If you find something on Pinterest, You should make it.

One of my friends pinned a very easy DIY shirt out of scarves to her Pinterest  page a few weeks ago.  Upon following the links, I found it!  So do give credit properly, the directions are here: Scarf Shirt.



I found the front scarf on the clearance rack at Gap. The back is Symphony broadcloth from Jo-Ann fabrics.

Mine is more like a dress, since it's so long, but given the weather it can be a swim coverup.

There are many Shades of Blue

Paisley. In the past I was afraid of prints, but not anymore.

The lady at the fabric store always argues with me about what I'm making. Yes, I understand that the company where you work has embedded the question "What are you making today?" in your head. Yes, I know you "think" you're an expert. Yes, I know how to sew. Yes, I know what the recommended fabrics are and that this is not one of them. Yes, I know it "might" not work. No, I do not want your input. (Oh and I also know that Jo-Ann's is named after the founder's daughters, Jo and Jackie Ann. Which the manager at that particular store did not know.) For anyone who does not know, I worked for Jo-Ann Fabrics for 9 years in a 13 year time span. Yes, 9 very long years. Those years started before the big do-it-yourself/I-can-make-anything movement in the early 2000's. Those years started in North Kent Mall, which no longer exists. Back in those days Martha Stewart hadn't committed any known felonies yet and the store did not carry very much yarn. There are a few other details that are important to my sewing journey. First, my mother attempted to teach me to sew, but didn't really have any teaching skills. One day I decided that Barbie needed some new clothes, so I made some, I was about 10. Second, the Home Ec teacher in middle school didn't like me. I'm pretty sure it was because I already knew how to make a drawstring bag. Third, the Home Ec Teacher at the high school where I was about to attend died of cancer when I was in 8th grad. They did away with that department. All those things made me a self taught seamstress. When you teach yourself how to do something that's hands on, the best way to learn is to jump in head first and experiment your little (or big) heart away. So I did. Making a pair of dirty lime green corduroy trousers was probably not a the best beginner's project, but they looked pretty awesome when I was done. (Back in those days you could wear something you made to work at Jo-Ann's on Friday's) The cords led to other projects, including the interior of a car for my classmates in an auto shop class, re-upholstering things for teachers at school and being on too many musical crews to count. Not all of my projects worked, but a fair share turned out awesome. Fast forward to 2012, today. I now live in something that's close to a time warp. Southern NJ is still stuck in the 1950 and 1980's at the same time. Think: Snooki driving through a stop sign in an El Camino with a bed of trash behind her. She's wearing a vintage shirt dress, which she wears while tending to her huge garden while listening to a mix of Laurence Welk, Third Eye Blind and Bon Jovi. She's pregnant and had a beer in her hand which she throws out the car window when it's empty. Oh, but she has a lot of spare money to spend on things she doesn't need. That is a mental image of where I live. For many reasons, I make my own shirt dresses, refuse to have a garden in my front yard and will never sing along to Bon Jovi again. Don't get me started on the El Camino. When I go to the fabric store, it's a gentle mix of all those things. The person who cuts my fabric always second guesses me when I tell them what I'm making. I alwys wear the project in the next time I go to prove them wrong.

I used to have goals.
I used to have ambition.
I used to drink.

The drinking may be part of the reason why I have not achieved some of those goals.  If I could go back in time I would not cut the drinking/partying/chaos out of my life.  It made me who I am.  It has lead me on a little adventure, and now I have new goals.
Someday, I'll be a dietitian, just not for quite a long time.
Some of these goals are a little harder to accomplish from Farmland, USA, but I'll keep trying.  Until those days come, I'll stay busy working on those projects that I don't really need.

My Grandma seems to think the print is "too busy", but I like it

I really like the piping on the collar! The pocket detail didn't turn out quite as I wanted them too, but it'll work.

Even though I have a fancy smancy sewing machine, the button holes never turn out okay. I think I need to get it tuned up, but I've been a little busy for that. Making nine button holes using a tight zigzag stitch is not easy, fun or painless. But a fabric marker and some patience....they worked!

It's almost my birthday, I needed a dress

 I love polka dots, this is an important piece of information if you ever look in my closet.

 The dress is tea length, with tight gathers over the stomach, backside, back and chest.  And pockets.  More dresses need pockets.

Now, I just need somewhere to wear it.

Polka Dot Phase

Cleaning out my closet last fall meant giving away all my favorite clothes. They did go to a good home, to my friend Lauren, who will probably wear them until they are worn out. But that doesn't help with the fact that I gave away my favorite polka dot dress. This meant, I needed to make a new polka dot dress!



The fabric came from the "bargin" section at Jo-Ann's. This was one of those finds that you have to know what you want to make in order to make it work.



Yes, it has pockets. Since the fabric is super stretchy, the pockets are more for light weight stuff, like chapstick.



There are a lot of pleats. 30, to be exact. I don't like making pleats, not one bit. You know what I like even less? Pleats on a super stretchy light weight fabric.



The pleats did make it drape beautifully.

Dress Up Time

Sometimes a simple dress is the classy way to go.



I love the way a cowl shirt looks, but I have a hard time pulling off the deep plunge that most of the current trends entail. (I should clarify that, I have a hard time making the deep plunge look work appropriate. This collar can be folded a few ways to change things up a tiny bit. It hits just below my knee, making it look a little like something from Mad Men.



The fabric is a polyester knit I had in my stash, I have no idea how old it is or how much it cost. The belt was off another dress I already owned.

when you can't find a dress, make one.

