Tutorial: A-Line Knit Dress

Well, it's the night before Easter and I thought that was the perfect time for a little tutorial.  Do you remember the Summer Jumpsuit tutorial I posted a few weeks back? ...  And remember how I mentioned that I had just enough fabric left for another little project? ... Well this is it!  I managed to JUST, read "JUST" get this gorgeous little dress for Hannah out of the remnants, and it was worth the squeeze,  'cause this has become a favroutite of hers.

This is that awesome light-weight knit rayon fabric, and I just love the drape of it.  I had a simple little dress in mind for Hannah, and this fabric really was perfect for it.  I made it a little large ... on purpose .... really!!  It'll totally still fit next summer!  And I added a little floppy, droopy bow to add some interest to the front.  I like it!

Anyway if you thought the Summer Jumpsuit or my other recent High-Low Play-time Dress were a quick and easy sew, then this will be an absolute breeze for you.  In fact, the evening I made Bethany's jumpsuit, I just went straight on and sewed this right up afterwards.  Might as well strike while the iron's hot and all that! ... No really, the iron was literally still hot from pressing the jumpsuit, so I thought I'd just get straight to it!!

And here's what you need ... 

1. About 1/2 yard/metre light-weight knit fabric (I used a knit-rayon), maybe more for a larger size.  Hannah's is a size 4.

2. A tank top/t-shirt pattern, or a tank/t-shirt that currently fits.  This is a great freebie tank pattern if you're making size 3-8.

3. Coordinating thread

4. Sewing machine, scissors

And here's how I did it ...

1.  Grab your tank / t-shirt pattern (or make one using the technique I used here - if you're tracing a shirt/tank, don't forget to add 1/4" all the way around for seam allowance).  Fold your fabric in half long ways, and cut front and back pieces out, extending the top to the desired dress length, plus 1 inch for hemming, and taper the dress shape out from the armpit to make the dress an A-line like so.  I did the front first, then used my front piece as a pattern for my back piece so that I had identical front and back pieces.

2. Sew the shoulder seams, right-sides-together, and finish the edges with an overlocker (serger) if you want to, though for knit-fabric it's not too important as it doesn't fray.  (Oh, and I used a 1/4" seam allowance throughout!)

3. Measure the neckline, and cut a strip of fabric that is the same length as your neckline x 2 inches. (for this project I wanted the neckline / arm holes to be un-gathered and to sit flat, so I made the neckband the same length as the neckline).

Don't worry if it's not exact ... that's the beauty of knit fabric ... you can always stretch it to fit!

4.  Fold your strip in half (right-sides-together) and sew down the short edge to make a circle.  Then fold the whole neckband in half width-ways, right-side-out.  Lay your dress pieces open like so, and pin your neck band to the right-side of the neckline like so, lining up the seam on the neckband with one of the shoulder seams, and the raw edges of the neck band with the raw edge of the neckline.

5. Finish the raw edge (if you're a little addicted to overlocking like I am and can't bear to leave the edge unfinished!) ...

... then topstitch around the neckline, joining the seam allowance to the dress all around, like so.

6.  Now do the same with each arm-hold ... measure the length....

... cut and attach arm bands that are the same length as the arm-hole by 2 inches...

 ... finish the raw edges (if you are doing that) and topstitch the seam allowance to the dress.

7.  Now place the dress pieces right-sides-together, and sew down each side-seam (and finish them with the overlocker if you want!)

8. Press the hem under 1/2 inch, then sew around the hem as close to the raw edge as possible.

9. Now for the bow ... Cut a rectangle of the same or a coordinating fabric measuring 6" x 4".

10.  Fold the rectangle in half long ways (right sides together) and sew together to form a tube.  Push the tube right-side out, then tuck the raw ends in by about 1/4 inch.  Secure with a pin, then topstitch to close each end.  You'll end up with a rectangle like this.

11.  Take another scrap of fabric and cut a rectange 3" x 1.5".

Fold this rectangle in half right sides together and sew to form a tube, then turn right-side-out (use a safety pin attached to one end if you need help turning it through).

12.  Wrap the small tube around the large rectangle, like so, forming a bow shape.  I then hand-sewed the small rectangle ends together right where you can see my thumb holding the pieces together.

13.  Flip the bow over so the join is on the back, and attach with a pin to the front of the dress just below the neckline and to one side like so.  If you want the bow to sit out straight like this you could sew down each side of the bow, but I quite like it flopping down, so I only attached it at the centre.

14.  Use the sewing machine to securely sew the centre of the bow to the dress.  I sewed a short line of stitches each side of the centre like so.  Be sure to backstitch to make sure the stitches don't come undone.

And there you have it ... this has to be the easiest dress to make, and it's just as easy to wear ... or so Hannah tells me.  She has loved the light-weight coolness of this dress over our lingering summer heat this year, and in fact wore it today with a little short-sleeve cardi over the top now that our weather has started to cool, and it's been a rainy kind of Easter weekend so far.

Oh, and I'm seriously hoping a new colour range of these lovely weight fabrics comes out before next season, 'cause it's a great fabric to sew with!

Anyway, that's it for me tonight ... I'm off to wait for the Easter Bunny (and maybe make a last minute Easter outfit for Bethany to wear to church in the morning) .... bought the new collection from Shwin & Shwin today, and can't wait another minute to give the Stella Tunic a whirl!  

