Love: Sew This is Love for Something Special Saturday

Welcome to the latest edition of

Fair Warning:  the rest of this post has nothing to do with Cinderella! 

Just had to throw her song in there to go along with my title.  Humor me!

Sewing.  Oh, sewing.

I have been blessed with several talents, but sewing is not one of them. 

Is this really something to lament?  Some of you might well wonder.  Not necessarily.  Hundreds--nay, millions--of people around the world get by without sewing a single stitch in this day and age.  Why should I be any different? 

Just one little reason.....I have a darling almost 11 year old daughter, who is just as petite as can be.  Too small for the tween dresses, too grown up for the dresses that fit her.  Plus, have you ever tried to find a stylish, modest dress for a tween that looks like it will make it through the first wash cycle?  Let me tell you, they are hard to come by for less than $75. 

Unless you make them. 

Sooooooo.......for the last couple of years, I have been trying to increase my sewing skills.  It is not easy.  Sewing doesn't come naturally to me, and I don't particularly enjoy it.  Let's just say I don't do it to relax.  But Endeavor loves it when I make things for her.  

I've learned several things along the way that have really helped me.  
#1.  I don't like cutting out pattern pieces.
#2.  I have a lot more fun sewing if I don't have to use a pattern; just cut fabric and sew.
#3.  The internet has lots of no-pattern tutorials for people like me.

Right now, I'm working on several sewing projects, and I'll show those to you in a few weeks  days.

In the meantime, I want to showcase some of the blogs I've gone to that have given me great ideas and instructions for easy sewing projects. 

Stitch Market
My friend Nicole introduced me to her friend Reese via Reese's project blog, Stitch Market. 

Reese is a talented seamstress, but the beauty of her project blog is that it showcases some really accessible projects for the beginning seamstress.  Here is a sample of what you'll see on Reese's blog.

Fun aprons

darling dresses

with matching ties for the boys (she offers a link to an online tie-making tutorial).

Reese is incredibly resourceful.  She was trying to find the perfect dress for her eight-year-old daughter's baptism.  She found it, but it was $150 on J.Crew's Crewcut's line. 

Reese found a vintage pattern in her collection, and turned it into the exact same dress....

for a lot less!

There's lots more to see on Reese's blog! 

7 Layer Studio

I discovered Shelley's 7 Layer Studio when I was searching the internet for a tutorial on apron making.  (I have a thing for aprons, I've discovered.)  She has a terrific apron tutorial,

and the unique thing about this apron is that it is reversible!

Shelley writes very thorough, easy to follow tutorials.  She has one for a girl's twirly skirt, and even includes an adaption for adult twirly skirts. 

Visit Shelley's blog and check out the right sidebar for more tutorials on things like ribbon bows, window valances, and more!

Oliver+S

The simplest twirly skirt tutorial I have found--by far--is at Oliver+S.  Oliver+S sells vinatage/retro patterns, but they also offer some free patterns and tutorials on their shop blog.

This is how their skirt looks:

     

 

That ribbon hem is genius, pure genius, I tell you.

This type of skirt is super-simple to make (even I can do it!), and is super versatile.  You can pair it with leggings or shorts, and you have practically limitless possibilities with all the different fabric out there.  Go here for illustrated instructions.

Well, I'm off to apply some of my mad sewing skilz to those projects I promised to show you.

Sometimes, the only thing that keeps me going when I sit at the sewing machine is this scene from one of my all-time favorite movies.  I think of it, laugh hard, and tell myself to sew like the wind!  Every time I sew.

BTW, sorry for all the crazy changing fonts in this post.  I think my computer just may be possessed.