The Perfect Purse Pattern - The Anya Bag

For approximately the past 2 years I have wanted to make myself a purse. I have searched for a pattern, even picked up a few at pattern sales, but never got around to making one. Every time my purse would wear out I'd look at patterns again, then find the perfect fabric, then just buy a purse. Yep, my grand plan to sew myself a purse apparently wasn't happening.

Well, a few weeks ago Zoe, from So Zo What Do You Know, announced she was going to be releasing a purse pattern, the Anya Shoulder Bag. She needed testers. Perfect! A purse pattern, that I liked, that I already had fabric for, with a deadline? This could work. I might actually make myself that perfect purse I've been planning for two years! (Yeah, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I work best on a time crunch, things get done if there's a certain time I have to have them done by.)

So, I volunteered as a tester, and got sent the pattern and got to work. In one morning I got the bag sewn.

This pattern is great. The instructions are very clear with pictures illustrating each step. Extremely easy to put together, no matter your sewing experience, and extremely cute.  Definitely worth buying. Just making one purse from this pattern wasn't enough for me. I still had fabric left in my stash to make another purse out of! So, I gave my mom the first purse and got to work on a second one, for me.

From my stash I picked out a leather looking vinyl skirt I made myself in high school (it had a few issues) and a pair of black skinny jeans I never wore. The skirt would turn in to the body of the bag. The jeans? The yoke and straps. For the lining I found a scrap of black calico (left over from the Zelda costumes I made).

Then I decided to personalize the pattern, because as much as I like the original, there are certain things I always look for in a purse. Pockets are one of those. I added 2 big patch pockets to the lining and one pleated pocket to the front of the bag.

Then I just made one long strap, rather than 2, so that the purse would be a cross-body bag rather than a shoulder bag.

I added a little decorative stitching on the yoke, and my perfect, made by me, purse was done! After putting this off two years, it only took one evening to make!

After a week of this bag being my purse I'm still quite happy with it! At first I was worried about the lack of a zipper on the top of the bag. On my old purse however, I always forgot to actually zip it closed, so no zipper has been no problem. I've actually been better at remembering to button closed this purse then I ever was at remembering to zip the zipper on my old one. The only thing I might change? I'm thinking of add buttons to the interior patch pockets, as they like to gape open.

The exterior pockets however are great! I can always find my keys when I need them. Over all, I'd have to say that my attempt to make myself a purse has been successful!

A huge thanks to Zoe for putting out the perfect pattern for a project I'd been putting off, then choosing me as a tester so I actually got it done! I highly recommend this pattern to any one who wants to make a purse. I can totally see myself using this pattern again and again. (I'm already thinking of ways to make the next purse just slightly different from this one.) Maybe my days of buying purses are over!

The Swingy, Stripey, Knit, Top

You may have noticed, when I get into something, I get really into it. Goats? Ask anyone I went to high school with who I was and they'd say "the goat girl". Historical clothing? When one dress is done I'm all ready to start on the next. Clothing made out of shirts? Once one item was done I immediately had an idea for the next. Knit fabric? I'm getting the hang of it! By sewing one thing after another.

Last time I went to Joann's I went for one specific piece of fabric. Well, unsurprisingly, I came home with more than I went for! A teal and white/silver striped knit caught my eye. So I grabbed it, then noticed that McCall's patterns were on sale. Of course I had to look through the pattern book! I found a pattern that would be perfect for the teal fabric. Yep, both came home with me.

As you can see, the pattern was for a dress. Well, I really don't need any more dresses, so I shortened it into a shirt. I added a little extra width to each shoulder, slightly shortened the sleeves, and made the neckline a bit bigger. I cut out the shirt and sewed it together. 

This shirt went together really easily! The blue knit fabric I used to make one of the 3 dresses with was very thin, stretchy, and tightly knitted. This fabric? It was thin, stretchy, and loosely knitted. The looser knit of the fabric meant the sewing machine needle could easily get through the fabric. Thus the needle didn't push the fabric down into the sewing machine, causing it to "eat" the fabric, something that happened several times with the blue knit! Still though, due to the stretch factor, I wasn't sure I could achieve a nice, neat hem on this shirt. Luckily, one trend I've noticed, and really liked, lately is lace at the bottom of sweaters. 

Now, this isn't exactly a sweater, but I figured a little lace wouldn't hurt anything. Sewing the lace onto the bottom of the shirt made the fabric a bit more stable, and much easier to hem! Thus, I hemmed the shirt, bound the sleeve hems and neckline with strips of fabric, and the shirt was good to go!

