Sew Chic Upcycling Event - Link up your projects!

I'm so excited to kick off this Sew Chic Upcycling Event!

 How often do we have clothes in our closet that we don't wear, clothes that our kids outgrow and piles just waiting to be donated to Goodwill or the Salvation Army?
Well, crafty ladies this event is all about
REPURPOSING and RECREATING!

Guest posters, linky parties and PRIZES!!!
Now do I have your attention? That's what I thought!

We have such a fun 12 days planned! This event is being hosted here at Seamingly Smitten and with my co-host, Sarah, from This Crazy, Blessed Life from August 1-12th. 
We each have a guest poster each day to inspire you with their upcycled sewing projects.

Do you love to upcycle?
Want to win some AMAZING prizes?

 

Link up your own UPCYCLED CLOTHING projects during the Sew Chic Upcycling Event from August 1-12!   

Winners will be announced August 12th and prizes will be given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners! Wait until you see what all our sponsors have for you!

If you don't have a blog, but would like to submit a project to be featured, just email one of us at rah1515@aol.com or seaminglysmitten@gmail.com.

LINKY RULES:
1. Link a CLOTHING project you upcycled or recycled.
2. Add this button to your blog or post so more people can join the fun!
3. Follow Seamingly Smitten and This Crazy, Blessed Life

And add this button to your post!

<a href="http://thiscrazyblessedlife.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n504/Rah1515/RefashionWeekcopy.jpg" /></a>

Go ahead, show us what ya got!

Sew Chic Upcycling Event

Thrift it, Repurpose It, Remake it

and Wear it!

Alright all you crafty fashionistas and sewers! Get your sewing machines ready!
From August 1-12th Sarah from This Crazy, Blessed Life and I are hosting a HUGE clothing UPCYCLING EVENT!

We will have Guest Posters, Linky Parties and PRIZES!

Start searching through your closet or your nearest thrift store to find some awesome fabric, cut it up and recreate it!

The linky party starts August 1st and winners will be announced August 12th!

TONS of prizes! Check back Sunday for more info.

Go thrift and start sewing!

Tutorial: Easy Swimsuit

Today I'm guest posting this tutorial over at the blog

Domestic Deadline where Emily posts about her sewing adventures, crafts for kids and practical ways to organize. Go check it out!

Summer is definitely heating up so I thought it was the perfect time to challenge myself. Try something new. Check off another project from the ever-growing list of tutorials I want to try. I came across a few swimsuit tutorials like this one from No Big Dill for toddlers or this WOMAN'S Swimsuit Tutorial from Sew, Mama Sew that I could not wait to try, even though bathing suit material completely intimidated me at first.

But, don't let it!

This got me thinking and got me sewing!

Here's my own version of a toddler swimsuit tutorial.

Materials:

swimsuit material

elastic (I used 3/8 inch elastic)

swimsuit that fits to trace for sizing

jersey ballpoint sewing needle

1. Gather materials.

2. Fold over material right sides together. Place swimsuit on top and pin all around.

3. Cut all around the swimsuit edges adding seam allowance (5/8 inches). Add an inch seam allowance along the top for hemming.

4. Just an example of what the top seam allowance should be.

5. Cut off the top of one of the pieces going from underarm edge (the angle) to the other underarm edge.. This will be the back of the swimsuit.

6. Fold your front swimsuit piece in half. Trim off a curve along the leg opening. This will raise the leg opening in the front of the swimsuit.

7. You will use a stretch stitch or zig-zag stitch when you sew. I used a stretch stitch #3 on my machine.

8. Fold over the top hem of your back swimsuit piece 1/2 an inch. This will be for the elastic casing.

Pin and sew.

9. Insert elastic through this casing. Sew both ends to hold the elastic in place.

10. Place your swimsuit pieces right sides together. Pin along the crotch area and both sides (not the leg opening). 

11. Sew both pinned sides and the crotch of the swimsuit. Turn inside out.Hem the sides and top of the swimsuit by folding over 1/2 inch and sewing.

