Making a Turtle T-Shirt Two piece & Alliterating, Apparently

Poison Ivy / Woodland Nymph / Whatever T-Shirt Reconstruction

So I should probably warn you, about %70 of this video is just me cutting stuff up. I didn't realize quite how much cutting was involved with making this dress. I actually made this costume a while ago, I’m not sure if anyone would be into it, but I think it’s kinda cute, even if no one could tell what it was supposed to be. So I figured I’d upload it anyway. Hopefully, that’s cool with you.
I don’t know what happened with the video quality, but I think the dress turned out okay. Hopefully, things are clear enough despite the less than ideal resolution. If you watch it on your phone it probably doesn't make much of a difference so there's that silver lining?
Making videos is hard, sewing is hard, and I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, but dang it I’m tryin’ anyway! That’s gotta count for something, right?

Recycled Umbrella Bags

Woo recycling! I’ve held on to the fabric from this old broken WWF umbrella for so long because I was quite attached to the animal print, and I finally turned it into something...or multiple somethings. Yes, I am that lady with the small mountain of reusable bags piled on the register, and proud of it!

Funny story, this umbrella was just one of many casualties. My brother used to go through umbrellas like I go through hair bands. To this day it’s a bit of a mystery how he did it. Luckily, my hello kitty umbrella survived (largely because most dudes have some qualms about waltzing around with a pink and cheetah print hello kitty umbrella, to each their own)

Sunflower

I made this costume for a photography meetup. It may not have turned out quite as I had planned, but I'm still glad I finished it, and I think on the right model it could be very pretty. 

To be clear: the statue of liberty is a lovely work of art and engineering, not to mention an incredibly powerful symbol...but it's not exactly the sort of thing one wants to be compared to while attempting to be light and ethereal. 

Though I said I'm not thrilled with the way things turned. That doesn't mean I hate it by any means. If I truly thought this project and the photos turned out horribly, I'd do everything within my power to ensure they never saw the light of day. 

If you like this costume or pictures, wonderful! That's why I share the things I make. I'm so thankful anytime my work makes someone happy or inspires them! Just because a creator doesn't feel something is good enough, doesn't mean you can't love and enjoy it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and both ways of feeling are valid.      

Adam Berman

Robert Fletcher

Zhon Johansen

Bradley Winegar

My Sewing Pattern Collection/Confessions

I may have a bit of a problem...

How to transform old T-shirts into a nightgown

Not the most attractive, or flattering nightgown, but still technically a wearable article of clothing. That said, it seems like deliberately ugly clothing is kind of a trend (in certain very specific circles) So if you’re into that, this might be the right video for you.

For those of you who might be curious about how my wilted lettuce nightgown was received, she doesn’t seem to totally hate it...not sure if that’s just a front to spare my feelings though. 

Blue Fairy Wings

I made another set of wings, and attempted to film the process. 

How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Duvet Cover and Make an Impractical Dress

This project wasn't quite as straight forward as I hoped it would be. After the first failed bodice I wasn't terribly diligent about filming the process of making it. So this is less of an instructional video, and more of a "join me on a stupid sewing misadventure" type video, but I still think it has some educational value...maybe...sort of ~shrugs~ 
Despite the fit being a bit off, the dye job a bit shoddy, and the fabric less than ideal, I do think I did a rather neat job on some of the finishing: hemming, binding, etc. So not a total loss. 

Sidney Eileen's drafting tutorial

On another note: I tried talking to the camera. It was very awkward, hopefully I can learn to be slightly less awkward in the future. No promises. 

Giant Butterfly Clips

I've made fairy wings before, using four wire hangers for large sets or two for small sets, and I was curious to see what I could make with just one hanger. 

The finished butterfly is a bit too small to wear as wings, but it's still cute and I think this experiment turned out alright. 

T-Shirt Nightgown

My mother asked me to modify a T-shirt to make it a bit longer so she could wear it as a nightgown. I asked if I could take a little bit of creative liberty, and she said sure. I think the finished nightgown is relatively cute, and I was able to throw it together in a snap. (Well, a snap compared to some other projects).      
I didn't take many pictures while was working, because the dreary winter lighting was wreaking havoc on my phone's camera, and I wasn't sure if this little project was exciting enough to document, so I'll try and keep it short. 

This is the shirt I started with.

I dug through my scrap fabric and was able to find an old paint shirt in a complementary shade. It was in pretty bad shape, with lot of wear and tear around the back and shoulders and more than a few paint stains, but there was enough usable fabric to make the accents I wanted.      

I sketched out my basic plan.  

I kept the body of the dress very simple, because it’s meant to be loosefitting and I wanted to preserve the cute manatee design.

I sewed together the strips I cut from the other shirt to form a long strip.

I did a lettuce hem on the long strip and the sleeve pieces I cut out to give the material some extra flounce.

Then gathered the top edge of the strip with a running stitch. 

I laid out all of the pieces, to see how it was coming together, and decided to use the hem I cut off of the original shirt inside out to create a tie for the back of the dress.    

I sewed on the neckline and sleeves first, centering the sleeves at the shoulder seam. Then I sewed from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the dress securing the waist ties in the seam as I went. Lastly, I pinned and sewed the bottom ruffle to finish off the dress.      

Before and After

I had a little trouble with my serger on the neckline the first go-'round, so I had to redo it. I'm not entirely satisfied with the way the dress turned out, but overall I think it turned out pretty close to my original sketch, and my mom seemed happy enough with it.