Comfy, swingy, and pretty.

A lovely addition to my everyday fall wardrobe.

I can see this shirt getting lots of wear! Now, back to Joann's for more knit fabric? 

Well, I'm beginning to think I really, really don't need anymore clothes for myself, especially shirts. So, I'd better avoid the fabric store for a little while ("Nooooooo, I don't wanna!"), and find something else to really get into sewing. Christmas presents maybe? Something that uses up (a little) of the fabric in my gianormous stash? Hmm, I should get onto figuring that out. Any suggestions? I could use a bit of help here!

Sewing With Knits: A Tale of 3 Dresses

I have no issue with sewing fancy historical dresses, modern strapless formal dresses, or anything else that might be asked of me. But sewing something out of knit fabric? Due to the one time I tried to hem a swimsuit when I was 12, knit fabrics scare me. They're unpredictable! The sewing machine eats them! They stretch in weird ways!

Well, over the past year or so, I've been making myself sew with knits, occasionally. I made my mom a shirt. It turned out well. (I didn't hem it) I made the stockings to go with my historical clothing. They turned out well. My trepidation about sewing with knits has slightly decreased. In fact, it has decreased enough that I actually readily agreed to take a commission, of 3 (yes three) knit dresses.

What was supposed to be one dress turned into two when we started looking at patterns. Two dresses turned into three when we started looking at fabric. Fabric stores are just that way. All the pretty fabric! All the new ideas! It's nearly impossible to leave with just the one thing you came in looking for. On this particular day I came home with this:

Patterns, fabric, a piece of paper with measurements on it, and a promise that the dresses would be done soon. I was excited about these dresses, as we'd come up with some pretty cool design ideas for them, but also a little nervous, because, eek, knits!

The first dress I decided to make was the gray one, because I loved the fabric! Not only was the fabric pretty, but I also had no issues sewing it. No weird stretching and the sewing machine didn't try to eat it!

To finish the neckline, the pattern called for a narrow hem, still a little nervous about the whole hemming thing, I opted instead to finish the neckline with a strip of some contrasting fabric. 

Which worked really well! Due to a shortage of the gray fabric (Joann's only had about 2/3 the amount we needed), I also used the contrasting fabric for the sleeves, then finished them with a cuff made from the gray fabric. This dress came together pretty quickly, soon it was ready to be put on the dress form so I could check the fit. Well, it was rather loose and shapeless, so I added a couple darts down the front.

These fixed the issue, giving the dress shape so that it was ready to be delivered!

With the gray dress done I was now ready to tackle the blue dress. Same pattern, just thinner, stretchier fabric. This time I chose to hem the neckline like the pattern said to. 

That went. . . okish? It looked fine, but not great. It got done, but not easily. I left the neckline hemmed, but chose to avoid hemming the sleeves and skirt. Instead I cut a bunch of small half circles and sewed them together to make a ruffle for the bottom of the skirt, plus one for each sleeve. Since knit doesnt fray, no hemming was required to make the dress look finished. A couple darts, like on the gray one, and the blue dress was done!

Next up was the purple dress. The blue fabric was certainly trickier to sew than the grey, so I looked forward to seeing how the purple compared. Well, it was thinner and stretchier than the gray, but much more stable than the blue. The dress went together easily, even the bottom hem turned out well. Then I hemmed the sleeves.

I was not happy with the result. So I chopped off the sleeve hems and bound the sleeves with a folded over strip of fabric instead.

Much better! The purple dress was done!

I'm satisfied with how all three dresses turned out, as is the customer. Are they perfect? Not quite. Did I learn anything making these dresses? Yes. For example, Ive read its easiest to sew knits with a shallow zig-zag stitch if you're using a regular sewing machine. So that's what I did. Well, after some trial and error, I discovered that just the normal straight stitch worked best on the very thin, stretchy, blue fabric. Not at all what I expected! Am I more comfortable sewing with knits? Absolutely! In fact, I already bought some more knit fabric. What will it turn into? I'll keep you posted!

Pretty Fabric, Turned into a Shirt

This fabric. I love it. Both sides are super soft and gorgeous. It's a knit, yet surprisingly easy to work with. (I'm slightly terrified of working with knits, by the way, but I'm working on getting over that.)

