A New Top!

This is one of my new favorite outfits, especially the top. I drafted the pattern myself, with the help of this tutorial from The Crafty Cupboard. It was super easy to make - I just used a shirt that fits really well and traced around it onto freezer paper. The sewing was easy too - Melanie's instructions were very clear with lots of pictures!

 

I did have some trouble with the sleeves. I had planned to make the arm bands out of the blue knit. However, when I tried the shirt on, it was extremely tight around my arms. Part of the problem was the blue knit isn't very stretchy. Also, I hadn't made the arms wide enough when I traced the pattern.

 

After a lot of ripping and frustration, the shirt finally fit around my arms. I ended up using the black knit (same as my skirt) and adding a piece under the arm, as you can kind of see in the picture below.

 

 

The little extra piece sticking out is the rectangle I cut and added. Without it, the shirt was still too tight around the arms. It isn't the prettiest solution, but you can't see it at all when I'm wearing it.

 

 

This shirt is so comfortable to wear! I love the bright blue colors too! The knit is a cotton jersey that I got from The Fabric Fairy. I had been eyeing it for a long time and finally decided to buy some with a new shirt in mind.

 

 

My skirt is a simple bubble skirt. I used the tutorial on EmmylouBeeDoo. I made a bubble skirt a few years ago using her tutorial, but I like the way this one turned out much better.

 

 

These bell pictures were so fun to take too! My brother did a great job and we were lucky because shortly after we finished it started pouring. It's nice when you can find new places for taking pictures - it makes things more interesting.

 

 

Happy weekend!!

 

~Elizabeth

I may link to some of the link parties listed here.

A Bubble Skirt

One quick and easy tutorial + one girl who loves to sew = one ridiculously comfortable knit skirt!

I made a skirt last night. My mom emailed me a tutorial (Thanks Mom!) to an adorable bubble skirt she found! The tutorial was for a size 2T, but it can be made in any size. I adjusted for my measurements, and made it right then and there in my room at college. I am a sewing nerd...so far I have not met anyone else who brought their sewing machine and ALL their fabric with them to college.

The tutorial, which can be found here is so simple and quick! I made it in less than two hours. I think the cutting took the longest, because my knit was super stretchy and did not want to cooperate. It was just some plain black jersey knit that was originally going to be a infinity scarf. The skirt is made with a total of 3 rectangles (waistband, outer skirt and inner skirt).

The only problem I ran into was that when I finished my skirt was shorter than I wanted it to be.  It fell just above my knee. I wanted it just below my knee.When I cut it out I had to straighten it a lot to get it even and I ended up taking off more than I wanted. I should have made my waistband 6 inches instead of 4 inches. I was able to make a fix by sewing a second waistband on top of the original with some green scraps of knit I had. I didn't have enough black. You can't see the green when I'm wearing it anyway. Now it is the perfect length and it is so comfortable!!

I will definitely be making another one of these skirts. I want to make one for my little sister too.


~Elizabeth