Christmas Dress, Butterick B5523

Butterick B5523

 My Christmas dress this year is COMFY!  I used a rayon ponte double knit in Christmas red and Butterick B5523 to make a perfectly comfy and cute dress.  A few reviews on PatternReview mentioned the bust was "snug."  I did a FBA and almost went up a size due to the knit not being super stretchy.  I came back down to my original size and whipped up the dress in 48 hours for a Christmas party.  My only changes are the FBA and I used my coverstitch machine on the hems.  A note for others about the pleats:  it takes a firm fabric to hold the pleats, but the pleats are shallow and would hold a better pleat if they were deeper....

Butterick B5523

Merry Christmas!

Whimsy Christmas Dress

Christmas Dress from More Sewing with Whimsy.

This year's Christmas dress is from Kari Mecca's "More Sewing with Whimsy."  I used the round yoke dress, "Confetti Rainbow."  This is a simple pull-over-head dress pattern.  The hardest part is making sure the yoke is centered.  The green, red and white fabric is from my stash, but I think it is a Nashville Cotton's print.  This year I asked my daughter what type of dress she wanted. I let her pick from dressy,  casual, classic, or a mix.  She decided on a classic dress, but with something fun.  I think I found a great match and I used up some fabric from my stash!

Close-up of whimsy stick roses.

I used Whimsy Sticks to make the double loop roses.  These are easy to make and look absolutely wonderful.

Round Yoke Whimsy Dress & Jessica AG Dress pattern

My skinny daughter had a VERY tough time holding that satin ribbon belt in place.  I had added belt loops to the sides, but that didn't help at all.  I finally decided to safety pin the bow to the dress and NOW it stays in place.

Silly girl coming out in the pictures.

Rebecca, the American Girl doll, got to attend my daughter's literature club Christmas party.  It would have been simple to draft a dress for the doll, but I found a pattern at Gennie Wren's Etsy shop that was a great match.  It is called "Jessica," round yoke dress for 18" dolls.  It was easy to match the girl's dress as I constructed the doll dress.  I used smaller Whimsy Sticks and made double loop roses.

Jessica Round Yoke Dress from Gennie Wren.

Close-up of whimsy roses on Rebecca's dress.

Rebecca in her Christmas dress.

Next month, the American Girl doll is Kirsten.  I already have a few ideas in mind........

I'm in print!!!!

Smocked Cupcakes

I can hardly believe this little pattern is ready and available at the SAGA website under SAGA Stitches.  I spent a good deal of time writing, rewriting, and photographing these little cuties this year.  This SAGA Stitches program was done to try to hook another generation into my passion of smocking and sewing.  Since the "cake" part of the cupcake can be done anyway you like, it is easy to adapt it to any new stitch you would like to learn.  For beginners, the cupcake is only about a "fat quarter" wide to make it fast.

Let me know if you make one!!

Picture Tutorial for Josefina's 30 Minute Skirt

While whipping up a few Josefina skirts from scraps, I found a quick and painless way to sew up the free skirt pattern from The Pleasant Company.   Use the Josefina Pretty Clothes pattern for the skirt.  I have added the directions to the following pictures:

Josefina's Brown Skirt

Josefina's Blue Flannel Skirt

Josefina's Red Floral Skirt

Cut the skirt and waistband according to pattern.  

Serge or Zig Zap the two ends of the skirt.

Fold and iron under 1/4" of the waistband.

Fold and iron 1/4" under at the ends of the waistband.

Fold and iron 1/4" one of the short ends of the skirt (where you serged earlier).

Run 2 gathering stitches through the top side of the skirt.

Make sure the one side of the skirt you folded over is still folded over.

Gather the skirt to the waistband.

Pin the waistband right side to skirt wrong side.

The ends of the waistband should meet the ends of the skirt.  The side folded under will be sewn folded under.

Sew a 1/4" seam allowance to attach waistband.

Trim to a 1/8" seam allowance.

Iron the waistband up.  Then fold the waistband over the front of the skirt and pin.

Topstitch the waistband down.

At the sides add a 3" piece of velcro.  (I cut a regular piece in half lengthwise.)

Pin the back seam of the dress and sew from the hem to where you added velcro.

Fold and iron 1/4" hem and then fold and iron another 1/4" fold.

