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Easy Apron – How to make a Fast and Free hostess gift!

May 24, 2012 by robiedodson

I realized LAST SUNDAY that TODAY was the last day of school for ALL of my kids.  WHAT IN THE WORLD!?!?  How did this happen???

Somehow in the next few days, I had to come up with 6 Thank You gifts for my kids’ teachers.  And not only that – this week is the last week of our pay period … translation: I need these gifts to be FREE.  But how in the world do I adequately say thank you for 9 months of loving and teaching my children …. for free???

Put on my thinking cap and think. think. think.

I opened up my scrap fabric drawer for some inspiration….

And I came up with this … a reversible scrap fabric apron. And I must admit, I LOVE them!

I kind of feel bad for showing off my mennequin’s posterior, but if mine looked like that I’d show mine off too. Anyway, I love how the reversible part peeks through in the back! This particular version is made from a fabric remnant my husband brought me back from Africa. The houndstooth fabric is just remnants from prior projects.

I made three of these in an hour – how awesome is that!?  Here’s how you can too:

You’ll need to remnant pieces that you can cut to approximately 30″ x 12″. (That is just what I decided to do. You can make yours as wide and as long as you want. This size will make you what I call a “carpenter’s” length apron – just above mid thigh.) I cut mine out with right sides together so that I can go straight to the machine without turning the fabric. Just pick it up and sew. Also, I chose to round the bottom edges. Purely a matter of opinion.

For this particular apron, I wanted to add rick rack (and who cares that I didn’t have quite enough – I just started down a little lower…it’s MY apron!). So, I just sewed the rick rack to the rightside edge of one apron panel. Then I placed that panel on top of the other panel with right sides facing. I sewed along the rick rack stitch line to attach the two panels together. This way you can be sure that the rick rack appears as it should.

Turn your apron section right side out and press. Lovely! Sigh, take in the sights, so pretty!!!

Now to attach the tie/band … cut a long strip of fabric about 6″ in width and as long as you like. This one wrapped all the way around and tied in front. Others can just tie in back, whatever you want and have enough fabric for. Then press the center, and then press in about 1/2″ on each side.

Making sure to match up the centers of the apron panel and the apron tie – begin pinning the panel to the inside seam allowance like shown.

Then fold over the tie/band and pin in place as well. I stitch the apron panel and band together first, then stitch the rest of the tie … if you start at the tip of the tie and sew all the way down to the other tip, your band will have a tendency to shift, so sewing the panel and band first helps to avoid that. But it’s your apron – do what you want!

Okay hot mamma, you’re almost done!!! Try the apron on for size and mark where you’d like to trim your tie (assuming that you want to trim it!)

Now all you have to do is tuck in your edges on both sides and sew ‘em up. YOU’RE DONE!!!

Don’t just stand there… admire yourself and the mirror … this is one awesomely easy apron!

And so is this one! Wait…what? They’re the same thing??? How amazing are you!?!

Here’s another combo I whipped up.

EXTRA EXTRA: if you end up cutting a fair amount off the tie, just turn it into a headband. Bam. You’re killin’ it!

So, I feel as if you don’t really need the “breakdown” because I’ve been pretty clear…but here it is anyway:

TIME:  I finished 3 in one hour, so 20 minutes.  ***That means that you’ll have to cut them out at the same time though.

COST: FREE if you use scraps like I did!  Not more than about $3-$5 if you purchase fabric.

Okay, now don’t just stand there…go make some and give them away!!!

 

Posted in DIY, For Home, Scraps, TUTORIALS, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

How to Embellish Bobby Pins … hilariously easy…and cheap gift idea.

May 16, 2012 by robiedodson

This project is exactly a sewing project …but I’m hoping you won’t mind – it does include some buttons, so that counts for something, right???

My middle daughter Ellie, who’s 5 years old, is quite a crafting officianado.  She is always looking for something to make, draw, bake, sew, you name it.  So the other day, while Rosamund was sleeping and the boys were totally disinterested otherwise occupied, Ellie and I sat down to make some BOBBIES! These are all over the hand-made scene, and some can be super expensive.  Ours, however, were NOT expensive … but you shouldn’t be too surprised by that. =)

Here is what we made in about 15 minutes – and for $8. (Sadly for us, nothing was on sale when we purchased these supplies … so realistically, you could make all this for $4 if you get the pieces at half off.)

