Tips: Aqua Velvet Dress

After seeing my post on how I love this dress, Dana decided to share her tips and tricks for recreating this masterpiece. Hurray!

Full post with helpful tips found here: http://www.dana-made-it.com/2010/01/aqua-velvet-encore.html

Velvet Goodness

If winter were not half way over, I'd try to recreate this blue velour jumper that Dana created from MADE. Maybe I'll try it for next year.

(velour)

Full post with details found here: http://www.dana-made-it.com/2009/01/aqua-velvet.html

Tutorial: Layered Jersey Skirt

Inspired by this skirt...

(Crewcuts - Girl's Layered Cake Skirt - cotton and silk- $34.50)

I made this jersey version for my toddler:

(jersey)

And here is how I made it. It's super simple and soft for summer! Keep in mind I made this for a size skinny 2T. You will need to increase or decrease the measurements for your child's size. Also, don't worry about the ruffles all being the exact same width. The variety adds a little sass.

Also remember that sewing with a small zig-zag or stretch stitch is recommended on knits, as it allows the fabric to stretch slightly, without breaking the threads.

1. Start with 1 yard of two colors of jersey (total of 2 yards but you'll have extra left over).

2. Cut a rectangle. I just used one of her skirts and added several inches in both width and length for seam allowances. Mine ended up being 13 X 25 inches. **Make sure you make this a little too large in the body to allow stretch when you put it on, or the threads will break. It will end up fitting perfectly as you pull the waist in with the elastic waistband. Always error on too large as you can always take some away but you can't add material.

3. Cut three, 2 X 36 inch (approximately) strips of each color. You should have a total of 6 strips.

4. Ruffle all the strips of fabric. The easiest way to do this is to set your tension at it's highest (typically 9) and the width to the longest and just sew ( do NOT backstitch). It will naturally gather the fabric. Leave excess threads on both sides so you can have room to ease the gather to the length of the skirt (it will most likely be too tight and you'll need to loosen the ruffles).
5. Then, pin the ruffles onto the rectangle and sew them on, one row at a time. Leave about 4 inches of material at the top, where you don't add ruffles. You'll use this area for the waistband.


6. After all ruffles are sewn on, put the short sides of the rectangle together (right sides together) and sew. It will now be a tube and start to resemble a skirt. I think this is the hardest part of the skirt as it can be difficult to line up the ruffles on both sides. Mine ended up being slightly off but I just trimmed the ruffles afterwards to help them match up.

7. Now fold over extra material on top to meet the first ruffle and sew. Fold it over again and top-stitch with a zig-zag stitch. Leave a small section of the waistband (near the seam of the tube) open so you can insert the elastic.

8. Add elastic (I used 1/2 inch non-roll). I just measured my daughter's waist and added a few inches. Sew the last few inches of the top-stiching on waistband. And you're done!

Email me with your versions of the skirt and/or any questions! melhoney(at)gmail(dot)com.

More Blossom Tees

(jersey)

I made two more blossom tees, this time in purple for my aunt and sister-in-law. I am really loving the purple.

*modeled by my beauitful baby sister Jill.

Blossom Tee Tutorial

It all started with this $5 jersey tee I bought at Target two weeks ago.

Since I’m petite up top, the neckline went dangerously low and was showing off stuff it should not. I have this problem constantly but I finally came up with a good solution! Simply sew around the neckline with elastic thread. This cinches it right up and allows for some much needed modesty.

Next, I cut about 5 inches off the sleeves. This provided material for the flowers and gave the top 3/4 length sleeves. The great thing about working with jersey is that it won’t fray so you don’t need to worry about hems. I then cut lumpy squares, pinched them into flower shapes, nested them into another pinched square, pinned them in place and sewed them on one after another, like this.

When sewing them on, I just pointed the flowers on their side and sewing the tips as shown below. They will naturally fall down and ‘blossom’ from the weight of the material.

THIS TUTORIAL helped me but I did a much sloppier faster technique that involved no hand-sewing (Who has the patience or time? Not I. Scarlett is my sleeping time bomb).

Not bad for $5, huh? I love the end result and it was quite rewarding to transform a boring tee into something quite fun.

*Confession: I actually spent $10 since I wanted more ruffle than the cut off sleeves allowed so I bought an extra shirt to cut up.

Baby Shoes

Like every other seamstress blogger out there, I made the soft-soled baby shoes and loved them! They were pretty easy but I'll admit struggled slightly making them perfectly even around the toe. But after a few curses they came out darling.

If anyone had considered making these or other baby shoes, there are lots of online tutorials. Some are HERE (the one I used) HERE and HERE and HERE.

Ruffle A-Line

One of my favorite blogs to stalk is "Katie Did". She creates stunning clothes for her two blond beauties.

(cotton?)

I love these and sort of wish she was my best friend. I'd like to reproduce this someday but I can't seem to commit to a color combination (or maybe add a subtle pattern?). Suggestions?

Full post found here: http://katiedid.squarespace.com/katie-did-journal/2008/3/26/easter-dresses.html