Edge stitch the hem in place.

Iron the skirt and you are finished.

Three skirts whipped up in a little over an hour.

The directions can be used for any length of skirt for an American Girl doll.  A great way to use scraps!

Enjoy!

American Girl Josefina Costume

Josefina Costume

November's literature club highlighted "Josefina."  Josefina has so many pretty clothes, it was hard to pick which ensemble to whip up.  Shopping for good fabric, I found a great red print and an off-white satin broadcloth.  

Girl's Josefina Dress Details:

Pattern:  Blouse is a redraft of Virginia by, Children's Corner.

Skirt was self-drafted pattern (large rectangle gathered to a waistband.)

Belt was self-drafted.

Details: Flower embroidery trim was used around the neck and sleeve area.

Embroidered ribbon was used at the top of the red section of the skirt.

Black Soutache braid was applied to the skirt in rows and swirls.

Black grosgrain ribbon was used at the lower hem of the skirt.

Side view of skirt details.

Bodice embroidered trim details.

Lessons learned:

1.  My daughter is the same size from her underarms to below the hips.  This is the first skirt I have made without elastic in the back.  It is the last skirt without elastic that will be made until she has something to hang a skirt on.

2.  Sewline's Fabric Glue Pen was the only way to apply the Soutache Braid without losing your mind.  I glued down the braid and then straight stitched it on the doll's dress and zigzagged it to the girl's dress.

Josefina's dress

Josefina's Dress Details:

Pattern: Free pattern from Pleasant Company,

Camisa and Birthday skirt.  

http://www.agplaythings.com/AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns.html

Details for the doll dress are the same, but with smaller proportions.

Happy with Josefina!

Next month is an American Girl Christmas party!  I have already started on the dresses......

Dots & Ruffles w/ModKid leggings & McCall's M6596 tunic

M6596 & ModKid leggings

This is the last of four quick projects before I start on another American Girl doll outfit and Christmas attire.  

The brown tunic is McCall's M6596, View D, with a few modifications.  I lengthened this top to be more of a tunic for my daughter.  I also added a few inches of fabric to the center front and then gathered it to give it a little more character.  This is a super quick top to make.  My only note is the sleeves fit my daughter perfectly, but she is very thin.  If your sweetie isn't super skinny these sleeves will be a little snug.

The leggings are from the book "Sewing ModKid Style."  I used the leggings pattern and traced a size 7 width and 8/9 length.  They fit like a glove and she loves them.  The fabric is a pink ruffle knit that I treated as a regular knit and serged it.

A girl and her dog........

"Penny" vintage style

Penny by Modkid

This is a quick post of a quick dress.  

Penny is two pieces, front and back.  It goes together faster than lightening.  It fits like a dream.

I added fold-over elastic on the neckline.

Penny 

The fabric is a new line at Joann's.  I like the Chez Ami fabric better.  This one sticks to itself.

The Scout Oath by my 3rd Boy Scout!

The pictures above were taken recently at my son's crossover ceremony into Boy Scouts.  He wanted to see these pictures in "vintage." I hope you enjoy them.  They are "different."

International Quilt Festival

I had a blast at the Quilt Festival in Houston.  I bought way too much fabric and enjoyed myself.  My class was with Carol Ahles.  She taught her hemstitching class.  Judith Adams from Australia was her class "helper."  Both are great ladies and wonderful at what they do.

Carol Ahles

Judith Adams

Quick Knit Top, McCall's M5135

McCall's M5135 and Chez Ami fabric

I just can't turn down shopping for fabric from Chez Ami when the fabric is on sale.  The brown floral print is still available and looks so cute made up in this shirt.  I used McCall's M5135 and combined view A and B.

McCall's M5135

As you can see, it is a fun girly top that my daughter has paired up with a pair of brown pants from Gymboree from last year.

I didn't follow the directions in the pattern, but used my coverstitch machine to finish the neckline and add the elastic.  I will show a tutorial on that when I have mastered it the first time and not spent time ripping out serged seams a few times.  

The pattern runs a little wide on my skinny girl, so the next version will see about 2" taken out the bodice piece.

McCall's M5135 back view

This week is International Quilt Festival in Houston.  I will be there shopping and taking a class.  Wish you could join me!