More Valentines Day

If you have a girl and do not own the Leila and Ben "Sweet Little Dress" than you need to solve that problem.  Soon.  It's only 6 bucks and totally worth it.  It comes in baby and toddler size.   You can buy it here.


Why is it worth it?


1.  It helped me (as a beginner) figure out how dresses are put together so that I can now draft my own patterns.


2.  It is EXTREMELY versatile.  You will know what i'm talking about if you check out week 2 of Project Run and Play.  


Honestly, I have loved making this dress.  Not only because it is super easy to construct, but because I love changing it up.  I've made 3 versions in the last 2 months.  Here is my latest, perfect for V-Day:

The Changes:

1.  Lining.  I added a lining to the dress because the heart fabric you see on the outside is thin and see through.  Plus, an extra layer in the winter can never hurt.  Right?  

To add the lining, I simply cut the lining material to the same size as the rest of my dress.  I left the sleeves unlined.  When I ironed over my casing, I ironed both fabrics together and secured them with the top stitch like in the pattern.  

The only somewhat tricky part was sewing up the side seams.  I didn't want the inner layers to be connected at the side seams, so I pulled the outer layer away and flipped the dress so that the lining layers were right sides together and pinned.

Sew up the side seams and the sleeves as you normally would.  Just be sure that you don't catch any of the outer fabric when you sew the bottom corner where the sleeve meets the lining.  You can see this in the picture below.

Once you've sewn the lining and the sleeves, turn the dress right sides out and sew the main dress pieces  as it shows in the pattern. 

2.  Sleeves.  All I did to change the sleeves was leave out the elastic.  Simple, but I love how it makes the sleeves puff out a bit.

3.  Waistband.  Once the dress was constructed, I added a waistband.  I used the lining and the outer fabric to make the casing for the elastic.  I sewed 3 lines about 1/2 inch apart where I wanted the waist to be through both layers of fabric.  I left a small opening at the end of each line to insert the elastic.  Then I used a safety pin to insert 3/8 inch elastic into each of the 2 casings and sewed the elastic together before sewing each of the casings closed.  The length of my elastic was my daughters waist measurement.

4.  Length.  Last, I chopped off a few inches of the original pattern to make the dress into a shirt.  My almost 8 month old still fits into the 3-6 month pattern and I still had to crop a few inches.  We are a little vertically challenged around here.  

So there you go.  Get the pattern and try some variations of your own.  

Oh and don't you just LOVE the fabric...vintage from my grandparents old stash.  So great.

  

"Love Struck" Pillows

I live in an apartment (a product of the husband being in grad school) and the Valentines decor is somewhat lacking.  The husband isn't too fond of themed decor.  I'm slowly converting him.  Very slowly. So I thought these pillows were a nice, not too over the top, compromise.

Plus, I finished them rather quickly which is always a huge plus in my book.

Materials:

-Fiber Fill (whatever kind you liked best)

-1/2 yard of your choice of fabric for the pillows (I used duck canvas)

-black fabric paint

-paint brush

-freezer paper

-Picture of you and your love (you could also use clip-art)

-Cupid print out (I found mine online for free)

-Cardboard square (small)

*I realized about half way through how easy this would be if I only had a Silhouette.  Oh how I want one of you.  I'm sure you could find a cupid in their online store or import one of your own.  But it is still a quick project even without, so lets move forward.  

Construction:

1.  Cut.  Cut fabric into 4 squares 13 x 13.

2.  Sew.  Take two pieces of fabric.  With right sides together, sew around all four edges with a 3/8 inch seam leaving about a 5" gap along one edge for stuffing.  Repeat for other two squares.  

3.  Trace.  Take your images and tape to cutting board.  Place freezer paper over the top of image shiny side down.  Trace with an exacto knife to cut image out on freezer paper.  You will end up saving the outline not the actually cut out image, so don't throw away the scraps (I used Made's directions for the freezer paper stencil.  Go here if you need more help).  Repeat with second image.  

**You want to keep everything on the left side of the photo...you do not need the piece on the right.  

4.  Iron.  Place your freezer paper stencil onto your canvas exactly where you want your image to show up.  Iron down stencil.  Be sure to get the edges really well so that paint doesn't seep through to unwanted areas.

5.  Paint.  Take a small piece of cardboard and stuff through hole.  Using your brush, paint a few coats over the freezer paper directly onto the canvas. 

**Stain remover takes away any unwanted paint from canvas that may or may not have gotten there during painting.  Or so i've heard.  

6.  Let dry and seal with iron. 

7.  Stuff.  Fill pillow with fiber fill or stuffing of your choice.

8.  Hand sew pillow closed.  I used a whip stitch to close off the pillow.  I started the knot inside the seam and then did some close together stitching around the seam to close the gap. 

Enjoy!

The "Be Mine" Skirt

Valentines Day is right around the corner.  So sit down at your machine and whip up this super girly, super easy skirt for any little girl in your life.  Easy to adapt for bigger girls too!

