It has been a while since I posted. In my bio I mentioned that I worked at Ward’s Sewing Basket and loved my “job”. Well… I have purchased the store! It is now “Marti’s Fabric Studio”. Check out my website: martisfabricstudio.com – I will keep in touch through my website or through my facebook page – all of which still have many details to work out.
Thanks to all of you. I hope to post many new projects in the future.
I know it has been a while since I posted a new project but let’s just say it will be so-o-o worth the wait – I hope!
I am working on a casserole dish carrier/cover. For those of you who are preparing for the holidays with family, church, work parties, this is the trick for getting food from one place to the next!!! guaranteed!
It is also a super-great, super-wonderful, super-awesome, super-easy christmas gift ! (my friend Kadee - who owns a lovely gift shop of handmade items - uses the word “super” to emphasize any emphasis word - she is from Germany so imagine that with a german accent – it sounds super-awesome – I talked to her on the phone today and she said one of her customer was in a super-super hurry! – love it!)
Watch for the new project in the near future… like maybe this weekend! So go ahead a buy about 3/4 yard of quilted fabric or 3/4 yard of two coordinating fabrics – or if you are like me – pull some out of your stash. It is going to be a very quick and easy pattern - also guaranteed. Who has time for anything complicated this time of the year?!
For all of you who have a young daughter or granddaughter – this fun outfit makeover is for you!
Are your daughter’s jeans or skirt getting to short? Well this project may be the solution.
Or you could do as I did and just buy a $3.50 t-shirt and an $8 pair of jeans and add all the fun stuff to make it look like a designer outfit.
For those of you who live below the Mason/Dixon line - you could monogram the top. As my friend Gloria said, “Anything that doesn’t move gets monogrammed if you live in the south”.
There will be NO armholes, waistbands, buttonholes, or zippers to sew in this project - don’t you love it!
Before:
After:
The outfit is on display at Ward’s Sewing Basket. Stop in and you can see it for yourself!
Supplies Needed:
Old or New pair of jeans or jean skirt
T-shirt
1/2 yard Base fabric (bottom layer) 44-45″ wide
1/4 yard Top Fabric 44-45″ wide
trim (I used ric-rac and pom-poms) approx 1.5 yards of each
Cutting instructions:
First you will want to cut off the jeans. You will cut them 3 inches shorter than what you want the finished length to be.
Next cut the top. Use your tape measure and start measuring at the shoulder seam - place a mark 8″ down from the shoulder seam - this is where you will cut off the t-shirt. Save the bottom because you will use a small piece of it in the hairbow later.
The ruffles for pant leg: (I used the rotary cutter, ruler, and mat shown in the supply photo but you can cut them with a regular scissors).
Bottom ruffle cut 2 pieces 4.5″ x 22″
Top ruffle cut 2 pieces 3.5 x 22″
(For jean skirt cut 1 piece of bottom ruffle 4.5 x 44″ and top ruffle 3.5 x 44″)
For Top:
You may feel like you need a pattern for this but I will try to make this as clear as I can. Place the cut-off t-shirt next to the cut edge of your folded 44-45″ fabric. You will mark the sides first by starting where the t-shirt hits the fabric and slant out to the edge of the fabric - then draw your top curve. You will now match that curve by marking: on the bottom layer 10″ down and on the top layer 6″ down from the curve.
Here is a diagram:
Step 1:
With right sides together sew ruffles and skirts as shown above. You will want to serge the seams if you have a serger, or you can finish off the seams with a zig-zag stitch – this will prevent the seams from raveling when you wash them.
Next:
You will hem the bottom edge of all ruffles and skirts with a rolled hem – turning the edge twice and stitching.
Here is a photo of completed hems:
Now you are ready to sew these pieces to the cut-off t-shirt and jeans.
First we will sew the t-shirt to the skirts. First leave your t-shirt right-side out – then the top skirt layer turned “wrong-side out” will be next – then the bottom layer is last (also turned wrong-side out). I sewed through all layers at the same time. See the next photo:
Serge or zig-zag the edge of that seam.