I keep these supplies on hand because I like to send them to my Parsimony customers who’s dresses get delayed.  Of course, that almost never happens (cough cough)!  They’re really fun to receive so it’s super nice that they’re so easy.  You can ask the Austin Craft Crowd folks, and they’ll concur – easy breasy fleezy!

You’ll need flat topped bobby pins and items to glue on. At our Hobby Lobby, the bobby pins are $3 for about 12 or 16 pins. These flower dealies were $4 for 6 – you can find them in the scrapbooking section.

See the round disk that’s attached to the top of the bobby? These are SO much easier than trying to finagle something around/on top of a regular bobby pin. There’s only one store in Austin that sells these, so if you can’t find them in a store you can find tons on Etsy. Just search under supplies for bobby pins.

Since the disk makes the bobby pin fall on its side, I like to anchor my pins onto a piece of paper before gluing. This way everything stays upright and the embellishment goes on straight and clean. Plus, it gives them a nice spot to dry.

Yeah, so, this was a mommy-daughter project, but one of us was distracted. I won’t tell you who.

Now, just take your heated glue gun and dab a dollop of glue onto the center of your embellishment – or you can put the glue directly onto the bobby pin. Same results. Turn the embellishment over and push onto the disk. Let dry. Done. Bam. Bang. Finished. You’re awesome.

You’ll get something like this! Ellie refused to have her photo taken, but she did pretty well as photographer.

When we completed the six flowers, we broke out a button jar and glued buttons together then onto the bobby pins. I love these too!

So seriously y’all, don’t delay.  Go get these supplies and make these – then give them away!  Grown ups like them just as much as kiddos.  Just sayin’.  These are really fun to take to a woman who’s just had a baby – what an easy way to look cute without being clean!

Here’s the lowdown:

TIME: We made all 16 in about 15 minutes..and that includes figuring out our button combinations.

COST: in a word CHEAP!  We made 16 for $8 so that’s FIFTY CENTS a piece…. applause please.

Okay – please, if you make these, let me see your work – that makes me sooooo happy!

 

Posted in Craft Crowd, DIY, kids, TUTORIALS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Vogue Pattern 8684: a Drop-Waist pattern that you should make!

May 15, 2012 by robiedodson

On mother’s day, I had a sick child and a sick husband.  So I spend the morning cleaning the house, doing laundry, and cooking.  Dreamy, right!?!  WRONG!

It was also our 12th wedding anniversary, so Jonathan was working as hard as he could to get better by the evening.  We had a date planned, and he really hates missing out on babysitting.  Lucky me!

Soooo, while he napped in the afternoon, I have no shame in announcing that I put my children in front of the television so that I could enjoy some ME time.  Yes, this is also known as “sewing time” around the rest of the world.  Don’t worry, I’m sure the television program was completely educational and changed their life in a millions ways for the better.

I knew I only had about an hour or two, so I hurriedly shuffled through my pattern stash to see what I could come up with in time for our date.  I wanted a dress pattern, of course.  It had to be casual, fast and festive.  Also, in honor of my 95 year old Memaw passing away this week, I wanted to use a fun vintage-inspired floral print for the fabric.

I chose Very Easy Vogue 8684. I have been dreaming of that awesome drop-waist silhouette since I first saw it on the runways a few months ago.

As luck would have it, this was the only day ever in the history of me having children that they did NOT want to watch television!!!  Curses.  Why can’t I have one great day of bad mothering???  Anyhoo, I somehow managed to whip out the dress, and this was with a 6 year old standing on my fabric asking me questions every two minutes, and with a 5 year old pulling out all my fabric from my fabric armoire.  Happy Mother’s Day to me – I really WILL miss these days, right!?

I bought the pattern for the modernized drop-waist … but I love how just by using a vintagey floral, the dress transformed into a very vintage vogue!

