Navy and Lace Top

  I've been playing around with alternative ways of adding lace texture to things lately, and not many of them worked. Lace as a stencil with fabric spray paint made too soft of a texture, and with fabric paint pounced or brushed on the details were too muddy. I bought this set of silkscreens at Michael's the other day though, just to try out. I wasn't sure if it would work at all since it is marketed for use on glass and ceramics, but look!

  The small butterfly is from another set. I did have to play around a lot to get the fabric paint I used to the right thickness... too thick and some spots have missing paint, too thin and it seeps underneath the silkscreen and ends up muddy. And I know, the painted lace on the yoke is crooked. On my first attempt at that yoke the paint looked great at first, but spread as it dried and ended up being solid white. I had to wash the fabric out completely (which took a while!) and dry it before trying again... and apparently I didn't line everything up right the second time. The silkscreen piece was a lot narrower than my shoulders, but it worked out alright to line up the edges and add the paint for the second half next to the first, even though there isn't a good repeat to line up. =)

   I added a couple butterflies on the back... the one on the shoulder is missing some spots from too-thick paint.

  Also, I accidentally painted the back of one sleeve instead of the front, and didn't have enough fabric for a re-do so I cut the painted piece off and sewed it back on in the right direction, then sewed a seam in the other sleeve to match.

  I used MadMim's tutorial to draft the tee from my measurements... mine didn't come out perfectly the first try, so I was glad I'd used scrap fabric to sew it up. This tee is after a couple small alterations. I used knit leftover from this dress, and it was a real stretch getting enough pieces out for this shirt! In fact, I had to use the pillowcases from the set and unpick their hems to get pieces long enough. =)

  I didn't end up using a knit binding around the neck because I had some pretty picot elastic that was too perfect not to use... I just stretched it slightly while serging it on, then top-stitched with a twin needle. I used another rolled hem to add some sweetness to the bottom of the shirt, stretching it slightly for a lettuce-edge. Overall I'm pretty happy with this shirt, in spite of its imperfections! And I'm happy to have the lace silkscreens to use on other projects. =)

Gratuitous Blinking Bump Photo!

  I already have another knit shirt for myself planned out, but I need to test out some more pattern alterations first. =) I should sew more knit stuff for the little people, since most knit projects are so quick and easy... I have a feeling I'd get a lot more sewn for them if I did.

 Speaking of little people... it's a girl! Daughter number three is due in August. =) And from her ultrasound, she is adorable!

  And more big news, we will be moving to a town about 30 miles away sometime in the next month... so I have a lot to do!

Thanks for stopping by!

Strawberries and Chocolate Shirt Refashion

  I had time to sew something this week! It was a  quick, simple refashion, but sewing nonetheless. I've had this lovely pink shirt for a while now, but I've only worn it once since I picked it up at the thrift store.

  I'm not a huge pink-wearer, but I love the tiny ruffles on the yoke and cuffs of this shirt.

  The main reason I didn't wear it was that it was just too short, and that made it really unflattering. I had a few ideas about lengthening it, but couldn't decide what color fabric to use, since I didn't have any extra of the original. I finally decided on chocolate brown, because what goes better with strawberries than chocolate? =) And because I love my sweets, I added some pretty white lace trim for whipped cream.

  So first, and my main mistake while refashioning this shirt, I chopped the shirt in half. And yes, I tried it on first to see where a waistband should sit. =)

   It worked, and it ended up looking all right, but I should have folded it with the front of the shirt on one side, and the back on the other, side seams touching, and cut my line slightly higher at the back than front, to account for the bust curve.

  Next I cut some chocolate fabric about 2 inches longer than the circumference of the opening, and two pieces of trim the same length. I cut the fabric 4 inches wide, for a finished height of 3 inches. (Which added 2 inches total to the length of the shirt, when you include the shirt seam allowances.)

  I sewed a 'placket' on one side of my fabric by folding the fabric over twice, to the same width as the shirt placket, and top-stitching on either side.

  Then I put the waistband piece face up with trim pointing toward the center of it, and set the shirt right side down on top of it, matching up the plackets:

  I pinned a lot and sewed the seam, then sewed the lower half of the shirt on the same way.

  I finished those seams by serging, then finished the end opposite the placket by tucking it under twice and top-stitching down. Then I pressed all my seams really well and top-stitched along the top and bottom of the waistband, and added a buttonhole and button.

  I managed to get my buttonhole lever sensor working, but I still had trouble with the width of the stitches and the thread breaking. I ended up having to pick the buttonhole stitches out several times, which is NO fun, but I got a not-bad one in the end.

  Here is the finished shirt:

  And here it is on me, with my triple ruffle skirt:

 
   I know this outfit looks completely edible, but I kind of love it. =)

 

  
  My husband was super-nice and took these photos for me. =)

  And wow, I didn't realize that my belly had grown so much until I saw this photo!

 I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, but having only small, high mirrors does make a baby bump a little difficult to see sometimes. =)

  Thanks for stopping by!

My Signature Look: Incomplete

  So remember how I had almost 3 whole weeks to work on this signature look for Project Run and Play? I didn't think I'd be able to complete all 5 of the items I wanted to make... but I was hoping to finish at least 4.

  How many I actually finished? 1. Yep, just 1. I'm sure you all know everything frustrating that can happen while sewing, or attempting to find the time to sew, so I'm not going to list everything that happened here... but it did. Here's the lone finish:

  To be fair to myself, I came this close to finishing the sweater:

  I know, it looks finished. It's not, the buttons aren't sewn on and there aren't any buttonholes. The sensor for the buttonhole lever on my machine appears to have quit, meaning I can't sew regular buttonholes, and I didn't have time to fight with a satin stitch today.

  In a way, this incompleteness is my Signature look right now... I haven't finished anything in quite a while. Life just hasn't worked with sewing lately. I'm still sad that I didn't get done what I wanted to. However, since I already have all the fabrics, I think that every piece I planned will eventually get done. It may just take a few months, and I'll probably finish some other projects in the middle. I'd love it if you checked back in a while to see the pieces. =)

  Thanks for stopping by!