Vanilla Threads and Sage

Thursday, August 21, 2014

I joined a Boot Camp!

Okay, I'm in desperate need to lose some weight. I want to lose 40 pounds!!
So, to do that-I joined a Boot Camp via Group On....and well, let's just say, my first workout KICKED MY BUTT!
I know Boot Camps are ridiculously expensive, so that's why I'm trying my first initial SIX WEEKS for less than $60. The catch is: after the six weeks, I CAN NOT use another Group On for 6 Months.
Anyway, if you're like me and don't want to shell out $200 + dollars for the first month-I highly recommend going to http://www.groupon.com/ to see what's available in your area.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

DIY Leotard Tutorial

First, get all your sewing goodies together.

favorite leotard pattern
thread (all purpose)
elastic (as specified by the pattern)

Find the size you want to make for your child. Measure their torso for a good fitting leotard. That is the most important decision to make. I never go by the age of the child, since all children have different length torso’s. As you see, I have all my pieces cut: front/back leotard, and sleeves.

Next, to make a long sleeve leotard, sew the front/back leotard shoulders together with a zig-zag stitch or with your Serger/Overlocker. Remove the pins before they go under the foot or else you can damage your machine.

Take the long sleeves and find the center of the sleeve cap. Mark it somehow (fabric pen, pencil etc,.) I chose to cut a very tiny,tiny slit. Try not to cut to big. Pin the sleeves to the armhole of the leotard. This pattern did not have a front and back sleeve, so I easily pinned my sleeve and pinned my center sleeve (cut mark) where the shoulder seems are. Now, zig zag your shoulder sleeves onto the armholes.

To make a Sleeve Hem, baste the desired hem length required by the pattern. I’m using a 3/4” hem. I set my straight stitch at it’s largest stitch length. Just easy stitch across the sleeve, where the hem length will be. Do not safety stitch, since you’ll be pulling these threads out after you zig zag the final hem. Now, use the basting stitch as a guide and fold over the hem, pin, and finish with a final zig zag stitch.

Pin the sleeves together, and front/back of the leotard, and finally the crotch bottom. Now zig zag starting from the wrist, and go all the way to the hip and finish off . Sew the bottom together.

Attach your elastics and pin evenly.

Zig zag the elastics onto the leotard. Once you have them all basted on, flip over the elastic and finalize the with a zig zag top stitch. I chose a 2.5” zig zag.

Finished leotard!!!

If you have any questions , feel free to ask me a question.
-Ruthanne-

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

DIY sew a leotard Demo coming soon!!

I make dance costumes and cheer uniforms for friends and family all the time. My daughters wear the spanks, or gym shorts -aka cheer shorts at home all the time.They have so many. I should really have a yard sale for the retired shorts they don't wear :))

All that hard work for their shorts to just sit in a drawer.

Come back for the DIY sew a leotard in a few. I'll have a give-a-way for my samples AS IS. First we need to find some more followers before I start handing out my hard work. Send your friends and family over to come follow.....

In the mean time, stay tuned for the DIY leotard in SHINY Lycra

-Ruthanne-

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Morning Walk with my dogs...

Okay, so I'm trying to lose weight. LOTS of weight. While I'm burning off that one piece of bacon I had for breakfast, I'm picking up poo-poo (crap, s**t) my 4 legged's decided to leave. All in all, I feel good about exercising and so do my 4 legged's!

I see these Beautiful Hot Pink Luscious Flowers on tree's all the time here in California. It's like they grow wild or something-just kidding-we know they don't grow wild. I'm sure someone will tell me what this beautiful tree is....