Denim Skirt from Old Jeans

So I had some grungy jeans that I wore all the time, they were so comfy! In fact I wore them so much that I ended up with holes where the thighs rubbed together, lol. I finally bought myself some new jeans but didn't want to throw the old ones away. I finally got around to doing what I had in mind...turning the old jeans into a skirt!

And so I did...now I have a grungy new comfy denim skirt. :-D

Something for Me!

It's been a while since I made something for myself...I decided to make a crafty toolbelt-ish apron so that all my sewing tools are close at hand. I used some red canvas I had and some pretty white and red decorative fabric to girly it up, and lace, along with a cute little pleated trim. :-)

Aaahhhh...

Nicely organized scraps. Aren't they scrumptious?

Regency Dress Modernized

As I said before, the first Regency dress was basically my test run, and I'm glad I did it because I ended up making several alterations to the pattern for the real thing!

For the modernized version, I made it shorter (though I kept the difference in length from front to back), and just used some cleaner lines by replacing the puffy sleeve with a cap sleeve, used darts on the bust instead of gathers, and used some double box pleats on the back rather than gathers. I also didn't add a drawstring around the waist like the other one had, since I figured it should be pretty fitted already. I used a lovely blue cotton sateen and lined it with a camel colored broadcloth.

And here is the result! (Sorry about the uber serious look on my face, lol, I'm told I seem to look quite somber when I'm thinking or concentrating, but it was the best pic of the dress.)









I'm so excited, I really love how it turned out!

I Used a Pattern!!!

Yay! I'm so excited...I took the advice of a commenter here (THANK YOU!!) and bought the Regency dress pattern from Sensibility.com , and I was actually able to follow it.

Now, the end result isn't perfect, obviously, but for my first go I'm fairly pleased. I got this great fabric for $1/yard (LOVE the clearance table at Walmart) to practice with:



I definitely learned a lot during the process, including what understitching is. :-) There were a few times I had to re-cut some pieces because I sewed something together backwards, but what really helped me a lot was the pictures in the instructions themselves and the pictures on the sensibility.com website! SUCH a great help for visually minded me!

In the end, it's a tad big around even with the waistband to tie...I have quite a large bosom so I think that had something to do with it. But it was fun, and hey if I decide to go out for Halloween this year I already have a costume!

Oh right! Pictures...







This was my practice run, because I wanted to actually make a slightly modernized version for a family wedding coming up soon. (Yes, to wear out in public, ack!!) I'll be posting the results of that next!

Oh, by the way, just for fun I thought I'd try one of my Regency inspired aprons on over the Regency dress. I think they go rather well together!







(The apron pictured is a tad shorter than my usual aprons...I was trying to use up that lovely fabric! Because of that, it's also $5 cheaper than the others, available at my Etsy shop here. :-)

I found out why I hate patterns!

I've mentioned before that so far, I just can't do patterns...they scare me and overwhelm me and I just don't "get" them. Show me how a piece of clothing is put together and I can copy it on my own just fine, but a pattern for me is like lots of puzzle pieces thrown about with no box top to help me piece it together.

Sew, Mama, Sew had a great article about different learning styles and why some people may find using patterns difficult.

The visual-spatial learner describes me exactly, and describes the exact problems I have with patterns. I need to really understand and see in my mind's eye precisely how something is put together on the whole before I can even start one step, or I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing or if I'm doing it right. It's why when I think up a new idea for something I like to draw it all out and figure out what goes where and in what order before I even start to work on it. It's a lot easier for me to grasp something I thought up in my own head than to try to mentally create and wrap my head around something other people made up and then describe mostly in words without many pictures, especially because that often means learning new words and techniques I don't even have a clue about.

I'll be attempting a pattern soon with the regency dress pattern I bought...but I read through the (wonderfully simple) instructions and saw online visuals, so I already have a good grasp of how it all goes together, I think. I suppose that's why I'm not feeling as intimidated by this one as I normally am by patterns!

Fascinating stuff!