I really love these easy breezy sleeves – can you see the slight gathering there? I also LOVE that the pattern calls for bias binding along the neckline instead of a neck facing. I loathe facings so I almost always make that substitution myself, so it’s nice to see it actually called-for in the instructions. I chose to use a bright binding so it will stand out. (PS: my husband commented on how much he liked the bias binding – SCORE! )

Here you can see the drop-waist … have I mentioned that about this pattern yet?! You can also see how simple the sleeve hem is – I just serged and sewed up a very narrow hem.

And here it is on a living, breathing person. Super simple and easy to wear. I wore it that night with some oxford shoes (Fitting for our anniversary because that’s my Maiden name!). I am wearing it again today with some two-toned shoes that are brown linen with blue toes. I also wore it part of the day with wellies. SOOOO fun!

So, now for the little “review” part of the post – How do I feel about this pattern?

I really LOVE it.  It’s super easy and fast.  It only takes just a little bit over 2 yards of fabric.  The look of the dress can easily be transformed by whichever fabric/print you choose.  In fact, I’m looking forward to making this again in a solid so that I can have a more modern representation.

NOTE: the dress has a 22″ zipper in the back.  Don’t let this scare you – you can do it!!  I would really recommend this pattern for someone who wants to up their skills with zippers because the rest of the construction is so easy.  You can really focus your attention on the zipper and not get worried about the rest of the dress.  GO FOR IT!

Here’s the lowdown:

TIME: This took me somewhere between 1 and 2 hours.  Since I had those lovely distractions, I can’t really say the true time frame.  I know I started at 3pm and was finished/wearing it by 5pm.  For those of you who are newer to sewing, I think you can really  make this dress in under 3 hours, including cutting out the pattern.  Let me know if you try it!

COST: This dress cost me…. $5.50!  I found the fabric for $1.50/yd at Walmart, and I needed about 2.5 yards.  Then I needed a zipper.  That’s it.  I had the thread on hand.  Oh, I suppose I should add $3.99 for the pattern that I got onsale at Joann’s.

This is me saying to you – MAKE THIS DRESS AND SEND ME A PHOTO!!! please, ma’ams.

Okay y’all – continuing my desire to be more generous in 2012 …. I will send everyone who sends me a photo of your own version of this pattern a set of embellished bobby pins!  (tutorial coming tomorrow!)

…(sorry, I have to have a cutoff date, so free bobby pin offer expires in one month – June 15th.  Send me your address along with your photo … I’ll compile the photos and do a blog post, how fun, right!?! )

Posted in DIY, dresses, Giveaway, patterns | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Dress Revolution – Round 2 – Ready for another CHEAP handmade dress?

May 5, 2012 by robiedodson

Many of you may remember that a few weeks ago – okay, many weeks ago – I posted my very first Dress Revolution campaign to help you paint your town Parsimony!  For Round 1, I featured two options of my strapless dresses for a mere $35!!!  Thanks to 47 of you, this was  a HUGE success, and I’m pretty excited about all the new towns people now wearing one of my Parsimony dresses – thank y’all sooooo much!

Well….. you may recall that I started this campaign to help raise money for a down payment for a new home.  I was able to use the proceeds from the 47 strapless dresses to ready my current home for selling …. and would you believe – after 10 days on the market, we have a CONTRACT PENDING!!!  Yikes!  Eek!  Freak Out! 

Sooooooo, you know what this means ……

TIME FOR ROUND 2 OF DRESS REVOLUTION!!

Love is a Colorblocked Dress $39
Shown here is version 1: outer bodice is one color, bodice lining and skirt front and back are color two.

Love is a Colorblocked Dress $39
Version 2: outer bodice and skirt back are color one, bodice lining and front skirt are color two. So, with this dress, when you wear it, the only visible color blocking is the skirt front.

100% cotton.  Fully lined bodice.  Soooo comfortable!

These dresses are super fun and super easy to wear – you can wear them a million different ways… Here’s how my gorgeous and super stylish friend Melissa Navarro wear hers:

Seriously – don’t you just LOVE how she added that striped button-up shirt underneath??!!!

This time around, I’m trying to make it much easier to order by creating ready-made listings in my shop.  If you click on the link and it says sold out, just contact me and I’ll create more listings.

