From my studio this week: July 19, 2011

So last week I said my goal was to make a princess seamed t-shirt, with the idea that one day I’d use that pattern to make a bathing suit. Well, I skipped all of the middle steps and went straight to the bathing suit. The original was a tankini top two sizes too big. I made a muslin out of some ugly knit fabric and kept resewing all of the seams until I had a perfect fit. Then I cut it apart and made a pattern.

And here’s the suit top I made. It’s decidedly shorter than a tankini, but that’s what I wanted. I was going for a sporty sports bra kind of look. The black and white gingham was a bit boring so I added a big ole flower applique. The flower is from some 1970s polyester with a 10,000-year half-life so I’m confident the chlorinated water won’t affect it at all.

I haven’t gotten brave enough to try to make a shelf bra and sewn in cups. In theory it shouldn’t be too hard – just have to buckle down and make myself do it. Happily, though, the princess seams in this little top give enough shape that I don’t need the extra support. How awesome is that!

And also a shirt for the little girl. The price increase on the long-sleeved Gymboree shirts was enough motivation for me to break out the knits and make them myself.

The sleeves are made from knit yardage (Hobby Lobby) and the body of the shirt from a repurposed tee. The original tee had a hole in it so I added a funky little applique to cover it up. The moon shape is actually the bit of fabric I cut from the top to make the deeper neck in the front.

As I was ironing down the applique I realized that there was an awful smell coming from the iron. Turns out there was some icky black gunk on it, which was now transferred down to the shirt – directly underneath the applique I had just placed to cover up the hole. DOH! The old lady who swallowed a fly came to mind. You’ll notice the slightly darker spot in the photo? That’s the wet spot where I scrubbed out the fresh stain.

Little girl loves her new tee. I have a few more planned and I’ll be putting them together this coming week. I also have plans to create a bottom for my swimsuit so that I can actually wear my handmade bathing suit before summer is over.

Next Pattern:

Christmas is one of those holidays that you just can decorate too much for. There’s no limit to the amount of holiday cheer you can bring into you home! There’s no such thing as too many Christmas decorations. You can bring Christmas décor into any room of the house – including the kitchen! Which is kind of fitting given how many Christmas activities and gifts are made in the kitchen. We’ve rounded up 13 Christmas kitchen accessories you can sew for your home or to give as gifts.

The list includes holiday themed hot pads, potholders ,aprons, and more that you can sew and decorate your kitchen all season long. Most are things you can make in an evening or less. These would also make wonderful hostess gifts for any holiday parties or gatherings you’re attending. Read on for the kitchen sewing ideas!