Thank you so much, for having me here today! I think this is such a fabulous idea for a sewing series, and I'm so happy to be participating.

The best part about doing "Make for Mom", is that it actually forced me to slow down and make something for my mom. I'm often so busy with kids and life that my mom usually gets some flowers and something store-bought for Mother's Day. There's nothing wrong with store-bought, I know. But giving her something handmade seems so much better. I like to think of it this way:

My mom has been making for me my entire life. She makes time for me. She makes room for me. She makes food for my family, makes reservations, makes phone calls, makes plans, makes long drives, she makes makes makes all the time because she loves me. Surely all her making deserves at least one little hand-made coin purse in response?

So I made her this little number in some of my favorite colors, because I know she shares my love of coral and teal. She's always on the go, often in need of change or a lip-stick redo, and now those little things don't need to get lost in her big bag. She lives a whole state away from us, up in Oregon, and I like to think that although I can't go walking with her in the mornings, this little coin purse can.

If you're interested in making a metal frame clutch, or coin purse, check out the FREE pattern on my blog. I also offer a tutorial on how to make a pattern from any metal frame, so no need to worry if you don't have access to the same kind of hardware I use.

For this coin purse, I thought it would be fun to mix things up a little bit, so I added some pleats! I'm working on a picture tutorial for this variation right now, and it should be coming out soon.



Pretty fun, huh?

The outer fabric is a home dec weight by Premier Prints, but I can't for the life of my find the link for you. I purchased it from Fabric.com, where they sell a large range of Premier Prints fabrics.



I purchased the hardware from this shop on Etsy and I la-la-love this particular frame. That blue? Oh, I adore it! I wish it was candy so I could take a bite.


I'm working on a picture tutorial for this pleated coin purse that should be up sometime later this week. Keep checking back at my blog, CailaMade, to see when it's up. Or better yet, follow my Facebook page for current updates on tutorials and other blog happenings!



In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me and my lovely momma, with my daughter Abby. Three generations of blonds:



Thank you so much for reading, friends! Come on over to my blog sometime and leave me a line. I love to receive comments and emails, and always respond to each one! Love to you all, and happy Mothers'-Month!

G'day! I'm Ari from Max California! I rarely sew for myself these days, it is faster and easier to sew for Vince & Eddie, so I was a bit excited when I was invited to participate in their Make for Mom celebration! I decided to write a tutorial for a dress I made myself 2 years ago. I am a big fan of cutting up oversized tees and making them cute and wearable, and I often snag the $10 shirts from places like ShirtWoot and TeeFury  IE lots of geeky shirts, so today I am going to show you how to turn two shirts in to this!
Alright so you are clearly going to need two shirts. One a shirt that fits you pretty well and the second can be anything you want, as long as it isn't smaller than the first tee. I used an over-sized tee I bought from Ript Apparel. {It's a nod to Han Solo's quote in Star Wars: A New Hope: "You've never heard of the Millenium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!"} Turn your first shirt {let's call this the main shirt} inside out and find the centre front. I marked mine with a pin. I used a pencil and drew a sweetheart neckline shape on one half of the shirt.
Fold the shirt in half and cut one cm above that line {you can eyeball it or trace the seam allowance first if you need to!}. When you get to the armpit, cut a straight line across the back of the shirt. You're going to be keeping the top half of the shirt for the dress, but the bottom half will become a pattern for the second piece.
Grab your second shirt. A graphic tee works excellent for this, but you can do a different coloured tee and have a cute colour-blocking effect going on. Fold the tee in half.
Place the lower section of the main tee over your second tee. Cut along the top of the shirt, leaving 1cm for seam allowance. Cut down the side of the shirt leaving 1cm for seam allowance. I kept the existing length of the second tee for a tunic-dress.
Do the same for the back piece - which is basically a big rectangle.
Right sides together, stitch the second shirt together at the sides.
Now here is the fun and tricky part! Place the main shirt inside the second shirt, right sides together. Pin the back pieces together first, matching side-seams.
Pin the centre fronts together. You can't see it very well in the below photo {Sorry!} but the centre of the white tee does jut up past the dip of the black tee.
Pin the centre of the curves together. This part is tricky because the white tee will dip while the black tee rises up but just go with it.
Now pin everywhere in between. Trust me, the more you pin this section the easier it will be!
If your machine has this stretch-knit stitch {#3}, flick it to that. Otherwise a regular zig-zag stitch will be fine :). Stitch around the shirt, attaching the white and the black tees together. It gets a little trickier around the centre front, so if you are having trouble, switch your machine to the straight stitch {regular stitch} and do like three cm before and after the dip with that.
Flip it the right way out, iron it, and then topstitch the seam with a zigzag stitch to keep it nice and flat looking.

