Week 4 Projects

'Lucy Cloche' from Olabelhe

Lucy Cloche from Olabelhe,
FREE Ruffled Halter from Oliver & S,
PJ Bottoms from Carolina Fair Designs

Lucy Cloche from Olabelhe,
FREE Ruffled Halter from Oliver & S,
PJ Bottoms from Carolina Fair Designs

PJ Bottoms & Shorts from Carolina Fair Designs

Ruffle-bum sunsuit

Big Girl Sunsuit

Burda Style 'Lydia' Top - love this one!

'Lifestyle Wardrobe' Butterick 3553
View B top in black knit.  Love this top!  The fit is very good and one I'll be making again.
View D, cropped pants in pink linen.  My first zippered fly!  The rise is very high but otherwise fit is good. 

Eco-totes
www.mamalusco.etsy.com

I sewed over 16 yards last week!  This week that number is WAY down...too many hours working and not enough time for sewing.  Such is life, I guess :)

Week 4 ~ Vote this Weekend

Blogger has been having issues!  Usually, our weekly projects are posted Friday morning, but April & Bree will have Week 4 ~ Let's Go Fly A Kite ~ projects up for voting soon.  Visit Wildflowers & Whimsy to vote this week then Extra Ordinary Bree to enter to win some patterns.

FREE Hot Patterns Downloads

One of my favorite online fabric stores, Fabric.com, has added more free Hot Patterns downloads!  Hot Patterns are usually expensive ($15!), so take advantage of these freebies while you can.  Here are a few I'd like to try sewing soon: 

All Wrapped Up Tank

Sporty Sarong Shorts

Nomad Hobo Bag

Bossa Nova Swishy Gored Skirt

Calm, Cool & Cowl Necked Top

Cupid Cami & Tap Pants

Good stuff, right?  Check out all the FREE Hot Patterns available at Fabric.com.



Mommy & Me Trench Coats

Our challenge last week was Puddle Jumping, so I thought of rain jackets.  Mine was made from 'Chic & Simple Sewing' by Christina Haynes, the Trench Coat.  The book only has patterns through size 12, so I added about an inch all the way around to make my own XL size.  This was a super simple jacket to make.  I also made the 25" belt from another project in the book.

Had I known this book was so simple, I probably wouldn't have purchased it.  No button holes or zippers...very simple, beginner sewing projects for smaller, younger women.  If you can rock a baby doll dress, then you'd love this book.  Larger gals like me are not going to find many appropriate patterns.  I only paid $10 though, so it was worth it for the few patterns I will use.

Mally's jacket is from DMK, the Little Red Riding Hood jacket.  I love the removable hooded cape.  The cape is also reversible, so you get 3 looks in 1 coat!

Lastly, here's our Frog Prince.  I used the crown from Little Blue Boo and the frog from ???? can't find the link now. 

This week I'm working on Let's Go Fly A Kite.  Hope to get all my sewing done!

Sunsuit Love & Tutorials

Have you seen the gorgeous ruffled sunsuits out there?   I've been considering making one for my big girls to use as swimsuits this summer but haven't found a modern pattern for bigger girls...Think I'll try my hand at drafting them.

  Here are a few of my favorite patterns and even a free tutorial for size 1 from Little Betty.

Photo from Little Betty blog

Little Lizard King's Sunsuit, size 0-4T

Photo from LLK

Ruffled Bubble Romper by Tie Dye Diva, size 2-6

Photo from Tie Dye Diva



Week 3 ~ Vote Now!

Our week 3 theme was Puddle Jumping.  Head over to Bree's blog to vote for your favorite!  After voting, visit April's blog and enter to win patterns from Sew Sweet Patterns and Lil Miss Dolls.  Thanks!

Art & Photo from Susan Geisler

Gather & Ruffle With Your Serger

I believe the best $199 I've ever spent was on my Brother 1034d serger.  This week, Nicole from Cole's Corner and Creations has shared a new PDF tutorial for Ruffling Like a Pro With Your Brother 1034d Serger.  If you haven't visited her blog before, you are missing out on amazing clothing & gift inspiration.  Nicole's girls are the best-dressed girls in blog-land!

Cole's Corner & Creations

I'm excited to try this technique.  When ruffling lots of yardage, I use a ruffler attachment on my sewing machine. This works great but is a little cumbersome to attach & remove.  Using my serger looks faster, so I'll definitely be trying this!

Mama's Extra-Ordinary Looks

I survived another week!  Our theme last week was Extra-Ordinary.  At our house, nothing is more ordinary than jeans and t-shirts.  I took my inspiration in turning ordinary pieces into extra-special clothing.

This double-bustle denim skirt may be my favorite thing ever!  Bustle skirts are big in blog-land right now, so I turned too-short jeans into a skirt with bustles in the front and back.  I also removed the back pockets and replaced them with new fabric ones.  There are several good bustle-skirt tutorials out there ( here) if you need some help getting started.

I also made two jeans aprons from one pair of adult jeans, inspired by this tutorial.  Love mine!

For myself, I refashioned two plain tank tops into simple summer dresses.  Oodles of t-shirt dress tutorials out there, so Google it if you need more instruction to make your own.  I prefer adding a waist band rather than have all those gathers at my waist, so that's how these were made.

I love the asymmetrical hem on this one!

While I'm being brave and showing off my dresses, here are  a few picts of my whimsy sundress from last week.  The belt band gives me lots of options.

I bet you recognized my girls' t-shirt refashions! I used Lil Blue Boo's Sienna dress pattern for Mally's tunic and a basic shorts pattern, using t-shirt material.  Abby's top is McCalls 6315 and the skorts tutorial is here.

I'm busy sewing for this week's theme, Puddle Jumping.  Hope to get it all done!