Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

vertical ruffle skirt with a black elastic waistband

~ SEWING

last week i made a ruffle dress for my girls and had some leftover fabric.
the cool thing with the ruffle fabric (besides the obvious that it’s pre-ruffled)
is that when you hold the fabric one way, the ruffles are horizontal,
and when you hold it the other way, the ruffles go vertical.

horizontal ruffles

vertical ruffles
isn’t that so cool? 🙂
so i made vertical ruffle skirts with a black elastic waistband
what you’ll need:
1/3-1/4 yard of fabric
3/4″ black elastic
pins
scissors
matching thread for the elastic
matching thread for the fabric(*not pictured)

1.  measure the waist by wrapping the elastic around the waist +PLUS 3/4″.
cut the elastic with the scissors.
2. fold the elastic in half, then lay it on top of the fabric. 
(make sure the ruffles are going down vertically)
3. cut the fabric in a a-line skirt form,
the top width matching the width of the elastic +plus 1 1/2″.
*the fabric is very stretchy but if you’re not working with a stretchy fabric,
OR if you’re making this for an adult, use this tutorial.
this pattern is only for little girls/babies with no hips.
4. put the two fabrics the right sides together so the wrong side is facing you.
then pin the sides and make sure the ruffles are tucked in.
(the left side of the picture is the right way, the right side the wrong way)
5. thread the sewing machine with black thread.  then sew the two ends
of the elastic together with a 1/4-1/8″ seam.
6. flip the elastic the other side out so the ends that you just sewed is on the inside.
7. pin the waist part of the skirt around the black elastic
so that the fabric is underneath the elastic, covering about 1/2 of the elastic.
 
8. sew along the end of the elastic that’s touching the fabric in zig zags.
(the zig zags will make sure the elastic stretches a lot)
make sure to look on the insides of the skirt as you’re sewing
to make sure you’re sewing the fabric onto the elastic.

and it’s complete! 
(there’s no need to seam the bottom of the skirt since knit fabrics won’t fray!
i wanted to cut the bottom to a few inches above the knee to pair it with
leggings and boots but my girls insisted they liked it long so i kept it long. 🙂

estimated time: 25 mins.
estimated budget: very reasonable (for me it was about $3 each)
skill level: a confident beginner
p.s: all the headbands at my store are only $19.99 this week!
that is an amazing deal if i say so myself!!

can i still call myself a seamstress?

~ SEWING

 {image via google}
sometimes when i get kind compliments such as how i’m creative and a talented seamstress, my honest thoughts in my head are, ‘uh, not really, but you are so kind!’  i do not see myself as a creative person when most of the things i do are copy my favorite designers, so there’s not much creativity involved, and as you can see from most of my projects, anyone with a very basic sewing skills can do what i do, therefore not that much sewing talent is required.  i’m not that good of a seamstress, i took a class in jr. high and a class in HS, then after that, i didn’t do any sewing except for making a dress or a skirt smaller by sewing the sides straight down(which happened about once every two years), until 1 1/2 years ago when i started sewing and posting them on my blog(which is why all my projects are so simple and easy, because i don’t know how to do the hard stuff!).  i’m not trying to be humble or anything, these are just the facts.  i wish i could say i had years and years of legit sewing classes and went to a fashion design school(which i’d love to do) but i didn’t. 
which explains why i never knew until like three days ago, which i’m really embarrassed to admit, that you could do zig zags on the edges of your clothes to keep it from fraying with your sewing machine just like a serger?  i mean, i knew zig zags existed on the sewing machine, i just didn’t know you could use it like that instead of a serger.  so uh, yeah, isn’t that so embarrassing?  and i call myself a seamstress?  hahahaha, i laughed a lot at myself when i found out by reading a couple of tutorials on sewing blogs this week and how they used zig zags instead of a serger.  i thought, man, if there was such a thing as a seamstress certificate(or is there such a thing? then more embarrassment to me, yes!), i’d totally get mine taken away!  i always thought you needed a serger or else you just have to double fold and sew the edges.  my sewing teachers in jr. high and high school never taught that to me!  or else i wasn’t paying attention then. 😉  we just had sergers so that’s the only way we did it.  anyway, the good news is that i no longer need to buy a serger and the bad news is that i might’ve lost all my credibility as a seamstress. 😮

