sewpony: Free pattern

lotte martens tour

November 14, 2017

Today I am very happy to be part of the International Lotte Martens tour! Lotte Martens is a beautiful Belgian fabric brand owned by Lotte herself. I was contacted a couple of months ago by Eva (Lotte's PR manager) asking if I would be interested in receiving some of the gorgeous screen printed fabric to sew up for this tour. Of course this an offer one cannot refuse! I eagerly jumped on line to carefully select my favourite fabric to order...

dulcie dress

nine!

July 24, 2017

Today my lovely Isabella turned nine years old! She came into the world in the wee hours of the morning and looked like a little a doll. Perfect in every way and so small!!! She is a beautiful girl and I love watching her grow. Last week she asked if she could have a 'friends' party. Since Isabella hasn't had a 'friends' party since she was in prep (first grade), I, of course said yes. She then asked if she could have a Harry Potter themed party. I, of course said no (way too late notice!!) and we settled on a rainbow theme instead!

Free pattern

JULIETTE COLLAR: FREE PATTERN PIECE

May 08, 2017

Jill and I had wanted to try a large peter pan collar with the Juliette during testing but got too busy so decided to add it as a free piece that you can use instead of the ruffle. I was eager to see how the collar looked with the bias neckline and I love how it turned out - especially with the ties option at the back. Would you like to try the Juliette collar with your Juliette pattern? You can find the file in the sewpony patterns group HERE. Just look in the 'files' section of the group and there you will find the free Dulcie dress and now also the Juliette collar.

dulcie dress

CLOUD 9 GIVEAWAY

March 31, 2017

So last week after releasing the free Dulcie dress pattern, I also promised that for the next few Fridays there would be some sewing goodness and surprises happening here on the blog. I hoped to have my new sewpony pattern shop up and running today, but it is not quite ready. So instead, I thought I would run a giveaway! I made this Dulcie dress a few weeks back, and for those who have sewn up the pattern, you will recognise the pretty fabric I used for the photographic instructions. This particular dress was made with the first draft of the pattern, so the sleeves are too tight. In the finished pattern, they are a lot looser and don't pinch under the arms like they do in the photo below.

dress

DULCIE DRESS: FREE PATTERN!

March 24, 2017

I am very excited today to share something I have been working on in secret for the past few weeks along with the help from some lovely testers! I am releasing my first pattern under my new label of 'sewpony' (no longer, sewpony vintage), The Dulcie dress...and guess what...it's free! There has been a lot going on behind the scenes at sewpony...this is the first of many exciting things I am sharing with you. Please stay tuned every Friday for the next month as I show you more and more of some fun sewing inspiration and goodness! I will be opening my new sewpony shop next week with updated existing patterns as well as some other surprises!

Dresses

Guest post at Sew, Mama, Sew!: The Perennial Tunic and a GIVEAWAY (giveaway closed)

May 24, 2013

Today I am guest posting at the awesome Sew, Mama, Sew! blog. Head over there to see The Perennial Tunic - a variation of The Perennial Dress I drafted a couple of months back. The Sew, Mama, Sew! post includes a tutorial on how to make the dress as well as link to the free pattern.

If you read my post over there, you will discover that I have decided to give this lovely (well I think so!) dress away. I love making dresses for my girls and thought I would share a bit of the love around. Read all the details about the gorgeous fabric used to make the dress at Sew, Mama, Sew! The dress will fit 3-4 year old girl (average height: 98cm).

If you would like this little dress to end up in your mail box, you just need to leave a comment to let me know! This offer is open to any followers of sewpony (old and new). Follow through Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin' or 'Like' sewpony on facebook - Thanks!! Open internationally. Giveaway entry closes Monday 27 May at 8.00am (AEST) - so Sunday night for those in the Northern Hemisphere. I will announce the winner on Monday evening at 8.00pm (AEST).

Good Luck and I hope you like the dress and pattern!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED.

Dresses

Kid's Clothes Week - Days Six & Seven

April 28, 2013

The last garment I made for Kid's Clothes Week is a dress I made for my niece Lucy's 7th birthday. I used my (free) Perennial Dress pattern. The dress is made from a soft grey pinwale corduroy. The contrast fabric is Far Far Away (III) by Heather Ross. You can find it here. The sleeves and pockets are edged with miniature pom-pom trim.

