DIY Bunting

Bunting. It's everywhere these days. All over the internet like cats. I don't allow myself to get onto Pintrest (we all know I'd be sucked in and disappear for weeks) but I'm sure it's on there. It's cute, it's fun, and it's super easy (and cheap!) to make. I made miles of it for my wedding:

Today as I was swapping out my V-day heart with my St. Patty's Day clovers outside our door I realized outside of that we have zero St. Patty's day decor! It's a brief holiday but still, I love holidays, big and small. Celebrations in general are awesome in my book. So I decided to make some green bunting to hang around the house. And I thought I'd share how to make it. Because it's stupid easy and if you're ever in need of some cute quick decor, bunting is a great solution.

All you need is some sort of card-stock/sturdy paper, a ruler (or if you're good at eyeballing, forget the ruler), scissors, sewing machine/needle and thread, and fabric. I happen to have a plethora of scrap fabric so I just grabbed all my greens. You can buy your own if you're not sitting on a cache of scraps, remnants would be a good and cheap place to start. Any color is cool! Matching is not necessary! I ended up not using that green polka dot print fabric since it was a print and not double sided. Something to consider if your bunting will be seen from both sides.

Make yourself a triangle! My sturdy paper was a flyer we got in the mail, recycle y'all! This will be your pattern. Mine was 6 inches across and 7 inches down, but you can make them whatever size you'd like! Long and skinny triangles or short and fat, you're the boss.

Trace your pattern on your fabric! I folded my fabric in half a whole bunch so when I cut it I was cutting multiples. Don't worry if they're not perfect, perfection is totally overrated in this instance. And in most.

Kick your cat off your stuff and continue with the rest of your fabric until you've got a whole bunch of triangles!

Now sew those suckers together! You can sew them in a pattern or just grab random colors, as I did here. A sewing machine surely speeds things up, but you can totally do this by hand. You just need the corners to be sewn together. If you do have a sewing machine, you can just run a stitch along the top of all of them.

And before you know it, you've got a big ol' strand of bunting! It took me maybe 10 minutes to sew them all together.

I ended up going back and finishing the edge with a wide zig-zag stitch for a little more stability. You could totally sew the whole thing together like this from the start, if I had thought of it earlier I would have. Have a serger? Lucky you, serge them all together!

You could also connect the triangles together with one long ribbon across the top. Perhaps in a contrasting color? I think that would be super cute. Plus, you could leave a long bit of ribbon at each in to tie your bunting to things. Ribbons = bows, y'all.

Hang that nonsense up and get festive! I made a loooong strand. This actually goes a bit farther off to the right. It makes me happy! Our little home is ready for St. Patty's day!

Make some y'all! Or don't, I will never know. But like I said, it's SO easy and incredibly cheap. You could probably throw this together for under five bucks if you had to buy all the materials. And it looks great and is so fun. Baby showers? Birthdays? Christmas (I am shocked I don't have this in christmas colors, obv going down this year)? Or just have some up year round! Why not? The options are endless! Get crafty!

Itching to create

I have been wishing and hoping and wanting to make things. I have a half finished painting in my living room (so sad), endless recipes in my kitchen, and a head (and drawer) full of patterns I want to make into pretty clothes. But alas! I cannot seem to find the time to sit down long enough to make anything. So until this free time falls into my lap, I will just daydream of putting my hands to work. And blog about it. Starting with pretty things to wear.

Like I said, I literally have a drawer full of patterns begging to be sewn. I even have fabric ready to go. And I have had a few patterns stuck in my head that I can't wait to put into action.

Look at this dress. Look at that BOW. I need this dress in my life, asap. I'm not nuts about those color choices in particular, but I do love the color blocking. Maybe blue and orange?

Also, this please. Is this not the prettiest thing? I want to make one just like this. That white fabric is perfect. It looks soft and breezy and it's feminine in the best way. It also looks fairly challenging, which is always fun.

The bad news is that these two patterns (and the one below) only seem to be available online via printing it yourself. And that was a fiasco the last time I tried it, so I'm not too keen on doing it again. But we'll see.

