Christmas came for me very early that night.

I finally settled on a 6-yard Georgette fabric piece. Rich golds, reds, deep purple, emerald green with a color-matching embossed pattern. There was also a small design of loose, gold threads scattered over the main fabric piece. It has a crisp, very lightweight feel to it and I knew it was going to be a pain to sew – who cared!

Later I sat on the floor in the middle of the sewing room grinning like a idiot, with yards of fabric wrapped on and over me. What to do, what to do….  I’d been wanting to make another Keshy jacket, and this would be perfect… but…  let’s play!

I decided to modify the lower front of the pattern with only 1 simple change – but the end result was amazing. Here is the journey with step-by-step photos. Some are quite large to show more detail.

Laying out the prepared front pattern piece for the Keshy jacket.

The pattern piece is cut apart at the dividing line, and seam allowances added to both sides. I use 1/2" seam allowances on all main seams.

Divide the lower front section into three equal parts. Mark it only.

Now cut on the dividing lines up to - but not through the edge of the added seam allowance. Spread the pieces as wide as you like.

Place tracing paper, tissue paper, or pattern drafting media under the pattern and tape all open areas together securely.

Decide on the design, and even up your bottom edge. I didn't want a completely curved edge, so it has a bit sharper angles.

Modified pattern piece has been cut out of that gorgeous fabric and I'm apply a decorate double facing to the front, center section.

The decorative facing on the front 'skirting' - I don't know what else to call it, it looks like a skirt to me

And here's a close up of the edge. I took the piece from another section of the Sari fabric. It was perfect for this placement.

Now for the upper front piece and a different decorative facing. Again, a beautiful panel from the Sari fabric that was tailor made for this usage.

Close up view of the band/facing section attached and the second strip cut and ready for the other front panel.

Here is one of the fronts – both top and skirt attached using a French seam. What I didn’t do – because it really was a design choice for me – was not re-true or straighten the front panels before attaching the front facings and/or band pieces.

The original Keshy jacket has a straight line front, this version as you can see, angles back in after the seam join.

It’s strictly a design choice. I could have straightened it when I opened the ’skirt’, I chose not to. You can choose to! 

Upper and 'skirt' sections of Keshy front attached using a French seam.

Here is the piece of fabric I used to center the back of the jacket on. Did I mention that this Sari fabric was gorgeous?

Added the interfaced, neck facing with the help of my assistant Molly. I used a lightweight fusible tricot for any interfacing.

The front and back joined at the shoulders with a French seam, and the facing tacked into place. All seams were French seams - it's a clean, finished look.

A closeup of the finished shoulder seam and facing placement.

Note: I did not sew the sides together until the last step. Because the front bottom has a separate facing/finish and the back bottom a different one, the sides had to be left to the end.

Bias-cut facing for the bottom of the 'skirt' - pinned with lots and lot of pins to hold everything still for sewing. The fabric slid everywhere!

Another view with my able assistant helping.

Closeup of the front bottom facing on its final stage: pin, sew, remove pins, press, turn, press, pin, sew, remove pins, press. Repeat for other side!

After this I did a simple facing/binding on the sleeve area – or lack of sleeve actually – then finished the side seams. It’s gorgeous!

Here's a full front view of the finished Keshy variation jacket. A completely different look!

Closeup of the front - apologies to cropped out model Sally. Yes my mannequin has a name.

The back with the same edging on the bottom as I used for the 'skirt' center facing.

Up close with the sleeve binding. I didn't bother with any real sleeve, a binding was all that I felt it needed.

Tighter detail of the joined fronts; I added two decorate buttons and a hair elastic to hold the fronts closed.

And that’s it! One simple change – and stunning fabric of course – and we have a completely different look for our Keshy jacket. I really, really, really love to play!

PS: I used mono-filament thread for the entire jacket – I need new glasses now, but it was soooo worth it!

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Here are a few ideas to get you started on different ways to use them.

