More Sewing Plans for Summer (or the value of teaching your child to budget)

Yesterday, I had the glorious experience of shopping for my daughter's summer wardrobe.

In preparation for this expedition, on Tuesday, we dragged out all her summer clothes that had been stashed in various locations around the house for the cool period we get in Queensland. A mammoth trying-on followed, accompanied by moans and groans and exclamations of boredom. My daughter handled it really well, though! ;-)

It seemed as though she had grown out of nearly everything she owned. Great.

Anyway, in the interests of teaching her how to cultivate a workable, affordable wardrobe, we made a list of what she had and what she needed for the summer ahead (which, just quietly, seems to have arrived here already).

We also perused the fabric stash, and went through the pattern collection..just to get an idea of what she liked and what was possible with no expense.

Armed with our information, we braved the shops. She was SO EXCITED ... for about 30 minutes. Then it became a drag. I set her a budget of $200 to cover everything she needed - tops, shorts, skirts, swimsuits, rash shirts, PJs, shoes, accessories...everything. We talked about how to get the best value for your money and how budgeting is not evil. If you manage your money wisely, you can have the things you want guilt free. How good is that? I also may have mentioned that items sewn by Mum from stash were free. Any fabric purchased would have to come from her budget, but labour would be paid for with love (and cups of coffee!). She seemed to think that was a good deal. Not bad for a 9 year old.

In the end, she handled the whole experience admirably well. She concentrated on looking for things she knew I couldn't really replicate (things with prints and foil transfers, etc) and ended up with enough money to buy her ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE DRESS EVER from Pumpkin Patch (which I didn't have the heart to tell her I could make for a lot less - it's pretty simple). She was happy and so was I. That, my friends, is a great shopping trip.

The.Best.Dress.Ever :-)

Source

Of course, I now have a few more items to add to my summer sewing list. But, on the upside, I get all my coffees made for me for the next week and a bit while we're on school holidays.

Just so I don't forget what I've promised to make, here's a list:

• Black sequin circle skirt
• Several sets of summer pyjamas
• 3 or 4 swimsuits (we have a pool)
• 1 maxi dress
• Black drapey bolero (based on the hot pink one she already owns)
• 2 everyday skirts
• 1 dressier skirt (glittery denim)
• 2 everyday shorts
• Black capris/long shorts

I'm fairly certain that I have the fabric to sew a few things from this list, otherwise there'll be a quick trip to The Fabric Store in my future.

The Green Silk Dress - Done and Dusted

Well, finally the wedding day has been and gone. I'm happy to say the dress got finished on time and there were no wardrobe malfunctions. Yay!

First up, here are the pictures...

And some stats:

Pattern: Burda WOF 12-2008-136B
Fabrics: Green/black shot silk and black silk organza for underlining (from The Fabric Store in Brisbane), Black sheer nylon/velvet overlay (from Lincraft many years ago).

I had been eyeing off this pattern for quite some time. I really liked the overall shape and the idea of the split overlay. It looked really elegant in the magazine.

 

 

Pattern alterations/Design Changes:



First, I (with the help of my sewing teacher) tissue fitted the pattern to my body. This particular pattern allows for a smaller waist and curvy hips - the total opposite of my body. I didn't want anything really tight, so we ended up adding a fair bit to the front skirt section and straightening out the side seams to create more of an a-line shape.

I also had to do a full bicep adjustment for the sleeves and I ended up lengthening them a little. The rest of the pattern worked fine for me.

Before cutting into the silk, I made a test version of this dress in a chocolate brown linen (I'll post pics of that one when I've completely finished it). Obviously this was without the overlay, but gave me a good idea of the overall shape and pattern alterations needed. I ended up taking out a fair bit of the extra room we added in.

Construction notes:

Putting together the linen version was fairly straight forward. I learned how to insert an invisible zip across a seam so that it all lined up perfectly. I also learned how to trace out my seam lines so that I could see where I made fitting changes, making it easy to transfer those to my pattern. I bound the seams in this version with a lightweight poly-cotton.

It was when I changed to the silk version of this dress that my nightmares began. If I'd known before I started just how tricky this dress was going to be, I would never have started. Granted I learnt a LOT while sewing this dress, but I'm the queen of simple and easy. I'm really happy to stay in my comfort zone and have no need to push myself to learn new things just for the sake of it. I felt as though this dress looked WAY too simple for the effort and time that went into it. I won't be making it again. I may make a dress using the pattern, but the layered look won't ever cross my machine again. The worst part was that point in the centre front where you had multiple seams and layers all needing to meet in a perfect point. I'm just too slap happy to end up with a perfect result, but it was really important this time. Just that tiny bit took me several days to finish. I think I must have unpicked it at least a dozen times. In the end, I was happy with it, but we ended up adding a simple bow anyway!

