The 'Sew Over It' book I Won (for my friend...)

Last October was my blog's first anniversary which I celebrated by stash-busting my patterns in a giveaway :) I met a few more sewing friends since (in blogosphere and in real life) and kinda excited that a couple of my old friends shared with me of their interest in this hobby. One got herself a machine around Christmas, while the other is shopping for one as we speak :) I sent a Japanese sewing pattern book I bought back in 2011, 'I Am Cute Dresses: 25 Simple Designs to Sew', to a friend in Malaysia since she wanted to learn to sew herself some tunics and flowing tops and I figure she will appreciate the designs in the book more than I had. :)

As for the other friend, I entered Zoe's of the "So, Zo..." blog giveaway and won for that friend the 'Sew Over It' book! [p/s: Thank you again so muchhh for the giveaway and the book Zoe!!! My friend is ecstatic!] Let me tell you that I can be quite a selfish person... So to make sure that I don't fall prey to my own greediness and keep the book for myself (because let's face it, new sewing books are lovely to look at, smells good, and all the pictures are well, yummy!) in my entrance comment I mentioned to Zoe that I'm entering the giveaway for my friend who is new to sewing!

And somehow, for the first time in my life, the sewing stars align, and I won a giveaway! Can you beat that? Now, why can't I win something I want for myself yet? :)

The book took a while to reach here from the UK, and then after a quick glance over it got locked up with the rest of my sewing stuff for a while. I'm going to post it to my friend this week, so last night I check out the book more closely.

Let me tell you now that I love this book. It's so pretty and well organized! Be warned that I'm not a good reviewer since I ramble rather than string critical, thought provoking, clever observations... (hence why I almost never try to pattern review or review a book), so this is just my opinion on it.

In her giveaway blogpost, Zoe described the book as being aimed mostly at sewing/refashioning beginners (read more on Zoe's description of the book here), while still providing those with more experience things to learn from and ideas to take up as inspired by some gorgeous pictures of the gorgeous author.

Based on my own scale I always insist I am a novice, but I suppose compared to those who are just getting acquainted with sewing, like my friends, I would be nearer to intermediate level. So while I am extremely itching to hide this book for my "collection" and claim to my friend that it never got here, alas I know that the sewing fairy will not look upon this transgression lightly and since it will be so much more beneficial for my newbie-r friend who will be able to grow (and hopefully fall in love with sewing) and try her hand on the easy-to-follow projects shared in the book I will bid adieu to this loveliness.

The author Lisa Comfort who runs Sew Over It, a sewing cafe in South London that this book was named after, included in the book from basics such as introducing the sewing machine, to customizing and altering your existing clothes by resizing or adding interesting details such as beading.

In fact, beading on clothes is something I have always been interested to learn more about - I signed myself up in the "'Embeadery' on Fabric" workshop in the upcoming sewing and stitchery expo in Puyallup, WA next month (I got my tickets in the mail last week, yay! I'm super excited! Join me!!! Or if anybody reading this going, I will be there on the Saturday :) ) The last time I added beads to my sewing projects were the M6204 asymmetrical top and my sewing class dress, which need to be reworked, donated or refashioned!)

One thing she mentioned was refashioning from larger clothes to fit a smaller sized person being much easier (and easier to write about and illustrate I am sure). I do not know of any resource about refashioning or altering a too small clothes to fit a bigger body. For me, this is often the case, as my body changes (read, grow rather than shrunk) in the past decade, especially the past 2 years of post-pregnancy.

Unless I buy/go thrifting some too big clothes with refashioning in mind (which is rare, and sometimes I purchased even smaller thrifted stuff: a red leather jacket and so on), my "raw materials" so to speak are the stash of clothes that I saved up; the too-small clothes from my early 20s up to pre-baby, that I can't part with because of the fabric or design, and thus the challenges to refashion them is greater but still IMO doable. As my confidence in sewing grew, the more I will dip into this treasured box of clothing, take the seam ripper to them and experiment with my refashioning! I do share my refashion projects here on this blog every now and again. :)

Anyways, if anybody interested to get a copy of the 'Sew Over It' book, you can get it from Amazon UK. The US Amazon website do not have it (says it's out of print/limited availability).

I still have a bunch of sewing books to get through, and projects in them to try out... But same as music, movies, fashion trends and so on, I might get on to those when they are no longer popular or in the wrong season ;) Never de rigueur, moi ;) But hey, here I am slowly sewing along and happy as a clam, trendy or not!

Old Refashion Revisited II: My First Project Ever

Day 8 of Me-Made-May 2012 challenge saw me wearing my very very first refashion ever! It was a t-shirt project, where I took a thrifted 2XLT men's long-sleeved cotton t-shirt, and made it into a top for me. However, the night before that I did make considerable tweaks on that original version.

Here is the original refashion that was done not quite 2 years ago:

Version 2010

It is longish (I wanted a tunic, so I retained the original t-shirt length), also retained the original round neck (with its neck bind), cut off the sleeves, and cut up the sleeves into strips that I then sew back onto the t-shirt's front in a swirly design. 