When you turn it right-side out it will look like this:
Next you will gather the ruffles for pant legs to fit leg opening. I gathered both layers at the same time by stitching through both layers using a long gathering stitch then pulling the bottom thread to gather:
Turn your jeans inside-out and fit the ruffles into them - then sew through all layers:
You will want to finish these seams either by serging or zig-zaging through all layers.
Next you will turn them right side out and add trim (these trims will cover a multitude of mistakes – such as uneven gathers or unexpected pleats!)
Pom-poms first:
then ric-rac:
And it is finished!
As a bonus I have added instruction on how to make a hairbow to match. You could also use this to embellish a purse to match the outfit – or you could sew it right on the outfit.
Hairbow
Thanks to my friend and customer Jessica! She put a very similar flower on her daughter’s skirt – beautiful!
Supplies and cutting:
Supplies:
1 covered button kit size 30
scraps from outfit
cut-off section of t-shirt
Cut:
6 circles 3.5″ in diameter (3 of each color) of printed scrap fabric.
Make button using the t-shirt scraps and follow package instructions on how to make button.
Next:
Fold each of the six circles by folding in half first then bringing the edges to the center as illustrated above.
Next:
Gather the edge using needle and thread.
Keep adding petals – alternating colors until you have all six petals:
Next:
Sew the last petal to the first one and sew button into the middle. Like this:
I then take my hot glue gun and secure by inserting hot glue into the back side – just enough to fill up the space between the button and the petals:
I then sew on the clip or barrette:
Finally you have this:
This has been a long post but I know you will enjoy this outfit – not only because it can add life to a pair of jeans but also because it looks great!
So much for this post – have fun!!!!
I am posting my first project!
I love sewing – period – and I have been sewing since I was about 11 years old. For those of you who have a basic machine this site is for you. I don’t have fancy equipment – my machine is a Bernina 1030:
It is one of the last mechanical machines made by Bernina and it only does the basics. I bought it about 20 years ago. My Bernina and I have a lot in common – we both LOVE to sew!
Notice the cup holding up the sewing plate – that happened when my oldest daughter was about 3 and she pulled the machine off the table. Luckily it landed on the floor – not on her head, but I have to prop the plate up with what was her sippy cup at the time (the only thing I could find with the perfect height) I am still using the same cup 12 years later. It could be fixed, but I think it adds character to the machine – kinda like some of my aging body parts – the machine and I – the two of us – we have shared much.
Don’t get me wrong…
This is what I dream of!
I can only share this fact with you here – because I would not want to hurt my 1030’s feelings by saying it in front of her. We are both very sensitive…
Okay – back to my first project
The Zipper Pouch
(Read all instructions before starting)
Finished sizes: (approx.)
Green 6 X 4” (Perfect for personal items or lipstick)
Pink 9 X 4” (Perfect pencil bag or sunglass holder)
Paisley 9 X 5” (Great size for pocket book junk)
Emergency Vehicles 11 X 5” (The boy’s pencil bag is the largest one – well you know – even boys are enamored by size…) This size is also great for hair brush and hairspray.
This pouch has soooo many uses and can be about any size you wish:
Pocket book organizers – I have three in mine – one for coupons – one for lipstick – one for odds-n-ends
Pencil, Marker, Crayon Holders – school kids – need I say more (my girls go through at least 6 per year)
Make-up – any size works
Personal hygiene products – small one is great for that
Sunglasses
The list goes on…
Your material list:
¼ to ½ yard cotton fabric 44-45” wide (depending on size of bag)
¼ to ½ yard fleece 44-45” wide (depending on size of bag)
1 pkg. Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape
¼ yard – ½” ribbon
Zipper – make sure it is at least 2 – 4” longer than the finished width of your pouch (I will explain later)
If you want to monogram you will also need: (Note – I do this on my basic machine – no fancy stitches required).
3” scrap of black cotton fabric
3” piece of “steam-a-seam” or “wonder-under” (make sure it is sew able or it will gum up your needle)
Cutting Instructions:
Fabric: Cut 2 – 10” X 10”
Fleece” Cut 1 – 10” X 10”
Note: these cutting measurements are for the pink pouch. Adjust your cutting size to fit your needs.