And, since fall and German festivities are just around the corner, I'd love to make a new dirndl. The one I made last year is a tad too big now and this pattern is more modern. Although I'd shorten that skirt quite a bit and obviously not make it all black. And check out those kiddos. Too damn cute!

I also bought a pattern for lederhosen (!!!) for Mr. Hogan. He felt a little left out last year, so this time around he'll have some German garb. Since he is the only German of the two of us, I guess he deserves it.

Now if I could only find the time to put all my plans into action. I'm sure when Brendon starts school I will have significantly more time on my hands. Silver lining to pharmacy school stealing him away.

Skirt and shirt shenanigans

My most recent sewing creation is a shirt and skirt combo! Made from the same set of patterns I made my last dress from. I know I always say that whatever I happen to be talking about is my favorite thing I've made, but this really is! I love this skirt and shirt, they've got a retro 50's feel. And I love the fabric. That fabric I made the skirt with was $2 y'all, for 2 very wide yards of awesome fabric. On clearance. TWO DOLLARS!!! It is plaid and gold and shiny and perfect. And I have a bunch left over still. The fabric for the shirt was a little pricier, but it's good soft stuff that is super comfy. And pretty! It's lacy! And both of these things fit me perfectly. Which is a nice change from things always being a bit big (I suck at sizing myself).

This beautiful fabric came with an extra set of challenges however. It was pretty dang see through! No bueno for a skirt unless you're into showing off your panties (I am not). So I had to improvise and whip up a lining. It was a fun problem to solve. I basically made another shorter mirrored version of the skirt and sewed it into the waistband and around the zipper. It's kind of nice because not only is it no longer see through, but it hides all the seams and makes it look pretty from the inside as well! It also adds a little bulk to it to make it a little... fluffier?

Now here are some wonky pictures Brendon took of me wearing this little ensemble. I apologize for the flash. I know that's like a blogging (and photography?) no-no, but we ran out of daylight and I ran out of energy for creative pictures.

Ignore the creases on the skirt from where I sat on it. That fabric is super weird (it's acetate? I need to google it) and likes to hold creases and folds. Forever. I haven't figured out how I'm going to wash it.

I am very happy with how it all turned out. The skirt and shirt were both a lot of fun to make. It felt good to get my hands working on something constructive after a week of laziness. And I already have my pattern and fabric for my next project picked out! Purple linen y'all, get ready.

And just for the hell of it, I'll leave you with some borderline ridiculous pictures:

Sophie. Seriously. That cat is FAT.

And this is what 9pm after getting up at 4am looks like. Tired, tired, tired.

Step by Step Sewing Part 4 - the Final Product

I finally got a chance to take pictures in my latest sewing creation. We have been blessed with some absolutely beautiful weather lately. Friday evening Brendon and I took advantage and hung out in the sunshine. And I conned him into taking some pictures of me in my dress.

Here is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 of the project. It took me almost a month to blog, whoops! Life has been busy lately. Wonderful, but busy busy busy!

I LOVE this dress! It is super comfy. That seersucker fabric is so light and soft, I love it. It is perfect for spring. It was a tad big around the waist so I added a little pink ribbon to cinch it up a bit. Not a permanent solution, but it works for now. Out of all the dresses I've made, I think this one was the simplest and I think it flatters me the most. The skirt part of it is the perfect length for me, which is nice because a lot of the time I have to alter the length on things because I'm on the tall side.

We had a great evening by the lake, relaxing, people watching and catching up with each other. This last couple weeks were rough for me and Mr. H. We probably saw each other for maybe 5 waking hours all week. No fun! I had also just finished a 9 day work marathon (my fault, asking for days off early in one week and late in the next is not a good idea), so it was extra nice to have a night together. And knowing you have the whole next day off together doesn't hurt either, especially when it is a certain someone's birthday (which was wonderful).

On our way home we stopped by a snow cone trailer for some goodies. I am obsessed with snow cones right now. They are SO GOOD. I always stick to my boring favorite, strawberry, but Brendon always has to one up me. He got blue raspberry and it was delish and I was jealous. Way to out order me babe.

