It’s the end of the month when I take stock of what I’ve been up to in the sewing room. What have you been making this month?
Sequin toddler dress
I made this sweet dress for my daughter. We had a family wedding to go to, and pretty last minute I couldn’t find a dress that was A)nice enough for a wedding and B)actually fit her. The overskirt is lace leftover from my Day and Night Dress Challenge 2018 dress.
I mashed up Jalie 2805 with the skirt from an Ottobre dress. It’s all lined to keep the sequins from itching her.
And I all but hazmat protected my sewing room from all the sequins. I’m proud to say that I’ve only found a handful of stray sequins! Learn how to sew sequin fabric without going bananas!
Work in progress…
I’m working on an ITY knit dress. My friend Viv and I bought the same fabric in Atlanta. Hilariously enough, we’ve both cut out our projects and not finished them. This lady will have a faux wrap skirt with some added ruffles!
A shirt that needs a cup of coffee
I couldn’t pass up this donut jersey from Peekaboo Pattern Shop. Actually, I have to not stalk their site in general too often. They’ve become my favorite source for kids’ fabrics. Check them out and others along with 200+ more shops in the Ultimate Jumbo Mega Guide to Online Fabric Stores.
P.S. I put together an additional guide for that post that’ll really help you be an online fabric shopping ninja. That one is in the new Resource Library, and you can sign up for all that goodness below.
Back to the shirt…
It’s another Jalie 2805, and my daughter’s been wearing it non-stop since I finished it for this 4 Pro Ways to Sew a T-shirt Neckline.
This top took forever until it didn’t.
I finally finished this embroidered applique t-shirt. I used one of ThanksIMadeThem’s stencils to make a faux bolero. In between soccer practices waiting in the car last fall season, I did all of the hand embroidery that tacks the lighter blue pieces to the base soy jersey from Fancy Tiger.
It was not a quick process, and I really did limit myself to working on it just at soccer because I knew if I didn’t, I’d never get anything else finished. In fact, I found a almost finished piece in the side pocket of my van door and decided it needed to be finished post haste. An hour later, I was twirling.
Mini Hudson Pants for the boy crew
My boys all love their Mom-made pjs, and I stepped up my game by making them a round of True Bias Mini Hudsons. In theory, they could work being worn outside of the house.
I beefed them up with some added knee patches. Knee patches because my boys manage to put holes in pajamas. I don’t even know how that’s possible, but then, I’m not a boy with a love for sports, LOL! Learn how to add your own knee patches for kids’ pants.
Maxi dress refashion
The last thing I made this month was a recreation of a top I made for the Sew Much Talent retreat in Atlanta. I was able to be one of the presenters, and I way upped my refashioning game since that’s what I was teaching on! This asymmetric top was one of the things I wore for the weekend.
I made it from an old maxi dress. I always meant to make a full tutorial for it, and I did just that, making this maxi dress refashion in this fun green tie dye print. My favorite part (besides the asymmetry–an element that my husband rightly accuses me of being obssessed with)? The nice sharp mitered corners on the front and back.
Besides the one I used in this top, here’s 3 total ways to sew a mitered corner.
So that’s what’s been going on in my sewing room this past month.
I’m curious to know what you’ve been stitching lately! Hit me up in the comments!
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.
I always feel like I didn’t sew much when I’m sewing for clients, for which I get very few pics. But I got a jacket made and another cut out. And I refashioned 2 dresses.
That is definitely true Carrie. I always forget to take pics when I’m sewing for others–that or I have unwilling models, LOL! I love that top that you did that used to be a dress! It was screaming to be a top–so fun!