Quick Bags for Travelling Necessities

I'm almost on my way back to the States by the time this post goes live, but I wanted to show y'all a quick 30 minute project I whipped up while packing.

My mom wanted some little bags to keep her passport and goods in that is distinct from ziploc bags so people can't see what's in them. 

Aren't the polka dot gradients pretty centered? I tried making the dots line up along the side. Considering I spent 15 minutes (max) on each bag, I think I did a pretty decent job, though I didn't capture a picture of it.

I cut out 2 9"x10" rectangles and quickly sewed up these bags with some leftovers. Add some matching ribbon from the stash as drawstrings, and voila!

A cute little pouch for the road. My mom wants me to mention that they're perfect little gift bags (and cheaper!), if you need something fancy.

FO: Avacado Hoodie

I was super fortunate to be one of Marie's pattern testers for the wonderful Avacado Hoodie. I made a freaking sweatshirt, y'all!!!!! Who does that?! Oh yea--me! Whaaaaat?!

Smug is definitely how I feel about this!

Just to make y'all feel the jealously a tiny bit more (I swear I'm not this self-centered in real life), the day after I got the pattern from Marie, I received a FabricMartFabrics.com order. I had thrown in one of those Mystery Bundles, and I got.... 2.25 yards of sweatshirt fleece in that bundle! This is supposed to run $12.99/yard on their website, but I got it for the equivalent of $1.50/yard. Yea-that's right. This sweatshirt basically cost me $3.

Whatev's. I'm not counting that much, because--dude--pockets!

I had some grey cotton jersey leftovers from a Renfrew that I've never finished (can't find the pattern to recut a thinner sleeve...). I think it did the job. 

Maybe I should spend some moolah that I saved on lotion to work on those ashy fingers. I probably just need a vat of vaseline to really get the job done.

And if I twist a tiny bit, there's another pocket!

That the Man can put his hands into! (Family-friendly-ish blog, y'all.)

Real talk--I get major love handle emphasizers with these pockets. I think Marie's fixed this in the pattern & there's the option of leaving them out--which will definitely be the case for me the next time (or two) I make this.

But otherwise, look how freaking awesome the shape of that hoodie is. I love how it hugs me in all the right places. I was right between a size 8 and a 10. I cut a size 8 (assuming the sweatshirt fleece had some give). Well, the fleece didn't have as much give as I thought it would, but I cut a few pieces on the cross-grain, which had more stretch, so it was all good.

This picture is mostly because my hair looks alright, anddd I really should always do a sway-back adjustment. I really need to learn this at some point.

While we're on this view, dudes--the hood is awesome!!!! It is absolutely the most perfect shape. I think this pattern is 100% worth it just for the hood shape. 

But mmmm... pockets. :)

Another feature most people probably love are the thumbholes. It's not something that personally appeals to me all the time, but it's cool that Marie thought of them.

At the iteration I made this, there weren't any formal details on how to tack the thumbholes, so here it is the way Marie originally drafted them.

I actually end up wearing them folded down as such. Another real talk moment--I have thin wrists for my body type, and these wrists are snug on me.

But hole-y mole-y! I made a princess-seamed sweatshirt! Such clean lines! Beautiful drafting! Top-stitching perfection that just sink into the fleece! Hood! Pockets!

Gosh darn it. It's summer now, isn't it?

FO: Simplicity 2215-- Neener Neener, I'm a complete Copy-Cat; Blue/Green Chevron Skirt

Okay, I admit it. I'm a big, fat CHEATER. I'm not very creative or original. I'm just a copy-catter all the way. But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

You all probably know how obsessed I am with Andrea of Four Square Walls, already. Well, when I saw this skirt on her blog, I just absolutely had to have it right away!

I went to DenverFabrics to buy the fabric, but I stopped because I just didn't really want to be a copy cat quite yet. Well, fast forward approximately a year, and I spotted 1.5 yards of this stuff on sale in the discount section when I was ordering some fabric that I actually needed (uhh... well, mostly). I decided it was just fate that I had to buy it.

And then I even had Simplicity 2215 in my stash to be an even bigger copy-catter. And I'm entirely too lazy to hand sew that hem or even do more than just serge the hem of the lining. But (paragraph filled with horrible sentence structure), I LOVE the weight of this skirt. It's absolutely perfectly flow-y. I just love sashaying around in it all day.

I wasn't so sure how a pleated skirt would look on me, but since the fabric and the lining are both so light, I think it turned out just fine. This shows how I didn't get an invisible zip, nor did I do a lapped zip, nor does the zipper even really match (if you see it in person). That is how I roll, son! However--I totally did put a zipper in right next to a pocket. That makes me pretty baller, if I say so myself.

Mods:

-My sizing was all approximate, but I think I ended up with a size 16 waistband and a size 14 skirt fullness.

-didn't do button tab

-cut off about 1.5 inches off of skirt length.

-pleated in my own way; the pleats that the pattern was suggesting were cray-cray!

-cut 2 inches shorter than a size 20, but ended up cutting off an extra 2 inches beyond that.

-added a lining; cut the lining in an approximate A-line, so that the top of the skirt pieces were just about 2 inches larger than the waist band. That way, the gathers I put into the top of the lining didn't add unnecessary fullness/weight in an unflattering location.

