Turning Fail into Fabulous...with a Giveaway!

I had some really, really good intentions for a bit of selfish sewing.  I was going to make myself a super cute skirt with flair.  Two colors of tulle flair with shimmery fabric and Heather Ross Far Far Away scrumptiousness to be exact.

"Pattern?" I chuckled.  "I don't need a pattern - I've been on a clothing roll and how hard can a simple elastic waist skirt with tulle be?"  I think we all know where this is headed...

Looks innocent and cute enough while it's lying on the ground...but people, this was NOT a cute skirt on my body. I cut the topskirt layer too big so that it gathered way too much.  As if that wasn't bad enough, I cut the 4 layers of tulle and the shimmery blue underskirt not large enough so that the amount of gathering on those layers was just...weird.  Volume was not my friend here.  But honestly, I don't really know what I was thinking to begin with.  My bottom half doesn't really need any extra volume, so even if I had executed this properly, it still probably would not have had me looking my best.

This skirt was NOT leaving my house on my person.  But all that fabric waste made my heart (and wallet) hurt.  It was just too pretty to let sit rolled into a sad ball in the bottom of my closet.  After seeing some very cute clutches and bags at our SMQG Yankee Swap this past weekend, I went searching for During Quiet Time's Ruched Happy Bag pattern and went to work.

Fabric saved and a fail turned Far Far Away fabulous!!  Even the shimmery fabric got saved as a nice decorative detail.

I was so excited about the ability to make lemonade from my lemon skirt (plus I had a TON of skirt that needed to be chopped up) that I pulled a few more colors from my stash and started a clutch factory.

And hey...did you know that today is Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day??  How fabulously convenient!  I've made a few and I'd like to giveaway more than one clutch - just means more chances for you to win :)  

So here are the rules:  Leave a comment and tell me one of your fabric fails - or if you've been lucky enough to not have one!  Don't forget to tell me your favorite colored clutch :)  Leave a second comment if you follow my blog AND leave a third comment if you follow me on Instagram (@simplesewendipity).  I will ship internationally, so don't be shy if you're not in the United States - the more, the merrier!

The comments will close on December 12th at 8pm EST and winners will be notified on December 14th.  These would make a really cute gift for someone or (even better) a gift for yourself!  Can't wait to hear from you all and enjoy the giveaway here and at all the other link ups :)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

A Fashionable Princess...

Novelty fabrics - I am not usually a fan.  Well, maybe I should clarify that I'm not usually a fan of "licensed character" novelty fabrics.  But at the beginning of the summer, I can across a bolt of this fabric called "Fashionable Princess" in the Disney novelty shelf of my local Joann Fabrics.  

It looks darker in this stock photo, but in real life the background of this is a very pale pink.  Disney Princess but with a little more sophisticated look?  And I had a store coupon?  I bought the rest of the bolt.  And there it sat, making me feel guilty all summer long.  My only saving grace was that the kids had no idea that I bought it, so I wasn't getting asked "Did you make my dress yet?" on a daily basis.

But when I stumbled across the Poppy's Peekaboo Dress pattern by Create Kids Couture, I knew that I needed to get off my butt and start sewing.  I grabbed a simple black polka dot as the accent fabric and got going.

I did want to fussy cut one of the princesses for the front bodice and Belle was the one to make the cut for this version.  Unfortunately, that meant that the entire pattern piece was cut on the bias, so I Best Press-ed it to death and that kept it from stretching out.

The pattern has a few really nice detail touches that make it stand out from the crowd but it was really, really simple to follow.  The back view is just beautiful!

I still have plenty left in my stash and my oldest has already specified that she wants her version to be more about Snow White.  While I'm not planning on making another Poppy, I've got a pretty clear plan in mind.  It's in the queue, kiddo.  

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

Dusting off the Cobwebs...

Can you hear the echo in here?

