Pretty pictures get a face lift!

I realized the other day that I have so many talented and crafty friends that not only seem to find the best finds and DI, but then are able to turn them into the best home decor items with a little extra help. I thought I would try my hand at this concept. I decided to start easy with picture frames and this is what I came up with. Matt just helped me put these up in my sewing room and it really helps make my room more inspiring and pretty.

This post will be linked to Domestically Speaking as a part of the Wednesday paint party so check them out to see all kinds of paint projects.

Swimsuits!!!!

I have never been a fan of swimsuits in my life. I hate trying them on, I hate wearing them, and I hate trying to find cute shorts or coverups to match. Well, today I might have had a change of heart. I am going to make me one or maybe two or three, and my sister one as well because I found the best new website, http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com It has every kind of fabric you would ever need that is cute and very affordable. They also have swimwear fabric, like this very cute black/gray/white polka dot starting at $4.95 per yard which for most people is more than

enough for one swimsuit! From what I can tell shipping is $6.95 for quite a few items. I haven't ordered my fabric yet to know if that changes for every new fabric you add to your cart or not. I wanted a ton of fabric off this site so I'm sure you will too. They even have all kinds of knit which you can't find very often in the local stores. I am toying with the idea of making swimwear as a summer project for adult and kids, if anyone is interested give me a hollar and I will give you a screamin' deal for being a friend of the blog. I will be taking my patterns from my leotard patterns that fits really well. It's very roomy and you don't feel squeezed in. I was very excited and had to share my good fortune with all of you. check out this website and you will not be disappointed, I promise!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

So... I have been working and sewing my little fingers off, but have little to show for it at the moment. I haven't been taking pictures of stuff, and I still have a lot of things to finish. Thank you to all my friends and fam who check back regularly, you are all awesome!

We have a competition coming up where I can take cute pics of all my costumes, and cute girls. I also have lots of ideas for spring and summer decor as well as sprucing up my sewing room.

I will also be making me a new swimsuit for my summer vacation to Cozumel Mexico, and lake powell. I am looking into finding chlorine treated fabric at a great price. once I find a good source I'll let you all know and we can talk about custom swimsuits!!! YEA!

It's also prom and bridal season and I know alterations are a must. Redesigning an old dress is a great way to save money and be resourceful, plus it's lots of fun!!! My price lists are posted on the side bar for alterations and veils so check it out and tell a friend!

SUCCESS!!!

I just finished sewing this top together. The black one is the one I made and the white one is the one I made the pattern from. It's not finished obviously, but I couldn't wait to post this. I have been very scared to sew this together! Every stage so far I have had some sort of hiccup, all of which I have learned tremendously from, but frustrating non the less. I have been doing every other project possible before this, but it was finally time to get busy. At first glance this looks like a simple project. When I took a closer look, I realized how different each piece is and how many sizes I had to make. I obviously got it backwards... but I was able to make it smaller and keep each pattern piece fitting together like it should! (Grading patterns is a skill I am still perfecting). I had to share my excitement with you and now I feel I can do any project headed my way.

Getting Organized

I am very lucky to have my own sewing/craft room in our two room apartment.(Matt gets his man closet on one side of the room for his biking stuff & I get the rest!!) But there never seems to be enough room so I am constantly looking for ways to be more organized and space saving. I have a big table that I love where I do most of my fabric cutting, but I always felt I had a lot of wasted space. I usually have projects where I need to keep track of many different sizes and lots of pieces. I found these tubs at Target for a steal and made labels for all the sizes I would need and put them under the table. I pin all the pieces together for one item and keep them in the coordinating size bins until I can get a tag sewn in. I also found out that the bins and drawers in the home office section of stores can be expensive, so I looked down the kitchen isle and found these tubs that are used for washing dishes for 1/2 the price! They work just as good and they stack when I'm not using them. I know this isn't rocket science but it feels good to come up with something that works so well for me!

Fabric Flowers

I found a new fun way to make fabric flowers. They are SO easy it's not even funny!! I've also heard them called yo-yos. These are so flouncy and fun! Here's how you make them:

• 

• Start with a circle double the size you want the finished flower to be.
• Use the basting stitch or a needle and thread to go all the way around.
• Pull the thread as tight as it will go and flatten the flower.
• Take a few stitches across the center to lock it shut, and tie it off.
• Add to any tee shirt, scarf, or headband.
  

I made a bunch of these for a dance class to go with coordinating shorts and tops. Fun huh!!

It's Not You, It's your clothes...

This is something I wish every woman would understand.

So I've been altering some maternity clothes for a friend and we found something interesting. Take a look at this picture of a jersey knit wrap shirt. Can you tell whats wrong? The arms look like they were made for an ape. The white line represents where the middle of her hand is. They are 6 inches longer than they need to be! To make matters even weirder, one sleeve is an inch longer than the other. What the Weird?!
This is an example of when pattern grading is not always used correctly. Grading is when they take a patter that's a size 6 and make it to fit size 2 to 16, plus size and maternity. For some reason they think that if the torso needs to be longer, so do the arms.
Most woman aren't a size off the rack!!! Sometimes we find a designer or brand that fits us the best, but lets face it, we like to shop at more then one store. Getting things altered isn't a bad thing. It most likely isn't your body, it's the clothes. So next time you go shopping don't get frustrated, just call your new seamstress for help! :)