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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!

6.11.2012

How to Wear DIY: Bold black and white jacket

Today's How to Wear DIY... I know you wanna see how I've been wearing this jacket, inspired by one of your Sewing Circle questions!

If you don't remember the story, check back on that post for the inspiration and my recommendations.  I ended up using a great bold stripe, 100% cotton 7 oz. home dec fabric from Premiere Prints and it's been great to wear!!  The perfect weight for spring, too.

Here it is!  Paired with my brightest yellow tank and some also bright jeans... going for bold, I guess!
Jeans: Mystery brand via Goodwill (similar, similar). Tank: Forever 21. Necklace: Anne Klein/JC Penney (similar).
Wedges: Kenneth Cole circa like 2002 (similar, similar). Jacket: DIY!

Update: because I love Everybody Everywear, and because we didn't know this month's challenge until the last minute, and because I am neon-challenged... I'm submitting this post for the neon challenge!  My yellow tank isn't quite neon, but it is bright... and we all just do our best to fit the criteria every month.  you understand, right? ;)

Neon | Everybody, Everywear

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6.08.2012

New sponsor and giveaway: SouthernFabric.com!

This giveaway is now closed. Check back soon for more!

Welcome today to new sponsor SouthernFabric.com--you can visit their shop, and enter to win the giveaway!


A little bit about Southern Fabric, from its owner, Aubrey...

Southern Fabric has been in business for over 7 years and has sold over 75 thousand items to happy customers worldwide. Feel free to browse our shop and add us to your favorites! We have lots of designer fabrics from your fave fabric designers, and are constantly adding new Moda, Freespirit, Westminster and Riley Blake. Also check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

You'll definitely love the style and look of Southern Fabric, with its cute yellow and grey site design and darling fabric patterns.  I also love how so many of the prints have product photos that show them in use!  Here are some faves...

I love some of the vintage-inspired ones...


And the quirky ones!


What are your faves from the shop??

Aubrey is offering one of my readers the Aviary 2- VintageYellow- Layer Cake by Joel Dewberry, which I know many of you could put to good use!

So, to enter the giveaway, the rules are the same ol':

Be a follower of my blog, using your tool of choice, and:
  • Visit Southern Fabric and pick our your favorite item or print, and
  • Leave a comment on this post telling me--and don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you!
For extra entries (leave a comment for each task):
  • Follow Southern Fabric on Twitter
  • Like Southern Fabric on Facebook
  • Follow me on Twitter (of course you already do, right? ;) )
  • Like Adventures in Dressmaking on Facebook, another great way to stay in touch!
Giveaway ends next Saturday, June 16 and I'll announce the winner Sunday.  Good luck and have fun shopping!

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6.07.2012

Quick project post: that necklace I just HAD to make

As I enthusiastically shared in this improptu post the weekend before last, I am now totally inspired to make jewelry!  I loved Andrea's tutorial for a super fun and easy statement necklace, and just HAD to go out and get myself some beads.

The same day, I made a stop at a JoAnn superstore, but was totally disappointed by the selection.  Since this was only the second or so attempt I've ever done at making a necklace, I didn't want to spend the big bucks on the fancy beads, but I still needed quite a few!  And honestly, a big part of the charm of Andrea's creation was the amazing beads in that great color.

But I was determined, so I settled on some plastic beads and got a little bracelet/necklace kit and some crimp beads (I had never used crimp beads before--OMG, they are amazing!).  I immediately had to put together this fun necklace, using Andrea's tutorial, my sort of cheap beads, and some fishing line.

I used almost all the beads for the strands, and put the two extra little ones on the end of the clasp piece thing... see how I don't know the terminology? ;)


Well, I had so much fun doing this and am so much less intimidated than I was before, that I have now decided I like making jewelry and want to do it more!  So, I know I want to use better beads, and did some really exciting Etsy bead-shopping and ordered these goodies.

Aaaaah!  Can't wait to make stuff!  Some of my inspiration is coming from these Anthro necklaces, although of course I still don't actually know how to make anything I want, the way I do with sewing!  Still learning...

I'm sure lots of you make your own jewelry, right!?  Do you have any tips for me, or know of any great beginner resources or tutorials?  Please share!

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6.06.2012

Dye-crazy. Shoooes and a tee!

I've gone a little dye-crazy this spring, and I'm proud to admit it!

It started with my yellow jeans project, and now I've gone and dyed some shoes and done an ombre project on a tee.  I hope I have more chances to dye this spring!  Shorts, maybe? More ideas in the new FaveCrafts tie dye e-book...

Anyway, here's the befores.  I found these shoes at Ross on clearance for $11.99, I think, when I was looking for cute platforms and not seeing anything quite cool enough.  They're cotton and were sort of a natural color, so I wasn't sure how the dyeing would go, but I figured I'd give it a shot.  They were also already dirty on the side of the wedge part, so I washed off the dirt before dyeing.

