Origami skirt

So in leiu of Flickr Feature Friday I'd like to share my skirt week submission.

I had big plans for skirt week...like a half a dozen skirt ideas floating around in my head. Then illness struck and I barely made it in with one! C'est la vie.

There are so many adorable skirts in the children's category that I just couldn't stop looking. If you haven't checked them out yet you should! The children's category is here. You just might find a cute new tutorial or fun new blog to follow. I know I did.

Of course there are some great skirts in the adult categories too, but since I spend most of my time sewing for kids that is where spent most of my time looking too.

So for my submission I drafted up a skirt pattern that I am calling the Origami Skirt.

The Origami Skirt got its name from the folds used to create it. I started with a rectangle but after the folds were in place I had a 2/3 circle. I added a paper bag waist and a ruffle border.

Picking which photo to submit was torture! I think I am my own worst enemy on that though. My mind kept saying "the angle is better on this one...but the color is captured better on this one...but this one has better contrast...but...but." Here were some of the other possible entries...so you can be as tortured as I was ;)

 Honestly, this skirt just wasn't quite what I had envisioned. I like it all the same but I think I will keep working on the pattern. Now that the math part of the pattern is down I should be able to come up with some new versions fairly quickly. Stay tuned...more on that front coming soon.

Time for a little twisty dance!

 Or perhaps a ballerina? Check out the right hand...she's almost there!

 And just because I think she's cute...I don't know what she was doing in these, but cute anyways.

Okay, okay, now that I've overloaded you with pictures I can be done now. Thanks for looking!

Inspired by Chevrons guest: Sutures and Sandpaper

I want to introduce you to a really awesome set of bogging sisters - Sutures and Sandpaper. 

Don't you just love the name! If you are as intrigued as I was, check out how they came up with their name.

 Honestly, this contribution to my Inspired by Chevrons series blew me away! These girls made not one, not two, but FIVE chevron garments...and a chevron bunting! Sweet! That is more than I could ever ask for. I am in love with every one of them too. I may have mentioned it in the past, but I love neutral colors, especially gray,  paired with bright colors. And that is just what was made! These girls are after my own heart <3

How cute are those kids!? Super adorable!

Head on over to Sutures and Sandpaper to see the more of the awesome chevron projects made! That jacket is definitely going on my list of things to make. Thank you so much for sharing Kerry and Linda. You girls rocked it!

Please share your chevron projects in the Inspired by Chevrons Flickr group...you may be featured!  I welcome anything chevron, old or new, shirt, bag, or pillow...anything! Share the chevron love :)

Hand Embroidery

I did some hand embroidery. Can you believe it? Me neither, but I am hooked! 

I scored some of this cute Timeless Treasures fabric. The color combo is so summery; they remind me of pink lemonade, or fruit sorbet. Yum! I wanted to use this fabric as a center piece on this adorable new dress pattern I am sewing up, but I found that there was no good focal point. So I decided to make a focal point by embroidering over the print. It is not bold, but it gives the fabric a little something special.

You may have guessed that this is my first time hand embroidering. Though my stitches aren't perfect I love how it turned out. And it is a lot easier than I thought ;) 

I found some great resources for hand embroidery online but I have to say that my favorite so far is Shiny Happy World. I found some great embroidery lessons with video tutorials there! Since I am a very visual person I found these videos extremely helpful. 

In the picture above I used a threaded backstitch, a stem stitch, and french knots! Not too shabby for a newbie like me. Another helpful lesson found at Shiny Happy World was how to start and stop your stitches with out tying a knot.

I will be doing more embroidery embellishments for sure!

Hang out with me for a while and I will reveal the entire dress! It's so yummy you won't want to miss it!

Inspired by Chevrons guest: Mi Rincón de Mariposas

Today we have our very first guest here on Rock the Stitch!

Here is Dawn:

Hi, I'm Dawn, from Mi Rincón de Mariposas. I'm a mom of two who loves to sew and craft with my kids. I specially love recycling, easy to sew things, making my own patterns and sharing it all in my blog.
I'm so happy to post here today, getting Inspired by Chevrons. Thanks so much Rock the Stitch.

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Mi Rincón de Mariposas is full of inspiration and fun tutorials; like this great fox shirt (I HAVE to make one of these <3), and this super cute crochet cap! The website is in Spanish, but don't fret if you don't read Spanish; There is a Google translate button in the top left corner. If you have translation questions Dawn is happy to help you too.
Check out these cute chevron shorts Dawn made! Today she shares her tutorial on how to make them and she even translated it in to English for us. Thank you Dawn!

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Short Leggings: pattern and tutorial

Materials:
• elastic knit fabric
• scissors or circular cutter and cutting mat
• pins
• overlock (or sewing machine with an elastic stitch, such as zigzag) and thread that coordinates with fabric

Pattern:
You can download the pattern (for personal, non-commercial use) size 5-6 years here.
Print a copy of the pattern and check that the square measures 2x2cm.    (that's 0.79 inches)
Join the 2 sheets of paper and cut around the pattern.
If you want to make another size you can use leggings (no need to be shorts) of the size you want and follow this tutorial from Red Ababol. You can make them shorter or longer, as you prefer.

Cut fabric:
Cut 2 pieces of fabric, using the pattern. Notice that the fabric stretches across the width. Remember to add the seam allowance. Flip the pattern piece over before cutting the 2nd part, so we don't have 2 right legs.

Sewing pants:
Place both fabric pieces on each other, right sides together, and secure with pins.
Stitch the two seams marked with arrow (Notice that the bottom piece in this photo is not sewn yet. This is the next seam).

Lay the shorts out as in the following photo, secure the part marked with arrows (inner leg area) with pins, matching seams in the center of the previous step, and stitch.

Cuffs:
• Cut 2 strips of 31cm x 7cm (12.2 x 2.75 inches) (notice that the fabric must stretch in the direction that measures 31cm - 12.2 inches). - If you use your pattern in another size, the idea is that it has to be 1 or 2cm (0.5 inches) narrower than the bottom of the pant-
• Bend each strip in half, right sides together, and stitch (in the photo, on the bottom left).
• Bend down the middle, wrong sides together (in the photo, on the right), the open part down. Secure the cuff to the corresponding leg with pins, sewing pants aligned with the (inside of the leg) and stitch.
• Repeat with the other leg cuff.

Waist:
It only remains to add the waist, as in this tutorial

Have you sewn one? I'd love you to post a picture here.

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I had to make a pair myself, of course! I made these shorts out of swimsuit material for my daughter. They were super easy to make. I was able to do it in only about 30 minutes from start to finish. My daughter wears a size 5 and these are a great fit for her! For the waistband I cut my fabric to 20"x6" and followed the directions in the tutorial. 

These shorts are perfect for her gymnastics class AND swimming!

 Thank so much for sharing with us today Dawn!