Making Clothes

Lately I've been on a bit of a clothes making kick. I made an infinity/convertible dress, which I have no pictures of except this one from Instagram:

I know. Super glamorous bathroom shot. I promise I'll get better pictures soon! It was really simple to make. Only took me 2 hours start to finish (I didn't hem anything though). I followed this tutorial minus the tube top part. I think I have enough fabric left to add one, though, so I might be doing that. It's such a fun dress, though! I might be making 3 more as bridesmaids dresses for my friend's upcoming wedding :)

I also made myself a Sorbetto tank top.

I'm not the biggest fan of this fabric. In this picture it looks like little white dots, which would be wonderful, but they're actually white dots with green dots inside. It's okay, but not great. But I got it at Joann for like $2/yard, so I thought it would be good for my first attempt at this pattern! So think of it as kind of a muslin ;) It was a nice, easy pattern to follow. And it was free, so that's a huge plus! I think the shape is great for a basic tank and once I make a few little changes (like better fabric!), it could easily become a summer staple.

You can see the little pleat in front better here. On my next version, I am going to make it longer for sure. I really don't like shirts that show my tummy when I lift my arms and this one will definitely do that. I will also move the darts slightly lower. I feel like they hit me a little too high. I already made the alterations on the paper pattern. Now it's just a matter of sewing up version 2!

I really want to start making more of my own clothes. They're so practical and there's such a sense of accomplishment when you finish a wearable, well fitting garment. So satisfying! So look out for more posts about clothes here ;)

Did you finish anything this week?

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Working through the Stress

In the interest of getting back into this whole blogging thing... Here is something I actually managed to finish during all this craziness. It hasn't been a productive few weeks, but the sewing I did manage was so calming! I really appreciated having a hobby that could take my mind off things for a while.

Without further ado...

I love how the orange and grey turned out together. The little star is paper pieced from a pattern I drew up myself. I feel like I put the strap on the wrong side, though. Is there a right side for a wrist strap?

Designing this was good therapy. I again added card slots to the inside and a pocket for a phone or cash. This one is a little different inside than the others. The others had the card slots built into the side. This one has them built into the pocket, if that makes sense. I know this photo isn't much help because it looks like there's just six card slots. But the top one is actually one whole pocket.

Would anyone be interested in a little tutorial for these? And also, where do you think is better for the card slots- built into one side of the pouch or on the front of the cash/phone pocket?

What have you been working on this week? Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Work in Progress: Mini Quilt

I know I have been totally MIA lately. Things have been stressful and hectic in the work and family realms these past couple of weeks. There were hospitals involved and crazy, ridiculous deadlines on top of that at work. But don't worry, everyone is okay now, no more hospitals, and life has started to go back to normal.

I haven't achieved much in the way of sewing lately, unsurprisingly. I have finally started working on my mini quilt for the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap (IG: #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap), though! Originally I thought I would do a paper pieced star sampler... But then I made one star using the Atomic Star pattern by Wombat Quilts and loved it so much, I didn't want to make any more. So instead, this will be the focal point:

And it will be surrounded by a couple of borders. Including one that is made up of tiny flying geese! Most of the geese will use prints from Tula Pink's Acacia and some solids :D I'm really excited to see it all come together and REALLY hoping I have enough gray fabric. Eee! I might be cutting it a little close! We'll see how it goes.

I'm really looking forward to being back around more often, reading blogs, writing blog posts, and keeping up with the world! At one point I had over 250 unread blog posts in my feed. I picked through and read one here and there, but mostly I just let them go. Better to start fresh, don't you think?

What have you been working on these past couple of weeks?