Making Skating Costumes

When I'm not knitting, binding books, or blogging I am usually out on the ice practicing ice dancing.  Last year I competed for the first time at the US Figure Skating Adult National Championships with my ice dancing partner.  This year we competed at the sectionals competition in Cleveland in early March, and are getting ready for Adult Nationals again in April.  I needed a new competition dress (or two) this year, but they are expensive and difficult to find locally.  So, I did like any good crafter and made the costumes myself!

Old wrap skirt I used as a pattern

For the competition I need one outfit for the choreographed free dance with my partner, and a second outfit for the pattern dances with my partner and my solo pattern dances.  I decided to use part of an old costume for the free dance and make a wrap skirt to go over it.  For the pattern dances I made another wrap skirt and bought a plain leotard to go with it.  I actually got enough fabric for two different wrap skirts to go with the plain leotard.

Cutting out the fabric

I bought fabric and flat back rhinestones from Carol's Fabric Shop in Brunswick, OH.  It is a tiny fabric store that carries tons of stretchy dance and skating fabrics, and is the only store in the Cleveland area with a decent selection of skating fabric.  I based my new skirts off an old wrap skirt I had from my old synchronized skating team practice uniform.  I needed the skirts to be "dance length" which means to the knee- so I had to add some length compared to the old skirt.

Once I had everything cut out, I went to my sewing machine and did a lettuce edge for the hem.  That is when the material has a wavy, curly edge instead of a normal hem.  It is a simple and attractive hem for stretchy fabric.  Basically all you do is stretch the fabric while sewing a dense zig-zag stitch.  Then I took a long strip of fabric and sewed it to the top for the waistband.  The waistband needed to have extra length so it could wrap around my waist and tie together on one side.

Finally, I took the leotard and glued on a line of rhinestones.  This was my first time stoning a dress, and I think it went rather well.  Only one minor glue spot on the fabric.  However, next time I would not put the stones over the elastic edge.  I accidentally killed most of the stretch on the neckline because of how many stones I added.  Before the next competition I plan to add another row of smaller stones below the bigger ones.  I am also planning on sewing the third skirt- a black fabric with a wavy, glittery pattern of blue and white dots.

The whole ordeal still ended up costing around $125, but I now have three different outfits I can use for skating competitions.  By comparison, one off-the-rack skating dress without stones could have easily run me $200 or more.  Hooray for being able to do-it-yourself!

Modern Fleece Blanket

Usually I make handmade Christmas gifts for at least some of my family members and close friends.  Now that the holidays are over I can finally blog about a few things without ruining any surprises!  This year my list of people I needed to get gifts for was much shorter than usual, so I ended up only making 3 gifts.  I knit a headband for my sister-in-law (blogged here), knit a scarf for my roommate, and made a fleece blanket and pillows for my boyfriend.

When I asked my boyfriend what he wanted for Christmas (and his birthday, which is also in the end of December), he requested something handmade to put in his new apartment.  It took me a while to figure out what to make because my boyfriend likes very streamlined and modern things, and many of the things I make are not quite that style.  In the end, I decided to make a big, snuggly blanket and a couple pillows to put on his couch.  Instead of doing a tie-together blanket around the edges, I came up with a modern patchwork design that would fit better with his style.

I started by going to the fabric store and picking out fleece in a range of colors.  My boyfriend's favorite color is blue and his apartment is primarily black and white, so I picked out a dark blue background, and bright blue, aqua, white, and gray for the patchwork pieces.  I also grabbed two 16 x 16 inch pillow forms.  Once I had all my materials, the first step was laying out the 3 yards of background fabric and cutting off enough for the fronts and backs of the pillows.  Next, I measured and cut the smaller lengths of fabric into 7 inch wide strips.  I bought between 3/4 and 1 full yard of all the other fabric colors.

Once I had about a dozen fabric strips cut, I started laying them out on the dark background.  My goal was to create an irregular pattern by alternating colors and adjusting the length of each block.  Honestly, cutting and arranging the fabric was probably the most time consuming part of the whole project!  After everything was arranged to my liking, I pinned down the pieces so they wouldn't move and got busy at the sewing machine.  (It was tough wrangling so much fabric!)  For each row of patchwork blocks, I sewed the long edge all the way across and then came back and sewed the short edges individually.  Then I trimmed the extra edges off the background, and it was done!  He thinks the blanket is awesome and was very impressed.