Most of the presents or little-somethings I give are handmade – and here’s a perfect example. The picture below is a lace bag holding a special blend of potpourri I created. After adding a couple of ribbons to close the bag, I tied on four of the Flutter By colorful charms.

Isn’t it just great looking!  I am so happy with the way it turned out.

A Wedding Favor

For something a bit more elegant, here’s a Wedding favor created for a Maid-of-Honor and Bridesmaids.

The bag was made from a mid-weight silk and I created the outer-lace layer with a very delicate beaded lace panel I’ve been holding on to forever.

A gorgeous satin beaded bag holding a “thank you for being a part of out day” gift, tied with a silk ribbon and embellished with one of the A Wedding Colorful Charms. Simply lovely.

 A Baby Shower Gift from the New Almost Grandma!

As much as I’d like to, I simply cannot take credit for this incredible Diaper Cake!  A good friend spent a weekend creating it for her daughter’s baby shower; it will be her first grandchild.

Nancy used 115 disposable diapers, washcloths, bibs, small stuffed animals, pacifiers, picture frames, ribbons, diaper pins, booties, some of our baby buttons and the Baby Time colorful charms. And she has the nerve to say she isn’t creative! WOW – I was just blown away…. and so was everyone else at the shower.

Fun Pre-Teen Project (actually it’s for anyone)

How about a quick and easy-to-do project for a pre-teen or young teen birthday party or sleep over?

For the necklace I took three different colors of 1/8″ satin ribbon ( you can use 1/16″ too) – cut the lengths at least twice the diameter of your neck; measure to be sure..

Tie one or more of our Ladies Night colorful charms to the ribbon – add knots evenly spaced along the length of the ribbon. Simply tie loosely behind your neck to secure.

To make the earrings we used two colorful charms, two fishhook earwires and two jump rings. Attach one jump ring to each charm; then attached the same jumpring to each fishhook earwire. Close the jump ring.

That’s all it takes!

I bet you can come up with a whole bunch of other ideas on how to use these great embellishment charms…. we’d love to see pictures – email us at emily@wwwearables.com and we’ll add them here!

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All I could think was: HALLOWEEN!

First let me share a picture of a ‘witch’ we helped create using these buttons…. she is just too cute (and one really patient kid too).

Just put the buttons in the sun – or under a lamp – for even as short as 10-minutes and they’ll glow for you. If you keep them in the light for an hour or more, you can expect 5 or 6 hours of glow time. Perfect for trick-or-treating or that Halloween party.

Yes, all us adults are going to use them too!

Glow-in-the-Dark Button Bracelet

I used two packages of the buttons – you can use less or more, completely personal preference – and some round, black elastic.

I cut a piece of the round, black elastic a little more then double my wrist measurement and opened up the two packages of buttons.

Taking one of the buttons in hand, I threaded it on the piece of elastic. It made more sense to me to move it to the middle and work from side-to-side, then starting on one end.

Because I did want this to be the middle point, I stacked two button – the 5/8″ and then the 3/8″ on top of it. Thread the elastic from the bottom of the 5/8″, then through the 3/8″ – back down the other hole in the 3/8″, and the 5/8″.

I scooted them until they’re were pretty much centered. The elastic stretched (well duh, Ann), but the buttons aren’t going to be moving unless you manually drag them along it.

Since this was my starting point – and the middle – I tied a double slip-knot underneath the larger button. Trust me, that knot is not coming out!

With two sizes to play with, I alternated singles, doubles, and both sizes; don’t like the way it looks – just slide the button off the elastic and try again. Child’s play!

Okay, I was pretty happy with the amount of buttons on the elastic here…. and it was a good mix of highs-and-lows for variety too.

It was time for one more double slip-knot. I tied it firmly behind the last large button. This is the only other time I knotted anything. The round elastic is very durable and the buttons weren’t moving once threaded into place.

