iPad Cover

I recently bought an iPad (love it!) and realized that this was a perfect sewing opportunity.  There are lots of patterns to purchase for such a project, but I decided to see if I could find something online.  Voila! I found an iPad cover Tutorial that has easy to follow instructions, great pictures for each step and even some helpful troubleshooting tips.  Foe my iPad cover I chose a busy floral pattern in a micro corduroy, but really anything would work.  You could add pockets or all sorts of embellishments if you choose.  This would make a perfect gift and could be adapted to any sort of tablet or laptop.

Fall jacket

With Fall comes the need for layers…and great opportunities for super cute jackets.  For my birthday I received the pattern book: Chic and Simple Sewing.  It is filled with patterns for dresses, purses, skirts and of course jackets.  I made ‘The Jacket’ without the belt pictured above.  This by far was one of the simplest pattern’s I have sewn to date.  I am in the process of making an all-black version for a friend, but the possibilities are endless!

Wrap Dress

Another very fun dress pattern that did however challenged my sewing expertise, or at least made me think a little bit about how to adapt a general dress pattern to my figureJ  Butterick 5030 is a wrap dress with a variety of collar and sleeve options. The pattern can be made with any free flowing fabric and really is quite flattering. I went with the full collar, ¾ cuffed sleeve here.  My biggest issue was that I eventually realized that I just could not wear it without some sort of cami underneath….once I got past that everything else fell into place.

V neck Dress

Here is a great dress pattern that is quite versatile.  The pattern- Butterick 5490 looks like a more formal dress, but really depending on what fabric you use you can dress it up or make it more casual.  There are two official lengths- above the knee and floor length- but I altered it to be below the knee.  This was my first time sewing in a zipper, but I think I did pretty well.  This winter I think I will make a wool version that can easily layer over a turtleneck or with a cute sweater!

More Baby gifts!

For one of Sara's shower gifts I made a boppy pillow cover.  I used a great mushroom pattern for the front and then a nubby, velvety fabric for the back. This was a little more difficult to do then you would think….but again if you follow the directions it turns out great!

And for her final gift (prior to baby Waylon's birth!) I made these super cute and easy burp clothes.  They are made from purchased cloth diapers and then random fabrics and ribbons.  You can follow the tutorial for this crafty project here.

Diaper Bag

As a Christmas present for my sister in law I made this diaper bag from Butterick 4560.  The best part was choosing the fabric!!  I was hoping to pick something that my brother would carry around on his shoulder too J

Clutch

Every black dress needs a cute bag as an accessory…or in my case a comfortable pair jeans as I head to the bar with friends.  Again using a pattern out of Amy Butler's In Stiches book this project took me just over an hour.  Perfect since I couldn’t find ‘anything’ to go with my outfit one evening!  I did opt out of the flower option, but should have followed the suggestion of using a home décor fabric.  That would have added some stability to the clutch J 

A place to eat

My next project introduced me to the of world of rotary cutters J  Without these nifty little tools trying to cut in a straight line and square up fabric pieces is next to impossible.  I made 8 placemats out of a pattern I found in Amy Butler's In Stiches book.  These were fun and I see possibilities for seasonal placemats in my house! 

Gathered Jacket

My first attempt at clothing…success!!  This is a super cute gathered jacket made from an Indygo Junction IJ814 pattern.  With the ruffled collar and various options for jacket length this pattern will become an all-time favorite for me.  The picture is the shorter version of the jacket combined with the button collar of the longer coat.  I also opted to not do the pockets on my jacket.  Recently, I sewed the same coat in a dark brown with an emerald green sleeve for a friend and it also turned quite nice.  Perfect complement to a skirt, pants or jeans!

Bags, bags and more bags

Now that I had the hang of the sewing machine I decided to make a little something for myself.  Using Simplicity 2685 I made the first bag for myself out of the black and green micro corduroy.  This was super easy and fun, especially when you start playing with multiple fabrics and sassy buttons.  I made two more for my daughters for Christmas presents.  These smaller bags are perfect size for piano books, toys/ games our just to carry all the stuff they ‘need’ for car trips!

And so it began...

I have always wanted to sew, but thought it was something that other, more creative people did...certainly not me.  But this past Halloween I wanted my daughters to have a cool costume, something they would look back to and remember from their childhood and so it began.  I learned a lot while sewing these two costumes (Simplicity 2834), but mostly I learned that with a little patience and actually reading the pattern it can be done!