I've been sadly neglecting the blog because I've taken a little sewing sabbatical over the summer and there wasn't a whole lot to blog about!  But I've started to dust the cobwebs off the old sewing machine and I'm catching up on some past due Scrapbeelicious blocks!  But before I show off some blocks later this week, let me show you the last project that I tackled before my sewing mojo went on strike :)

The last summer dress that I tackled was a huge success and so while I was riding on a garment-making high, I also decided to try the second pattern that I bought which was the Leanne Marshall #1877 pattern for Simplicity.  I actually went back into the large cut of Honey Honey that I got in the big old February fabric binge and got down to work.

Am I the only one who feels like the pattern piece cutting and marking are the longest steps to the garment making process?  Or maybe I've just picked out some good patterns lately?  Either way, I was pretty happy because in two days I had a finished dress!

The details in this pattern are so pretty!  From the flutter detail on the shoulders to the perfect pleats at the waist, this is delicate (but not too precious) from head to toe.

If I had to make it over again, or if I went back and made a second one, I'd add some side darts to cut down on the underarm wings and give the sleeves a bit more definition.  And maybe I'd bring up the v-neck a bit.  It can get a little gape-errific and my chest doesn't really need the extra attention ;)

This dress got worn quite a bit - but not nearly as much as my other two - over this summer.  It even made an appearance at the last SMQG meeting where quite a few of us were wearing our handmade lovelies :)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

Summer Dress and No Stress...

I've done a fair amount of sewing for the girls, which always feels pretty satisfying.  The results are super cute and you don't need to worry about everything fitting perfectly because things always need to be a little big so that they've got room to grow.  With adult clothing, this is not always the case and I've had one too many patterns that look great on the package, but then after all that effort and expense, look terrible on my body type.

But there are way too many of my friends, online and in real life, that are super talented garment makers and the temptation to try something new for myself was just too great.  Even though I have the half-made Washi dress still lingering in the WIP pile, I came across two patterns that I was itching to try for myself.

I started out with Simplicity 2886 and the green Amy Butler sari fabric that I purchased in the great Fabric Binge of 2014.  With only 7 pattern pieces and a fairly forgiving silhouette, I figured that I didn't have too much to lose.

As usual, I think that ironing and cutting takes more time that many of the other steps and this time it was true - mostly because I was trying to figure out how to cut out the pieces so that the border of the skirt as well as the waistline could utilize the pretty selvage edge of the fabric but I had already hacked into it for the details on one of the girls' summer dresses.  Oops!  But once I figured out how to cut everything out and moved onto the actual sewing, things came together pretty darn quick and 24 hours later, I had a dress!

Photo courtesy of my 6-year old photographer :)

Granted, the fit was a little snug around the bust, but not uncomfortably so and when you've got a slightly larger chest size, a higher neckline doesn't do it too many favors.  But still, it was wearable and I could breathe and I loved it!

After a couple days in a row of wearing it and feeling pretty proud of myself, I went out and bought this beautiful butterfly fabric (Anna Maria Horner I think?) that I had wistfully thought would make a great dress but didn't think I had the chops to make good use of.  The second time around, I made the next size up and dropped the neckline a few inches.

It seemed fairly easy to do, but I did have to add in a couple extra darts under the armpit region so that I didn't have wings sticking out that would give people a peep show of my bra. Once that was done, it was a perfect fit!

These two dresses have become a staple in my summer wardrobe and I wear them almost weekly.  I think it's time to get going on the next pattern so that I don't wear these out by the beginning of July :)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

Pixie Stix and Strawberries...

With summer approaching (hypothetically) and a dress-up holiday behind us, I have seen post after post of adorable kids clothing in the past few weeks.  The last time I attempted garment sewing was the two Frozen costumes I made at the beginning of this year, and regular clothing was quite a while before that.  With some perfect fabric burning a hole in my stash, I'm throwing my hat in the ring using a go-to favorite pattern and a brand new one (new to me, anyhow!).