Clip the ends close to the knot. I daubed on a little Fray-Check: the just because factor. You can use a dot of glue on the knot if you like too.

And here it is being worn – and glowing great!  This is a super fast and easy project that would be perfect for a group of kids to do. No mess, no fuss, inexpensive and fun to do. I think we have a winner….

Glow-in-the-Dark buttons can be found right here.

And in anticipation of Halloween – how about a little Cat Bowling game? No cats were harmed, they were all ‘Spared’!

< Back to Wildly Wonderful Wearables >

Then I saw it – a special body scrubbing loofah. It was made out of some nylon material, long, with handles on each end so you could use it single-handed. I was in love!

Okay, I was in love until I saw the $35 price tag.

When my heart started beating again, I decided that the next stop was the fabric store. Here my “sisters-in-saving-money” is my $2.50 version of a really terrific body loofah: step-by-step.

Your Loofah

I bought two different colors of illusion netting; 72″ wide, 1-1/2 yards each. My completed body bath loofah is 33″ long – plus handles, and 9″ wide. You can make this as long-and-wide as you like of course; I decided to make mine a bit wider then standard.

This would give me enough for 2 complete body loofahs. I used illusion netting because it’s soft and gentle on the skin. Regular netting – unless you’re someone with scales instead of skin – is just too harsh.

Gently press the netting if it’s too crinkled, you’ll have better results and less chasing the ends if they’re nice and smooth.

Cut a piece 4 layers thick by 1 yard (36″) long. Trim the ends so that they’re even; I pinned one side after trimming so that I could safely move it to trim the other size.

Fold under about 1″ on each end – again, I pinned this as I did it, to hold everything together.

Fold your netting in half – along the long edge. As you line the short ends up, you can remove those pins holding under that 1″, and re-pin holding it all together.

Go to your sewing machine and sew – using a 2.5 length straight stitch – 1/8″ from the edge on each long side. Do not sew across the short ends at this time.

Now, sew a single ‘let’s hold everything together’ line down the middle – just eyeball it, you don’t have to measure.

Remove all the pins and put this piece aside for right now, time to work on the handles.

Cut two strips from your illusion netting – 4″ wide and 4 layers thick.

My Helper

I’m pausing to show you my assistant.

This is Molly… Molly the Monster, Molly the Menace, Molly – Mommy’s little darling.

This is the little girl that terrorizes her 13 and 14 pound big-brothers… and who loves to sleep under the covers – purring herself silly – with Mom.

I absolutely adore this little ball of fur.

Fold your handle netting about 1″ in on each long side – and then in half.  In other words, you’re going to end up with a 1″ piece.  Start at the middle and work your way to either end; much simpler to do that way.

Back to the sewing machine, and again sew 1/8″ along each long side.  When you’re done, trim the handle to a length of 12″.

Slip the ends of the handle into the short sides of your loofah base. Put them in about 1″ – and as far to each long side as you can!  Pin the short end closed now.

Sew an 1/8″ from the edge, down the sides about 1″ – across the base, back up the side. Go back and reinforce the handle area and across the top. No rules, just make sure it’s all secure.

I added two diagonal rows of stitching down the length of the body loofah – again just to make sure all the layer’s behave themselves.

That’s all it takes: $2.50 and about 1-hour of your time! It’s strong, customizable (length, width, color), washable, dries fast, and you can make a bunch as gifts too.

And people actually wonder why we sew….

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Your Mitten

Trace around your hand on tissue or tracing paper. Add at least an extra 1″ all the way around your hand when you do this. I use paper when need to trace or transfer markings. You can get it on a roll very cheaply and it lasts forever.

Pin your pattern to at least 8-layers of illusion netting. This will give you 4-layers per side for your mitten.

Set your sewing machine for a 2.5 straight stitch, and sew along your traced pattern line through the netting. Take a couple of extra stitches at the junction of the thumb so that it’s not a V – more like a U-shape; it will lay nicer this way when you turn it.