12. Now we will bind the legs. Cut 2 strips 2 inches wide and as long as each leg opening. Mine were each 12 inches long.

13. Fold each binding piece right sides together, pin and sew the short ends.

14. Turn right side out and fold in half widthwise. Now each piece is 1 inch wide and makes a circle.

15. Pin each piece of binding along the leg opening with raw edges touching.

16. Fold the leg binding down so the right sides are facing up.

17. Cut a piece for your strap. I cut it 6 inches wide x 13 inches long.

18. Fold the strap in half widthwise, pin the long ends and sew along the pinned side.

19. Turn strap rightside out, pin on either side of the swimsuit and sew.

20. Try it on and GO SWIMMING!

Embellish it as you wish! I added a bow to jazz it up.

My niece LOVES it!

Last picture! It's time to swim!

Hope you're enjoying your summer. Happy Sewing!

Boy Stuff - Seersucker Shorts and Shirt

 I made another outfit for a friend's little boy from light blue seersucker. This time the seersucker had wide stripes, which ups the "preppy factor" even more in my opinion.

I can't wait to see Barrett wear it and I think I will have to make another outfit for my own little boy, John Patrick. He is already 3 so I'm not sure how long I actually get to sew for him, so I better start working on it!

 Here's the first outfit I sewed for Barrett. Doesn't he look cozy in his chair?

 His mom is lucky enough to have a monogramming machine and made him these shirts. Once I saw them I knew I wanted some for my kiddos, so we started bartering. It's fun having a crafty friend!

 Rebecca monogrammed my little girl's dress. Pink seersucker - soft and sweet.

 I had leftovers so made her sweet baby girl this dress. I've never seen her baby cry! She's an angel!

 Here are the shirts Rebecca made for my kids. I cannot get John Patrick to wear anything else since he's seen these! He loves them!

 And we couldn't forget Catherine. She absolutely needed sweet shirts with a lollipop and cupcake because she's all sugar. And if you know her, obviously some spice.

Thanks, Rebecca!!

You can see her blog here.

Summer Sewing for Sweet Friends

 Who can resist sewing for this sweet face?

I sure can't! This is Barrett, an adorable little boy that lives across the street. His mom and I have become good friends and have playdates all the time. Isn't it great when you can find a friend like that? A friend that has children close to your children's ages and someone you would be friends with even if you met before you had kids? Well that's his mom, Rebecca. And guess what? She's crafty too and has a monogramming machine! I know I sound excited about it like it was mine, but she offered to monogram some things for me if I sewed some things for her little boy, Barrett.

FREE MONOGRAMMING?

Of course I will take her up on that :)

So here is one of the outfits I made for Barrett. It's a navy and yellow striped pair of shorts with an initial applique. It's cute, summery and perfect for a fun-loving little boy, who loves wearing his daddy's cowboy boots! Yeehaw! 



I will be posting the awesome things she monogrammed (Catherine's 2 dresses - one is seersucker and another is lime green and white polk-a-dots, a beach bag, and 4 t-shirts that my kids call "Mrs. Becca's" shirts) later this week.

Oh and if you want to know how many times I had to make the shorts, it was twice! I even followed a pattern when I made the first pair because I wanted to make it "right." But "right" ended up being able to fit a 12 month old instead of a size 2T. Has that ever happened to you?

Sew Chic Upcycling Event August 1-12

All you bloggers out there that LOVE UPCYCLING...

this event is for you!

Sarah from the blog This Crazy Blessed Life and I are hosting a 2 week long UPCYCLING, RECYCLING, SEWING event called

Sew Chic Upcycling!

Each day there will be a post from a different blogger, some of which you may already know (I personally LOVE their blogs!). We will also have a linky party where you can enter your UPCYCLED SEWING projects starting Monday, August 1st. There will be PRIZES for the top 3 upcycled projects!

Start thinking and start sewing!

The lineup for my guest posters: click to see their blogs...

