Tiered Dress

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I had forgotten how much I love the tiered dresses and skirts.  Then yesterday, I made a tiered tunic top for Riley-girl's birthday.  Naturally, it's made with Dora fabric.  I'll be making quite a few more, now that it seems like Spring is actually coming!

 
And by the way, if you're interested in the hat (or one like it), my amazing mom made it, and I'll be putting them up for sale really soon!  We have lots, and in three different sizes!  They're adorable and perfect for Spring!

Angelina's Ruffles

My aunt (well, technically, my husband's aunt), who is not only a great encourager but also just flat-out awesome, hooked me up with her boss to create this little ruffly outfit.  Have I mentioned how much I love ruffles?  I love ruffles.  A lot.  And this turned out cuter than I ever imagined.  

It's an A-line tunic top...

 

paired with either shorts... 

(I apologize that the shorts look a little funky.  My "model" is super skinny.  I had to tape them on! Ha!)

or capris.  

 

Now just imagine them on an adorable little girl.  Drool. :)

Pink and Silver Princess Party skirt

I've been seeing skirts like this all over the place. And they're really quite easy to make. So when I was strolling through Jo-Ann's (for, uh, maybe the third time this week) and saw this pink and silver mesh...

...I decided it was about time to make one of these sweet little numbers.  Plus, I wanted to make something super girly for my friend Jenni, who is having a baby girl in July (YAY!!!).  I don't think she reads the blog, but if she does-- sorry, Jen!  I ruined the surprise! :)

But back to the skirt... You can use tulle, too-- instead of the mesh-- which doesn't fray, so you don't have to worry about finishing edges.  The nice thing about this skirt is that it can be made in an infinite variety of colors and sizes.  Love that.  (I'm thinking I might make a rainbow one next...)

Materials:
Tulle or mesh, about 3/4-1 yard
Coordinating satin for the underskirt  (I don't usually work with satin, preferring quilting cotton or knits, but for this fancy-schmancy skirt, I went with it.  A quilting cotton would work just fine, too!)
1/2 inch elastic
Sewing get-up

Instructions:
My measurements are for a 12-month size (finished measurements-- 11 inches long with 16 inch waist).

Cut one 12.5" (length measurement plus 1.5") by 32" (twice my waist measurement) piece of satin for your underskirt.  Sew the short sides together to make a loop.  Finish with a zig-zag stitch.

Hem the bottom, folding over 1/4-inch, pressing, then folding and pressing again.  Topstitch close to the edge.

Create a casing for your elastic on top.  Fold down 1/4 inch then 3/4 inch, pressing both times.  

Topstitch close to the edge, leaving an opening through which you'll pull your elastic.

Now leave your satin be for a bit while you cut your mesh/tulle.  Cut 8 3-inch strips all the way across the width.  I fold mine into quarters, to make it easier to cut.

If your selvage is noticeable, trim it off. 

Using a zig-zag stitch, sew two strips of mesh/tulle together at both ends, making a ginormous loop.  You'll hardly be able to see the stitch, which is good. :)

Run a gathering stitch down the middle of this long strip then gather it up until it's the same width as your satin skirt.

For some reason, my machine did NOT like doing this (something with it being so thin and hole-y, I'm thinking), so I just gathered by hand, which was easy and quick since perfection is NOT the name of this game. :)

Starting at the top, pin your ruffled mesh/tulle around the skirt.  After you get it pinned, stitch it in place, down the middle.

Repeat with the rest of your strips, lining them up so they're slightly overlapping (though you can also make them closer, which would make it fuller).

Now cut your elastic (mine was 16" for a 12-month size).  Using a safety pin, thread it through your casing.  

Stitch the ends of the elastic together.  Close your casing up, making sure you fold the mesh/tulle down, so you don't accidentally catch it! 

And you have a cute party/dress-up/princess skirt! :)

Vintage-y Rosie Dress

All of a sudden, I'm in love with vintage patterns and clothing. I can't get enough. Seriously, I just went on Etsy and "heart"-ed about 842 different vintage patterns. (Note: that may be an ever-so-slight exaggeration.)

Couple that with the fact that my lovely and stylish friend, Megan, just had an amazingly gorgeous little girl, and you get the Rosie Dress!

In case you're wondering, the fabric is Michael Miller's Children at Play. I thought it was so sweet and would fit well with the dress I had in my head.

Speaking of the idea for the design, I changed my mind quite a few times. First, I was going to have a square collar, but I thought that since I was making a 6-month-old size, she may be rolling and lying around quite a bit, and I didn't want the collar constantly flipping in her face. So faux collar it was.

I also originally was going to make a super wide A-line, but then I had visions of little Rosie, sitting with her skirt flared out all around her, and I couldn't very well pass that up! Full skirt!

 

Then I saw this adorable pattern with a drop waist and thought it was too cute.

And I just really wanted puffy sleeves. I just did.