Finally, here's a photo of the flowergirl dresses in action...infinitely cuter than mine ;-)

Just a quick update

There is just over a week until my brother and his fiance get married. Fortunately, my daughter's flowergirl dress is finished (insert happy dance emoticon here!), her shoes are purchased and I've booked a mani/pedi for her with one of my friends who is a beauty therapist. So she's happy...

We took some preliminary shots this morning, just to make sure everything is how it is meant to be.

The ankle bracelets are going before the big day!



She feels pretty special. These are her first pair of 'heels'. We have plans to practise walking in them this week.

The dress for my niece has been received and deemed appropriate! Yippee! (And, it seems I've been a bit remiss, counting my niece's dress in my 50 Projects tally. What was I thinking? The fabric for these 2 dresses didn't come from stash, so I'll have to go back and change that.)

So the only thing that needs to be done is my dress. Contrary to all accounts, there IS progress being made. Just today I trimmed up the side seam allowances and neatened them. Up until this dress, I think I'd been taking my overlocker for granted. It's so time consuming when you can't serge seam allowances!

I've still got a fair bit to do, but I'm quietly confident that it will get done in time. After all, it's actually looking a bit like a dress now, rather than chunks of fabric.

Project 16: Flowergirl Dress #1

I'm quite excited. I got the first flowergirl dress done and in the post yesterday. But I totally forgot to take pictures of the finished garment. Oh no! All I've got are these progress pics where I was checking with my SIL that she liked the trim.

Here the trim is just pinned on. The hem of the underskirt is stitched, but the chiffon overlayer hasn't been hemmed yet.



Stats:
Pattern: Ottobre 02-2005-11. Obviously, I've lengthened it to make a dress, but I've also made a couple of other changes. Instead of running a couple of rows of shirring thread at the underbust, I created a seam which I pressed up and topstitched, creating a casing for some 1/4" elastic. I also added quite a bit of width to the bodice, skirt and sleeve pieces to create extra gathers and volume.

I've forgotten what size I made (I think it's probably around the 110 mark). I'm putting this down to me working on 4 projects at once!

Fabrics:
Considering we were working on a budget AND the girls will only wear these dresses once or twice (at the most), price was one of the most important factors in selecting the fabric and trims. The dress is a polyester satin, with a polyester chiffon overlayer. The sequin trim is stretchy which means I didn't have to insert a zip. The fabrics were purchased at EastCoast Fabrics and the trim at Spotlight.

Notes:
This is the first time that I can recall working with chiffon and I was a little apprehensive. I used the gelatin trick suggested to me by margk and it worked like a dream. Before sewing, I hand basted the chiffon to the satin pieces for the bodice and the sleeves. Because I was working on two dresses which aren't too dissimilar in size, I used different colour basting thread for each girl so I wouldn't confuse the pieces. I left the skirts separate.

To hem the satin, I overlocked the edges (I wasn't being too precious about couture sewing techniques on these dresses!) because they were unravelling like crazy, then turned and stitched a tiny hem. I then turned and stitched a tiny hem again so you couldn't see the overlocking. I roll-hemmed the chiffon skirt. It was really hard to get the skirts exactly the same length all the way around, but I figure the girls are going to be mostly on the move, so hopefully no-one will notice. ;-)

Next up, I have to finish both my daughter's flowergirl dress and MY dress for the wedding. I've got 27 days. Time to get off the computer and get sewing!

Plans for the next season

One of my favourite aspects of this hobby is the planning. I love putting together fabrics and patterns and wardrobe plans. Sometimes I even follow them!

At the moment, I'm currently working on FOUR projects! I'm sewing a fair bit each day, but because it's spread across 4 projects, it sometimes feels like I'm not making any progress. At least they'll all be finished about the same time. Bring on the wedding!

Anyway, I've started thinking about what I'm going to create after I've finished the wedding sewing. I've put together a small storyboard for the first step of my Spring/Summer plans.

I'm want to build a wardrobe based around chocolate brown and aqua as I have quite a lot of those colours in my stash. The storyboard fits the Mini-Wardrobe Contest requirements on PR, but I don't know if I'll enter that one. I am usually quite short on time in September and this year won't be any different. Nearly all of the patterns I've chosen are new to me, too, so that'll require a bit of fitting time.

