Monday, April 16, 2012

Cardigan and underwear set for Inky

I was sent some really nice yarn to knit a cardigan for Inky last fall. I had been writing a  raglan sleeve cardigan pattern for dolls at the time so it worked out well. This is the finished result, I just happened to have the perfect colored tiny buttons.


Davina is modeling today.

This is a little underwear set. I was sent three pair of new Gymboree unders to make into a raglan sleeve boyshorts set. Voila! The back of the shirt closes with snaps. I used a scrap from an outgrown Gymboree shirt from my kids for the white on the shirt to make up the full front piece. The unders just weren't big enough to get lots of large pieces out of. Upcycling can be like a puzzle. Trying to get the most mileage out of whatever shapes are available, and then make it look like it's designed that way. The back of the shirt is solid pink. Davina had been sitting in this set for a couple days so the fronts of the boyshorts are creased, oops!



Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Last minute birthday gift, and a matchy matchy for Molly.

Last week my son was invited to a birthday party. We got the invite after school on Wednesday and the party was on Saturday. I bought some fabric on Thursday and made the dress on Friday. Molly begged me for a dress too, claiming that I never sew anything for her. O rly?

This is for Luan, my older son's friend. It was so sweet of her to invite him. He changed to a different school on the fall but she still asks about him frequently. My younger son still goes to the same school she does, so I see her and her mom quite a bit.

A quick popover sundress


And one for Molly.

Thanks for looking!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Club Nintendo meets Vera Bradley

A few years ago my husband bought me a nice little Vera Bradley purse. I love it, well I loved it. It became very worn but I wasn't able to find the same style to replace it with. It's just the right size and the pockets are just so etc. It hit me the other day that I would like to replicate that purse and incorporate the Club Nintendo bag that I got with some coins. It was a decent basic bag but it always felt so...flimsy. I looked at it more like fabric for harvesting. I carefully took apart my worn out Vera Bradley purse and made a pattern from it. I dug through my fabric stash and found some bits that would coordinate decently with the Nintendo bag. And.. voila! I have a new one of a kind purse. I still need to bind the seam allowances in the interior but it's fit for sharing pictures as is. I can't even count how many layers there are in the seams inside this purse. I had to quilt three layers of different fabrics together to make the sturdiness, just as Vera Bradley purses are made. 1 layer each of canvas, flannel and twill. This was not a project for wimps. I couldn't have done it without my trusty vintage Singer.


This is the original bag. It looks decent in the picture, but trust me, it's all frayed and there are holes in it.



This was the Club Nintendo bag. I got it from doing reviews on games and stuff that we had purchased, it's like a little reward. It's a very simple bag. It had no shape and was awkward to carry. It was destined to be upcycled.


Here is a glimpse of the carnage. When I sew, nothing else gets done in the house. Ask my kids. :) Ask my husband. :) Luckily none of them complain if the dishes pile up or we go out for dinner because nobody wants to eat the sewing I've been busy working on instead of cooking.


And here's my new purse! I reused the cord from the inside of the original cording, I made the red cording out of twill. I also reused the strap hardware, so I have a nice adjustable strap like on the original. I also reused the stiff rectable of cardboard for the liner in the bottom so the bag holds it's shape. The only thing I purchased for making this was the $1.50 zipper.

It was difficult to get right up close to the cording through all those heavy layers. I may go back in and snug it up in a few places, but I figured this was suitable enough for pictures.

The back. I really like the little side pockets. I never really used them much, but they give the purse a finished look.

The inside has one side with pockets. My 3DS fits in one, and my phone fits in the other large one with room for a pen and bus tickets in the middle one. The bottom of the purse is large and flat, it can hold a lot of stuff, but the top of it is only as wide as the zipper so it's not bulky to carry at all. Oh look, I have Streetpass, :)

Just one more picture of one of the side pockets. 


Thanks for looking! I will have some doll stuff to show you soon. I hope you all have a good weekend and a Happy Easter!
P.S. my 6 year old confided in me the other day. He said "Mom, I know the Easter bunny isn't real. I know it's just a person dressed up in a bunny costume because bunnies can't carry baskets of eggs. That's silly."