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:

I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store. So much texture! And the way the fibers catch the light! But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think. That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl. That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared. And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet.

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects. Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter. Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long.

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success. There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid. She describes the different types of velvet available. And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric. Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric. There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric.

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

Next Pattern:

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