Cutest husband ever. In my opinion.

 Brendon is way better at looking cute while eating snow cones. I just look awkward, as usual.

See how soft that dress looks? I could basically sleep in it. That fabric is the best. And it hardly wrinkles at all since it's fairly textured already. Win-win y'all.

Not sure what project is up next. I just got a bunch of new patterns, so I have too many options to chose from! I'm no good at making decisions!

Step by Step Sewing Part 3 - Construction

Alrighty, finally the next installment of the sewing project! I've named this dress the "candy striper" dress, for obvious reasons. Check out Part 1 and Part 2. Now let's tackle putting this thing together!

First things first we'll make the bodice. Really what you're making here is a kind of vest that eventually will be attached to the skirt. I ironed the interfacing onto the fabric, giving the fabric some stiffness and strength in places you'll need it. Most importantly here, where we'll be putting the buttons and button holes.

Next up, we sew in some darts onto the bodice pieces as well as the bodice lining. You basically have two mirrored copies of the bodice, one in your good fabric and one in lining. You'll sew them together so that on the inside of the bodice there are no exposed seams.

That up there is the lining. There are bust and waist line darts in the two front pieces (left and right sides) and then two waist line darts in the back piece. Darts are super easy, you basically are sewing out a wedge in your fabric, creating some definition/three dimensionality to your fabric. It makes your garment more fitted and tailored to your body. It also creates space to put your lovely boobs. Yes I just said boobs.

So I sewed in all my darts to all the bodice pieces and lining, then I sewed the front pieces to the back piece at the shoulder seam. Then I sewed the fabric and lining versions of the bodice together, good sides facing, so when you flip it right side out you can't see the seams on the inside or outside. Secrets of the trade here y'all. Just kidding, if you've sewn a pillow, you can do this.

Inside out:



Right side out:

Next up, the skirt! I pleated the top edge following the pattern guide. The nice thing about this pattern is that the pleats are intentionally uneven and random, so if they're not perfect, no worries! I love pleating. The other option is usually gathering, which I am not a fan of. More on that another time.

The pleated front and back skirt pieces:

Here come the pockets! Each pocket is half lining, half good fabric sewn together.The side with the lining goes on the front side of the skirt and the fabric side goes on the back. This is because when you've got your hands in the pockets or they're partially open, you'll see more of the back of the pocket than the front. Ideally, I guess this is saving you on fabric, but since the pocket pieces are so small it would be easy and just fine to make both sides of them out of your good fabric.

The right pocket is super easy. You sew the pocket made of lining to the front half of the skirt and the one made of good fabric to the back half. Then you basically sew the sides of the skirt and the pocket pieces together at the same time in one long stitch, leaving an opening for the pocket.

Finished right pocket:

The left pocket is a little different, and was easily the most challenging part of the dress. Since there is a zipper along the left side seam of the dress, you have to sew that side differently. The pattern calls for an invisible zipper, but since that requires an invisible zipper sewing foot (and way more steps), I just got a regular zipper. I might actually have an invisible zipper foot, but I lost my machine's manual years ago so I'm pretty clueless as to what a lot of my machine's accessories do. I need to buy a new manual online.

So anyway, I sewed the zipper and the left pocket in on the same seam line, leaving the pocket open. It was way more complicated than that sentence, but I don't think it's worth explaining. And I took no pictures of that part because it was stressful haha.

After sewing the skirt sides together, you attach the bodice to the skirt. Super easy, just a straight seam. Here's the dress, inside out, with the pockets sewn in:

Adding the buttons and button holes is up next! Using the button hole guide the pattern came with, I marked out where the holes would be sewn in.

I love sewing in button holes. Mostly because the machine does all the work, and they look so fancy! You just use a button foot on your machine, use the button hole settings to make stitches that reinforce the area around the hole, use a seam ripper to cut open the area between stitches and BOOM, button holes.

Then use the guide again on the other side and sew on your buttons. Sophie is helping me out here, by sitting exactly where I need to sew. She's awesome like that.

The bodice is all done! 

