SECRET Project

I am writing this post on Sunday, September 19th and it should publish on Thursday, September 23rd.  I have been working on a surprise sewing project since June that I haven't been able to share with anyone until now.  Let me explain why...one of my BEST friends from High School, Ashely, is getting married this weekend, September 25th and until last night (9/22) she didn't know I was coming!  I will post details about the "surprise" when I have them (after it's occurred) but I cannot WAIT to show y'all the dress I have made for the wedding.  Originally I was supposed to be IN the wedding but not knowing if I was going to be able to make it or not I had to decline...so I transformed one of my high school formal dresses (that I made) into a bridesmaid appropriate dress and maybe I might still be in the wedding...it's just a slightly different shade green than the other dresses.

Anyway...here is the BEFORE:

Here's a picture of me in High School wearing the dress (can't find a full length picture right now):

Here is the after:

I cut 18" of the bottom.  Used that fabric to add fabric to the top, made a new jacket, and added thicker shoulder straps and a tan tshirt to wear under the jacket.

SIDE BY SIDE FRONT:

SIDE BY SIDE BACK:

I really wish I could have lost the last 10 pounds I really wanted to loose but I think it looks good, all things considered...I originally made this dress in 2000 or 2001 (I believe) so basically 10 years and a child later I am just impressed it fits!

I hope you enjoyed me sharing this secret project with  you...it was REALLY hard for me to keep it a secret!

Submissions 2

I got my first mail in submission from a friend yesterday...YAY!

This beauty was submitted by Monica H. from Texas.  I know Monica from my Ward back in Michigan, I used to babysit her boys when #1 & 2 of FOUR were babies and 2 & 3 weren't thought of yet.  Anyway, THANK YOU MONICA for this beautiful dress.  I haven't tried it on yet but it might need to be brought in a little, maybe a white belt to make the waist stand out some and possibly shortened.

Here's a close up of the top, I really love this color!

Thanks for the submission and stay tuned...

P.S. In case you're wondering...I will model all my outfits BEFORE cutting begins and AFTER cutting ends!

My Sewing Corner

Let me introduce you to my sewing corner...BEFORE and AFTER my new sewing table and machine.

Here is what my sewing area started out like when I first set it up in my apartment.  It's in the corner in my bedroom and it's a nice little spot.

THIS is what that spot has turned into!  YIKES!  I guess you can tell where I've started spending a lot more time

Here it is NOW:

Having the stronger/smaller sewing table actually gives me more room.  It also gives me storage AND I now have a cutting table...the folding table I used before slides between the wall and my bed and I can just pull it out when I need it!  I think this corner looks a lot better.  The thread board on the floor to the left of the table will eventually be hung up too.

Now to officially introduce my new sewing machine!

I am a little scared of it right now...I need to practice on it and make sure I will be able to sew properly with it without screwing things up but I am excited!

My grandma (Grammy) is a cute lady.  I really love her.  She likes to label things and keep seemingly worthless items just for fun (I guess).  Actually, I think she does a lot of it so she doesn't forget and if anything happened to her others would know what to do with things.  Well, when I was going through all the boxes she gave me of sewing stuff, first I found this:

It reads: "An extra button for Cathy's Easter dress 1971" --Cathy is my Aunt Cathy!  I think it's sweet and funny that after all these years (almost 40 years) we found that extra button!  I mailed it to my Aunt, I thought she might like to have it.

But I really enjoy this...it came with the sewing machine:

The original invoice from when my Grammy bought her sewing machine on September 8, 1980 for $199.  She bought this machine 4 years before I was even born and for a LOT of money!  I think this is a really precious piece of information.  If I ever have a daughter to pass this machine down to I hope she treasures this little "note" as much as I do.

Anyway, that's all for my post today.  My brain is just so anxious to get my project started...however, I really need to wait until January so I can do a full calendar year...starting on an odd month will just be akward.

So, as always, stay tuned.

Thread Anyone

This is all the thread I got from my grandma...looks like I shouldn't have to buy ANY thread throughout my project, except maybe white...that "solo" one up front that is almost empty is the only white she had...luckily I think I have 2 white spools so it's all good.  I have blues, greens, reds, pinks, purples, oranges, yellows, browns, and some dark colors (maybe navy blue, maybe black, maybe brown).

Submissions 1

FIRST:  WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!

