Knit T-Shirt Updo

Cheap $7.00 t-shirt from Target. I love the stripes but it needed a bit more to give it some punch...

Simple circles cut out of black, grey and red knit fabric, sewn on by hand...less then 15 minutes of my time and now it's perfect for fall!

Tutorial inspiration HERE.

Don't forget to stop back by on Monday for our Sew Tina blog tour stop and giveaway!

Jessica

Fabric Stores in Switzerland

I am back! My 3 week visit to Switzerland was oh-so-wonderful, but it's good to be home! I found several fabric stores in Switzerland, but truthfully, I could not afford to buy much. (Along with the Alps, prices are STEEP in Switzerland! Ha, ha, that's a joke, and you're supposed to laugh.)



This store was in Zurich.... Look at the zipper collection! I was amazed at the selection. Oh, and the fabric was all so luscious....you can imagine how excited I was. See the purple bolt of print fabric in the next picture? I bought one meter of it---will show you pictures later---and I only paid 34 francs per meter, yes, mucho expensivo. Think of it as paying $34 per yard. But in defense of my splurge, I really did HAVE to have some fabric from Switzerland, and it is purple (my new favorite color), and it is a lovely knit with a soft drape, and I LOVE IT! Betcha can't wait to see pictures, huh? (another post on another day....)



Another fabric store I visited was in Luzern, and oh, you should have seen the beautiful knit and corduroy fabrics there. The fabrics were wonderful, but I resisted the temptation to buy any. Oh, at the suggestion of a Sew Chic reader, I visited another fabric shop that was fairly close to my daughter's apartment in Zurich. Apropos had rolls and rolls of fabric, more than any other fabric shop I'd been to. Again, I resisted the urge to buy.... Thank you, Alvertern, for telling me about Apropos. Yes, I had a good time in Zurich!

Alvertern said:
A beautiful Fabrik Store in Zürich
Apropos
Holhlstrasse 201
in Zürich

Ich wünsche eine gute Zeit in Zürich!

(Hilco fabric? at the shop in Luzern)

While I was in Switzerland, I didn't have time to miss sewing. We stayed busy with sightseeing, climbing the Alps, shopping, and visiting museums. Oh, and I spent a lot of time (but never enough!) loving on my sweet granddaughter. It's good to see my daughter and her husband so happy together. This last picture is of my grandbaby and me standing on top of the world (so it seemed!) in the Alps.

Ruth

more Switzerland pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/callmeruth/collections/72157624761912517/

Coming soon...Sew Tina Blog Tour!

Oh, I am so super excited...Sew Chic is going to be part of the debut blog tour for Tina Givens new sewing book Sew Tina! 30 Cute Projects and Adorable Decor Items for Kids. 

The book releases at the beginning of October and we're going to be showing off a couple of projects made from it and hosting a fabulous giveaway as well. I'm really excited and just had to share the fun. Now you have something to look forward to in the next couple of weeks!

yay for sewing!

Jessica

It's County Fair Time!

Last night we had a fun family evening...

Elliot got to ride in a little water barrel train...he loved that!

Marie had to content herself with sitting on a really big tractor...she was just a bit too little to ride in the train by herself.

Justin liked the bunnies...just kidding!  The kids loved the petting farm though!

I was pretty excited...this year I won two best of show ribbons!  One for Marie's Easter dress and the other for my chocolate chip cookies. I've been entering sewn items in our county fairs since I was 16, but it's only in the last couple years that I've started doing some baked good too.  I'm really not a huge baker, but I do have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe.  =)

Have a great week, friends.  Mom is getting back in the middle of next week, so hopefully soon she's do a recap of her Switzerland trip.  I'm excited to have her back again...3 weeks is a long time to go without talking to your mom! 

Jessica

Summer Sewing Wrap-Up

Whew! What a summer it's been...long and hot!  Cooler weather is finally starting to breeze through Oklahoma this week.  Today was the first day we didn't have to run our air conditioner!  

Mom keeps reminding me that I haven't posted pictures of my summer sewing (all 3 projects, haha!). Most of my sewing time this summer was spent getting ready for the craft fair I did last weekend.  That was a blast and now I'm ready to do some fun sewing for the kids and myself, but first I really do want to wrap up with reviews of this summer's projects.

 

First off my was my Easter skirt...that got finished in June!  I actually only wore this once this summer...I don't know...it was just so white, and a bit too full.  I think I'd wear it more if I had a colored top to wear with it.  Oh well...maybe I'll wear it for Easter next year!

The fabric is from fabric.com...a sheer print with little chenille circles that add texture.  Any ideas of something fun to do with the scraps?

Next was sort of a refashion project that Marie and I have both actually gotten a ton of wear out of.  Exibit A (below) is Liberty of London print dress from Target. It was clearanced for $8.00  It's a girl's size 16, and it fit me but was too short to wear as a maxi dress.

I chopped the skirt in half and re-fashioned the top part into a sundress for Marie. The remaining skirt portion became a summer skirt for me!  It's fun to match sometimes!

Marie is such a spunky little girl.  I love her!!

Finally, in July, a special friend of mine got married and I sewed my bridesmaid dress and the dress for another friend who was also in the wedding.  

There were 11 bridemaids total and each girl used the same fabric but had a different pattern and style to her dress.  The variety was really fun and refreshing.  

You've seen the pattern for my dress, McCalls 5804, before HERE and HERE.  I loved how it came out made in formal fabrics.

Here's the closeup detail of the rose flower at the waist.  I used this tutorial for my inspiration.

Hopefully soon I'll have some fun fall sewing to show off.  Tonight after the kids went to bed I got a pj set cut out for Elliot.  I'm excited to use my coverstitch again!

Blessings!

Jessica