I'm very excited to be here! So many wonderful things have been shared, and I know many more are to come!

I'm Maegen, and I blog over at Foster Ramblings. I'm the mother of one crazy almost two-year-old, and someone who has never sewn for herself. I sew all the time for a little girl I do not have, and for my son, Mack, but sewing for myself is something I have always shied away from. I accepted the invitation from the Shaffer Sisters knowing there would be no way out, and that I'd finally have to step up to the challenge of making something for myself.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember me mentioning that I had received some happy mail from my mom a few weeks ago. Some John Deer flannel to make jammies for Mack, a darling little boy knit that's been passed down for three generations now (waiting for the perfect project), my all-time favorite movie The Secret Garden, and a few other bits of fabric. Included in the package was about 3 yards of this sheer coraly/peachy white dotted fabric. I saw it and it just screamed SKIRT (or sundress).


I think it turned out pretty adorable. And I love the way it looks with my favorite cardigan. Ignore how awkward I look, I really don't love having my picture taken.

I had originally wanted to make it a high-waisted skirt, to wear over a white t-shirt. But as I got close to finishing it, and tried it on, I realized that I wasn't going to look especially good in something high-waisted, seeing as I have a pretty short torso. And when I realized I had forgotten to taper the band to fit my body I decided to completely scrap that idea, and folded the band in half. I haven't sewn it in place yet, because that will require removing the zipper. Something I will get around to doing, because I made a huge mistake a bought a 9 inch zipper for a skirt which really only needed like a 4 inch zipper. Extra work. But someday I'll get it done, and it will be awesome. And for now I really don't mind wearing the skirt as-is, with the band folded down.

The skirt is very comfortable. I'm still wearing it while I write this. Because the material was so sheer, I bought white fabric for lining. 100% polyester so it flows pretty well and won't wrinkle. For the outer layers of the skirt I simply folded the fabric in half, gathered it, and sewed it on the band. So there are two layers of the peachy fabric, and I really like the way it looks. My biggest secret about the skirt is that I didn't bother to hem the outer fabric, I just left the salvage edge the way it was. It really looks nice, and I was glad to not put forth the extra effort that hemming requires.


As the first thing I've ever made for myself, I'm actually very pleased. And now that I've had some success without a pattern, maybe I'll be brave enough to tackle some of those fantastic costume patterns I've been hoarding, and make myself a civil war era dress (complete with underwear and hoopskirt).

I want to say thanks to the Shaffer Sisters for having me, and for understanding that being a mom gets crazy. So many things happen in our lives that can get in the way of taking time for ourselves. We cut deadlines close, and sometimes (like my sister-in-law) we realize we haven't been to get our hair cut in 15 months! I'd like to encourage all the other mothers out there to go ahead and take the time to make something for yourself. I can be every bit as rewarding as making something for your sweet little one. I'll confess that I have a huge pile of dishes waiting to be washed, clothes sitting unfolded in the dryer, and a bedroom I'd be ashamed to let my mother in. But I took the time to put on make-up and fix my hair today, and I really feel great wearing my cute new outfit.

Vanessa is someone that I really look up to in the blogging community she shares her talents and her testimony of Christ. She has such an inspiring blog. 
I ran into Vanessa through Project Run and Play last fall but was tickled when her sewing resolution was to "boost her wardrobe" by making clothes for herself.

Her spring collection was the first seed planted in my mind for the Make for Mom Series. I am excited that she is joining us here today.


