Sew Happy- Long Weekends

Public holidays means I get a little breather from my usual commitments to do what I like doing. So during the recent Easter weekend, I eked out a little time to make new bags for Mr kwek and myself.

Mr Kwek got a faux leather messenger bag lined with a black and white spotty cotton and dark blue satin binding around the edges. I found sewing such a thick and stiff material really difficult especially when I got to the corners. Probably didn't help that the pattern was just dreamed up by yours truly who has zero experience sewing with such materials. It turned out decent, though kinda rough around the edges. I'm so gonna try sewing with real leather next. But maybe with a more manageable project. *excited* For myself, I made myself a little stripey cross-body sling bag by modifying a 5-minute-sew idea I saw on Pinterest. I'm clearly a terrible sewer as it took me a whole hour to complete. But I'm still mighty pleased. It is made to fit my Bible, a notebook, my wallet and phone. All the essentials I need. :) I love long weekends. Raise your hands if you do too!

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at 6:58 PM

Making Pants from a Dress- Upcycling!

I have never made pants before. Mainly because I hardly wear pants so I have never had the inclination to learn, and also because my sewing teacher a long time ago said pants were difficult to sew and that totally turned me off.

On my way home from teaching little kids to read the other night, I chanced upon a you-tube tutorial on making pants the easy way and as you may have noticed, I love sewing shortcuts, so I was inspired to try the technique.

But being a bag of lazy bones, I made a sewing shortcut even shorter! I dug out a dress that I haven't worn for awhile (because many people asked if I was pregnant when I wore it...) And upcycled it!

That saved me from having to hem up the pants and doing a waistband or any closures. So here's my very first sewing tutorial: upcycling a dress into a pair of pants :) *beams*

Step 1: Pick out a dress. It should have a skirt portion at least the length that you want your pants to be. Maxi dresses work well for long pants. My dress was an empire-cut, just below the knee length which was just right. It was a cotton halter with elastic smocking at the back, but any jersey material should work as well.
Step 2: Lay the dress on your workspace as shown in the pic below.
Step 3: Fold it in half length-wise. Like the picture below.
Step 4: Take a pair of pants that currently fits you and align the waistband to where you would like the new waistband to be on your dress. The crotch of your pants should be aligned with the open side of your dress and the legs aligned with the folded edge.
Step 5: Cut the dress based on how wide you want your pants legs to be, leaving about a 1.5cm seam allowance. I wanted loose pants so I cut roughly along the line shown below.
Step 6: Open up the dress. It should look something like the pic below. Then with your dress inside-out, pin the edges together starting from the crotch.
Step 7: Sew the edges together!
Step 8: Try on the pants and see if it fits. Then fold down the top part of the dress which is no longer needed.

Step 9: Cut off the extra portion and sew it down so the top of your pants looks neat. If you are using jersey material, use a zig-zaged stitch.
Step 10: Admire your new pair of pants! Hope you liked my first tutorial and my first pair of pants. Let me know if you try it out. 0 comments

at 7:08 PM

Sew Happy

About a year ago, I tried making a Mad Men inspired dress. But since I was working from my own imagination, estimation, and way too many shortcuts, I ended up with the top part of the dress being too loose, while the waist too tight, and the zip struggling its way up. I ended up only wearing it once and it languished in my wardrobe for a year. 

 Last week, I finally beat procrastination and unpicked the many hasty seams. This time I diligently sewed up my skirt without the shortcuts. The final result: the perfect knee-length pleated skirt in summery golden kiwi. Coupled with my black knit top and olive green pumps, I achieved my Mad Men inspired outfit! 

 I am sew happy with the result :)

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at 6:54 PM

How Far Can A Wedding Gown Go

Slightly over 2 years ago, Mr Kwek and I were married. Eschewing the regular route of renting a gown from a bridal studio (which would have cost me at least $1000, and I would be sharing the gown several other people), or getting my gown done by a wedding gown designer (which would have cost me at least $3000), I got my gown done by a dressmaker which cost me a grand total of $500. That was the perfect route for me as I knew what I wanted the gown to look like (simple circle skirt, no bling, good quality lace and no tube), which was impossible to find at the bridal studios and well, I'm a self-confessed cheapo and control-freak. Having a dressmaker make my gown meant that I shaved off a huge amount of costs and had control over everything- from the details of the design, to the material used. This was the result and I love it to bits.

One specific instruction that I gave the dressmaker was for her to save all the leftover fabric for me. So with the leftover lace and some tulle, I made my own veil.

Couldn't really find a picture which showed the veil well

 I still had a significant amount of satin fabric left so at the beginning of this year, much of it went to creating the base of my sofa covers which you can read more about here. 

And with the last bit of leftover satin from the gown, several youtube tutorials, months of procrastination, too many sewing short cuts and much struggling with tulle, my tutu skirt was born. Sew Happy!

This picture does not do justice to the real poufiness of the skirt, but at least I look pretty here

While I am unlikely to wear my awesome wedding gown again any time soon, I get to wear a mini version from time to time. 

Looking back, getting my gown done by a dressmaker was probably one of the best wedding decisions I made :) 

So how far can a wedding gown go? Pretty far, I'd say, with a little sewing skills.

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at 12:28 PM