Make It, Wear It

It seems that I am making it a habit to only post once a month!! What is UP with THAT?? Summer with three children is VERY time-consuming, but I have been managing to squeeze in a little sewing here and there! My older sister is turning FORTY!!! I just LOVE saying that...ha! Anyway, they went to Cancun to celebrate so I decided to make some easy, breezy, beachy items for her to wear. And wouldn't you know that my FAVORITE sewing blog is having a Make It, Wear It Challenge. You could win a new sewing machine and other awesome givings, so go to Sew Mama Sew! and enter something!! :D

Ok, back to what I've been sewing! An outfit you can wear three ways!! Love it!!

The halter is from Weekend Sewing by the FABULOUS Heather Ross! It is the Saturday Night Jersey Halter. I decided to not do the skirt that is part of the set, but instead do a shirred waist skirt to make it a little more beach friendly.

I would love to tell you what type of fabric I used, but I just don't know!! I picked it up at JoAnn's last year. It is like a cotton gauze, but it has elasticized stitching on the wrong side...anyone know what this is called? Here is another option for wearing the halter...

The fabric draped sooooo well. I used a stretch needle and "lined" it with the same fabric. I think when I make myself one, I will try to figure out how to insert a shelf bra for extra support. And perhaps make it a little longer. Once I sewed the two right-sides together, I turned it and did a little zigzag topstitch in a contrasting color. It gave the fabric a "ruffled" effect that I thought made it more feminine...don't you think?

The third option for this outfit is to use the shirred skirt as cover-up!

This fabric is also a cotton gauze with embroidered eyelets. I picked this fabric up last year when it was on clearance, also. I did about twelve rows of shirring so it could be worn as a skirt or dress. I have to say that I am getting better with my shirring technique, my lines are straight and everything!! :D My sister loved the cover-up and halter, but wasn't crazy about wearing them together...I told her she could always give it back!!! ;)

Ms. Priss went to a Girl Scout sleep-away camp this week!!! Her first camp!! We were sooooo excited, but as it is Tuesday, and I haven't been able to call or talk to her, I sure am missing her like CRAZY!! Anyway, the camp is called "Little Mermaids", so they are going to be doing a LOT of swimming. She has enough bathing suits, but the one my sister got for her this year was a one piece with a shirt cover-up. I haven't been able to find bottoms that would match it exactly, so decided to try my hand at making her some.

I used a cotton/poly blend that is stretchy and lightweight. The fabric is soooo soft, I am thinking of using what I have left to make myself a halter...or something!! :D I used a stretch needle and an all purpose thread, and used my Serger instead of hemming. I was just going to use my favorite bloomer pattern and upsize it, but found a cheerleading uniform pattern I had so I used the "panties" pattern instead because I liked the higher cut on the leg. I cut a little extra fabric around the leg, and instead of encasing elastic, I used elastic thread so it would close the leg, but also give it a little ruffle.

Ms. Priss has a funny little shape, so I knew I would have to get creative around her waistline to make it fit right. I cut the front waistline higher than the back because she has a tummy. I stitched the elastic low so it would hit her hips and stop there....and did some shirring with elastic thread so it would hug her tummy, but not cut into. I think it worked out okay, but I will know more when she gets back from camp!

Oh, I didn't line it because the fabric was pretty thick, but I did add a little patch where the seams met in the crotch so it wouldn't "itch" her! :)

Well...I did some other little things for her camp trip, but forgot to take pictures of one...so hopefully it will make it back from camp and I can share!! Maybe I'll be back before the month is over...I am working on a couple of birthday outfits..so let's keep our fingers crossed!! Until later...