Tag: Crafts

Pinwheel Dress – Part 1

I’ve started piecing together Anya’s Pinwheel Dress — all of the pieces are cut out, and the strips for the bias tape are sewn together. I’ve got one of the bias strips folded and pressed too — so I was able to affix it to the bottom of the dress layer. Right now, the flounce at the bottom and the bias tape are pinned on so I could visualize the dress. I wanted a really simple white dress with a dark colored bias binding. The binding is a marbled maroon fabric, although that detail is completely lost in the photos. I don’t know that the marbling comes across well in person either – we’ll see.

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This is the hemline – both the dress and tunic have a similar hemline. When worn together, they create a two layer flounce.

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Here’s a view of the trim with a little better lighting – it’s a maroon fabric with a marbled design on it.

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New Dress Projects

I’ve got two more dress projects starting — one is in the “picking fabrics and such” stage, the other is almost ready to be sewn.

First the picking fabrics one — this is another pattern from the Simple Life Pattern Company (who published the pattern for the V-back dresses I just finished). There are two looks that I like for this dress – one is two contrasting solid color fabrics. The other uses two patterned fabrics. I’m leaning toward the two pattern look … thought it might be a little more “fun” that way.

The second is a pattern from Oliver & S that I purchased almost two years ago. And promptly discovered that my sewing skills needed quite a bit of improvement. I’ve now managed to do all of the skills in the dress … so hoping it’ll turn out nicely. I got a white linen fabric for the dress and a marbled maroon for the bias strips.

Aisha’s Dress – Finished!

I’ve finished Aisha’s dress — so we now have two completed summer dresses (just in time for the mid-February blizzards, evidently). Not much difference from before – it was pinned at the waist, and now it is stitched. I tried the top-stitching as written in the pattern (basically another line of stitching through both the skirt and the lining, maybe 1/4″ under the waist seam). I didn’t like it – it looked a little off, and it drastically impacted the drape of the fabric. I serged the hem on both dresses and like the finished look a lot better. Serging in a circle is *not* something I do well – but since the seam is sandwiched between the skirt and lining fabrics … not like anyone sees the occasional overhang on the wrapping threads.

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I really like the rolled edge hem here – I found out that a nicer hem was produced on the lower end of the suggested thread tensions. Surprised me quite a bit – I thought the higher tension would make more of a roll.

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And here’s the less V’d back detail – not a huge difference from Anya’s deep V, but a little bit of a different look. I really like all of the options this pattern provides. Mom purchased the add-on pattern to put sleeves on this dress too – not sure that I’d want to wear an open-backed dress in weather cold enough to warrant long sleeves … but the back is pretty easily modified to something with a zipper or buttons.

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Aisha’s Dress – Part 2

I’ve got the rolled edge hem completed, and the sleeves are attached to the top:

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I’ve also got the circle skirt hemmed (what a difference pressing the folds makes – my first circle skirt was OK … but the bottom hedge was certainly uneven. I now make the first fold, press, make the second fold, press, then stitch. The result is a nice even hemline).

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To give my mom an idea of what her finished dress will look like, I pinned the top and bottom together. And we almost have two dresses!

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Aisha’s back is not as deeply V’d as Anya’s – two different options from the dress pattern.

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Aisha’s Dress

Now that I’ve (a) used my serger a few times … including my first two rolled hems! and (b) made the V-back dress once, I am ready to start Aisha’s dress.

I’ve got the front and back pieces sewn together. The lining and the main fabric were lined up and sewn along the neckline and V back.

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I’m about to do the rolled hem on the sleeves —

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Anya’s Easter Dress

My mom asked me if I’d make a dress for Aisha – she’d buy the pattern and fabric, and I’d provide the labor. It is a really cute pattern, and the size range is incredible. The dress pattern for Aisha’s size 7 dress includes the size 4 that I use for Anya. I figured I’d make the same dress in a different fabric for Anya’s Easter dress to give me some practice using the pattern (and my new serger!!!) before making something to give away.

Looking at the pattern web page, I really liked one of the fabrics pictured. I e-mailed their contact address and immediately was provided a link to the fabric. Bonus, it is on clearance. I looked at the “how much fabric do I need” chart and worked out how much fabric I’d need — rounded up because it’s a fairly large print, and I wanted to have enough fabric to ensure I could get flowers and butterflies visible on the dress.

I printed the pattern — each size is a different layer in the PDF file, so you don’t have a bunch of confusing lines intersecting. Awesome idea, one I hope more pattern designers implement. Once all of the pieces were cut out, I laid the dresses out just to get an idea what they’d look like.

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Getting the little sleeve gathered and affixed to the dress took a LOT of pins!

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Stitched the front & back together, with the little sleeves sandwiched between the fabric and the lining … turned it right-side-out and we’ve got a dress top.

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The bottom is a circle skirt – it gets attached to the bodice. I still need to serge the fabrics along the waist seam … other than that, the dress is done!

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I think it looks awesome. And Anya loves wearing it – dancing around and spinning. And I’ve got her Easter dress ready to go two months early!

Realized, once I was finished, that I literally had enough fabric to make a second size 4 dress. I had added the “dress” yards and the “lining” yards together. D’oh! Feel slightly less silly because my mom did the exact same thing … There’s not enough extra fabric to do both a size 4 and a size 7 … but there’s plenty to make a skirt and the dress. Each girl is going to get a skirt from the other’s left-over fabrics.

Christmas Dress, Part 2

I’m getting close! The circle skirt is finished. I still need to finish the sleeves and bottom hem. I didn’t realize buttonholes were such a thing! I am going to try stitching them by hand. I did some research on it the past few days, and I have located a really great site at Williams Clothiers that provides incredibly detailed instructions … so I’m feeling pretty confident in my ability to do it. Need to pick up some beeswax, buttonhole thread, and buttons (I’m going to let Anya pick her buttons at the store … hopefully that works out for me!)

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And a close-up of the collar – a 2″ bias-cut of fabric folded to create a 1/2″ collar. It is just basted in along the inside … but it looks really nice.

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Halloween Skirt (And Official Voting Skirt)

Here’s Anya’s Halloween skirt:

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It’s a basic circle skirt — the circle was cut for a 23″ waist. A 4.5″ strip of fabric was then cut to 24″ and made into a 2″ wide waistband and attached to the skirt. I then ran 20″ of 2″ elastic through the band & gathered the fabric. This allows the skirt to be pulled over her head or hips. Plus it means she might be able to wear it next year 🙂

And in a bid to not have a skirt used just once, it is also her official election day skirt — blood-suckers, skeletons in the closet, ghosts/mummies/reanimated corpses (how else would dead people vote?).