Serged ribbon roses

I made ribbon roses today that I might make into hair barrettes for my girls. I just need to get some tiny clips to attach them to. I always have long scraps of fabric leftover from various projects I make. I knew someday I would get brave enough to try something new.

Today I serged some of the fabric strips into long ribbons. I used a three thread rolled hem on the serger with woolly nylon overlock thread for a smooth beautiful sharp looking edge.




From the serged fabric ribbons, I made a fancy ribbon rose. I am obsessed with figuring out how to make fabric flowers right now. A serger definitely makes this very possible and fun. Apparently it is an addiction that I cannot seem to shake. So, above is my first official fancy ribbon rose.




Then, I thought I have an extra strip of this sheer vibrant purple leftover from a ring scarf I made today and you guessed it. I serged another fabric ribbon and turned it into a rose too.

I just might have to dig through all my scraps and make more of these fun little ribbon fabric flowers.

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Beach cover-up or fancy tunic style blouse

Front view with gathered fancy belt















Back view

I rarely sew anything for myself. I don't have much time to make things for me. I just love making stuff for other people but this one I just might have to keep.

My mom brought me a great suggestion of making beautiful beach cover-ups. Rather than wearing a terry-cloth towel cover-up at the beach, that let's face it looks flattering on nobody, I could design a beautiful beach cover-up.

After a couple different trials I have come up with a favorite.

I serged this entire cover-up on the serger except for attaching the casing for the fancy belt. I had to use the sewing machine because my serger does not have a cover-stitch setting.  I suppose I could have flat-locked it but I really haven't practiced that technique enough to try it on this fabric yet.

However, I had a lot of fun making this cover-up because I taught myself a new technique on my serger that may appear on future projects.

I used a three thread rolled hem on the scarf type fabric because it seems to work well. The big difference on this was I wanted to give the edges of the fabric "body" to look more luxurious. Illustrated in the arm and around the bottom hem the fabric looks like it "stands out" a bit and ripples in and out. I won't share my secret but I love the texture it gives for a new look.  Otherwise this delicate fabric would just hang.

My husband looked at this last night while I was sealing the seams with Fray check and said, "Uh, do you realize that it is see-through? It is pretty, but what is it?"

I laughed and replied, "a cover-up."

What do you think?

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