Hi! I'm Vanessa and I blog at Designs By Sessa - my little blog heaven where I blog about sewing and my love for Jesus! I'm so thankful to be here today on The Shaffer Sister's blog! They are such sweet gals and I'm excited that they asked me to be a part of Make for Mom Series! I love being a mom to a sweet little boy, and I love my mom(s) in my life and I'm excited to share a sweet little project today perfect for any mom in your life! Of course, this could be great for anyone wanting some comfy PJ pants, as well! If you use vintage or well-loved sheets, they feel SO so comfy!
I'm definitely NOT the first person to think of sheet pj pants, but making a mommy & daughter matching set.... TOO CUTE FOR WORDS!!!
I actually made these for my sister-in-law and my niece for my SIL's birthday! I knew Hannah would LOVE comfy PJ pants and being tall, she often has a hard time finding pj pants long enough. Using the wide upper hem of a (vintage) sheet, you can get a neat wide bottom hem, and these come together SO fast, especially if you have a serger where you can sew and finish your seams at once!
Hannah was ecstatic finding these pjs in the box (what she didn't know was that underneath some tissue paper, I had hidden the smaller version for her daughter)!
 She loved them so much, she put them right on to try them out! Then, discovered Naomi's PJ pants!
It feels amazing to give gifts moms love! See the thing is, as moms, we often don't buy ourselves new pjs. We buy the kids cute pjs, and even the husbands, but often forget ourselves! All you need to make a matching set is 1 vintage (or other) sheet, the softer the sheet, the more luxurious the pjs turn out AND some elastic for the waist. I used 1'' non-roll elastic for Naomi and 2'' wide elastic for Hannah's pjs. 
Since Hannah and I are about the same size, I used some of my favorite pj pants as a guide, giving myself a good 1 inch seam allowance on either. Literally, I folded them in half and cut around them, giving myself a few extra inches at the waist line, too. Then, I folded them so the inside was facing out and in half and did the same thing to get my front pieces.
I then put each back pieces, then front pieces, right sides together and serged them down the crotch. Putting the front and back pieces together, you match up the side seams of the legs and serge those, making sure to match your bottom wide hem. Lastly I serged from one ankle up to the crotch and down the other side almost completing my pants, except for the elastic waist band. I often serge around the waist-line edge, before inserting the waistline elastic casing.
I also like to use rograin ribbon for my labels on my clothes to tell the back of the pant. Helpful, right!?
Fold your waist line down with enough room to put your elastic through. Sew around leaving a 2'' opening.
Safety pin + elastic at your measurement = feed through your 2'' opening!
Overlap your elastic and stitch together, making sure your elastic didn't roll around. Then, close up your 2'' opening with a straight stitch!
Repeat for your 2nd pair, but smaller measurements, of course!
And lastly, all I can say is that as moms making things for yourself is important! So DO IT! Here are a few of the things I've already sewing for myself this year!
I love to sew for myself! My son Cai is 2.5 and I've found out he doesn't always like what I sew him... SO... I often sew for myself, and find that as I grow in my sewing knowledge, I feel more and more like a Proverbs 31 woman reflecting God's glory! I pray that you too will reflect God's glory in your sewing and get out in front of that camera some! Having a sweet confidence is a good thing and that you are clothed and put together somewhat always helps my daily attitude, just remember that it isn't about the material blessings in the end and shouldn't be daily getting ready, above all else put on love! You can never go wrong with that! Thanks for having me girls! Y'all are great! Please visit Designs By Sessa soon and say HI!

Hi everyone! It's me, Shannon, from LittleKidsGrow.com. Thank you so much for having me!

I don't have a lot of extra time to sew for myself these days, so when I am able to carve out a bit of "me time", I try to make sure it counts. I made a commitment to myself earlier this year to start doing more things for me. Moms know how easy it can be to put ourselves on the back burner when we have precious little ones in our view. So, anytime we are able to do something that makes us feel good, is a great day in my book!
Before I started, I had to first figure out what I needed. My closet is really pitiful right now, so I was basically starting from scratch. (Ha! Ha!) I knew I needed easy workable pieces for a busy lifestyle, something that I could mix and match with items already in my wardrobe. I started with the fabric. So, what do you make with pink stretchy denim? You make a puzzle skirt, of course! I started with a self-drafted straight skirt pattern. I cut out rectangular pieces of denim. I then began to piece then together, alternating fabric sides for color contrast. Once I had the fabric pieced together and sewn up, I folded it on the bias and cut out the front skirt piece. The back skirt piece was cut from a single layer of fabric in two pieces so I could add a hemline slit. Once the front and back were sewn together, I added a simple fold over waistband, and I was all done! (Yay!).

