Wedding dress!

I am doing something I swore I would never do.

I'm making a wedding dress for someone. Now, I've wanted to make a wedding dress for awhile, the problem is that a lot of women morph into crazed bridezillas the moment the ring hits their finger. I have dealt with enough crazies through playing for weddings. If people get psycho about their music I don't want to witness the insanity that comes with the dress.

So, I had pretty much resolved myself to not ever sewing a wedding dress. I mean, I guess I could have made one for myself out of black for concerts and gigs, but somehow I don't think the symphony fashion police would appreciate a cathedral length train and black veil.... Then I found out that a new friend was engaged. The thing that tipped me off that she might be "the one" was that she was seriously looking for wedding dresses at Goodwill. I offered to barter sewing for childcare. She took me up on it, so now I get to make a wedding dress! (yay!) AND I get some babysitting! (double yay!)

Here is the pattern we picked:


I'm going to modify the neckline to make it a sweetheart neckline. Also, the bride is unsure of her final fabric choice. Not sure if we're going with the lace or not. The wedding is in May, so there is plenty of time to decide.

Halloween!

Okay, here is Alice's Halloween costume. (Simplicity 3663) I have wanted to make this for a few years now, but the thought of buying 6 feather boas at $6-8 apiece stopped me in my tracks. This year I decided it was my last chance to influence her choice of costume since I'm sure peer pressure will kick in next year in 1st grade. (ugh!) So I was prepared to bite it and cough up the dough. Luckily I found an online source where I scored 12 boas for $18. MUCH better!

I highly recommend this pattern. First of all, it's hysterical. The pictures are cute, but they don't do it justice. SO cute. It's also really, really easy. It's basically a coat with wings instead of arms. I didn't do any of the finishing the instructions recommended because the feathers cover all that up anyhow and fleece won't unravel. I also didn't line the head piece. I also didn't sew the boas on, I opted for bazillions of safety pins instead. I pinned from the inside. This went MUCH faster than basting, and you can't tell that it's pinned. Also, I used more than 6 boas. I had to order a dozen and I think I used about 9. You wouldn't have to, though. I was just free with the feathers because I HAD them.

I'm trying to think of the "hard part" with this costume, and there really isn't one. The instructions are horrible, as with all the instructions from the big pattern companies. If you can sew by feel this shouldn't be a problem. Obviously I don't have a problem with that since I didn't do half the stuff they told me to do....

Annika's Bishop

I chose this fabric at the same time I chose the fabric for Miss M's dress. As soon as I saw this fabric I knew who I would be smocking for. I pleated both dresses at the same time, and, as you can see, this one took me a good deal longer to complete than the other. This one gave me fits. (But I learned a lot!)

My biggest problem was choosing an embroidery color. The background of the fabric is pale pink and the print is tiny red heart flowers. Choosing the color for the smocking was difficult. The little girl wearing the dress is only two, so I really didn't want to smock in red. White was not quite right either. Eventually I settled on a light pink. I smocked a bit and really didn't like it, so I put it down for awhile.

By the way, this is a good sewing tip. If you get frustrated or something just doesn't seem to be working, put it away for a day (or month.).

When I picked it back up I decided the pink was okay so I kept going. I'm happy with how it turned out. The smocking doesn't hit you over the head: it's delicate.

Also, my photo-taking skills are b a d. Oh well.

Hug your Babies

Today is a day to remember the babies that didn't make it and the parents who lost them. I am no stranger to pregnancy loss. I have had four miscarriages, the most recent just a few weeks ago. The pain and loss is terrific. As much as we've been through and as much as it's hurt I cannot even fathom what it is to lose a baby to still birth or prematurity. There are no words.

Last summer I learned how to smock. Soon after I discovered Wee Care and began making gowns to donate to area hospitals, first on my own and now through an interdenominational group of women. The gowns that I make are primarily bereavement gowns. That really really seems to bother people. They think it's macabre and I'm often asked how I can possibly make something like *that*. Or people will insist that living babies sometimes wear those garments. Okay, if that makes you feel better, yes, sometimes living babies wear the things I make. I wish that were true for all the gowns I made. It's not.

So, why do I make them? I make bereavement gowns because when Alice was born I got a quick glimpse of the hell of prematurity and infant loss. Those mothers deserve the absolute best. There is nothing I can do to take all their pain away, but with each stitch on every gown I pray that having something beautiful that fits their child will bring them at least a little bit of peace.

