Gameday dress

Now, last but not least, the gameday dress as seen on Sally's Shabby Chic.

You will need:

• a tshirt
• 1 1/2 yards of fabric 
• ribbon or wide belt
• scissors
• pins
• chalk or marker
• yardstick

Step 1

Put your tshirt on and mark your waist. Lay the shirt out and use a yardstick to mark a line 1/2 an inch below your waistline. Fearlessly cut your shirt along this line. It's for the better, I promise.

Step 2 

Lay your skirt fabric out with the wrong sides out, the right sides together facing each other. There are two ways to determine the skirt measurments. The easiest is to lay one of your skirts on top of you fabric and outline it 1/2 an inch bigger than your skirt. Don't make the waist small, it has to go on over your head. Just make your outline straight up from the biggest part of the skirt, also known as, the hips. 

The Math
If you don't have a skirt to use as a pattern, here is a simple way to determine the size of your skirt.
Hip measurement divided by 2 + 5 . So if your hips are 36 inches, that would be 36/2=18 + 5 = 23.
Each skirt piece needs to be 23 inches wide by roughly 21 inches long (this varies according to your height)
Make your front and back skirt pieces rectangles measuring  23 in. wide and 21 in. long.

Step 3

Cut your skirt out and sew your sides using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Step 4

Now it is time to attach the shirt to the skirt. Laying this out can be a bit confusing, but I guarantee you this is right. With your skirt still inside out and the shirt right side out put the tee down inside the skirt.

If you could see an X-ray, the shirt would look like this inside the skirt

Step 5

Match up the sides of the shirt and skirt and pin. Do the same to the middle of the front and back. Then pin half way between the 4 pins you already placed

Step 6

Take it to the machine and sew using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. It is easier if you take the accessory box off when you sew in circles. I've never seen a machine that doesn't do this, so yours probably has this feature. 

Step 7

Almost done! Just the bottom hem left. Now with your dress inside out, turn up bottom 1/2 and inch and iron. Do this one more time to hide the raw edge.

Step 8

Sew that up and your dress is complete! Congrats. Now just add a belt or ribbon and you are ready to show your team spirit in style. This also looks cute if your convert the shirt to a tube top before you get started. See tutorial below. 

Would you like some help with your dress or maybe you want to bring your girlfriends in for a fun afternoon. email me at yolanda@sewdesignstudio.com and we can set up a time. Feel free to bring food and drinks and make a party out of it.

Hope to see you!

T-shirt tunic restyle

Hello everyone, this is part two of the as-seen-on-TV gameday shirt segment. Have you shopped for Texans t-shirts lately? Well, let me save you some trouble - they probably don't have your size, but that is fine with you because you are a problem solving fashionista. Today's tutorial shows you how to turn a too big t-shirt into a cute tunic or dress.

You will need

• an oversized tshirt
• 3/8 inch elastic
• chalk

Step 1

Put on the shirt and mark where you want your waist. You can use chalk or a pin.

Step 2

Lay shirt flat and mark a straight line around the whole tshirt.

Step 3

Mark the center and side points.

Step 4

Take the elastic and put it snuggly around where you want your waist to be. (Don't pull it tight, just to where you think it will stay put on its own.)  Cut to that length. Mark the middle, then mark half way between the middle and each end.

Step 5

Match up lines. Pin the end of the elastic to one side of the tshirt, pin the next line to the center line of the shirt and so on. See that waist forming?

Step 6

Sewing time! This is a fun step. You have to stretch the elastic when you sew it. If you don't, it won't be elastic anymore! It really helps to stop with your needle down for this step. If you don't have a fancy button that does this, just turn by hand. Put your needle down into the elastic and stitch a few times. Now, hold the fabric by the marks/pins you placed in step 5. Stretch the elastic until it lays flat on the tshirt. You have to pull on the elastic to make the marks meet without folding the shirt fabric. 

Look at that tunic!

Step 7

Now you are going to add elastic to the sleeves to give them a little style. The shorter the elastic, the more gathered your sleeve will be. I cut mine about 2 inches shorter than the sleeve, but I could have gone shorter. The angle of this makes it a little tricky to sew. Make sure you mark the top of your sleeve. This will help you keep your elastic straight.

