Bandana Skirt

After a long hiatus... yes, I was able to use my neglected sewing machine again. And I used it to make these:

I have this inspiration pinned on Pinterest for more than a year now. 

Hankerchief Skirt by Cami (tidbits)

Cami has a tutorial over at her blog so do check it out. I don't know why it took me so long to make it since it really is so easy to make. So easy that I decided to use the parts I cut off to embellish a top for Izzie (one of Andrea's dolly friends).

They like matching you know (see Matching Dresses).

I only had 3 bandanas of different designs, and they were a little small. Since I wanted Andrea's skirt a bit long so she can use it for a few years (wishful thinking here) I only divided my bandana into 2 equal triangular parts and Andrea's skirt is only made up of 6 panels. I folded each triangle into half, and cut off one side to give me the pentagon-shaped pieces like the one on Cami's photo here.

Since I only had a few pieces, I had to change how I sewed each piece together. Instead of layering them like this, I took 2 pieces, right sides facing together, wrong side out, and sewed parallel to one side of the pentagon. See diagram below.

I sewed along that side of the pentagon until all 6 pieces form a sort of circle. So I had something like a "circle" skirt. And then I sewed a black elastic for the waistband.

Happy campers (ignore the dirty feet... she was playing barefoot before I dragged her here for the photoshoot)

I still had a few small scrap pieces of the bandanas that I cut off when I made Izzie's dress and I made them into a little accessory to match the skirt. I will be sharing that project maybe tomorrow. Let me just say that only very few small pieces of those bandanas were thrown away.

Layered Ruffle Skirt

I was shopping for clothes for Andrea last December and I saw this cutest 4-layer ruffle skirt at the mall. I didn't buy it (i.e. EXPENSIVE!!!), cute though it was. For a few days after, I had to restrain myself from going back to the mall to get it thinking it's something I can sew myself, if I can find similar fabric.

The skirt at the mall was made of 2 prints of complementing black and white fabric. In my stash, I had 2 black prints with flowers on them which looks cute when used together (that's why I bought them together a few months back). I started the skirt last year and wanted to finish before Christmas... but that didn't happen. Instead, I finished it yesterday.

  

It was a rushed project so I wasn't able to take pictures of the process. 

I love the prints on the fabric. I still have some left and I'm thinking I might make me a skirt too. 

Now Andrea needs something to go with this skirt... and for that, I have a tutorial (FINALLY!!!) in the works for you so stay tuned!

I am linking to the following parties:

We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims |  Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | DIY Diva Thursdays at Mine for the Making | Craft-O-Maniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day... Crafter by Night | Take a Look Tuesday at Sugarbee Crafts | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Get your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog |

Slow down 2012! - Part 1

Happy new year friends, guests and everyone who happens to browse over!

It's the 3rd day of January and I have a TON of stuff to catch up on. Vacation is OVER, I'm back and  and it's time to go back to WORK. And back to work I've been since yesterday. I have so many things to share I don't know there to start. 

Let's start with what this blog is all about... a project!

I made a bubble skirt for Andrea shortly before we left for vacation and she wore it on Christmas Eve. This is actually a clothes upcycle project. It was made from an old pair of slacks (yes... I used to have shiny navy blue slacks). I cut off the lower part of both legs, removed the side seams, sewed all sides together to form a tube, gathered the top and bottom before attaching to the skirt lining.

*sigh*

It's been a while since I posted a tutorial and one of these days, I swear I will surprise you with one :)

We spent Christmas eve at my husband's aunt's house, where we spend it every year. 

 His aunt's house is right in front of the Catholic church where everyone in his family attends mass. The church was packed on Christmas eve.

The streets were busy too.

After mass we had our Christmas dinner, Noche Buena, and then exchanged gifts with the cousins. I didn't get a proper photo of the dinner table because I was too busy running after my little girl (which pretty much describes my whole vacation... me running after that little girl).