I did not come up with this idea though! I was just looking around online and stumbled on sewing and craft blogs (for the first time), and found this amazing tutorial by Suzannah of Adventures in Dressmaking (fyi she was blog swapping with Alli of One Pearl Button for this particular tutorial) and thought that since I had by then, during maternity leave, finally mustered enough bravado to tackle the sewing machine I should try it. The tutorial I mean.

It's quite a straight forward DIY project, so I think if you just click on the link above, read her how-tos, you'll get the gist of it and can go on your merry way. Which was what I did. 

I am not familiar with Anthropologie (still don't) but I get the benefit of seeing the pretty things from the many fabulous bloggers that get a lot of inspiration from them (and other fashion brands, especially now with people sharing on Pinterest). 

Anyways, I wanted a longer top and not a tank, and did not want the strips of t-shirt fabric to hang off my chest and tummy (errmm, I just gave birth at the time y'all. And 2 years on, I still feel the same re this).

Since my t-shirt strips curled up immediately after cutting (and my guess was of heavier/thicker cotton material than theirs), it gave me a different look and texture than what the tutorial and its inspiration top did, and an opportunity to have them (the sewn strips) stay closer to the t-shirt fabric (also because I sew in the middle of the strips instead of more to one side). A reminder though, a thicker t-shirt material means all those additional material sewn onto your front = heavier/warmer top.

You can of course further personalize your top when you decide what design you want to have. I tested a few variation (by pinning the fabric this and that way) before settling on what I considered the best for me. 

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So that was what it looked like when I made it back in 2010. I wore it often but mostly at home, or buried under down jacket and scarfs. The color of the t-shirt is what my mother will call poo color :) and being clueless re fit and proportion, the way I sew the sides, the length plus the weight of the top made me look like stuffed sausage or cylindrical... not flattering much.

The hubby was more hesitant when I told him I'm about to refashion my first refashion. More nostalgic and said that I should keep it for posterity. Hmmm? Say what? At least I think that was what he said. I said, okay I will just take pic of it for documentation and put it on this page :) Taraaaa...

I ripped out the neck binding, and just stitched down the opening. A much better frame for my face, and I can breathe better too. Would have done this sooner if I knew what was wrong....

Close up of neckline and the sewn up swirly strips:

I cut off the bottom/hem by 7 inches, and used all that fabric to make the bottom sides wider. It gives a better shape/proportion to my body.

Version 2012

And here is my pic for MMM'12 day 8! IMO an interesting, casual top....

 You can check out what the other MMM'12 participants put together on our Flickr group.

MMM'12 Week 1 recap & Thrifty Find

Above are my week 1 Me-Made-May 2012 (my pledge) outfit recap. Click each pics for the corresponding blogposts.

 

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Thrifty Find - Embroidered Clutch Bag

Pinned on one of my bulletin boards is this embroidered clutch bag. I had it for the past 2 years at least and I just love to look at it... It is approx. 4" (H) x 6" (L) x 2" (W), deep orange shades embroidery on what once must have been white satin (now look like tea stained, or merely yellowed a bit).

Purchased at my favorite thrift store for just $2, it has a mirror in it, and space to put lipstick, and some moolah. Can even fit in your mobile phone is so desired, but it has to be one of the smaller ones though.

Both sides of the bag are embroidered with different motifs. The right picture is too yellow than it actually is, no thanks to my tinkering around on Picasa today...

I've never used it as a bag before (i usually carry a huge carryall), and so it's been my constant eye-candy/inspiration :)

So that's it. :) Just thought that the ladies at




would enjoy the pics of my treasured thrifty find...

Dropped waisted dress refashion - a quickie project

For the first time ever, I was able to complete a project in a day. Mind you, it still took me many hours since I don't work straight and got distracted by Hulu, FB, site hoppings and so on, but yet it's done.

Before: A dropped waist long denim dress by Alexander Campbell, thrifted from my favorite local thrift store (can't remember for how much, but most probably on sale for $.25).

I first chopped off the top part from the skirt part, and for this project just used the pleated bottom half.

Took the seam ripper to the sides a bit (about 10 or 11 inches) to make room for the arm. Folded the ripped sides in by 1 inch and basted, and then just like those pillow case type tops, fold what is the top part now about 1.5 inches to make a casing for where I then insert a tie into (the tie is from one of my old maternity dress)

After: A pillow case type dress but for adult :)

This is how I wear everything when I do go out, with my down jacket, all year round, in winter and summer. Yeap. Me-Made-May '12 is gonna be "fun"! Haha :)

Under Construction

This is the dress pattern that I have been working on and off the past week, McCall's M6518 (Misses' Lined Dress) that I bought during the recent pattern sale:

I used a red stiff woven fabric that I am not sure what it's called or made of (it was thrifted months ago), just that I like it a lot. It kinda look like linen but stiffer, like a thick shirting. with lighter red and black slubs weaved into it??? Did not have enough to make the whole dress with it, so I decided to cut into my precious thrifted black pure wool fabric. I think it could be gabardine, but also I am not sure re that.


