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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Sewing Circle: Good patterns for work clothes

4.10.2012

Sewing Circle: Good patterns for work clothes

Let's talk about work clothes today on Sewing Circle.  Got an email from Rhiannon with this question:

Q: I was just wondering if you can recommend any sewing patterns for corporate wear? Or patterns where I can use a nice material and make it look like corporate wear. I work for a pretty corporate environment and I am over all of my work clothes, but in Australia to buy a nice dress you are looking at about $200 AU which I think is way too much!

I responded to Rhiannon that she might want to check out a post I did a while back when I bought a bunch of work-ey patterns.  Since then a few new ones have come out, but those are some great ones to start with.

You can find good patterns for work wear at any of the big pattern companies, if you imagine making them out of suitable suiting or heavier weights, generally in dark or solid colors.  Simplicity also has the Amazing Fit collection, which has lots of choices for pants, dresses, even a blazer pattern! I'd definitely check those out when they're on sale at the fabric store (if they do that in Australia).  If you're a pro seamstress or good at tailoring, you can certainly make your own pants, blazers, etc., but even an intermediate sewist can probably make some really nice work dresses.  (I've done a couple I'm proud of, but not all have turned out great.  If you search "work dress" on the search on the right sidebar of my blog, you'll see my posts about them).

Readers, have you used a pattern for work clothes with great success?  What do you find is a good balance between buying and making clothes for a more professional environment?

And just for fun, here are a few fun inspiration pics for work wear...









So, what do you say?  Any tips for Rhiannon?

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4.09.2012

Weekend success: DYED jeans!

This was my big goal this weekend, and I did it!  So proud, and pretty happy with how they turned out!

Like the rest of the world, I've been jonesing for some springy colored jeans this season.  I have my red jeans (also upcycled), but I wanted either mint or yellow, or maybe coral, for spring.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about... here are some faves from my "Red jeans and brights" Pinboard!  Plenty more inspiration there if you're interested...











These next two from Forever 21 are only $15.80!  But, sold out in stores in ALL the colors.  I tried.
Source: rstyle.me via Suzannah on Pinterest


Source: rstyle.me via Suzannah on Pinterest


After striking out at the stores, my plan was to buy some white jeans at Goodwill and dye them myself.  I soon realized two flaws in this plan: 1) White skinny jeans are NOT common Goodwill donations at this point because they're still relatively new as a fashion trend, I guess... and 2) They don't make MINT dye.  Coral is also hard to find.  (This caused me to realize something else--I don't trust myself at mixing dye, like artists may!).

So, I got a little adventurous.  I figured if I could find some very light grey or blue skinnies, I could try to make them mint-ish, but that was a little risky, too.  So, Plan B.  I found these white flares and made them into skinnies.  The "before":

I've done the skinnification process before (here), although that's not how I do it anymore.  Now I turn the jeans inside out and lay them on the floor, and lay a pair of skinnies that I know fits on top, then pin.  On these, I also removed the funky belt loops and big white buttons, and gave them a regular jeans button.

I poked around for dye at some art stores, and found this beautiful array...
Via my Instagram

...but got overwhelmed by the idea of knowing how much to use, mixing dyes, buying soda ash (whatever that is), etc... all in my kitchen sink! I know there are books and other resources out there on dying--FaveCrafts just came out with one--and hopefully I'll learn someday soon. But for now, I don't know how to mix or get too creative.

So I decided, yellow it is!

I used a packet of Dylon that I got at JoAnn with a coupon for $1.50.  And the jeans were $3.50 (the sale color!) at Goodwill, so this project was a pretty reasonable expense for a trend.

I dyed them in my sink, which was not ideal because it was hard to stir them perfectly.  I also realized I probably should have bought two packets of dye for such a large garment--may have given me a more even color, and definitely a brighter one.  Luckily I was open to whichever shade of yellow worked out--the J.Crew/Anthro soft yellow, or the brigher, almost neon sunshine yellow.
Via my Instagram

Here's what came out!

