Dresses!!

So as I posted earlier I wanted to and did make a dress for my cousins wedding...Since then I have had this need to make dresses...

Here are two pictures of me in the dress for the wedding...Sorry if they are kinda blurry...but there were the pics where you could best see the dress...I really need  to take some time to photograph the dress alone...some time after finals maybe...

After making this dress I made two others, i have only taken pics of one of them...also a very crappy picture sorry... the dress to the left is the "inspiration" dress from Mod Cloth... and then thats my headless body in the one I made... I used a thrifted pink sheet to make the dress....my intention was to dye it black but being the genius that I am I didn't look at the tag on the sheet until after the dress was made... I sadly realized that the sheet was 50% cotton and 50% polyester (eeekkk) so I ended up with a dress dyed dark grey...no complaints here though I really like the grey...

hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'll try my best to post before Christmas with some more dresses...even though i should be studying for finals...ugh...

Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ok so here's another giveaway that I am totally in love with...I am also in love with Grosgrain (just thought you should know)...

I have no kids but I am an Aunty and I would absolutely love to use this $100 gift card to spoil my nieces and nephews...wish me luck...or head over to Grosgrain and enter the giveaway yourselves...

I need to take pics of my dress...because after 4 evenings, of work it is done!!!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ahhhh...Finally a giveaway that I can enter!!! I absolutely love the dress Kathleen over at Grosgrain made for Shabby Apple and she's giving it away over at her blog!! The color is amazing and so is the full skirt...it just looks so refreshing! I really hope I win!!

New Project: Operation Wedding Dress

So today I realized that I have precisely 25 days to start and finish my next project...I was putting if off because I wasn't sure whether or not I NEEDED to make it and now I realize I do...


My cousin is getting married in Monterrey, Mexico on November 26th, which not only happens to be Thanksgiving, but also my Birthday... My family originally had plans to attend, but then temporarily decided not to go and now the plans are back in place... 


After the Bridal Shower I decided that I wanted to make my dress because I saw several beautiful dresses on Etsy...  I totally fell in LOVE with all of the dresses made by Ouma... at first I wasn't sure whether or not I would be able to make any of these dresses for myself, but after talking to my mom and several friends I decided I was capable...


So off I went to High Fashion Fabric to find my supplies...I decided on dark gray/silver for the dress with black ribbon and lace...

So tomorrow is Day 1 of Operation Wedding Dress...I'll post updates periodically...

Halloween!!

Seeing as how this was our last year in Law School, therefore very likely our last Halloween celebration all together, my friends and I decided to go all out for Halloween...We chose Alice in Wonderland as our theme...

I, personally, don't buy into the whole, "Halloween is the one day a year girls can dress like "ladies of the night" and not be judged" school of thought...ummm call me a prude, but you are still being judged, but if it helps you sleep through the night... I just think you can do cute and  show a little skin and still be tasteful...

That being said there was no way I would find an Alice costume in my size that I would feel comfortable wearing...So I made my own...and thank God because it was freezing last night...I went for the traditional Disney Alice... I used old bed sheets to make the dress and white cotton to make my apron and my petticoat...

my outfit looks very prudish, but I really don't care... Doesn't the whole group look great together...

My friend Marco was the Mad Hatter...as you can see his hat was enormous...there was a fantastic tutorial on Thread Banger for the character which we used to make the top hat...

I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween evening tonight...

Look What I Found on My Doorstep Last Night!!

My new Sewing machine, originally uploaded by SuiGenerisByAmy.

Ok...Ok...so it wasn't some big surprise like my sewing table, but it was just as great... Thanks Babe!!

Since I began sewing I kinda had told myself that when I graduated from Law School I would get a new sewing machine...but the more I have been the sewing the more I realized I wanted one sooner (apparently 9 months is too long for me to wait)...

