Polishing a turd!

I have been looking for plus size dress tutorials or patterns for awhile. The options to print from home are limited. I found one that said you could roughly trace a dress that fits you well. So I tried it.

And it failed, miserably. I traced the dress onto tissue paper, added seams, and the fit was all wrong. Go figure.




I should have made it out of muslin first, but instead I cut into this fabric like a dummy. To salvage my mistake, I cut the bodice just under the armpits. So I had this tube with darts, and the skirt.

I gathered the skirt so it matched up to the tube, then shimmied into it.



Not too bad! I need to add buttons, a zipper, or something to make getting in and out a little easier. But check this out...



I'm a fan of how tight this is on what I call my "baby shelf". It's like a control top. Makes me feel a little more secure. Obviously it was a complete mistake though. haha..



And that's what I call polishing a turd. I still need to finish the top waist edge and the edge of the skirt. I'm thinking about adding another ruffle for length. Meh.

Workspace.

We live in a small apartment. I love sewing. I don't have a ton of extra money to drop on sewing gear, organization, whatever.

So here are some tips from my small space. It's not super chic or anything. Flintcity Handmade does blog posts where they feature an artist, their workspace, and do a giveway. So I'm stealing the idea, I think it's a nice way to introduce myself.




I set up next to the slider, the light is best there. The small table has leaves that drop down. One chair holds my kit, I usually stash a shoebox under it to hold scraps. It cleans up quick, everything goes right into the closet.




I use a wet wipes container to hold my pincushion/small scissors/extra pins/seam ripper/lint brush/chalk. Super convenient to have it all in one container. I can close it and put it in the bottom of my kit. A small drinking glass hangs out behind it for catching all the small scraps and threads I snip.

My buddy Sarah made me a wrist pincushion out of an old milk cap!! Tutorial here.



This is a piece of masonite board leftover from a project. It's my super cheap table-on-the-floor. Lucy uses it to draw on, I use it to cut patterns and pin.



This is a small closetmaid cupboard. A friend gave it to me when she was moving, I think they're $20-30? I should google it. Notions, scraps, felt, sketchbooks, t-shirts and jersey fabric.




Drawer number one holds embroidery kits and stuff. That's a wet wipes container with finished barrettes in it. It smells poppin fresh.



Drawer number two holds patterns. Once they're printed off or cut up they go in manilla envelopes and get labeled. You like that vintage tiered skirt? Totally rocked that when I was 12! Some of Lucy's coloring pages are in there too.



It closes up and looks neat enough. Yes, my daughter was eating lunch. No, I didn't clean up before I took these pictures. My main fabric storage is in an 18 gallon rubbermaid tote in our walk-in bedroom closet. I'm proud to say I've worked through a majority of my large stash in the last few months, so I'm running kind of low on fabric. It's nothing to see.

And that's it!

Toddler Blouse

This blouse kills me. The fact that I'm calling it a blouse kills me.

I started out to make a "romper". Then I wondered how she would go to the bathroom. She'd have to completely undress herself every time.

So I just finished the top. This is a basic pattern for a toddler dress. I like the way the shoulders fit. I just don't care for the finished shape of the whole dress.

So, I used the shoulder pieces, and shortened it. Added some ruffles that start where they're stitched into the lining, and a casing around the bottom. It makes a cute shape, right?