Sewing inspirations- How to create your perfect modest swimming costume

It's finally here! I released my very first Ebook about a month ago and now I'm able to share the second Ebook, that has been written especially for those wanting to sew modest swimwear. If you'd like to read it follow this link.

I hope this has inspired you!

The jumper dress

Hey guys! So today, I want to share with you a dress that I made for a photo shoot last weekend. The dress was super easy to make. In fact I made the dress I'm about to show you in one afternoon.

 I sourced the jumpers that I used from my local charity shop, so as to save money on the cost of the project and because it meant I would be using items that where already finished along the edges. This made the whole project a lot faster and made the final outcome look more professional.

If you'd like to make one for yourself, here's what you'l need:

• A sewing machine
• thread
• 2 jumpers
• 2 cardigans (or 1 if you skip the part where I replace the arms)

So with out further to do, let's get onto how I made the dress:

1. Firstly I took the first cardigan and carefully removed the sleeves at the shoulder seam.
2. I then removed the sleeves (at the shoulder seam) from the other cardigan.
   
3. I then placed the sleeves of one cardigan on the other by simply reattaching the arms at the shoulders.
   
4. Next I measured out the width of the cardigan (this includes both the front and back) and the divided the measurement by 4. This measurement will be the top width.
5. Using this measurement as the top, I created trapezium like shapes from the two jumpers, making sure that I used the full width of the jumper at the bottom of the pattern piece. At this point don't forget to add seam allowance. 
6. Then I cut out these trapeziums, which left me with 4 pieces to make the skirt from.
   
7. I attached these pieces to each other, making a complete skirt.
8. Finally I attached the skirt to the cardigan (when doing this, it's important that you make sure that the cardigan is buttoned closed)  

And there you have it, how to make a jumper dress. So as always,

 I hope this has inspired you!

Most popular posts of 2015

So I wanted to look back over 2015 and I thought the best to do that would be to look at the top 3 most popular posts of 2015.

My Tartan Skirt

The owl dress

Old t-shirts to new pyjama bottoms 

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store.

Pyjama No.4

As you may be aware, I have a younger cousin. Sadly she won't be spending Christmas with my family this year but that doesn't mean she can't take part in our family pyjama party in spirit. Please forgive the slightly dim lighting in the photos, I was in a rush to get the dress sent off in time.

I made this night dress out of a pillow case and a piece of elastic fairly quickly, and I have to admit it was one of the easiest and nicest patterns I've followed in a while. You can find the pattern I used here.

The only changes I made to the pattern, was to add little rectangles to join the front and back instead of using a tie or ribbon to join them. As I didn't use a ribbon, I used elastic, to make sure that the dress would hold up. This created these ruffled sleeves.

Of course at the end, the dress had to be wrapped in frozen wrapping paper.

I hope this has inspired you!

The plan

So I know I haven't posted in a while but I've been busy balancing my work and my sewing. This week was also the week where I finally decided what I would make for Christmas.
I was having a little noisy at some Christmas vlogs on-line, when I noticed that a lot of them seemed to feature family members all receiving matching pyjamas. I couldn't help but think how cheesily (I'm not sure if that's a word) cute this ritual was, when it dawned on me that I could make pyjama bottoms for the whole family.

So here's the plan (which I'm half way there to completing).

I'm going to make pyjama bottoms for each family member that I will be spending Christmas with. The bottoms will be made out of either the same fabric or matching fabric. Each person will have a different style of pyjama, as that way each person will still be an individual and the pyjamas won't become some kind of weird uniform.

As I'm already half way through this project, I've already sourced the fabric.

I had to also share with you where I got the fabric for this project from, as it's probably one of the best finds I've had in a long while. I've found bedding sets at my local charity shop (the equivalent of a thrift store). This means that the fabric is cheap and pre-washed, which saves me a job and makes the whole process quicker. Out of each double bed sheet I can get 2 to 3 bottoms and for every single sheet, I make 1 to 2 bottoms. Finally, I've bought several matching tops, in every ones sizes at Primark, as I don't think these pyjamas will be worn more than once, but hey, they'll make great pictures.

You may be asking how many bottoms I need to make.

Well I've got to make bottoms for six people and I'm making a night dress for my cousin to send off in the post, as she won't be spending Christmas with us this year and I didn't want her to miss out. However I've made two options for my sister, one long and one short, so that she will have an option. Another reason for this is because I think the long ones may be a little too long (I'm sure she'll grow into them at some point, right.)

I'm going to give out these pyjamas on Christmas eve!

My blog post won't just be on Sundays and Thursdays now in the run up to Christmas. so stay tuned, as you never know when a post may appear.

As always, I hope this has inspired you!

My knit and stitch show haul

Hello again! Today I have another knit and stitch show themed post for you today. (If you're interested to know what I posted about last week take a look here.) Today, I thought I might share what I got for myself at the knit and stitch show.

So firstly I want to share this amazing coloured double knitting wool that I got for just £1.20 from a stall, which had just pile after pile of wool. It may not be the best quality of wool but I though that its colour would fit in perfectly with the colours that seem to be in trend this winter.

Then there's the amazing Rowan wool that I got from the Black Sheep stand. If you've ever seen Black Sheep wools, then you'll know that there are amazing deals to be had. So I bought 2 balls of the tumble wool. I'm afraid that I couldn't help but use it straight away and so I've made a cowl from it already. (I may post about that at some point, but I'm not sure, let me know if you'd like to see a post on that).  You may be wondering why I've mainly just got wool at the show and not fabric, but I told myself before I went that I wouldn't buy any more fabric because I already have more than enough.

