Summer is here! Halter Dresses for Girls! Aimee by Bonnie Blue

I love beautiful fabric.  This piece from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden has been in my stash for awhile.  This was the perfect project since much of the dress is one piece, it didn't break up all those paisleys.  I constructed this dress from Bonnie Blue in just a few hours.  It has three pieces!  (My back I cut as one to not break the print.)  I even added piping to give more pop to the dress.

Aimee by Bonnie Blue

Back of Aimee

My only construction changes were:

1.  Making the back one piece.

2.  Adding piping to the neckline and straps.

3.  Decreasing the amount of elastic needed in the back.

You can see from the pattern that it looks just like the pattern picture.

Since the dress went together so quickly, I decided to make View 2 as a nightgown for my daughter.  I used a flannel print perfect for pj's.  The pattern wasn't made for flannel, but I also didn't like how the straps were sewn onto the dress.  It added too much bulk.  I wish the underarm facing and straps were one piece so there was less bulk. 

Our SAGA group just hosted Debbie Glenn for a weekend of sewing.  It was great and my mind was fried, but I sure learned a thing or two.  

After a long day of classes with Debbie Glenn!  It was a great time of sewing and learning!

Sun Dress, Simplicity 3515

Simplicity 3515 is an easy dress to put together.  Maybe a little tougher to get a good fit.  

I made a straight size 8, but lengthen the dress to a size 12.  The size 8 is about one size too large for my daughter.  I saw complaints of the gapping armhole on patternreveiew.com, but it may be all due to the top section just being too large.  From just glancing at the pattern, you don't realize the belt is about a 6"  section sewn to the front with the ties sewn under it.  Well, I am sure that my daughter is not the only girl who doesn't stand still and the belt sags in the back.  This could quickly be fixed by making the front belt section longer to about the side seams.  

I did change a few of the construction steps.  I wish I had taken a picture to show because it worked well. Maybe I can explain:

1.  When sewing on the front waist band piece.  I pinned the sash ties down in place and then pinned the center piece.  To make this a pretty top-stitch seam, I tucked under the ends first (these are the ones on top of the ties.)  Then I folded the top and bottom of the waist piece under.  When I got the the corners, I tucked it completely under the sash ties.  This left a smooth top stitch area.

2.  I sewed the yoke lining on first to the dress.  Then I stitched the neckline seam and finally topstitched the front yoke to the dress.  I top stitch much better what I can see.

The main fabric of this dress is from Fabric Finders.  It is a fun summer print that has been out for a few years.

Strawberries and Sassy Skirt

When your daughter needs a few quick outfits, it is great to turn to a solid skirt pattern and cheap t-shirts from Target.  My "go to" skirt pattern for my daughter is Children's Corner's Sassy Skirt.  I have lost track of how many I have made.  I made two skirts with the variation of adding another tier to the skirt and making it look like a peasant skirt.  Above, the skirt is trimmed with self-ruffled dot print and rick-rack.  

Above fabric is by Timeless Treasures and the embroidery is from Planet Applique.  

Below fabric is from Michael Miller and the embroidery is from Planet Applique.

Another variation of this skirt is to make a skirt. I make the skirt as it is written for the full skirt and then add Children's Corner's Sara Skort shorts underneath to make Sassy Skirt a skort.

The Paris fabric is from Timeless Treasures and the embroidery is from Planet Applique.

Another quick skirt is a free hand rectangle of ruffle fabric sewn to an elastic band.  This took longer to thread my serger than to sew.  I sewed up the side seam and then gathered the top.  I tacked down the skirt to the elastic on my regular sewing machine and then coverstitched it with my coverstitch machine.  It looks professional and my daughter is nuts about it.

The bird cage appliqué is from Planet Applique.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter with Aine from AS&E 89

Every issue of Australian Smocking and Embroidery inspires me to pull out my pleater and get going!  Issue 89's dress, "Aine," was gorgeous done in white.  My sweet darling would not allow a dress to remain white until we got to the the church, besides being so dressy looking.  I just had to make this dress, but I chose a more casual fabric, but I still love the results.  The fabric is a pink cotton by Oliver+S in her City Weekend group by Moda.

"Aine" is an age 6-10 dress, so I think I may be doing this one again.  It has the MOST GORGEOUS back! I followed the pattern almost exactly.  I substituted a small amount of pink fabric for the sleeves instead of all lace.  I did have to line this dress with white batiste due to the see-through factor.  I am not overly fond of lace, but this dress is enchanting with the lace.

I switched DMC colors to mirror my dress colors.  Some quilting cottons are not tamed well going through a pleater, but this one behaved wonderfully adding to my excitement to finish the dress.

This is a great fitting dress.  I am so pleased with the results.  

Hope you enjoy the Easter holiday.  Christ is truly risen and has conquered death for us all!