Those Clothes Look Better on Her

I wanted to make Ansley a dress like my new favorite dress. Unfortunately I don't have a little cap sleeve shirt to trace for her. Fortunately I have a few shirts that aren't super flattering on me and that Tyrone doesn't wear.

Here's the first version. I traced a shirt with proper sleeves and tried to mimic one of my cap sleeved shirts. The shape was alright but it was a little big.



More pictures of the dress, b/c she's cute.







Here's the second version. I used the blue dress as a guide, taking in the sleeves at the armhole and the edge a bit. I like how it looks in some of these pictures but it looks tank toppy in other pictures (which is probably partially due to having never washed the brown shirt). Maybe it's b/c there isn't a defined cuff at the edge and/or the fit is a little off? I don't want to make them too much smaller b/c I don't want the dress to be difficult to get into.











Here are some sketches of how I made these:







Tips:
Prewash your shirts! The sleeves on the brown dress were cuter before I shrank them. I'm not too sad b/c it was a practice run anyway.

Stay stitch around your sleeves, if necessary. I definitely had to one the brown one. I sewed a medium long stitch near the edge of the sleeve. The stitch gave it more stability so I could fold it under twice to finish the edge.

You might have to adjust the neckline a bit if you want to keep the original finished neck edge (like on the blue one).

Try not to cut your knits too soon before you can sew them. Some knits curl in a lot.

The Marilla Skirt

Inspired by the Maria skirt from Banana Republic:



I love the asymmetric ruffles, but not the color. My version cost $2 (same fabric as this skirt, from one of my five dollar five yard Walmart bolts)and the original is currently $49.99 on sale. Do you think I should dye it?

Here's how I made it:



I made a waistband by stretching my knit fabric around my waist (the stretchy direction around my waist) until it felt snug. My waistband is tall so I can fold it over or leave it up if (IF!) I need a maternity skirt again. No pictures b/c single layered, it's pretty sheer and it's snugger than you want to see.

I made three tiers, each about one and a half times my hip measurement, which was close enough cutting from selvedge to selvedge. My longest tier was about 17.5 inches. The next ones were 1.5 or 2 inches shorter.

I sewed (without backstitching) along the width of each rectangle with my longest stitch (a 4 on my machine). I gathered each rectangle until it fit around my hips. (I did them individually b/c it was impossible to gather thee layers of thin bedsheet when I was making another project).

I sewed the three rectangles together with a zigzag stitch. I sewed two together first, then the third to the other two.

I sewed the waistband together so it made a tube.

I sewed the skirt together. I thought it would be a good idea to make sure all of the tiers were sewn together in the single seam. It's not a good idea. Leave yours free and sew them together after you cut your angled ruffles.

I sewed the skirt and waistband together, right sides together.

Then came the kind of scary part- cutting the angled ruffles. I didn't measure anything, I just eyeballed it. Look at the diagram and go slow- you can always cut more if you need to. Mine isn't perfect and I might cut it some more. . . .

Linked here (so excited for this series!):

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and at this lovely link party:

The Double Double Bubble Bubble Skirt

My birthday skirt! The large polka dots remind me of bubbles and the skirt is a bubble skirt.

Here's how I made it.

1. Find some knit and prewash it. I used about 2 1/2 yards but there was some leftover. I got mine at Joann's for 75% off. Luckily there was enough on the bolt to make two b/c I didn't choose the best way to make this skirt the first time around. I blame it on being woken up five or six times by a sick little girl. It makes for a great skirt name though. Anyway.

2. Figure out how wide you want your waist band to be. I stretched the knit around my waist until it felt comfortably snug. (make sure the stretchy part of the knit is being stretched around your waist). Decide on the height and double it plus an inch or so. (it will be folded over). My waist band is a little shorter than I would've liked but I was out of fabric. You should now have a rectangle.

3. Decide on your skirt length and double it plus a little extra for seam allowances. To determine my skirt width, I wrapped the fabric around myself twice and cut it. You should now have a large rectangle.

4. Wrong sides together, fold your skirt piece in half long ways. At the open ends (not the fold), sew a long straight stitch with the longest setting. Do not backstitch. You can sew another long stitch, if you're worried about the first one breaking.



