Peach Patterns

Ruffle shoulder dress

What is this type of girls dress called?  It has a ruffle attachment on the bodice that runs over the shoulder from front to back.   I first thought "flutter sleeve dress" but the ruffle isn't really a sleeve - more of an embellishment.  I've settled on "ruffle shoulder dress" but am open to suggestions?

In any case, I first became really interested (a little obsessed, if truth be told) about recreating this design after seeing this amazing dress by Nellystella on Pinterest (images from Nellystella website):

Because Miss Wink is not attending a wedding anytime soon, I wanted to make a more user-friendly, everyday version minus the front pleating and the sash.

A sheer floaty fabric was needed to do the job so I chose two cotton voiles by IE boutique from my stash. I used a floral with magenta background for the outer dress and lined it with a coordinating cream fabric with small floral sprigs.  

(I bought these online but actually visited the bricks and mortar boutique on our trip to Paris last year and stocked up on another few prints - show and tell in another post to come!).

The dress back closes with 4 mother of pearl buttons:

This has been a bit of a work in progress over the past month. I did the pattern as I went along, having to add and subtract bits and pieces here and there and finally, I think, finding the right balance.

All in all I love the result of the design teamed with this fabric and it has gotten a big stamp of approval from its owner so I'm hoping to get some shots of it being modelled soon (They're getting way too clever and I have to bribe them these days......)

What next? A pattern perhaps? Maybe but I have two others in line so will keep it on the burner...... 

From Wink Designs: Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas

All the best to Wink Designs customers and readers for a wonderful Christmas and New Year.....

Liberty Print Ruffle-icious Skirt

Until now I'd never made a sample of my Ruffle-cious Skirt pattern in lawn.  An oversight on my part, of course, because its lightness and "gather-ability" makes it the perfect fabric for this design.  

As predicted this bright floral print tana lawn, hot off the cutting tables (!) from the recent visit to Liberty, was a breeze to sew up.

   

Two features of this skirt which I now always incorporate are:

1. The faux rolled hem (done with a regular sewing machine foot) as outlined in option no. 2 of Megan Nielsen's tutorial here.
2. The double row of elastic for the waist.  I do this for most of my elastic waisted patterns now because I think it gives a neater and more professional finish.  I posted about this method (which is simple and probably quite self-explanatory) previously here.

Also, I'm trying to remember to use more of my Wink Designs clothing labels for a nice finishing touch (and so the girls can work out which is the back......)

How to: Fold your fabric for cutting

It's a small detail but one which, as a pattern designer, has been playing on my mind.  Pattern instructions usually state that fabric should be folded right sides together prior to pinning and cutting pattern pieces.  The pieces are then either cut on the fold or in layers.  At the same time, there seems to be no reason given as to why this method of folding is important.

If you're like me and like to bend the rules, you'll know that folding wrong sides together (as in my little diagram below) usually gives you the same results.  So why the insistence on folding in a certain way?

My searches haven't returned much concrete information on the topic but what I have found all seems to boil down to this:

Folding right sides together allows you to transfer any pattern markings more easily onto the wrong side of the fabric.  Which is where they should be.  Apparently.

Is this a compelling enough reason? I would vote no because:

• Many of us use modern independent patterns which are more pared down and simplified than traditional commercial patterns.  They have minimal or no pattern markings (especially for children where there are no bust darts, for example).

• Folding the fabric wrong sides together allows the pattern design to be seen when pinning and therefore allows positioning of the pattern pieces to best effect.

What about you? How do you fold and do you think it matters?  Are there any important reasons I've missed here for folding in a certain way? 

"Simply Sweet Blouse" in floral and paisley blockprint fabrics

Blouses, I guess, are the perfect mid-season item and I really enjoyed sewing this one.  I haven't made the "Simply Sweet Tunic Top", for a while so it was fun getting back to it.  

One of my Top 10 sewing tutorials is this one from the Haby Goddess blog: I always refer back to it when sewing bias onto a project.  Catching the bias evenly on both sides can be hard and there are some excellent pointers in the tutorial on how to nail it.  It helps get the perfect finish on the neckline on this pattern.

The fabric is from an Aussie shop called Monsoon Weave.  The owner, Anna, was super-helpful and has amazing fabric in the kind of Indian prints I love.  I have to tell you that these are some of the softest and loveliest cottons I've sewn with.  

Because the fabrics are quite lightweight, I lined (or rather, double-layered) the yoke and the lower blouse but not the sleeves.  I wouldn't have done that for summer clothes as the weight is perfect for hot weather but I just wanted to add a bit extra for the cooler months.

While Cee Cee was shopping at Typo I picked up these great heart shaped pins. I probably need to rethink my fabric pinning method as I've bent or broken so many of my existing pins (not to mention the machine needle carnage!).

As usual I'll post some more photos after final fit and hemming!

T-shirt dress :: 4th time lucky?

Based on measuring various Size 5 to 6 t-shirts and other stretchy dresses in Miss Wink's wardrobe I figured it would be fairly easy to whip up a pattern for a basic a-line t-shirt dress in no time.  

It took three attempts and I'm still thinking the neckline is a bit more "boat-neck" than I wanted so it'll be four before I'm completely happy.  Still, it's a good investment of time as I'm hoping I can now grade it up for the big girl.  Nothing like a knit dress for a great cool weather basic over leggings.