August 1st - Natalie from Johnny in a Dress

August 2nd - Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts

August 3rd - Kelli from Small Town Stitcher

August 4th - Erica Louise from Recycled Fashion

August 5th - Sarah from This Crazy Blessed Life

August 6th and 7th -Post about our Giveaways and Linky Features!

August 8th - Maradith from Strictly Homemade

August 9th - Carly from Chic Steals

August 10th - Emily from Domestic Deadline

August 11th - My own UPCYCLED sewing post....wait til you see what it is!

August 12th - ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS from our UPCYCLED Linky Party!

All the guest posters spot are filled. If you would like to provide an item for the giveaway, email me. For the giveaways we will feature you, your blog and your shop!

seaminglysmitten@gmail.com

Jenny

Summer Sundress with Ruffles

If you know this little face of my little girl's you've probably noticed you haven't seen her on the blog lately. That's because she's been laying down all summer! Catherine broke her femur climbing onto a bed 5 weeks ago (her leg got stuck between the rail and the mattress and she fell off) and has been in a spica cast.  That means a full-body cast with a bar in between her legs to keep her hips from moving. She has been laying around, army crawling around and being carried around the past few weeks. A week ago today she got that cast off and is just in a long legged cast on the broken leg and the cast still goes around her hips. BUT...she can stand! This is HUGE! I had to have the camera ready for when she did start standing again because it's almost been like having an infant in the house. Yay...she's crawling! Yay...she's standing! And in 10 more days we cannot wait to say YAY...SHE'S WALKING! But...that's in 10 more days. So for now I can finally take pictures of Catherine again (We call her "Ladycakes") in some sweet summery dresses standing up.
That's big news in our house and it is the little things in life that I appreciate. 

 I love this polk-a-dot and flowery fabric combination and the length of the ruffles. But do you see my mistake? I made the dress a few inches too long (I was trying to cover the cast...do you see it poking out on her right foot?) and had to make it shorter, but I had already attached the ruffles. So I just cut across and took off a few inches then reattached the bottom. I should have done this along the ruffle line...note for next time!
My sweet neighbor, Rebecca, who lives across the street has a monogramming machine and offered to monogram a few things for me if I sewed her little boy some clothes. I am all about bartering! Of course I jumped at the chance, gave her a few things and let her choose the monogram font, size and color. Well she did not let me down! I LOVE this monogram with the scrollwork around it! I've never had such a fancy monogram on a piece of kid's clothing before and now I think I won't go back to simple initials. Thanks Rebecca! You can see her blog here at The Klar Family blog. And I will post all of the awesome things she monogrammed for me in a few days! Thanks REBECCA!

 LOVE this monogram!

"See my dress, Momma? Cheese!"

I love my baby girl!

Sewing up a Silk Dress for Summer

Do you ever go to the fabric store and wonder where the "real" fabric is? Like the kind of fabric that clothing companies use to make clothes they sell in stores? The more and more I sew, the more and more I want to sew for myself. I see blogs like Elle Apparel with this amazing number:

Or read posts from A Pair and a Spare, an amazing Do-It-Yourself blog, that focuses on thrifting, repurposing, creating from scratch (and you get to see all her amazing travel photos) and would love to see what's in her closet. Check out this lace cami she made:

I dream of a new kind of fabric store. A store where fabrics are amazing to touch, bring instant inspiration and carry fabrics that could be turned into boutique clothing pieces for women. The fabric stores here focus on quilting fabrics, some clothing fabrics (linen, linen blends, poly/rayon blends) and then your typical costume or dress-making fabrics (super shiny). 

Last time I went to my fabric store I decided I was going to stay there until something sparked my interest. AND I FOUND IT.

SILK - my new love

I bought a yard of it and tons of ideas flooded my mind but two ideas stood out: a maxi dress or a mini dress.

I went for the mini, sewed it up that afternoon and wore it to a wedding shower.

Purple silk. Soft to the touch. Delicate on the skin.

And it felt great knowing that I made it.

Before:

 After:

So please comment and let me know:

What have you been making? Where do you buy clothing fabric for yourself?