5. Holding onto the bobbin thread, scrunch (or gather) your fabric together.

6. Fold your waistband in half, longways, with wrong sides together and free ends up. (ie the fold is down)

7. Adjust the gathers on your skirt piece so it lines up with your waistband.



8. Pin your skirt to the waistband piece at the free end of the waistband (not the fold)



9. Sew in place with a zigzag stitch.

10. You can remove your basting stitches from step four if you want. I was lazy and left mine in.

11. Pin the skirt together, right sides together, lining up the bottom of the skirt and the waistband. Sew in place with a zigzag stitch.



12. Trim any excess fabric near your seams if you have any. Show off your new skirt!




Linked here:

Two Pillowcase Wonder

I made a few of these scarves last week and couldn't stop thinking about the delicious pleats. I wondered what they'd look like in dress form. . . .







Side view:



Dress (and Ansley) in motion:





Want to make one? (Mine turned out pretty large for my average to short sized 21 month old).

I used two full sized jersey knit pillowcases from my stash (they might actually be the same size as queen pillowcases, since queen beds are only about six inches wider than full beds), a dress or shirt that fits your wearer well (preferably one with a similar amount of stretch), and usual sewing stuff (matching thread, pins, seam ripper, sewing machine, etc).

1. If the edges of the pillowcase are a bit wonky and/or if you want the extra three or four inches, unpick the top seam of one pillowcase.





2. Use your existing shirt or dress to make a pattern for the bodice at the top of the pillowcase (the part you just unpicked), adding your seam allowance. I added about an inch on each side of my dress and drew it on the fabric with pencil. You might want to do it the "real" way by making a pattern and using appropriate marking tools. Never made a pattern? Check out Dana's awesome tutorial. In this [awful!] picture, the sleeves are tucked back so I can draw the curve of the bodice/top of the sleeve. (any advice on how to fix these seriously washed out/weirdly shaded pictures?)



3. Make a pattern for your sleeves and cut out the sleeves from your other pillowcase. I positioned the outer edge of the sleeve on a fold I made in the pillowcase and chose to use the finished existing seam of the pillowcase as the bottom of my sleeve. Cut two sleeves.



4. Trim excess scraps towards the top of both pillowcases. Starting at the bottom (the end that's sewn shut) of the pillowcase, pin pleats, following the directions in the scarf tutorial. Remember to pin both layers. To help keep the pleats approximately the same length, I alternated between pinning pillowcases- ie I pinned the one on the right, then the one on the left. Then I pinned the one on the left and tried to copy the same distance on the right.



Notice they aren't the same length at the top opening. (which is the bottom of the picture. Sorry). It's okay- I just trimmed them later.

5. Sew the bodice pieces together, right sides together (rst), at the top shoulder seam and the side seams. I used a little zigzag to allow for some stretch in the knit fabric.

6. Sew the sleeves, rst.

7. Carefully pin the sleeve so the right side of the sleeve is pinned to the wrong side of the bodice and sew. Repeat for the other sleeve.

8. Sew one pleated panel of the skirt. I sewed five lines but in hindsight wish I'd sewn six or seven. I switched to a straight stitch for this part. Repeat for the other panel.

9. Line up the closed portion of the pillowcase (the bottom), rst. Do your best to line up each pleat as you go. Sew on both sides. (I used a small zigzag stitch again). Go slow! You have to sew through a lot of fabric and don't want it to get caught in your presser foot- ahem. Anyway, trim the excess fabric on the outside of the seam, if you have any. Be careful not to cut your seam. The beauty of knit it it won't fray so you don't have to finish it. You just made the skirt portion. (and the sun went down).



10. At the top of your skirt portion, sew a basting/gathering stitch. Use a straight stitch, not a zigzag. Do not backstitch, as you want your bobbin thread loose. The longest stitch my machine has is a 4. If you're a bit more cautious, sew a second basting stitch (in case the first one breaks).

11. Gather the skirt portion so it's the same width as your bodice. I tried to line up the side seams from the skirt with the side seams from the bodice.

12. Pin the skirt to the bodice, rst. Carefully sew them together. I used a zigzag stitch here too. Trim any excess bulk outside of your seams.



13. Finish the collar in a method of your choosing. I haven't decided if I want to fold it down and hem it or if I want to use contrasting fold over elastic. What do you think?






Linked here!