I planned to finish a crochet project over vacation but we got a little busy and I totally forgot all about it. Anyway, more on our vacation in the next few days and what better way to celebrate the new year than to have a GIVEAWAY right?? RIGHT! I'll be announcing the details soon so stay tuned!

Circle Skirt Dress for Barbie

Last Sunday, amidst all the rush to finish my Mother's Day projects (i.e. the Satin and Tulle flower for my mom's blouse, and the matching rosettes headbands for Andrea and me) before we had to leave the house, I decided to squeeze in a simple dress for Barbie. 

I used the leftover jersey fabric from my Kimono Dress that I turned into a skirt. I made a Circle Skirt from Dana's tutorial at Made. And then I made the top using Delia's tutorial for the Paper Bag Dress... only you know... I made it shorter because it will only be a top and I tapered toward the waist because I wanted the top part loose but not too loose. And then I attached the skirt to the top. I sewed this by hand... I have no idea how to sew something so small using my sewing machine.

After I sewed both halves together, I cut a slit at the back of the top so that Barbie can put it on and take it off easily. I sewed on a sort of flap on one side of the slit so I can attach the Velcro. But since the fabric is small and a little flimsy, things went haywire when I tried to sew it on using the sewing machine...

Please don't be jealous of my sewing skills.

I was in a hurry at the time so I didn't fix it... but I will *sigh*. The belt is actually a black piece of satin ribbon tied at the back. 

And we have a conservative dress for Barbie (why do all Barbie clothes sold at the mall have to be clingy and tight fitting???). I wanted to make the skirt a little longer but I didn't have enough scrap fabric.

Paired with a woven doll's bag I bought somewhere for around P40 (or around $0.50)

Linking up to the following link parties:

Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show & Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Hoo's Got Talent? at Night Owl Crafting | Will See It Wednesday at Fabric Bows and More | 

Barbie's Tutu Skirt

Sometime last year, I planned on making doll dresses for Andrea's dolls. I made a couple for the smaller ones, but after that, I totally forgot about it.

Yesterday, during my usual blog hop, I came across Andrea's blog: Addicted to Tutes. She made clothes for her daughter's Barbie dolls and the tutu skirt caught my eye. It's pretty and yet so simple!

I planned to try it when I got home so...

STEP 1: Get Andrea (my daughter) to sleep early so mommy can get some sewing time.

STEP 2: Find some scrap lace wide enough to be a skirt for Barbie and some thin elastic.

I wanted to make the skirt a little less see through so I added 4 layers of cream tulle underneath.

I wanted to finish quickly so I didn't prepare a detailed tutorial, but if you want one, please leave a comment on this post and I will prepare one next time Andrea (again, my daughter) goes to sleep early.

Here's my finished skirt:

Head on over to Andrea's (the blogger, hehe) blog to check out her other Barbie clothes. I plan to make some other clothes for Barbie soon.

Click here to go to Andrea's blog: Addicted to Tutes.

"Bye! Hope you all have a great day!"

Layered Tulle Skirt

Last week, I was hoping that come Monday, I would have a 'decorating' post ready. I was so excited to start decorating our home again after a long, long time. Our living room has been dominated by Andrea's toys and equipment all of last year but I was planning to decorate the entrance area of our home at least. But it was not to be (nanny went home for the weekend so I was the only one taking care of Andrea and didn't have much free time).

I was able to find time for a quick project though. I had a little bit of pink sheer fabric left and decided to make it to a tutu skirt for my 2-year-old niece, Helaena (Andrea already has a store-bought tutu). It was only 37 inches wide, apparently, not enough to make it ruffle a lot to make a tutu. So I ended up with a layered skirt instead.

I love that pink sheer fabric! It has small leaves woven in it in white thread. So delicate! Sadly, I only bought a yard of it 5 years ago, way way before I learned how to sew, to make a small patch.

I used pink gena silk for the skirt lining, and added 3 layers of pink tulle under the pink sheer fabric.

I sewed all 5 layers (gena silk skirt lining, 3 layers of tulle, pink sheer fabric) together, and then added black elastic on top. I made the tulle a little bit longer than the outer fabric.

