Vote for your favorite garment!

To begin, let me say that this was a difficult challenge for me in many ways.

• Firstly, this is the first challenge I've hosted by myself.  My partner in crime, Keren from sewlavie.com, was not able to help me out this time around.  We all missed you, Keren!  
• Secondly, we have a Kate, Katie, Kadie, and KT in this challenge!!!!  Enough said.  
• Thirdly, it went by way too fast!  Time flies when you're having fun, right?

Highlights of this challenge?

• I met over dozen new people!  Very cool and talented and fun people.  It has been a pleasure getting know each and every one of you.  
• I made some garments that I would actually wear from fabrics from my stash!  Yay!  
• I learned a new sewing technique: shirring.  It wasn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined.  

Here is a recap of the challenge guidelines:

• The theme of this challenge is to sew any garment that YOU will be proud enough to wear in public. 
• This is a sewing challenge so machine or hand sewing is a required element in your entry.
• You must make a new garment for this challenge.  
• Upcycling and refashioning of existing garments is acceptable and long as you follow the second guideline.
• Don't confuse garments with accessories like hats, scarves, belts, etc.
• You must try something new when creating your garment. 

Something new I'm trying for this challenge is to allow you to vote for 3 entries per day.  The order of the entries in the poll is randomized so don't tell your friends to votes for the "third entry".  Be sure to scroll down below this poll and you'll find links to all the entries.

1. Adele refashioned an XL t-shirt into a cute halter top.  I agree with her assessment of the garment, "it's mint"!!!!  Visit Adele's blog and learn more about her refashion HERE.
2. Katie made this cute tank in a flattering shade of blue/teal.  She altered the pattern and added another layer make it a bit longer.  The result is a perfectly finished top with a flirty flair.  Visit Katie's blog and learn about how she met her challenge HERE.
3. June is rocking this pretty frock!  She made this dress with a fun summer print in my favorite color--green!  It looks great with belt and boots, but I imagine it looks good beltless and paired with sandals as well.  Visit June's recently revamped blog and read about her dress HERE.
4. Lee made a few "practice" dresses that I thought were super cute before she came up with this very pretty outfit.  She paired a lovely floral top with a pleated teal skirt.  Visit Lee's blog and learn about fashion journey HERE.
5. Kristin made her first ever garment!  Congrats on making something lovely for yourself!  Visit Kristin's blog and learn more about her top HERE.
6. Kate made this lovely lined chiffon skirt in an hour!  It's even lined!  Visit Kate's blog and read about her entry HERE.
7. Donatella created a wonderful wrap dress and versatile scarf out of a fabulous silk floral.  She looks great in it with her cool pink heels.  Visit Donatella's blog and see how she designed her entry HERE.
8. Lucija has made a lovely skirt.  I bet it flows beautifully as she walks.  Visit Lucija's blog and learn more about her skirt HERE.
9. Mah Lub created this stylish green pencil skirt with a poplin detail.  She really took the "wear it in public" part of the challenge to heart and actually wore it on television!  Learn about her cool skirt HERE.
10. Kei's shirred top was inspired by a top she has hanging in her closet.  She drafted the pattern herself--no easy feat!  She learned the proper way to apply shirring and the result is lovely and really suit her.  Visit Kei's blog and learn about how she constructed her top HERE.
11. KT was inspired by dress she tried on at Target.  She came up with this cute polka dotted dress and wore it to her college graduation.  Congrats on the dress and degree!  Visit Kt's blog and read about her submission HERE.
12. Melody really got into the spirit of this challenge and made a whole outfit.  It's nearly winter where she lives so she made a cozy tunic dress and paired it with sexy lace leggings.  Visit Melody's new blog and learn about her submission HERE.
13. Lana was a last minute entry to our challenge, but we're so pleased she shared her precious Mad Men-inspired dress.  The cutout is very sweet, isn't it?  Visit Lana's blog and read about how she made this dress HERE.
14. Steph took on a whopper of a challenge and ended up with a great new swimsuit.  She had to remake the bottoms a few times--but the resulting finish is superb.  What determination!  Visit Stephanie's blog and learn about her entry HERE.
15. Rikka (that's me!) tried shirring for the first time.  You can read about my dress HERE.
16. Lakshmi made this classy BurdaStyle coat from cotton and lined it in velvet!  The buttons are wood painted silver--clever girl!!!  Visit Lakshmi's blog and read about her challenge submission HERE.
17. Melanie looks terrific in this maxi dress.  It really suits her, doesn't it?  She worked with knits--always a challenge--and finished with style!  Visit Melanie's blog learn about her garment HERE.
18. Mia Jonique didn't have much experience sewing, but that didn't stop her from entering a garment sewing challenge.  She refashion a t-shirt into a nice summer top with a pretty butterfly detail.  Visit Mia Jonique's blog and learn about sewing adventure HERE.
19. Kadie confessed early on that she cut her fabric wrong.  We all have been there--it's so frustrating!  But our Kadie didn't give up, she worked with what she had and finished with style!  You'd never know any mistake was made looking at her finished dress.  Visit Kadie's blog and learn about her dress HERE.
20. Pam has made herself a cool pair of zumba pants.  She's an accomplished seamstress so I imagine it took her a while to find something "new" to challenge herself with .  Visit's Pam's blog and learn about her challenge submission HERE.