In less than 2 weeks i'm going to my friend Amy's wedding! For this huge celebration, I must have an approprite dress! After trying on so many dresses that I lost track, I finally broke down and made one.


I bought this fabric when I worked at the Jo-Ann's in North Kent Mall for just a few dollars a yard, and matched it up with casa crepe. The dress is based off of a few patterns combine together, but happened to work! From the front it looks like a halter, but it's not! For accessories I'm going to add a belt, I think. The pattern calls for a sash, but that just didn't look good. The flash made the fabric a little brighter than it looks in most light.


This dress conquered my fear of three sewing things.
1. sheers (cutting and sewing)
2. french seams
3. top stitching

Everyone needs a new dress sometimes

You know, if you've got surplus fabric and time to kill, there's really nothing wrong with this "making myself clothes all the time" thing, right?

Anyway, I used to be really fat (as opposed to just a little fat) and most things I wanted to wear didn't fit properly, patterns didn't come in my size and things just looked bad. I love to sew, obviously, so I taught myslef how to alter patterns. This was done through studying garments that I had no reason to ever own and reading tons of books. (the working at a fabric store helped too, just because it gave me an opportunity to see what people were making and how they were making things.

There are a few things I've learned along the way:
1. Pleats are not usually flattering.
2. I hate buttonholes
3. Read all the directions, then assemble the item the way you think it should be done.
4. zippers are not as hard as they sound. (actually, they are very easy!)
5. Invisible zippers are overrated. If you can't put a regular zipper in properly, then there's no reason to try an invisible one....and there's really no reason to use them anyway.
6. Interfacing is not always (or hardly ever) needed. There are exceptions to this, but not many. If you want your garment to lay naturally on your body, use sheer weight or none at all.
7. Sulky wash away interfacing is amazing. (see #6, sometimes it's needed to assemble the project, but not to make it useable)
8. tailors' chalk is my favorite marking item. You can get it in colors from the quilting department in most arts and craft stores.
9. Kitty cats love pattern paper
10. having a dress form makes all the difference.

Here's the fun brown denim dress! It still needs buttons, but it's 1:30am and there aren't 24 hour stores around here for my shopping convenience. Also notice there are pleats, which are actually flattering. Oh, and there's a tiny bit of gathering in the shoulders for "ease". ("Ease would have been about 1/2 the amount I had, but whatever) The heavier fabric makes it a little bit easier for me to wear, it doesn't stick/cling to me as much as some other fabrics.

a little green is always a good thing :)

Once again I've finished one of those dresses I never thought I'd be able to wear (or had the patience to make) The secret to the recent success of these things that I've never thought I could finish: Tailor's Chalk. Not kidding! I have making darts, I hate spending the time to map the stupid things out. I HATE watching a garment and finding out the marking pen didn't wash out all the way (or discolored the fabric) So, now I use tailor's chalk.

Oh, awesome thing about the skirt, other than how full it is, it has pockets!

Yes, I too had a Hippy Phase.

If I only knew how to make this look the way I wanted it to look!

Anyway, a few years ago I got this kinda ugly, flower power, peach-skin weight silky from that fabric store where I used to work. I also has a Cynthia Rowley pattern that I wanted to make, so I put them together and have a dress!

Well, a few years went buy, I moved and finally decided to clean out my closet a bit! When cleaning the closet, I try on EVERYTHING, even tshirts, and usually have a huge pile of clothes to dispose of. I couldn't make myself get rid of my pinky flower dress, so I took it in, a lot! The empire waist is a little loose, but the chest and skirt fit perfectly, so I'm leaving it be.

If you ever make this pattern, ignore some of the interfacing. Especially if your fabrics is pretty sturdy, it's not really nessassary, just adds bulk. This being said, if you're using something light weight that may skew, use the interfacing, but a light weight one.

Pink, it's the old black

This is the end of the bargin fabric I purchased a few weeks ago! $3/yd, about 3 1/2 yards and a little bit of fancy fudging made this work!

Why don't pattern companies make patterns more "border print" friendly. It was interesting making top with the fabric on the bias. Hopefully the embroidery will help it keep it's shape.

The skirt is a little fuller than intended to make the scallops line up properly, but it worked out just fine!


Now, onto the drama this dress brought. I went out with some friends last night, to celebrate a birthday. Myself and two others, who also weren't drinking alcohol ordered sodas, while the rest of our party had various beers and mixed drinks. A few tables away a college guy was tossing a nerf football to his friend (who missed), the ball crashed into our table, knocking over my root beer. When I asked the waitress for another one she informed "there are no refills, it'll be $2.99+tax". Both Keith and I asked for a water, she made a huge deal about "we have to order something". At this point I was getting a little annoyed and asked for a manager. (I have only done that once before when my salad kept coming out with chicken on it.) While waiting, we all paid our bills and got ready to go. Really, you'd think the waitress would have had better manners towards the topic of sobriety when a week prior a nationally covered drinking and driving accident, which has resulted in death, had stemmed from this bar.

There have been some things resolved in the matter. One of the folks who was there with us plays football for the Eagles, he mentioned the incident to his some teammates (who own another bar in Philly) and they reported the incident to Liquor Control. I've already been contacted by LC and given them a statement. (Apparently they work on Sundays?) I was also told that if I want to celebrate co-workers birthdays at a bar, I'd be more then welcome at 879. Thank you N F L lockout for giving those guys a reason to open a bar and for giving Jerome an opportunity to hang out occasionally.

I can only imagine how'd I'd handled the situation if I had been drunk.