Stitch Swap: Lots of Dots

        I had the opportunity to participate in my first of hopefully many Stitch Swaps through the Sewing/ Craft/ and Creative Blogger Group. A Stitch Swap is where you swap fabric with another person and use your creativity to make out of that fabric, which would be sewing or decoupaging. The fun part is that you aren't sure what type of fabric or print you will get. I signed up on Elfster and purchased a yard of fabric to send to a partner. In exchange, I would be sent a yard of fabric from another partner to sew or use in a creative way. I was very excited to receive a package in the mail all the way from Canada from Jess of Gracious Threads In the envelope was a fun creme and black polka dotted fabric. The fun part of this project was deciding what to make with the fabric. Since I love fashion and sewing clothes, I wanted to make a skirt that I could wear at my internship and at my future job position. I decided to make an A-line skirt that went to my knee, so it would be long enough to wear when I start my professional career. I thought it would be neat to design a skirt that had contrasting front pockets and waistband to make it more fun. I went to the fabric store to select a pattern that had pockets and found a black fabric that closely matched with the polka dots. The pattern that I selected is: Simplicity (Pattern #1717)
      I cut out the pattern pieces according to the instructions and started sewing. I sewed the pieces right side to right side, topstitched the waistband, pressed, and hand-stitched the hem. I finished all of the seams using the serger. The pattern gave an interesting way to make the pocket, as you sewed a gathering stitch on the two bottom corners and pulled them up a little to make them rounded. I have never seen this technique done before, but I really liked it. The Stitch Swap was a really neat experience and it allowed me to see the different types of fabric available in other places. I can't wait to see what everyone else had made with their fabric. I think this is a fun idea that I would definitely like to try again. It could be considered eco-friendly if you would trade scraps of fabric or clothing items and have to reconstruct them.

                                                                    The Finished Product!

Thanks to Stephanie for organizing the swap! And, don't forget to check out the
rest of the ladies who have participated in the swap and see what projects they
have created using their surprise fabric! 

Monday July 21st

Stephanie: Swoodson Says

                                                                Jamie: Salutations Louisville 

                                                                Ashley: Sewing Sober

                                                                Kathy: Handmade Dress Haven
           

                                                                      Tuesday July 22nd 

                                                               Tasha: Friends Stitched Together 

                                                               Janelle: Emmaline Bags

                                                               Kim: Sew & Tell with Mama Eggo
                                                               April: Open Sky Creations

                                                                      Wednesday July 23rd
                                                               Amy: Friends Stitched Together

                                                               Danica: The Sewing Sparrow

                                                               Bethany: Two Novembers

                                                               Jessica: The Berry Bunch 

                                                                      Thursday July 24

                                                               Chrissy: Muse of the Morning

                                                               Fenna: Fabulous Home Sewn

                                                               Melissa: Rebel and Malice

                                                               Irene: Sugaridoo

                                                                      Friday July 25

                                                              Jess: Gracious Threads 
                                                              Emily: Tangible Pursuits
                                                              Roxanne: Pensebrox