If you looked really close, you'd see that it didn't dye perfectly evenly, and that there are some splotchy places reminiscent of a tie dye job.  But I think I'm going with more of the soft, romantic, Anthro-ey yellow jean look--so maybe it works.  Or at least isn't as obvious!

Do any of you have pastel jeans this spring?!?  Would love to hear your outfit ideas!

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4.08.2012

You may appreciate this--our little video on how to measure yourself

I've mentioned before that my talented mother, who taught me how to sew and inspires me to do my best quality work to make things that really fit well and last, has a business making historic clothing for historic sites, museums, reenactors etc.

We put together a little video how-to about how to measure yourself to get accurate measurements.  A lot of people don't know how to do it themselves, and since she does so much of her business mail order to people all over the place, we thought it'd be helpful.  But it's also cool for you guys to see!

If you're new to sewing for yourself, or for people as opposed to making things other than garments, you may want to watch this!  Here goes, my mom and me showing you how to measure yourself for your historic clothing order (although almost all of the measurements are useful for modern clothing, too!):


Haha, yup, that's what we look like... funny how video is so much more real than photography sometimes!

So, did you learn anything?  Or, do you have any tips for how you get accurate measurements for yourself?

After you check out this video you may wanna see my posts on picking the right pattern size, and about pattern fit!

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4.06.2012

Faves of your office and sewing room ideas

Thanks so much for sharing pics of your sewing rooms and offices, and giving me links with more ideas!  I posted here that I'm getting pretty darn tired of our small, awkwardly laid out shared office and cannot wait till we move soon--but in the meantime, thinking about how I want the new space to look!

I loved seeing your spaces--real people's homes, realistic and workable sewing spaces.  Thanks so much!  Here are some of my faves:
From I'm Feeling Crafty
From Nest Full of Eggs
From EmmylouBeeDoo
From Fancy That
And some faves from some of your Pinterest boards...

Source: flickr.com via Suzannah on Pinterest




Oyyy, I love the light and brightness and IKEA goodies in that last one.  And all the adorable colors in all of them!  And cute prints!

So, does that get you inspired for any weekend projects? ;)

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4.05.2012

How to Wear DIY: Re-made pleated skirt

I've been totally loving this skirt since I remade it from a frumpier one.  It's been fun to wear to work, but with spring coming any day now, I also paired it with softer, pale colors when I visited my photographer friend Becky (hence the lovely quality of these pics!) at her gorgeous property out toward Mt. Hood.  I love being out in the country!


It's swingy!
Sweater: Target via Goodwill (similar). Top: Mystery from Goodwill Outlet. Belt: Vintage.
Necklace and flats: Target via Goodwill. Skirt: DIY, recycled!

Mmm, lovely pictures, right?  Becky did our wedding and we've been buddies since!  It's very handy to have a photographer friend!  Thanks for the blog pics, Becky!

P.S. April's Everybody, Everywear challenge is pastels!  I thought the soft colors and pastel peachy pink in this outfit fit the bill.  So I'm linking this post up to EBEW pastels month!

Image 4554

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4.04.2012

Flouncy floral skirt from old fave fabric

This one was a totally serendipitous project--just came to me the other day when I was anxious to sew something but not in love with anything I'd already cut out.  I had this floral fabric sitting on the shelf, left over from this dress (my mom bought the fabric for me on a whim and bought SO much!), and I was inspired by springy florals... and flounces!

Like these pretties...

Source: etsy.com via Carrie on Pinterest














I had enough fabric for more than just a basic short skirt, so I figured I'd might as well do a couple layers!  I used a plain navy for lining on sort of the top half--the bottom flounce is just that, a flounce, and doesn't go all the way up to the waistband.  That way I definitely had enough fabric to do the two flounces and keep it long enough.  No pattern needed--just rectangles, gathered.

