Check meowt

Decided to sew something on a whim from my large stash of fabrics and it turned out to be this polka dot cat fabric.

Familiar? Why yes, I literally used it only two projects ago! Since I used half of the original amount previously, I felt a little limited by what I could do, but managed to eek out a shirt.

I used an existing casual long sleeve button down as my template. As expected, I didn't have enough fabric to make full sleeves so I made them short. I probably should have feminized it by making it sleeveless but oh well. I suppose I'll save this for when my hair has grown out a bit longer (or not!)

The toughest part for me was making buttonholes since I've never had to do them before. You'd expect them to be easy since the machine has the capability for performing it, but having to adjust the tension and then nearly running out of my thread...I wasn't particularly pleased. However, the buttons and buttonholes are functional and that's all that matters. 😂

Reversible dress

Basically it's in the title. I was cruising through instagram and saw a sponsored post of a floral 3/4 sleeve knit dress and decided to make one for myself. The floral knits were a bit limited and the fabric I got was slightly too thin to be made without a lining so...reversible dress, it is! 

 

Details: long sleeves, boat neck, a-line dress. As usual, no pattern. The only thing I wished I could alter is the armpit size. Maybe my shoulders/arms are bigger than I expect? There's also a bit of excess fabric in the back but I wouldn't be able to take it in unless I had a long zipper and it looked decent with a belt. Without, it seems a bit too matronly in my opinion. 

Yay for more work-appropriate clothes!

Cat Lady Polka Dot

I saw a pair of pom pom shorts a few months ago and knew I wanted to make a pair. I'd been mulling on how to make them and drew out a design when I found other people had done the same thing AND made sweet tutorials!

Fabric: COTTON + STEEL: Cat Lady by Sarah Watts

The yarn ball fabric will be made into something else...haven't drawn out my pattern yet, though. 

The typical pom pom short is kind of like gym/beach board shorts in my opinion, but my fabric wasn't really pulling off that vibe and I like to have more functional clothing so I added pockets!

I was told by my friend D that these look like PJ shorts. Even so, I wore them out in public. My daily work clothes are practically PJs so might as well continue that trend, right?

Weekend exploring Houston with a visiting friend :)

Happy Easter!

So, I decided to make a dress for Easter. Generally, all the items I make are self-drafted/taken from items I already own but this time, I decided to try out a pattern. I don't really recall how I found this one, but *shrugs*

Alteration: Neckline increased by 2 inches because I thought it was too deep of a cut. In retrospect, I think I should have let it be because now it limits the necklaces I can wear and caused some bunching in the midline. Also, I totally measured myself wrong/cut out a larger pattern size than I actually fit so there was a lot of seam ripping and alterations before I was mostly satisfied with the result. 

I'm usually not one for frills, but the sleeve detail seemed interesting so I kept it. 

It was a beautiful day! Lots of sunshine and a cool sea breeze.

 Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't in the most favorable position outdoors, so we opted for an indoor photo-op with B's awesome spring decor :)

Spring!

Finally used my flower + cat kimono fabric I purchased last year. Took me a while to figure out how I wanted to use it when I took a look at my closet and saw a need for more work appropriate tops. And thus was born...a color block blouse! 

This just may be my new favorite hand-made clothing item and it's perfect for spring :)

Difficult to tell in this pic, but it's a boatneck tee with short "sleeves"

Custom clothing label from M! I also used it for my cat PJs. How appropriate =^.^=

Jumping for joy...at work?! 

Forgot to ask someone to take a normal picture of the shirt, so have a selfie with poor lighting >.<

Striped Jersey Tank Dress

My friend D is starting a blog as a creative outlet, which inspired me to do some sewing. I have a lot of projects that I start and then don't finish for one reason or another. I started this jersey dress in September 2014 and I stopped because:

1) I realized I was making a summer dress when it was fall and that I should totally make other things appropriate for the weather and
2) I had started to sew the trim (?? pardon my lack of knowing any sewing terminology) for the neck and arm holes, which was frustrating me since the fabric I was using was stretchy jersey and
3) I thought I had utterly messed up the fit by making a button placket in the front/trying to be fancy. 

Anywho, fast forward to now...it's January 2016. That's totally summertime, right?

       

Different apartments so different lighting (yes, I've moved since I started this project. It's been that long.) I finished the neck line and felt too exhausted to finish the arm holes so...I quit reason #2.

Placket didn't quite line up properly and the top seemed too low cut so...I quit reason #3. I wanted functional buttons, but the front flap kept flipping down. In order to make the top of the dress modest, I ended up just sewing the buttons in place. That seemed to semi-fix the misaligned placket. 

I like how it's flowing but I was told it was too shapeless so I cut a strip of fabric for a belt. Since the theme of this post was delaying a project out of sheer laziness, I wanted to note that true to form I did not finish the bottom hem. Not even a zigzag stitch because -let's be real- it's jersey and I couldn't be bothered. 