Here’s the low-down:

Click here to purchase Version 1.

Click here to purchase Version 2.

In the notes to seller at check out, tell me the two colors you would like and your size.

done.

Now, please remember, I’m offering these dresses at a discount, and I’m super happy to do this.  Having said that, please note that I cannot allow changes or variations during the promotion. 

Okay, ladies – let’s DO THIS!

Also – remember my goal of Painting Your Town Parsimony … I’ll keep track of your referrals, so spread the word on FB, Twitter…heck, send out an email to all your friends … for every 10 dresses you are “responsible” for, you’ll get a free dress!  That includes your own purchases too!  Just be sure that your friends give you credit when ordering!

Alrighty … Let’s restart this REVOLUTION!!!!

Oh gosh, I almost forgot … since we’ll be moving out of our home soon, Lord willing, I’m going to put my shop on vacation in just a couple of weeks so that I have time to finish up all the orders before packing my machine for a while.  So, in other words, don’t delay!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

9 Minute $2 Skirt – I’m not even lieing! A tutorial just for you!

May 3, 2012 by robiedodson

What should you do when you have 9 minutes to kill …. think, think, think.

You could clean your bathroom.

You could clean out your refrigerator.

You could jog a mile.

OR —— YOU COULD MAKE A SKIRT JUST LIKE THIS!

I really really made this in less than 10 minutes!

If you got ten minutes to spare, read on for how to whip this up and have 30 seconds to spare.

Grab a skirt that comes close to the size you’re wanting and lay it on top of your fabric. Keep your fabric folded just like it comes. I knew I wanted the new skirt longer than the current one, so as you can see I left room at the bottom.

Then just cut out a rectangle-ish piece of fabric. You can see that I cut it a little longer at the top to accommodate the elastic casing, and again, I made it longer at the bottom. (yes, you can also see that I didn’t worry about making it a perfect rectangle. This is a summer skirt – it’s going to be flowy, relax a little!

Fold the fabric right sides together and align the selvedge edges. Serge or sew that edge. (the other edge is the fold so there’s no need to sew – score!)

Next, serge or narrow hem the top and bottom edges.

Your bottom edge is done, finished, bam! The top edge now needs an elastic casing, so fold over the top edge and press.

Sew all the way around the elastic casing, leave an opening at the side seam to insert your elastic.

Use the sample skirt to determine how long to make the elastic. I made the new skirt’s elastic slightly longer than the sample so Ellie can keep growing. (just squint if you’re having trouble seeing the blurry image!)

Using a safety pin, thread the elastic through the casing, then sew closed. Bam, your skirt is finished ….. AFTER you press down that side seam. Look at your clock – it should say approximately TEN MINUTES has passed!

The skirt you see here technically took 14 minutes – but that’s because I was taking photos along the way.  I wanted to see the “real” time so I made a second skirt for my other daughter using exactly the same process.  That time was 9 minutes!  I’m trying hard not to spit my Lacroix out of my nose because this is SO exciting!

This fabric makes me smile – I know they’re technically pears, but they make me think of lemonade!

Would you believe that each skirt cost me less than $2!?!? That’s cheaper than Savers people!

Now, yes, I know that this skirt is a total bare-bones skirt.  BUT WHO CARES!!!!????!!!!  If you pick out fabric that you love, you don’t need crazy ornate patterns, just let the fabric speak for its self!

Here’s the breakdown … and you seriously won’t believe this:

Time:  have I been stuttering?  In case you missed it, these skirts take 9 minutes!!!  (In the effort of full disclosure, I used a serger.  If you use a regular sewing machine, you might choose to do a double folded hem which will add about 2 minutes to the total.  Not bad if you ask me!)

Cost: Under $2!  I bought my fabric on sale for half price making it $3.50/yd.  The longest skirt was cut at 18″, making it $1.75 for fabric.  I had the elastic on hand, so I added just a quarter to the price since I didn’t use much.

These are awesome for a summer fun wardrobe that you don’t spend much on … you’ll be sooooo happy to let them get these all dirty and rotten because the expense and time burden are so super small.  Also, these are awesome for inexpensive but powerful birthday presents!