I got to use this fabric to make a friend a dress. Along the way I decided I would have to get more of the fabric for me. It was so pretty and soft! This decided, I just needed to figure out what my fabric would turn into. A dress? No, I didn't want to appear to copy the dress I had just made my friend. A skirt, nah, I don't wear skirts enough to justify that. A shirt? Yes! But what sort of shirt? I had a million different design ideas flying through my mind.
Finally I managed to capture of few of those ideas and sketch them out, along with a diagram of the pattern pieces I would need.

A shirt that would be comfy and showcase both sides of the pretty fabric, perfect. Now I just needed the fabric. So I went to JoAnn's, only to discover they were still out of the fabric! (As a few weeks ago we bought all they had to make that dress) Just as I was about to leave, with plans to check back next week, another fabric caught my eye. It was the same fabric, double layer knit with stripes on one side and little bitty dots on the other, only in black instead of gray! So I got a yard of the super soft, gorgeous, black fabric, and took it home to make my shirt.

First I made my pattern. I traced a shirt I already had for my base, then turned that into what I wanted.

I cut out the fabric and sewed the shirt together. It all came together in about an hour!

Now, since I really dislike hemming knits, I bound all my edges with folded over strips of the fabric.

The neckline binding stuck out a little strange though, so I ran a piece of elastic through it to keep it in place.

Other than that issue, the shirt came out exactly how I imagined it. A definite win as my pattern drafting skills are very limited!

This shirt is super comfortable, and perfect for wearing with jeans. A great addition to my rotation of everyday clothes.

Will I use my newly made pattern again? Absolutely! Next time though, I'll get a bit more fabric, only a yard was cutting it kinda close. I had to use 3 pieces, instead of the originally planned 2, for the sleeves. My binding is pieced together, not on the grain, scrapes. Thus, accounting for the neckline not laying right without elastic. Next time I'll get a yard in half of fabric, but really, that's the only change I think I need to make. Not bad for a first try, huh?

The Ill-Fitting to Wearable Red Shirt

I was given this shirt. I really liked it. Except for two things. It didn't fit right in the bust or the sleeves. It was too short. 

I considered leaving it be, and just wearing it as it was, too short and uncomfortable. I had no idea how to fix it. I was afraid of messing it up. Then I decided that was silly. After all, it wasn't going to get much wear as it was. What did I have to lose by attempting to fix it? Nothing. So out came the scissors.

I started by cutting off the sleeves to elbow length. This gave me sleeves that were a comfortable length plus fabric to lengthen the bodice with.

Next I cut the shirt in half just above the waist band.

And lengthened the bodice with the fabric from the sleeves, making it the perfect length.

I added some elastic to the new seam so that the shirt wouldn't ride up while being worn.

There was a little leftover fabric, which I used to finish the sleeves with.

To complete the look, and hopefully make the shirt appear a little less altered, I sewed some tan buttons (from my awesome thrifted stash) down the front.

I also added a button to each sleeve, so that they would be a bit more fitted at the elbow.

Then, it was done.

And totally wearable.

Success!

A Tablecloth + a Pillow Case = a Dress

My currant favorite place to shop for fabric? Thrift stores. The linens section is a treasure trove of fabric, occasionally actual, still on the bolt, fabric, but mostly fabric in the form of sheets, bed skirts, pillow cases, and yes, even table cloths.

When I came across this green paisley table cloth, I snatched it up and immediately began thinking of what I could make out of it. A dress? A skirt? Something else entirely? All I knew is I wanted to wear it. What it would be was answered when I picked up M7187 at a pattern sale.

The green paisley tablecloth would turn into this dress, with a few changes of course. A slightly lower neckline, elbow-length sleeves, hidden pockets, and a contrasting fabric for the middle panel of the dress. From my stash of thrifted "fabrics" I pulled a light blue, silky soft, sateen striped pillow case.

I cut the center panel on the bias, like the pattern called for, only in two pieces with a center front seam, rather than one on the fold. I matched the stripes all down the center front to make a chevron pattern. That stripe matching actually turned out to be easier to do than I expected! Along with the canter panel I also cut sleeve ruffles and a mock belt from the pillow case.

I sewed everything together, added a zipper, and a couple of green buttons, from my thrifted stash, then I had a tablecloth to wear.

The pockets are in the waist seam, hidden by the mock belt. Large enough to carry not only the standard cell phone and pocket knife, but also a verity of sewing things, spools of thread and scissors to be exact. (Yes, I realize I may be a little crazy. Sorry, no excuses)

Comfortable, looks good with boots, not a sundress, yep, I think this tablecloth and pillow case became a wonderful fall dress.