Cheat's dress

During the heatwave a few weeks ago I decided I didn't have enough dresses and looked around to see what I could quickly make one out of. Something stretchy would be quick, and I remembered I had bought this great piece of hand printed jersey from Prints Charming during their sale last year. I'd used some of it for my boy's monkey pants and put the rest away, unsure of what to do with it. As soon as I imagined it as a dress I knew it had potential...



So during a 40c day, with the kids sprawled out in front of the fan, I set to it with pins and scissors. I wanted to make a tubular dress, floor length, with a fold-over top. It's in the same vein as the beautiful 'Love me 2 times' dress style from Gaia Conceptions on Etsy that I've long admired.

There was only just enough fabric to do it, so one seam right down the back would be the most economical use of fabric. I took some rough measurments of my bust, waist and hips, then folded the fabric in half and marked it out. Next I did some rough tacking by hand, rather than machine stitching, which would have taken too long to take out if the fit was wrong... which it was. So, after several try-on's, take-off's and adjustments it was finally OK.



I then just sewed right down the seam with my overlocker (serger). As I have no stretch stitch or zig zag on my old sewing machine, this would have to do. When I tried it on the seam at the back looked a bit puckery, so I wondered what to do for a while then in a 'duh' moment realised I could just wear the seam at one side and the tension would pull it out. So: tube of fabric, one seam, and hey presto, a dress.

As with any experimental sewing project, there are positives and negatives to this dress:

+ Positives
• quick to sew
• stash-busting - yay!
• comfy to wear
• versatile: can be worn with top folded over, either inside or outside, also can turn it down several times at waist and it becomes a skirt.

- Negatives
• a bit tighter fit than I would have chosen around the hips due to running out of fabric!
• the style's a bit confused - the fabric is casual but straplessness and clinginess make it look a bit more dressy. So a bit showy for day but casual for night... or maybe I'm being too picky.
• relies on tension only to stay up, so I'm always a bit nervous that one of the littlies will yank it down!
• Serging only on seams means it will probably come apart some time soon...

But hey, for here and now it answers the brief of a quick, comfy dress.

Copy cat skirt

When I worked as a graphic designer I was most affronted if anyone suggested that I may have stolen an idea from somewhere else. Certainly in any creative field you're affected by things you see and subconciously maybe you rehash an image you've seen before, but to blatantly copy someone else's idea just doesn't seem fair to me and also would suggest I'm not capable of having a creative thought myself, which is insulting.

But I seem to have broken my rule recently: when I saw this post by Tania from the gorgeous blog Myrtle and Eunice, I recognised some fabric. I remembered that I'd bought a piece from Ikea ages ago, meaning to go home and make a skirt out of it, straight away! Of course that hadn't happened and consequently it's been stuck in the depths of my stash ever since. When I commented on it to Tania she pointed me to this post of hers and I was smitten. The A-line style was what I also had in mind but her placement of the fabric's pattern was superb. So I copied. Shamelessly. Tania, I hope you consider it flattery, coz it is :-)



Being excited, the first version I whipped up in one evening and it was rubbish (no pics, too shameful). I'd cut a pattern from an old A-line skirt and hastily put a zip in the side. The fit was not quite right, I hadn't done the waist properly etc etc. Too much haste!

So after wearing it once I pulled it apart and started again. This time I tried to be patient, take each step carefully and sew slowly. So often I just rush through something and it doesn't turn out that well.



I added a yoke (not sure if that's what it's called on a skirt?) and some pockets (inside out pic above). For these I guessed what size might be good (bigger would have been better!) and put them coming off the yoke so that they were not too high up. Then I moved the zip to the back.



I lined the pockets in a mid blue soft cotton to decrease the bulk of the layers and top-stitched everything carefully. Which makes a change from my usual slap-dash sewing! Unlike the first version it's actually nice to wear. Maybe I should change my old ways for good :-)



It seems to have approval from a small boy too :-) Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Dress

For anyone wondering how the dress I made for my brother's wedding turned out, here are a few pics. I didn't get any pics of myself in it at the wedding (the afternoon itself was pretty crazy with all 3 kids running around), so these are taken back at home by my 5 year old :-)



It's a simple sort of asian style that I thought needed a strong print, and the Alexander Henry print worked for it. Though it would be good if the fabric had a little stretch to it so it was more comfortable to wear. I did look for a woven with a slight stretch but couldn't find anything nice.

A couple of details like the vents in the sleeves and the side splits helped take away a bit of the simpleness (if you know what I mean) and made it more comfortable.



And I got to wear some of my favourite earrings as shown in the top pic, little origami cranes (bought at a shop in Newtown), which was a nice link back to the table decorations I made. Or maybe origami is just one of my latest obsessions :-)



I'm also planning to do a post on the dress I made for my big girl. I just need to take a few more pics, at least she will be a much less shy model than me :-)

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 8 days til Christmas.

kcwc: day two

Yesterday for day 2 of the challenge I sewed some monkey pants that I'd cut out before we went away. This is the 3rd pair I've made for bub (1st pair here) and they're really a joy to make, so quick and easy.



Again I used the pattern that I made from an existing pair we had, but this time I thought I'd give them a fold-down waist like yoga pants so they'd be extra comfy for bub. Also both the fabrics are light weight jersey which I thought might not support a thick elastic band so well. I don't know if I'm not using the right elastic but my waists always seem to roll, even the 'no roll' elastic - grr! The pants are not perfect but are OK for at home loungey pants or maybe pyjamas.



And finally today I joined Flickr. I've enjoyed using it for ages as a source of inspiration and really wanted to join in for KCWC. If you love kids clothes and/or sewing I'd urge you to have a look at the pics in the group - they're amazingly inspiring!

Monkey pants!

Finally a bit of tangible progress in the holiday sewing! But the thing I'm a little bit proud of with these pants is that I've started to overcome my reluctance to sew with knitted fabrics. As I really wanted to see if I could make a pair of these I sat down with my overlocker (serger) last night and tinkered and adjusted it for about half an hour of precious children-in-bed time until it was sewing pretty well. My overlocker and I have not been getting along that well in recent times but I must take all the blame - all that neglect and need for instant gratification has taken its toll! Crafty Deb suggested that I change needles (hmm, good point), I rethreaded it and adjusted the tension, and actually read the manual! And what a revelation - it actually works!! OK, so lesson no. 1 - taking time to do something right works (duh!).



I was going to use a pattern for the pants and found this one, which looked great, and was certainly affordable, but I looked at a pair we already had and decided surely I could take a pattern from them - and it worked! So now I'm addicted to these cute little toddler pants and want to make lots more. Maybe I'll have one 'monkey pants evening' before moving on with the holiday sewing.



I used a bit of green knitted fabric I had in the stash and the Prints Charming print from the weekend as the accent on the bum and leg trim (so I didn't waste it if I stuffed it up). Next I think I'll do the reverse, and then maybe make some from this cute birdy print I got from Spotlight a while ago. It looks a bit like pyjama fabric, but when you're one who cares if your mama makes you wear your pyjamas in the daytime, right? :-)