A few weeks ago I was in the Valley visiting Louie and my family (they drove to the valley for the weekend)... I had my "epiphany" on the way home in Louie's truck after picking up pizza for my parents...(back story...I normally am a pain to shop for...but this year I had asked Louie for a purse for my birthday...mind you its not til November)... As we were getting closer to my house out of nowhere I turned to Louie and said, "I want a new sewing Machine for my Birthday" and just like that Louie says, "OK"...I was totally expecting him to push back a little, but no, he just said "OK"...

So when we got to my house we started looking online for a new machine for me!!! Boy are there a million options...but i found an affordable machine that did what I wanted it to do and he ordered it for me!! And then about a month and a half early my Birthday Present arrived...yay! Just in case you can't tell I am beyond excited about my new machine!!

First thing I did was make a cute dust cover for it!!

Soo... I actually can make Grown Up clothes!!

See for yourselves!!!

Occasionally I have tackled the task of making something for me to wear...but I am usually very hesitant...

I do love men's shirts refashions...I found a tutorial for the the blue and white strapless tops here...

I made the black tulip skirt out of $1.50 a yard fabric from walmart... liked this skirt from Mod Cloth...but I prefer a much higher waist and am still too nervous about inserting zippers into clothing...so I made a big sash to tie around the waist...

I found a tutorial for the tank dress with the fuchsia sash  from the blog My Mama Made It... I used an old dress from the gap...the sash and the bow are made of fabric scraps left over from a blouse I shortened for my sister...

The pink and green stripped dress is a copy of a dress I made for Lori...but I added pockets at the hip...its soooo comfy

The green and blue plaid/fuchsia paisley dress is made from an 80's old lady outfit I bought at a thrift store...

Here are the before and afters!!

I posted the before pic on facebook and some friends gave input and I went from there...I shirred the back of the dress with elastic thread bc as I mentioned I'm terrified of zippers (my next project will use an invisible zipper...wish me luck)...the waist of the original dress had an elastic casing so I used it as the point for the empire waist...to make the straps I used the sleeves and once again stole an idea from My Mama Made It...I also made a small casing for elastic  in between the front straps to add a little gathering in the bust area...

I am quite proud of the results...I even wore it last weekend to my cousins bridal shower...

Hope everyone has a great weekend...I'm spending mine making a laptop case for my Daddy and possibly starting my new project...if I can figure out where to start...

A Little Tougher Than I Thought But I Did It

So I finally finished the "Corinne" costume for Lori...so I am not a big fan of working with slippery material...or super stretchy material either...But here are the results...Its not perfect and the skirt/cape is a little shorter on one side...but all in all its definitely better made than the ones at the store and  it will definitely last much longer than a few months...I sent some prelim pics to Angie to check them out and she loved it...Now the real test will be when Loris sees it ... I hope she loves it...

The first picture is of the dress as a ball gown...I definitely need to fix the difference in length...and I need to add a gem in the middle of the tulle gathers on the bust and some gold detailing to the sleeves....

The second picture is with the skirt of the ball gown off...in transition

The third picture is of the Three Musketeers outfit...the skirt is now the cape...

I reiterate it is in no way perfect...Had I put a little bit more thinking into it, instead of winging it, I think I could have done a much better job.

Birthday Gift for The Twins!

Claudia and I have been best friends since the 2nd grade...not just best friends but Best Best BEST Friends...our familys are also very close friends...we each have 3 siblings and apparently our parents had children "together"...my bro Joey is the same age as her oldest sister, Ana...my sister, Alicia, is a few months older than her 2nd older sister Michelle... then we were born a week apart... and my little brother was born the same year as her little sister. Each pair of us went to school together and except for our oldest siblings we were all great friends.

I'd like to think that Claudia and I brought our families together.

Fast forward to now...Claudia's oldest sister had twin girls last October...OMG these girls are soooooo cute...I had the time of my life putting together the gift basket for the baby shower...now these Beautiful Babies are turning the big ONE!!!

So I am send in these two dresses to Ana and Juan for Sophia Lily and Rosa Maria...I hope they love them as much as I do...

