Dresses

HOPSCOTCH DRESS

June 27, 2017


Today my two big girls enjoyed a student free day and I decided I needed to make something for Isabella using one of my stretch fabrics. She loves to wear comfortable clothes and prefers to wear leggings and a top rather than a woven dress these days. I don't like seeing my girls in store bought clothes for the majority of the time, so it is time for me to start sewing some more every day clothes.

Kid's Clothes Week

KCW: Cats meow skirt

October 27, 2013

 
Following on from my theme of being a pinterest inspired kids' clothes week, I made Isabella this 'Cats meow skirt', inspired by this pin...

 
After seeing this image, I knew Isabella would loooooove a skirt like this!! She loves animals and she loves pretending to be an animal - particularly - cats, dogs, rabbits and foxes!! We also have a cat, so making her a cat skirt was sure to be a good idea... 

 
I made the skirt and showed Isabella.  Her eyes lit up and she wanted to put it on before it was finished.  I quickly threaded the elastic through, finished it off and gave her our cat mask and asked would she mind if I took some photos of her in her cat skirt pretending to be a cat....yeah...she thought she could manage that! 
 
 
I used the Oliver + S Sunday brunch skirt pattern and just added ears when sewing the waistband on.  I then hand-stitched the whiskers with 6 strands of embroidery thread and sewed on brown button eyes and a rusty pink button nose (at Isabella' request).  The fabric is a lovely midnight blue velvet which was given to me by a lovely friend.  The pocket lining is a sweet navy and white spot.
 
 
Oh yeah...she loves the skirt!  And I have to admit, Issie looks rather Wonder Womanish with her red boots!!
 
 
 
I know this is one that Isabella will want to wear again and again.  It feels good to sew something they love!

Oliver and S

Project Run & Play Season 7: Week 1//The Oliver + S Popover dress remix

September 10, 2013

 
I am very excited to share my outfit for Week 1 of Season 7 of Project Run & Play!!  The Cloudehill Dress is my creation for the Oliver + S Popover Dress remix challenge! 
 
 
The Popover Dress pattern is a sweet and simple A-line dress with lovely bias straps and accent strip across the front and back bodice.  I loved the straps and did not want to forego them by adding sleeves.  I also loved the accent piece at the top of the bodice and didn't want to give that up....hmmm...so how was I going to remix this pattern?    
 
1/ I pieced many rectangles (of varying widths) cut from different fabrics together to form the accent bodice piece (which I also made slightly 'taller' to capture more of the piecing);  2/ Repeated this piecing across the hemline and up the side seams to create interest (adding this piecing  up the side seams meant I adjusted the dress front and back of the pattern side seams so the dress would not be too wide;  3/ I added more fullness and detail to the front by sewing three pleats into the fabric before cutting out the pattern;   4/  The pleats are top stitched with embroidery floss to match the bias straps;  5/  The hemline is hand stitched so as not to detract from the colourfulness and piecing of the hem feature;  6/ The dress is also fully lined so that the many seams created from 'patch working' the feature pieces together are not brushing against Juliette's skin.


 
 
Here you can see I pleated the fabric before cutting out the dress.
 
 
The rectangles were cut with a rotary cutter, pieced and pressed.  The excess I cut from the bottom of the pieces became the side panels. 
 
 
Here you can see the lining - which is not pleated or pieced at the top of the bodice.
 
 
The popover dress pattern comes with a pattern for dolly too...and since I made this doll for Isabella (and one for Juliette too which is currently undergoing repair) a couple of years ago, and it happened to be exactly the right size to fit into the dolly dress, how could I resist making a mini popover? 
 
 
Juliette thought it was a great idea and would not let her doll go for the entire photoshoot!! 
 
 
I also wanted to make something for Juliette to wear in her new bob hairdo... so I made an origami butterfly hairclip (using this tutorial - I omitted the top stitching and instead hand stitched the opening shut).  I  added a beaded body and antennae and just slipped the butterfly onto an alligator hairclip.  Perfect for our Aussie spring! 
  
 
The Cloudehill Dress is named after the beautiful gardens where we ventured out to photograph Juliette in her dress (thank you to my sister Jules for helping with fending the kids away from me and the camera!!).   When I started imagining how I would remix the Popover dress, I knew I wanted to have some lovely gardens as a backdrop.  I found Cloudehill following a google search of my (semi) local area.  Cloudehill Gardens are located about half an hour's drive from our home.  They are looking lovely now...really beginning to bloom.
 

I purchased all the fabrics I used for The Cloudehill Dress from a local quilting shop (in my hometown of Warrnambool) called Periwinkle's Patchwork.  With my Mum and three sisters in tow (who graciously endured my indecision, mixing and matching until I finally chose the fabrics!!), it was a good excuse for us to have some time together without children!
  • Green spotted fabric - a gorgeous print, but unfortunately it had no name on the selvage;
  • Bright floral -  by Kate Spain for Moda (print # 27141);
  • Coral red and cream 'fly wire' pattern - from A day in the country range (Palette Pleasure);
  • Cream and larger blue spot - Kei honeycomb dot - blue on white.
  • Lemon and tiny blue spot - selvage read: Cream Basic, XLN pty ltd;
  • The gunmetal blue/grey bias binding was also from Periwinkles.  I picked up the lining of the dress (a simple green cotton lawn) from Spotlight.
 

Now...how to vote!!!   If you would like to vote for my Cloudehill Dress, I would be so grateful!!! It really is very quick...just pop over to Project Run & Play and mark the box titled: sewpony - The Cloudehill Dress at the bottom of the post, and then click 'vote'.  You can vote from any web device (or more than one if you have one!!).  While you are there, make sure you check out all the sew along entries so far...they are fab!! (Just click on 'home' to show previous blog posts). 
 
Voting closes at 8pm Thursday 12 September (US - Mountain Standard Time), which is around midday Friday 13 September for East Coast Australians.

**If voting from I-phone, you will need to select to 'view web version' to show the full site and the voting box. 


THANK YOU!!!

Kid's Clothes Week

Kid's Clothes Week - Day One

April 22, 2013


I decided to get back into the sewing this week, and just in time for Kid's Clothes Week.  I took part in Elsie Marley's sewing challenge last October and found it a great motivator to get heaps of sewing done as well as a great way to uncover some great blogs.  The idea is that you sew for your children (or others'!) for one hour a day for one week..

 
The first thing I have sewn for the week is the Sunday Brunch Skirt by Oliver & S.  I have made this skirt a few times and think it is such a cute little pattern.  Simple, sweet and comfy.  I had just enough heart printed denim left over from my Perennial Dress.  I teemed it with a sweet 1930's reproduction print for the pocket linings and I used orange top stitching for a bit of interest.


Cute!

Project details:
Pattern - Oliver & S Sunday Brunch skirt
Materials - heart printed denim from Spotlight, 1930's reproduction print
Cost - about $7 worth of fabric
Time taken - one hour
For the rest of the week I am hoping to sew a winter jacket for Emily, some comfy jeans for Isabella as well as recycling a couple of my tops into some sweet long sleeved ones for Juliette.  If I am super efficient, I might manage to make a Perennial dress for my niece's birthday and Isabella this Burda dress. 

Are you taking part in Kid's Clothes Week?  What are you making??