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. 

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! 

<3 PJs

JoAnn's had flannel fabrics on sale and since I had a couple weeks off in April, I decided to make some matching PJ shorts for my little sister and myself. I've never made shorts before, so it was quite the adventure trying to make a pattern from an existing pair.

When I showed my brother, he got the crazy idea that we should all match so...with the remaining fabric [and then some] I made him a man-tank :)

Needless to say, we are FABulous

Bodycon? skirt

I bought fabrics a while ago and finally made myself a skirt w exposed zipper [back in January]. Woop. Took a while for me since classes were crazy busy at the time, but I found tutorials on bodycon skirts and decided to go for it spur of the moment. [apologies for messy room/mirror pic]

 

I wore it to my College of Medicine's Talent Show the next day [yay last minute sewing!] and found a hunting room at the venue, so the moose was a must.

Gingkoes and Sailboats

I finally finished the yoga mat bag for S...just in time for M's birthday! So, I whipped up a quick bag for her too >.< Wooooo!!

  

Yoga mat bag took me a couple months to make because I wanted it to be a bit more fitted than what I made myself and I am quite happy with how it turned out. The nautical bag, on the other hand, was made on the fly with less planning. Maybe this goes to show that I'm getting the hang of this sewing business :)

EDIT: I added a zipper to yoga bag to make it fit better. No pics, but it now fits the mat like a glove. Ooooh, yea!

Yoga Bag!

Yoga bag as belated birthday present for S is still in the making, but I made mine as I procrastinate from work...

I finished the hand-embroidered monogram for her bag.

Also drew out the design...but it won't be made for another week or so :/ However, better late than never?

I made my bag in a completely different design than what I'm planning to make for S. I thought this version would be simpler, but it took me a bit of time [~3hrs due to lack of planning and design changes as I sewed]
 

Hopefully my yoga mat will fit because I guess-timated on the measurements >.<

90s Party!

Costumes chosen: Crysta from Fern Gully and Pocahantas.

               
Timeline:
Wednesday afternoon -bought materials for 2 costumes.
Thursday -picked up sewing machine and other goodies. Construction of Crysta costume (~6-7hrs).
Friday -Finished Crysta (~30min) then started Pocahantas (~5-6hrs). Party at 9pm.

End result: 2 costumes made in 2 days. Success.

PS. Are we really in med school??
PPS. Mocassin heels!!

 

Happy Halloween!

It's been quite a while since I have been crafting, but I have a good reason! ish. I was away for the summer in Greece and then started medical school about a week after returning to the US. However, I did pack a few items that I made and when I wore them, I got some nice compliments...and found out that some friends took sneaky pictures because they wanted to recreate this shirt.

 Anywho, I have been stocking up on giant shirts and random fabrics for when I have time to dabble.

Luckily, Halloween gave me a little relief from work to make myself a simple costume. I bought myself a bedsheet from a thrift store and made a skirt similar to the circle skirt. I tried to make it a no-sew kind of project, but I messed up my measurement and cut out a waistline a bit too large. So, I made an elastic band and sewed it up. Here's my finished skirt and costume.

  

I wish I had a tambourine, but I was trying not to spend a lot of money.

Happy Halloween! [in case my costume was TOO minimalist, I'm a gypsy]

Mini-Kimono Top

Earlier this year, I made myself a half-kimono top with leftover scraps and upon seeing it, my little sister wanted one of her own. I finally got around to making it! Hopefully she doesn't have a growth spurt out of nowhere and no longer be able to wear it...





Zoom-up of the side. I sewed it a bit too small so I had to take it out and make it wider. Hopefully it works better now...otherwise, she'll need help taking it off hahaha

I'm back

I decided to share clothes that I make on this blog, but without a time commitment. I don't use patterns when I sew so it takes me a lot of time to make anything. I also don't have a mannequin to work on and I usually have to stop every 15 minutes to try on what I've done [so much time!!] I could go buy one...or, even better, make my own! I found a tutorial for a DIY dress form from Threadbanger. When/if I make one, I'll share :]

Since I'm no longer doing my thesis, I can take my time making whatever I want instead of trying to complete something once a week. More time = experimentation! I went to JoAnn's and was browsing sale fabrics when I chanced upon some really cute chiffon. I've never sewn with this type of fabric before, but there are so many cute items of clothing made of chiffon that I wanted to give it a try. [I forgot that it needed lining since it's sheer so the project was postponed until I was able to make another trip to JoAnn's.]