Christmas in July

I'm having a Christmas in July sale over on Etsy!  That means 10% off everything between July 21st and July 31st.  Just enter the coupon code CHRISTMASINJULY at checkout.

Check out my selection of handmade books.  From Japanese Stab style to Coptic both large and small.  I even have some mini books!  (I am Minimeg after all.)

I also have fine art photographs ranging from animals to architectural details.

 And don't forget about accessories!  Recycled purses and pouches featured in previous blog posts along with eclectic jewelry made from found objects.

T-Shirt Shorts

This week I found a great tutorial about making your own shorts pattern based on measurements.  The weather has been so hot lately that I have been planning on making myself another pair of pajama shorts.  So I pulled out some newspaper for pattern making, and a couple old t-shirts from my fabric bin.  I took some measurements and whipped up a pattern on yesterday's newspaper.  After seeing the size of the pattern I pulled out two standard t-shirts (think Jerzees, event t-shirts, not baby doll tees) and I happened to have two of the exact same shade of goldenrod yellow.  I made a second pair using two red t-shirts and remembered to take some pictures of the process!

The shorts were really easy to make and took maybe a half hour of sewing.  I used a three step zig-zag stitch instead of a straight stitch.  This stitch uses three straight stitches for every zig and zag, and is excellent for stretchy fabrics like t-shirts.  When I cut the fabric I lined up the finished shirt edge with the bottom of the pattern.  This meant I didn't need to hem the legs, and the final shorts kept a professional detail.  Instead of adding elastic to the waist I folded over the top edge about two inches to make a channel for a drawstring.  I made a drawstring out of a strip of the t-shirt, stretched so it rolled over on itself.

The yellow shorts turned out great BUT the shorts were a couple sizes too big.  They have a drawstring, so not unwearable...  However, for the red shorts I cut about an inch off the side seam of each pattern piece and a little off the top edge.  This made a world of difference!  The shorts fit perfectly.

 I am helping a friend make a t-shirt quilt, so I am sure to have plenty of scraps once the logos have been cut out of all 22 shirts!  Possibilities for next time include cutting each pattern piece out of a different color shirt, using shirt logos instead of blank shirt material, and freezer paper stenciling on the finished product.

Sewing With Recycled Materials

Three things you need to know about me and anything crafty:
1.  I love recycling
2.  I never throw anything away
3.  I never turn down free stuff

That being said, I do a lot of sewing using recycled materials, stuff people have given me, and little scraps from other projects.  I like to save things and wait for just the right project to use them on.  Lately I had the opportunity to create a yoga mat bag for a friend.  The yoga mat is very thick and heavy so the bag needed to be strong, and she wanted a pocket for cell phone, keys, etc.  This is the same person that gave me several bags stuffed full of upholstery samples that a local furniture store was going to get rid of.  So I sorted out a bunch of the upholstery samples that looked good together and went to town!  I also just happened to have a navy blue shirt pocket that fit perfectly with this project.  I lined the bag with cream colored canvas to make sure it was extra sturdy, and used an old pair of blue jeans to make the drawstring strap.  (The only things I bought to make this project were the grommets to attach the handle, and the canvas.)

Pulling out my upholstery samples inspired me to create some small zippered pouches using the leftovers.  I bought another bag of upholstery samples at a rummage sale a couple years ago.  Most of the fabric is heavier cotton with fun prints.  At this same rummage sale I picked up a big bag of assorted zippers (both the zippers and the fabric probably cost less than $2.)  For these pouches I used bits of coordinating upholstery samples, some of that canvas I bought for the yoga bag as the pouch lining, and whatever zipper I could find.  I also am using scraps of old button down shirts I had leftover from making purses.

This brings me to my shirt purses.  I started making these a few years ago from my own pattern.  Since then I have made at least 7 of them.  The bags are slouchy hobo-style purses made from old shirts and upholstery samples with necktie handles.  Not only are these bags recycled, they are reversible!  I try to pick fabrics and neckties that go well together, and sometimes the button down shirts I choose are really awesome fabric... but really ugly shirts.

Speaking of ugly shirt fabric... this ipod case used to be a ridiculous lime green plaid shirt.  The inside is a scrap of green fleece, and the gray portion is from the leftovers after hemming some dress pants.