Hopefully, these plans will give me the push to finish up the dresses I'm working on. I'm getting quite excited to start sewing these fabrics. I love working with linen.

Project 15: Cardigan

This one was to be my final project for the PR Pattern Stash Contest, although I didn't end up entering it. I had it finished in time, but I didn't really like it and I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to photograph and review it. However, I've pushed through the laziness and am reviewing it now.

This is the cardigan from McCalls 5890. I really love the look of the coordinated wardrobe that this pattern offers and have long admired the simple lines of the cardigan. So, I busted out this pattern for the Pattern Stash contest and merrily set off on my cardigan journey.

 



 I soon came to grief, however, when I realised that the wrong side of the fabric was going to show for the shawl collar. That, in itself, wasn't too much of an issue with the fabric I'd chosen, but how on earth was I going to finish the edges on the thing? I'm not much one for the deconstructed look of leaving edges unfinished, but I was leaning towards it for this project. It made me feel quite uncomfortable. It also brought all my sewing to a halt while I came to terms with my discomfort. I procrastinated on this one like crazy! LOL.

In the end, I madly consulted all the previous reviews of this pattern on PR (which I probably should have done BEFORE I started, but, hey, you live and learn, right?). There were a few different methods used by previous reviewers. I chose to cut off the selvedge of my fabric and stitch it to the front edges because it was such an unusually pretty edge. I also trimmed the sleeve hems with the selvedge as well but you can't see it in the photo of me wearing it because I've got the sleeves rolled up. There's still the problem of the wrong side of the hem showing at the bottom of the shawl collar. While it's not that noticeable in this fabric, I just found the whole thing very clumsy.

The fit of the cardigan was fine, if a little big, but the business over the right side/wrong side dilemma has put me off sewing this pattern ever again. I have plenty of other cardigan patterns in my stash that have a far more elegant treatment of that front collar/edge.

What's in the pipeline now?

Currently, I have four garments in active progress: two flowergirl dresses, my brown linen dress (which is a test version of my silk dress) and the green silk dress for my brother's wedding.

Sneak peek of the brown linen dress.

I've started putting together a plan for Spring/Summer sewing and am thinking that I would like to base it around the colours of chocolate, aqua and white. I'm putting together a storyboard of my ideas and will post it here when I'm done.

Project 14: Jalie Scarf Top

I've been wanting to make this one up for years. Finally, I've managed to get it sewn up.

My reservations with the scarf collar top were that I hadn't seen it made up too many times for a plus sized body. I also know that Jalie runs small, particularly in the sleeves. This pattern was no different. However, a combination of it being a knit pattern and my increasing confidence , meant that the pattern alterations weren't too arduous.

My measurements put me squarely in the DD size range (with the exception of my waist, but I expected that). However, when I compared the flat pattern measurement to an existing garment with the fit I like, I realised I was going to need to add some serious width. I'm sure the pattern would have "fit" me if I hadn't added to the side seams, but it certainly wouldn't have had the ease that I like.

The {fit} alterations I made were:

• Traced the DD size for the neck, shoulders and most of the armscye.
• Extended the bottom of the armscye out to the FF size (the "cheater" FBA)
• Added another 1" to the bottom of the pattern, blending it into the FF side seam just before the armscye.
• Lengthened the pattern at the hemline by 3" (I did that for this top. I may or may not do that for others.)

I loved the method they used for attaching the scarf collar. However, like one previous reviewer on PR, I didn't leave the scarf open at one end for turning through, I just left a gap partway up one of the sides. I closed that up with a ladder stitch and am happy with that decision.

I used a very drapey rayon/lycra knit called "Letters from Venice", that I bought it a fair while ago from Catherine's Place. They still have some in stock, but it's a lot more expensive than what I remember paying for it. I bought it as part of a co-op buy.

Seeing as though I stitched the main part of this top up at my sewing lesson, I used my sewing machine for the majority of the work. (I couldn't be bothered carting my overlocker in to class.) I have to say it's been a loooooong time since I've sewn knits on a sewing machine. It's sooooooo slow! But it did the trick. I waited until I got home to do the hems on the coverstitch machine.

 I'm happy with the fit in the back. It's got some shape but doesn't cling. 

Overall, I'm very happy with this top, and can see several renditions being added to "The List". It's a very quick sew.