Ikat Rollerskate Dress

 

The pattern: Oliver+S Rollerskate Dress, view A, size 5
The fabrics: Kasbah/midnight from Lark by Amy Butler, lining in white cotton.
The mods: I added on-seam side pockets using Freshly Picked's free pocket pattern.

Do you think this dress looks something similar to this Girls Ikat A-line Dress Oscar de la Renta Spring/Summer 2013 ($155)? If so, then I saved a ton of money!

Liberty Rollerskate Dresses

 

The pattern: Oliver+S Rollerskate Dress, view A, size 5
The fabrics: Liberty Lifestyle Stile, blue/cream one: Lowke Pastel, pink/green one: Herbert Pastel; lining fabric was 100% cotton voile in white. The Liberty of London fabric was a dream to work with, it cut like butter and is super soft.
The mods: I added on-seam side pockets using the Freshly Picked's free pocket pattern. The blue/cream dress has cotton twill tape for the ribbon bow detail in the front.

PS One day you're in and the next day you're out… as for the sew off, I took 4th place! Many thanks to all of you who supported my Checkerboard Dress, Pencil and Paper Bedding Set, and Little Black Tunic and Blue Pants. I pushed myself, tried new things, and added new sewing skills to my repertoire, so I was appreciative of the experience!

Little Black Tunic and Blue Pants

 Here we are at Week 3 of the Sew Off. Thank you for supporting my Pencil and Paper Bedding Set last week. I am excited to share this week's look with you! I turned on my sewing machine and made something for moi! A little black tunic with on seam pockets worn over blue sailor pants. Go vote until Sunday night for YOUR favorites, everyone is allowed to vote 1 time for their 2 favorites.

 For the little black tunic I started with the Schoolhouse Tunic pattern, woman's size 2/4. I shortened the sleeves and made them narrower, dropped the waist (and made the tunic A-line), eliminated all the pleats, and added on seam pockets (using the Oliver+S Book Report Dress pocket pattern). It was made with black cotton, 1.5 yards with very little left over. Before I redrafted the Schoolhouse Tunic pattern, I sewed myself a muslin to see how much to shorten the sleeves, etc.

 For the blue pants I used a basic pants pattern NEWLOOK 6171 girl's size 14 and turned them into sailor pants. The idea and some tips for the pants came from the August/September 2012 issue of SewNEWS magazine tutorial of how to take a simple pants pattern and create a pair of classic sailor pants. The pants are made with dark blue chambray, at least that's what I believe it is, it was sold in the denim section of a large fabric outlet and was unlabeled.

I love this modern look, really love the pockets and how slimming black is!

Have a great weekend!

PS Do you know of any good woman's sewing patterns that come in size 2? They are really difficult to come by, let me know in the comments if you do, thanks in advance! 

Pencil and Paper Bedding Set

 First off, thank you to Amy (of Nap Time Crafters) for hosting The Sew Off and giving me the chance to test my creative limits. Next, thank you for supporting my Checkerboard Dress. I'm thrilled to be back for the Sew Off Week 2 challenge which is Home Decor, this Pencil and Paper Bedding Set is my entry. Go vote until Sunday night for YOUR favorites, everyone is allowed to vote 1 time for their 2 favorite projects. 

Instead of patterns/tutorials I have worked with the dimensions of each item, thinking about how I wanted it to look like in the end, and taking seam allowances into account. For this project I have sewn several different items… 1 duvet cover and 5 pillows.

The duvet cover:
I made it look like a loose-leaf piece of paper, I got the idea from the Canvas Loose-Leaf Paper project from the "Improv Sewing" book (my son even made one, too), but I made it in gigantic proportion. So instead of 5 inches by 7 inches it was 5 feet by 7 feet! For the fabric I used 2 white twin size flat sheets. I sewed one red vertical line and 12 horizontal blue lines to create what looks like a loose-leaf piece of paper. Then I hand embroidered "Goodnight" in black on one of the lines. To do that, I traced the letters using the Penmanship Print font (with disappearing ink marker), it was a bit cumbersome doing the hand embroidery with this huge bed sheet laying across my lap. The duvet cover features a zipper at the bottom for the closure.

