As soon as I saw this Earth Tone Strip French Terry fabric, I knew I had to turn it into a hoodie – it just had this great, beachy feel to it that would be perfect to wear on a cool summer evening. I made this the day before I went on my girl’s trip with the idea that I might get to wear it on an early morning that we headed to the park, but either the weather was too warm for it (it was in the 70s and 80s while we were there) or too cool (we had a rain shower that made the temperature drop into the upper 50s). This fabric does have great drape and I adore the colors, but it really is too thin for any type of cold(er) weather, so while it makes an adorable hoodie, it’s not necessarily “practical.”

Once again, I used Jalie’s Laurent pattern for this hoodie. I found that the sleeves are a few inches too long for my arms, so I really need to make that modification before I sew it up again. This works out fine because I can always roll up the cuff some or scrunch the arms without it being too bulky. Overall a cute little top, I just need the perfect weather to wear it in!

When I was passing the t-shirt section of the store, I stumbled across this great (Rolling Stones) graphic tee. I have plenty of t-shirts in my closet already, so I knew that I needed reconstruct this one into something unique so that I get the most use out of it… so I decided on a sleeveless Barbie.

While I’ve made this pattern before, I’ve never tried a sleeveless style (or reconstructing a t-shirt with this pattern). My first concern was if the tee would have enough stretch. Thankfully this wasn’t a “beefy” tee (which seem to have minimal give), but more of a soft style with a fair amount of elasticity. This meant that I didn’t need to size up to make this pattern work. Even though I had purchased an extra large shirt, I didn’t have enough material left over to use for the bands (neck and arms). Instead of using contrast banding colors, I opted to black to match the shirt base.

Construction of this one is always straightforward and came together very quickly. The fit is spot on in both the body and neck, but I found the armholes to be a bit too loose for my liking. I think part of this is because the bands are thick and how it lays on my body, but I think I can remedy this next time by shortening up the length of the bands some. The overall look is cute and edgy, but not perfect IMHO.

After making a pair of velvet leggings, I knew that I needed something fabulous to wear with it…. and it seemed like a sweater was the perfect compliment. I had picked up this white “mohair” fabric when I bought the velvet material and decided that it would work perfectly. I figured that a simpler pattern design would work best, so I opted to use Jalie’s Romy. I wanted my finished sweater to be longer than the shirt, but not tunic length (because I wanted to show off those leggings!) so I added 3″ to the length of the top to come up with this:

Both items are so comfortable to wear and look great together. I think it’s screaming “Valentine’s Day” to me!

If my recent posts about hip\fanny\waist packs have you intrigued, here’s a free one to get you started.

While we don’t have mature enough trees to use this project with, I love the idea of creating a hammock to use during lazy summer days.

Did your child volunteer you to create Valentine treat bag gifts? These heart eye emoji pouches makes for a quick gift with adorable results.

There’s still time to whip up some festive Valentine’s Day décor like this eye catching table runner.

While we are at Universal, we wound up using a lanyard to hold our room keys\fast passes. Next time, I’m making custom lanyards\badholders!

Heading out of the country soon? These passport covers are a great way to protect your documents and still personalize it with fabric!

“These boots are made for walking” AND keeping your tootsies warm!

Cozies that hold all sorts of items (bowls, popsicles, cans, etc.) have been making their way around the internet for awhile now, but this one that holds an ice cream pint is something I can definitely get behind!

And I’m back! Last week I had mentioned that I made the Adventure Bag to take on an upcoming girls trip to Universal Studios Orlando and promised a review of it in action, so here’s a few thoughts about how it worked out.

As I had mentioned, my fabric\stablizer choice made my bag very firm. While it’s probably the perfect combination for the crossbody style, it probably isn’t for wearing across your chest (it’s extremely bulky this way, not to mention uncomfortable to wear). Definitely go for a much thinner material (and possibly skip the interfacing depending on what you’re using). Consequently, I wound up wearing my bag as a fanny pack the entire time… it also meant that I had a lot of extra webbing to deal with as well, so it might be in your best interest to decide how you might like to wear it best so you’re not dragging the webbing behind you.

As for the size – it’s amazingly large! The front pocket was perfect for stashing cash (and I didn’t have to worry about losing it when opening the main zipper) while the interior pocket was able to hold my phone, a charger, a coozie, and still have room for other smaller items. Overall, this was a great park bag.

On one of the days I was there, I did swap out my belt bag for something a bit larger – my Wayfarer Sling Bag. This was great for storing a bit more items (and perfect if you wanted to carry around a water bottle and still be hands free), but a bit more cumbersome to take items in and out of your bag (because you either need to take it off or turn it around, then unlatch and unzip the bag). Even though it was larger than the Adventure, it was still small enough to fit in the free lockers on the rides you couldn’t have personal\loose items. Overall, it is another great option to take with you to the parks!

