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navy blue & white striped skirt DIY

July 28, 2011~ SEWING

i originally ordered a navy blue & white knit fabric to make
anthropologie’s expanding universe tank. however, when i received the fabric,
it was a lot thicker than i’d thought so i decided to make a skirt instead. 
i should’ve looked closer because on the fabric info,
it says it has 20% stretch which isn’t a lot. 
can you tell this is only my second time purchasing fabric online? 
 i guess i still have a lot to learn in the sewists’ world. 🙂

*picture shown of the back of the skirt
–you’ll need: 1/2 yard of striped knit fabric(i purchased mine here),
scissors, matching thread, pins
–estimated time: 30-45 mins.
–project cost: very low(mine was $4 w/ free shipping)
–skill level: a beginner
1. wrap the fabric around you and see if it’ll go around your whole hip/waist area.
(if it doesn’t, then you’ll need to cut two pieces, but this is how i did it.)
2. place the fabric a few inches higher than you’d wear it
and roughly mark with your fingers the length you want it + extra1-1/2 inches.
3. keeping place with your finger where that line is, cut across the fabric all the way.
4. fold about 2″ inward to the wrong side of the fabric and pin it across.
(this will be where your waist will be).
5. fold it in half.  the red lines are to show you where the darts will be.
(the darts will only be in the back and not the front).
6. make the darts by sewing along the red lines shown in the picture.
(you can have the line be more angled as you want but make sure it ends as gradual in the end).
the darts should look similar to this.
7. cut the top 1/2 of the edge so it’s a little rounder like this to resemble a pencil skirt.
8. sew along the edge.
9. hem the bottom of the skirt.
and you’re done!
(excuse my butt shot but it was necessary in order to show the darts ^ ^)
this skirt only cost me $4.
buy a similar skirt at alice + olivia for $165 or make one for $4. 
the choice is yours. 😉
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TAGGED: DIY 54 Comments

dilemma solved. and some headbands.

June 30, 2011~ SEWING

thank you everyone for your input on my dilemma.  your comments made me realize one of my goals i had for the blog which was to keep it real and honest, to not skew the blogging world further on this “perfectionism syndrome” by only writing about the good in life.  i feel very strongly about this because we live in a media where we’re bombarded and obsessed with the “perfect” everywhere in magazines, billboards, facebook, blogs, and more that portray people that seem to not only look perfect and flawless in every way, but to also live the perfect lives.  it’s so easy to compare ourselves with the perfect ones and get down on ourselves and think to ourselves, “why can’t i be like that? why can’t my life be like that?”  i for one do that when i see some women in magazines, i think, dang, i wish i had her body!  man, i hope to look that good when i’m 50!  but the truth is, people put their best feet forward in the online world.  people portray only the best in them, only the good times they have and leave the ugly out.  they also photoshop like no other. 😉  so in the end, they’re just like you and me.   no matter how much money they have, how much beauty they have, how perfect and lovey-dovey they seem to be with their significant other, they got problems and unhappy moments just like you and me.  their life just plain sucks sometimes, just like you and me.  no human being is worth greater than the other, we are all worth indefinite amount in God’s eyes.
and if it’s a little bit of shedding of truth on my part and let others know about my weaknesses and faults to have people who read my blog not compare their lives to mine or think i live the perfect life, then so be it.  i think it’s worth taking the risk. 
i did realize that while i’m free to post whatever i want and how i feel, i’m not free to post everything that happens in my kids’ lives, since those are their own sacred moments.  since this started as an online journal, i tried not to miss any outing/event/milestone that happened in their lives but i will have a seperate blog for that.  i will still post our family adventures and happenings, it just won’t be as frequent and personal about my kids. 
my other goals i had for the blog, in case you’re wondering, is to know that marriage is good, being a mother is good, having children is good…most of the time and it’s the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do, therefore the hardest thing you’ll ever do.  and mix that up with a little bit of sewing and my faith and views on life, and there you have it!  i hope my readers will not only be inspired by my sewing adventures, but my life adventures as well.  so thanks for reading! 🙂

p.s: i’ve been putting my headbands in the backburner but there are new designs i want to make for the headbands but i promised myself i wouldn’t make them until i sell more of my current designs.  and from my personal experience with headbands, i prefer the regular headband instead of the elastic headband, so now you’ll have an option of getting the headband on either a black satin headband or on an elastic headband. (except the zipper coiled rosettes) and all the headbands are marked down 25% right now so it’s only $22.50! (original price: $30) so check it out and happy shopping!

