Projects in the Queue

I am so excited! There are several projects that are in my sights right now. Although nothing is set in stone yet I am looking forward to everything. If some of them ended up not working out, thats fine. I am just happy people thought about me to present these to me in the first place.

(The order in which they are listed is not necessarily the order in which they are needing to be completed)

Project One:

My best friend is getting married either this spring or next spring. There is a possibility that I will be making the wedding dress and the 5 bridesmaid dresses. I am super excited about the idea. I will admit it is a little bit intimidating, but exciting nonetheless.

Project Two:

A coworker of mine has a daughter that goes to anime conventions and is into cosplay. I have been talking with my coworker and she has asked me if I might be able to make her daughter a costume. I think it will be fun. This would also be the first thing that I would get paid to do. YAY!

Project Three:

Another coworker has asked me if I will hem some pants and repair a torn pocket for him. This would also be a paying gig.

Project Four:

My aunt has been invited to a themed wedding. She needs a gypsy costume to go. Clothing is not her strong suit so she has asked me to help her make her costume.

Project Five:

A friend of mine has also contacted me about doing some tailoring/alterations for some costumes/clothes that he is using in a movie he is making.

These are all the outside projects for now. This doesn't count anything that I do for my own satisfaction. I am starting to get people to come to me for stuff. These are my first steps out into the world with my sewing. I am super excited for the potential ahead of me.

Dress from Altered Pattern

I originally set out to make a sixty's mod kind of dress. Not really my own person style, but it was a cute pattern. After getting the back and front sewn together I realized (and with some thoughts from my husband) that the dress would look much better without sleeves. So this is we ended up with...

The dress originally had 3/4 length sleeves with big cuffs on the bottom.

(http://www.simplicity.com/p-3174-missesmiss-petite-dress.aspx the black and white one in the bottom corner if you are interested)

Like I said, I changed things after the front and back were already sewn together. To get the racer back style I put a tank top over the dress and traced the outline of the arm holes. To finish the arm hole i cut strips of fabric on the bias and attached it.

The collar was a pain. But then again, they always are. Originally I planned to add a jewelry piece where the top of the cut out and the collar connect. It didn't look right. The shape of the point of one side didn't come out right. When I sewed it, I sewed it at closer to a 90 degree angle rather than a gentle curve. I didn't notice that it was like that and I clipped it. I don't like collars so I didn't redo it. I was also supposed to make it so that a button was on the collar. I opted not to add that part so that I could add the jewelry piece. Since that didn't work out, I overlapped the collars and straight stitched across them to hold them together.

I also installed an invisible zipper in the back. The pattern calls for a hook and eye at the top of the zipper, but I installed it so that I don't need it. Hooks and eyes are a hassle. I haven't learned how to apply them properly and/or neatly.

It didn't turn out 100%. But again I learned from it. I learned if you are gonna make alterations you should probably plan that out BEFORE you sew things together. I also learned that I need to remember to measure one side against the other. Its a little hard to see, but the fabric on either side of the front cut out is not totally even. My technique applying bias binding needs some work too.

I do love this dress. The style is fantastic. The fabric has so much color and texture. At $4.00 a yard you can't go wrong. After this dress was made I still have enough to make a cool hippie skirt. So, be prepared, you may see this fabric again in the near future.

A Repair and an Addition

My daughter goes to day care because both my husband and I work full time. I love my babysitter she is so fantastic with all the kids and makes day care/babysitting every day more like preparing for school. I love it!

Ok, back on point...

My babysitter asked if I could fix this shirt for her (it took me like 6 weeks or more to get to it because I kept forgetting.) She asked if I could fix the straps and add bra cups into it. So I told her I would try.

The straps were being held on to the shirt by the lace around the top. The lace on one side had begun to fray and was going to tear off completely at any moment. Repairing the straps was easy. I just cut the straps off and reattached them to the shirt in the same place. We lost about half an inch of lace on the very end, but overall.. NOT a big deal.

Secondly, she asked me to add bra cups to the shirt. I was not sure on how this was going to work. But it went smoother than expected. I went to Joann's and bought a bikini bra insert. I sewed a lightweight cotton fabric to the side of the cup that would be against the skin. The texture of the bra cup its self would not have been comfortable. Once I did that, I sewed the cups to the inner lining of the shirt. This was great because there was already a lining. I didn't have to make one so the seams would not show on the front of the shirt. If there had not been a lining, I would have made one and attached it. The only thing I would have done differently really is the serging. I did not think to serge the liner on the cup to the cup until after I had already attached it to the shirt. I serged it, but it was not as neat as it could have been. But I'm still glad I did it. The edge of the cup looks a lot neater now even if its not perfect.

I am interested in how to perfect the built in bra. It was a bit difficult to figure out how I was going to approach it, but I am looking forward to working with that element some more.