Here you can see how I tried pleating for the majority of the skirt so that the green chevrons lined up mostly. You can also see how I definitely got some unintentional gathers into that beast, too. If I had planned this out more before cutting the fabric, I would have made all green pleats, but it might have been too full for my taste--perhaps.

Well, I must say--I have a very cute, cheery skirt for this weather!

The Deets:

Zipper: $1 (from this Craigslist find)

Main Fabric: 1.5 yds = $6.50 from DenverFabrics.com

Crepe Lining: 1.5 yds @ $2.39/yd = $3.59 from Fabric.com

Sewing Maintenance: $5

Pattern: $2.13

Total: $18.22

Me-Made-May 2013: Days 1-8

By the time this post is up, I have jetted out of the country! I've been really enjoy wearing a bunch of me-mades, but what's really coolest of all is that it has been a surprising breeze. The hardest part is actually documenting what I've worn.

May 1: Putting in some effort for MMM '13 Day 1!

Dress: Simplicity 2209

Cardigan: Gap, really old

Belt: J. Crew, old

May 2: Last Day of Finals!

Top: Gap, old

Skirt: Me-Made, unblogged; used about 1 yard of quilting cotton from The French Seam to make a simple rectangle skirt with an elastic waist band.

May 3: Recovering from Finals

Top: Banana Republic, old

Skirt: Simplicity 2226, not yet blogged; Fabric from FabricMartFabrics.com

May 4: Day trip with the Man to Chicago to enjoy end of the semester

Top: Tiny Pocket Tank, not yet blogged; Fabric from clearance rack at WalMart

Skirt: New Look 6107, not yet blogged; Linen/Rayon blend fabric from Fabric.com

May 5: Lazy Day at home (didn't even finish the laundry)

Dress: Macaron

May 6: Back to work (still didn't finish laundry)

Shirt: Old Navy, old

Skirt: Me-Made, unblogged; Used from the generous leftovers from this project to make a rectangle skirt with an elastic waistband.

May 7: More Hectic than I appear

Shirt: Butterick 5216, not yet blogged

Skirt: Simplicity 2215, not yet blogged.

May 8: Packing

Dress: Simplicity 2209

Cardigan: Banana Republic, old.

How have y'alls MMMMMMMMMMmmmmMMMMmmm's been going?

FO: New Look 6107

I needed another skirt for clinic, so I wanted to make a wool houndstooth pencil skirt. I was going for an Erika B. look, but I just do not live up to her level of fabulosity!

Unfortunately, all of the pictures are taken after a full day of work, and boy do I look it!

The skirt did not do a bad job of holding up to all of the bending, walking around, and general wear and tear I put on daily-work clothes (a.k.a. not much--ha!)

I put in a lining, using a few tutorials. A Fashionable Stitch's series on pencil skirts, especially the back vent lining part was invaluable. This experiment produced a few questions for me:

1. What exactly is the purpose of all linings? Sometimes, I think it's because the garment would be too see through. Sometimes, it seems as if it's to help the garment hang better. Sometimes, I think it's to help give the garment a nice weight. Any other suggestions?

2. How does one best hem a lining versus a skirt? I just sewed my lining into the skirt. Is this what should be done or are you supposed to hem them separately? I guess this answer has something to do with Question #1.

 

I made View D of New Look 6107. I still need to make the adorable top that comes with it, which is what I originally bought the pattern for. However, I wanted a pencil skirt, and after trolling around pattern review, I realized I had one in my stash all along.

I also made a lapped zipper, but I think I lapped it too much. Thanks to Retha's suggestion, I used the Noodle-Head Tutorial and looked into the Vicki Kate Makes tutorial for future reference.

So the mods to this thing are:

1. Cut an 18 at waist; almost 16 at hip; graded down to 14 at knees. This ended up being too big, so I went down a size at each step for the next one. (There was a 2nd one!)

2. Decreased length by 2 inches

For future reference:

I should actually start sewing the lining to zippers.

The lining was way too static-y!

The waist was very uneven! My shoddy sewing skills definitely need improvement in this area.

Overall, the skirt does the job and got compliments, though it wasn't my favorite make thus far.

The Cost:

Zipper: $1.27

Lining: $0.80 (Feels like Bemberg Rayon) from Craigslist awesomeness

Fabric: $4.49*7/8= $3.93 from Fabric.com

Pattern: Approx $4.27

Sewing Maintenance: $5

Total: $16.95

FO: Baby Bibs and Burpcloths

Fair warning, I was kind of on a baby kick in the beginning of this semester. The next few posts will show all of that off.

I made a bunch of bibs

and a bunch of burpcloths.

I had several fat quarters in my stash, and I realized I wasn't quilting as often as I had hoped.

I had some white flannel in my stash from a JoAnn's sale for $0.99 per yard.

When I peruse the web, I'm constantly pinning things to my Pinterest boards. I had pinned these wonderful tutorials on how to make your own bibs and burpcloths. I realized that one fat quarter would make a set, and Bam! I made a ton.

I even had snaps in my stash perfect for this. Unfortunately, I kind of messed up one of the snaps so it had to be velcro. I realized that velcro was infinitely easier and probably better in terms of possible choking hazards. Lesson learned.

All of these took only a few evenings for me, one of the slowest sewists out there. Oooh! Good blog name. Anyway, since a lot of my friends are getting married now, this is perfect stock for when they'll start popping. If you're looking for a quick satisfying project & have an expecting someone in your life, this is a great project!