Vivien

 Ava

Audrey
for more designs, go to s.t collection.
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2 Comments

gathered hemlock dress fabric

June 24, 2011~ SEWING

i think some of you sewists would appreciate this so i thought i’d share. 
you know this gathered hemlock dress from anthropologie?
well, i was about to purchase it the other day but guess what i found?
the same exact fabric! so i ordered me some and can’t wait to make me a dress.
i have a design in my head that’s pretty similar to the one from anthropologie but a little different.
the dress is now sold out so if you missed it, you should make one along with me!
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12 Comments

modestify a one shoulder dress DIY

June 16, 2011~ SEWING

okay, i really need to stop with this whole ruffle madness.  as you probably know, i love ruffles, and i just counted how many ruffled clothes i have and guess the number—-52!!! i even have 5 ruffled swimsuits! this is getting ridiculous so i vow to not buy or make anymore ruffles! that’s it! we’re done! 
well, after this DIY project that is. he.he.he.  but hey this is my 52nd and my last! (i vow to try my hardest but no guarantees :p) i loved this dress when i saw it but they only had bigger sizes in stock, not to mention it’s a one shoulder strap dress.  so i bought it anyway and altered/modestified it.
before:
after:
i only had to cut off and sew one side of the dress since it’s a tube top and i also cut off the bottom length. (if you notice the before picture it’s a slanted assymetrical length but now it’s symmetrical) and with the extra fabric i cut off, i added the sleeves on both sides.  it’s basically a long rectangle and you bunch up one side in the front of the dress and bunch up the other side in the back and sew.  i did the same for the ruffled shoulder, just a smaller rectangle and i sewed the sleeves under the strap.
then we went to our friends wedding.
dejavu anyone?
such a cute, happy couple! and the bride looked beautiful.
adi: “mom, when am i going to get married?”
me: “when you get older and find a boy you love.”
adi: “but i already have my prince!”
me: “uh…who?”
adi: “daddy! so when can i marry him?”
me: “NEVER, you cannot marry him, he’s mine! i’ve already married him, so bad, so sad.”
okay…so i didn’t say the last line but the rest is all true story. 😉
oh and speaking of prince, there’s this king’s daddy-daughter grand ball i’ve been trying to get jay to take adi and ana to.  the prince dresses up in his tux and the princesses in their fancy dresses and eat treats and learn & practice special dances in a castle-like ballroom.  HAHAHAHAHA, am i the only one that finds this hilarious? i mean it’s such a cute idea and my girls would love it but really? what about those poor dads! can you just imagine a bunch of dads in their best suit with their male testosterones flying across the room while they munch on special treats and practice some special dances in a castle of magic and wonder? jay says no way he’s going so i’ve been telling adi to say to daddy, “but this is my dream come true, daddy! it’s all i want for my birthday! are you going to crush a 3 yr. old girl’s dream?” but it’s not working yet.  but oh how i wish jay would take our girls to it so that i can spy on them and take plethora of pictures to blackmail him later. 
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TAGGED: DIY, modestify 14 Comments

sailor inspired dress DIY

June 9, 2011~ SEWING

i’ve been wanting and looking for a sailor inspired dress for awhile so when i saw
 this girl turn a thrift dress into this(red dress on the left) i decided to just make one myself. 
so using inspirations from these pictures i collected, i made one.
my goodness, i think the last time i made a dress from scratch was my sewing class in jr.high.
i just made up the pattern for the dress since i couldn’t find a pattern i wanted
and it was my first time sewing an invisible zipper.  the zipper didn’t work out so smoothly
and that is why there are no pictures of the dress from the back haha.
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TAGGED: DIY 48 Comments

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Hello! My name is Sarah and I am so happy to have you here! Here you'll find DIY sewing, DIY home building & decor, honest and vulnerable posts of motherhood and snippets of my family. We are building our dream house and will update you regularly on our whole process from start to finish and I am also starting a mother-daughter sewing series. So I hope you stay awhile!

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