How To Hem A Curve

Yesterday I showed how to make the Twirly T-Shirt Dress, and while I took the easy route and serged the hem, not everyone will want to do that.  Here’s a way to get a nice looking hem on a curve, like the hem on that dress.

Begin by sewing a long, gathering stitch around the edge of your hem.  My gather stitch length is 5 on my machine.  If you have a big piece to hem, do a double row of this gathering stitch, about 1/8” apart from each other.

Slowly pull the bottom threads until you get loose, even gathers around the entire hem.

You’ll notice that as it gathers, it folds under on itself a little.  That’s exactly what you want!  When it is nice and even, iron it down to keep it there.

Then, the last step is to pin, and sew the hem.  The curves will be much nicer and smoother, and the fabric won’t look pulled all over the place.  {Granted, I should have hemmed this at about 1/2” or more, but my sample fabric was a tiny circle… :)}

Twirly T-Shirt Dress Tutorial

This twirly dress has generated a lot more interest than I ever expected and I have had some people ask questions, so I thought I’d make life easier on everyone and do a tutorial for you.  Because I love you.

Let’s start!



You need:

• T-shirt in desired size
• Fabric: I found mine at JoAnns, and it has great drape, or hangs really pretty.  For a 5T, I used 1 1/2 yards. Here’s how I figured it:
  • (Skirt length x 2) + (Radius x 2) + (Desired finished waistband width x 2) = Required Fabric
• Sewing Supplies, including needle and thread
• Calculator or crazy math skillz

First, chop your t-shirt in half.  Keep or toss the bottom half; I’m sure you can find something fun to do with it ;)

Measure the width of your shirt, and multiply that by 2.  The resulting number is your Circumference (C). Use good ol’ C=2╥r to get your Radius (r).  I typically round down for my answer, because you can always adjust the skirt to be bigger, but not smaller!



My daughter’s radius was 4(ish).  I left my fabric folded in half as it was when it came off the bolt, but then folded it again so that fold and the selvedges lined up.  I made sure that when I folded it, there was enough fabric left over for a sash at the end.

Then, measure from the corner fold out to your radius.



Using a tape measure, keep moving and measuring and marking so you get a curve.  Cut along the line you marked. (If you need more examples, check out the Ultimate Twirly Skirt Tutorial.)



Now, from the curved waistline you just made, measure the the length you needed the skirt to be (To explain my photo, I folded the fabric over one more time to make less marks with my pencil). This one is 20” long.  Keep moving and measuring and marking, just like you did with the waist.  Cut along your marked lines.



With your remaining fabric, cut out your waistband/sash.

 

For the yellow dress, the sash was cut at 6”.  This one was cut at 5”.



Time to attach your shirt to your skirt!



With right sides together, slip your t-shirt into your skirt, and pin them together.


I first pin the sides, then the middle, and then I fill in the pins from there.  It evenly distributes the skirt along the shirt.


Sew the layers together using a 1/2” seam allowance.
If you hemmed the bottom (I serge it, I’m lazy!) you could be done now!



It is cute without the sash too.  But I think it is even better with it, so… here we go!



If you need to sew sash pieces together, do so first.  Then, fold your sash piece in half right sides together, hot-dog style. 



Sew together, but make sure you leave an opening for turning. I use pins to mark where to stop and re-start for the opening.



It makes it easier for me to remember, and I prefer the opening to not be on one of the ends, for some oddball reason.



When you are done sewing, trim your corners and ends to reduce bulk. Then, turn it right side out using a dull pencil or chop stick.

Iron, and then hand-stitch your opening closed.

 



I try to get my stitches as invisible as possible.



Next, find the center front of the shirt and center of the sash, and line them up.  Pin them together at the front, and at the sides.  I make the sash slightly smaller than the shirt front, so it doesn't hang down on a little body.



Stitch the sash down at the side seams, and remove the center pin. 



You've made a dress!



This might have sounded like a long project, but it takes much longer to explain than to actually do the project.  Enjoy your ultimate twirly t-shirt dress!

One Year Older and None the Wiser

Today is my birthday.  I am 27.

I love birthdays.

Especially mine :)

Today I woke up early (ok, so early for me is late for normal people) and actually did my hair.  And I even put on eyeliner.  Yes, it is a special occasion!  I had breakfast at a local place with my sisters, enjoyed my 3-year-old’s screaming breakdown in the car, and spent 1 1/2 hours wandering around Target after that breakdown ended.  Then I kidnapped one of my friends and spent the rest of the day shopping and eating, which is exactly my idea of a perfect birthday. 