If you’ve ever been to Lululemon and tried to buy their Belt Bag, chances are you left empty handed – it’s just so popular! So when Greenstyle came out with the Adventure Bag, I snatched up the pattern because it looks so similar. I finally got around to sewing the pattern up this week, so here’s a few thoughts I had while making it.

I opted to make my first version in this beautiful “marshmallow” ombre vinyl. Unlike a lot of vinyls, this particular one is very soft and pliable, so I decided that I would go ahead in interface it. While I think this would be needed for the crossbody version of this pattern, it is VERY firm when it comes to a belt bag (especially if you want to wear this across your chest, because it looks bulky). The vinyl did sew up very nicely, although, like any vinyl, got a bit bulky around those corners.

Overall, this pattern was very easy to sew and had fairly good instructions. It’s not as detailed a a lot of other bag patterns out there, but it is pretty straightforward so it probably doesn’t call for lots of detail. My only real complaint is that the interior is finished by binding the edges. I’m just not a fan of this method because my binding just doesn’t come out as clean as what I would like, although I don’t see how you can pull off a drop in liner without making a lot of modifications.

I’m headed on a girls trip tomorrow and plan on testing this little bag out. I think it should be plenty large enough to hold my essentials, but will update this post if it’s not!

Last week we traveled back to Bret’s hometown to surprise his mom for her birthday. While I knew this trip was coming for several weeks, I decided (last minute) to sew up a few things for our adventure…. comfortable things because it literally takes an entire day to get there (even by planes)! So I decided to make a couple of Claras – one in a fun, geode peached performance (perfect for a travel day) and another in a dressier, stretch velour (that would be great for a birthday party).

While I’ve made the Clara before, I have apparently made them in several sizes…. because I realized that my velour leggings looked a bit smaller after cutting them out. Of course, THATS when I checked out the sizing and noticed that they were 2 sizes smaller than what I should have cut. I decided to go ahead and forge ahead and see how they turned out anyway. After discovering my mistake, I did use the correct sizing for the geode leggings.

I did a trial fit of the velour leggings without the waistband and was pleasantly surprised that they fit – they were a snugger than what they should have been, but not uncomfortable. However, I knew that the waistband might be more of an issue so I opted to make the elastic in that area larger (which is why you’re seeing more rippling in that area with that version an in the geode)… and surprisingly, it worked! So moral of the story, get yourself some highly stretchy fabric and chances are you’ll be able to make the pattern work even if you cut out the wrong size!

I’ve had this alcohol ink performance knit fabric in my stash for awhile now. My original intent was to make a pair of leggings with them, but I probably have enough fabrics on hand to make those so I decided to transform this material into something different – a skort. I’m headed on a girls trip next week and decided that I needed something that looks cute, but is still comfortable enough to do activities and not worry about flashing everyone in the process! The LOULOUXE is my go to skort pattern and it looks amazing in this material!

I used the alcohol ink for the exterior of this pattern and a black performance knit for the shorts. One yard of the alcohol ink was plenty for this part of the pattern and I even have enough left over to (eventually) make a sports bra (or something coordinating).

After finishing up my leggings the other day, I set to work on a coordinating sweatshirt to go with it. Instead of making a “traditional” sized hoodie, I decided to make mine cropped…. and I used Jalie’s Laurent to do it! This pattern already has markings for a cropped design which made things a bit easier, but when I measured it, I felt like it was going to be shorter than I wanted so I added 3″ so that it would sit on the high hip (still cropped, but definitely looks better if you’re not wearing high waisted pants).

I really waffled back and forth if this project wanted to become a hoodie or a sweatshirt. I wound up completing everything but the neckband, then tried it on so I could determine what I wanted to do next… somehow it screamed hoodie. Unfortunately, I did not have enough material left over to use as a lining, but I did have a wonderful dragon fruit peached performance that seemed to match well and really made the interior pop! Now I’m going to need a pair of (dragon fruit) leggings that will go with this hoodie too! Guess what I’m working on next?

Step up your shacket game with this fabulous sequin shirt dress version.

Pamper your pet with fun new accessories like a coordinating collar and leash (FYI, you can even get hardware kits for these on Amazon!), an adorable dog bed that looks like a couch, and a snuffle mat (the link will take you to part 2 of how to put this together).

This “hugs & kisses” Valentine’s quilt is made only using 3 yards of fabric!

These tall storage bins are perfect for stashing items and gives any room a modern feel.

Learn how to stitch up a pair of women’s curvy cargo pants.

Sock gnomes are still a hot holiday decorating items. Learn how to make a Valentine’s Day version here.

If you have a game or concert in your future, chances are you’ll need one of these clear bags.

Enter to win a $30 gift certificate to The Fabric Fairy.

This travel, Valentine themed Tic-Tack-Toe game is a fun gift to give this holiday.

If you know a Pokemon fan, then you’ll want to sew them up one of these adorable Squirtles (you don’t even need to like Pokemon to think they’re cute).

This bag is labeled a “mini duffle” but it looks pretty good size to me!