Refashioning my refashion

I didn't blog about this top after I had made it, so I will introduce you to it right now.

This shirt was originally 2 shirts and a tank top.  All stretched out, or worn out or holey.  They needed a new home, and it was either going to be back in my closet, or in a donation bin.
 I decided that I had nothing to lose by refashioning it, so I this was the start of the shirt (sorry no tank top pictures!)
The beggining of the shirt:

 This was the middle - a cowl neck shirt, with complete stain? how did I miss that!

 The end result was this tank top. I don't normally expose my arms, because if you couldn't tell I am afraid of the sun, but I needed to show 'em off for this post, YAY!

Confessions of a Fabric hoarder

I feel like I cannot re-iterate enough that I have a fabric hoarding problem.  Somedays I feel like I am trapped beneath a mountain of fabric, while 5 rubbermaid bins full of fabric isn't technically a mountain, it really feels like it.  2-3 of those bins alone are t-shirt type material.  Last night I found 3 different colours of pink (slight variations of magenta, but all 3 were different weights, and stretch) I had to stop myself from building time machine to go back and yell at myself.  Why did I buy 3 different materials that are all the same colour, and why in pink?  I don't even look good in pink!  I may be able to make a skirt or dress with a different sheer type overlay to offset this terrible pink I thought looked good on me.  But seriosuly, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.  Now on to the the other bins.  They all contain scraps and scraps of fabric, not enough to make a full outfit, but enough to drive me crazy with "what can I do with these scraps".  I jump between "crazy mish mash outfit" and "quilt".  Then I start sewing something, get frustrated, stop sewing THAT item and start a new one. which leads me to my UFO (unfinished object) bin.  I know I posted earlier about finishing my UFOs but then I see a different material that hasn't been cut yet and focus on that.  I wish my scatter brain could start and finish something in one swoop, but sometimes it takes me months, or even years to keep myself on track.  Who knew that one little hobby could turn into one big hoard?  I think I may take a picture of this hoard to show everyone in the world just how bad it's gotten.

I am trying, sincerely to reduce the hoard, it's just taking longer than I expected.

Time to start cracking the whip on my lazy butt.

Ruchey Goodness Tutorial

If there are any fellow sewers out there who actually wanted to try out the ruchey goodness shirt, I have made a tutorial for you! Here are the following steps.

Remove original neckband (if you want to reuse it, seam rip it and set it aside)

Fold front of shirt in half, mark the distance from the fold of how much you want to take out (I removed 3 inches from the centre, 6 in total)

You can either leave the middle section folded, or unfold it like I did.  You will use this piece as a template for your new section.

Take your middle piece and lay it down on the other piece of fabric that will become your new middle piece. Add once inch around the side and the top (for seam allowance)  I added 20 inches from the bottom of the original hem.  Add as much or as little as you want for desired ruching effect.

Now gather the fabric.  I gathered mine by basting, and then hand gathering. 

Pin the right sides together of the new middle piece and the front sides.

Pin your neckband to the shirt. I have also re-hemmed the bottom and taken the sleeves up

Once you are all hemmed up, you are finished, voila!!

Yea, I hate taking my own picture, that is why I am wearing those glasses.

Ruchey goodness

I have been in love with a certain top from Rickis, but since I am not in Canada, and don't feel like paying a ton of money for the shirt, plus shipping, I decided to DIY.

The shirt in question that I am trying to recreate

Forgot to take a before picture of the original top, but this is the same shirt in black.

The end result

It didn't turn out exactly like the shirt, I should have added more length to the grey section so it gathered a lot more, and also should have made it less wide.  I will still wear it, but I am trying it again with the black shirt as we speak.

Green Stripe Goodness

This shirt started out originally as a mens Large shirt.  I bought it from Old navy a while ago because it was green and stripey and I couldn't resist it.

Ignore the mess behind my mannequin, this is sort of the "catch all room".

It looks un-even, but trust me it's just the mannequin

I cut off the original neckline, dug through my scraps and found a dark emerald green that matched the green stripes on the shirt.

Elastic on the sleeves

I didn't end up cutting any length off the sleeves because I wanted to do that "elastic sleeve" look.  I found the middle of the sleeve and ran elastic from the bottom of the sleeve to the shoulder to make it look gathered.

The top ended up looking just the way I wanted, and it didn't take much effort since I didn't do much hemming of the shirt.

Hello new Toy....

Whenever I hear "toy shopping" I always imagine walking down the aisles of Target, looking at Thomas the Tank engines, or going to the Disney store, because frankly, I enjoy the Disney store as much as my kids do.  I don't spoil my kids rotten, and don't buy them toys all the time, I wish I could, but then what kind of example would I set?

Sorry, off topic, back on track, My hubby has been listening to me rant and rave for the last 5 months about how much I hate my sewing machine and how I want to throw it out a window, or set it on fire.  He either A)got tired of listening to it or B) saw the frustration I was feeling, because I asked on friday if I could get a new one and he agreed.
It's not my "dream machine" exactly, I would LOVE an embroidery machine, but that requires quite a lot of money, so it is out of the cards.....at least for a few years.  I did however find a beautiful machine that will meet all my needs, plus needs I didn't even know I had!

Meet my new toy, I haven't named her yet, but she is becoming fast friends with my serger.

Ignore the water bottle, shes a camera whore.

It's a Husqvarna Viking - Emerald 183.  What does that name mean? Well, I'm not sure, but it sure sounds fancy.  It has a bajillion more stitches than my old one, and some of those stitches include the Alphabet.  It also has several more presser feet than my old one, which is a bonus.  I have used it a few times for sewing and it's quiet and it sews like a dream.  I still have to read the manual to learn all of it's functions, the manual itself is 44 pages Small print, small pictures.  My last one was probably 20 pages, big print, and lots of pictures.   I still have so much to learn about this machine, but I'm so excited to try out different projects on it!!!

Blue Polka Dots

I think if I sew during nap time I could possibly get one dress or top or skirt done a week.  It might take me a while to bust through my stash but it seems like now that Ms.Baby takes longer naps I am able to do more.

I have had this skirt pattern on my -to sew- list for a while now (since before Ms.Baby came along).  

This is the skirt pattern cover

My finished product

The fabric for this skirt is a weird texture, sort of stiff, not very flowy, but I had enough of it that I wanted to try this skirt.  I think I will try making this skirt again, but next time I am going to use lighter weight material.  Until then I will be happy with the fact that I am finally able to start and  finish making my own clothes.