Tonight, I’m headed to a resort (perk of having a husband in the hotel business!) where I can wear my cute new bathing suit at the pool all weekend long.

Instead of making you all dangerously jealous of my birthday (because hey, it is a good one), I thought I’d share some things about me, like last year.

1.  My mom took castor oil to get me here 27 years ago.  I was born within 2 hours.

2. I have a scar on my left arm where I had a benign tumor removed when I was little.  I still remember watching the doctor cut me open and sew me up.  It was awesome.

3. I am self conscious of my feet.  My sister has a foot fetish, and so I always think that there are people out there staring at my feet.

4. Watermelon is my favorite fruit.  It is like eating and drinking at the same time.

5. I was a pity date for my Junior Homecoming.  As in, my date asked me the day before because he heard I was still dateless.  And yes, that’s what he said.

6. I have my bachelor degree (BS) in Home and Family Living with an emphasis in Interior Design, which is like Home Ec, Child Development, and Design.  I never had a 400-level class.

7.  I hate driving.  Especially at night… I will do lots to avoid driving at night.

8.  I am petrified of heights.  One time I climbed on a community mailbox and got stuck because I couldn’t get myself to jump down.  I think it was 4 1/2 feet tall.

9. I wish I still played the flute.  I played for 5 years, then switched to the French Horn for the next 5 years.  I love both instruments, but the flute is a little easier to play in church.

10.  I have had one gray hair, which I carefully saved in my jewelry box.  I felt like it was a rite of passage, in some way.

I need to pack for my weekend.  We’ll chat later.

Bikes and Bricks Quilt

This quilt was over a year in the making, which is funny considering it is the fastest quilt top I have ever assembled.  One Sunday afternoon, Mike bet me I couldn’t make a quilt top in a day.  And so, I went the easy route!  I used up a lot of my stash on this one, though!

Anyway, when I was done and Mike was impressed, I just folded the top and put it in my “WIP” container.  And there it sat for one year, completely forgotten, until recently.

I have a friend from when we lived in Scottsdale whose daughter got in a bad mountain biking accident during Easter.  She took a big spill, and ended up breaking her neck- paralyzing her from the armpits down.

Well, this family had already been through a lot in their lives, and lots of people pulled together to help out.  People helped move the family into a one story home, organized a huge garage sale to help with medical expenses, and there was a raffle/auction and donation page set up to help them out as well.

I don’t live out in Scottsdale anymore, but when I heard about the accident- and some good news that Brittany felt her legs were cold- I immediately thought of this unfinished quilt top.  It almost surprised me, since I had forgotten about it until then. 

2 weeks ago there was an update on Facebook showing Brittany bundled in heated hospital blankets, since the spine helps regulate body temperature and her spine is injured.  As soon as I saw that post, I pulled out that quilt top, rummaged through my fabric and found an IKEA fabric that I got that fit perfectly for the backing, and I started basting the quilt together- very slowly during any spare second I had.  One night of quilting, and one day of binding later, this quilt is headed to Brittany to keep her warm and colorful on her hospital bed while she slowly regains her mobility.  I think it will serve its purpose there much better than sitting in my bin.

We are headed up to North Scottsdale this week to deliver it to my friend so she can take it to her daughter.  We worried about the bikes that appear on the quilt, but hopefully it will be a memory of miracles instead of tragedy.

Here’s to a miraculous recovery!

***Update Brittany passed away unexpectedly on January 4th, 2013, just weeks before she was scheduled to undergo a new surgery that would almost positively help her walk again. A very tragic ending, but I am glad to have been a part of her life. She was a wonderful mother, beautiful wife to her supportive husband, and inspirational friend. At least she is walking now with her sister (who passed away only a few years ago) along the gilded pavement of Heaven.

Twirly T-Shirt Dress

The problem with an oldest child is that hand-me-downs aren’t always available.  I don’t have a hard time finding t-shirts and shorts/pants for a great deal, but dresses are harder to come by.  A “Good deal” is usually more than I want to spend.  Therefore, I am grateful that I sew!

I got a few extra t-shirts at Walmart (3.88 each), and while we painted some, I saved this one to turn into a twirly dress with some fabric I had stashed away for a skirt for me one day.  I think most of my fabrics I have stashed for future Mom projects get used for my kids.  Oh well, it is part of the job.

I chopped the shirt in half, then measured on her the remaining length needed to make this a dress.  I used that measurement, plus her waist measurement, to make a long circle skirt to attach to the bottom of her shirt and make a dress.  I used my twirly skirt directions if you want to check out how the math works. 



