Personal Sewing Challenge

[bridesmom]

Those are great!! Love the topstitching and the designs. You are going to look great coming and going in those!

[Corinna29]

I finished the last piece on this short list. Very simple. I took a top to a costume & turned it into a swimsuit cover-up. Top is just a simple tube - strapless, elastic at the top, hangs down to just below knees on me, to be worn under a full skirt. I added a casing & elastic at the waist to blouse over & shorten the length. 7/8th of a yard, which brings me to an even 16.

This is going to get harder for me to keep sewing from stash. I got out all of my spring/summer fabric a couple of weekends ago - & nothing is inspiring me! Everything is so bright in the stores & ads now & I don't have much like that. All the more reason for me to keep cleaning it out.

[Mom of Six]

I am working on DD's prom dress! I used up about 1/2 yd of scrap fabric to make a muslin of the top before I cut into the expensive stuff. I have the dress top basted together & am going in to work on adding the skirt then When I get it all fit right I will serge it & then will need to do the underskirt with ruffle to make it poof. I hope to be most of the way done tomorrow but I keep stopping to do some housework. I can't seem to just sit & sew today without taking breaks every hour or so.

[material_pakrat]

3.25 yards - dress for dd. Used this pattern M4758 http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M4758.htm?tab=out_of_print&page=35. (Sorry but I cant work out how to do the link thingy to make it a bit easier to read.)
I tried the dental floss thing to do the ruffles. I will do it again, but mainly for smaller items I think. I found that I did not have enough control over the ruffling for my liking on such a big area. But at least I learnt 2 things - the ruffles and that it is really easy to do the puffy little sleeves that have the piece of elastic near the hem. Don't know why, but I had always been a bit scared about it. Dumb thought in hindsight!


Love those jeans Cheryl. I wish I could make something like that.

It seems like you are doing well Corrina. If you are all out of spring/summer material in your stash, may be it is time for a bit of a shopping trip.

[Corinna29]

Shopping trip is out of the question at this point. I have spring/summer fabric - just nothing that is appealing to me at this point. I'm just over half way to my 30 yard goal. Maybe by then there will be money for a shopping trip & I can get something & sew it up right away.

[bridesmom]

3.25 yards - dress for dd. Used this pattern M4758 http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M4758.htm?tab=out_of_print&page=35. (Sorry but I cant work out how to do the link thingy to make it a bit easier to read.)

That is adorable! I wonder if I can redesign a basic dress to make a similar one for DGD. Very cute pattern, and OOP too, darn it!

[LeapFrog Libby]

Should be easy to do Laura.. Just make each ruffle layer 1 & 1/2 times larger than the previous one..

[Upholsteress]

That is such a sweet dress -- and right in style now! I've seen several in the stores similar to that. I got several patterns for a dollar at Joanns last week and some fabrics -- and have plans to make that style dress for the DGD very soon. I did buy her one - but at her age she goes through them so quickly -- often 2-3 outfits a day if we want to keep her clean (she just is a mess magnet!) LOL! come the hot days of summer -- that style will be sooooooooooooo cool to wear.

[Mom of Six]

Laura this dress is similar & comes in a size 1 & up. Jo Ann's has McCall's on sale throughthe 25th for .99

http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M4814 ... ren&page=7

[material_pakrat]

In regards to the dress... There was a thread on here about ruffled twirl skirts. http://talk.sew-whats-up.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=134&p=1213&hilit=elastic+measurement#p451
After having made the pattern, I know it would be so easy to adapt any other dress pattern and use this tutorial to help with the skirt. Just grab a bodice pattern from some other dress. The ruffles on this one are about 6 inches wide, then add the seam allowance. It really is quite full, so I think it is about twice as much material in each ruffle. To make the little stand out ruffles, just cut a strip 3 inches wide, that is the same length as the ruffle layer you attach it to.Fold it in half, and baste it to the top of the ruffle before you gather it. (Or use 1 1/2 inches wide, and just make a really narrow hem.) This pattern has one layer that is the same width as the one above it, and then one that is ruffled. Once all of the skirt is gathered, just attach it to the bottom of the bodice. The bodice on this pattern is really short... the length only goes about 2 inches past the bottom of the armhole. So the next time I will probably lengthen it a bit, as DD is really long in the torso, and it makes her proportions look a little bit strange. Not that you notice it too much.... she never seems to stop twirling around in it so you can see the dress properly!
If I get a chance tomorrow, I will try and get some pics .