So there are all the details on how it came to be. Sorry to bore you. I just had to get that out. :)

Dearest Rosie (and your mom),
I hope you love it!  I can hardly wait for you to get a little bigger, so you can wear it.  Six months seems so far away! :)
Love,
heather

P.S.  I can't decide; should I add buttons down the center of the faux collar??

Valentine's Day Dress

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Since I spread this tutorial out over a number of posts, here's everything you need to make Riley's Valentine's Day dress, all in one post. :)

the basic A-line tutorial

the heart pocket tutorial

 the crazy wave hem tutorial

the flared sleeves tutorial

Whew!  There it is!  If you're inspired to make something, please share pictures at the Flickr group!!  Link is to the right! :)

Twirl Skirt Tutorial and a Cheat (shhhh!)

There are probably about 843,000 simple twirl skirt tutorials out there, so I thought, "Let's give the world one more!"  For better or worse... I'll try to make it fun and exciting.  And if you're just starting to sew, this is a great place to start.  You're only working with rectangles.  Easy-peasy!

This pink on pink on pink skirt is for one of our dear little friends.  So Bella, the surprise is ruined, but you have something to look forward to! 

Bella is a pink fanatic, so I rifled through my stash to find all my cutest pink options for her.   I came up with four great ones. Behold this wealth of pink goodness!

So lovely, huh? 

For my skirt, I wanted it to be roughly 16 inches long and have a 20 inch waist.  If you want yours longer, then cut your rectangles longer (but you can keep them 10 inches wide).  With the 10-inch width, you'll get a nice, full, very twirly skirt.  Oh man, it's going to be great!

Materials:
Four different fabrics, cut into 10 inch by 16 inch rectangles-- two each (total of eight rectangles)
One strip of fabric, 4 inches by waist measurement plus 4 inches
Dritz Wonder Tape
1/2-inch elastic, the length of your waist measurement
Basic sewing gear

Instructions:

Cut out all your pieces (rectangles).  Then sit and admire the beauty of the fabric.  Sigh...  It's so gaw-geous.

Decide how you want to arrange your fabrics then start sewing the long sides together.  I finished each seam with a zig-zag stitch.  When you get to your last rectangle, sew it to the first one, so you get a nice big loop.

On the bottom edge, fold over 1/4-inch and press; then another 1/4 inch.  Press. This is your hem

Stitch this up.  Now you've finished one raw edge.  Only the top to go!

Sew a gathering stitch along the top (raw) edge.  Remember, you have about 80 inches of fabric to gather, so I like to do it this way: I grab the top thread of both sides and gather simultaneously.  Since your skirt is made of panels, you know where the center is.  By gathering both sides up, it's easier to get your gathers even.

See how, when I fold it in half, the two sides are the same length?  

You want to gather your skirt until it's the waist measurement plus 4 inches.  (Oops!  This pic shows my waist measurement plus 2.  That works, too.  It just gives a little less room for squeezing in.)

I also like to trim off some of those extra frayed edges that happen when you gather.

Take your waistband strip and sew short edges, right sides together, to make a loop.  Pin it, right sides together, to the top of your skirt.

It looks like this...

 ... then when you flip it up, you have this.

Now fold that top raw edge in a 1/2 inch.  Press.

Here comes my waistband cheat.  Ready for it??  Okay... see how you have two lines of stitches at the top of your gathered skirt part?  The top is the gathering stitch (which you can pull out if you want, but it will be hidden, so I wouldn't waste my time).  The bottom is what's holding your skirt and waistband together.  Focus on that one.

You want to enclose all that gathering and stitching in your waistband, but you'd also like a nice, non-wonky stitch on the outside of your waistband.  So how do you fold that waistband down and ensure it stays in place, so you can stitch, looking at the outside of the waistband?  WONDER TAPE!!!

Take your Wonder Tape and run it along that bottom line of stitches.

Then fold your waistband over and press it down onto the tape, so it's just covering the stitches.  You don't want to see those stitches.

Now flip your skirt right side out and top stitch the waistband, close to the skirt, leaving an opening through which to insert your elastic.  When you finish, you'll see the Wonder Tape has allowed you to catch both sides of the waistband.  You didn't have to mess with pins or picking stitches because you missed the back side of the fabric.

I guess cheating does sometimes pay off. ;)

At this point, I like to press the waistband and topstitch the top.  It's not necessary, but I think it looks nice.

Then take a safety pin and thread the elastic through your opening.  (You probably have Wonder Tape keeping it semi-closed.  Just pry it apart.)

When you get the elastic through, stitch it together.  I like to use a zig-zag stitch and backstitch a bunch of times.  It doesn't have to be pretty; it just has to hold.  Then close up the opening and you are finished!!

Go outside and take a picture of the finished product because it's January in the Chicagoland area and it's amazingly mild, and you need to take advantage of it! ;)

Again, Bella, I hope you love it.  Send us some pictures of you twirling in your new skirt!

Linky parties!