I am just starting to set up a craft room. I got the DIGNITET curtain wire from Ikea; the fabrics are wrapped around cardboard backing boards used for comic book storage. Each one is hung with two RIKTIG clips. The curtain wire holds a LOT of fabrics. Since the craft room doesn’t get much natural light, I’m not worried about fading. Dust is a concern, though. Next step is to get some containers for my yarn and thread. Anyway, here’s the craft room:
We have buttons!
And the bottom hem has been finished off:
Just need to get the sleeves sorted (and finish off the bias strip along the collar) and we have a shirt.
I’m getting close! The circle skirt is finished. I still need to finish the sleeves and bottom hem. I didn’t realize buttonholes were such a thing! I am going to try stitching them by hand. I did some research on it the past few days, and I have located a really great site at Williams Clothiers that provides incredibly detailed instructions … so I’m feeling pretty confident in my ability to do it. Need to pick up some beeswax, buttonhole thread, and buttons (I’m going to let Anya pick her buttons at the store … hopefully that works out for me!)
And a close-up of the collar – a 2″ bias-cut of fabric folded to create a 1/2″ collar. It is just basted in along the inside … but it looks really nice.
Here’s Anya’s Halloween skirt:
It’s a basic circle skirt — the circle was cut for a 23″ waist. A 4.5″ strip of fabric was then cut to 24″ and made into a 2″ wide waistband and attached to the skirt. I then ran 20″ of 2″ elastic through the band & gathered the fabric. This allows the skirt to be pulled over her head or hips. Plus it means she might be able to wear it next year 🙂
And in a bid to not have a skirt used just once, it is also her official election day skirt — blood-suckers, skeletons in the closet, ghosts/mummies/reanimated corpses (how else would dead people vote?).
Anya’s Christmas dress is not actually a dress — I’d had a picture in my head of a cream colour shirt in a small metallic print fabric with a green skirt. I found a beautiful small print fabric (Robert Kaufman Winters Grandeur Metallic Small Vines Ivory) that I wanted to use for the skirt. Problem was that I didn’t really have a specific shirt pattern.
Random internet searching didn’t yield anything … and then, voila, Pinterest randomly e-mails me a picture of an almost-perfect pleated shirt. I say almost because it’s winter … so I need some kind of arm covering. I’d first through about making a green velvet jacket … but that is a little more effort than I could put into it. Seems a lot easier to make a long sleeved shirt than making a whole other piece of clothing.
I can order the fabrics!
Anya wants to be a flying fairy for Halloween — figured I would make her a tutu and wings for her costume. Got real tutu net and some satin for the waistband. I don’t remember where I read it, but somewhere in my research I had read that at least one layer of contrasting color should be used to add depth to the finished product. But it seemed reasonable, so I purchased a deep blue purple and a pale pinkish purple.
I found instructions at http://www.cosplayisland.co.uk/tutorials/tutu that were wonderfully detailed. I cut the strips of net, I then cut a 16″ wide strip of the net ~23″ long. Folded it in quarters so I had a 4″ wide very sturdy 23″ strip. The strips of net were gathered along a length of embroidery floss and sewn to the 4″ wide band.
I affixed the satin to the top of the net band, and then folded it over to make a waistband.
A 20″ length of 2″ wide elastic was run through the waistband and the tutu was gathered down to Anya’s waist size. This allows the waist to stretch so it is easily pulled over her hips.
And we have a tutu! Now that I am looking at it … I’m really glad I added the contrasting color layer. It doesn’t really jump out at you, but it definitely adds depth to the finished piece.
(Yes, I did tack the tutu … just not in that photo)
And she’s wearing her skirt!
WooHoo! I finished another sewing project — this one is Anya’s 4th of July skirt. It’s a fabric from Northcott’s Stonehenge Stars & Strips line (20159-30). I think the fabric is not so flag-like that it looks silly on the 364 other days of the year, but it is right festive enough for the holiday.
It’s done!!!
And we are almost done with the Easter dress (just in time too)!
I had quite a time making the straps. Trying to turn the right side out, I wouldn’t get the layers right and ended up with two tubes sewn together at the seam. I finally stitched the two fabrics around a metal straw and then pushed the fabric through the straw. That worked surprisingly well.
I still want to make a wider belt, but the only thing that *needs* to be done is stitching the straps in place. They are pinned, at the moment, so I could get the proper length.
Too bad it will be so cold on Easter day – we’ll need sweaters!