If you want to applique an initial on the pouch this will be your first step:
First take your 3” fabric and iron the “steam-a-seam” on the back. Do not peel the paper off yet. Draw your letter outline backwards onto the paper side. (Note: I use fonts from my ”Word” program and size them to 150 and in bold - use a font that has irregular styling – I used “kurlz” but any font that does not have a precise style works well – in other words freestyle fonts work best) Cut out the letter then peel the paper off. Iron the letter onto fabric centered about 1 ½ to 2 inches below top (depending on size of bag). Then stitch around letter with a zig-zag stitch.
If you do not want an applique- start here:
Place your fleece down first then your first piece of fabric – face up. Next place your zipper face-down on the edge with both ends sticking out beyond the edges at least 1 – 3 inches (I will explain this later). Stitch through all layers with the zipper zipped up using a zipper foot –stitching close to the zipper.
Here is another picture of the completed seam:
Next flip so wrong sides are together and zipper is between them as pictured:
Then take the top piece and flip up to meet the zipper edge:
This picture looks like it is sewn but it is not do this next step before you sew:
Flip the back piece up to the zipper to meet the edge:
This will be layered like this:
Fleece, fabric (face-up), zipper (face-up), fabric (face-down)
Sew starting where the pin is – close to the zipper with a zipper foot.
This diagram may help you visualize how you fold over the layers of fabric or it may not…
Okay – you can quit laughing now and move on to the next step
After you’ve sewn the zipper -fold it right sides out as shown here:
Top stitch through all layers next to the zipper – this will keep the zipper from catching on the fabric when you zip and unzip – I speak from experience!
Now you will start to see why you want that zipper to be longer than your pouch – a real headache saver!
Next:
You will take your bias tape and open it up then sew through all layers down each side (Please don’t forget to unzip your zipper half-way or you won’t be able to get into it. Don’t you love how I figured out to put the instructions right on the picture – you will see more of that in the future…
Moving right along – after you have sewn the bias tape –you can now trim the zipper on both ends- magically there will be no trying to make zipper line up – it is already done!
After you trim the zipper on both ends you can take the top of the bias tape and fold down over zipper. You will then fold the bias tape over and zig-zag down the sides – notice the zipper is still open part-way.
As you can see there is no need to finish off the bottom of the bias tape because that will be cut off later.
Here is a close-up of the top corners:
Next you can unzip the pouch all the way -leaving it inside-out -and sew a piece of bias tape across the corners- like this:
After you have sewn the open bias tape onto pouch through all layers you can trim away the excess corner. How far you sew the bias tape across the corners will determine how wide the bottom of your pouch will be. My bias tape is usually about 1” from the point.
Next step:
Fold over the ends of the bias tape and then fold bias tape over the ends and zig-zag through all layers- making nice corners like this when you flip it right-side out:
As you can see I then ran a ribbon through the zipper pull - making it easier to zip.
And wallah! or yeehaw! or yippee!
You have this:
Or this:
Or this:
Or even this:
Did you wonder why I chose this fabric – read my EMS thread and you will understand. Notice I did not add ribbon to the boy’s pouch pencil pouch – don’t think they would be impressed.
Enjoy!
Marti
This blog was inspired by my love of sewing. My sister Carolyn placed the idea in my head after seeing some of my projects and wanting to know how to do them. She suggested blogging my ideas and giving detailed instructions with pictures on how to complete them.
I spent six years in college hoping to become a public school teacher – only to decide that was not where my heart was. I now get up and go to Ward’s Sewing Basket 3-4 days per week (Ward’s is a local fabric/quilt shop). I could say that is where I “work” part-time but I absolutely cannot call it work when I am doing what I love.
Our customers love seeing new projects and ideas which is what makes my “job” a joy! Many of you have asked how to do a project on display and many times I don’t have time between customers to share each step in detail. The ”fun projects” tab is for you!
For my family and friends who don’t sew – I have added the “family” tab.
For those of you who enjoy a little more excitement can keep up with the ”E.M.S.” tab. As a paramedic my husband has many stories to tell - reality is often more bizarre than fiction.
Watch for lots of projects and stories to be posted in the very near future.