This fabric with all the falling rainbow Pixie Stix just screams "make me into a cute dress" - I love fabrics that have great details you can place along a bottom hemline! I bought two yards of this and was shockingly able to make it stretch into two dresses.  

For my oldest daughter, I used my favorite Carla C Simply Sweet dress pattern in a size 6.  I used some scraps of eyelet to make the ruffled straps, and more stash finds for the pink sash and the petticoat with the orange and pink bottom ruffle.

Even though the dress for little sis was going to be the same focus fabric, I still wanted her dress to be unique, so I bought the Tye Die Diva's Daydreamer dress pattern and made it in a 3T size with difference colors for the sash and bottom ruffle.  

Similar but different enough to stand out!  

I've also had the strawberry prints from Heather Ross's Briar Rose line for ages and had bought them specifically for kids clothing.  I made another Daydreamer dress in a 6/7 size with a few alterations.  I added a lining to the skirt and the bodice and omitted the bottom ruffle to let the strawberries shine. 

All of these dresses tie in the back and the bodices are generously sized, so I might even get two summers of wear out of each!  I forgot how satisfying it is to begin and end a project in a single day.  Maybe all the practice I'm getting out of these children's clothing pieces means that I should get back onto finishing something for myself?

Linking up: 

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

For the First Time in Forever...

"...I finally understand" the ridiculous patience and practice that it takes to make fabric paint look decent.

Seriously, this Princess Anna costume is finished and (I think) looks pretty good but is the result of 2 loooong weeks of work.  Princess Anna's "adventure" dress from Frozen is beautiful but has a daunting number of details.  We've got a scalloped skirt with embroidered details in and on top of each scallop, an embroidered vest with gold edging and an aqua undershirt.  Yeesh.

I used this fantastic tutorial from Coletterie on how to create a scalloped skirt.  The inside points of my scallops definitely left a lot to be desired, but at least I know how I would improve upon them if I had to do it all over again.  I used Royal Kona for the topskirt and a lavender Fairy Frost for the underskirt.  After studying online photos and the kids' plush and action Anna dolls, I made my own stencils on thin plastic template sheets and then filled in the details with Tulip slick fabric paints.  It took a couple days to work my way all around the entire hem and some of my details are way more sloppy than others.  But even at a few steps distance, the mistakes aren't particularly noticeable.

With the Queen Elsa costume, I made a frankenpattern using some designs that I already had on hand.  For the Anna vest, I had nada.  Instead I kept on creating muslin pattern pieces until I came up with the right design that a) captured the different shapes of the neckline and waist and b) actually fit over her head without being too tight in one spot and too loose in another.

It took 3 attempts - not too, too bad!  A black Fairy Frost gave the top the appearance of texture with a very subtle sheen.  Instead of using fabric paint again on the bodice, I created more templates on construction paper and did some raw edge applique using Wonder Under and as small of a zigzag stitch as I could manage.

The lines still looks bulkier than on Anna's costume, but that's the difference between embroidery and applique, right?  Actually, I did use more fabric paint here but only for the small dots that didn't seem worth the effort to applique.

I bound the armholes, waistline and neckline like you would bind a quilt with gold satin.  It was super slippery to work with and ended up (again) being bulkier than I wanted, but overall it looks okay.  This was the part where I was least happy with the results, but that doesn't seem to bother little sis in the slightest.

Just ignore the golfball sized snowflakes streaking past....

By far the easiest part of the costume was the aqua undershirt.  I found a long-john style 3/4 sleeve white t-shirt on clearance and just dyed it to match Anna's shirt.  Shortcuts, people!  Take them where you can!

As if on cue, we received another snowstorm yesterday - looks like Mother Nature thought that Anna needed her own truly Frozen photoshoot.  I couldn't help but take a picture of the two sisters all dressed up...they look pretty good if I do say so myself.  :)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday!