Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Fashion-Make it yourself!

Have you ever gone shopping, and seen something really cute, but there was just one thing you would change? Or maybe it just didn't fit right. This happens to me all the time. The solution for this? To make your own clothes! I've known how to sew since I was very little, but it wasn't until this Halloween that I began to learn how to use the sewing machine. For Halloween I made my own costume!
(It's supposed to be like Taylor Swifts dress in Love Story)
I was a lot of work, but I was really fun! Since then I have been wanting to sew some more of my outfits, and release some of my inner designer. However patterns can be expensive. If you buy new patterns they can be about $18. The pattern I bough for my costume was from etsy.com and was about $7. This is a fairly reasonable price, but when looking on etsy for a new pattern to sew I had a hard time finding one I liked, in my size....

This weekend I went to an antiques fair, and was simply over joyed to find a box full of patterns labeled "$1 each". I went through the whole box and found 9 patterns I liked that were my size! Here are some of them:

This is my favorite pattern that I found (it's from 1995). I like it because it's so versatile, but this is my favorite of the options:
Any color suggestions? 

Ropers are still a big thing for summer this year, but I have never been able to find one that fits me just right, or was in the right color. The good thing about this pattern is that I can make sizing adjustments, and I get to chose the print! I'm thinking of making it a nice peach color...

These shorts are simple, but there's something I just love about them!

I really LOVE this dress! As a matter of fact it looks sort of like my junior prom dress:
hehe (: Are there proms in other countries besides the USA?

For this pattern I would definitely want to shorten it, but I has potential.

I also really loved the versatility of this pattern. I really like the image second from the left.
This also has potential, a little Gossip Girly eh?

This is one of the more complex patterns (buttons are hard...) but I have until next winter to get to this level (:



So have you ever sewn an outfit? Do you think people should sew themselves more often? What do you think of these patterns?

I'll be sure to keep you updated on my progress with my sewing (:

8 comments:

Kylie/missricopenguin said...

Super cute, Lia!

Last year in Textiles (sewing class at school D:) I made an apron, took me a whole term to do, it doesn't look to bad, though I've never worn it. :P

Mihaela said...

Wow :D

I love this post!
I'm dreaming very long to start sewing my own clothes,your dress looks really good!

And yes,of course there are proms besides USA.At least in Croatia xD

sd_is_da_best / Sinead said...

Amazing, you've really inspired me, I was just thinking about this sort of thing the other day, I kind of know how to sew, I'd need to practice a bit though,I'm definitely a beginner but I think I'd really like to try something like this when I get better.
We have proms here (in Ireland) except they're called your Debs, short for Debutante ball, I think, though I've never heard it called anything but Debs, you have it the August after you finish school, my sister's going to hers this year :)
Actually, I think my mum used a pattern thing like above to make her own debs dress, I think I'll start practicing my sewing skills and go ask my mum about it in a few mins, thanks for the brilliant post Lia!!

AbiiBabeh..x said...

Prom in the UK :D
Loved this post

Anonymous said...

Loved that blue dress! And I design my own clothes too. ATM, I've only made some dresses and skirts but I'm just learning (:

Ellen Rouge said...

Well.. You are REALLY good at it! And prom dress is cute :)

Lia Jeanine / liajm said...

It's good to hear that there are proms (or prom like things) in other countries. Definitely an experience that id a must for high school.

@Kylie: You have a textile class? That's so cool! We used to have a home ec class that would teach sewing and cooking, but it seems not many people do either of the two anymore....lol

Ellen Rouge said...
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