Past Projects

I thought a good way to start this blog would be to show you some of my past projects. So here are a few that I had laying around my house.

  

I made my husband some shorts awhile back.  These shorts have no waistband (for those that don't like them).  It has 2 cargo pockets with flaps on the sides and regular pockets on the top front.  It also has a zipper fly and some belt loops I added last minute.

Let's call this the dress section... I make a lot of dresses because I hate the styles in the stores and have a hard time finding ones I like in my price range therefore I make them.

This first one is fairly old.  I made it when I was in high school.  The top is made out of velveteen.  It is an empire waist with darts and has a zipper in the back.

OH do I love this dress.  I have two (I only have one pictured) made out of this pattern.  The top is a knit and the bottom can be anything you want I just picked out a light weight weight woven cotton fabric.  This has a bias strip made from the skirt fabric to cover the neck line (vs a facing neck line which is the most common).  I love this dress because even though there is a zipper in the back I don't use it very often.  I can just throw it on over my head and I can even wear it when I'm pregnant.  Another reason is the comfort it feels like I'm wearing t-shirt and it's very light weight and cool in the summer time.

This dress I made for my bro in law's wedding reception (see picture below).  I was still nursing so I needed a buttons down the front and it was suppose to be a red dress.  You would think this would be an easy find.... IT WAS NOT.  There were NO red dresses at all to be found.  So I made this.  I kinda tweaked the pattern a bit because I chose a different skirt pattern from a different dress that didn't have buttons and I added a second layer to it. This was all made from a fake satin type fabric.  It has a a lapel collar (like you find on coats).  The second layer on the skirt is just a see through shimmery woven fabric.  It also has buttons all the way down the front.

This is another dress I made in high school.  This is also an empire waist.  The bodice (top) is lined and there are buttons on the shoulders and on the sides. There are invisible pockets in the side seams of the skirt.

This is dress is made from a heavy duty woven fabric so it will be warmer in the colder months.  It's a very simple waist less dress but it does have to ties to create a waistline when wearing it.

This dress I actually made when I was in junior high school.  My sister in law purchased this fabric in Hawaii and brought it back for me.  This is a A-line type jumper.  It's hard to tell but there is no actually waist but it does curve in on the sides a bit then flares out at bottom. It has a V neck and buttons all the way down the front.

My sister actually made this shirt. It's 3/4" sleeve.  It has a man's shirt collar and shirt tail.  The buttons go all the way down the front and the cuffs on the sleeve are split with no button.

This is my second favorite dress  I have 4 dresses made from this same pattern.  This is a very simple A line dress without a waist.  It is very long as it goes down to my ankles.  The sleeves are cap sleeves with a zipper down the back of the dress.  This dress is unique in that the sleeves are actually not created separately and sewn on.  The dress is created with several long strips of fabrics widening near the bottom to create the flow in the skirt.  The sleeve area is just a wider strip near the top that narrows at the waist then widens again for the skirt. 

This is a blessing outfit I made for my son when he was a baby.  The top is just a shimmery crepe material with some satin fabric for the shorts and straps.  It has a pointy version of pointy version of a Peter Pan flat collar.  The straps are actually just decorative and are just sewn on to the front.  The shorts have patch pockets on the front with mitered corners. There are 3 buttons on the back for eased getting on and off and then a strip of snaps along the crotch line for diaper changing ease. This outfit is size 3 months. 

This is my daughters blessing dress.  I added a bunch of things not in the pattern for this one.  The neck line is finished with a bias strip.  The top is lined.  There are 3 buttons going down the back.  The sleeves are gathered where they attach to the dress to create the "poofy" look then they have an elastic on the end. They also have a cap sleeve on top of the sleeve but has lace attached to it. The skirt is actually about twice the size of the bodice but is gathered so it is a very full looking skirt.  I added about 6" to the bottom of this skirt because I wanted it really long.  The skirt also has an overlay that splits in the middle with lace on the bottom.  

I also did not make this towel but have made similar ones and given them away as gifts.  This is an excellent baby shower gift and gets TONS of use in our home.  This is a simple hooded towel for a child.  Here are the instructions:

Step 1: Purchase a large regular bath towel, purchase a hand towel that matches.

Step 2: Take the hand towel, fold it in half so the shorter ends meet.  Sew one of the sides (the bottom being where the short ends meet) together.  Take the other side and fold up then sew the edge to create a thicker and nicer looking edge.  Step 3: Take the open side that is not sew together of the hand towel.  Find the middle of the large towel.  Match the seam you sewed on the hand towel to the middle of the large towel.  Then attach the hand towel to the large towel. 

This bag I created to be my purse/diaper bag.  The back is a large pocket for papers and things like that.  Then on the outside on the sides are 2 pockets that I use for my cell phone.  Then on the front are 2 more half size pockets.  With a large flap covering the whole front of the bag.  Inside the bag there are 2 more half size pockets. The whole bag as well as the pockets are lined with a simple woven cotton fabric.  The outside is made of corduroy.  There is a 3 inch wide strap attached with D rings to little side straps. 

These are the curtains I created for my daughters room. 

This is a close up of the fabric so you can see how cute it really is.  It's a seersucker material.  

This is a shot of just one of the panels when it's out.

This is the black out curtain I purchased from the store.  It was very plain and because my daughters window faces west it gets a LOT of light.  So much light that the black out curtain itself wasn't enough.  So I added a whole panel of the cute seer sucker material on top of it.  It gave it a cute girly look and added more darkness to the room. 

Here is the finished look.  Cute if I do say so myself.

So there is just a handful of projects I have made around my home.  Next I'll do a posting with all the blankets I've made (that I still have).  Please let me know what you think.