Textured Gauze Top with Baby Lock Sashiko

I wanted to make a light and versatile top using gauze for a while. Also, at the same time, I wanted to add texture and a unique element to it. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to use my Baby Lock Sashiko and experiment with it. I bought 1 yard of gauze at Joann’s and used Madeira premium quilting thread for this project. I made a very simple pull over top; no buttons, no zipper, no fuss. Also, I usually wear XS or S, so for this project 1 yard was enough. If you have a sewing pattern you want to use it may require more fabric or you are blessed in stature, you will need to adjust the amount of the fabric you buy. Let me share what I did to make this top.

*You will Need

1 yard of gauze (as I mentioned in the beginning, adjust this according to the design or your size)
Good quality thread
T-shirt or knit you love and want to use as a template

*How to
1. I prewashed the fabric first just in case of shrinkage and then I lightly ironed it. There is a great blog post on prewashing at Seamwork, if you are interested. Then,I trimmed the top and the bottom of the fabric to make it into a nice rectangle. I drew a diagonal line from one corner to the other corner. This is the first line you stitch on. After that I attached my quilting guide to determine where to sew next. I set it so that there would be a 1 1/4" width between the lines. It is a simple tool, but it's such a time saver when you don't have to draw each line by hand.

2. Start stitching with the Sashiko machine. It is a very different machine compared to a regular sewing machine, and it might be a bit intimidating, but once you get used to it, it is such a fun machine to play with to explore and expand your possibilities. A bit of advice I can give you from my experience is to use quality thread and keep a slow and steady speed.

3. Once you are done with stitching the whole fabric with diagonal lines going the same direction, draw another starting line in the middle from opposite corner to corner. This way, once you are done stitching, you will have a criss cross design.

4.I used a French sleeve sweater as a template. The textured fabric I created is not stretchable like a knit or sweater, so make sure to use an oversized t-shirt or sweater as a template; unless you are making a shirt with buttons or zippers. Otherwise you might not be able to pull it over your body.

Make sure to add 1/4" to 1/2" seam allowance when you cut.

5. Because the fabric will not stretch, I cut the bottom wider than the actual sweater.

6. I cut the bottom of the front panel shorter than the back, but this is totally personal preference.

7. Cut around the neckline.

8. Sew the shoulders, then I used my serger to treat the edge to keep it from fraying. You could use different stitches from your sewing machine if you don't have a serger.

9.Use the serger on the side of the fabric, from one end all the way to the other end. Mark where you want to sew on the sides. I used the sweater as a guide to where I wanted to start sewing under the armpit towards the bottom. I didn't want to sew all the way to the bottom, So I marked a few inches from the bottom as a stopping point.

10.Sew the sides, open the seam and press with an iron.

11. Sew the seam around the armhole and stitch down.

12. Press the seam around the bottom and stitch it down.

Front view...

13.I cut 1 1/4" strips to make bias tape and sergered one side and sewed the other side to the neck line.

14.Fold and press the sewed bias tape with an iron. Stitch it down.

Done!

This is just an example of what you can do with textured fabric. The possibilities are endless and I think it will be fun to make a light Jacket for fall.

Time to test drive this new top!

Olive + Navy Top with Flare Skirt

I never use broadcloth to sew clothes because I don't think the fabric drapes nicely and could make the clothing look cheap. Then, when I saw the combination of this olive and navy fabric, I immediately had an image of a finished top in my head and I couldn't resist. I broke my own rule. I used a pattern from a Japanese sewing book created by Yukari Nakano. The book contains 28 pieces of simple, sophisticated and well designed clothing; I pretty much want to make all of them. Also, what is nice about her book is that unlike many Japanese sewing books, the seam allowance is already included in the pattern! It cuts down on the process and time which is a huge plus. For the skirt, I used my favorite flare skirt pattern I drafted years ago. 

 

Overall, I love how it turned out. I feel like the front of the blouse is a little bland compared to the back, but I guess that contrast is a good thing. One thing I regret is that I wish I finished the skirt with a zipper, not with elastic. Most of the skirts I make; especially now are with elastic... I am staying home most of the time, I want to stay comfortable. Though, in this case it would look much nicer with a regular waistband without getting bulky when I tuck the blouse in. Well, we live and learn, right?

It's too cold to wear this by itself now, but I am looking forward to next Spring and Summer.

Liberty of London Top & Skirt

Where do I start to explain my love for Liberty of London fabrics? Ever Since I laid my eyes on Liberty of London fabric decades ago (I think I was in Jr. high), I have been a huge fan of their beautiful prints.  I got my first job in high school and bought my first Liberty tana lawn fabric. Even though it was a small pack of precuts, and I didn't know what I was going to make with them, I was so happy that I finally had a piece of beautiful and fine designed fabric in my possession.  Over the years I have bought from them here and there with the intent of sewing something, but cutting into gorgeous print is extremely hard for me! What if I mess it up, what if  I don't care for the clothing I made or I might find a pattern I like better?  Ugh... Welcome to the world of indecisiveness. 

