Pattern Remix: Little Apples Fat Quarter Pillowcase Dress

 Jessica, from the blog, "Me Sew Crazy" invited me over to participate in her Pattern Remix Series.  If you haven't gotten a chance to check it out, you must.  Basically she asked a bunch of bloggers to take ready-made patterns (paper, PDF, blog tutorials, ect....) and make them their own.  There has been a month of totally inspirational posts!

Click HERE to check out the series!

I love sewing with patterns, I think the fit you can achieve is superb, but I very rarely follow any pattern exactly.  It's kind of like myself and cooking, I can't stick to a recipe to save my life, I always have to make it my own.  I guess it's my own way of using my creativity with the help of inspiration.  That doesn't work so well with baking, but it ends up being pretty fun with cooking and sewing!

Pillowcase dresses are great for little girls.  They are perfect for summer, they can be layered in fall/winter, they become a top once they outgrow them as a dress, they take no time to make and the possibilities are endless.  I thought it would be fun to change up your basic pillowcase dress.  There are a gazillion tutorials online for pillowcase dresses (such as here, here, and here) and they are the perfect beginner sewing project.  The pillowcase dress is a wonderful pattern to make your own and is great to experiment with because the fit is so forgiving.

For this pillowcase dress, I used only fat quarters of six different fabrics.  These are some fat quarters that I picked up at quilt market - "Little Apples" by Aneela Hoey (this fabric will be released in September 2011).  I decided to piece together the main part of the dress with three different prints.  I did this by simply sewing strips of fat quarters together so that the piece was large enough to accommodate the pattern.  Once large enough, I cut my pattern out.

I added two layered pieces of fabric to the top of the dress in the front and the back.  These pieces were cut 5" and 4", but were both the same width as the top of the dress.  I stitched them to the top of the main dress pattern piece before folding it over to make the casing.  They actually aren't ruffled, they just look that way because of the way the neck-line is gathered.  Pretty cute, huh?

Fat quarters are only so long, so to extend the dress, I cut a fat quarter into four equal parts, sewed it in a long strip and made it into a ruffle at the bottom of the dress.  If you wanted to make it even longer, you could do several tiered ruffles which would be really fun.

I used polka dot bias tape to trim the arm holes and threaded a red (with white stitching) ribbon through the neckline.  You could also thread two ribbons and have the dress tie at both shoulders.

Here's my little model, Savannah Rose, being silly for the camera......

I hope you all enjoyed my pattern remix!  What patterns are you going to remix?  Have any ideas?  Any fat quarters you might use up for this project?  A big thanks to Jessica for inviting me over to her lovely blog, Me Sew Crazy.  Thanks girl!!
 

Happy Sewing!

Empire Waist Dress - Comfy Sews Vs. Cozy Knits

Shannon from Luvinthemommyhood invited me to participate in her latest "Versus" series - Comfy Sews vs. Cozy Knits.  Guess which side of the ring I'm on?.........ding, ding, ding......you guessed it, Comfy Sews.  I love Shannon and her blog so I'm thrilled she has chosen to include me again!  You might remember my Shawl Collar Sweater tutorial that was included in the last round.

For this challenge I decided to create an easy Empire Waist Dress.  As most of you know, I am pregnant with baby #3 and I wanted to create something super-comfy to wear throughout the summer during this pregnancy.  I made this dress from a shirt that was a little too boxy for my body and some additional jersey knit yardage.  The dress will take you only about an hour to complete and is great practice for sewing with knits.

This dress could certainly be made the exact same way for a non-pregnant person and would be just as cute!  So let's jump in the ring and let the battle begin..........

Empire Waist Dress

Maternity and Non-Maternity

Supplies:

1 shirt

1-1.5 yards jersey knit fabric (60 inches wide)

Scissors

Sewing machine

Iron and ironing board
Ball-point sewing needle (for sewing with knits)

Directions:

Grab a shirt.  I chose this one because I liked the print but I always felt like it was a little boxy in the waist area.  You could certainly use a simple t-shirt or any shirt that you are ready to transform into a dress.

Cut off the bottom of the shirt.  I left the top of my shirt 13.5" long from the shoulder to under the bust line.  Try on your shirt to figure out how much of the bottom you would like to take off.  Make sure to allow for a 1/2" - 1" seam allowance for attaching the skirt piece.

