Akram's Ideas
A quick recap of sewing makes for this past Winter & Spring 2017 Makes

Sew ‘N’ Tell A Look at My Winter & Spring 2017 Makes

I’ve been so busy with projects that I haven’t had a chance to share a proper Sew ‘N’ Tell since last October. Really has it been that long. 

I thought about doing one in February but I hadn’t really sewn that much and March and April I was busy with the Easter Spring Dress sew-along, time just got away from me. 

Winter & Spring 2017 Makes

Since it’s been so long, I decided to wrap up both my winter and spring makes into one video. Don’t worry they won’t be long. 

Selfless Chrismas Makes 

I love making presents for Christmas and this year I made a few different things.

Layla’s Bedding 

Let’s start with my little niece Layla, I made her a comforter and matching bed set. I found 7 yards of this fun fabric at a thrift store and immediately knew I would make Layla something. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about making the comforter and sheets, but after checking prices it was cheaper to just buy a bed set and then sew the new fabric over it. 

Akram's Ideas: Layla's bedding
I really love how this bed set came out

After I made the comfort I had enough scraps left over to add matching trim to the sheets and pillow case. What was great, was that I had one panel of the print left over which I framed to hang in Layla’s room. 

Akram's Ideas: Layla's bedding
This print made a nice framed art piece too

Z’s Superman Purse

Speaking of bedding, I came across the fabric for a retro style Superman pillowcase, in one of my bags of fabric I bought. I didn’t need a Superman pillowcase, but I knew that my superhero loving sister Miss Z would love a Superman purse. 

Akram's Ideas: Superman Purse
I really liked the art deco styling of this print

I interfaced the pillowcase material and used a denim lining and bottom to give this super-sized purse more strength and durability. The straps were also made of denim and I used red bias tape to finish some of the edges. 

Akram's Ideas: Superman Purse
This purse is really big and great for traveling

I used a very basic tote bag construction and added a closing zipper. Miss Z not only loves the back she call’s it her movie theater bag if you know what that means 😉 

My Christmas Marshmallow 

Akram's Ideas : Marshmallow Dress
My Marshmallow dress was made just in time for Christmas

I had gotten the Marshmallow dress from Coco Wawa Crafts not long before Christmas and decided right away I wanted to make a cute Christmas dress with it. 

However, with all the holiday gift sewing and issues with my little red dress project, I kept pushing this project back. Despite waiting around I managed to knock out the dress Christmas morning to get one good wear out of it the rest of the day. 

The Marshmallow dress is so easy to make and adorable. I plan to make another one soon and to write a full review, so stay tuned. 

January & February Makes 

2017 didn’t exactly start out as planned and I didn’t actually get a lot of time to sew. With that said between January and February, I did manage to whip out a handful of projects. 

Retro Inspired Pink Cardigan

Akram's Ideas : Pink Sweater McCalls 8155

January was a rough month that left little time for sewing or the motivation to do any sewing. Still somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to make a quick sweater cardigan. 

Nothing too fancy and not too hard to fit. I was going to use a vintage pattern, but found McCalls 8155 in my stash and decided to go for that. 

Akram's Ideas : Pink Sweater McCalls 8155
The sweater turned out nice, but the fabric is way too itchy

For the project, I choose this fuzzy pink fabric I had only a bit of in my stash. While the construction went together really easy, the fabric was a nightmare. The fabric stretched while sewing, and while the outside was cozy the inside of the fabric itches like crazy. 

The end product has sort of the 50’s look I was going for, but the itchiness means I’ll never wear this cardigan…sigh. 

Valentine Exchange Purse 

To get me out of my slump I decided to participate in the 2017 Secret Valentine Exchange hosted by Ute and Sanae

Basically, for this sew-along challenge, everyone participating would be given the name of another to make a Valentine gift for. 

I received Juanita Bell who her favorite colors were blue and purple and liked a variety of designs. 

Akram's Ideas: Valentine Exchange Purse
I think I did a really nice job on this purse

After checking out her Facebook page, I looked through my stash to see if I had any fabric that might be something Juanita would like. As it so happens I found this great print that had lots of blues and purple/magenta tones. For this project I whipped up a quick purse, it was really fun and easy. 

Akram's Ideas: Valentine Exchange Purse
Love the mini-quilt I got from my Valentine excahnge

I’m really glad I participated in this challenge cause it got my sewing mojo back. Also, I love the mini quilt that was sent to me by my Valentine exchange Kati.

My Moneta Party Dress

Pattern review of the Moneta Dress by Colette Patterns made with 3/4 length sleeves and tie collar for the #monteaparty sewalong.

I already posted a full review of my Moneta dress from Colette Patterns. What can I say I am in love with the Moneta dress. I want to make a wardrobe full of these! In fact, I just whipped up a new one for summer, so stay tuned for a post on it soon. 

March & April Makes 

By March and April I was back in the swing of sewing, however, I had some rather large projects to work on so I didn’t actually get as much as I wanted to get done. 

Easter Spring Dress 

Revealing my Easter Spring Dress 2017 made using Tracy Reese Vogue 1397 in a lovely monochromatic rose blue fabric.

The most of my time in March and April was spent working on my Easter Spring Dress, using Vogue pattern 1397.

If you watched the reveal video or read the blog post you might have heard about all the issues I had with the dress. Despite all my problems, I think overall the dress is exactly the look I was going for. 

Testing the Fallon Top

A quick review of my Fallon top from Studio TKB featuring a flattering low-high hemline, long sleeves, and a v-neckline.
The fantastic Fallon top

The last project I whipped up in April was the Fallon top from Studio TKB , which I recently posted my review on. I was a tester for this pattern and must say I really enjoyed the process and the top. I plan is to make a longer version of this top to use as a beach cover up, wish me luck. 

Fave Makes of the Season

We’ll there you go, I didn’t think I really had that much to share but it’s actually more than I thought. 

There are even a few projects that I started but never finished, which I’ll roll into my next Sew ‘N’ Tell video, that is if they get done. 

I’m really happy with all the items I made, but I do have a few personal faves. 

I really am proud of the comforter set I made Layla and the Superman purse I made Z. Both were really easy projects but they came out super nice! 

As I mentioned before I think my most recent make that I’m absolutely in love with is my Moneta dress. I thoroughly recommend this pattern as an all around 5 stars. 

A quick recap of sewing makes for this past Winter & Spring 2017 Makes

 

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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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