Sew Spoiled

It's a Hard Knock Life! I happen to be a music teacher and this year we are putting on Annie Jr.. My two girls are in the show too and we have been busy creating costumes for them and the others in the play. My youngest is Pepper, the mean orphan. Here she is on the swing in her bloomers and patched jumper. My oldest daughter is a servant for Mr. Warbucks. She and the other servants have to match, so I sewed 6 aprons for the show. I created a simple apron pattern that uses only 1 yard of fabric. We are having them wear black dresses under the aprons. The aprons tie in the back along the waist and neck. I was hoping they would need my help for the Annie Dress but no luck this time. I love making aprons. We even had the orphans choosing their own patches. So much fun!

I am always on the look out for adorable accessories to monogram. Recently, I purchased this faux leather scallop purse for Sew For Less . The monogram font I used is Fish Tail by Herrington Design . I do like it but there is not a closure for the top of the bag, no magnet clasp or zipper. So what do you do, create an organizer with a zipper closure. You can do this with any purse, first measure the outside of the purse. Measure the height, width, depth of the purse. Use those measurements for the pieces for your organizer. When you sew them together using a 1/2" seam allowance, this creates a smaller bag that will fit inside the bag comfortably. The organizer will be 1" smaller in height, width and depth. Usually, I do not add a zipper but knowing that I needed a closure for this tote I added it to the top of the organizer. Elastic along the top of the slip pockets help keep the contents inside pockets, along the sides of the bag so I can use the bottom for larger item

I have been on the look out for a wallet that can hold my iPhone. I love to carry a large bag but it is a hassle to carry it all of the time, I want a small wallet that can hold my cards and phone. I just found the Sawyer Wristlet  at SewForLess.com . They are priced under $12 and make great gifts. I did find out the hard way that it is easier to embroider the wristlet after you open the wallet up. Here is a short video of my machine at work. Also the monogram or embroidery needs to be small but this is a small accessory so it looks fine. Wow, it fits my phone with a phone case on it! Woohoo!

Have you ever seen something and wish you had the sewing pattern for? This happens to me a lot, especially looking at Pinterest and other websites. As I was looking around I saw this.... Honestly, I did not know where the ruffle collar shirt came from or who had designed the tunic. It was a picture I had found on Pinterest that did not have a link, I researched the image and found a boutique that sold the ruffle tunic called Devon Baer . These are beautiful tunics in bright gorgeous colors, ready for a day at the beach or on a boat. I loved looking at Devon Haire's designs and her online Boutique. It looks like she started at Etsy and expanded to her own shop. Next, I started to look for a similar sewing patterns. I wanted to make my own ruffle collar shirt. Of course the pattern was not available. So what did I do next? I looked through all of my sewing books and found  Built by Wendy Dress  book. This book has  3 style of dresses; the sheath dress, shift dress and dirnd