Whilst looking around a book stall, I found a small stash of vintage patterns and had to stop myself from jumping up and down and squealing with delight. Not only that, but also these patterns are exactly the kind of patterns I was looking for to use up my stash of fabric. So now I can't wait to start my next sewing project (but first I need to finish the half started ones).

I also got a pattern from another stall, which I think would make a good work out top, as well as just a nice t-shirt that has a bit of interest in the back.

So now I'm set for the next couple of months. Let me know if you've ever found any vintage patterns and if so where did you get them from.

I hope this has inspired you! 
(or something along those lines) 

How to make a free form swim dress(The Meer Dress)

Today I have something really exciting to share with you!

I have made a free pattern so that you too can make a swim dress, with leggings and an under top, using a free form method. Using the Meer dress instruction which I have linked down bellow you will be able to make a custom made swimdress for you're self like the ones bellow:

The Meer Dress Pattern

I hope you have as much fun making this dress, as I have in designing it!

The owl dress- part 2

If any of you have been following my blog for a while, you may remember that I made a dress for my cousin for Easter. My grandparents went to visit my cousin over the summer and sent me these photos of her wearing the dress.

I thought you might like to see them as it's always different seeing an item of clothing on someone rather than see it lying down on a surface.

I'm so happy that my grandparents sent me these photos, as I'm glad to see that she is enjoying something that I made for her.

If you would like to see the original post, you will find it here and as always,

 I hope this has inspired you!

The owl dress

I always love Easter, it's a chance to celebrate new life. It's also a time of year that I can guarantee that my family will get together. This obviously gives me a chance to make something for one or more of them.

This year due to lots of course work deadlines and exam pressure I choose to only make something for my cousin. I had bought this owl fabric back in the summer and had started on a dress for my cousin back then but never got round to finishing it, therefore making this the perfect project for me when I had so little free time. 

In fact this dress took only one hour to finish. This was due to the simplicity of the design and the super easy to follow instruction. If you're interested in making a dress like this then here's the link.

I hope this has inspired you!

The butterfly dress

When I saw this dress pattern I knew I had to make it for my cousin. It was just so cute and when I realised I had the perfect material for it, it was a done deal. This dress is just a simple t-shirt dress. I made mine from scratch by following the instructions that the blog gives but you could also use a store bought t-shirt.

I just love how the dress is the perfect combination of floaty and fitted.

For the ties I decided to keep them loose by only attaching them to the sides, so as to add to the floaty effect. 

Because the photos don't show the fabric detail, I decided to take some close up images to show you what they look like as I feel this dress is totally made by the fabric.

I hope she likes this dress because it's going to be her birthday present. I would really recommend this free pattern and also the other free patterns on this blog which you can find here.

I hope this has inspired you!

My summer dress

So if you look back through my old posts you may realise that I'm not really a dress person. This all changed though when I went with my Mum to a local (but large) sewing and knitting show, where I saw a really inspiring pattern (the simplicity 2884), which sparked my imagination.

When I saw the fabric I knew it was perfect for this Pattern. Looking back I realise that not only is the fabric perfect for this pattern, it's also perfect for summer because it holds it's shape nicely, whilst still being floaty enough for it not to feel to clingy.

I have a feeling that I may be wearing dresses more often from now on. This may even be my summer favourite.

I hope this has inspired you!

My sisters swim dress for summer 2014

Some of you may know that for summer last year I made a swimming dress for me and my sister but my sister has now out grown her old one so today I spent the morning making her a new one. I found the material yesterday for £2.50 and I absolutely love the way the dress has turned out, it's funky and cute but not too childish (as my sisters getting to the stage where she wants to look a bit more grown up).

I made this by tracing round tops, skirts and dressed from her wardrobe to find the best fit. However I now have a free pattern that shows you exactly how you too can make a dress like this, which you can find here.

I also made a bikini bottom in the same fabric so that if the dress does ride up by accident it won't be as obvious what they are but for obvious reasons I won't display them on the internet.

I also had to show you the hairstyle my sister was wearing today. You can find a video on how to do this hairstyle here.

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may realise that recently I have been distracted by my exams but I'm soooooo pleased to tell you that I have finally finished and I'm really excited to get back into sewing.

I hope this has inspired you!

Our modest swimming dresses!

It finally feels like summer. Yay! So my sister and I where able to wear the swimming costumes I made for us back in early spring. The basic pattern is one that I made myself but I adapted it and added in extra detail to make them look a bit more interesting and different. It was hard to work out how wide our skirts need to  allow for movement but also for them not to be to clingy when wet. In the end I got the balance right and the end results can be seen bellow.

(if you're wondering what's going on in this picture, my sister and I came up with this crazy invention, involving a skipping rope, because we don't have any slopes in our back garden and so for the water slide to work we pulled each other along with a skipping rope)

For my dress I added a little black belt, for the waist, and embellished it with a little blue flower. I felt that the material was already very bold and so didn't require any more decoration.

For my sisters costume I used a pale purple, which gave me loads of options when it came to decorating it. I used a pink pokadot material for the sash, which was sewn on when attaching the upper half to the lower half, and I used the same material for the slits at the side, to allow movement.

We both wore our black swimming costumes beneath, as I didn't make any matching bikini to go underneath the dresses. It also created an extra bit of security in case the materials became see through when wet; luckily neither did.

(As you may have noticed I don't put my face or my sisters face on the internet, hence the hearts)

I hope this inspired you!