Two great weeks of sewing projects are behind me! I basically hadn't been sewing since 2015, I didn't have the time, I didn't have the energy, and frankly, I wanted to leave my old life as I had known it behind me and that included my sewing. But if you love something truly it will come back to you at the right time in your life, right?
So, here I was, finally done with college and in the midst of a pandemic, which forced us all to stay home as much as we could. So for me, this coincidence in events (and I don't really believe in coincidences) gave me back a big chunk of free time back that I had not had in that way for the previous five years. And then there were the face masks, and after a couple of weeks of what seemed like our politicians going back and forth on the sense of wearing face masks in order to protect yourself from corona virus, we were finally told we all had to wear them in public. Of course I made my own. Duh.
Corona really was the reason I got my sewing machine back out and started sewing. First I only made a few masks for myself, my boyfriend and some friends. Then Etsy posted on Instagram that they encourage all their sellers to make face masks due to the high demand. My Etsy shop! Yes, it was still existent. I was still selling a few patterns every month. But other than that I had pretty much neglected my shop. I thought to myself: why not make a few extra masks from those nice fabrics that I still had in my stash? So that's what I did. And they sold out. Quickly. So I made more. And those sold out as well. I wasn't pricing them very high because my intention was not to make a huge profit off of those things but rather to make sure people can get the masks they need AND have a fashionable item at the same time. While covering my cost. Since April 2, I have sold about 100 masks. That's a lot of mask sewing!!
So, here I was, finally done with college and in the midst of a pandemic, which forced us all to stay home as much as we could. So for me, this coincidence in events (and I don't really believe in coincidences) gave me back a big chunk of free time back that I had not had in that way for the previous five years. And then there were the face masks, and after a couple of weeks of what seemed like our politicians going back and forth on the sense of wearing face masks in order to protect yourself from corona virus, we were finally told we all had to wear them in public. Of course I made my own. Duh.
Corona really was the reason I got my sewing machine back out and started sewing. First I only made a few masks for myself, my boyfriend and some friends. Then Etsy posted on Instagram that they encourage all their sellers to make face masks due to the high demand. My Etsy shop! Yes, it was still existent. I was still selling a few patterns every month. But other than that I had pretty much neglected my shop. I thought to myself: why not make a few extra masks from those nice fabrics that I still had in my stash? So that's what I did. And they sold out. Quickly. So I made more. And those sold out as well. I wasn't pricing them very high because my intention was not to make a huge profit off of those things but rather to make sure people can get the masks they need AND have a fashionable item at the same time. While covering my cost. Since April 2, I have sold about 100 masks. That's a lot of mask sewing!!
 | And then this happened: seeing how much fun I was having making the masks, my boyfriend surprised me with an order of fabrics from Mood Fabrics in NYC. I still love that store, they just got the best selections of fabrics, anything you can imagine (If you like to read about my trips to Mood in New York City and Los Angeles, you can click here (NYC) and here (LA)). I'm not lying, once I saw those gorgeous fabrics that he ordered, I know I wouldn't be using them for masks. I mean look at those great prints! Btw, one fabric is missing in this picture because I had already made it into a garment :) But see below! |
Unfortunately I only have 1 yard of each, which is not enough for most clothing patterns. I was able to make a blouse of one of the Mood fabrics, so at least I got a good start. And of course I had to place another order with Mood and buy more fabric because I have big plans with those other fabrics :) In the meantime I also looked through my stash of fabrics from way back when, and found some really cool material I had forgotten about. And then finally I bought some flannel at Joann's because I wanted to make pajama pants for my boyfriend. So here are last week's projects:
1. Pajama pants for a bear
My boyfriend's birthday is coming up so I want to surprise him with a new pair of pajama pants. He likes elephants and bold, colorful prints (he is an old hippie, so that explains a lot) and I found this cozy flannel at Joann's. The pattern was a free pattern for download at 5 out of 4.
1. Pajama pants for a bear
My boyfriend's birthday is coming up so I want to surprise him with a new pair of pajama pants. He likes elephants and bold, colorful prints (he is an old hippie, so that explains a lot) and I found this cozy flannel at Joann's. The pattern was a free pattern for download at 5 out of 4.
 photo courtesy of Joann |  |
Everybody with some sewing experience will know that pants with elastic are a breeze to sew! Easy and uncomplicated. I decided to use elastic and add strings as well, so he can tie the pants up if he wants. Plus I think pants like this look better with ties anyway. Here's the finished project. We are the same height but he is a big guy (I call him a bear), so naturally the pants are a little large on me. They look cool though! I hope he will like them.
2. A blouse made with Mood fabric (call it a 1-yard-wonder)
Like I said before, one yard of fabric does not get you far in most cases. At least in terms of clothing items. But I managed to squeeze a blouse pattern (front and back panels, no sleeves) out of this gorgeous floral pattern fabric, which was in the shipment of Mood fabrics that the boyfriend ordered for me. It's super soft and so light-weight, it feels like wearing nothing. Perfect summer blouse!
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The pattern was an old Burda pattern that I still had and made once before (Burda Style 7521). It was pretty easy to make since there were not a lot of pattern pieces required and I didn't even add sleeves or the bow in the front.
3. A knit-dress which I started 5 years ago and never finished
When I found this fabric in a bag, it was already partially cut up (I had the two skirt panels plus one bodice part cut) and included pattern pieces from tissue paper and I had absolutely no clue where the pattern came from. I had to think really hard and put some pieces together in my overwhelmed brain but then I finally figured it out. Years ago I had this cute little summer dress from Aeropostale, and I figured it should be easy enough to make my own pattern for it and sew another one of those dresses.
When I found this fabric in a bag, it was already partially cut up (I had the two skirt panels plus one bodice part cut) and included pattern pieces from tissue paper and I had absolutely no clue where the pattern came from. I had to think really hard and put some pieces together in my overwhelmed brain but then I finally figured it out. Years ago I had this cute little summer dress from Aeropostale, and I figured it should be easy enough to make my own pattern for it and sew another one of those dresses.
 photo courtesy of Poshmark |  |
| I doubled the bodice, which means I had to cut two pieces for the front and two pieces for the back. Lining the bodice makes it looks so much more professional and it's nice to have that additional layer of fabric anyway. You can head over to my tutorial from 6 (!) years ago if you would like to know how to double a bodice easily! |  |
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Henry inspecting my work The finished bodice
After the bodice was done all I had to do was sew the skirt front and back panels together and then attach the skirt part to the bodice. I did it all with my serger, which not only looks super neat but is also so much quicker than using a regular sewing machine.
After the bodice was done all I had to do was sew the skirt front and back panels together and then attach the skirt part to the bodice. I did it all with my serger, which not only looks super neat but is also so much quicker than using a regular sewing machine.
The finished dress. This was so easy and took me maybe three hours total to make. I would have liked it to be a bit longer but this was all the fabric I had! I might add a strip of black fabric to the bottom of the skirt, to give it a nice contrast and have it end just above my knees.
I already have three more projects started... two of which I have to wait for my second shipment from Mood :) There's nothing stopping me now!!
I already have three more projects started... two of which I have to wait for my second shipment from Mood :) There's nothing stopping me now!!
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