Cat lady PJs

Finally went to a fabric store recently to buy materials for christmas presents and stumbled upon this purrfect piece of scrap fabric =^.^= 

I didn't know what to do with it initially, but was given the suggestion of PJs. 

And I do love my PJs. 

  

I tried making them in the style of capri sweatpants so not only is there an elastic waistband, but also an elastic cuff for the legs. Aaaaand more homemade quirkiness: I didn't realize the pattern was upside down until I finished. Doesn't matter, still meowvelous. 

Baby blanket

I re-learned how to knit last year so I could make a baby blanket for my new cousin...which I finally finished! Luckily, he is still small enough to enjoy it :) I used the knitting pattern that came with the yarn which was fairly simple, but I kept forgetting to count so the blanket is a bit more diamond shaped than square :P

Materials: Bernat baby yarn (2-3 skeins), 8mm knitting needles

I ran out of yarn and couldn't find a small skein with the same color pattern so the last corner is white. I'll call that homemade quirkiness?

Baby cousin :)

Birthday Box Pouch

Life has been a bit crazy. I've moved for residency and it's been quite the adjustment in terms of making time for sewing. Luckily I caught a break a couple weeks ago in order to make a birthday present for S. She actually gave me a link to a picture tutorial on how to make this zipper pouch which works all the better because I am terrible at figuring out what to make people.

My work set up + curious cat

The final product! Larger than it looks, but doesn't quite fit a pen...

And JOY!!! I received fabric that I bought from etsy! And a sweet mix CD from M! The last fabric on the far right was a bonus --I only purchased the three on the left. Plan: make scrub caps and a collared tank dress. Bonus fabric...TBD.  

Match Day!

Yesterday was Match Day for all graduating medical students. In keeping with tradition, USF Morsani COM has an informal ceremony with matching shirts. Since it was plain white (and semi-see-through, in my opinion), I opted for tie dye! I used Tulip's One-Step Tie Dye and folded it so I would have two different patterns in my shirt. 

I tried to alternate colors per spiral wedge, but the colors ran together.  Regardless, I love how it turned out!

Match day was a success! Largest matching class from USF (128 students) are scattering to all parts of the nation. I am so proud to be a part of this graduating class of 2015 and am excited to see what's in store for us. Go Bulls!

Raglan (Cowl Neck) Hoodie

Fabric from my $1/bag steal & ~2 yards of sweatshirt fleece + template from two existing jackets + awesome tutorial for sleeve thumb holes = new hoodie sweatshirt!

Pieces cut and ready to be sewn together

The patterned fabric was super stretchy and thin so I lined it with the sweatshirt fleece...which meant loss of stretchiness and a super snug fit. How to remedy? Side panels!

Too tight to close! >.<

I also had issues making the hood since my sweatshirt template had a cowl neck with no hood. The amalgam I cut out ended up being too small...so I added a middle panel! Common theme with this project, eh? Either way, it turned out quite well and is super comfy :)

Thumb holes :D :D

It kept me pretty warm whilst spring breaking in NC, too! 

Maxi Skirt

I wasn't a fan of maxi skirts when I first saw people wearing them, but now I get it. They're just so darn comfy! As a bonus, it was a very quick and easy sewing project. wooo :)

 Lunch downtown by the river

Rockin' the new skirt (and hair!)

Burdastyle Open Back Dress

Deadlines are very motivational for me because I tend to follow the motto: "Why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow?" Probably not the best mantra, but it works from time to time. 

Refresher: Burdastyle open back dress

I altered the bodice pattern quite a bit because I saw many others had issues with gaping at the sides. However...I still ran into that issue with certain movements. Thank goodness for double-sided garment tape! I also decided to scrap the sleeves and use sew-in bra pads instead of boning because I couldn't be bothered to learn this late in the game. Maybe next time I make a dress, I'll do so in a timely manner. Doubtful.

Side view of the dress in good lighting

Open back! in not so good lighting

At the Theatre: Phantom of the Opera

Men's Tie

I'm not sure if men enjoy receiving ties as a present, but whatever the case, that is what I made for M. I used my brother's old tie as a template and followed these instructions for a men's tie on Craftsy.

End result: fancy tie!

Hand stitched contrasting bar tacks :)

One thing I need to work on is the lining of the tie. For the life of me, I couldn't get it to line up properly so that the tip of the tie was just the black tie fabric. I got the concept of where to put my stitches, but the alignment is still off. At least you can't tell from the front side?

Happy holidays!

Update: future plans

I've been traveling for away rotations recently and have spent <1 month at home/near my sewing machine since July. As such, I have many works in progress until I get back home to finish them...and even more planned because I stumbled upon a moving sale where fabric was $1/bag!! What a steal! Seattle is awesome. I have yet to decide what I will make with my goodies, but I am super excited to bring this back home with me :)

Yes, there is faux fur in the pile!!

Other plans that have a relative deadline:

1. backless dress a la BurdaStyle for a night at the theatre (Phantom of the Opera!) 

  

2.  graduation dress inspired by this dress, from disney of all places...