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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Goodship Grey

First I must say that the word grey trips me up.  Why are there two spellings?  I always use grey and I have no idea why.  Does Crayola use grey instead of gray?  Is that where it got into my head?

Anyway, I am slightly obsessed with grey lately, however you spell it.  Grey with other pops of color is my go-to spring look this year.  I've already shown you the Scallops By The Sea dress (are you sick of it yet? hehe), but I made two more clothing items with the same amazingly soft grey polyester this week.  One I can't tell you about yet (super secret pattern testing hehe), but here is the other.


A Goodship dress by Karen LePage.  I made a size 2T which Bean is almost fitting in to.  Pants she's definitely 2T with her long legs and cloth diapers, but her chest and waist are more 18m still.  So with this dress the length is way too long for her, but the top fits great with just a little room - perfect for a turtle neck underneath for this colder season.  It'll get lots of use this summer I think.



The coral fabric is from Jay-Cyn Designs Storyboek called Field Friends Coral.  I love it.  There are little squirrels, deer, and bunnies mixed with some trees and mushrooms.  The color is lovely with the grey too.


I used a bit of the mushroom to make a button for the front.  I decided on the button tab closure instead of the sashing since I think it plays the dress down a little bit.  I wanted a more casual look and that tab is great. 


Above you can see the length is a little crazy right now, but she'll grow into it quickly.  I made the cowl neck shirt earlier this fall when I was doing mock ups for my Peggy's Purple Dress.  I made two turtle necks (the other you can see in the peggy post) and one dress before I finally made the purple one and I love the way they all fit Bean.  They have been amazing staples this fall/winter.  I'll have to design another layering shirt for this early spring since soon (hopefully) a cowl or turtle neck will be a little too much.


As a side note to all you amazing photo takers out there.  Why are my pics coming out so grainy all the time lately?  The lighting is TERRIBLE in the house, but Bean's room has the best so I try to take all the pictures in there.  No matter what I seem to be getting it wrong lately.  Is it cause she's moving too much?  I'm hoping once the weather turns and I can take pictures outside things will get back to decent around here in the photo department, but I'll take any tips I can get!

T'onna from Navy Wifey Peters featured this!
 

As usual, linking up to:
I Heart Nap Time The Chicken Chick Sew Chatty Photobucket Happy Hour Projects Photobucket

Monday, February 18, 2013

Scalloped Bodice and Sew In Tune

When I decided to make a scalloped bodice for the final week of Project Run & Play, I knew right away that I wanted to pair it with an under the sea themed fabric. One of my favorite kid songs (and book) is called Down At The Sea Hotel. It's a Greg Brown Lullaby about the animals under the sea and how they end their day going to sleep at The Sea Hotel. 

I was singing it in my head the whole time I was making the Scallops By The Sea dress so when I heard Sew In Tune was starting up this week I thought it was a perfect pairing for their Flickr group.


As I promised in the previous post about the dress, I figured out (through trial and error) the best way to create the scalloped edge and tie the whole peter pan collared neckline into the lining at one time.  The following is how I did it.

I started with a basic bodice pattern.  This is one that I've modified a few times recently to make the fit just right for a short bodice that ends just at the bottom of Bean's armpit.  I'm sure you could use any bodice pattern that you know will fit to start with. 


Because I wanted the scallops to end up the length that the original bodice would have been, I added about a half an inch to the bottom edge on both the front and back patterns. It doesn't really matter how much you add since it'll mostly be removed later. Consider it a hefty seam allowance.


I then took a round shaped object that was roughly the size of the scallops I wanted and traced some scallops across the original bottom edge of the pattern.  I think I used the top of a fat spice jar I have.  Starting at the center front of the top bodice I drew half a scallop since I wanted a scallop centered in the middle.  Do whatever you'd like here, just make sure you remember that if the top bodice is cut on the fold then whatever you do on one side of center will show up on the other.  In this pattern the front is cut on the fold and the back is cut in two pieces so there is seam allowance on the center back edge which is why you see in the photo above that the "center" scallop seems too wide.  I also made sure to end the scallops on the side edge with enough room left over for the side seam allowance (I use 2/3") so that the side edges would match properly with two scallops lining up side by side.


Once I cut out both lining and main fabrics from the bodice patterns I then cut the patterns along the scallops.  Using the cut pattern I marked with fabric pen the outline of the scalloped pattern on the wrong side of the lining only.  This outline is going to be the stitching line for the scallops.


Lets pause a minute and I'll let you know what I did wrong the first time:

When I first tried putting the scalloped bodice together I came at it differently.  I cut the fabrics along the scallop line and then stitched a seam just above the line.  In the image below the black dotted line would have been my cutting line for the fabrics and then I stitched on the red line above.  As you can see this makes the scallops slightly different shaped and it was very awkward stitching up and down along these cut out curves.  As curvy and smooth as I tried to get the stitching, the scallops still came out a bit cone shaped toward the bottom edges.


So I decided to start again, leaving fabric below the curved lines during the stitching.  I knew if I stitched exactly on the lines I had drawn that I would have the best chance at smooth round scallops.  In the image below, the black dotted line is my stitching line and only later after stitching did I cut the fabrics along the red line.


Back to assembling the bodice:

Once the front and back lining pieces have been marked along the scallop line, join the lining front and back pieces at the shoulder and the main fabric front and back pieces at the shoulder.  In the following pictures you will see that I didn't join the shoulders until after stitching the scallops, but really it's easier if you do it first.  So don't do what I did, hehe.


Place the main fabric and lining right sides together with the wrong side of the lining facing up.  You should see the stitching line you previously marked.


Pin the pieces together well along the stitching line.  You don't want the fabric to shift as you sew the scallops.