My fabric:



I was very indecisive about what I was going to make, but decided on a ruffle skirt after seeing these:



So, my version!



First mini skirt I've owned, and it's handmade to boot! :]

Infinity Dress

The infinity dress has been around for a long time and I've seen several different tutorials that explain how to make it. The only reasons stopping me from making this dress was the large amount of fabric required...and a few confusing details. Luckily, I stumbled upon yet another tutorial that gave extra tips and tricks to making this dress. Although I wanted to have all my projects be reconstructions or made from items I own, I decided to go and buy fabric to make this dress.

In essence, the dress is a banded circle skirt with two extremely long straps that can be wrapped however you wish. As the straps are long and thin, the same long piece of fabric can make straps for at least 2 of these dresses. This week, I made my mom's dress.

To me, this dress is like the epitome of simplicity and sustainability. It can be made rather easily [once deciphered] and will be worn for years to come. For those who worry about wearing the same dress twice, this one can be manipulated to be different each time.

Floral Tote

I've been meaning to make myself a bag [tote or legit backpack] for quite some time-since I made tote bags for my friends a couple christmases ago, to be honest, but I never got around to it. However, I figured it was high time to make something as my fabric pile was not going to get any smaller. I decided to go ahead and make a tote bag as it is much simpler and I already bought the fabric needed last year.

I made it from what I remembered of this tutorial from Skip to my Lou, but I took some liberties. I added pockets to both the inside and outside of the bag. I also made the straps have two different sides and purposely made them mismatch.



The front pocket has two compartments while the inside pocket is divided.

The bag is HUGE!

Experiment with Silk

It's been a really long time since I made a project from scratch so I figured it was about time. One of the easiest things to make, in my opinion, is a dress. I've been looking through Etsy for ideas and finally set my eyes upon these dresses from MyLolaFashion. I had several fabrics to choose from and took a poll from my friends.



Fabric #1 was the winner. And so, the fun begins!

Le Sac Dress...Shirt

I made a Le Sac dress from American Apparel after seeing several different tutorials.



I actually made it a while ago, but never wore it because I realized that it wasn't wide enough or long enough to be worn in the several ways possible.



Since I would never wear it as a dress, I decided to make it a shirt. I cut off some length and undid a few seams so the edges would end in a slit. I also decided to make them uneven so that the front length would be a bit shorter than the back.



I wore this to my friend Melinda's 21st birthday party at a greek restaurant full of napkin-throwing and plate-smashing. :]



[I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing, but at least you can see how I wrapped the straps and tucked in the edges]

Oops...and Happy New Year!

The japanese club, along with chinese language and culture club, hosted an event last Saturday called A Night in Tokyo. I figured this would be the perfect time to make a kimono-style blouse. I've seen several that I've wanted to make and planned on how I would make them, only to realize that my remnant fabrics are, well, just that. Remnants. I didn't have enough fabric to make an entire shirt. Luckily, I stumbled across a half-kimono shirt and figured I'd give it a whirl.

I used scrap fabric from a bed sheet to make a mock-up to see if the remnant fabric would be enough to make this top. I forgot to take pics of this process since I was just sewing on a whim, but I took the remnant I wanted to use and cut out the same size using the bed sheet. I ended up cutting out extra strips for the bottom portion to make it tie in the back.

Didn't you love sesame street as a kid? I didn't watch much, but I do remember the theme song…

Sunny day, sweeping' the clouds away.
On my way to where the air is sweet.
Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street?

Anyway…

Circle Skirt turned Dress

SURPRISE! I ended up making something to wear this week :] I also got bored last night and decided to make my name tag out of scrap fabric! Who wants to blend in with a name tag made with markers and a piece of folded paper?



But, on to the main piece. Prior to starting this Thesis project, I've always kept an eye out on different DIY projects and tutorials. I have a whole bookmarks folder dedicated to tutorials I found interesting or simple enough for me to complete. This week, I decided to make a circle skirt.

The person who created the tutorial said she used a bed sheet to make the skirt and I realized I had tons of bed sheets laying around the house so I hastened to my closet and pulled out this beauty from back in the 90s...

...and I made this!

The bed sheet I used had a wide strip of solid fabric at the top, which I found could be used to convert the skirt into a dress. It's a two-in-one! However, today's forecast was cold and rainy so I decided to wear it like a long shirt with a pair of skinny jeans. Coincidentally, this is my 3rd post and I tend to park on the 3rd floor of a certain parking garage on campus so....

TA-DAAA!!!
P.S. I make a lot of funny faces >.<
Happy Friday!!