Akram's Ideas

2013 Sewing Projects

Recently Tasha from By Gum, By Golly , wrote a post about all her sewing and knitting projects of 2013. Anyways I thought this was a really good idea, needless to say I decided I would do the same.

This year I only really started learning to sew, yet somehow I managed to pull off a variety of projects. Here’s a quick recap of my 2013 sewing projects. 

Vintage Simplicity pattern 8890
Vintage Simplicity pattern 8890

The first dress I made to kick off my summer of sewing was this  jumper dress using a vintage 70’s pattern. The dress was pretty easy, and since I was lazy I opted to not include a zipper and just add a bit so I could pull the jumper over my head. The dress has to be one of my favorites since I wear it quite a bit and when I pair it with one of my vintage hats it has a bit of a 1940’s feel to it.

Me ready for Tea Time
Me ready for Tea Time

The next dress I made was my “Tea Time” Dress. I call it that only because the vintage fabric I found made me think of England and tea time. I made this dress using a 1965 pattern. While I was happy how the dress turned out it was a little loose on me. 

Vintage Romper
Vintage Romper

One morning in June I decided that I would make myself a little romper. So, I got up and began work on this project using a 1960’s pattern. It only took about 5 hours but then I had my very own romper to go out and play in the yard.

Completed dress
Completed dress

Even though the fabric was most likely intended to be used as a tablecloth, I just knew I needed to make it a summer sun dress. After all I always needed my very own lemon dress. 

Completed purse
Completed purse

Since @TheChicGirl has a birthday in June I thought I’d sew something for her, so I made this Mickey & Mini purse from a recycled tee-shirt.

Me in my wrap dress
Me in my wrap dress

My favorite dress that I sewed this year has to be this vintage wrap dress. The fabric is beautiful. The dress itself was surprisingly simple to sew and I just loved how it looked on me.

Peachy Dress
Peachy Dress

After sewing a few dresses I thought I’d try sewing a lined skirt and jacket. This was my first time lining a garment and I think I did an okay job. I love the peachy colors of this outfit.

Completed bag
Completed bag

While on my sewing binge my mother asked if I could whip up a clothes pin bag for her. Not only did I make this relatively quickly I  even embellished it with some left over fabric.

Me in my cookout dress
Me in my cookout dress

Nothing says summer like cook-outs, so when I came across this fabric filled with salad bowls, whisks, fruit, tea kettles and more, I knew just what to make. My cook-out dress is probably my second favorite dress of the year.

Somewhere just before the end of summer I made a lovely red skirt from a 1940’s pattern, but with the start of school I never got a chance to blog about it or even take a decent picture of it. Despite that it is one of my favorite skirts I’ve made. 

1960's Maternity Pattern
1960’s Maternity Pattern

My sister was pregnant this year and asked me to make her some maternity clothes. I started with this 1960’s maternity dress pattern, she picked out the fabric.

Vintage Simplicity Pattern 4579
Vintage Simplicity Pattern 4579

As the weather began to get cold in late October I decided I’d make some warmer skirts to wear. I started by making a plaid pencil skirt using a vintage pattern.

BlackWhite_03
Black and White Dress

I needed a dress for Halloween, I would be going as the “Witch of the dead”. However I wanted a dress that I could use year round as well. So I opted to go with a simple strapless dress using this gorgeous white fabric with embroidered black flowers on it. The fabric was perfect for the costume and it turns out I had just enough to make a dress. Above you can see how the dress looks for everyday wear. 

 

Vintage Simplicity 6124 and green corduroy
Vintage Simplicity 6124 and green corduroy

By November the weather had gotten really cold. So, I decided to make a few more winter skirts. This time I used a corduroy material and a 1960’s pattern. This was the first time I used corduroy and despite my issues with sewing the grain wrong I did an okay job on the skirt. 

Here are the final pillows
Here are the final pillows

My sister’s baby shower was in late November and I decided to sew some little crib pillows for my niece to be. I had found this cute pink abc fabric and thought that it would look great in her nursery. 

By the time December had come around I was super busy with the end of the year grading and Christmas I didn’t really get much sewing done. I did however manage to sew some more maternity clothes for my sister (which I still need to get to her), plus two more skirts including a lovely woolen one using the fabric and pattern below.

Vintage McCalls 4717 skirt pattern
Vintage McCalls 4717 skirt pattern

All in all I think I’ve had a really productive year and have sewn a lot of wonderful items. Not bad for someone who’s really only a beginner. Can’t wait to start my project list for next year, wish me luck!

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Akram Taghavi-Burris

designer, writer, educator, tech nerd, crafter, baker, sewer and vintage collector, who Brings Creative & Crazy Ides to Life.

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