Dress Week: Make Your Own Dress!

So, we've taken a look at some shopping options you have for dresses...but you can also make your own! Tutorials range from super easy to super complicated--I have compiled a ton of different dress tutorials on my new "Make A Dress" pinterest board!

I love to make the tank top/fabric skirt dress (seen here!)


Check it out and let me know if you get inspired to make a dress!!

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2013 Goal - Make a Quilt!

I've been saying that I want to make a quilt for forever - 2013 is the time to do it!

I received Denyse Schmidt's "Quilts" book for Christmas and bought The 7 Day Quilt at our local used bookstore. Between the two, I should be able to figure out what to do and tackle this project!

The major problem is that I feel overwhelmed when I think about making a quilt because I'm not a perfectionist - all my sewing projects tend to be slightly wonky. :)

When I bought the bag of quilt pieces in Gatlinburg, I vowed that I would make a quilt before we returned to Gatlinburg the next year...which means I have 10 months to tackle this! It's a great winter project - I should start NOW...but I'm scared!!

I do need some input on the quilt pieces - I went through them and separated out the ones I wanted to keep, the ones that were cut into shapes that made no sense to me, and the fabric that I didn't want to keep. As I was going through them though, they smelled...really bad. They are all pre-cut so I'm afraid if I wash them, they will fray to pieces...and I'm not sure Febreze will help. Any input??

If I don't use the pre-cut quilt pieces, then I will probably try this quilt-as-you-go strip quilt.

I gotta be honest though...this process terrifies me!!

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Make, Make, Make, Sew, Sew, Sew

Make, Make, Make, Sew, Sew, Sew / Let's all sew things! / Let's all sew things!

(to the tune of "Shake Your Groove Thing" if you couldn't tell)

Sorry for the cheese.

I have been really inspired to sew and work on projects. Last weekend, my sunglasses broke and I picked up a replacement pair and wanted to make sure they stayed safe in my wasteland of a purse. I came home and immediately started googling sunglasses case tutorials.

I ended up using this tutorial with slight modifications. I made my case a little bigger and sewed on my velcro rather than using iron-on velcro.

TA DA! It was really easy!

I want to work on more projects in the upcoming weeks:

• Sprocket pillows - so cute and so many possibilities with different fabrics
• Chevron tote bag - this is a good looking tote bag!!
• and this week I made more dresses! It is the easiest project and so rewarding! I love being able to make my own clothes even though I can't sew from a pattern.

What are your favorite, easy-peasy sewing projects? I need more sewing in my life!

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Easy Quilted Patchwork Bibs

I saw this pin from a blogger named Jaime Young (what a coincidence, right?) of Sew She Sews for quilted bibs. I fell in love with them and with my sister-in-law due to give birth in July, I was so excited to make some bibs to give to her at her baby shower!

I used a coupon at Joann Fabrics and picked out several flannel and cotton fabrics that I thought coordinated well. I picked out woodland creatures, monkeys, two different kinds of stripes, cute number fabric, and brown circle fabric. I had so much fun piecing them together and coming up with different combinations and Jaime's instructions are so easy to follow! I had never sewn anything like this before and it went so well (I normally mess up a LOT while sewing). I highly recommend her tutorial and pattern!!

Here are the bibs I made!

Here's Staci at her shower, opening the bibs!

I think this is a great project for a beginning sewer who has completed some projects (like pillows and the easy dress) and is ready to try something new!

I had so much fun quilting these bibs that I even became tempted to try an actual quilt!! Something simple and modern like this one or even this "sew as you go" quilt. Those are my kinds of projects!!

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DIY: Make a Dress!

Pinterest tells me that 9 weeks ago I pinned this pin that shows how to make your own dress from fabric and a tank top.

It's so, so easy and I became so, so obsessed! I have made 5 dresses so far - here are my 3 favorites.

I have plans for many more- I just gotta find the hour to carve out and focus! I have learned a lot along the way - be sure to enclose your hems so the fabric doesn't fray - OR just use the selvage at the bottom of your skirt and then you don't have to do anything!

All the tank tops are cheapos from Wal-mart ranging from $3-$4! The first skirt fabric was $1.50 a yard at our new Wal-Mart, the middle dress is made from fabric from JoAnn, and the third dress is made from thrifted fabric that I've had for years!

This is such an easy way to make affordable dresses! I love them!

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Time To Sew: Pillows

Sew, sew, sew! I've been trying to work on a few projects around the house and we had some couch pillows that were falling apart after years of use. I bought some fun fabric at our local fabric shop, Textile*, and made a few pillow cases following this tutorial (minus the ruffle).

I picked up a subtle gray and white pattern that reminds me of bunting and then a teal flower fabric that coordinates well with the 2 teal cushions I got on clearance-clearance at Urban Outfitters. (The first time I ever went to our local UO, they were running a 50% off sale on their clearance items! The cushions were originally $40 each and I got each for $10!)

click to see the photo larger!

I had never made envelope-closure pillows before but I like them! I have a ton of zippers that but they are slightly more complicated to sew and since I haven't sewn much in the past year, I wanted to start back on an easier project. This was the perfect project to get my sewing gears turning! I hope to have more projects to share soon, but with a new puppy, I am not sure how much time I will have for sewing!

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Speaking of sewing - my talented friend Heather of Joy of All Crafts is an amazing quilter, crafter, and blogger! Yesterday, she featured my single bloom bouquet tutorial - check it out here and follow her blog! (Need extra incentive? Soon she will be posting an interview with Emily Henderson!)

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**Textile's 40% off sale lasts through Saturday! Head on in to grab a great deal!

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