City girl Summer Cardigan sewing tutorial

This tutorial was originally posted as part of Summer of Skills series over at Brassy apply. Reposting it here now.

I sew clothes all the time...for my daughter.For me? Not so much. Even simple repairs like sewing on a button, or hemming a pair of pants languish for months in my unfinished pile, before they get to my machine. With that state of affairs, I signed up for Meg's SOS series, for "Something for Me" part - not sure what I was thinking. Maybe I was just too thrilled to guest post among such talented ladies that I couldn't think straight. Anyhow, after a lot of back and forth, I decided I wanted to make a summer cardigan...from T shirts. So far so good. Here's what I did...

Supplies:

1. A T shirt in size one larger than required
2. Grosgrain ribbon - 1 inch wide - 1 yard
3. Bleach Pen

Construction:

1. Take a Tshirt thats one size larger than me.

2. Fold in half along the width, cut out only the front part.

3. Remove the neck binding.

4. Cut the front neck into a V shape.

5. Serge along the neck and front opening. If you dont have a serger you could fold a small part inside, or you could even skip this step. Since knits do not fray...It will be ok to have a raw edge inside.

6. Fold the serged part inside ( about half inch). Sew a seam over it.

7. Cut two 10 inch long strips of 1 inch wide grosgrain ribbon.

8. Sew one end of the ribbon on the inside where the V shape of the neck ends.

The cardigan is done...now for the embellishments...I drove myself crazy on this one. Just nothing fit well with this faded purple color...I loved the color by itself, it had a very worn in, comfy, summerish feel... the only problem is that it also has a grandma(ish) feel. While I love grandmas, especially mine...I just don't think I'm quite there yet. I wanted some embellishment to bring the chic personality to this cardigan. However my usual friends...ruffles, laces, flowers, tulle were just too feminine for the washed out look of the original fabric...As I stood there, looking at the mess of tulle, lace and other coordinating fabrics...which just didn't work with it...a light-bulb went off in my head. Maybe its time I tried a bleach pen. The thought did cross my mind earlier...but at that point I was thinking paisleys and florals...which were just too predictable. But this time something else inspired me and I got excited.

Excited enough to run to the nearest target and get this...

And I doodled away...knowing fully well that there was no going back now.

Remember to draw your doodles in as thin a line possible, because they will become wider as they dry. Let it dry for two full days, don't try to speed this up, or you will have white spots in the areas that come in contact with the bleach. Don't ask me how I know.
If you find it difficult to draw thin lines after a while. Just screw the cap again shake well and try again, it should be better now. I don't know why it works, but that's how I did it.
Once the bleach dries completely, there will be some residue on the cardigan, to get rid of it, I scraped the design with a knife and then cleaned it with a lint roller.

Finally I got this...

I think I like it...I think I love it...as in..really really love it.
Meg, thanks for having me here...it was so much fun and I learned something new.

Reversible Baby Dress Pattern and Tutorial

I'm a guest at The Ribbon Retreat Blog today and I'm sharing a Reversible Baby Dress Pattern and Tutorial over there. Hop on over to check it out and also check out the other free tutorials other guests are sharing over there. While you're there, take a look at their fabulous fabric and ribbon store as well, for some yummy fabric, trim and notions.

Refashioned shrugs

I'm always on the lookout of inexpensive 100% cotton tees to re-purpose. There are just so many fun uses of Tshirts that one can never have too many of them. Recently I bought 10 of them in XXL size from graveyardmall for $20. And I had a lot of fun refashioning some of them into a shrug.

This shrug tutorial was on my to-do list for a while and finally with my latest batch of Tshirts I made it. The shrug is just perfect, looks very similar to the tutorial. Which makes me happy.The only thing is that its kind of hard to take pics of without wearing it. Well, you could always jump to the original tut for the modeled shots.

So one thing pinned from Pinterest! Done and done!! What are you making from your pinterest trove?

What a little girl wants?

Ice cream? Actually ice-cream that never melts.
Our sweet toothed fashionista demanded this tee while flipping through the pages of Mini Boden catalog.

Here's a closeup for you in case the earlier image wasn't tempting enough. It was the first time she asked me to make something for her and then accompanied me to my sewing nook and messed with my sewing supplies watched patiently while I cut and ironed the appliques. Of course! her patience ran out by the time I ironed them on the tee, so I had to sew them later after she wore it to the store and added some very realistic chocolate stains on it. Lets just say it took some creative thinking to get her out of the tee to sew around the appliques and take the pictures.

I'm loving this stage when she can tell me exactly what she wants. Hoping for many more sweet things to sew.

Sneak peek : on my sewing table right now...

Teal, Fuchsia, pinwheels...summer, color and sew much fun. Will have the completed project and more pics soon...

City Girl Cardigan: Guest Post at Brassy Apple and Breezy Dress Updates

Here's a cardigan I made for the SOS ( Summer of Skills) series going on at Brassy Apple. Hop on over here to check out the tutorial for City Girl Cardigan.

On another note, I finally finished embellishing The Breezy Dress.

A close up of the applique near the neck.

And some flowers near the hem. I have barely a scrap left of the magenta border from the fabric. I just wish it was on both sides, it was so much fun to come up with uses of those pretty hexagons.

More fun blogging series going on in the neighborhood

I had no intention of making this a weekly feature, but there's just so much activity going on in the blogosphere and I wouldn't want anybody to miss all the fun. So here's what I have found this week...

Summer of Skills at Brassy Apple:

Meg at Brassy Apple has been hosting Summer of Skills. I'm one of the guests in the series and my tutorial goes up tomorrow. Please drop by and see what I have been making...hint...it isn't for children ;-)


Sundresses at Melly Sews







Melly Sews is hosting 30 days of sundresses. I have been visiting them and they have some really cool dresses going on there.

While you will be busy looking at all these tutorials and making your favorites, here are some parties that will make sure that the little ones can follow you to the craft room and get busy too. The following series are bringing child friendly crafting tutorials...

Summer Camp for kids at Moda Bake Shop

I'm also working for a tutorial for this series. It will be live some time next week.


Craft Camp at Skip to My Lou

In the meantime, Skirt Week at Crafterhours has reached into its final stages where they are voting for their favorite skirts. Visit them for some serious eye candy..and maybe root for your favorites. I have also entered into the children's skirt category, but the voting for them will start in a couple of  weeks.