All that's left is to hem the skirt:

And we're done son! Obviously this is a highly simplified version of what took a few days. But as far as sewing projects go, this dress was fairly simple. And it would be a super easy pattern to alter.

I'll save pictures of the whole finished dress for later. I want to build suspense! But mostly I look terrible and there's no way I'm taking any pictures of myself today. But soon y'all!

Step by Step Sewing Part 2 - Pattern and Fabric Cutting

Okay so I am finally getting to the rest of this little sewing project tutorial thing. Check out the first part here. My apologies for it taking forever, life has been busy lately! Also cutting the patterns and fabric is easily the lamest part of all this, and I always drag my feet when it comes to getting around to it.

We looked a little bit at the pattern sheets last time, but here's what they look like unfolded:

There are usually two of these giant tissue paper style pattern sheets with a bunch of patterns on each. Also, if you're lucky, your pattern comes with a free cat.

Each pattern piece is made to be cut into different sizes, you just follow the line with your size number on it. There are tons of pattern pieces on these sheets and unless you are making every piece that the pattern includes (in this case, a shirt, dress, and skirt), you wont need them all. Each piece is numbered and each number goes to a different part (shirt, dress, skirt).

For the dress, I only needed pattern pieces 1-8 (there are 18 pieces total). I cut all the other patterns out as well, although I don't cut them to a certain size yet (in case my judgement on my size proves wrong). I set the pieces I wont need aside, fold them up, and put them back in the envelope so they're ready to roll whenever I decide to use them.

Above are the pieces I will need in order by number, top to bottom, left to right; 1-bodice front, 2-bodice back, 3-front interfacing, 4-back interfacing, 5-skirt front, 6-skirt back, 7-pocket, and 8-buttonhole guide. The last piece is not actually anything you cut out of fabric, just a placement guide for your button holes. As far as patterns go, this is a pretty small amount of pieces for a dress.

Next up, cutting the fabric! I washed both my fabric and lining so I wouldn't have to worry about my dress shrinking post-construction.

You have a cutting layout guide in your instructions that tells you how to lay out the patterns on the fabric. Some pieces are cut on folded fabric (so you get two pieces), some on the fold (so it opens up as one big mirrored piece), and some on single thicknesses. This is a "guide", I often find a more efficient way to cut my fabric, leaving me with a bit of extra. However, sometimes, you have to do it their way or it wont all fit.

These are my last two pieces, the front and back of the skirt, and as you can see I have quite a bit of extra left. This is almost always the case, but extra fabric is not a bad thing. I save everything for projects later on and in case you have a little sewing mishap and need to re-cut a pattern piece.

I also cut out fabric for the lining of the bodice and pockets:

And for the interfacing:

I thought I might explain what interfacing is. Interfacing is a kind of gauzy material that stiffens/backs your fabric in places you might need more weight. In this case I believe it is around the neckline and where the button holes will be. There are all kinds of interfacing, both fusible and not, in various thicknesses. This is lightweight fusible interfacing, usually if you're sewing clothing this is what you'll use. It's "fusible" meaning that you just press it (iron it) on to your fabric. Super easy and it works wonders.

And we're done! I pin everything together for each piece (pattern, fabric, lining) to try to stay organized. There are all kinds of guides on these patterns that you can either mark with a pencil onto your fabric or mark with pins. For example, dart or pleating lines. I pencil in the circles that mark the dart lines, but I use pins to mark my pleat guides. It's all up to you really, whatever works well for you. Just remember if you're working on fabric that's lighter in color, you probably want to make very light marks. Darker fabric is different, I either use a felt tipped marker or a white pencil.

So that's it for cutting patterns and fabric! Woohoo, we survived the lamest part. Next up is the fun part, we sew this bad boy together. I'm still debating on how to document that. Obviously I can't do every step, or your eyes would fall and you'd die of boredom. We'll see. I have a busy weekend ahead of me (yay for friends visiting!), so we will continue this project next week.

Also, totally unrelated but I must vent: how can I be breaking out and finding grey hairs at the same time? That's just unfair.