My Niece Knows What She Wants!!

My Niece, Lorena, is quite the assertive little lady...and I say this with all the love in my heart!! Everyone knows that the women in my family speak quite freely and want what they want...and Lori is no exception... Today my older brother, Joey, called me and told me that he hopes I haven't started making Lori's Diamond Castle Costume because at dinner she would not stop talking about her Barbie & the Three Musketeer's Birthday Party and Halloween Costume.

I personally thought this was hilarious because it is such the Preschooler thing to do....Her parents thought "oh she loves Diamond Castle Barbie she should be that for Halloween" and little do they know that she has her own completely different plan going on...Thankfully most of the material that I have purchased can be used for this outfit as well...Today I was able to purchase the Fuchsia satin I need for the skirt of the ball gown.  Now all I need for this outfit is a gold fabric for the inside of the cape. I actually think this outfit will be much more fun to work with, as the skirt of this ball gown turns into the cape she wears...so I am excited about this!!

My Inspiration for the Next Few Weeks

Not that I have amazing sewing skills, but I can definitely sew a better quality garment than the Halloween costumes you buy at party city or the dress up outfits they sell just about anywhere... My family realized this when Emma got a Barbie & Diamond Castle Princess dress up set...the skirts and tops were sooo cheaply put together...

So this past Saturday Angie called asking for a favor...Could I look up the Diamond Castle Princess-Liana, and if I thought I might be able to make her dress for my niece, Lori... my summer consisted of weekly Barbie playing with Lori and her "Connected Barbie"  she calls it that because the actual Barbie sings the song from the movie, "I feel...Connected... Protected..It's like your sitting right with me all the time"...I looked up the Halloween costume version of the dress and sure enough I found a really badly made costume for $25 and the better (but still badly) made one for around $50.... Uh yea I can definitely do better than that.

So far I have purchased:
a shimmery purplish fabric for the bodice fabric------------------------------$6 for 1 yard
cute orange satin for the hanging sashes instead of a shiny plastic or tulle -----$4 for 1 yard
some gold cording for the top of the bodice---------------------------------$3 for 1 yard

I already have some pink and white tulle to make it poofy and I still need to find about 3-4 yards of a nice fuchsia satin and then figure out how I'm gonna replicate  the glitter and gem look of the center panel.

I plan on making the dress floor length and I want the skirt to be very full like a ball gown...this makes me want a child dressform for things like this...but I want all sorts of stuff I don't really need....I will keep you posted on the progress of the dress..wish me luck!

Some Clothes for Aurora

These are a few things I made for a wonderful little girl named Aurora. Her father is a classmate of mine and her mother is a fellow crafter.  Kelly makes the prettiest hair accessories which you can find here.  She also has a cute blog about her beautiful family called This Is Us.

I made these a while ago, but waited to post them until after Aurora and Kelly had seen them. Sorry some of the pictures look terrible, I don't have an awesome camera...but you get the general idea.

I had fun making all of these skirts, I got to try a bunch of different things...and play around with different fabrics...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday Emma-Sofia!!

So today my Niece/God Daughter, Emma-Sofia Turns the BIG 2!!!! She had a joint Birthday Party with her Big Brother J about 2 weeks about. J turned 4 at the end of August. This is Emma eating Ice and wearing the Birthday Shirt I made her...took me like 5 minutes...I also made her a tutu to match the shirt, which took FOREVER, but being a toddler she refused to wear it. So yesterday I finally made her a market skirt with the fabric from the shirt so she can wear them together.

I just love this pic of me and my little Sofie taken this past Easter...she is so loving...for a while she gave out kisses to anyone who asked ...now she's much more selective. I really miss her... I have made her a handful of other clothes for her birthday, but as I would like for them to remain a suprise I won't post until she receives them...Sorry Alice!!

