I love making blouses for myself and I often share them here with only a partial tutorial. I tend to say "start with a basic blouse pattern" vaguely which doesn't really help you! So I thought I'd share how I draft my basic blouse patterns. This basic blouse is the basis for all of my loose fitting blouses. I love the silhouette and love that these look really cute belted, too! Here are some of the blouses I've made with this basic pattern drafting method: The Posey Blouse Bias Tape Bow Neckline Blouse Scallop Front Men's ...Continue Reading
cows + the look of love dress by shabby apple
look of love dress: c/o shabby apple // floral flats: f21 This dress is the Look of Love dress from Shabby Apple's smokin' new line Twin Palms! This is the cutest summer line. As soon as I opened the package I could tell this dress was a good one, the fabric is really high quality and it's such a bold color. I love the the little bow on the waist and the gathers at the bust. I have always loved Shabby Apple's one-piece outfits with super intricate design details. It's so easy to not have to worry about layering or too-short dresses and to ...Continue Reading
photoshop elements: eye boost tutorial
Messing with eyes in photoshop is probably the most trendy thing to do right now and there are lots of ways to do it. Here is the way I usually add some contrast and boost. I did this in Adobe Photoshop Elements, but you can also do it in CS versions. Ready? > Open File Layer>Duplicate Layer... (Command + J) Click okay Now you'll have two identical layers: Zoom in a little so you can see the eyes, then adjust the Levels on your new layer.Enhance>Adjust Lighting> Levels Looking ONLY at the eyes (Don't worry about what the background ...Continue Reading
The Button Up Refashion Swap: Color Blocked Peter Pan dress
This is the dress that Miranda from One Little Minute designed and sewed just for me! Isn't it cute! She used two men's shirts in white and blue to make a color blocked dress that fits me perfectly! I styled it with my ruffle flower headband and some floral flats. I love wearing the dress! You can see how Miranda made this dress with a full tutorial here! Also check out the other refashions that are being modeled this week: Mon: Lizzie of Cotton & Curls, Krista of Lazy Saturdays Tues: Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch, Kate of See Kate ...Continue Reading
Introduction to Photoshop Elements
With the recent closure of picnik there has been a lot of talk of other photo editing software throughout the blogosphere. It seems that a lot of people relied on picnik for free and easy editing. There are other free editing websites and softwares available. But free is not always the best choice! (What! Gasp now!) Today I'm going to tell you about Photoshop as a segue into a few Photoshop tutorials I have coming!Photoshop CS6 is at a price point that I would say is expensive (ahem, like a thousand bucks). But, Photoshop Elements is at a price ...Continue Reading
The Button Up Refashion Swap
This tutorial is a men's shirt to women's jumper refashion and is part of a 10 Blogger Refashion Swap! We were all given the measurements of one blogger to sew for and handed our measurements to another blogger. I sewed a jumper for Melissa and Miranda made me a sweet dress! Next week we'll all model our new clothes for you, but today, there are 10 refashion tutorials around blogland, including mine here! The other bloggers involved are: Jennifer of Grainline Studio Krista of Lazy Saturdays Liz of Cotton & Curls Megan of Megan Nielsen ...Continue Reading
stamp out stains: boy shirt refashion
If there's one thing I have learned about raising kids, it is that things are MESSY! Cohen has stains on so many of his clothes, and I hate to throw them out. It's unavoidable! So, here's an easy was to "stamp out" the stains with rubber stamps. Really, I just stamped all over the shirt to distract any onlookers from ever seeing any stains. They are technically still there, but you can't tell and you're left with a cool new shirt! You need: fabric stamping ink. I've had this forever, but here is a similar product. A fabric stamp pad allows you ...Continue Reading
exposed zippers part 2
I showed you one way to put an exposed zipper on a garment, by simply sewing it right on top, a little while ago. Here's another way to put an exposed zipper in a seam. This method gives you a cleaner and less deconstructed look while still giving you that pop of color and metal (or plastic!). I was making a bodice piece when I inserted this zipper, so if you're adding a zipper to a longer garment you'll have to adjust the bottom part by tapering the seam into the zipper. Start by serging or finishing both sides of the garment ...Continue Reading
60s tent dress for Vintage May
Vintage May at CINO and skirt as top has begun! Click over to Jess' blog to see details about my Sixties Tent Dress! I love the sixties! What's your favorite fashion decade? ...Continue Reading
neon banded cardigan refashion
I've been going through my whole closet deciding what stays and what goes. It's a purging that is very much needed! I have this crop top shirt that is way too short to wear alone, and just a strange shape, boxy and short. I love it though, for some reason, so I decided to let it stay. I cut it into a cardigan and banded the new edges with a bright pink fabric. I love it!Materials:1 crop top shirtabout 1/2 yard bright fabricrotary cutter/rulerUse your ruler to help you cut right down the middle of your shirt.Make some binding. Cut out 2.5" ...Continue Reading
motor skills tee
AKA the "Check out my fine motor skills, I'm 20 months old!" tee. I get so sentimental about these little baby developmental stages. While Cohen was drawing one day I thought of this idea to preserve his cute little scribbles, a scribble tee! It's simple to do and can be such a great way to keep a memory. I think it would be equally as fun with an older child's drawing. When I was in Kindergarten had a shirt that had a picture I drew printed on the front. It had a momma horse and about 5 baby horses. They had stringy hair. I was so proud of ...Continue Reading
