^ That’s just the civil way of saying, “Holy hell, how did my headphones end up in such a knot?!”
My fiance and I are flying out to California (from NY) very soon for our wedding. Last time we flew I loaded up my Blackberry full of music with the hope that a kind flight attendant would let me listen to it. I did not find that kind flight attendant. So this time I’m prepared with my actual, handy-dandy MP3 player! Trouble is, I don’t want my headphones getting wrapped up in a jumbo knot at the bottom of my carry-on bag. So I whipped this up tonight! Aside from applying the Velcro a tad crooked, it came out surprisingly well!
As a sort of post engagement, “I never make you anything” present, I made Mike a button up, collared dress shirt that he could wear to work. I have made this type of shirt before, so I sort of knew what I was getting into, but it still wasn’t quite perfect. I’m half way through second one for him, and it’s going much more smoothly! On to the pictures!
With a divorced family (all five members in five different states, not to mention grandparents and aunts and uncles!) and the boyfriends side of the family, we do a lot of traveling. The past year or so we’ve been stuffing all of our toiletry stuff into one bag….kind of a tight squeeze! So I saw this tutorial by Patchyapple, and decided that I had to make a couple! His and Hers, finally!
Here’s the end result:
The polka dot one is mine, the green one is Micheal’s! We used them the weekend after they were made and they held up very well to our travel demands.
I got an awesome charm pack from a I <3 Coffee/Tea swap on Crafster, and have finally gotten the motivation to do something with it! Having never made a quilt before, I had no idea where to start. So I played around in Gimp for awhile and figured out how I wanted to arrage the blocks.
I laid out all of my squares on the floor and took inventory. My block design required four squares per block.
After laying them out, I arraged them in 10 groups of four, matching the color schemes as best I could.
Looking good so far! Then I just sliced up the blocks according to my plan and pieced them all together, sewing them in place.
Tada! Perfectly sized for a nice wall quilt =D
Now I just have to do some research and figure out what to do next.
This is my very first sewn shirt! I found this amazing argyle fabric a few weeks ago and just had to do something with it! I often have a hard time finding dress shirts that fit properly (at 5′ 2″ everything is always too long) so this fabric was destined to become a button-up dress shirt! I used McCall’s pattern M5673, which is available as a plus size/petite pattern!
I wish that I would have snapped a photo before and after the collar! The collar was definitely the most difficult part throughout the entire shirt. I had a hard time getting it sewn without huge gaps because of the difference in width (shoulder to shoulder) between the collar and the back of the shirt. My solution? A pleat! Which looks great to be honest!
Shown is after the addition of both sleeves. I absolutely love the sleeves on this pattern! The oversized cuffs are a great look for this plus sized design! Speaking of oversized, after trying it on I noticed how large the collar seemed. Mike noted that it looked like a classic 1970’s collar! After studying it for awhile I think I kind of like it! It goes well with the argyle! All that’s left at this point is buttons and a hem at the perfect length!
And there is the finished project! I copied the length and button placement from another of my favorite button up shirts. The double buttons right on the bust are perfect for larger breasted women who have a problem keeping their ‘lovelies’ in a button up shirt.
And of course, me wearing the finish shirt!
The pattern information, including sizes, can be found here!
Comments and critique are welcome! 
I decided to start light as I jumped back into the world of sewing. My grandmother tells me that I made a pair of summer pants one year with her, but I don’t remember. That being said, these were pretty much my first sewing project. I did mine first incase I made any major mistakes. I didn’t, thankfully, and both pairs came out looking great! I used Simplicity pattern 3971 and the pattern was very easy!
Before making my first shirt, I decided that a fitting would be very useful before all the final stitches were put in. My options were $200 for a professional dressform or 4 rolls of duct tape to make my own! Who could resist hours of entertainment that involve duct tape? Certainly not I! So, with help from Mike, I decided to craft my own! I took a regular 13 gal trash bag, added a couple holes for my arms and one for my neck, and Mike went to town. I got the idea from several website, but if you’re thinking of doing this on your own, check out this one!
If that one doesn’t do it for you, there are a multitude of different tutorials out there to help you, including ones done out of paper mache, as well!
After the first roll or so, things started getting a little uncomfortable, which is to be expected when you’re wrapped in 80 ft of duct tape! I think it took us about 2 hours to complete the whole thing until we finally just cut it off so that I could breathe. I spent another few hours on the floor putting a few more layers on, plus the final layer in black duct tape. The overall result is very cool! I may decide to get some PVC pipe to hoist it off the floor/table so that long shirts don’t drag. Here’s the end result:
