A few things

One of my goals this year is to improve my sewing skills. I have been sewing more from patterns lately as well as learning better alteration techniques for ready-to-wear clothes. As I have learned more I have been able to duplicate a few things that I have seen online but could never bring myself to spend the money on. And since we are on a definite tight budget these days, sewing and altering my own clothes has saved lots of money while still allowing me to get some new things. 

The first big project was inspired by this dress:

Dress seen on Corilynn

I loved it, but priced at $145, it was just too much. 

So, I found a similar pattern and fabric and made my own:

Not a perfect match, but for my first time making something like this, I think it turned out pretty well (also note that I am not a model nor a photographer, plus Luke likes to be in the pictures too).

Next, I saw this dress (also inspired by a more expensive ready-to-wear dress):

Dress seen on Merricks Art

 I decided I could use my same pattern from above, tweak it a little and make it my own.

Here was the outcome:

I have learned so much from working on these projects, and it has really improved my sewing skills. 

I'm looking forward to doing more in the future, and will be posting pictures soon of some alterations I made to a $4 thrift store find. 

Until then, happy sewing!