This past weeekend I was inspired by this dress at Ruffles & Stuff. And I had a cream-colored t-shirt of my daughter's that for the life of me I could not get the stains out on the front of the shirt towards the bottom. I liked the shirt, it had sequins spelling out "semi-sweet" and was a soft long-sleeve.
I also had a lot of cupcake material leftover from a birthday banner I made for her last party. (Why did I have so much extra? Because an uncrafty person like me is incapable of correctly estimating the amount of material she'll need for a project!)
So with my inspiration, I got out my sewing machine, breathed a sigh of relief that there was still thread on the bobbin because winding new thread on is probably out of my league, sent my 2 little kids for a nap and my oldest to play at a friend's house.
Then I followed this tutorial from my friend The Internet who also doubles as my sewing instructor and turned the stained t-shirt and extra material into this dress for my daughter:
It looks pretty much okay on the outside and I think it won't fall apart when she wears it (the test will come tomorrow when she wears it to school), so I consider it a huge sewing success!But if you turn the dress inside out and look at the seam holding the t-shirt part to the cupcake skirt part you'll see this . . .
Count them up -- 5 attempts at sewing those babies together! Five extremely wavy stitches, some of which start and stop!But the outside of the dress looks mostly fine. You wouldn't really guess what was underneath, would you?
This messy process reminds me of a Bible verse I love, "And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:18
When God is working to create something beautiful in our lives the process is often long, hard, and not fun. There may be stops and starts, redos, even, as He sews the fabric of our lives together. But if we hang in there and let Him work, He'll transform us into something more beautiful than we could ever imagine -- His likeness!
This post is part of the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.
Check out Gratituesday, Tuesdays Unwrapped, and Tackle it Tuesday and Try and Tell.
I think it turned out great!!!! Great post....Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI hope I turn out HALF as good when God is done with me! That's DARLING and you did a great job. I wouldn't have wanted to lose that shirt either and you repurposed it beautifully! I made a few dresses for Bo when she was tiny but the didn't have sleeves. I finally decided to try sleeves one day and ended up throwing the whole mess in the garbage. Thus ended my sewing career. I'm good for a few straight stitches but use my machine so rarely, I always have to look at the instructions! Bobbins? I have to look TWICE!
ReplyDeleteLoved your inspiration!!!
You did a really good job.
ReplyDeleteAMEN!! Loved your comparison to that verse. Reminds me of a poem.
ReplyDeleteThe Weaver
My Life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.
Not 'til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
Who choose to walk with Him. (Grant Colfax Tullar)
Have a good day!
That is precious - great job!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful tackle!!
ReplyDeleteI think it not only looks adorable, it was a BRILLANT idea. You not only saved the shirt, but created a one of a kind sweet little dress. Your analogy was even better. And soo true. Have a wonderful day. Debbie
ReplyDeleteWhat a FANTASTIC IDEA!!!! i can't wait to try that one!
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with anyone who even knows how to turn on a sewing machine -- in fact, anyone who even owns a sewing machine! Nice work! And I love the Bible verse, too.
ReplyDeleteYour dress is adorable, and I love the lesson you learned from it! :)
ReplyDeleteOh I wish I could sew, even a little bit. I think it is a beautiful dress and I bet your daughter loves it. Thanks for the great post.
ReplyDeleteI think that is adorable and no one is going to look at the underside but you! Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI can't even sew at all, so I think you did great - that was a very creative way to save a shirt and use extra material - very cute. I like your analogy too to how God works in our lives. It's ringing true in my life right now. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteHey, it would have taken me ten swipes. It's a very sweet dress.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful words and girl, I can't even sew a button...good job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I think it looks super-de-dooper cute! I love projects made out of things you aready have and your analogy is right on the money! I hope your daughter enjoys this 'new creation'! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute idea! Finally something I can do with all those stained shirts that I am going to treat someday.
ReplyDeleteThat's really cute. I do know how to sew, just don't do it much anymore. I never would have thought to do that-duh. It's such a no brainer now that I see it, but I would have just thrown out the stained t-shirt. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThe dress is so cute, and how great that you found one of God's lessons for you in the making of it. :)
ReplyDeleteso cute! and no one is going to look at the inside :) hope it holds together for you!!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome!! And how amazingly motivational of you!! I am impressed by the dress (and totally going through my daughters closet tomorrow to see which shirts I can turn into dresses) and rather humbled by the parallel.
ReplyDeletePratice makes perfect I always say. I think it turned out cute. Nobody is going to see the inside anyway. Don't be so hard on yourself. Sounds like you had fun.
ReplyDeleteDon't even begin to call yourself uncrafty! I wouldn't know the front from the back of a sewing machine. I think the dress is perfectly imperfect, and it gave you the opportunity to connect with God in a way you might not have anticipated today :)
ReplyDeleteOh, SO cute!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a cute top. You keep saying you are not crafty, but I distinctly see very cute, very crafty things. You have a soft, crafty center. lol.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for linking up.
the dress is very cute and love how you cordinated the verse into your post
ReplyDeleteI love the cupcake print and let's just say if I tried that it would have way more than 5 attempts at getting it sewn together! :) Looks awesome! I love ruffles and stuff, too!
ReplyDelete