The Portrait Blouse

Scottie Dog Portrait Blouse- Front

The pattern for the Portrait Blouse came from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, page 137. I have all of her books and highly recommend them!

Scottie Dog Portrait Blouse- Back

For my blouses, I decided to lower the front neckline scoop. I have a heart tattoo on my chest that I like showing off and the higher neckline cut it in half. I also needed a larger size and ended up making myself a muslin so I could get the fit right.

Close up of the Scottie dogs and the machine embroidered heart

I made both of my blouses out of cotton and especially loved the Scottie dog and yarn heart fabric I found. I also machine embroidered a heart to the center front of the Scottie dog shirt. I did this before I cut out my fabric so I could get it positioned properly. I did my best to match the stripes on the Scottie dog shirt and they meet nicely at the shoulders.

Yarn Love Portrait Blouse- Front

Both blouses have a neckline lining. I tacked it down at the shoulder seams and at several locations along the front and back to keep it from flipping out as I wear it. That's one of my pet peeves so I tack down the lining even in store bought tops.

Yarn Love Portrait Blouse- Back

One side has an invisible zipper for easy on and off. I've gotten quit good at putting in invisible zippers and prefer them over regular ones now. You can even paint the pull tab with nail polish to match your fabric better if you can't find the correct color.

Invisible zippers are awesome!

I love wearing these around. They're comfortable and stylish. In the book, Gertie uses nicer fabric, but it's not necessary or practical for me. I live in the country and work at home. For the most part just see my husband, sons, and chickens, and they don't care what I wear. ;) But I like wearing pretty things and Gertie's books have a nice mix of everything I want and need.

Heather's Green Home Goods

Heather's Green Home Goods- Amazon

Heather's Green Home Goods- Etsy

Hen and Chick Cloth- Etsy

Color to Dye for- Etsy

Heather's Custom Sewing- Etsy

Sew-A-Long: Midget Block 11- Signal

The Signal block is machine pieced with small scraps of left-over fabric. The blue fabric is probably my favorite of the bunch. 

Each block will be 4" completed... the first 50 block instructions can be purchased from Sentimental Stitches but instructions for blocks 51 through 196 are free. Check them out HERE!

If you're sewing along I'd love to see your completed blocks in the Flickr Group! :)

Sew-A-Long: Midget Block 10- Log Cabin

This little log cabin block was paper pieced. Each section is very small and anything but paper piecing would have been much more difficult. I chose some scraps of fabric that I had left over from other projects and the final product is what you see above!

Each block will be 4" completed... the first 50 block instructions can be purchased from Sentimental Stitches but instructions for blocks 51 through 196 are free. Check them out HERE!

If you're sewing along I'd love to see your completed blocks in the Flickr Group! :)

Sew-A-Long: Midget Block 9- Cactus Bloom

This block was hand appliqued. I used some of my hand dyed fabric for the red buds and a green polka dot for the leaves. Because it's such a small block it didn't take much time to complete. :)

Each block will be 4" completed... the first 50 block instructions can be purchased from Sentimental Stitches but instructions for blocks 51 through 196 are free. Check them out HERE!

If you're sewing along I'd love to see your completed blocks in the Flickr Group! :)

Pattern Drafting a Corset

My final project for my flat pattern class last fall was to design and draft a corset. The teacher asked me to create something for challenging then she asked the others. I'd always been ahead in the class and really needed something extra. I began with some inspiration on pinterest and got started on something simple.

After my first fitting, I decided to split the pattern down further and remove an additional 2 inches from the waistline. I wanted more shaping then what I started out with.

From my final pattern I created bust padding which is simply quilted fabric and quilt padding. I hand stitched the padding into place using the seam allowance of my outside material. I used up-cycled jeans from my stash for the outside fabric and the same red material for the lining as the bust padding.

I used basic plastic boning slid into the seam allowance on the jean material. At the top and bottom of each section I added a decorative and functional flossing. The holds the boning in place permanently.

After I stitched the lining along the top edge I turned everything right side out and sewed a piece of biased binding along the bottom edge to finish it out. I hammered grommets in place along the back and laced it up with the flashy gold lacing. I chose not to put a front busk in since I was short on time. I have no issues getting in and out of the corset and lacing it myself. 

Finally, I made a lace undershirt to complete the ensemble. It fits perfectly and I love how it feels on. This was really a great project that stretched my skills and I love how it turned out!

Designing and Drafting a Shirt- The Final Product (aka the Skeleton Shirt)

I previously wrote out the mock up I made in my flat pattern class last fall. The completed project turned out even better! 

I designed the pattern after a 1940's sweetheart neckline with nearly elbow length sleeves and faux cuffs. The princess seams and under bust shaping makes the top fit me to a T.

I didn't have enough of either fabric so I mixed and matched. I made this around Halloween and the dancing skeletons fabric came from the scrap bin at the fabric store.

Designing and Drafting a Shirt- Working Mock Up (aka Thread Shirt)

Last fall I took a flat pattern class as part of my Fashion Apparel Design and Technology degree. One of our projects was to design a top then to create a draft and mock up.

We used a pattern block that we'd just finished from our personal measurements. I wanted a sweetheart neckline and a fitted waist which I was able to accomplish with the princess draft lines. I was going for a vintage look. I also contoured under the bust so the shirt would fit my larger bust to a T.

I used a fabric with little spools of thread tossed all over it for my mock up. I had to make a few changes but the overall design worked well. I also made 2 styles of sleeve cuffs. I'm really happy with the project and I'll show you the final design in a future post!

Melba Shawl

Cast on: January 15, 2016
Bound off: April 6, 2016

Melba Shawl pattern is here.

Needles: US7/4.50mm
Yarn: "Crazy Ball", Schoppel- Crazy Zauberball; Fingering 4ply; 437 yds

Baby Doll Diapers

Earlier this year, I created some fun baby doll diapers for a customer. We let her little girl dig through my fabric stash to pick out exactly what she wanted and I had them sewn up in no time! They fit her 15"-18" American Girl doll. :)

I've had it in the books to add the baby doll diapers to my shop for some time. Unfortunately, there's been other projects that needed completed first! Things are wrapping up and going smoothly and I anticipate adding a few baby doll diapers to my shop in the near future.

Keep an eye out for them!

Black and White Strapless Dress

I worked on this dress in the early fall before it really started cooling down. I had hoped to be able to wear it once or twice before it got cold. Unfortunately, I made it too large and never had time to adjust it. My full-time college classes took up whatever extra time I had in the day and fixing the dress was put out of my mind. Finally my classes ended in December and I was able to get back to work on it. It's done now and stored away for Spring. I can't wait to wear it with a cute cardigan and some matching heels. Pattern: McCall's M6956

Kitty Dress

The kitty dress was so fun to make! The appliqued kitty makes this dress purrrrrfect for any little girl to wear to school, church, or any other function.

For this dress, a blue and white print was first chosen for the main fabric and then matching colors were chosen for the kitty.

This dress is fully customizable to whatever color choices you want.

$55/each. Sizes available are girls 3 to 8.