Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Asymmetrical Chain Clutch and DIY Countdown



I have 1 week left of maternity leave and I plan to crank out the DIYs because I know time will become much more limited (and will be spent doting upon the children) when I return to work.

For this project, inspiration struck me whilst trying to get Baby E back to sleep at 4am.  How about a clutch with a decorative chain + button closure?  I drafted it up in my imagination and thought about it extra hard (*click* goes the camera for the mental picture - sorry, I sometimes just have to go for the cheese factor) so that it would stick in my mind when I got some DIY time.

My original vision was to use heavy, striped or chevron fabric in a white / blue combination, but I was scared of ruining expensive fabric, so decided to do a trial run with some old, leftover material.

DIY Asymmetrical Chain Clutch
Looking at this now, I should probably iron the flap to make the angles more crisp.

I was floundering when making this because I wasn't sure how to give this bag structure.  I wound up stuffing 2 pieces of felt between the lining and exterior.  This worked fine, but upon researching how real DIY bags are made, I found there is a special kind of interfacing that can be used instead.  Good thing this is a practice run!

Other projects I just finished (so many inspirations lately!):
Bejeweled Collar

Knotted Rope Bracelet

DIY Tribal Necklace (worn here)
Made from dissecting an old necklace, eyepinning the beads and arranging the geometric shape

DIY Crocheted Crescent Necklace in Yellow (video tutorial here)

I also have a structured sleeve dress, Kate Spade Jillian-esque dress, and chevron skirt in the works for future posts.  Busy sewing bee over here.  :)

How would you feel if I offered up practice DIY items for giveaway?  I sometimes wind up swimming in finished projects with too many to actually use.  But I don't want you to think I'm trying to foist things upon you.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

2 DIY Sheath Dresses: Lace & Paisley

I've been on a dresses and skirts kick lately.  I used McCall's M5972 as the basis for both dresses and changed just a few things on each.

The yellow lace sheath features little gathered pleats on the skirt while the blue paisley features 2 large pleats + little sleeves.

DIY Yellow Lace Sheath (lined)
DIY Blue Paisley Sheath

 Pleating details on each:
Gathers

Deep pleats on either side of torso
It's a shame that the blue paisley pattern gets lost when viewed from a distance.  I think it's so pretty!

I wanted to try sleeves for something different on the paisley, but I'm not loving this look.  I'm currently debating adding structured sleeves (like Wendy's here) or making it sleeveless.

What do you think?  Different sleeves or no sleeves on the blue dress?

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