-amy t.-

Birthday Outfits

Before I came back for school Louie's sister asked me if I could make an outfit for Lauren's 4th birthday party. It was a carnival/circus themed party so I chose to use a red striped fabric like a circus tent . Since Louie's other niece Ava turns 1 in October I decided to make her an outfit as well. Dana from MADE has an awesome tutorial for the cutest skirt ever, "The Market Skirt." I have been dying to use it and this was the prefect opportunity.

These are the results!! I love the way they turned out. I added length to Lauren's and subtracted for Ava's...
For the middle portion and the bottom ruffle of both I added extra inches because I wanted a fuller skirt.
Then I appliqued a circle with their inital on it...also an idea I got from Dana.

As for the rest of the outfit I bought them white shirts that I appliqued with a circle and their age, opposite to the one on the skirt... I used Heat and Bond Lite to make it much easier and it was a huge help...

Lauren looked so cute that day... and well Ava's birthday is still a month away...
Here is Lauren in her outfit after a long hot day at her Party...

-amy t.-

National Sewing Month

So I started school three weeks ago, and as I predicted I have been doing a lot more sewing than during the summer (pics to definitely follow). And what a coincidence...my friend Gabe pointed out to me that September is National Sewing Month and has been since the 80's....

I love it!!! Tomorrow after I take my car to get looked at, I plan on sewing the day away making lots of things for the numerous little girls in my life... I hope everyone has a great Sewing Month!

-amy t.-

Sewing from Early in the Summer

Early on in the Summer I was able to do a little bit of sewing, but as you know I eventually did little to no sewing the rest of the summer.

I made these two dresses for Louie's nieces. I hadn't sewn anything for them since I started so I wanted to have something for them for my first visit of the summer. The little dress was for his 8 month old neice Ava (now almost a year old) and the other was for his 3yr old niece Lauren. I really love the fabric I used for these...I got it at Hobby Lobby so it wasn't very pricey at all and the colors are so pretty.



This dress I made for my Emma... I actually made an identical one for my other niece Lori but I have yet to put straps on it and actually give it to her...I'm not quite sure why I still havent done it seeing as how I made the dress at least two months ago...

-amy t.-

I'm Officially a Terrible Blogger

Let me apologize for being such a bad blogger...

I thought I would be sewing up a storm this summer, but apparently doing real lawyer stuff all day makes me want to do nothing more than spend time with my family...
I have made a few things, but I'll probably post pictures later when I can get shots of the girls in their dresses and skits and such...

I do LOVE spending time with my family though... I miss them all soooo much during the year its going to be so hard to leave come mid-August...

Since my last post I have gone to Puerto Rico, The Island (South Padre that is), the Valley numerous times, Houston for a hearing and a trip to the most fabulous fabric store ever, and hung out at home and with Joey and Angie, tons!!

Joey and Angie's kids are great (as are Joey and Angie) Adan is getting so big so fast... when I get back for Christmas he will be a different little boy I am sure of it... Lori has grown up so much (well as much as a 4 yr old can), she is in full on "Princess" mode, and Gabi... it's crazy trying to come to terms with the fact that she will be 14 this fall!!! Since Alice and Andy are visiting his parents I have spent most of my time at Joey and Angie's just hanging out... I can't wait to be done with school so that this can become a regular thing... I don't know what I would do without my family...

I spent all of last, last week in Houston to finish up a case I had from the Immigration Clinic... while there I went to "High Fashion Fabric." Wow that place is amazing!!!

What else??? Oh...Penelope has grown soo much and she has finally met Austin...it is amazing how well she fits into the mix with Deuce and Austin... Louie really loves her too... Yea I know I'm crazy because I talk about my dogs as if they were my children...but I have no kids so they are my kiddoes (for now, at least)...

Any who...more to come soon I promise...don't hate me...school starts in two weeks so I can guarantee that I'll be back at my sewing table soon!!

