Sewing Lara and sorta-Sienna

I got to test out a new pattern recently. It is called Lara and is by a dear lady, Mira, of Tulips and Edelweiss.  Lara is a ruffled hoodie for girls. It can be made from velveteen or cotton knit or even microfleece.  It is very lady-like, according to one of my daughters.  I made a version in cotton knit, for my youngest daughter.  For fabric, I went stash diving in the bins in my garage and found some jersey knit from Chez Ami and some Michael Miller cotton knits. This is not a simple pattern but it went together very nicely.  It is meant for intermediate level sewists, so be aware that it is a great pattern but not simple.  It is well written with excellent directions.

You know a girl needs an outfit to go with a smashing hoodie like that! So, I used Lilblueboo Sienna dress pattern as the basis to come up with this cutiepie dress.  It doesn't resemble Sienna much anymore! I got creative and wung it as I sewed, adding ruffles to the sleeves, a gathered skirt, and side panels in turquoise rib knit.

It looks pretty cute with the hoodie!  

She loves it and won't take it off, so I count that as a great success.

Love sewing for this one!

Is there anything better than baby Ottobre?

I have been busy the last few weeks but unable to blog about what I have been doing because it has all been sewing for a friend!  I didn't want to ruin the surprise. However, now that her baby shower has come and gone, I can tell you about it!  

Baby Ottobre!  Oh my, what lovely patterns I had to choose from!  Several years of Ottos yielded a huge array of choices.   I decided against one-piece rompers or sleepers because I figured she would get a lot of those from other people.  Since this is a Spring baby, I decided to pick a Spring issue.  I went with issue 3/2009.  

Meet Cecile, Cassia, Toffee, Hermione, and Lola!  These were all done in fabrics from Chez Ami and Michael Miller.

Here is Toffee tunic #1 with Cassia shorts #1 and Hermione, the cutest hat in the entire world!   These were all made with Sarah Jane Children at Play fabrics, for Michael Miller.

This hat pattern was not easy.  It is not a beginner's sewing project but after much patience and more than a few seams ripped and redone, here she is in all her glory.

 I modified the pattern to add a strap so it would stay on a tiny head. 

And, yes, it is reversible!  These are all Children at Play fabrics by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller.  Love this line!

Brim can be worn up or down!

Here is Toffee tunic #2 with Cassia shorts #2.  More Sarah Jane fabrics. 

 

Here is Cecile blouse #1 and Lola leggings #1 made from Chez Ami cotton lycra. I modified the pattern to use fold-over elastic for the neckline. 

 Same process for Cecile #2 and Lola #2.  Also, CA fabrics. The blouse, however, is jersey this time.

The idea was to make everything mix and matchable to stretch out how often they can be worn.  Mama-to-be was very happy and I am hopeful these will get worn! I told her I will make her a stuffed doll when her little girl outgrows all of this, just so the baby can then play with the dolly, who can wear these tops and dresses!  

Shirring on knit fabric

For too long, I have been afraid of shirring.  So, of course, when I decide to actually try it, I decide to use cotton knit fabric. Jersey knit from Chez Ami, to be exact.  I don't know if shirring on knits is easier or harder than wovens, but what they hey.  Here I go.

So, first, I read Pink Fig's blog post on shirring . So many of her patterns involve shirring.  This very basic blog gave lots of great tips.  This is very helpful and my first few rows go great.  Wahoo!

However, later, I realize I need to add a row later and it wouldn't work!  Why, oh why? Why didn't it work?  Ack!  Bonk!  [that is the sound my mouth made, followed by the sound of my head hitting the desk]

So, what to do? Well, of course, I google everything I can on shirring and find some wonderful tutorials:

1. A great video! Gotta love a video!  Us crafty -types are visual learners, aren't we? So, here it is for you to click here. This was very helpful!!

2. Then, blog post from Pretty Ditty (great blog name!)  This one took it to another level and gave even more tips!

But, still, no go.  Sewing is happening, but it is not looking like the blog posts! What to do, what to do?  Well, if you run a sewing page on Facebook with over 500 members, you can ask there and get even more tips!  [do you belong?  Why not?  Join Handmade Dress Haven!  So, the sewing ladies on Facebook had even more tips, most importantly, if you get to the end of the bobbin, it might loosen up.  You might want to rewind!  That was a great tip.  Also, look at the bobbin cover for my Janome 5200:

Do you see the diagram? Notice where the thread is supposed to go. The stretchy elastic might not remain there during shirring.  This is a problem you can fix!

Also, I got several tips about how to thread the bobbin. Handwind it so it is not wound too tightly.  Or, use your machine to wind it so it is wound evenly, but not too tightly.  If it is not wound evenly, it can create tension problems. I decide to use my machine and give it a try. I press on the pedal slowly so it winds but not too quickly.  I hold the elastic between the spool and the bobbin so I can control how tightly it winds. I am not sure if this is a good idea, but it works! I achieve shirring enough to finish my garment!

This is Cecile, she is made using an Ottobre Pattern, from summer 2009 (3/2009).  She is made from Chez Ami jersey knit.  She is not complete.  I decided, at the last minute, to try fold over elastic. Now that I know how to shir, it is time to try something else new!  So, her neckline is incomplete.  But, she is pretty darn cute, regardless.  I will post anew when the FOE arrives!  Wahoo!

The 30-minute, no pattern, easy upcycle dress

Today, I whipped up a cute dress in less than a half an hour, without a pattern! I have become slightly enamored of the idea of upcycling clothing, taking something you might now use and making another thing about of it you will use. Lilblueboo, on Etsy, is one dress maker I follow. Her dresses are cute and popular and she also sells patterns so you can make them on their own. Well, no offense to Ashley but I figured I could try to make on myself, without a pattern. So, here is what I did today!

First, I found a cute top at a consignment store. Lilblueboo does some very cute screen prints, including a crown. I lucked out and found this Carter's top with a crown design in raised metallic sequins.

Then, I let my two year old help me pick from my stash of Chez Ami knits. She chose this cotton lycra striped in pink and red to be the skirt.

Here are my tools for this

adventure.

I have been playing with my new Janome Serger for several days and have figured out the correct settings for serging the edge of this fabric with four threads and then making a rolled hem with three threads.

I serged the side seams with a regular 4-thread edge.

For the skirt, I used the pattern for the dress I made last week, Ottobre Spring 2007, #11. It is twice the width of the dress. I figured this would be a good first trial skirt size.

Time to size up the top! Where to put the waist of the dress? How about right above the toddler belly button!

Cutting off the bottom. I will save this piece of pink for a future project, perhaps a tiered skirt!

Time to pin the right sides together so I can baste them on the sewing machine.

After basting the skirt to the top, I unpinned it and serged the inside with a four-thread edge. I then took out the left thread and changed settings to a rolled hem for the bottom of the dress.

Voila! Cute and simple and best of, my daughter says it is very comfy and she wants to wear it. All in all, this dress took 30 minutes to make and I figure it cost me $7 or less in materials. A perfect play dress for spring!

Next up: I plan to work on the waistline for the next dress and this one is a bit bunchy and not as full as I had hoped. I would also like to taper the sides of a top and make a drop-waist dress with a ruffled skirt. I think that would be darling.