Flowers in the Sun

I love boating and fun, easy clothes to wear over my swimming suit while out on the lake were actually a big part of my original urge to sew. I still haven't really sewed any of those project ideas, but this simple sun dress has seen a lot of wear. (Sorry for the bad inside photos, but I'm way behind on getting pics taken and it is so cold outside now).

Eventually after floundering around on my own for a while I looked for some online sewing resources. Freeneedle and BurdaStyle were some of my first big finds and have proven invaluable in my sewing journey. When I saw the tutorial for the eight dollar dress on BurdaStyle, I knew it would be a good project for me. It would be cute and comfy to romp around in during the summer and would give me just what I needed at that point -- time at the sewing machine that was interesting and rewarding, but not too complex.

The fabric is cotton with just a bit of stretch. I love the print. It reminds me of paper we used to use in elementary school art class. When we scratched the black paint off our drawings showed through in fun colors. These flowers are much more delicately done than any of my grade school scratchings ever were.

I knew when I chose this fabric that it didn't have as much drape as would be ideal for this type of dress, but I really wanted something that would be easy to work with and durable to wear. The dress needs to be able to withstand being pulled on and off multiple times on an when I water ski or swim. It has to handle getting showed in a bag, soaked with water, scorched by sunshine, and tossed through the laundry. The black is starting to fade a bit, but a little wear has worn some of the stiffness out of the fabric and reduced the poufiness around my belly. This simple dress has definitely earned it's keep. I may try to whip up another version or two before next summer so I can have a little variety.

More Experimental Oldies

Time to share a few more of my earliest projects. Please excuse the poor photos. It was just too cold to keep going outside for better light. I'll do better in the future when I'm not trying to play catch-up. 

I used this Dragon Dress tutorial (which I discovered through Freeneedle) as my reference for these next couple tops.

I think this is some sort of decorator fabric...another small, cheap remnant. This marks my first invisible zip, which I recall being instant love. :-) I have actually worn this one a few times (and gotten some compliments) despite it's poor construction. My biggest issue with it is that due to my very limited fabric amount and the fact that it didn't even occur to me when I was cutting the plaid is just off-center enough at the bust to make me look a bit lopsided. Oops.

Here is a second iteration, which I am actually less enthralled with. The pattern on the fabric is pretty, but the fabric (remains from one of Mom's half-finished projects) is much thinner and slipperier. It was a pain to sew with and, while it does have better drape, just doesn't quite feel right in this top.

Moving on. I love wrap skirts. A basic wrap skirt is not hard to figure out. I haven't made one in a while...might have to remedy that soon. I have definitely worn this skirt. The inside looks horrid, the fabric is a little stiff, and the whole thing is a smidge big, but it is still a long, grey skirt.

I also made one of my sisters a wrap skirt for her high school graduation shortly after I began sewing. The fabric was a beautiful fawn brown with loosely brush-stroked pink roses. Unfortunately the construction was horrible. I still didn't know a thing about finishing the inside of a garment and I can't imagine that ravely fabric is holding up very well. She claims it's surviving and that she wears it. I'm kind of embarrassed thinking about it. I guess I was just so excited about my new interest and wanted to show off or something. Oh well.

What beginner's collection would be complete with out the classic pajama pants? I didn't use a pattern or tutorial...just roughly traced the basic shape from a pair I already had. They get a lot of wear in cold weather when I live in soft pants and sweatshirts pretty much every minute I'm home. The fabric is flannel that Mom gave me, along with a pattern, for Christmas when I was still in elementary school with promises to sew it for me. Obviously I never got the dress, but Mom has sewn three beautiful quilts for me so I can't complain. I only used half the flannel for the pants. I'm still not sure what to do with the rest. I would like to try something besides another pair, but the only thing I can really think of is a skirt. I'm not sure I would ever really feel comfortable wearing a pink flannel skirt, though.

I must have had a gifty bug when I first started sewing because I also made lounge pants for my husband and wrap pants for another sister very early on. I still get urges to sew special things for special people in my life, but more recently I've been meeting that need with things like bags rather than clothing. Mostly the little time I have to sew are focused on making things for me as I improve my skills. And now I think that is enough history for today. 

Experimental Oldies

When I first started sewing I had no patterns, no instructional resources besides the internet, not much expendable income for tools and fabric, and no idea what I was getting myself into. I bought my Singer 5817C at a thrift store because I had a couple of simple things in mind that I wanted to try making (still haven't actually made most of them). I started out buying heavily discounted fabric remnants and trolling the web for free patterns and tutorials. I suppose it would have been better to start out more prepared instead of just diving in, but I learned so much from making lots of mistakes on cheap projects. I won't try to fool you into thinking that there weren't plenty of tears and tantrums, but the frustration didn't stop me and it prompted me to look for resources. The obvious lack of skill on my early projects makes their wearability questionable, but I am still quite proud of some of them because I didn't give up and I figured out so much on my own.

One of the first things that I made was a pencil skirt. I didn't use a pattern...just roughly copied a skirt I had. The fabric cost $0.25. The skirt was originally a bit big. (I used to always error way too big in my cutting because it's easier to make something smaller than bigger.) Unfortunately after I took it in a bit I trimmed off the excess before trying it on and now it's a fuzz tight and I don't have enough seam allowance left to fix it.

This was my very first zipper ever. While an exposed back zip probably isn't the best choice for this particular garment, I was still pretty pleased to make it through that first without too much trauma.

I even made a back vent instead of just a slit. I didn't even try to find a tutorial (didn't know what it was called to look it up)...just figured it out as best I could looking at the skirt I was copying.