Materials:

-1" wide elastic

-1/4 yard fabric for skirt lining

-1/2 yard fabric for main skirt

-fabric pen or pencil

Measure:

-Hips (around the fullest part of the bum)

-Waist

-Length (how long you want your skirt to be)

*take time at the beginning to take these measurements.  It will make construction go much smoother.

Construction:

1.  Cut.  

-Cut elastic 1" longer than waist measurement. 

-Cut skirt lining into a rectangle that is 2" longer than hip measurement by 1" less than length measurement.  My hip measured 19 inches and my length was 9.  19 + 2 = 21 and  9 - 1 = 8, so I cut my rectangle 21" x  8".  ** UPDATE:  I would add at least 4" onto hip measurement to get the width.  This will allow for more wiggle room.  Especially if making the skirt for a non-baby.

-Cut skirt tiers.  Figure out how much of each tier you want to show.  About 2 inches for a baby skirt.  

If you look at the pictures below, you will see how different it will look if you allow more fabric to show through.  The red skirt allows the bottom tiers to peek out 3" while the pink allows only 2".  I think less looks better in this case.  

    

For larger skirts, you will want more to show because your top tier will be larger.   As a general rule, about half the width of each tier should be visible in the end.  

I know this seems confusing, but really all you need to do is take your length measurement, subtract 1" for the waistband then divide the total by 2.  This will give you the width of your tiers.  My math went something like this:  9 - 1 = 8.  8 / 2 = 4.  My tiers should be 4" each.  I added 1/2" on to each tier to account for serging.  Add a full inch to account for a hem if you will not be serging.

One more example:

For a 15 inch skirt:

15" - 1" = 14"
14" / 2" = 7" (finished tier length)
7 "+ 1/2" = 7 1/2 "tier length to account for serging, add a full inch if you are going to hem)

-The length of each tier should be double the lining width for the bottom two tiers and double the waist measurement for the top tier.   My waist measured 17" so my top tier was 34" x 4 1/2".  My lining measurement was 21" so my bottom two tiers were 42" X 4 1/2".

The top tier will gather more with the waist band, which is why you need less length than the other tiers.

2.  Finish Edges.  Serge the top and bottom edges of both the middle and bottom tiers.  Serge the bottom only of the skirt lining and top tier of the skirt (we'll finish the upper edge of both later).  I used a rolled hem to make the finished edge smaller than a regular serge.  See your serger's manual to determine how to set your machine up for a rolled hem.

**If you are not going to serge you will need to hem the bottom of each piece by folding and ironing each piece over 1/4" and then folding and ironing 1/4" again.  Top stitch with a 1/8" seam to hold in place.  You will finish the top edge of each piece later.

 

Here's what my finished pieces look like.

3.  Mark lining.  With your fabric pen, mark the lining fabric by drawing a line where you want the tiers to be.  I wanted 2 inches of the middle and bottom tiers to show.  For my skirt (with 4" tiers) I drew my first line 2" down from the top of the lining and my second line 2" below that. 

4.  Sew pieces.  With skirt pieces right sides together sew down the short edge using a 1/4 inch seam.  Pin before if you'd like.  Do the same with the skirt lining.

5.  Gather.  Sew a gathering stitch along the top edge of each tier using 1/8" seam.  To sew a gathering stitch set your machine to highest tension and longest stitch length.  Using a quilting foot also helps the material gather more as you sew.  Be sure not to back stitch at the beginning or end of your line.  Pull bobbin thread of each tier until they reach the same length around as the skirt lining piece.  Spread out the ruffles or gathers by pushing the fabric along the gathering thread until they are evenly spaced.  The top tier will be slightly less gathered than the other tiers because it is shorter.  This will be fixed as soon as you add the waistband.  

6.  Pin.  Pin the bottom layer onto the lining over the lower line you drew earlier.  Pin the middle tier at the top line.  Pin the top tier along the top edge of your skirt lining.  I chose to pin all the layers first and then sew all at once.  In hindsight, I think it may have been easier to pin and sew one at a time. 

7.  Sew.  Sew each tier to the skirt using a 1/4" seam.  If you did not serge your edges, you will want to attach the layers using a zig-zag stitch to prevent from fraying and then trim the left over main skirt fabric.  Do not cut through the skirt lining.  

If you have a serger, serge the top edge of the skirt to finish the edge and get rid of extra fabric.  If you will not be serging, zig zag and trim.

8.  Attach waistband.  Align waistband to skirt (wrong side of elastic to right side of skirt-exactly how it will look when worn).  Since the fabric is slightly larger than the elastic you will want to pin in at least 4 places (more for larger skirts) and then stretch the elastic as you sew.  I do this by marking the halfway points on the skirt and the elastic with a pin and then aligning those pins.  This way I ensure that the fabric will be evenly distributed along the elastic.

9.  Sew.  Using one hand to stretch the elastic as you go, sew the elastic to the skirt using a zig-zag stitch to allow for some stretch.

**I also attached a gathered flower to the front of the skirt.  I used this tutorial for the flower and sewed it directly onto the waistband.  

Fun skirt for the fun day.

Perfect for eating grass,

hiding behind trees,

and for playing with dad.

*don't mind the crooked headband

Happy Valentines Day!