I Made Swimsuits!

Ok, so this post is a little picture heavy but I am so proud of these swimsuits! 

I was really apprehensive about making a swimsuit for a whole platitude of reasons... the biggest was sewing on the swimsuit/spandex material. I imagined the warping seams from being stretched when I sewed, I couldn't gasp how the fabric would still stretch when the thread itself wasn't stretchy and frankly the swim elastic intimidated me because it looks like you only have one shot at sewing on it and the holes are there, weakening the elastic, forever. But I read and reread a ton of swimsuit tutorials and after getting all the supplies I tried it out.

And here is how they came out:

I absolutly love them! I got the top material on the clearance aisle at Joanne's (didn't want to spend too much in case this didn't work out!) and the bottom material for $1 a yard at walmart last year (that is how long it took me to get up the nerve to try this).

 I decided on tankinis because of bathroom reasons and at the last minute I thought of this pattern, Simplicity 4203.

I have made the top before for both the girls and thought that it would work for the tankinis if the bottom part of the top wasn't so full and more a-line with no gathering.

I worked out great! The back has the elastic pulling through the casting and so it was really to get a good fit.

I cut up an old pair of their underwear to use as a pattern for the bottoms. By using the underwear as the pattern the swimsuit has a wider bottom so it has better coverage than other swimsuits they own.

I also made the tops a little longer because 1. I don't like it when their little tummies are peaking out from under their shirts and 2. I am hoping that they will be able to wear these next year since summer is half over now.

I fully lined the bottoms but only lined the top bodice piece on the tankini (just like the pattern called for).

For the leg and waist holes on the bottoms I wrapped the elastic and sewed with the largest zig zag stitch I could while stretching the elastic to match the lenght of the fabric. Confused? Here is a illustration:

The pattern worked great as a swim top, it is tight enough to stay where it suppose to in the water and has great coverage in the bodice area.

The size is pretty true to store sizes but I increased the length of the top over 2 inches on both suits. i would suggest to anyone making this top to use an existing shirt in the size you are making to insure that you aren't cutting it too short.

Now, with my confidence renewed I am ready to make a self designed swimsuit I have had on my mind for a while, so stay tuned!

Linking here:

 

Owl Party Favors

So I can't take credit for this idea, I found these cute owl favor boxes on this blog: http://loriannmuse.blogspot.com and figured out how to make them.

I designed the little boxes in my Sure Cuts Alot program for my Cricut. The program isn't the best or most user friendly but after messing with it for a bit I got the lines to "weld" which means if the lines intersect they wont cut. The circle at the bottom I only have there so that the front of the bags will have an arch to the top for the ears.

I made the bags/boxes from a thick piece of teal card stock and the other pieces from regular construction paper. I glued the ears, beaks, chests and drew on the black eyes before assembling the bags.

I recruited a few family members to help me put it all together, we did it in like an assembly line and we were done in no time!

I didn't take a photo of what we put into the owls, but we decided on brown malt balls, round pretzel cookies, (see example below, except not in Christmas colors, in blue and brown) and a couple pretzel sticks.

Owl Cake for a Babyshower

Here is the owl cake that I made for my sister's baby shower. I love the way it turned out and it was really easy to do. Here's how I did it:

I used 2 boxes of cake mix, I used spice cake, I thought it would be a nice change from the normal white or chocolate. Bake the mix in two- 13" round pans and two- 9" round pans.

The two 9" round cakes are the eyes and one of the 13" round cakes are the body. The other 13" round cake you cut into your wings, feet, and top of head. Here is what it looks like before iced.

Next, decorate! I used 2 jugs of icing, making these shades of brown and a little yellow for the beak and feet.

I think this would be cute for any party! Hope you all had a good weekend.

Pleated Ruffle Blanket

Up next is a baby blanket I made for my sister. I paired it with the Owl Messenger Bag from the last post for her baby gift.

Her nursery theme is owl/woodland creatures, so when I found this fleece at Jo Anne's I was so excited!

I paired it up with the super soft velor fabric in brown. But how to put them together... I could just make a bias tape border around the raw edges of both blankets, but I thought I would try something different.

I made 5 inch wide strips of brown satin fabric- I measured around the blanket and then made the length of the strip measure almost double the circumference of the blanket (sew together the strips and iron like you would if you were making bias tape to get it to reach the length you need). I folded over the strip so that the edge of the ruffle is going to be the folded side and the raw edge will be between the 2 pieces of the blanket.

Now, I am sure there is a more precise way to make the pleats, but I just eye-balled the spacing and it turned out fine. It does take a little time to pin all these down but it is pretty easy. Pin the border around one piece of the fleece with the raw edges of the border matching the raw edges of the fleece.

I rounded the corners making the pleating tapper to compensate for the turn (it will look fine once you flip it to the other side) After you are done pinning, sew these two pieces together. Trim the corners of the fleece.

Next lay the second piece of fabric, right sides together, on top, sandwiching the ruffle in between the 2 pieces of fabric.

Sew around the border leaving a hole so you can turn the blanket inside-out.

After you turn it inside-out, stitch the hole closed and you are done.

Adds a little something extra, doesn't it?

Owl Messenger Bag

Ok, so the next couple posts are going to be baby related, well, more owl related.

My little sister is having her first baby in a couple weeks and last week I helped host a shower for her, so I am going to post the invitation, cake , favors, etc.

But first, my favorite, the owl messenger bag I made for her.

Owls/woodland creatures are the theme for her nursery and for our shower, so what better to applique onto a messenger diaper bag than an owl.

I started with the messenger bag pattern from Little Things to Sew from Oliver + S. If you haven't noticed, I LOVE this pattern. I have already made it a couple times:

      

Once for my son and once for me (attaching snaps on the back so I can attach it to my bike).

For this bag I spent the big bucks on a really cool patterned duck fabric they are now carrying at Hobby Lobby. I paired it with a orange gingham and made my own orange bias tape. For the strap I used a piece of off-white corduroy.

For this bag a switched up the pattern a little bit by alternating between having the lining fabric be on the inside and sometimes on the outside. I

For this bag I also used the double loop fastener as the strap lengthener (I still can't find the 2 inch hardware that the pattern calls for).

I think the bag turned out really cute, and so does my sister, she told me this week that it is the bag she is taking it to the hospital!