The shirt I dyed is from Forever 21 but I got it at Grocery Outlet for $2.50 (local chain of discount stores).  It is SO random what they have there. My friend's friend once got some Jack Purcells there back in like 2001. We were so jealous.

Anyways...

I tried a new brand of dye this time--I've used Rit with very minimal success, and iDye Poly has worked great for me on polyester, but I thought I'd see how Dylon works.  I bought Tropical Green and Bahama Blue, and tried to make a minty color!

I started with all of the green and half of the blue, because I wanted to make a true mint instead of aqua.  But then I added all the blue, and I like how it worked out.  The ivory shoes dyed a little differently than the bright white tee, obvs, but that's okay.  Both are pretty minty!

For the ombre/dip dye, I sort of followed along the lines of this tutorial on the wit & whistle blog, and since have also seen this one on Cotton and Curls.  My suggestion if you use either of those is to put the tee on a hanger rather than just holding it with your arms. Tiring and sort of hard!

So here's the tee...

And.... SO excited for these... the shoes!!

I'm in love with how they turned out!  The perfect minty color.  I'm a little scared to wear them in case they get dirty... don't want the color to fade.  Eeek.

Now I'm all excited to do more a) dyeing and b) shoe makeovers.  Eh?!?

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6.05.2012

Sewing Circle: Super cool racerback top

Getting very trendy on this week's Sewing Circle! I do hope some of you have some ideas on this top.  I did my best but I couldn't find a very close pattern!  Got this question from Amy...

Q: So, I adore the designs of Isabel Marant, but it will be a while before I can afford any of her clothes. Lately I've been fixated on this blouse, especially the shape of the neckline, and I think it would be really nice as a dress, too. I'm not even sure what terms to use to describe it so it's been difficult to look for a pattern. Any suggestions?

Source

A: Hello Amy,

That is a super cool top! It would be great to recreate it. I’ve never seen a super similar pattern but I’d recommend you combine a couple patterns, and add your own bias tape binding.

I would suggest using a racerback pattern like the grey/black top in McCall’s M6359 for the yoke. The front you may have to draft using the back piece, even, which wouldn’t be much of a problem since the fullness for the bust is below. 

You almost don’t need a pattern for the body of the top, really, but if you want one I would recommend using and modifying something like one of these:

And, to finish the edges, wide bias strips and do a neat binding. Could be very cool!  And you know, if you maybe cut a mini-version out of paper first, you almost don’t need much of a pattern.  If you're brave!

Readers, please tell me you've seen a more similar pattern or have a great idea on how to make something like this!

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6.04.2012

How to Wear DIY: Picnic dress on a picnic date! =)

Over the weekend for a date night, inspired by the nice weather we've been having, husband and I went picnicking and managed to catch a few sun breaks--and I wore this dress, which always had a picnic-ey feel!  I've been waiting for the perfect place to wear it!

We bought some fun snacks and portable food and then walked around Laurelhurst Park, a big, lovely park in SE Portland, and enjoyed the pretty time of day and relatively warm evening weather.

We particularly enjoyed sitting by the little lake...


And, here's the dress in action!

Just barely needed the jacket, so for some of the evening I just wore the dress.  I got a compliment on it in Trader Joe's and someone asked me where I got it.  One of those proud "Oh, thanks, I made it!" moments... =) *blush.*
Jean jacket: Nordstrom Rack (similar). Bag: Wilson's Leather via Goodwill. Belt: Vintage, thrifted.
Earrings: Vintage. Shoes: Payless via Goodwill (similar, similar, similar). Dress: DIY, posted here!

I love this dress. =) Here's to more picnic weather sometime soon!

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6.01.2012

Springy seersucker peplum tank

Whoops--you may have seen this earlier this week but had to refine and share again!

It might sound like a weird combination, but I'm totally excited about the peplum tank I made over the weekend.  So here's the story.  Inspired by this top from Anthro...

I'm not sure I could pull off the stretch knit in pure white... but I liked the idea a lot!  I'm totally about the peplum trend, but I don't wear dresses all the time... so a peplum on a top seems a lot more practical.

So.  I set about recreating it myself.  Rather than a darted bodice, I wanted it less structured-looking--so I used princess-seamed Simplicity 1913, and cut down the scoop neck.

For the peplum, I cut a circle skirt with no pattern--just a very short skirt!  Same concept as a circle skirt on a dress.

Like I said, I didn't want pure white, but I liked the faint texture of the Anthro ponte knit.  I had some yellow seersucker left over from a bunch of wedding projects (center squares, boutonnieres, and triangle bunting with words), and it was perfect!  I lined it in a nice white cotton.

Here it is!

I debated center back or side, but I ended up putting the zipper in the center back.  I also cut a deeper scoop in the center back--also making it more tank-like and a little more casual.

Yay!  Perfect for early summer!

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