I see skirts kind of like this, maybe without the flounces, at Marshall's and stuff all the time, in the teenager-ey section, for like $16.99 but they are soo SHORT!  Yikers.  Dunno how people pull them off.  I like that mine doesn't make me worried about flashing anyone.  With the fullness that could be even more of a concern!  Ya know, it actually looks kinda short in these pictures, but it doesn't feel short on.  I guess I have long... thighs?

Anyways.  Is is spring yet?  Does Portland know it??  Can't wait to break out the florals!!

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4.03.2012

Sewing Circle: Awesome paisley dress, but a super simple pattern

Welcome to Sewing Circle!  This one's a fun and easy puzzle to solve.  Take a look and see if you have any additional insights!  I got this question from Shevy...

Q: I love to sew but I would consider myself a beginner. I recently saw this dress from H&M and I wondered if you knew of a pattern that might get me the same look. I need something with a bit of a longer skirt, though. 

A: I have a pattern recommendation for you that should be pretty simple. I would recommend a basic bodice pattern like Simplicity 2444 for the bodice and sleeves.

It looks like the original has a waistband, but you can probably omit it and get the same look, especially if you use a bold print like that paisley! It also has a slightly higher waist than 2444, but that’s easy to fix. In the center front in particular (I know that pattern well!), trim off the center front dip (when the bodice is folded in half, so both sides are symmetrical). Depending on your height, you may want to cut the bodice even shorter, but on me it hits just slightly above my natural waist.

You don’t need a pattern for the skirt; you just need to tear one to two panels of fabric, depending on how full you want the skirt, just a few inches longer than you’d like. if you want it to be 25” long, for example, you’d need at least 27” to allow for a .5” seam allowance and at least a 1” hem with .5” turn-under. I would add 3-4 inches to the desired length, myself. You’ll just sew the two pieces together at the selvages, turn under and pin the hem, hem it, and then cut a slit in the center back for the zipper. Then gather at the top edge and sew right sides together to the bodice!

If that’s unclear, there are probably tons of simple gathered skirt tutorials out there… I did one a while back you can see here. Of course the part about the waistband doesn’t apply.

Hope those suggestions and instructions help you out! I’m sure there are other patterns that would work for the bodice and sleeves as well.  Should be a fun project!

Readers, have you seen the perfect pattern?  Have you made anything like this before?

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4.02.2012

Party dress tutorial--in a free sewing eBook!

A while back AllFreeSewing wrote me about an eBook they were putting together--of course I was happy to have one of my tutorials featured in it! 

I shared a tutorial for this dress, the one I wore to my bachelorette party. It's a combo of lace, base cotton fabric, and ruffle fabric that I draped and showed you how step-by-step.

And now the project is featured in the eBook, along with 10 other sewing tutorials for clothing, home dec, etc. Lots of other fun projects from great sewing bloggers! Be sure to check it out: 11 Sewing Patterns for Women's Dresses & Other Pretty Projects.

Thanks, AllFreeSewing!
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4.01.2012

House progress!

So if you've been following along with our househunting saga... you know we're buying a new house that's being built as we speak.  We have to wait until mid-July and pay a little more than we would for a short sale or something, but it'll be brand new and energy-efficient and we get to tailor some of the design details.

(The waiting is killing me. But I'd bore you if that's all I said.)  One cool thing about watching this process is we can see it in different stages--I've driven by the past few weekends and taken pics of the progress!  Wanna see?

First it just looked like a lot of mud and some concrete...

Then it we could see our garage/basement taking shape...


And now, as of today, I can see where our door will be, and almost look through the living room to the kitchen and dining area!  Amazing!

Ours will be the second doorway in from the left.


Wow.

This is so crazy.  I can't believe we're going to own that.   Yaaaaaaay!!!!  (*decorating already in my head, going a little crazy when I go to stores and see things and don't have anywhere to put them...)

Oh, just wait till July!  There's gonna be DIY home projects all over the place!

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