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<div align="center"><a href="http://ricochetandaway.blogspot.com/2012/06/vote-for-your-favorite-garment.html" title="Pick your top 3 entries!" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWxNIuBPQMt4jPDXjvQmOa6eYF2YwfjVjDphNFPtng-Z_8k62sNcUnyONrkN04rwIkmgo6JWVi4_GhefiMujQsfOdvHrfU6fZmPD8x6FZq57otjzoOY_vFmMz61XOYgh77MzwViwDQQE/s1600/garment+voter.png" alt="Pick your top 3 entries!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

sneak peak

voting soon....

Just so you know, the participants have until midnight Honolulu time, May 31st, to submit their final entries.  The photos shown may not reflect what the final entries will be.  I can only take credit for the photo of myself, 2nd row, right collumn.  Another post will come up in 2-3 days including photo credits and links to all the designers.  I just wanted to get you excited about the upcoming poll.

Hugs!

DIY paternless maxi dress

Recently I presented myself and my internet friends with a challenge.  I challenged us to sew a garment that we would be proud to wear in public.  I wanted this to be a challenge for all sewing levels so I made the stipulation that the participants needed to "try something new".  

Well, I met the challenge when I created my circle top.  But I didn't really push myself to try something new or learn a new skill.  Sewing a garment from virtually no pattern and working with a strong print were new things, but not super challenging.  So, I made another garment!  I made a maxi dress, or you might call it a long sun dress.  What do you think?

The 3 new things I tried with this dress were:

1.  Making a dress with no pattern at all!

2.  Shirring!

3.  Using "Fray Check"!

I started with a couple yards of a gauzy, crinkly, cotton floral that faded from turquoise to brown.  I don't have a dress form, so I just wrapped the fabric around myself to find an acceptable width.  I wrapped it loosely enough so I knew I had plenty of ease on my hips and around my ankles for walking.  I gave myself an extra 4 inches of overlap--just to be on the safe side--and cut into my fabric.  

I folded over the top edge twice and hemmed it.  Then I began shirring.  I shirred about 5 rows along the top edge.  I wrapped the dress around me (the dress form!) and tested the fit.  Surprisingly, it stretched all the way around me and didn't look too bad.  While I had the "dress" wrapped around me, I pinned a safety pin right under my bra line.  (One thing I hate about buying maxi dresses off the rack is that my chest is always too big for them.)  Then I made around 5 more rows or shirring under that mark.  Here's a nifty diagram I made to illustrate my point:

After all the hemming and shirring, my dress was looking a little short.  I decided to add a 4 inch border along the bottom hem.  I started with a 9 inch wide strip of brown cotton that was ling enough to go all the way around the bottom of the dress.  I ironed and sewed it to the dress sort of like this:

The brown band added some weight to the bottom of the dress, both visually and functionally.  I liked it!  Using my own body as a dress form and a quilter's supply of safety pins, I pinned the dress closed and sewed up the side.  I left the bottom of this seam open about 14 inches.  I folded the edge over twice and stitched up the raw edges, creating a slit.  Now, I can cross my legs or climb up the bleachers at the ballpark without needing to hike my dress very much.  The sides of the slit are a little wonky and wavy, but I'm not sweating it.  For future reference, I'll have to remember to reinforce those edges so they'll lay nice and flat.

At this point I knew I needed straps.  Hello, this girl needs to wear a bra and those strapless ones are no good for me.  But I put this idea aside because I had a fit problem.  With the shirring placed where it was, the front looked great.  However, the back area between the shirring was loose and baggy having nothing to fill it.  So I tightened it up with several more rows of shirring just in the back.  Awwww, shirring is good!!!

So with that problem fixed, I moved on to the straps.  I made the straps pretty much like I made the brown band, only smaller.  I gathered a 1.5 inch strip of fabric and stitched it into the straps.  If you'll forgive the inaccuracy of my diagram, the straps and ruffles are made from the same floral fabric, you'll see what I mean here:

I constructed the straps, donned the dress once more, safety pinned the straps to the dress, and then stitched them together.  Easy, right?  No I forgot to mention the easiest part:  I didn't finish the edges of my ruffles on the straps.  Instead, I used a product called Fray Check.  I just dabbed a small amount of the liquid on the raw edges, allowed it to dry, and no more fraying!  The edges are stiff, almost as if I used a clear nail polish on them, but the finish is matte and fabric is still flexible.  I've washed it once, and it's still intact.  Neat stuff!