Here are my first set of submissions for my clothing challenge project (click HERE for details):

STUFF!  My parents made a trip to Iowa to pick up a car for my dad from my grandparents and my grandma (Grammy) had TONS of sewing stuff to give me.  TONS and TONS of thred; 4 boxes of rick-rack and bias tape; BUTTONS galore; AND her old sewing machine!  I will post more pictures of the sewing machine when I get it all set up...stay tuned...THANKS GRAMMY!

T-Shirts!  Thanks to my mom for donating these stained shirts.  Each of these shirts has a reason it cannot be worn alone anymore...some sort of stain or whatever...making them PERFECT additions to my collection for either fabric OR sleeves to be added!

This gray beauty needs two pictures

to show an upclose look at the design.  This is a really light weight shirt which is perfect for my hot bloodedness but the sleeves are too long...I haven't tried it on yet but might be a little big too so I will need to bring the sides in a little.  This submission is made by my Grammy via my mom.

I LOVE this little jacket.  My Grammy gave it to my mom mainly because it's kind of annoying to her because it's not a full button down jacket.  My plans for this will probably be shirt sleeves (maybe) and maybe an updo on the buttons!

As always...stay tuned!

EXAMPLE Clothing Challenge

Ok, here is my first attempt at my sewing challenge.  This is just an example.  I'm not great with tutorials so I'm not even gonna try to do a step by step thing.

Here is a before:

The dress is WAY to short (maybe 6 inches at least), it has no sleeves, and the V-neck in the back is too low.  This is a dress I had in High School (that I wore with a shirt under & a sweater over top).  I really like it and every time I go out to my parents house I look at it and think what I can do with it.  Well, here goes.

I had this black T-shirt I remember getting with my Mom in South Bend for my 13th birthday (yeah, I know).  It still fits but ONLY as an undershirt.  It's a little tight and short so I thought it would be perfect.  First I cut the dress leaving the "skirt" about 21 inches.  Then I sewed the skirt to the bottom of the shirt.  Now I didn't take an after-after picture...I can't leave well enough alone and as you'll see in the after picture I'm going to post, the "skirt" part sits a little low and I raised it up about an inch.

Here is a picture of my WONDERFUL helper for the day.  He came with me to the fabric store and was a GREAT help there.  I had to pick up fabric for some other projects & all Jerimiah asked for was some horse fabric so I can make him some PJs (those pictures will come when I get to that project).  He let me sew most of the day.  My sewing machine is in my bedroom and he either watched me, played with some buttons I had out, or watched a movie while he rested behind me on my bed.  What a great little boy I have!

After I sewed the skirt on I hemmed up the bottom of the bodice I cut off the dress and tacked it to the top of the shirt.

Here is the final project:

As you can tell, the "skirt" did need to be raised up some but I am quite proud of how it turned out.

But because I have a hard time leaving well enough alone sometimes...I ALMOST completely ruined the dress!  I SO wanted to basically sew in a slip so I don't have to wear a separate one...problem was the fabric I used.  I almost had to cut myself out of the dress...luckily I just had to cut myself out of the slip portion.  I don't know what I was thinking but the fabric I used for the "slip" had ZERO stretch to it...the whole dress is stretchy so basically it failed horribly!  Anyway, I took out the slip and I'll just have to wear a separate slip, which is fine.

So, what do you think?  Does this project encourage or discourage you from my project?  See my previous post for project details (click here).

P.S. The BEST part is this whole outfit didn't cost me ANYTHING (well, unless you count the wasted "slip" fabric which I did buy)!!!

EBeauty Creations Facebook Clothing Challenge

Inspired by Marisa with "New Dress A Day"  (See her blog here) I think I have finally decided on a "challenge" I could do.

BUT I NEED YOUR HELP!

365 days is a little too daunting for me so I'm going to do a new outfit a week...that's only 52 weeks instead of 365 days.  How can you help?  My challenge to myself is your challenge for me.  I need each of you to mail me an outfit you are no longer wearing (too out dated, too small, too big, in need of some TLC, etc) and I will "re-purpose" the outfit (including making it modest).  This also will help expand my own personal closet collection as I feel like I'm wearing the same outfits week after week after week.

Ok, now that you're on board...I think I want to start this project the first of the year so I will take from this time through December to collect articles from you my friends so I can start in January (give me time to think and plan).

Mail your submissions to: (give me your email so I can send you the address)

Thanks and we'll see what wonderful things I can come up with.  You can try to stump me but try to be nice too :)

P.S. Submissions for Jerimiah's wardrobe would be acceptable too.

I will probably start a new blog for this challenge...stay tuned!


I'm also working on an "EXAMPLE" post with this dress...

(Too short, sleeveless, and a low V-neck back)