-amy t.-

Sooo Much Going On

Since school let out things haven't slowed down one bit...
Let's see...
I went to Chicago for a week to see family... both of my parents grew up in the Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana area...I got to spend some time with my grandparents and see tias/titis, tios and cousins I hadn't seen in a ages...
While we were there we went to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry... I loved it but I am also an abnormally HUGE Harry Potter Fan and I'm not ashamed, quite proud actually...No cameras were allowed which made me very sad, but it was quite an experience to be able to see all the props and costumes used in the movies... We also went to a White Sox game,because it was too hard to get Cubs tickets and, well... my dad is a HUGE Sox fan...we also went to my cousin's daughter's Quince...we had a great time...danced a lot... I loved the trip I hope to be able to go back soon...you can never spend too much time in Chicago

This is a pic of my cousins and my Tia, My parents and myself at the Quince...

When we got home from Chicago my dad decided that we needed a new puppy so after a bit of searching we brought home the newest Tellez dog... We Tellez have a long held tradition of P names for our dogs... our first Weim was Princess('89-'02) then we got Paxon('93-04), Percy('96-'08), Pinky('03-stolen '09), Parker('05), and Polydeuces('07)...Joey fell off the boat when he named his mastiff Austin and well the new Austin isn't a Tellez...So we got a beautiful Weim puppy and we named her.....PENELOPE!!! She is adorable... see for yourself...

This past weekend was crazy and fun...I drove up to Austin to spend some much needed quality time with my Best Friend Claudia...we went out Friday night... something we hadn't done together since God knows when... Saturday we spent floatin' (or as the sign by the river said TOOBIN') the river...not the Guadalupe, but the Comal as Louie so kindly pointed out to me... didn't get as burnt as I thought I would (woo hoo)... then on Sunday we went up to Houston to see NO DOUBT.... it was an amazing show... they definitely deliver... We sang our hearts out that night...

Now I'm looking forward to finally doing some sewing for Ava, Aurora, Brianna and Brookie and of course Emma and Lori....ahhh so many little girls...it will be fun

-amy t.-

School's Out for Summer

So finals are over and I am finally home...well I have been home since Friday, but then we went to the Valley for the weekend... so this is the first time I get to really sit in front of the computer and type anything. It has been really hectic since my last post. Finals studying was sooooo draining.... being in the library from about 8:30 a.m. to about 5:30-6:30 p.m. everyday was terrible... but you gotta do what you gotta do...when I got home I would usually listen to some sort of audio review for either Trusts and Wills or Corporations while I did some wind down sewing...

I totally lied to you Lis...you asked what I was sewing and I said a blouse and then nothing else...I couldn't stop I needed to do something most nights or else I couldnt really get to bed. So during finals I sewed a laptop case for my law school partern in crime (well more like partner in being a homebody, as we realized that we have been total losers this semester having gone out only 2x)

After this I made two dresses for my god daughter, Emma, because Alice called me about a birthday party that they were gonna go to. So of course she wanted a new dress... No Problem...

This dress is another upcycle from a button up shirt that I probably wore once bc it was too tight.

And this last dress is reversible...made from some measurements of another dress my mom had bought Emma for Easter... I finally used the fabric that Alice had bought at Hobby Lobby and Hancock... I'll post pictures of her in them eventually...

After my first final I was sooo exhausted my brain would not function it was a 3 hour issue spotter exam... So I went home and decided that I would sew one last thing before I focused completely on school for the last week. I found an awesome tutorial online from myraida.blogspot.com on how to make a maxi dress...These are the results...please excuse my horrible looking face...it was finals I didn't even touch my makeup bag during the last two weeks of school

The dress is super comfortable... I love anything that doesn't require that I worry about what I am eating that day or whether I shaved my legs...I also don't understand why only pregnant women get to wear such comfortable clothing all the time... if it weren't for all the assumptions people would make, I would shop in the maternity section for most of my tops and dresses... I LOVE EMPIRE WAIST ANYTHING! This summer I plan on living in flowy dresses if I could make enough to last me...

-amy t.-