The last step was to make a sash out of the brown to tie around the empire waistline of the dress.  It was an addition suggested by my 5 year old daughter.  A good call, I'd say.  I tried tying it in the front as well, but prefer it tied in the back sans the bow.

So there you have it!  If I can do it, so can you!

Here are the shirring tutorials I used:

http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2010/02/shirring-tutorial.html

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/11/sewing-tip-shirringsmocking-with-elastic-thread.html

I have a Singer HD4423 with a drop in bobbin.  I wound the elastic thread by hand.  I set my tension to 3.  I had no problem whatsoever.  Easy-peasy, I swear!

Happy crafting and big hugs from Montana,

I Will Wear it in Public Challenge Completed!

First of all, if you have heard about May's garment sewing challenge, you can read all about it here:

So here it is!  I've completed the sewing challenge and am moderately pleased with my results.  I wore the top to pick up my kids from school.  I talked to a couple moms and some teachers, but really won't have a chance to wear it "out" until Mr. Ricochet plans our next date night.  

To refresh your memories about the previous post I made about this project, I began with this large piece of printed, flowy, silk-like fabric:

Then I thought this "circle top" would be the perfect pattern for this wild print.  Here's a pic and link to the easy-peasy tutorial:

[Sweet Lemonyde's cool tutorial]

I wanted to have the center of the print (the bulls-eye if you will) to be centered on my chest.  With a bit of finagling, I managed to find out where to fold the fabric in order for the print to land in the right spot.  Then to my dismay, I discovered that the back of the shirt wouldn't have enough fabric to match the length in the front.  I solved this by taking a strip of fabric from the front and adding it to the back.  Then, I folded the fabric into quarters and cut off a rounded corner to create an overall oval, or more exactly a lozenge shaped piece.  You can see how I added the stripe of fabric and how I made the cut here:

The sewing entailed hemming the entire perimeter of the lozenge.  I folded and pressed the edge over twice hiding the raw edges.  Then I sewed two neat rows of stitching all the way around (yellow line in pic below).  I cut out a v-shaped neck line and trimmed it with black bias tape (blue lines).  Then I sewed up the sides (pink lines).

I thought I was done, but he neckline would not lay flat.  This was because I didn't "ease" the bias tape as I sewed it on.  To fix this I simply added some well-placed tucks/pleats into the neckline.  You can see in the photo below that this caused a little pucker in the fabric:

Another unanticipated result of this neckline construction was that the neck hole was so large that it fell off my shoulders.  To remedy this problem, I added a strap connecting the sides as you can see here:

Eventually I got it done and I'm variably happy with how it turned out.  

I've decided I like it a bit more when it's tucked into jeans:

Because of windy and rainy weather I had to shoot inside using the timer on my camera.  The photos didn't turn out great and I had to edit them a great deal to take down the bright glare from the windows.  Pippa, my faithful canine companion, acted as my assistant.  We've had her for around 4 months now and she is such a joyful addition to our family.  She's a cocker spaniel and poodle mix (cockapoo) and we rescued her from the local animal shelter.  

Not to mention how stinking cute she is!  She just got back from the groomers and is sporting a pretty bow in her hair.  I think she matches my outfit perfectly!

All in all, I think this project was successful and I ended up with a wearable garment.  While I like the bold print and how I employed it, I'm a little disappointed in the fit.  It's very comfortable and I'm known for wearing bold prints, but I think over-sized billowy tops look better on thinner gals while curvy gals like myself end up looking bigger than they actually are.  I think I can tweak the garment to make it compliment my figure a bit more and look less like a muumuu.

[source]
example of a muumuu

I'm considering taking it in a just a smidge on the sides and shortening the "sleeves" so they end above my elbow.  What do you think?  Leave it or make some adjustments?

Stay tuned for the voting portion of the garment sewing challenge coming up in the beginning of June.

Happy crafting and big hugs from Montana,

Motherhood Rocks!

Yesterday was Mother's Day in the US.  I got my b'fast in bed, wonderful handmade cards and gifts, and a lovely BBQ dinner.  While I was reading cards from my 5 & 7 year olds, I remembered a time when they were little enough to rock to sleep.  That time is long gone, but they will always be my sweet babies.

Hugs to all you moms out there!

Typography Challenge Winners!

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like ages ago that we were working on completing our typography challenge entries.  You see, it was way back in mid February when Keren (sew la vie!) and I started recruiting participants, the challenge ran through March, and then we voted all through April.  And now I bet you're super curious about who captured the most votes.  Well, don't scroll down yet!  I consider that cheating.

