I have joined Sew for 30 for September!

Sewist-extraodinaire Star's Threads suggested the 'Sew for 30' challenge for September. I have joined this challenge as well. As per her blog post:

'September is National Sewing Month in the United States.  We all lead very busy lives and finding time to do the hobby we love can be difficult so I'd like to encourage everyone to "Sew for 30 minutes" everyday during the month of September.   It's amazing what you can get done in little increments of time!  A seam here, a press there and before you know it - you have a brand new little something!'

So for this challenge I will try to sew for 30 minutes every day during the month of Sept. I have missed some days already but I'm not going to worry about it. We are going to be extremely busy this Autumn with home renovations, helping some elderly relatives move homes and the usual hustle and bustle with children. I'm going to try my best to get some sewing time each day to relieve the stress.

For past couple of weeks, I was able to sew some simple projects:

1. Girl applique t-shirt - My daughter wanted to have her t-shirt applique'd with her age for the school's photo day. So I used remnant fleece to make a number and sewed that onto her chosen t-shirt:

2. Boy applique t-shirt - my son also wanted the same thing done to his t-shirt for photo day:

3. Hello Kitty pencil bag - my daughter wanted a new Hello Kitty pencil bag for the new school year. So I just used remnant fabric and a thrifted zipper, traced the kitty shape and 'embroidered' the shape onto the bag. I also embroidered her initials at the back of the bag. Way to bust some fabric/notion stash!

4. Sweater knit skirt refashioned - I say refashioned - well it's really just adding a side slit to  the skirt. I like the glittery wool sweater skirt. However, it's not too comfortable to walk in (as I like to speed walk/march). So I decided to just carefully take out the yarn on the side seam up to just above the knee and voila! Much more practical skirt for me to wear this autumn/winter.

I'm pretty happy with the little projects I have completed so far. Hopefully I'll be just as productive for the rest of September!

Refashion: Lounge singer glittery dress to Lounge singer glittery top?

I have been sewing but just didn't have time to post anything yet.  My last post was about this silver glittery knit 'lounge singer dress'.

Sarah Liz and Jenny O kindly suggested that I refashion it into a top. I did just that and here is the result:

It's okay. I don't love it. Perhaps it will look better under a jacket or something. It says 'lounge singer top' to me. It may look better with flowy black pants and heels and some accessories but it will still look a bit like 'mother of the bride' outfit to me. I don't know. I guess I can always donate it. What do you think?

I have plans for the bottom of the dress that I had cut off. I'll make a glittery skirt for my daughter. I know she will like that.

I suppose with refashioning, you win some and lose some! ;-)

Back to School = Back to Sewing!!! Vote Keep/Refashion/Donate

August turned out to be a very very busy month with the kids and the family. I only sewed ONE THING and it turned out to be a fail that needs fixing. Boooo! Anyway, now that the kids are back in school, I have a little breathing room for myself to sew again! Yay!

This month will be a busy month for sewing because there are a number of things that I MUST SEW for my kids. My daughter wants a new pencil case, the kids want t-shirts with their age applique on them for photo day, hubby wants me to alter his shirt, I have tonnes of things of my own that needs altering, etc. Not exactly the most fun or creative month for sewing but probably very productive.

I'm also cleaning out the different piles of 'things' on the floor of my sewing nook. I couldn't find my swimsuit fabric so I didn't make a new swimsuit as I had planned a month ago. I say 'pile of things' because there seems to be scrap fabrics mixed with made garments that require fixing/refashioning in the same pile.

First up, this sparkle knit cowl neck dress that I made years ago from a New Look Pattern. I thought I had donated it already! It fits fine except the cowl doesn't seem to drape right so I just wear it off 1 shoulder slightly. I don't have any fancy places to go so I don't know what I should do with it. What do you think: 1) keep as it; 2) refashion it to something else; or 3) donate it to a charity shop?