Slow and steady - progress on the Kay Unger dress

That red Kay Unger dress (Vogue 1083) I wrote about a the other day is still underway, although very little progress was made this week. There is a ton of top stitching on that baby!


And if you haven't begun yours yet, here's a teeny tiny bit of advice for you. Take time to make a muslin. Unless you know that you can sew right out of the pattern and have it fit that is. Ah, yes. I remember those glorious days. When all I had to do was unfold the pattern, pin it to my fabric, cut it out, sew it up and wear it. Sigh. In my world, those days are gone. I guess most of us need to alter our patterns in some way to fit us the way we want. Time consuming yes, but one of the advantages of knowing how to sew. A nice custom fit dress.

Now the reason I'm suggesting a muslin for this dress is because of the construction. The dress is completely lined and you do a lot of the topstitching before sewing pieces are sewn together. My mode of operation is to fit as I sew but that hasn't been too efficient this time. Because I didn't make a muslin I spent quite a bit of time basting, trying on, altering, topstitching and finally sewing pieces together.

My goal is to complete it this week. If this warm weather continues I'll even get to wear it a time or two before it gets back away for the season.

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Life is what's happening when you're too busy to notice -Wayne Muller

Today was a day to not let life just happen.

I ditched the "I should do this" and "I should do that" to spend the afternoon enjoying a bike ride with hubby and some friends.

A leisurely ride through southern Minnesota with a quick stop in Wabasha before crossing the river into Wisconsin.

We enjoyed a great food and service and a very busy little place - the Pickle Factory in Pepin - and then headed home.

Now it's time to continue my relaxing day by plopping down on the sofa to watch Mad Men. What a great way to end a weekend.

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Summer sewing - had me a blast

With apologies to the musical Grease, which is playing in the background as I write this post...

The great Minnesota Get-Together, aka the state fair, begins in two days. Which means summer is drawing to an end. Which in turn means summer sewing is drawing to an end.

At least in this household. The warm weather will disappear quickly in the next month or so and it just doesn't make sense for me to spend what precious little time I have to sew on clothing that will be immediately packed away for a year.

I did manage to get a number of projects sewn for the summer, including my new all time favorite dress. My husband is probably getting tired of seeing me wear it to work and to church and to get-togethers and to...well you get the picture. It's definitely my go-to dress and I should have taken the time to sew one more.

That being said, I do think I'll have time to eke out one more summer dress. Just not the same one. This time a lovely Kay Unger design - Vogue 1183. In red.

What signals the end of summer in your household?

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Tutorial: Sew a 11-1/2" (such as Barbie) fashion doll dress

As promised in my previous post, here's a step-by-step tutorial for sewing this doll dress.

The dress is one I designed and sewed (many, many times) in the 1970s. I scanned my original pattern pieces, which means they aren't perfect - you'll see the pin holes and slightly crooked solid lines. But that kinda adds to the charm don't you think? The document is a PDF and you can download it here. I have it set to print on a 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. To help you determine if it's printing out the correct size, the bottom edge of the skirt pattern measures 6-7/8".

The dress is view 4 shown in the upper right corner of this pattern envelope.

Supplies:

• Lightweight cotton or cotton-blend fabric remnant (I used a portion of a fat quarter)
• Lace—15”
• Thread
• Snaps

Cut out the dress:

• 1 - bodice front on fold
• 1 - skirt on fold
• 2—bodice back
• 2—sleeves

Notes:
Seam allowances are a scant 1/4”. Sewing a larger seam could result in a dress that is too small for your 11-1/2" fashion doll.

That being said, all fashion dolls are not equal and it’s a good idea to measure your doll’s bust and waist to verify this dress will fit.

You might want to add more to the center back allowance when cutting out your dress. You can always cut off excess if it proves to be too large for your fashion doll.