A brief challenge history:

First we had the Retro Pillow Challenge, then the Solids-Only Tote Challenge, then the Naughty Notions Challenge, and now we finally bringing the Typography Challenge to a close.  Next up for May 2012 is the "I Will Wear it in Public!" Garment Sewing Challenge.

About voting:

Keren and I use Polldaddy.com to create a poll for each challenge.  The poll lasts for one month.  The 3 entries with the most votes are hailed as challenge winners and receive super-neato badges and bragging rights.  Anyone can vote once per day.  In the spirit of good sportsmanship, we only ask that no one offer anything in exchange for votes.

To all the challenge participants:

Thanks so much for all your hard work.  Not only did you strive to follow the challenge guidelines and submit your creative entries before the deadline, you worked hard to promote the challenge as well.  Thank you so much!  Let's take one more look at the wonderful entries:

1. Ampersand wall art by Cameron at Homemade
2. Citrisolv image transfer dishtowels by Jenni at Who Makes Up This Craft?
3. Create appliqued and quilted pillow by Laura at Quokka Quilts
4. Fabric letter and number sets by Pam from Threading My Way

5.  Vinyl sticker cuckoo clock by Donatella from Inspiration&Realisation
6.  P.S. I Love You bag by Tanya from Carft Couture by TC

7.  Lacey used applique, stamps and fabric paint to make these napkins.
8.  Applique pillow by Nadia from The Pink Pixie
9.  Embroidered pillow by Keren from sew la vie (challenge hostess)
10.  Table linen set crafted by Paula from Paula Castro Crafts

11.  Reverse applique Molly pillow by Jaime from That's My Letter
12.  Home Sweet Home wall art by Kei from Unfortunately Oh!
13.  Mr. & Mrs. pillows by Rikka from Ricochet and Away!  (challenge hostess)
14.  Typography Challenge Hompage.

And now (cue drum roll) for the winners of the 2012 Typography Challenge:

Gold Star Badge goes to Paula from Paula Castro Crafts for her typographical table linens!

<div align="center"><a href="http://ricochetandaway.blogspot.com/2012/02/typography-challenge-headquarters.html" title="First Place Typography Challenge!"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRVmA2B-SScSVWEBVt3HvTzqbmDEkVWniFj8fmlX0CarYAwzIxsXjsJ-iPwBIn1ckEQALSaOKAj-6dLDf217e8TgqCy9XPLDTAT8awswf6_p4-iXy-TTOBqIm1RsWA_mF96b7e-dYMVBY/s1600/typography+button+gold+star.jpg" alt="First Place Typography Challenge!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Silver Star Badge goes to Donatella from Inspiration&realisation for her vinyl cuckoo clock!

<div align="center"><a href="http://ricochetandaway.blogspot.com/2012/02/typography-challenge-headquarters.html" title="Second Place Typography Challenge" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGQuUcBeAUr_V7P2ut_iowzXemUF4xt9urYdeuIGPnZh1X8V_7b5CaGnpqj6_QqEhla37exMhF5Dh-CryTsuBBSVVuer9QTQG3wVUVnBE0qdLVfGy-1OloNPFJnseKng1B9-wvstaszs/s1600/typography+button+silver+star.jpg" alt="Second Place Typography Challenge" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

There was a tie for third place!  One Bronze Star Badge goes to Laura from Quokka Quilts for her "Create" pillow!

<div align="center"><a href="http://ricochetandaway.blogspot.com/2012/02/typography-challenge-headquarters.html" title="Third Place Typography Challenge!"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDnnjNVUp8D9wpTPCDp2cvURYGM5hR-6qLAH9frZpcPFr5kHFcquzTYu6ZxbQ-oQj7ChuCOUS6Dayam7klkJkYXHHzmcmzhU57BwhIIk2Sx6QDSlI2krVc6g0-O-SgyZnxZMkog8kWzI/s1600/typography+button+bronze+star.jpg" alt="Third Place Typography Challenge!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

The second Bronze Star Badge goes to Pam from Threading My Way for her fabric letter and number sets!

<div align="center"><a href="http://ricochetandaway.blogspot.com/2012/02/typography-challenge-headquarters.html" title="Third Place Typography Challenge!"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDnnjNVUp8D9wpTPCDp2cvURYGM5hR-6qLAH9frZpcPFr5kHFcquzTYu6ZxbQ-oQj7ChuCOUS6Dayam7klkJkYXHHzmcmzhU57BwhIIk2Sx6QDSlI2krVc6g0-O-SgyZnxZMkog8kWzI/s1600/typography+button+bronze+star.jpg" alt="Third Place Typography Challenge!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>


Excellent work ladies!  Wear your badges with pride and start bragging!  Congratulations!!!!!

Don't forget about our May 2012 challenge!  Sign up now.  Entries are due May 31st.

Happy crafting and big hugs from Montana,