Lucy is a slight little girl and is pretty much the same size as Isabella. Isabella gave Lucy her present yesterday and she loved it!

You can see other versions of my Perennial dress here.

By the way, thanks to my friend Ros from Sew Delicious, Belle and Boo contacted me asking if they could feature Emily's jacket on their website to show off their gorgeous fabric. Yay! Thanks Ros!!

I've had lots of fun sewing this week and have some more sewing ideas swimming around in my head for the next couple of weeks!

Project details:
Pattern - The Perennial Dress by me!
Materials - Soft grey cord and Heather Ross Far Far Away (III)
Cost - approximately $12
Time taken - 1.5 hours

Dresses

The Perennial Dress - A free pattern and tutorial

February 22, 2013

For the past couple of weeks I have been working on perfecting this pattern that I have named The Perennial Dress. You may have seen my first attempt here. I have made some alterations since then, including a longer hemline, adding pockets and perfecting the sleeves. See my second trial here. This is the first pattern that I have drafted from scratch and I am very excited about it. It comes in sizes - 6 months to 6 years. I have named it The Perennial Dress because it can be made as a summer dress in light weight cotton and a winter dress in a heavier fabric such as soft cord or soft denim. The pattern is hand drawn.

EDIT 2017: PATTERN NO LONGER AVAILABLE. SUBSCRIBE TO SEWPONY HERE FOR PATTERN INSPIRATION.

The pattern includes fabric requirements, height conversion chart, pattern pieces, fabric layout recommendation and shirring/elastic placement instructions.

Here is the tutorial on how to make the dress. I hope you like it!!

The Perennial Dress Tutorial

*It is advisable to pre wash your fabrics*

1. Print out pattern and charts and tape together as indicated on page layout chart.

2. Measure your child/check height-age chart and determine best size.

3. Trace pattern size (I use baking paper and greylead pencil) and transfer pattern markings for sleeves, pocket placement and back opening.

4. Cut out pattern pieces.

5. Pin pattern pieces to fabric - be sure to allow space for seam allowance as instructed.

6. Using taylor's chalk, draw around pattern pieces using seam allowance instructions. The hemline seam allowance is a little different - a picture demonstrates this below. Using a slightly angled hemline at the side seams provides a flatter hem without tucks or puckering underneath.

7. Cut pieces. Your layout will look something like this.

NB: I did not use both strips of bias I cut. Since this pic I have adapted the pattern piece and you only need one strip of bias binding.

Start sewing!!

Shoulder seams:

8. With right sides together, sew shoulder seams and overlock/zig zag.

Neckline and centre back seam:

9. Overlock outer edge of neck facing, press and pin (with right sides together) to flattened neck opening. Sew around neck opening as shown.

10. Clip neck seam as shown to allow for a nice smooth curve.

11. Cut button loop cord/elastic/ribbon and fold and pin as shown on back centre seam (I recommend you pin the loop 1.5 cm from neck seam). Allow enough cord to fit your button. My cord is 10cm long to allow a 22mm button.

12. Fold facing down and pin. Sew from top of neck facing to bottom of neck facing (remember, this is a larger seam - 1.5cm)

13. Fold your facing right side out and press. Your loop will look something like this (please note, my seam here looks a little small - I adjusted this to allow for a bigger seam but forgot to take pics. Following the measurements in the step above, your loop will also be a little further down which allows for a nice button placement).

14. Repeat the short seam on the opposite centre back seam and neck facing.

15. Sew centre back seam from top down. Leave gap for neck opening as indicated on pattern.

Sleeves:

16. Overlock and hem curved sleeve seam as shown - remember this is a smaller seam (0.5cm). Press.

Optional: If you would like to add trim to your sleeves, do that now. I used a zipper foot for the bobble trim, but if you are using ric rac or lace, just use a regular foot. Ease your trim around slowly and sew about 2mm from the sleeve edge.