Lastly – you really really really can do this for a grown up too.  I am working on one for me as I type this – since my serger thread ran out, I thought I’d post the first two first.  Either way, it’s still a 9 minute skirt!

Go grab nine minutes, half a yard of fabric – and have fun!!!

Oh, and by the way – I’m certainly NOT the first person to create a fast skirt … for more ideas on making quick skirts (and a million other things, check out my friends over at All Free Sewing … every tutorial is free and easy!  I love this website!)

 

Posted in DIY, kids, TUTORIALS, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

One More One Shoulder …

April 19, 2012 by robiedodson

Well, I suppose it’s better late than never.  Although, I’m not sure I’ve ever experiences the opposite, so I can’t say from a well-rounded position.

Anyway, I digress.

I was asked a while back to create a one-shoulder dress that would be fun for a bridesmaid’s dress.  Well, that’s pretty much ANY one-should dress in my book … but alas, I decided to create one from seersucker.  Why?  Because I love it…and, to be more specific, I had enough in my stash to make it.  =)

I decided to mimic my Seersucker Sailor dress except add a sleeve so that bridesmaids wouldn't have to keep pulling up their dresses during the ceremony, and it's a maxi dress. My camera's battery died right after taking this photo, so right now this is the best I got. Gee - I wonder why I've never auditioned for Top Model!?! (this is a joke people. don't send me a list of reasons!)

I like it okay.  It’s still growing on me.  I don’t love the kimono feel to it, but I don’t hate that either.  I think I need to play around with belt options … and maybe make it slightly fuller.  What do you think???  Ideas???  I’m also thinking of making another version as a drop-waist dress with a full skirt … one of these days!

I’m pretty sure I’m too late to create these for my friend’s wedding – but I’m delighted to have been given the challenge!

Happy one-shouler-dress-wearing-days-ahead for you all!!!!

 

 

 

Posted in dresses, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Killer Dress … apparently!

April 16, 2012 by robiedodson

Well, up until today, I had not decided whether or not I was going to offer this dress to the proverbial “Public”.  I absolutely LOVE  it … but I haven’t gotten fully confident I can create it adequately for people all over the world whom I’ll never size in person.

recognize that Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabric??? I have finally gone through all 15 yards I purchased!

Well, today I have made the leap and said YES to that inner voice saying, “Make this for other people, you freak!”

Why????

Because I was standing in the parking lot at a grocery store (YES – texting!) when I heard a stranger’s voice yell:

THAT’S A KILLER DRESS!!!

To which I gratefully replied, “Thank You!”

and he said:

NO, THANK YOU!!!

Well, I may pay to be blonde, but I don’t pay to be stupid!  I can tell when there’s a good thing going on!!!  Earlier this morning my husband sent me off for a manicure and pedicure … and the technician couldn’t stop talking about my dress.  She didn’t call it “killer” but she did say it was “fabulous” … in come cultures those words are interchangeable!

Soooooo, here is a sneak peak at the first One-Shoulder dress being made available in my Etsy shop.  Hereafter referred to as the Killer Dress!

Here is the dress shown with a funky chunky feaux turquoise necklace from my pal over at Polished on Etsy. It's a very slimming a-line silhouette. Very fun and versatile to wear! I started with a Burda pattern, made a few tweaks, and the rest is "killer" history.

And here's the back - equally simple which keeps it so easy to wear! You'll notice the zipper on the right hand side - keeps it formfitting without the need for elastic.

In case you didn't notice, it's a one-shoulder dress! (I've made a million of these, but this is by far the simplest and most universally flattering that I've made so far. If you don't like your arms showing - you can add a cute cardigan and just show off the asymmetrical line of the bodice across your chest/neckline.)

Here is how I wore it today - funky necklace, fun belt, wedge sandals. I did not, however, walk around with my arms like that. Or my lips. (I also wore it this way last Tuesday and Wednesday ... maybe this is quickly becoming my 2012 wardrobe!)

So000, if you dig this dress and would like to order one – feel free to thank the random Randall’s parking lot guy!

Posted in dresses, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

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