This fabric is an exellent quality with a nice weight and 2-way stretch.  I bought it online from Crafty Mamas last winter.  It did, however, have that rolling thing going on at the edges which drove me a bit crazy at times.  

I've Googled this problem and learned that people use spray starch or scotch tape amongst other things to stabilize the edges.  Any other ideas on this?

After much pondering on how to finish the neckline, I decided to use a long bib-style facing which makes the dress look from the outside as if it's lined.  It's also a bit dressier looking (and easier!) than adding a neckline band. I then used my twin needle to finish the neckline, wrists and hem.

I also had fun using my old "Wink Designs" sew in labels: it's been a while since I've used them but really should do more....

Racerback Flare Dress

I spied this pattern by Califaye Collection on Etsy sometime back thinking the trendy racerback style would appeal to Cee Cee (and it did).

The fabric (from Spotlight) is a rayon in a bright aqua/orange zig-zag print.  It has an excellent drape but with the amount of fabric needed to make up the pattern, the finished dress is quite heavy.  If I made the dress again I'd probably go with a lighter, sheerer fabric.

Other ideas:

• Would reduce the size of the back opening to combat the gape there.

• The dress to my mind really needed some topstitching - around the armholes and neckline.

• The design is very flared and the Size 8 & 10 pattern pieces didn't seem to fit on a standard width 44" fabric so perhaps slightly reduce the width of the pattern pieces or make sure to use wider fabric.

• The hemline, being very curved, needs some consideration.  I'd recommend a narrow hem and used my favourite tutorial on Megan Nielsen's blog for a "rolled hem" using a regular sewing machine here. 

Other than those few hiccups, this is a very easy to make, cute (and twirly!) summer dress.

Perfect elastic waistbands

Sewing a casing and threading it with elastic is by far the most common and practical way of making waistbands (and wrist and ankle bands) on childrens' clothes.  Badly sewn casings with elastic that doesn't sit flat can, however, make your finished garments look a bit ho-hum and amateurish.

Try adding these extra (very simple) steps to sewing your waistbands to lift the look and add a whole lot of professional polish to your finished clothes.

Tip 1:

Sew a row of stitching around the top fold of the casing.  This adds extra stability to the casing, helps to flatten it out and generally looks more polished. 

Tip 2:

Sew a double casing.  Two is better than one!  Here, I've sewn two casings and inserted elastic of half an inch (12mm) width in each to make the waistband.  In total you'll have three rows of stitching.  The top row as described in Tip 1, a second row enclosing the top casing and a third row enclosing the bottom casing.

Sew the casings in the ususal way leaving a gap at the back of the garment for threading the elastic through.  Thread the top casing first, then adjust and sew it closed before threading the bottom casing and repeating the procedure.

Note that you'll get the best result by making the casings just a scant amount larger than the width of the elastic.  Too wide and you'll get a baggy look, too narrow and the elastic will pucker and you'll have trouble threading it through.

I used the same procedure on the ankles of these harem pants and you can see the finished look below:

And if you've ever been confused about the different types of elastic and what they're best used for check out this post:

E is for Elastic (The Sewing Directory blogspot).

I used Knitted Elastic in this project.  As you'll read it's not as heavy duty as the Woven variety but still has a lot of stability and a soft handle which is great when sewing childrens' clothes and when using sheerer fabrics like this voile (Valori Wells "Wish" from Hawthorne Threads).

Hope you'll have a go at these tips and let me know what you think!

"Madeline Dress" in progress

I'm making a new "Madeline Dress" in some lovely linen blend Eiffel Tower fabric mixed with a coordinating polka dot both bought in Spotlight recently.  (Madeline was a native of Paris so I'm sure she would approve!)

The fabric is not "cutesy" all, very elegant with an overprinted rose which gives it a Japanese vibe (not surprising as it's Japanese import....)

I use a mix of line drawings and photos to illustrate the steps in my patterns.  Most times a drawing is the clearer option but sometimes a photo tells the story better.  

As in this case, with Step 5, where you have to sew up the bodice and lining side seams.

Hope you are having a productive week.  I can't believe it's Thursday already......

"Butterfly Breeze" Top & Ikat Shorts

Am happy to have done some consistent sewing for the big girl this summer as usually projects for the littler one tend to take over.

I've had a few a shorts pattern ideas floating around in my head for some time.  As Cee Cee loves wearing shorts I decided to draft a pattern for her based around this lovely ikat print which was one of the ones Vandana (of The Delhi Store) sent me some time ago.

I love sewing with Vandana's fabric.  I know I've raved about Indian fabric a lot but, again, if you love making clothes and haven't tried sewing with it you really should.....  These cottons feel so nice to wear and are especially kind to childrens' skin.

I also made a "Butterfly Breeze" Top for her from fabric bought in Tokyo on holiday 4 years ago.  (Um, as you can see, it often takes me a l-oooonoo-g time to pull out and use my fabric!!)

I love the simplicity of this one, the eyelet embroidery on the hemline is all it needs to make it special (and bonus - no hemming needed!).

Have posted more pictures of both top and shorts over at flickr.

Note: I'll be doing another Peasant Top/Dress workshop based on this pattern at Sew Make Create next Tuesday.  These workshops are such fun and a couple of spots are left.......

And, last but not least, a very happy, lovey Valentines Day to you all!