Sew and Tell: Front Fold Over Flap Jumpsuit

I love that it's finally getting warm outside on a consistent basis! I have been wearing this fold over flap jumpsuit a lot more often. 

I made this jumpsuit from scratch from knit fabric on clearance from my favorite fabric store in the Bronx, Save-a-Thon. 

I posted a picture of this on Instagram not too long ago and some of my followers wanted to know how I made the fold over flap. It's really not rocket science, so I made a simple drawing to show you. A very simple drawing, since I don't draw very well. 

 I made pants the regular way except that I made the top wider than usual so I would have enough fabric to fold. 

I folded one side and then folded the other over it and stitched. 

I also ruched the bottom part of the pants using the pattern from Pattern Magic 3. You can see those pants in this October post from last year. 

I really like it but the next time I make it, if I do, I will make it less baggy. 

So what do you think of the fold over design? Too out there? Let me know. I love feedback! 

Tuesday Tutorial: Wet Dog Hood to Black Bear Hood, Replacing a Fur Hood

Here's a simple tutorial on how I went from wet dog hood to furry black bear hood. I am just kidding, this is all fake fur, no animals were killed in the making of this tutorial!  

I sported this wet dog hood all of last year, since my hubby put it in the dryer after a wash. It used to be nice and fluffy but after the dryer washing, not so much. It wasn't a big deal last year because I was wearing hats, but this year, I have been employing my hood for warmth to avoid hat hair and well, it was quite embarrassing.  

I sewed the edge of the hood on my sewing machine before cutting it off. That way, the stuffing would be somewhat contained. 

Wet dog fur off! 

I then cut the excess stuffing so it wouldn't get in the way of sewing. 

This is how it looked at this point. 

I found this cute little fake fur scarf in the 99 cents store. 

I measured and cut off the excess

Much better!

I then sewed the edge of the "black bear" scarf to the edge of the hood. Sorry for the cluttered photo. I was also listening to my iPod and on the computer while I sewed. Yes, I multi-task.

Bye bye, "wet dog" hood! Don't get me wrong, wet dogs are okay, just not on my hood! lol. 

Hello foxy mama! Or should I say black bear mama. I love the way it came out and am no longer embarrassed to wear my hood! 

Tuesday Tutorial: Infinity Scarf from Sweater

Curl shrinkage is real people!

I usually cut my hair during the winter. I don't really notice the "shortness" of it because my hair shrinks about 4 inches when it's curly. When I do the winter cut, I simply flat iron it straight and I have long hair again. But this year is different. I want my hair to be long and curly by the time the summer rolls around so I need to keep the scissors at bay. The problem with that is that I won't have the option of winter straight hair because by now it has lost it's shape and looks too long and lifeless. So winter curly hair it is.  

I apologize for the blurry iPhone pic. 

I decided I needed a thick scarf that would cover my ears since hats tend to flatten my curly hair. If I need more warmth,  I also have my hood as a back up. Here is a tutorial on how to make a thick infinity scarf from a sweater. 

  I started with a large sweater

 I cut the arms off

 I opened them up

 I cut the body in half

 Then I cut the top of each half like so.

 I opened up each torso half and lined them up bottom to bottom.

 I stitched them, right sides together.

 I then added the opened sleeves on the bottom and sewed.

 Then I cut the inside of the sleeves to make it even with the sides it was sewn to.

 Fold in half and sew along the edge of the top making a tube.

 With right sides together, sew the ends to make a round tube.

I had my hair straight in the left photo, thus the hat. The scarf is wide enough to cover my ears and I can even put it over my head in case it gets super cold, like it did a couple of weeks ago.

 I really love it.

What do you think? How do you keep warm in the winter? Hat? Hood? Thick scarf?

Tutorial Tuesday: Lace/Mesh Top Inspired by "Jasmine" from Parenthood

I started watching Parenthood when my son's former ABA therapist told me that, on the show, a young actor plays a boy with autism. Of course, I couldn't resist wondering how the show would portray an autistic kid since, hello, this is my life! Anyway, the show is amazing and they have done a wonderful job. Since watching the show, I have also become equally smitten by all the cute tops and dresses worn by the actors, particularly, "Jasmine" played by Joy Bryant.

I absolutely loved this Helmet Lang top she wore this past season and thought that maybe I could emulate it by using a reverse applique technique (sewing material on top of sweater and then cutting underneath). I also decided to use lace, which I have a lot of, instead of the mesh-like material from the original top.  

What I liked most about the top were the long strips on the side going across the bodice and the arms. I then had to be lead by the sweater I bought; there were some stains I had not noticed and needed to cover those. That's what I get for buying a $1.00 sweater.

Materials:

-Sweater
-lace or mesh material
-scissors
-thread
-sewing machine (you can hand sew but I have not tried it this way)

Here's the sweater I bought for this project. I wanted a lighter grey like "Jasmine's" but I couldn't find it in that color so I settled on this darker grey I found for a $1.00

It was a mens extra large so I re-sized it using a top that fits me well. I stitched the top of the sleeves and the sides.

 Now that's better.

I wasn't following "Jasmine's" top to the letter as I knew I wanted one of the lace pieces to go on top of my chest area. I love working with triangles so I chose that basic shape, placed it, pinned it, and then sewed it in place. 

 This is what it looks like when you turn it inside out.

Before cutting,  I grabbed the lace from underneath to make sure it didn't get caught when I started to cut the top part of the sweater.

 

 I always start by making a hole and then proceed to cut.

 Make sure to cut inside of the shape. Do not cut across the thread line.

More cutting

This is what it looks like when done cutting (from the inside out)

I used this technique on the arm and shoulder bands similar to "Jasmine's". Now I had to cover the stains on the bottom of the sweater. Do you see them?

 

I used another triangle piece to cover them, stitched in place,

turned it around, and cut the sweater part revealing the lace underneath.

Peek-a-boo, I think you can see my bellybutton.

Here's the long strip like "Jasmine's", although it doesn't cut across the bodice like her's. 

I like the way the arm lace band looks.

I made some lace cut outs in the back too. I sort of went a litle crazy with them. 

I think what I will do next time is,1.choose a sweater that does not have stains so that my design is not guided by the sweater and 2. cut the sweater apart at the seams, add the lace strips and then sew back together. It was difficult to maneuver the sweater, already assembled, through my sewing machine .  

All in all, I like the finished product and will definitely wear it out and about, especially when it gets warmer. 

What do you think? Do any of you watch Parenthood?