Here's the top of my shirt after it had been cut.  There were also a couple of fabric ties at the top that I decided to remove as well.

And what will I be doing with the bottom of the shirt?  Well, that is going to be turned into a skirt for one of the girls.  I like a little cheesy "mommy and me", so I think it will be just darling on Miss Savannah or Miss Matilda.

Since this shirt had buttons down the front I decided to sew the button area shut.  I used my zipper foot to make this happen.  This way I don't have to worry about any buttons coming undone.

Now it's time to cut your knit fabric.  I chose a jersey knit because it is SO soft, super-stretchy and very light-weight.  If you are making this as a maternity dress I would highly recommend sticking with jersey because of the amazing stretch.  If you are making this non-maternity, then you could still use a jersey knit, knit interlock or you could even use a woven cotton if your top is made from t-shirt material.

I cut the skirt portion of the dress 27" long x 60" wide.  I am about 5'5" and this fell right below the knee.  Cut the skirt any length that you like.

Cut 2 pieces for the fabric ties.  These were cut 32" long x 4" wide. 

When sewing with knits you will need to change out your needle to a ball-point needle - these are specially designed for sewing with stretchy knits.  Fold the ties in half lengthwise and sew one short end and down the long end.  You should have one short end still open.

Clip your corners, turn right-side out and press with a hot iron.

For the skirt, fold in half, right-sides together and sew down the short side - in my case this was 27".  I used my serger because I like using it for knits, but a regular sewing machine would work just as well.  This seam will go to the back of the dress.  Now run a gathering stitch around the top of the skirt.  Set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length (5.0, in my case) and sew all the way around the top making sure not to back-stitch at the beginning or the end.

 

Gather the top of the skirt by pulling on the bobbin thread.  Gather the skirt until it is the same width as the bottom of the shirt piece.  Place the skirt and the top, right-sides together and sew in place.

Press the seam between the skirt and the top upward.  Again, I used my serger, but that was just because it was easier for me and finishes very nicely.

Now it's time to attach the fabric ties.  Normally I would place these in a seam, but that didn't work out for this dress.  Stitch the ties on either side of the dress.  If you are going to have the dress tie in front then you want the raw edge pointing towards the front so that when it ties it will be covered up.

Here's the fabric tie on the side.  You will not see the raw edge when you tie the bow in front.

I decided to leave the bottom of the dress with a raw edge because I find jersey knit doesn't fray.  If you would prefer a more finished look definitely sew a hem, but make sure you allow for that additional length when cutting the skirt piece.

This dress is incredibly comfortable and will definitely grow with me through out this pregnancy.  It's still a bit chilly here in Chicago so I paired it with a cardigan and a pair of leggings.  I'm so happy to have breathed a new life into this shirt.  

Maternity dresses can be pretty expensive, so this dress was a bargain at $3.00 total for the jersey knit (which was found in the 50% clearance section at Joann's).  So, what do you think?  Have any shirts that you might transform into an Empire Waist Dress?

Thanks again, Shannon, for inviting me into the mommyhood - you rock, girl!  This is just week one of Comfy Sews vs. Cozy Knits, so make sure you guys all visit Shannon's blog and check out some of the other fabulous projects from some seriously talented bloggers.

Spring Issue Delish Magazine - DIY Fabric Covered Photo Mats

The new spring issue of Delish Magazine was just released this afternoon!  In case you aren't familiar, Delish is a free online women's magazine filled with tons of great information, tips, articles, recipes, ect.  In this quarters issue I am sharing an easy tutorial for Fabric Covered Photo Mats.

There are lots of fun, interesting articles in the spring issue, including some fabulous recipes and a great interview with fabric designer, Kate Spain.  Head over to Delish and check it out!

Guest Post on "No Big Dill" - Dick and Jane Inspired Dress

Today I'm guest blogging over on "No Big Dill" for Katy's "Once Upon a Thread" blog series.  This creative blog series is geared towards coming up with a look based on your favorite children's storybooks and I've come up with a "Dick and Jane" inspired look.

This dress was created from the $1.49 sheet that I found last week on my thrift store hunting adventure - it doesn't really look like a sheet anymore, does it?  I'm sharing a tutorial for the embellished bodice on this dress.  So head on over to "No Big Dill" and say hello!