The top, on the other hand, was a teeny bit of a challenge. I wanted something I could dress up, throw on with a pair of old jeans, or wear underneath a cardigan without too much bulkiness. I knew I wanted something form fitting, but not quite sure, what it would look like. I sketched an idea on paper, grabbed my dress form, and started playing around with some ideas.
I eventually came up with something that I love. A semi-wrap-fold over- origami, ummm top, that buttoned up the back. The final top looked nothing like my original idea, but I love that part of designing -- expecting the unexpected. Shaffer Sisters, you are absolutely the best for having me today. Thank you for the motivation to sit down and make something for myself. Happy Day! Shannon LittleKidsGrow

I'm Ajaire from Call Ajaire and first of all I'm excited to be a part of this great series.  I'm a big Shaffer Sisters fan and am honored to be included as an honorary "sister" today.

When I was thinking of what I would "Make for Mom" I decided to go through my closet and find something I don't wear anymore and make it wearable.  Lets be honest, now that I am a mom there are a few items in there that my child-bearing hips are not meant to wear, hehe.


One of which is this old polo shirt dress.  I'm still happy with the look of a polo shirt on my body shape, but the bottom half of the dress is rife with issue.  The length is too short, there is pulling in between the snaps from the bust down, and the shape is completely unflattering.  This was a perfect candidate for a remake.


I started out by deciding how high up I wanted to cut the bodice.  Then I just drew a chalk line and used my rotary cutter to cut between the snaps.


To fix the gapping between the snaps I decided which was the last snap down that I would use and sewed the sides shut below that point following the pink lines on the cut bodice in the above picture.


Since I wanted a more flowy skirt I went for this poly blend I found at JoAnn Fabrics.  There is a tiny strip of silver metallic thread in between the stripes, so in person it is a lot less "Ernie" from Sesame Street, hehe.


I turned the fabric to the bias (diagonal stripes in this case) so the drape would be better for my shape.  In order to decide how wide to cut the skirt waist, I measured on either side of the width of the polo bodice (in the picture above, you can see that I hadn't cut the skirt off the polo yet) and added a bit for seam allowance.


This was all sort of on the fly, so I don't have exact measurements.  The good thing about this type of fabric however, is that it is so forgiving once it's sewn together with the way it drapes that I've found being exact isn't so necessary.  I simply cut a sort of wide A-Line shape from the top of the waist down to a maxi length on one side.  I don't have a picture of the next step, but I just folded over the cut side at the center point of the waist measurement, and used that shape to cut the same angle on the other side. 


In order to get the shape I was looking for, I thought adding a gore at each side seam would do the trick.  So I simply cut two long triangles from the leftover bias fabric.  The only thing I thought about was that the length should be roughly the length of the skirt panels I'd already cut AND that the top of the triangle should come to a narrow point (the bottom right hand corner in the above picture) since I didn't want to add any width at the waist which is where I would insert the gore.  Again, I didn't use a lot of precision since I wanted this dress to be casual and I knew this fabric is forgiving.

I don't have any pictures of the next few steps since I was trying to get it sewn quickly while my daughter was napping, but here's a quick rundown.  I used my serger for all the seams, but you could use a stretch stitch on your regular machine. 

I unpicked the seam on both sides of the polo bodice about two inches from the bottom so that I could attach the skirt.  Then sewed the back bodice to the back skirt panel with right sides facing.  Then did the same for the front bodice and skirt panel.  At this point I tried it on to make sure the fit would be correct with the length of the bodice and to be sure I wanted to include the gores.  The side seams weren't sewn yet, but I could still approximate the fit.  Then I sewed one gore to each side of the front skirt panel, starting with the tip at the new seam where the bodice and skirt meet.  Then I matched the other side of each gore up with the corresponding back skirt panel and pinned.  Starting at the point on the bodice where I had pulled the stitching I sewed the final seams, closing the bodice seam opening as well.


This is the back of the final dress.  You can see that I haven't finished the hem yet.  Since it's a knit, it won't fray so I could leave it as is, but I'll probably do a simple roll over hem or something like that.  I'm having trouble deciding so I'll leave it as is for now.


And here is the front.  If I had taken more care, I could have made the gores have a different stripey shape, but you'll see that once it's on my body and the skirt is draped that it doesn't really make a difference.


It's hard to show in a picture just how flowy the skirt is with the help of those gores.  The dress is very comfortable to wear and a huge step up from the original.


I'm really happy with this Polo Dress Redo.  I think it'll be great for the casual BBQs and birthday parties that abound this May.  Thank you Shaffer Sisters for having me and giving me the push I needed to make something for myself!