sewn creations
miscellaneous sewing projects over the years for myself and for friends
Appa Hat
I saw some outfits inspired by movie characters on line and I knew that I had to make myself a hat inspired by my favorite animated series, Avatar: the Last Airbender. During lockdown, rewatching that childhood favorite of mine helped keep me sane, so making myself a hat inspired by the main characters was some quality self-care.
Bucket Hats
I’m not sure where it started, but I have a passion for bucket hats. Other than winter when I need a warm beanie, or now my appa hat, I can’t go anywhere without a fun bucket hat. Some I’ve purchased from interesting places I’ve visited, but then I realized I could make my own, to expand my little collection and to spread the fun!
Winter Coat
For quite a while I was on the hunt for just the right long-coat, only to realize that I could make myself the coat I’d been searching for instead! This thick woven material I’d found was a challenge to work with, and the pattern was complicated to follow, and more so when I wanted to stray from the given instructions, but well worth the struggle as I have a unique coat and skills learned.
Rectangle Blouse
Just as with cooking, I love straying from set recipes and figuring out my own creation. I had a vision of a billowing blouse, so I set out to design and create it with the materials I had, successfully producing a simple mustard-colored top.
Chew Toys
In an attempt to give plastic grocery bags and furniture fabric samples second lives, I decided to make some chew toys for my sister’s basset hound Beto. This toy had to be extra durable to withstand this puppy’s antics. Without a template, it seemed most fitting to go with a bone shape for the toy, and Beto fell in love with it!
Pattern-free Tops
Sometimes, I have an idea and crank it out in an afternoon, these projects are typically made without a pattern, just by periodically trying the garment on to make sure it fits, which definitely results in quite a few pin scratches. One of my favorite parts about these projects I give myself is the challenge of working with miscellaneous fabrics I source from thrift stores, gives, and store clearance sections since I have so little control over how much material I can work with so extra creativity and improve is required.
Quilt Coat
Nothing beats a comfy and cozy jacket to wear exclusively around the house in the winter, so I made myself what was essentially a blanket I could wear at all times since I tend to always be a bit cold. The challenge here was creating the jacket without purchasing a pattern, just following a concept seen on social media for low-waste clothing. Starting by laying out the rough pattern on tracing paper and then using that to cut and sew a muslin version that led to a few adjustments, mostly to the neckline. Once satisfied with the cut, I just had to place the adjusted pattern on the final quilt material and sew away, making a few improvisations along the way.
Holiday Dress
Nothing gets me going like a last minute decision to create my own dress for the company holiday party. This dress started out as a massively oversized thrifted find that I cut up and reconstructed into a wearable party dress for myself.
Ruched Dress
Ruching is an extremely helpful technique that utilizes elastic sewn directly to the fabric and allows for material to be both form fitting and flexible. This technique can be very time-consuming and tricky to sew correctly, so when I found fabric that had been machine-ruched, I embraced the advantage and created a couple of dresses that fit me perfectly and required minimal measuring or patterning. This dress pictured to the left, which I wore to a friend’s wedding, took one night to finish because the fabric used was able to save so much time.
Green Green Dress
I found this amazing satiny fabric at the store and knew I had to make something out of it! In a year full of weddings for me to attend, this material would be perfect for just those occasions, so I found a pattern that fit the vibe and dove in! I soon realized how challenging this satin material is to work with, but despite the level of difficulty, I pushed through, utilizing youtube and some experts’ advice to work through the rough parts. Next time, I think it would be helpful to purchase some extra material to allow for some leeway in the case of mistakes, or at the very least to ease the pressure to not make a mistake. For this project, I definitely lived by the rule ‘measure twice, cut once.’
Repurposed Dress
My sister had a dress that I absolutely loved but it no longer fit either of us, so I set out to alter the dress into something new and beautiful, extending its life in a unique way.
Wrap Skirt
With the same goal of creating a piece of clothing that I had not been able to find in a store, I created a long skirt that fit me just as I wanted it to as one of my first attempts at following a set pattern.
Bubble Jeans
With large mens’ jeans in hand, I wanted to alter them into jeans for me. The massive waist was not the only problem, I needed to creatively style the jeans to be worn in public.
Graphic Pants
This is a prime example of seeing a fabric and knowing exactly what to make out of it. I just had to find a pattern that fit my vision and execute.