Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Practicality Won this time.

I bought the Emmaline Maxi Dress pattern awhile ago when it was on sale, and it has been sitting on my computer ever since.  I came across it in my documents yesterday and decided to give it a go. 

I finished Jenna's today, but practicality won, and I left off the longer bottom ruffle that would have made it floor length.  I can't imagine her getting much (really any) wear out of a floor-length dress.  For real!  It is still maxi length and gorgeous!





I made the pattern as written. . .almost.  Well, who am I kidding?!  I completely changed the construction method.  The pattern has you put together the front bodice and skirt separate from the back bodice and skirt and then put them together at the side seams.  I don't like the finish under the arms this way, so I sandwiched the front bodice between the two layers of the back bodice before sewing it right sides together.  When I turned it, I ended up without any exposed side seams on the bodice at all. 

At any rate, I love the pattern and will make it again.  I have Allie's already cut out of a black and white chevron print.  I think it is going to be beautiful!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

It's a maxi-dress kind of weekend!

I was browsing in blogland last night and came across Katie's post about the Signature Dress pattern from http://www.thetraintocrazy.com/ .  I've been meaning to draft a pattern for a maxi dress for my girls, so when I saw this one, I decided to give it a go. 

At $10 for the pdf pattern, it is a little more expensive than I usually pay for e-patterns, but this thing has TONS of options!  There are several different sleeve options, different pocket options, including in-seam side pockets that I will definitely be doing next, and different waist options.


Oh, and it can also be made in different lengths.  I went with a maxi length dress out of Chez Ami striped cotton lycra.  I decided to do flutter sleeves and the elasticized waist option.



Jenna measures in between the charted measurements for the size 5 and the size 6/6X.  I want her to be able to wear it awhile, so I made the size 6/6X.  I need to tighten up the elastic at the waist on this one. 

Next up is another maxi dress, this time in a woven.  The fabric is pre-washing in the machine!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy Independance Day!

Wow!  It has been a long time, hasn't it?  I've been sewing some, but I haven't done anything I wanted to show here.  Since I'm off work today, I took the opportunity to make a new outift for Jenna.  I stuck to the red, white, and blue theme, but I didn't want it to scream 4th of July, so I went with non-themed fabrics in shapes and colors that I know she will get a lot of wear out of.


I started with the Classic Picnic Blouse and Shorts pattern by Oliver + S.  I pinned the shorts from Siestas and Sewing awhile ago, so I could refer back to her tutorial for how to add the ruffles.   It worked perfectly!



They are made from some red linen-look fabric I picked up at Joann's yesterday.


For the top, I used the top without the sleeves and added bias trim to finish the underarm edges and for the ties.  I put the monogram on it before constructing the shirt, so the inside doesn't have any scratchy stabilizer.  It is made from very thin denim.



Because the top for this pattern as written is a fairly close-fitting woven shirt without any closures, the armhole area is very roomy.  If I do it again, I'll adjust for that, but I like it a lot anyway, and so does she.


I hope you are having a fabulous day!