i hope everyone will have a beautiful weekend!♥

15 mins. to a little girls’ ruffle dress

~ SEWING

i bought some ruffle fabric at the fabric district in LA
to make dresses for my two little girls.
they haven’t really liked what i’ve made for them so far
and doesn’t wear them unless i force or bribe them,
(which is the reason why i don’t sew much for them)
so i was hoping this would be the first that they’d approve of.
i bought 1 yard each of light pink and cream.

and 30 mins. later, i had two dresses made for my two girls!

what you’ll need:
2/3-3/4 yard of ruffle fabric per dress
(purchase here and here or go to the fabric district in LA and buy it for $7/yard!)
matching thread
scissors
estimated time: 15 mins. per dress
project cost: reasonable
skill level: beginner

1. fold the ruffle fabric so there’s two layers and lay a dress flat on top.
2. trace the dress with 1/2″-3/4″ extra all around and cut the fabric.
(i cut mine a lot longer on the bottom so they won’t outgrow it so fast. 🙂
3. put the two layers right sides together and sew the sides and the shoulders closed.
4. double fold(1/4″ fold both times) and sew around the neckline and armholes.
(haha, i just noticed i wrote “the armpit area” on the picture.  eh hem, moving on…)
*5. double fold the bottom hem and sew. 
*optional.  i didn’t hem the bottom since it won’t fray and the ruffles cover the edges anyway.
the after:
my oldest didn’t want to take pictures, but my youngest sure did, can you tell?
and i wore my ruffle dress so we can all be matchy matchy to go to church.
tips:
*make sure when you cut the fabric that you’re not cutting off the ruffles itself on the edges.
(cut the base fabric underneath the ruffles)
*when you’re about to sew, make sure to hold it up right so the ruffles hang down.
*as you’re sewing, keep checking so the ruffles are going down and not catch on the wrong side.

transform pink bowtie dress DIY

~ SEWING

i purchased this dress from GAP a few months ago for $5.
it’s a size L and doesn’t have any darts, so it doesn’t have any shape to it.
so i cut the sides, made the shoulders smaller, and made a bowtie belt for the waist.
the before/after:
to make the shoulder seam smaller, i flipped it inside out,
then folded and pinned the shoulder seams about 1/2″.
then sewed it right by the seam on the sleeves.
(i didn’t want the sleeves any shorter so i kept the length of the sleeves
by sewing along the seams on the sleeves, if that makes sense.
if i wanted the sleeves shorter too, i would’ve folded it right along
the line on the sleeves and not 1/2″ across from it.)
then sewed the sides about 2 1/2″ smaller. (see the gray line)
then with the extra fabric i cut from the sides, i made a bowtie using this tutorial with one strip
and with the other made a waist tie.
and there you have it!
the dress is very cute & girly so i felt the need to pose like one. 🙂
p.s: the headband i’m wearing is available for purchase at my store right now. 
and there’s only one left. 😉

anthropologie fancified boatneck DIY

~ SEWING

DIY project: anthropologie’s fancified boatneck $58

in my closet:
a black/white stripe top c/o romwe
and lace i purchased from etsy
I cut the bottom of the tunic and sewed it shorter and added the lace on the shoulders.
you’ll need:
lace
striped top
liquid stitch – (oh how i love thee! ♥)

estimated time: 10 mins.
project cost: low
(mine was only $5.71 for the lace since i got the top for free)
skill level: very beginner
the result:
i saved over $50!
tips:
*anytime you use liquid stitch, i recommend hand washing. 
the glue sometimes comes off through the wash cycle.