I Made Another Shirt

I promise if I continue to make clothes I will change the title.  I haven’t gotten any more creative than I Made a Bag, I Made a Scarf, and  I Made a Shirt…

So as the title suggests, yep, I made another shirt.  Sewing something I can actually wear has not only been amazing, but addictive.  Now that I’m getting more comfortable with my machine and sewing, I constantly think about my next project.

I found this tutorial and this was my guide.  It’s from Make it-Love it, which has a ton of great ideas and tutorials.  Her directions are much better and more detailed than mine are about to be, so jump over there if you want good step-by-step instructions.

I’ll attempt to give you my run down though…

I bought this great fabric at Jo Ann’s.

It’s from April Johnston’s collection, and it’s just great.

I used an existing shirt, and cut out the shape a bit bigger than the shirt to give me some room for seam allowance and error….

Then I sewed it together.  Next, I cut a band of fabric for the bottom of the shirt.

It looks wide, but you fold it into itself to make the band.  I also cut the band a bit smaller than the bottom of the shirt because you want that to be smaller and a bit tighter. I sewed the sides together and had a tube.  Fold the tube in half and pin.

The next step was the most difficult part for me.  You slide the tube up around the bottom of the shirt, matching up the raw edges.  The problem for me was that the shirt was bigger than the tube so getting it just right, and the fabric smoothed out was difficult.  Pin and sew.

I guess I was concentrating too much, but I didn’t get too many pictures towards the end…

I used some bias tape to sew around the neckline.

And I sewed a nice edge on the arms.

And I created this…

(Kinda crazy hair huh?) Semi curly hair problems….

Anyway, I love it.  The fabric is a stretchy cotton type that feels so good.

What do you all think?

I know my next project is going to be a new makeup bag, and then I may make a skirt.  I also have some ideas on things I can do to some of my existing clothes.  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

I Made a Shirt

Remember when I told you I met the fab April Johnston and I was inspired? Well, since then I’ve sat myself down in front of my sewing machine and sewed.  Sometimes I sit and look through my fabric with nothing in mind, but the point is I want to sew…something, anything.

I bought this great fabric from Jo Ann’s with a project in mind.

This is actually April’s fabric from her line at Jo Ann’s.  There are so many great ones to choose from…yay!

So I knew I wanted to make a flowy, sleeveless, open shirt. And let me state for the record that I’ve never made any type of garment.  I did make a bag, and sew this tree though.

I don’t have many pictures of my process, to be quite honest I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.  But I’m gonna tell you how I did it.  First I grabbed a shirt from my closet that I wanted to use as my guide.  I used this shirt to make a pattern.  ( I made a pattern from some tissue paper).  From there, I cut my fabric and started sewing.  I used my own body as a body form, (I really want to purchase a body form now), and kept trying on the shirt, pinning, cut, sewed, etc until I had the finished product.

(Sorry for all of the self portraits in the mirror, no one is ever home to snap a pic).

I actually wore the shirt today as a buttonless button down.  (Does that even make sense?)

Okay, so it’s so not perfect, and has a million flaws.  However, it made it through the day in one piece!

Who knows what I’m gonna attempt next, but all I want to do is sit at my machine and sew.  Plus, how great is it that I made something I can wear?

Oh, and I had a 40% off coupon, plus a 15% off teacher discount that I get with every purchase, so if I remember correctly,  I got 2 yards of fabric (that’s my go to amount so I have plenty) for around $9.00.  And I made a shirt!

Who wants a flowy, sleeveless, open, buttonless, button down, shirt? I can make you one…