I can’t believe August is already nearly over! It’s been a busy month with travel and getting back to school and my teaching schedule and the start of soccer. This month I’ve been finishing up projects m my and doing a few quick projects. Here’s what I’ve been sewing in August 2019.
Table of Contents
My sewing August 2019
Sewing for my kids
Jalie Nico tees
For my boys, I made up some Jalie Nico raglan tees. They’re all partial refashions. The body of each tee is made up of some really fun fabrics I found at Peekaboo Pattern Shop, and all the sleeves and neckbands are from upcycled tees. The shark shirt was a particular favorite. I’ve been searching for shark fabric for my 2nd son for almost a year!
I’d been wanting to try the Nico for a long time. My oldest son has finally outgrown the Ottobre raglan pattern I’ve been using, so the Nico with all its sizes from 2 through men was a good step up. Plus it’s on my list of raglan tee patterns for everyone, so I had to try it so I could have an opinion, right?
Soccer Drawstring backpacks
Back to school means Fall soccer for my boys, and they very much needed new drawstring backpacks to keep their gear organized. I still have one more to make, but so far, it’s keeping cleats, shin guards and everyone’s water bottles in the right place for our practice days.
You can make your own DIY drawstring backpack here. I’m posting a video version of this tutorial next week.
Mommy + me dress
For my Fabric Mart post this month, I made a Deer & Doe Bleuet. There shouldn’t have been leftovers according to the pattern envelope, but there was, and a lot.
Lucky for my daughter, I made her a matching dress. You can see our Mommy + me look at the Fabricista blog.
Zipper bags
We were at my in-laws house at the end of July and the beginning couple days of August, so I brought a couple 7 minute DIY zipper bags to stitch up for my Operation Christmas Child sewing.
On the experimental side, I also made a test zipper bag with some fabric I made with vinyl and glitter. This will be a tutorial at some point, though I’m still thinking about what to make with it. Sound off in the comments on what you’d like to see!
Sewing for me
Ice Dye Denim Jacket
I talked about this jacket in my July sewing post. At the time it only had sleeves left to put on before I wore it to do my talk at the sewing retreat in Atlanta.
My favorite part of this whole project besides the ice dye? The fly each of the 2 pairs of jeans that makes up the jacket is a sleeve vent.
Denim flowers
Bonus: I used the leftover bits of denim to make flowers. These were a great car project as we logged 1000+ miles each direction going to visit my husband’s family. Hopefully come winter, I’ll be able to put these on a hat Esther Williams style, but I think I need more flowers for that!
Quick Blank Slate Texana tank with block printing
True: I have no neutral colored tanks. I got an idea to style my Deer & Doe Bleuet I made for Fabric Mart this month with a tank. The blue tank + pink jeans + different blue of the dress was too much!
So I sewed up a really fast Blank Slate Texana tank in ivory cotton/modal knit. I just had a tiny piece of this fabric leftover from another project. It was a happy accident though since I had a piece of embroidered mesh I’d been saving for a t-shirt yoke from a thrifted cardigan.
And because I’m now obsessed with this vintage scissors block print stamp, I added a couple of impressions with coral ink I mixed. It was a quick custom win!
Guest posting!
So that’s what’s been happening in my sewing room this month. While this has felt like a hectic month, I’m glad to see that there’s also been a lot of creativity happening. My favorite kinds of projects are the ones where one thing leads to another creative thing and another. This very phenomenon was the subject of the interview that I did for the Brightech blog.
They asked me all about How to Start a DIY Sewing Project, and it was fun to talk about my creative process. So go check that out if you’re interested!
What’s been going on in your sewing room this month?
Elizabeth Farr is the writer behind the Elizabeth Made This blog where she shares helpful sewing tips, step by step sewing tutorials and videos to help you explore your creativity through sewing. She has written sewing Eguides and patterns, been a featured teacher at Rebecca Page’s Sewing Summit and Jennifer Maker’s Holiday Maker Fest and her work has appeared in Seamwork and Altered Couture magazines. She also created a line of refashioned garments for SEWN Denver. When her sewing machine isn’t humming, she’s playing and teaching violin, and hanging around a good strategic board game with her husband and 4 kids.
That jacket is so fun! And you’ve got me curious about this glitter vinyl thing.
Thanks Becky! I’m pretty excited about it. On the scale of DIY fabrics that are easy for anyone to make, there’s definitely potential in this one!
What a great August make show. I too can hardly believe August is almost over and we’re heading to September.
Thanks Sonja! Seasons are always so short, maybe with the exception of Winter!
Hey Elizabeth!
We had a blast interviewing you, and I absolutely love that tank top. It rocks!!!
Thanks Ben! So glad to do that and to have found your awesome shop!