Your sleeve will look like this

17. Adjust your stitch length to the longest stitch your machine will allow. Sew two lines of gathering stitch along straight edge of sleeve (first seam approx 2-3 mm from sleeve edge and second seam a foot width in from first seam). Sorry I forgot to take a photo of this step.

18. Gently pull top threads of both seams to gather up sleeve. Use sleeve placement marking to gauge how much to gather your sleeve. Pin sleeve to sleeve opening as shown.

19. Readjust your stitch length for regular sewing. Sew sleeve seam and overlock entire sleeve opening (including beyond sleeves).

20. Fold seam in toward dress and top stitch along sleeve seam approx 1-2 mm from seam. Do not top stitch under beyond sleeve - this will be done later when you use the bias binding.

Pockets:

21. Fold pocket in half length ways with right sides together. Sew around curve of pocket, leaving a 4cm opening along straight side edge.

22. Clip seam.

23. Turn right side out and press - carefully pressing opening under.

Optional: If you are adding trim, do this now. Use same technique as sleeve edge. You will need to use fray stopper for edging on cut edges to prevent fraying.

24. Line centre of pocket up with pocket markings on dress and pin pocket around curved edge.

25. Sew pockets unto dress approximately 1-2 mm from pocket edge. Press. (You will notice in this photo that I sewed pockets on after elasticing bodice. However, I think it will be slightly easier if you sew the pockets on first).

Elasticised bodice:

The steps relating to elasticing the bodice depend on the weight of fabric you are using. For heavier weight fabrics, shirring elastic does not give a good effect. I used 5 lines of 3 mm elastic on the underside. For regular quilting weight cotton or lighter, shirring elastic wound onto your bobbin is more suitable. I will show you both here and will relate to the steps as Option A (using thicker elastic and heavier fabric) and Option B (using shirring elastic with lightweight fabric).

Options A & B

26. Use elastic placement chart to mark out position of seams as shown. You will need to mark this on the right side for Option A and the wrong side for Option B. Use the placement chart to measure down from the centre of the front neckline and chalk a vertical line down as directed. Then draw a horizontal line the lenth of seam instructed, using vertical line as a gauge for centre of horizontal line. Sorry this pic is a bit blurred. Pic is for option B.

Option A.

27 A. Begin first seam along line horizontal line drawn on right side of fabric. Make sure you backstitch approximately 1cm at each end of seam to prevent elastic from coming undone. Run four more seams parallel to first seam at a foot width apart. Stretch fabric out as you go so that you are sewing on flat fabric. Your wrong side will look like this.

And your right side like this.

Option B

27 B. Pin 3 mm elastic to top corner marking you have made. Stitch about 1cm through centre of elastic along chalked line and back stitch the same distance. Your seam is now secure enough for you to pull the elastic. You need to pull your elastic to approximately 3/4 of the full amount of stretch possible and sew slowly using chalk line as a gauge. Back stitch securely at end of seam and cut elastic. Repeat four more times using a foot width between each seam.

Wrong side will look like this.

Right side will look like this.

Use a wet cloth to remove chalk lines.

Side seams and armholes:

28. With right sides together, sew and overelock side seams and press. The bottom of your side seam will be slightly angled.

Optional: If you are making your own bias binding, fold and press bias into the centre horizontally and then as shown.

Fold your bias again as shown so that the previous folded edges are hidden.

29. Turn armhole edge under as shown and press.

30. Pin bias as shown.

31. Sew on wrong side along top edge of bias binding.

32. Repeat along bottom edge of binding. Sew these seams slowly - making sure you hold the dress flat so that it does not pucker.

33. Turn right side out and press well.

Hem and button:

34. Overlock hem edge and turn under approximately 2.5cm and pin evenly around. Sew around hem from wrong side and press.

35. The last thing you need to do is to sew on a button and you are all done!!! Hooray!!

One gorgeous dress ready to wear!!

The dress also looks sweet with long sleeves and tights for winter.

I would absolutely love to hear what you think and later if you have used the pattern. Please comment and include your link if you have used the pattern and I will have a look!! Also feel free to ask me any questions about the pattern in the comment section. I have a little flickr pool if you would like to share photos of your version of The Perennial Dress!!