The pencil pillow:
I took a rectangular pillow: 12 inches by 16 inches and turned it into a pencil pillow. The fabrics used were: light pink cotton, silver ironing board cover fabric, yellow duck canvas, light brown linen, dark gray cotton blend, and the backing is in light brown linen. I also used stuffing to stuff the tip of the pencil. I did topstitching on the yellow pencil part in brown and on the silver metal part with shiny silver metallic thread.

 The pencil pillow features a pocket in the back...

 ...to store pajamas!

 I also sewed 4 square envelope pillow covers: 2 with elementary school handwriting paper fabric {The Pixie Pops by Timeless Treasures Fabrics} and 2 with gold stars fabric {Goodnight, Spot by Andover Fabrics}. The gold stars are kind of fun because they go with both the school and the night themes.

 One thing that is really great is that this bedding set is gender neutral, it could be for a boy or a girl.

I only got a few work in progress photos while creating this project...

The twin flat sheet covered most of my living room floor, this was when I was drawing the 12 vertical lines before I topstitched them in blue on the sewing machine.

 Here I just finished the hand embroidery which consisted of backstitches and one French knot.

 Here are the different pieces of the pencil pillow before sewing them together.

I'll be completely honest with you, I'm a little bit nervous about this Week 2 challenge. I'm not as confident with sewing Home Decor (as I am with children's clothing) because I don't have a lot of experience sewing items for the home. But whatever happens I still plan on sharing next week's challenge which is sewing something for a woman, I'm working on an outfit for myself, and I can't wait to show it to you.

Happy weekend everyone !

Spring 13 Ideas House

 {This is not my house}

Enjoy this photo visit to Bachman's Spring 2013 Ideas House, located in an historic (1920s) family home. It's such a wonderful destination for design inspiration. They completely repaint, refurnish and redecorate the house with creative ideas in home décor and entertaining, using their signature mix of vintage and new pieces.

Why did this Ideas House even start, you may ask? Back in 2010 Bachman's celebrated 125 years in business and for their anniversary they opened the Ideas House with the intention of having it only for 2010, but it was such a success that they have continued it ever since. The only change is that they used to have a Summer one, but dropped it due to lack of attendance. They continue to still have the Ideas House for Spring, Fall and Holiday.

Feel free to visit some of the previous ones: Spring 10, Summer 10, Holiday 10, Spring 11, Summer 11, Holiday 11, Spring 12, Fall 12, and Holiday 12.

Spring is my favorite season and here are my most-loved things from the Spring 13 Ideas House...


On the porch: Miniature trellis with ribbon as place card holder in mug with embellished garden rocks as favors

 Faucet wall hooks as curtain rod holders

 In the living room: water fountain used in fireplace, coffee table unit built of 6X6 cedar posts at different levels with decorative tiles

 Vintage cubbie unit as sofa table and magazine holder

 In the sunroom: birdcages turned into miniature garden planter

 Vintage trough used as a miniature garden planter, yellow watering can turned into a miniature fairy house, tree fort made of metal tray and assorted objects

 Vintage round suitcase turned into a miniature fairy house

 In the dining room: salvaged iron panel spray-painted layered on top of vintage wallpaper as wall art

 Paintable wallpaper used as table runner

 In the kitchen: aluminum mesh panels line interior of chandelier

 Shelves above the stove

 Vintage shelving unit next to oven

 Metal rack as hanging herb planter hanging in window

 In the master bedroom: area rug as headboard

 In the girls bedroom: flowers as headboard, light pendants made from hanging vases and metal baskets

 Salvaged picket fence, grapevine, and permanent floral stems as window valances

 In the event coordinator workshop: sachet in a ceramic swan as a party favor, wire birdcage stand as serving piece, vases filled with sand as candlestick holder, bracelet as napkin ring

 Silicone muffin cups as miniature planters

 In the event coordinator office: chandelier made of layered twig baskets

 Decorative notepad paper, plexiglass and molding turned into giant wall calendar

 Coat racks used as window valances

 Birdcage turned into a planter

 Salvaged porch posts affixed to wall and greeting cards hung from line between posts as wall art

 Nests full of eggs in a glass jar !

The Spring 13 Ideas House is open until April 28th, 2013. The Fall 13 Ideas House will be September 12th - October 6th, 2013 and the Holiday 13 Ideas House will be November 7th - December 15th, 2013.