Hope your Easter Sunday is happy, chocolate-filled and blessed.  As a Christian, I'm blown away every time I'm reminded of just how much love our Father in Heaven must have felt for us to send his Son to die on our behalf.  I hope that this Easter you feel even the tiniest amount of love like that from those around you ... because, guess what!?! ... it's nearly Sunday, and HE is Risen Indeed!

Tutorial: High-Low Play-time Dress

I know that high-low dresses and skirts have been around for ages, and to be honest I haven't really liked them until now ... well lots of them anyway, especially the ones where the front is VERY short, and the back is VERY long.  Just not my cup of tea ... maybe a little too much like a mullet haircut... you know the old 80's business in the front, party in the back.  Hmmmm!  Anyway, I've seen a few high-low skirts and dresses in the shops with a much more subtle high-low effect, and decided I really liked them.  It's fun when my tastes change and a whole new world of sewing options open up!  I've also found my fabric-matching taste changing lately.  I never would have put stripes with a busy fabric like this before, but I just love this combo right now.

Anyway, so I decided Bethany needed a new dress (stop laughing ... I know my girls never really NEED a new dress!), and one that will hopefully still fit next summer seeing as our warm weather is slowly coming to an end.  I wanted a quick project, and a dress that would be comfy to wear, but also cute for going to a birthday party or out for lunch.  This is what eventuated... The High-Low Play-Time Dress, and Bethany's a HUGE fan.  She loves this dress, and if it's clean and hanging in her wardrobe, she will most likely pick it to wear for pretty much any occasion.

Twirly Tiered Skirts

Do you follow me on Facebook, or on Pinterest? (Yes, I'm really broadening my social-media horizons lately ... I'm on Instagram too ... totally out of character for me, but I'm having fun with it so far!  I'm definitely a newbie, but you should totally come follow-along!)

Anyway, back to the topic ... if you follow me on Facebook or Pinterest, you may have seen when I found this adorable tiered skirt pattern, offered so generously and for free from Mama Says Sew.  I'd been thinking about making Hannah a tiered skirt as she's just such a girly, twirly, dress and skirt-type munchkin of late.  Tiered skirts are just so cute on little girls of any age too, huh!  I had planned to just take some measurements, do some math and figure out a basic tiered skirt design, but what I love about this pattern is that this lovely Mama really has done ALL the work.  I mean, there's waist and length measurements for 11 sizes ... yep, 11!!!!  And there's also measurements for cutting each of the tiers for both knee-length and maxi-length options.  Something about re-inventing the wheel popped to mind, and I decided I'd just grab some fabric and give it a whirl, or a twirl or something!

And here's what eventuated.  I spotted these lovely quilting-weight cottons at a recent fabric-shop peruse ... I know right, as if I'd ever be in a fabric shop ... cough!

Anyway, these fabrics were stacked together, and are a little fabric line, and I knew they just needed to be a tiered skirt, so home they came.  I decided to use the finest print at the top, and graduate down tier by tier to the largest print ... kinda like the heaviest flowers dropped to the bottom.  Squeak ... so adorable.

And what does Hannah think?  Well I think the twirling says it all!!

Now for the other half of this project.  Bethany, who received her very own sewing machine for Christmas, and is sewing like it's going out of style at the moment (which of course it's absolutely NOT!) decided that she'd like to make one of these skirts for herself.  (Just hold on while I wipe away my proud Mummy tears ... Ok, good to go!)  She decided to make the maxi length, and given free choice of the stash, she chose to use the exact same fabrics, only Bethany decided to use hers in a slightly different order.  I think she did a fabulous job, especially considering she's only 6. (OK, so she's 7 in less than a week, but Mummy's still in denial about that!!)

She needed help with the measuring, and I helped with pinning the seams and with ironing the waistband and hem to make sure they were straight.  I also overlocked (serged) the raw edges for her, but she totally sewed every seam, did the gathering stitches, sewed the gathered tiers together, topstitched and threaded her elastic.  Not to mention that she can now set up and thread the machine and wind a bobbin all by herself.  She's doing so well, and I can see many a sewing afternoon in our futures.  Do you like what she made?

Bethany's got some gorgeous new lace-up ankle boots ready for winter which is fast-approaching here in Australia.  I think a pair of tights and her boots will look so adorable in winter with this skirt.

Oh, and the amazingly generous Mama from Mama Says Sew is also kind enough to allow small-scale sale of products made from her pattern.  I had such a ball with this pattern, and my girls love their skirts so much that I sewed up a couple of extras and added them to my Etsy Shop.  There are only 2, so be quick.  I made up a size 2 and a size 4.

Well, that's it, except just one more pic, because these two just melt my heart!

Dragonfly Love

Who loves cheap fabric?  Um, silly question ... I know!! It makes my day when I'm perusing the fabric store for on-sale fabrics.  My local fabric shop often have a discount for end-of-bolt fabrics, and they also have a sale table of fabrics.  That's my go-to section as soon as I enter the fabric shop .... cough ... not that I'm ever distracted by anything except what I went in there for, huh!!

Anyway, one particular day a couple of months ago this happened, and I picked up this adorable purple dragonfly fabric.  There was just a smidge over 1 metre left on the bolt, and I picked it up for $4.  Pretty happy with that.  This one didn't even make it into my stash.  It was sewn up immediately into a gorgeous little Rainbow Pieced Peplum using this amazing pattern from Shwin and Shwin.  These girls are very clever and creative, and have a whole bunch of free patterns too, most of which are in my to-do file.  They're very generous.