These are the fastest skirts/dresses to make.  I added a sash around the waist of this one because it was a little boring without it. I had just enough fabric left over to get a nice wide sash. I didn’t bother hemming it either (these are hard to hem nicely…) and just used my serger to finish it off.  Lazy.



I had a hard time convincing my daughter to come outside and take pictures. Our house gets NO light, so you can bet that this summer, we’ll have a lot of this going on when I drag them out in the 115 degree heat to take a picture:



At least she liked the dress.

ETA: I put up a tutorial for this one!  Find it here.

Felt Flower Brooch

I wanted a little something special for Mother’s Day (yes, 4 days ago), so I made myself the flower brooch from this tutorial.  It was super easy, I just used hot glue instead of fabric glue.  One square of felt=one flower, so these are WAY cheap too.

I made the red one first (modeled by my eldest sister, Alisa!), and then decided that my dress wouldn’t go well with the red… so I made myself a pink flower too.  And I loved feeling a little “dressed up” for my special mom day.  No pictures from Mother’s day, but here’s a gratuitous shot of my armpit and the flower from today (in my cowl shirt. Love that shirt.).

It is rather large- you can omit the outer petals completely and have a smaller pin.

I likey.

Pinks and Grays Gift

Some people who like giving handmade gifts are intimidated by those of us who blog (which, just because we blog about it doesn’t mean we are somehow better at it than other people!!!) and do crafty things, thinking that we’d be more judgmental or something if they gave us one of their creations.  I think it is quite the opposite: I am WELL aware of the time it takes to take a gift from idea form to its final, wrapped completion.  And because of that, I am very touched when people give me gifts from their own craft rooms or sewing tables.

Anyway, that is my mini soap-box on handmade gift-giving.  :)

MY BFF Kirsten is uber talented when it comes to sewing (and belching, but that’s for another time).  I’ve said this a few times before.  But she is.  She made her own GORGEOUS wedding dress.  She has made award-winning window treatments and her work has appeared in magazines.  She taught me how to quilt!

(My second finished quilt, but the first I started working on!)

She made a quilt for my little baby before she did the whole gender-switch on us.  So, Kirsten changed color gears and made an entirely different quilt for her!  And I love it.

Pinks and grays, all around.  And polka-dots.  I love polka-dots. 

The quilt is perfect!  We lay it on the floor for tummy-time, and then at night, her big sister steals it for a light blanket on her bed.  Everyone is enjoying it.

Yay for handmade baby gifts!  Thanks again, Kirsten!

Stamped Jewelry

Ok, so I’m no professional.  But I thought I’d give it a go for Mother’s Day, and I’m not too disappointed with the results!  I’ll share more later after I’ve had a little more practice. 

In the meantime, I am going to have an awesome weekend. Hope you do too!

The Post Where I Copy Cheri To A Tee

The very first post I ever saw from Cheri (I Am Momma- Hear Me Roar) was a simple t-shirt transformation using foam stamps and fabric paint. 

And here’s my copycat post.  I think we even used the same paisley stamp… or at least my girls did- I pretty much don’t let anything paisley touch my body. Or décor.  They remind me of amoeba, and I don’t want single-cell organisms adorning my house, or me.

Anyway.

This is such a kid-friendly craft, especially if you aren’t too worried about the outcome of the shirt.  The almost 3-year-old had an interesting design process, but my oldest did a fantastic job. 

I went to Wal-Mart (like Cheri) and picked up some t-shirts, and busted out the foam stamps (like Cheri) that were on clearance for 89 cents each at the Hob Lob and paint.  The girls were so excited to work on it.  They got two shirts each to decorate.

I even went so far as to add little butterfly antennae on one of the butterflies on their shirts.  I’m a cool mom like that.  They did everything else!

I got a gray shirt (like Cheri) and just stamped some white butterflies with two dark gray ones in the mix.  I’m simple.  When my oldest asked me if that was all I was doing, I told her I was plain.  She said that she was NOT plain and please give pass some more red paint. Do enjoy my post-run-in-the-rain hair and messy bathroom picture.  (Yes, that’s my baby.  She’s ginormous now, and loves sticking her tongue out.  But not sleep.  This picture was taken past midnight.)

After we were done we put them outside in our Arizona warmth (pre-deluge) and they were dry in minutes.  It helps that stamping results in small amounts of paint to begin with, but still.

Happy.  Happy girls with their new shirts- and finally something to match that butterfly skirt I made ages ago for the munchkin.

I’d totally stamp shirts again.  SO satisfying.

Thanks for the idea, Cheri!