If you have been reading my blog for a long time, you might know this, but I have used them for smaller projects such as; Shoes makeover, Mod podge mini tree, fabric thread on the wood spool ornament, Christmas ornament, and button bracelet. 

Ok, I got a little side tracked, let me go back to the fabric and this project... you might ask why I finally decided to use these precious fabrics. As usual, I was looking at my collection and thought to myself "well, my daughter is not interested in sewing, and I never know how long I am going to live. Why am I just letting that fabric sit on the shelf? What kind of "special occasion" am I waiting for?? I should totally sew something with them and enjoy it while I can!! I was going through another health issue at the time (it turned out ok, not life threatening) and made me think of organizing my life better;  both lifestyle and things I own. I took the plunge and decided to sew a wearable. Guess what? I have no regrets!

I used the patterns I drafted a few years ago, and modified them to create this look. I love how it turned out, but I would make a few changes to the skirt if I was ever going to make same skirt again. Also, I like how the back of the top turned out, but it was not planned. While I was cutting the fabric, I realized that I didn't have enough main fabric to sew the top, so I had to improvise and added the secondary fabric to the back, haha, I am looking forward to wearing this through the fall, I am thinking about where I put my favorite navy sweater...

Sewing ~ Strip Knit Set Up

First of all, please let me apologize to the people who left comments on the post about my breast cancer journey a few months ago Breast Cancer Awareness Month and My Story, This is the Morning and Update ~ Post Surgery. I didn't get an email notification for the comments and didn't know there were comments for the posts. I happened to be poking around and found a bunch of comments and I was so touched by each one of your kind comments. I am so sorry that I didn't reply to them, but I deeply appreciate them. I changed the setting, so now I finally get email notifications.

I can't believe it has been almost 6 months from my mastectomy. I had quite a rough time after the surgery from the reaction to the anesthesia, bleeding problems on both breasts resulting in me going back to surgery the next day, infections and low grade fevers that lingered for a few months. I just didn't feel like writing a post about it during that time. My fever finally went away and the last couple of months I have been sewing a lot more and enjoying my family. But this morning, I am ready to go back in to get the second part of reconstruction surgery. Wish me luck!

In the month of March, I sewed several clothes using the fabrics I already had. It was a very good experience to revisit the fabrics and patterns I already had and complete the projects. I am very much motivated to continue this even though it is April, in fact, I would love to keep going till I use up all my apparel fabrics. I finished this knit set up a couple days ago.

I have been looking for a T-shirt with V-neck in the back, but I never found one with just the right amount of opening. I drafted a pattern and made this one and I. love. it! I found this knit probably a year or two ago and couldn't decide what to do with it, so I stashed it in my closet. I am usually intimidated by knits, but this one is thicker and it was much easier to work with.

Clothing like this is comfortable to wear, you can mix and match with other things, and with the right accessories you could instantly look put together and that is exactly what I love about them. My newest project is also a knit set up with a slightly different design. I didn't have time to take pictures, so I will share it after I recover from the surgery. Stay tuned!

Floral Hues ~ Pullover Top

Have you already hear about Floral Hues designed by Sue Daley? She is a talented quilt and fabric designer. Also, she is well known for her amazing English paper piecing skill and knowledge. A few years ago, I had the privilege to meet her in person when she was in Utah. I will always treasure the night I spent looking at her beautiful quilts and talking with her.

I was given a chance to work with her new fabric collection, Floral Hue from Riley Blake Designs. I was so excited to find out that they are 100% cotton lawn. Lawn is lighter weight than regular cotton and great for making clothing as well. I decided to make a relaxed flowy top for summer and fall.

Searching for a perfect style, I came across a pattern by Simplicity; number 8417. There are several design options for this pattern, but I liked option B which combines a couple different fabrics. I chose Floral Hues Main Gray and Floral Hues Daisies Gray for my top.

I finished sewing it and I am ready to try it on!

I was wearing it at home at first, but I thought beautiful floral fabrics such as these deserve nice outside light for the photo shoot...

That's exactly what I did (Thank You Mr.Tea Rose Home!)

It was over 100 degrees outside and I was wearing this 3/4 sleeve top but because of the light weight fabric I felt fine. :)

I hope you hop on over to Riley Blake Designs to see the other color schemes. They are worth checking out!

New Year, New Attitude ~ Getting Organized

In January many of us make new year resolutions. One of the things on my list this year is to get better organized and simplify my life. When I say "Organized", that included many things. My house all the nooks and carnies, but also my schedule too. When I think about it, it is a bit over whelming, but I decided to start small and keep working at it. This is one of the small(and CHEAP!) organization project that I started a while ago, but made such a difference for me, so I will share it with you today.

