Another Mom Jumper Restyle

Today, I'm mixing it up a little and getting back into the restyle groove with another "mom jumper" in need of a fresh look.  I had a mom jumper top left over from another restyle.

And I found a denim blouse in my restyle bag.

Then I joined the two together... but it needed a little contemporary color!

And then my new "mom jumper" upcycle was complete.  Here's the back:

And the front!

I would definitely wear this to the market, or on other errands around town, how about you?

Wedding Jewelry: The Earrings

I completed the earrings for the wedding jewelry ensemble.  The drops echo one of the elements on the third strand of the necklace, which you can see in the photo.

Now, on to beginning the dress.  Years ago, I deconstructed my mother's wedding gown to make a tutu for my daughter.  I carefully saved the pieces of the gown that I was not using.  So, here is the ivory satin from my mom's gown.

Quite wrinked, but I'm afraid a wash was in order.  Stay tuned for some of the details of the construction, though the final reveal of the dress will not be until after the wedding.

Wedding Jewelry: The Necklace

So, I've had these old costume pearls laying around for years.  I always figured I'd do something more contemporary with them.  Depending on how this finished necklace looks with the neckline of my wedding dress (which is still in the planning phases) I will plan to wear it... I'm still planning to make "matching" earrings and footwear to go with this.

The design incorporates glass bugle beads and moonstone beads along with the reclaimed faceted glass and costume pearls.  All materials were on hand, so no new financial outlay was involved. What are your thoughts?

Wedding Jewelry

Today I'm working on something slightly different from the usual sewing projects.  I'm making jewelry for my upcoming handfasting in August.  I'm upcycling some old costume pearls,faceted glass beads, sterling chain and findings into a new, collar style necklace, with matching earrings and footwear.  Here's a peek at the beginning of the necklace.  I'll post the finished piece soon!

Kayak Time

OK, I admit I've been lazy this week.  It's been wickedly hot here, and I've been languishing in the heat.  I've also been kayaking with my family in the evenings.  It's so much cooler on the water!  We're lucky enough to live near one of the NYS parks.  Here are a few pictures.

Here's looking back at ya!  Hope you are faring well in the heat, and are not as demotivated by it as I am!  What have you been up to this week?

Completed Project: Simplicity 2249

The yellow dress is completed!  On this project I used an invisible zipper.

And I used some of the garage sale buttons I got for the shoulder detail and the front placket of the dress.

And here's the completed dress.

I am happy with it, and since it was made from recycled sheets, I will be more willing to wear it for everyday.  Materials costs are as follows:

Main dress fabric $2.00 (yard sale sheet set)
Accent fabric $1.00 (yard sale tablecloth)
Buttons, $0.25
Zipper on hand in stash
Thread $1.59
Cording $2.99 (but will use in mutiple projects)

Total: $7.83

Thanks, as always, for looking in.  Your comments are appreciated!

Dress Progress

Working on Simplicity 2249 today!  I completed the front of the dress.  The piping came out cute on the top.

Here's a shot of the entire bodice.

I plan on using these garage sale buttons along that front tab of the dress.

I'm planning on doing the back, sides, and finishing on Monday... but we'll see!  The weather is incredible right now and I want to take advantage of that as well.

Oh, here's a close-up of my garage sale earrings, too.  Won't they look nice with that lavender outfit I just finished?  I meant to include that pic yesterday and somehow omitted it.

Yard Sale Booty

Fridays are my yard sale day.  I can drive around the area going to sale after sale, just browsing and enjoying myself.  Not much in today's haul, I'm afraid.  Two yardsticks...

Some pretty antique hankies...

A small bag of bias tape, piping and ribbon...

12 cards of buttons...

An antique bottle for a friend... it says Cramer's Kidney Cure on it.  I bought it for a friend who has kidney disease.  I also got a cute pair of costume earrings that will go with my lavendar suit dress, and this book.

The book is full of the former owner's cuttings from other books and papers...mostly poetry, so it will be fun to go through.  That's all folks!  Did you find anything cool this week?

Pipe Me Aboard!

In a fit of synchratic thinking, I thought piping would look nice on my yellow dress project. I've been seeing a lot of projects with piping as an embellishment all over the interwebs. Most of these also show tutorials.  Forgive me if this seems a little redundant to you, but here's my process for making piping.

First, make bias strips, and connect them so that you will have long, continuous strips of piping.

Next, select a plain cord of the appropriate diameter for the piping you want to make.

Place your zipper foot on your machine.  There are also cording feet, but I don't have one of these.

Place the cording in the center of the bias strip and fold over.  Stitch as close to the cording as possible.

And here is the finished piping!  I plan to use this as an accent on Simplicity 2249. What are your favorite embellishments and details?

Next Project: Simplicity 2249

Sorry for the relative quiet over the past couple of days.  I've been busy attending to real life, but things are looking up in that arena, so all is well with the world!

For my next project, I'm going to do Simplicity 2249.  This dress is slightly reminiscent of a forties swing style, but is a modern pattern, with modern sensibilities.

I got some used bedsheets and an old table cloth at an earlier garage sale.  They coordinate together nicely, so these are the fabrics I intend to use on this dress.

I hope it will be a cute, summery dress.  Have you ever used bedsheets in any of your dresses or other creations?  How did they turn out?

Completed Project: Butterick 4228

Well, it's done!  This was a fun pattern to sew and I'm quite pleased with the result.  If you've been following along, you know that I did a wearable muslin of the top of this pattern last month.  I wanted to be sure that the top would fit.  Here it is.

I made the entire dress from lavender linen.  I love linen!  The hand, the drape, the fact that it's a natural fiber, the ease of sewing!  Well, everything about it!  Here's the result.

The skirt will go with either top nicely.  Here's a dtetail pic of the little front vent on the linen top.

I would definitely consider making this ensemble again.  It was a very easy pattern and I love the way it came out.  I'm sure I'll be wearing it a lot this summer.  Thanks, as always for peeking, and your comments are always welcomed.

Progressions

Lot's of progress to report today.  The top to Butterick 4228 is coming along.  Here's a shot of the top zipper.

I know, it looks a lot like the skirt zipper!  But honest, it's two different things.  I hope to complete this one sometime tomorrow.  I already love it!

I've also been working on my decoupage notions box.  Making some real progress there as well.  I'm enjoying doing this, as it's a little different from my daily routine.

I also promised apeak at my garage sale treasures from last week.  I went to about seven sales last Friday, and only bought things at two.  At the first I got a duvet and sham set covered with ribbon embreoidery, in really good shape.  Not sure yet what I'm going to do with it.

At that sale, I also got yet another "mom jumper".  I really love these for restyling.  The possibilities are almost endless.

The second sale at which I purchased yielded a non-sewing treasure!  For $5 I got this pretty wooden box (which I do not plan to alter in any way!).

But the best part was inside the box.  A myriad of little tools and cutters.  I plan to use these in my paper crafting and jewelry making.  I was so psyched that the contents were included in that price of $5.00!

So, there's the booty for the week.  I'm excited to see what I can do with the ribbon embroidery stuff.  Any suggestions?