Denim skirt

I've been eyeing up many denim skirts around at the moment, and 

decided to make one myself. A great way to wear a denim skirt can also be with a jumper tucked in to keep you toasty in winter.

This fabric was leftover from the bean bag I made a few posts back. Its quite a heavy black denim.

This pattern is one I took off a skirt I love... I used this skirt pattern for the bottom of my dungaree dress as well. When you know something works....why do anything different.

As well as the skirt the only other pieces I created were a strip for the waistband..which was strong enough not to be backed on anything. Then a strip for the button stand. Super easy.

I began by over locking all the edges around the skirt.

I then stitched the side seams together. 

I then stitched the first strip onto the front on the skirt, I made this quite wide, but that is something that can be altered. 

I then just turned up the hem the width of the over locking.

I then stitched the waistband on.

I top-stitched around the waistband and button stand to give it a more jean effect.

This is how I mark out button holes. I tend to put sewing machine needle in the top left hand corner and pull out the pins and slide them along so I know where the button hole starts and stops but I don't stitch over the pins. This is a good way of doing it without chalking the lines (which I tend to find I can't see very well)

Finished button holes.

I Found these lovely silver buttons which I think work great with this skirt.

All finished. I Absolutely love how this skirt works in winter too. I'm sure I will be able to wear it in summer too.

Top altering

This was just a quick little alteration for my sister before she went on her holidays.

This was quite a baggy top, As it has no fastening or opening anywhere I couldn't just take it in as then she wouldn't be able to pull it on over her head.

So I came up with the idea of creating some little bias ties that she could then tie to pull it in.

 I wanted it to blend in with the fabric of the top so I used some fabric I already had. 

I ironed it in half the turned each edges into the middle so I could run up a top stitch and keep it all inside.

I then unpicked the sides of the top and put the binding inside.

 I then stitched it in & stitched over it to keep it secure.

The finished result.. so simple and easy.

Cushion making

I'm not going to go into too much details about how I made this cushion 

as I'm sure most people have their own patterns and ways of doing things. This is just a little blog post so show you what I created and hopefully inspire you to make something yourself.

This was a very simple idea for a cushion for my granny. She loves lavender so using 

the free machine foot to create the simple picture seemed like a great personal idea. 

I hadn't used the free machine foot in a while .. I forget how much fun it can be.

Just a simple toggle fastening on the back is all I do. I sometimes I think zips can look a bit boring and this makes a statement of the fastening.

All ready to post... A great and easy present for someone you love... and you can make it as personalized as you want.

How to Alter your Jeans

Another Little job that has been waiting around for me to complete for a few weeks now was altering this pair of Topshop jeans.

These were a great pair of high waisted jeans, that over a few years lost quite a lot of stretch in the waistband. This led them to be super baggy and not very flattering to wear. I finally got round to doing it.

Here's how.

These are what the jeans loo like now. I wasn't going to take a picture of what they looked like before, not the most flattering. I began by separating the waistband from the legs about 3" long at each side seam. While wearing the jeans I pinned them to get an idea of how much I needed to take out.

I then transferred this through to the inside and pinned the line that I would sew.

As you can see here, after I stitched the side seams the waistband is much bigger than the legs. If you were altering something with a simple waistband that is easy to put on and off you could take the whole thing off, make it smaller and put it back on again. But with the button and button hole, I decided to alter the waistband instead (The lazy option!) 

I turned the waistband inside out and took the same amount out of it as did the side seams.

Before I stitched the waistband back on, I cut down and over-locked the extra seam allowance that I now had. 

I stitched the waistband back on.

Super easy and saves me having to buy a new pair of jean. Now I can finally wear these great jeans again.

Floral Strappy Vintage Style Top

This is just a quick and easy top that I made using some vintage fabric. I loved the colour, making me excited for autumn. 

I started off with quite a small amount of fabric, I cut it into a square to begin with. 

I then marked up the areas I need to remove from the top including a dip in the front, back and also a drop for the arms. 

I then overlocked and stitched the side seams together, this image is what the top looked like before I 

created the bias binding and stitched that around the arm.

My arm hole is quite dropped so I wear it with a bandeau top underneath. The bias Is quite simple to do, I measured how much I would need by just putting the top on and wrapping the tape measure around where I wanted it.

I am really pleased with the out come of this. Lovely colours to wear in autumn with a big cardigan.

Floral Crop Top and Skirt

I have been making a few dresses recently, so I thought I would instead create a

crop top and matching skirt so I can wear them together and separately. 

I followed the shape of a previous dress that I cut up to use as a pattern. As I was

having a pleated skirt I just made a long strip for the skirt with n shaping. I cut a simple waistband with a backing fabric.

I began by stitch the back seam up the skirt to leave a 9" gap for poppers. I overlocked the top and bottom of the skirt, and then turned under the hem.

I overlocked the edges of the bodice and turned under the center backs.

I don't think this is an official placket but I personally think this is great way to get the effect of a placket. If you give the under lap of the seam a larger seam allowance it makes it a nice strip for the back opening to join to. like the image below.

For pleating I find it easiest to make the mannequin's waist the same as mine, and I pleat the fabric so it fits, 

After pleating I do a running stitch around the waistband to keep it in place before pinning the skirt onto the waistband.

I then stitch the waistband onto the front, turn over and hand stitch the back of the waistband down.

Stitching the button holes on down the back of the top.

All finished.