall I got tired of trying to find a purse that was comfortable to war, had enough space for all my junk, and had a long shoulder strap to sling across my body.  Cross-the-body purses make life so much easier when you transport yourself by foot half the time - it's also a lot easier while grocery shopping. Anyway. Couldn't find one, so I made one.  Wandered down to the fabric store to look through patterns early one Saturday morning, bought everything I needed, and then set up camp at the dining room table with my sewing machine and started plugging away for the rest of the day.  I got it mostly finished in one day except for a few finishing touches that I finished up later. Here it is!
Looking inside, lining, pockets, and magnetic snaps!

Next is my first "upcycled" project - created as recently as last week!   I had a sweater that was bit of an odd shape - but I liked the pattern - so I just turned it into a scarf. Not complicated at all - I feel guilty even calling it a sewing project. Cut out some long rectangles of fabric, sew together. voila!




And here is my favorite!   I made this on Sunday.  This was previously a skirt - but I never really wore it for a variety of reasons even though I LOVE the print/color. So, I cut up the back seam, removed the zipper, and cut off the waistband.  Then I pleated the skirt, hemmed the raw edges, and sewed it back onto the waistband and trimmed off the extra waistband material.  The black ribbons are from packaging from a blanket - they were tied around the blanket and I thought they might come in handy one day so I saved them.  I sewed those into the  waistband and ended up with an easy tie. I think it took me two hours total - so simple!  I may go back and add a pocket and a "bib" to it in some nice black material - we'll see.  I probably could have easily cut out a section of the skirt to make a bib and pockets - but I wanted a really full apron. And, yes, for the picture below I did put on pearls specifically to take this photo.

5 comments:

  1. All of this is great! Did you teach yourself how to sew? I've always wanted to learn.

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  2. My mom taught me when I was a kid. Then when I became an adult and wanted to start sewing again I read some stuff online and it was kind of like riding a bike.

    There is a LOT of really simple stuff in sewing - you can make a lot with some simple straight seams. I bet there are a lot of youtube tutorials that you could watch that would be helpful. Honestly, the hardest thing for me is learning my machine and I'm a horrid hand-sewer. I haven't done a lot of adventuring into the more advanced aspects of sewing though.

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  3. I love looking at people's sewing projects. I learned to sew in middle school home ec class (not well, just the basics). I was surprised to see how many simple yet useful/pretty project tutorials are out there when I took it up again this last summer.

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  4. our daughter, the seamstress!!

    seeing that old barbie project brought up a smile and made me think of grandmama, also :-) i now would have a hard time working those small items.

    the apron is so pretty and such a good idea. the scarf is beautiful, too. simplicity is def not a bad thing!

    one of my earliest sewing projects was an apron for home ec in 7th grade, i think. fond memories!!

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  5. These are so great! I really need to buy my pattern for my babies christening gown and start working on it. I have to say seeing your projects have inspired me to get on it! lol.

    My sewing machine is so awesome and new and yet I'm lazy and haven't used it at all hardly!

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