I like finding inexpensive cute earrings. Not only do I take good care of things, I don't lose them and also I thought I could always give them to my daughter when she is older, I kept them and my collection grew and grew... If you are like me, one of the challenges to collecting things is to find the best way to organize them. I tried a couple different methods, but they didn't really work out for me. They look kind of organized, but it is still hard to find the ones that I want to wear for the day.

I still need to look for the other matching earring!

For this project, I bought several foam sheets. 33 cents a sheet at Walmart! Cut them to strips. I cut mine for various widths. 1" for smaller earrings and 1 3/4" to 2" for bigger earrings.

Then, made holes with an awl. It is so easy to put an awl through the foam and you can just make an indent. You could easily push the earrings through the foam, but this step will create more even placement for the holes and it looks much more organized and pretty when it's all set and done.

For the smaller earrings, I organized them like: gold, silver, rose gold, pearls and unique. This allowed me to find the earrings I want to wear for that day much faster.

For the bigger earrings, I had fun categorizing and grouping them by theme and color. I store those strips in the shallow drawers.

I used three sheets of foam which is around a dollar. This is the best way that I have organized my earrings and I love it so much! I hope you will give it a try!

Summer Blossom Dress Tutorial ~ 30 Days of Sundresses Series at Melly Sews

Guess what? I was asked to be a part of such a fun series: "30 Days of Sundresses" at Melly Sews. It is the 4th year and there are always awesome ideas and dresses. I am honored to be a part of it!

I came up with this relaxed and flowy dress for Rachel for this Summer and am loving the result! In fact I am thinking about making one for myself... of course in a bit bigger size.

It is a very simple dress to make and if you are not big on applique you can skip that part; then you can whip up the dress even faster!

When I found these fabrics and ribbon at one of my favorite local shops, I was so excited. It was very close to what I had in mind! I created this dress for my daughter and she is almost 10. Because of the nature of the dress, I assume it should fit most of the 8 to 10 year olds.

So, here is a list of things you will need to make this dress:

Shot cotton -- 2 yards
Large Flower pattern fabric -- 1 yard
Interfacing -- about one yard
Matching thread
Ribbon 2 to 3 yards

* Note --- Shot cotton is woven with two slightly different colors, creating a subtle shimmer of light and beauty! I feel like it is slightly lighter weigh than regular cotton fabric and falls nicely when you sew clothing. You can find them at Purl Soho incase you want to see more color options;

{How to}

1. Print out the PDF pattern for the top portion of the dress and for the bottom line. You might want to print out two top portions, since there are two different necklines for the front and back. Cut them out. The pattern includes the 1/2" seam allowance.

2. Right sides together fold the fabric in half vertically. Place the pattern onto the fabric; line up the straight edge on the side with folded edge on the fabric. Trace around the pattern around the neckline, shoulder and sides with washable marker or chalk. Half inch seam allowance is already included in the pattern.

3. Measure 25" from below the bust line on the pattern and mark. Extend the diagonal line on the side and use the provided template to mark on the fabric so that the bottom seam of the dress has a nice curved line.

4. With zigzag stitch (or a serger), sew on the shoulders, armhole and sides to prevent fraying.

5. Put right sides of the fabric together, sew both shoulders with 1/2" seam. Open the seam and press with an iron.

6. Sew the sides. Stop at the mark below the arm hole. Open the seam and press with an iron.

7. Fold the seam around the arm hole and press with an iron and stitch.

8. Cut 1 1/2" W x 23 to 25 inches long fabric strip in bias. Make bias tape for the neckline.

9. Line up one side of the seam to the edge of the neckline on the right side of the fabric, pin and sew.

10. Fold the bias tape towards the wrong side of the fabric, pin and do top stitch.

11. Fuse interfacing on the fabric you want to use for applique.

12. Cut out flowers...

13. Lay the flowers on the dress and pin.

14. I did free motion stitch to do this part. You will want to make sure all the outer edges are sewn (I try to stay close to the edge... about 1/8"), then you can kind of follow the design on the flowers and stitch away.

Now, the dress is completed. It is time to enjoy!

As I said in the beginning of the post, this dress has a relaxed silhouette. It is perfect for hot summer days looking pretty but super comfortable.

Psst... she is wearing short leggings underneath, she can be as active as she wants and play around too.

With a ribbon tied around her waist, the dress can transform to a different style. I honestly love both, with and without the ribbon.

When she was trying on the dress she was super excited about it and exclaimed, "I always wanted the dress like this, mom!" That, ladies...made me so happy. :)

Melissa is running a wonderful giveaway on her blog right now, make sure to hop over to see the details. Thank you for visiting everyone!