Here is my most recent bereavement gown (almost done). I used a Lays Stax can for size comparison. This gown will fit a baby that is between one and three pounds.

tiered teeshirt dress

Here is another variation on the teeshirt dress. I think this one is easier than the circle skirt variation (although that one is not really hard, either) and after making a few of these you will be a pro at gathering!

First, gather your materials. You will need a teeshirt and skirt fabric. The skirt fabric is totally up to you. You can use all one fabric and use the tiers to create fullness or you can use multiple fabrics. Not all these examples are on a teeshirt dress, but you can get an idea of the different things you can do with a tiered skirt:




Once you have decided on your fabrics you need to do some (simple) math. Decide how long you want the skirt to be. Divide that by the number of tiers you want your skirt to have. This is how WIDE each tier of the skirt will be except for the bottom tier. For the bottom tier you need to add a hem allowance. If you're folding up twice and stitching like we did in the first dress, add 2 inches.

So, if I want my finished skirt to be 15 inches long and I'm using 3 tiers, the first two tiers will be 5 inches wide (15/3= 5) and the bottom tier will be 7 inches wide (15/3= 5+2= 7)

My formula for determining the length of the tier is:
1st tier = X
2nd tier= X + (1/2 * X)
3rd tier= 2X

My most often used value for X is one cut salvage to salvage (side to side), or 45 inches. The second tier is then one cut salvage to salvage plus another 1/2 cut salvage to salvage and the third is two cuts salvage to salvage.

Sew your tiers together. They should look something like this:


Now you're going to gather the longest tier to fit with the shortest tier. Sew the two tiers together being careful to keep the same seam allowance the entire time. This is Very Important to the finshed skirt!


repeat, gathering the middle layer and attaching it to the top layer:


Fold the skirt in half, matching the tiers up as much as possible (this is why it was so important to keep the same seam allowance! If you didn't your tiers won't match up!) and sew up the side:


Gather the top of the skirt and attach to the shirt in the same way you attached the regular teeshirt dress. Finish the hem and you're done!

Teeshirt Twirly Dress

Haha! It's been waaaay more than a few days. Oh well, better late than never, right? This is my favorite version of the teeshirt dress to make for my daughter. It uses a little more fabric for the skirt and cut in a way that makes it nice and twirly, which is a must for the 3-4 year old set.

First, gather your materials. You need a teeshirt (duh!), a pattern for a circle skirt (I like Favorite Things Little Circle Skirt.), and about 1 yard of fabric. You might get by with less depending on the print you choose.


Cut out your skirt pieces based on your circle skirt pattern. Don't cut out any waist bands. You don't need them because you are attaching the skirt to the shirt. Pay attention to the arrow on the pattern piece: that should run up and down with the fabric. It may be tempting to try to conserve fabric by turning the pattern piece sideways, but don't do it! This is important to make the dress hang right when it's finished. Also cut your teeshirt off if you need to.


Now, sew your skirt pieces together. It will look like this when you are done:


Fold the skirt in half. You want to be looking at two seams in the front with NO seams on the side. If you line up the seams so that there are two on the sides, you will also have a seam right down the front and right down the back, which is NOT flattering. ; ) Take pins, or a fabric marker and mark where the sides are. (Different fabric to make it easier to see the seams.)


Now line up those side markings with the sides of the shirt. The shirt should be right side out while you will be looking at the wrong side of the skirt fabric. Apparently I neglected to take a picture of this step with the circle skirt, but it's the same way you attach the skirt in the regular teeshirt dress:


Sew the skirt to the shirt. You will need to stop frequently to adjust the skirt as you are sewing a curved line (the skirt) to a straight line. Pull on the skirt fabric to make it somewhat straight as you sew it. Also try your hardest to line up the side you marked on the skirt to the side of the shirt.

Now all that's left to do is to hem!

Alligator dress

I finished this one up today. It was a for hire project for a friend. Actually, for her 3-year old niece whose name starts with J. Her aunt saw M's dress and wanted one exactly like it, only with pink fabric. I convinced her to go with this design instead. It has less smocking than a bishop so I could finish it in her time frame without feeling rushed. I'm pleased with how it turned out. She was pleased too.

Things I discovered with this project: on a straight yoke dress with a monogram, you need to backsmock where the monogram is so the pleats don't get wonky. Spray starch is AWESOME stuff. Careful construction doesn't take that much longer than slapping the dress together but the results are MILES better. Blocking a straight yoke after smocking is ESSENTIAL for good construction.




This is the back. It's a reverse wrap dress. I covered the buttons so the alligator heads were on them.