Saving a Flailing Project

In the beginning of this week, I attempted to make this sweet retro number, the one with the pencil skirt.

I had wanted to make the dress out of a knit fabric, and since I had some sitting in my fabric box for the longest time, I decided to just use it as a trial for this pattern.
I'm not too attached to this fabric. I think I had bought it very cheap just for trial projects such as this. Anyway, to make the long story short, I made quite a few mistakes cutting the pattern piece. In the end, I goofed up and did not have enough of this fabric to make the whole dress. Sigh!
So, the next evening, I rolled up my metaphoric sleeves and went to work salvaging what I could of the pattern pieces I had cut up the night before.
Not surprisingl,y since the pattern was for a dress, I ended up with a skirt that was too loose. You can't really tell from the photo, but the skirt is falling off me. Also, notice the horrible hem job. It was very discouraging.
The next evening, I fixed the hem, shirred it a little on the sides, and added a sash and belt loops. It is not perfect, but it's pretty enough for casual wear during the day:


Can anyone tell me why I spent so much time on a piece of fabric I was so lukewarm on to begin with?
Maybe it's the stubborn Taurus in me .... hahahaha...

Hemming Knits

I'm usually the last person to offer up advice on actual sewing techniques. No formal training, sloppy sewer and all that....

However, after a lot of trial and error (LOTs!), I thought I'd share with you how to hem knit fabric when you do not have access to the following:

1) Coverstitch machine
2) Taping or fusible interfacing for stabilizing (or if you are lazy like me, you don't feel like doing this)
3) Twin needles (if you have a very basic sewing machine)

First off, let me show you what can happen when you attempt to sew a regular hem on stretchy knit fabric:

Don't forget to use a ballpoint needle when sewing with knits. This needle has a blunt, rounded tip that slips between fibers rather than piercing them.

Here's what works for me, when hemming knits.

1) Overlock the edge.
Knits don't unravel, so you don't really need to serge the edges, but this is to stabilize the knit fabric so that there is less stretch as you sew.Before I had a serger, I used a wide zigzag stitch on my regular sewing machine, and trim the edge close to the zigzag. This creates the same effect as a serger, and also acts as a fabric stabilizer.

2) Pin.
Pin or baste the hem. The stretchier your fabric is, the more pins you will need.


3) Top Stitch
Sew using a straight stitch. The right side facing up when you are sewing. Take your time here. Go slow, and make sure you are not stretching the fabric as you sew.



And there you have it, an flat hem on stretch fabric.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Su

Shirring Tutorials Galore

When I posted pictures of the Canada Day shirred dresses , I received a few emails asking me to create a tutorial for the dresses. Also, Kate commented that she has no clue where to begin.
Well, I am usually more than happy to oblige. After all, I love creating tutorials. However, there are tons of tutorials out there, on how to make shirred dresses and tops. They are great tutorials, and I cannot possibly improve on them. So, why reinvent the wheel? Here are some of the tutorials that I found to be really useful.

• Erin from House On Hill Road has a wonderful tutorial on how to make shirred dresses and shirred tops. I love the photos in her tutorial. House on Hill Road Sunny Day Dress and Top Tutorial

• Vegbee from Blueprints also has a tutorial that is not as loaded with photos, but just a good. Blueprints: Shirred Top

• Another great tutorial is from Kuky of Kuky Ideas. I like to refer to this tutorial too. Kuky's Shirred Dress Tutorial

Finally, if you are a visual person like me, you would love this video tutorial from Threadbanger,
How To Make a Shirred Fabric Summer Dress.

Shirred Summer Top Cheat Sheet

If you've been reading along, you would have read that I've been busy with house guests.
Well, we have the home to ourselves now, and might I add, that it is a mess.
Still, I've given myself some time off to regain my sanity with some normalcy. This includes updating this website. However, I'm still too fuzzy-brained to create a whole tutorial. Hence, here is a cheat sheet for creating a wonderful summer top:
You've got to excuse the sleepy and bloated face. One week of visitors, means one week of over-indulgences. Not exactly healthy-eating, know what I mean?

Here's that cheat sheet. You'll have to click on it for a bigger and clearer scan.



This easy top is especially flattering if you are smaller in the bust area. Normally, I find that regular shirred tops tends to bind the chest area.
Thank you to Suzanne of Suzville for the shirred dress that helped inspire this top.
Also, thank you to Julie, who asked me how I made the top. This cheat sheet is for you.

Shirring, Smocking, whatever you want to call it....

you've got to try it if you haven't already!

It is really so unbelievably easy, and it makes you look like such a pro.
I made both of these Canada Day dresses in about a little over an hour. Granted, I could probably have adjusted the straps a little better, but my kids were not complaining.

Talking about Canada Day, the capital city was rocking hard.
It was supposed to rain all day, but it did not! So, there was some seriously hard partying going on all over the city. I mean, I heard that there were some 350,000 people downtown. We did not head downtown, but we enjoyed the party at a big festival in our neighborhood. There were free bouncy castles and slides, great concerts, demos from the local firemen, and lots of food. We also took the kids to the carnival; not my favorite because of the crowd, but the kids enjoyed it.
After all of that, we got to go home and hang out on our patio, enjoying good food and drinks with our lovely guests.

I haven't really been able to be online much because I have been (and still am) enjoying the company of my visitors from lovely Georgia. They are just so much fun!
So, I hope you understand if you do not hear from me for the rest of the week.
Have a great weekend, everyone.

Tutorial: Girl's Gathered Top

Well, here's the tutorial I mentioned. It is to make a simple girl's top.



(picture heavy post)


Click on pictures to enlarge.












For the strap, you can use a ribbon. I used the waistband recycled from the skirt. To create the strap, I borrowed from my other tutorial, that's why the fabric looks different:

Insert the strap through the front casing, and you get a cute little halter top.
However, I have stubborn little girls with "I can do it myself"-itis, so I decided to sew the straps onto the back piece:


Here's another one made, using the fabric and straps from one of my tops:

Lengthen the top, add some ruffles, and you have yourself a cute nightgown:

...click here to read more

Tutorial Sneak Preview

It's the week of Canada Day in Ottawa, and we have visitors from down south!
I don't know how much time I can get on the computer. However, to make up for that, I have a tutorial in the works for you.
Here's a sneak peak!