Summer Sewing: Bow Front Bag

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about my Summer Sewing Goals? Well. Here is another one I can cross off.

I started with this shirt from... you guessed it...the free bin. I liked the ticking pattern, but when I put it on it was so shapeless. I thought about just trying to tailor it....but I don't need anymore shirts right now. What do need is a spiffy purse!!

You can see above the front of the original shirt with lots of pin tucks.

Basically I made two rectangles, rounded off the bottom corners, made a long strip and sewed it in between the two sides. I'm gonna be honest: it was kind of all over the place. Not my most thought out project, but still fun.

I used a yellow and white plaid Cotton for the lining. I had lots of bits of this in my sewing stash (yes, I have one). You can see in the above picture what I meant about making two rectangles, rounding off the corners and then a long strip to sew them together

You ready for the finished bag?

Here it is in it's sewn glory::

(Do you like my photography skills?)

Let me just say I'm kinda in love with bows right now.

The back of the tote. I used a pocket from the shirt to make an outside pocket on the bag. I could have sewn it on a bit better though.

An up close of the sublet yellow plaid lining.

Only three more days until our big move!

Once we're in San Diego you can expect me to fulfill the rest of my summer sewing goals.

Oh an if you're interested, I found these very cute bags on craftster.

Super Easy Maternity ReCon

I think I can scratch off  a little bit from my Summer Sewing Goals as I tailored this shirt sitting in my refashion pile

It started out as a cute, but frumpy maternity shirt. It also had a whole other layer underneath from the bust gathers down....I've never been pregnant, so I'm not sure of the function that this plays? Keeping the belly button  a little more subdued under two layers? Fill me in.

(doesn't actually have any kind of stain)

I started by cutting that out, since, well, that would be quite warm.All I did after that was just reshape the sides and the bagginess in the arms.

I told you it was super easy!

Mens Button Up Shirt to cute ruffle front shirt

I know, I  know. There are one zillion mens shirt refashions. And you know what? I love them all.

This men's button up shirt refashion is pretty straight forward. I  don't haveabefore picture but just imagine a large blue and white mens button up shirt. (ha) I cut off the sleeves, sewed up the sides, cut off the collar (but left it so it was like a mandarin collar, made the sleeves smaller and shorter and sewed them back on. The last thing I did was to take some leftover pieces from the sides, ruffle them up andsew them next to the button placket. Does that sound like a lot? It really wasn't. I'm sure I'll do it again.

Big shout out to the free bin for providing me with this shirt and to lex from Made By Lex for providing me some inspiration.

My camera can't handle the tiny check! It's doing some crazy designs. I left the ruffleand collar with raw edges because I liked the way it looked.

Oh yeah, I put a little piece of elastic in the back waist to give it some shape.

Pink Shirt ReCon

I'd liket o thank the freee bin for giving me the materials to make this shirt happen.

 It started as a regular [bubble gum] pink crew neck shirt and a white and gray stripped shirt.

First I cut the neck of the shirt off. It was cute but a little too constricting. I lined up the shoulder seams and just cut a circle out of the front to create a scoop neck.

This is the only in-progress shot that I took of the shirt while making it. After I cut the scoop I interfaced around the edge of the shirt with lightweight interfacing to give it some stability. I mostly just used scraps and small bits to go around the neckline since it was fusible. Here's what I mean..

Don't mind the food in the background; the only space to iron is on the kitchen counter!

Summer Sewing Goals

Okay, okay...I know it's is already the end of June (where does time go?) but I think there's plenty of time left to make some summer [sewing] goals.

1. Make   3  2 swimsuits(technically I've already made one which I'll post soon, but I don't know if it counts)

2. Sailor front shorts/pants/skirt (like these cute ones)- hopefully in time for July 4th! Is that this weekend already? I know July 4th doesn't necessarily mean sailor but lets me honest- the colors definitely meld. I used to have some sailor pants but who knows what happened to them (real ones made from wool, so itchy).
Here's a cute take on them:

source
But I think I'll try to make something more with a front like these

source

I'd also like to make a paper bag waist skirt, but we'll see what happens.....


3. Bow front bag. I have all kinds of random fabric laying around that are too small of pieces to use for clothes. (Up until this point I have been making mostly clothes, but I'm thinking I need to branch out). I have some white/black/ red striped fabric which I'll think I'll whip up soon. I stumbled upon this blog and I'm in love. So inspiring.

via Freshly Picked

4. Use up some of my excess fabric before I move!

This one is uber important. I'm moving in less than three weeks. We'll be leaving Laie for San Diego. It's bitter sweet but I'll be glad to be back on the main land.

5. Finish projects from my refashion/free bin pile
Along with moving I have to use up my free bin pile. Whatever I don't get to is probably going back to the free bin.


Non Sewing related goals:

working out (of course...) but I want to be able to do at least one pull up by the end of the summer. I want to learn some tumbling when we get to SD and I need to work on my upper body strength. I'm getting there, and ....

reading: by the end of last summer I felt like I hadn't had too many good summer reads. So far I've read

Le Divorce by Diane Johnson, which I just found out was a movie! I'll have to netflix it

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. I liked it but it made me sad....

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I don't read a lot of nonfiction but I definitely found this very interesting

and I'm almost finished with The Confederate General Rides North but Amanda C. Gable. I foudn this randomly in the library and apparently it just came out. So far I am enjoying it a lot. It makes me want to go to every Civil War historical site- which Chris would love.

My favorite genre of books however are memoirs. I especially enjoy Frank McCourt, David Sedaris, and Susan Jane Gillman



So I'll have to keep updating on my progress. Here we go!

Thank you, Free bin

Let me first and foremost say that I love the free bin. What's the free bin you ask? Well, let me enlighten you: it's a place in our apartment complex office, a bin you might call it (actually it's more like a whole corner) with free stuff. Where does the free stuff come from? In an area where there's a high volume of people moving in and out, lots of useful stuff- that might otherwise get thrown in the trash- is placed here for others to have at. Hence, I love it. Think of it as a free store or a community freecycle where you can offer up your still-useful stuff. Granted, I often find things that really don't belong: broken appliances, dirty clothes, unmentionables, and plenty of other things that I would deem "trash." Despite the gross stuff I have found tons of great stuff. It's like a free thrift store. Clothes are the largest component of the free bin and I am not shy in saying that I have whole-heatedly taken advantage of this! No, I don't glutton myself on all kinds of things that I really don't need, but I have found many refashionable items. In the future if I refer to the "free bin" you'll know I'm not completely crazy.