Tear off all the tracing paper; the close straight-stitches will make it easy to remove.

Trim your edge to 1/4″ to 3/8″ wide – trim carefully at the V/U of the thumb area.

Clip the V/U at the thumb junction, and turn the mitten right side out. Pin all round to hold the mitten flat.

Sew about 1/8″ all round the outside edge of the mitten.  (Yes that is one of those Plexiglas sewing tables. They’re from DreamWorld – I’ve had four custom tables for my different sewing machines; I can’t imagine not using one, they’re that terrific).

After you’ve clipped threads and removed all the pins, we’ll finish the bottom edge. Turn up the open end about 1/2″, and pin securely. I used a 3.5 width x 1.5 length zig-zag stitch to sew this turned-under edge into place. You might want to run a simple straight stitch along this open end before turning it under if you’re having problems with the different layers of illusion netting behaving themselves.

TA-DA!  One handy-dandy mitten loofah custom made just for you – by you.  Just like the body loofah, the mitten is gentle, dries fast and is fully washable. You might want to add a loop to it for hanging…. you’re bound to have a little netting left over!

< Back to Wildly Wonderful Wearables >

I know a lot of folks that have the exact same reaction – usually followed by a good case of panic for the upcoming holiday season. I can relate.

Last year we started creating fast-to-make Free Holiday Ornament patterns to download in PDF format. The original series was Cats and Dogs, and since then we’ve added All Baby Things and Hope and Remembrance.

Make them out of fleece or have the kids do them from felt! Nice and quirky – they’re going to make you smile.

A few weeks ago while paying bills I realized it was getting on that time of year again. I know their’s a correlation between those two items… anyway, I wanted something that could make up fast, didn’t cost an arm-and-a-leg, and still look good.

I don’t want much do I?

Well it took a bit, but I figured it out. If you’ve opened a catalogue lately, you’re going to see Wine Glass Charms staring at you – pricey Wine Glass Charms.

I think they’re great… especially when I realized I had everything I needed to really personalize them. Well Duh Ann! Glad you woke up kiddo.

We’d already put together 13 different sets of themed Pewter Charms and had them on the Wearables site, and I’m discovering more I’ve just ‘got to have’ all the time. (If there’s some theme we haven’t created yet, but you’d really like, let us know) These are perfect to use for Wine Glass Charms.

All I needed to do was get the rest of the components and write up some instructions. I could so do that!

I ended up putting together kits for sets of 6 Wine Glass Charms; with extra split rings and 24 extra crystal glass beads. You didn’t think I was going to use acrylic did you? Not a chance. All you need to do is add your favorite charms.

Quick, easy, and inexpensive – I think we have a winner here. Besides, I’ve already made 24; I’m on a roll.

PS: You can learn all about them if you just Click Here.

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For instance, right now Miss Molly is laying in front of both monitors (she’s long) with her paws bouncing on the keyboard. At least I got her to finally lay down – she makes a much better door then a window.

Or how about Ecceles and the stairs. I swear when he stretches out he’s well over three-feet long – that means not only does he fill the entire stair, he drapes partway over the one below.

No of course he doesn’t move! You get to step over him; never been owned by a cat have you?

Then there’s Leo the tabby. Leo is partially deaf, that means he’s LOUD. He is also fearless (except where his sister is concerned, then he does his best to get out of her way) and thinks riding on the carpet cleaner is a great way to travel.

Dinner time, when they get the good wet cat food, has the boys sharing a big dish and Molly a foot way with her own bowl. Good heavens that girl can eat! And how do they manage to purr while they’re eating anyway?

All this leads up to our presenting the newest pattern: Milk Time! in honor of our fur-kids.

It’s simple machine applique’ (satin stitch) and works up very quickly. Finished size is 25″ x 21″. Though I have to admit, I’m not sure the kids would go along with the mouse sharing their food…

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