Step 8

And there you have it! My model doesn't have arms, so you can really see the sleeve detail. This tunic also looks good if you alter the sleeves. I didn't to this here, but Nicole at Diary of a Mad Crafter did, and it looks great.   

Happy sewing! If you would like a class on this email me and we can set up a time. I would love to make lots more!

T-shirt restyle

Hello fans and Fox News viewers! Today I am bringing you the as-seen-on-TV tube top.

You will need:

• a ruler
• pins
• 1 inch woven elastic
• scissors
• a t-shirt
• 1 large safety pin

Step 1

Cut the top off of the Tshirt. If your design is lower than the underarms, cut from underarm to underarm and save yourself from needing to stitch up the sides. If your design is high, you will need to cut the sides and 2.5 inches above the design.

Step 2
Stitch up sides using 1/2 an inch seam allowance if needed.

Step 3
Once your sides are sewn, you need to turn down the top 1/2 inch of material and stitch so your raw edges will be hidden by the next step.

Step 4
Now turn the top down again, 1 1/4 inches. You are basically making a tunnel for your 1 inch elastic to slide into. Sew very close to the bottom, closing the tunnel, but leaving room for the elastic. Leave a 2 inch opening to feed the elastic through.

Step 5

Put your elastic around your chest to see how tight you want the top to be. Add 1 inch and cut to size. 

Attach a large safety pin to the elastic and begin working it through your tunnel.

Step 6

Work your safety pin through until it comes out the other side. Pin in place using safety pin and check for size. You can make it a little tighter if you want. When you have it where you like it, sew your elastic ends together, cut off any excess elastic and close the hole. 

Step 7

Work the material around the elastic to get it even and presto! A tube top. This is great as the top to a gameday dress, or on it's own. Either way, it is a fun way to restyle a tee. 

No Sew Bandanna Purse

Hello! Today I'm going to show you how to make a simple, no-sew bandanna purse.

You will need:

• 2 bandannas
• scissors
• ruler

Step one
Lay your bandannas flat with one on top of the other and cut off the sides and  bottom.

Step two:

Mark a line 3 inches from the bottom and sides. This tells you how long to make your fringe. 

Step three

Make cuts about one inch apart all the way around your bandannas, stopping at your line

Step 4

Braid 3 of your side pieces to make a handle and tie to the top of each side

Step 5
Now start tying knots all the way around the bag. You can either tie just the top fringe to the bottom fringe one at a time, or tie two at a time, as shown.

When you are done you will have a nice little bag for sleepovers, school, or where ever you are going. You can experiment making this with old t-shirts, fleece or a fun fabric. 

Happy crafting,

Yo

DIY Lunch Bag Tutorial

Back to School season is here once again, so I decided to do a simple lunch bag tutorial.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 yrd. bag fabric - that is its real name, and it is very cheap
• small Velcro squares
• Optional 1/4 yard contrasting bag fabric

Step 1 

cut main body into a piece that is 29 1/2  in. x 8 in

cut side pieces to be 12 1/4 x 5

Step 2 

pin the sides to the body with right sides together as shown below and stitch. I used the edge of my pressure foot as my guide. 

Step 3 

Now you have a piece that looks like this:

You are going to fold the bottom of the bag over to the top. Sewing is very math-y, and geometry comes into play here. You are basically making a cube that has one side open. 

Pin sides together and sew this side just like you did the first side. 

Step 4 

Stitch up the bottom edges. 

Step 5 

Turn your bag right side out, and you can stop here, but it is a little floppy. 

To give your lunch bag some structure, you are going to have to top stitch all of the edges. 

This is called a French seam - Oh La La.

Not it looks like this

Final step

Attach your closure. Binder clips are a popular option, but I prefer Velco squares.

And there you have it! Enjoy, and make bags to your heart's content. 

Sew is 1 month old today!

And what a great month it has been! I am so thankful for everyone how came in, and I am excited to meet many more of you! I am going to celebrate by posting a lunch bag tutorial, but for now, here is a quick look at some of the things that have gone on around here this month. Much love!
Yo