I finished the skirt in around 2 hours last Saturday and we gave it to Helaena in the afternoon when we went to my mom's house. And here she is wearing it last Sunday to go to church:

Those shoes are all glittery and lights up when she walks... she loves them!

NOTE: The lens of our camera is not working properly so I only used my camera phone to take pictures :( The picture of my niece wearing it was actually taken by mom and sent to me via MMS.

I linked up to the following link parties:

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings |  Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Made by You Monday at Skip to my Lou | Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Take-a-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple | Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home |  We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty  Three | Make It Wear It at The Train to Crazy | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | K.I.S.S. at The Tattered Tag | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sew Crafty Saturdays at Wildflowers and Whimsy | Free for All at Young and Crafty | Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative |

From Old Jeans to Summer Skirt!

Remember these denim corsages I've been making?

From Left: My first denim corsage, denim corsages I made for my shoes, denim corsage I made for our Valentine Fair

They all came from the same pair of cut-off jeans I've had pre-maternity. I loved those jeans. Great fit, soft, and really, really comfortable. I found an old photo of me wearing it.

Yes... this is really me... back in 2008.

I used to wear it a lot. So anyway, 2009 I got pregnant and after I gave birth, I was never able to fit in these jeans comfortably again. After I lost a little of my pregnancy weight, it fit... but it was a little tight. After a few months of wearing it post maternity, I saw that some parts were showing obvious signs of wear. I decided to 'retire' it and since then, I've been cutting it up to make my denim corsages.

Last week, I saw this post from Camilla of Rosy Red Buttons about a monthly collaborative project called Point of View. Their theme for this month is skirts. I've never made a skirt before so I decided to try making one so I can link up to Point of View at the end of this month. I saw someone convert an old pair of jeans to a skirt in one of the link parties I join every week. However, I forgot to bookmark it :( But I got the idea from her (if anyone recognizes my project, can you send me the link to that blogger's site or post so I can give proper credit? Thanks!).

Anyway, to make my skirt, I used:

1. Old jeans... or in my case, what's left of it :) If you are using old jeans, cut it off a little above the crotch area.
2. Half yard of fabric (I used the fabric my friend got for me from IKEA, it's a little wide, around 59 inches so half a yard was enough for this project).
3. Matching thread.

Please ignore the ribbon. I was planning to use it but in the end, I liked the finished skirt without the ribbon so I didn't get to use it.

Step 1: Figure out how long you want the skirt to be so you will know how long your fabric has to be before you cut it..

Step 2. Measure the bottom of your cut off jeans.

Double the value of your measurement (you need this much to be able to create pleats), and add your seam allowance. That's how wide you need your fabric to be. Mine was 18 inches wide so my fabric was around 38 inches wide (18 x 2 + 2 inches seam allowance).

Step 3. You already know how long and how wide you need your fabric to be. Cut 2 pieces with those measurements. You will need 2 pieces: one for the front, and one for the back.

Step 4. Hem the bottom of both pieces of fabrics.

Step 5. Place one fabric on top of the other, right sides facing in. Hem both sides.

Step 6. Pin one hemmed side to one side of the jeans. Since I didn't hem the top, I made a small fold inward at the top of the fabric before I pinned it to the jeans.

Step 7. Fold the fabric into pleats and secure with pins. Make sure to fold the top edge inward to hide the raw edge.

Step 8. After you pin the fabric around your jeans, sew the fabric on to the jeans.

And here's my skirt:

Since the jeans I used was a little tight... then this skirt is still a little tight around the hips as well. I need to lose a little weight before I can fit into this skirt comfortably :) But when I do... then I will have a new skirt to celebrate with ;)

I linked up to the following link parties, check them out!

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | Made by You Monday at Skip to my Lou | Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Craft | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Link Party at Passionately Artistic | Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage | Sundae Scoop at I heart Naptime | Free for All at Young and Crafty | Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Round Tuit at Creating my way to Success | Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios | Make It Wear It at The Train to Crazy |