Stitch right along the marked line stopping at the points to pivot the fabric. 


Once the line has been stitched you can then cut away the fabric below the stitching leaving a small seam allowance.  It is best to pink the edges or clip the seams and points as well as you can to make turning right side out go as smoothly along the curves as desired.

(Above you only see the front pieces being stitched, but do the back pieces as well.  If you have sewed the shoulder seams together already then it'll look like the picture below once everything has been sewn and clipped.)

Since this bodice has a peter pan collar I opted to sew the collar to the main fabric within the seam allowance before sewing the scallops, but after sewing the shoulder seams.  This may seem confusing since I didn't take any pictures of the collar sewn in, but in the picture below I can assure you that there is a collar sandwich going on, hehe.  I even outlined where one side of the collar is hidden in blue.  Once the scallops were stitched and clipped, I then sewed the final collar seam on black dotted line below which shows where I stitched through the lining, peter pan collar, and main fabric.  If you were making a fold over button placket you could also so the yellow dashed lines, but since I was putting in a zipper this time I left them raw at this point.  I also left the sleeve edges unsewn.


Clip the edges (or use pinking shears) of the collar seam and then you are finally ready to flip the whole bodice right-side out.  Take care to smooth the curves and iron as you go to really make the collar edge and scalloped edges curve as they should. 


It's very satisfying to have the collar and scalloped edges complete at this point.  All the tough work is left behind.

To attach the scallops to the back and front skirt panels, first attend to the back center seam.  I used a zipper, but as I've mention before a button placket works nicely.  Just remember to line up the back center so the scallop pattern is maintained. 


Now the back and front can be handled the same way.  Line the skirt panel with right side facing the wrong side of the bodice, matching the bottom edges of the arm opening to the top edges of the skirt.  In the image above the yellow dotted line is where the skirt panel top edge is hidden under the bodice.  Pin well and stitch right along the scalloped edge attaching the bodice to the skirt.


Once the edge is stitched the back of the fabric should be finished so that it won't pull or unravel during wear or washing.  This will help the scallops maintain their shape as well.  In the image below the blue dotted line above the stiching is where the skirt panel can be clipped and finished.


Now that the scalloped bodice is complete you can finish the dress as usual.  I sewed the sleeves into the bodice and then sewed the seam from the sleeve cuff down the side of the skirt on both sides.

Even though this post is lengthy, there is really just one tip that is important.  Sew along the line of the shape you desire.  This will give you the best result.  It may seem obvious, but it took me a few tries to realize how simple it really should be, hehe.

I'm certainly not an expert so I would love to hear if anyone else has tried something different and had success!  Is there a step you'd eliminate?  Something to make the process go more smoothly?

As usual, linking up to:
I Heart Nap Time The Chicken Chick Sew Chatty Photobucket Happy Hour Projects Photobucket

Friday, February 15, 2013

Signature Style Season Six

As the final week of Project Run & Play season six comes to a close I am happy to say I finished my signature look.  It's been a busy week and both my sewing machine and serger have been acting up.  My serger decided to stop playing altogether so that was awesome.  But I have been thinking of this look for a few weeks and I was determined to finish.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Daddy's Shirt Refashion - Scirocco

For some reason I was thinking this week was the final week of Project Run & Play so I was planning my signature look.  Then Tuesday morning I realized it was Men's Shirt Refashion week and I had not a single clue what I would make.  Luckily Bean's daddy has a few old shirts in the reuse pile so I had something to work with.


It also just so happens that this week the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle Sale is going on.  This is an amazing chance to get a ton (18 I think) of great patterns at a ridiculously discounted price.  (I am not an affiliate, but there are lots of blogs out there with affiliate links so consider clicking through one of the them to help out your favorite blogger)  I decided to get the bundle since there were three patterns I've been eyeing and their combined cost would have already been more than what the bundle is going for.  So that's 15 patterns free, hehe.

One of the "free" patterns was the Scirocco dress.  I knew I wanted Figgy's Banyan top and pants, but this dress is adorable and will be fun for Bean up to size 8/9. 


When I saw the pattern up close I immediately thought of using the front button placket from a men's shirt instead of the pleat down the front.  And so the inspiration came.


I took the button placket off the front of the shirt and ruffled it between the buttons.  I thought it would be cuter if there were at least four buttons showing on the front and the bodice was too small to fit three without ruffling.  It was not easy ruffling that thick placket, but I'm happy with how it ultimately turned out. 

I made some cute buttons and sewed them where the button holes are in the placket for decoration, but they are not functional.  The placket is sewn down to the bodice.


I used the same bottom weight fabric that I used to cover the buttons for the bodice lining and skirt lining.  This was mostly because I didn't have enough shirt fabric to work with.  All those skirt ruffle layers took up a lot of fabric, hehe.  Although it was worth it because I think my favorite part is how the striped fabric makes perfect chevrons where the seams meet on the skirt. 


The bodice top came together fairly easily and the twisted knot in the back is done in a neat way.  I will definitely use this pattern again.  Especially with the hot Maryland days we're sure to have this summer.


I made a size 2/3 which is very big on Bean right now.  Since it's still winter here I wanted to make sure we can get some warm weather use out of this dress. 


Hopefully it'll fit a little more snugly by summer.  I was worried if I made the 18m size it'd be way to small by then.


This was one of my husband's favorite shirts and we were sad to see the collar fraying.  But this turned out to be such an adorable reuse that he was very happy to hand it down.


And this last picture of Bean made me laugh so hard.  She looks like she was crying or at least pleading with me to stop, but really she was happy and fine the whole time.  I don't know how I got this shot without even realizing it, hehe.


As usual, linking up to:
I Heart Nap Time The Chicken Chick Photobucket Happy Hour Projects Photobucket