"Sew" Much Fun

My summer hobby is sewing.  I have loved finding ideas on Pinterest and then giving them a try.  Some fail miserably, and others are very fun and enjoyable.  A friend just got rid of a lot of fabric she had so I quickly filled a garbage sack of fabric to take home and get right to work.  

This shirt I just kind of made up by tracing a shirt she had for a pattern.  I added elastic to the arms and neckline to make it easy to get on and off.  And this was my first time to add a pocket (that was kind of fun).  

The tutorial for this dress was great! I added my own flare at the bottom and I added elastic to the arms.  I love the bright/contrasting colors in this dress.

For the fourth of July I took the above tutorial and altered it even more.  I made the total length shorter and the sleeves shorter, and I sewed the elastic further in to give the end of each sleeve a ruffled look.  Laney got tons of compliments.  

This dress was not easy at all.  I tried using an actually paper pattern to follow - but it was more like reading a foreign language.  I pretty much just ended up making it up based on the pieces that I had cut.  It turned out cute, but I think there's more to it then I created.  I really like the pattern, though.

This little ruffled tank came from a cute sewing website with lots of ideas.   The shirt wasn't too hard, but making the ruffles was kind of a pain.  I didn't make them wide enough so then I had to make more.  Lesson learned.

I got the idea for this dress by following a tutorial and then simplifying it.  This is my favorite dress.  It's pleated down the front with more pleats on the bottom...super cute!

There are lots of tutorials out there for pillowcase dresses - this one is my favorite.  It's easy and it fits well.  It's super fun to make with different fabrics and ribbons, and I added contrasting fabric trim to the one on the bottom.  Lots of variety!

I also just made a dress out of my dad's old shirt using a very easy tutorial.  I just love that I have a way to remember my dad.  It just puts a smile on my face to see her wearing something that belonged to him.

I'm still learning so much about sewing and I'm having "sew" much fun giving it a try.  I haven't even attempted zippers or buttons, that is on my list of things to try, and for now I'm only sewing dresses.  I tried sewing pants using an old pillowcase but they turned out to be one of my failed attempts.  I think they might fit an infant, but not my giant 20 month old.  Luckily I have all this free fabric to try and try again.  I'm thinking that once the school year starts I won't have any time to sew, so I better sew my heart out while I can.