I have been making muslins before I cut into the dress fabric, out of also thrifted fabric for lining, and then made adjustment to the pattern on the neckline: I raised the back neckline and made the U-neck not as wide eventhough I retained the depth. Since I don't have enough yardage of the lining material, I ended up using a cream thin silk fabric that was also thrifted. Only after I was done making the lining and fitting myself was when I start cutting the dress. The pattern pieces for the dress and lining are the same, minus the ruffles for the bodice of the dress.

On the pattern envelope, the dresses are made out of one fabric with contrasting band using trim or ribbon sewed onto the midriff part. I chose to skip that trim as I am already making the skirt portion using black and I don't want to make my torso any shorter than it already is. Ohh, and this dress comes with pockets, yay!

I didn't have an 18 inches zipper to go with the dress, so we went to Joann's yeasterday 15 mins before closing time for me to get it. I bought several lengths of black zippers and some with metal, which turned out to be a blessing because on the car ride home it dawned on me that since I raised the back neckline, it meant I will need a longer zipper! :)

Right now I am attaching the zipper to the dress, and once I'm done with that I will be able to attach the lining to the dress... Who knows how long this will take. If I'm lucky, sometime late tonight....

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Parting shot of my surprise Valentine's flower from the hubby :) <3

Silk skirt to blouse

Found a very pretty & simple A-line skirt earlier last year at a thrift store. I love that it's made of silk, and the pretty print, and knew that I just have to take it home, and refashion it into something.

Over the year I've considered it for a project or another, like as a lining for example, but it didn't feel right. Finally last week after finishing up my wool knit sweater dress, I decided to just go ahead and I worked on that into this:

The skirt has a few french seams to it, and I didn't want to rip them unnecessarily, so what I did is I took my adjusted Sorbetto pattern pieces to it and pinned and then cut. I had enough fabric for a little cap-pish sleeves and binding for the neck, so I was set. I incorporated the french seams to the front (near the bust darts) and also the hemmed bottom part of the skirt (which showcased its border print).

I usually do hongkong seams when working with nice but raveling fabrics, but for this project I pulled out all the stops, hehehe, and practiced my french seams, in line with the original ones :)

For the neck binding, I used the same fabric (from the waist band of the original skirt - has a thin interfacing that i just left in) and did not cut it in the bias as i want the print not to be skewed looking. The interfacing, or that it is not cut in the bias may have caused it to be looking a lil wonky, but it's nice i think.

This blouse is joining Recycled Fashion Finds #32 at:

My Leopard tote bag

It's finally done! Yay!!!

Materials:
Some synthetic leopard print fabric "harvested" from a thrifted vest-and-bermuda shorts set

Leather scraps from a gifted thrifted long black leather coat
Thick interfacing


Pattern:
Based on Bag F of McCall's Fashion Accessories (Laura Ashley) M4400


Alteration/modification to the pattern:

I wanted a leopard tote bag like the one I saw on Boden's catalog, so I made some modifications on the pattern.



Firstly, I added if I'm not mistaken horizontally: 4 inches to the middle of the bag, 1 inch each to the sides, vertically: 4 inches to the middle, and 1 inch to the bottom.

I also added length to the straps. I top-stitched leather (same material as the applique at the base) onto the strap, this is also modification from the pattern. Instead of setting the straps inside the seam, I sew them onto the body of the bag, like the inspiration photo above, and sew scraps of leather onto it to cover the stitches that attached the straps to bag, and also as and added design element.

Since my last post re the bag, I've made another little change to the pattern: eliminate the facing portion (that also holds drawstring for the bag) because my upsize of the pattern rendered that portion to be too small. But no biggie. Without the facing, the tote bag now is more true to the inspiration picture, although I also added a button (it's a leather covered button, and came from the same coat that I "harvest" the leather for strap and appliques on the base).

Conclusion:
The bag is 15.5" tall, 17" wide and 6" thick. I used a thick interfacing, but it's not stiff. It's tough when sewing multiple layers, and sometimes this cause the stitches to skip :(.

I love my leopard bag! It's huge! And I'm so glad that it's finally done!






Linkup:



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Now I can move on to other projects. But first I have to finish my Sew Cute Dresses class project. I didn't last night at the class, I'm very slow like that. I'm making Dress #11, I am Tiny Tucks. I think I'm going to make adjustments to what I've already done, snip** snip**. When I'm done, will have to go back to the workshop to show my lovely teacher. So I better get going!

What I've been working on...

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I found this vest-and-"bermuda shorts" set at my favorite local thrift store a year ago. Must have been someone's previous year's Halloween costume, or something like that. I can't imagine anyone wanting to wear this otherwise, and most definitely not both at the same time :) But to each their own. I got them for a quarter each, and they had been languishing in my to be refashioned pile ever since.



I definitely see that they are made of synthetic fabric, and and on the printed side have this smooth shiny a little furry like feel to the fabric.



Saw this tote bag on the Boden catalog, and it's been the inspiration of this project:



Now, just have to finish it!!!!