Instructions:
On wrong side of fabric, mark center front darts and small dots at neckline

Sew darts in front, press toward center

Carefully clip to small dots (see photo below)

Sew front to back at shoulder seams

Finger press seams open

Carefully clip curved portion of neck edge (see photo below)

Turn neck edge in to wrong side and press

Stitch in place close to neck edge. You may find it easier to do this from the right side (see photo below)
Turn under bottom edge of sleeves twice; press (see photo below)

Machine stitch sleeve hem in place (see photo below)

Gather top edge of sleeves by stitching one row of stitches 1/4" from edge and the other 1/8" from edge using a long machine stitch (see photo below)

Take hold of the two bobbin threads and gently pull to gather the sleeve top

Distribute gathers evenly and pin the sleeve to armhole opening, wrong sides together
Sew seam (see photo)

Optional: Finish seam by sewing a zig zag stitch in the seam allowance. This will prevent the fabric from ravelling (see photo below)

Sew underarm and side seams (see photo below)

Finish seams with zig zag stitch (see photo below)

To hem bottom edge of skirt, turn under twice just as you did for the sleeve hem, press and stitch in place.

Sew lace trim to the bottom of the skirt (see photo below)

In my example I needed to use a zipper foot due to the sequins in my trim (see photo below)

Gather the upper edge of the skirt by sewing one row of stitches 1/4" from the edge and the other 1/8" from the edge using a long machine stitch.

Mark center front of skirt with chalk or pin.

Match center front of bodice and skirt, wrong sides together, and pin in place (see photo below)

Gently pull skirt gathers to fit bodice; pin in place (see photo below)

Sew seam (see photo below)

Finish waist seam with a zig zag stitch (see photo below)

Press seam towards bodice. On right side of bodice, topstitch in place (see photo below)

Be careful to keep the sleeves out of the way or you could find yourself doing what I did - sewing the sleeve to the inside of the dress (see photo below)

Press the back edge of dress (see photo below)

Stitch in place. If you're unsure of the fit of your doll, try the dress on the doll before finishing the back edge.

Place dress on doll; overlap right bodice back over left; pin in place (see photo below)

Place a pin on the left bodice back where lapped edge meets (see photo below)

Sew snaps to back of doll dress.

If you prefer, cut narrow strips of Velcro and sew to the back edge of the dress in place of snaps.

Done!


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Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there lived a young girl. This young girl had a very active imagination and expressed it in many creative ways. She liked to draw. And paint. And read. And dance. And stage plays. And laugh. And sew. And sew. And sew.

Most of all this young girl liked to make up clothing designs. Her family didn't have very much money so she designed clothes for her younger sister's Barbie dolls. She studied the patterns for contemporary clothing in her own size then drew patterns in doll size.

She drew her patterns on scrap paper her mother brought home from her office job. She carefully marked darts and stitching lines and center fronts and center backs. She even "packaged" her patterns into sets. The scrap paper envelopes were carefully illustrated with her designs.

As this young girl grew older she became a mother and a career woman. She found she had less time to draw. And paint. And read. And dance. And stage plays. But she still found time to laugh. And of course to sew. But eventually there was no longer time for sewing doll clothes and the patterns that had been lovingly hand drawn were tucked away.

Of course by now you know that I was that young girl. Recently, when I decided to sew some Barbie clothes for a friend's daughter's fourth birthday, I stumbled across my pattern "collections".

My doll clothing designs are pure 70s, with smock tops and pinafores and lace trimmed skirts. Most everything I was wearing at the time. But dolls clothes are doll clothes and can be easily be adapted to any era.

In this case I choose to sew View 4 - the one in the upper right corner of the pattern "envelope". By choosing a contemporary cotton print and eliminating the neckline lace and matching headscarf, the end result is a dress any four year old would be happy to place on her doll.

I scanned my original pattern pieces for the dress and will have a tutorial ready for you in the next few days. That is if you're brave enough to sew something this tiny...

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Cover your eyes! Bright color ahead.

I don't know what possessed me to purchase - and proceed to sew - this ultra bright green lightweight wool. I hate green. Well, hate might be a bit too strong of a word.

It's not that I really hate the color green. I think green is a lovely color. It works beautifully on my lawn. And it frames the flowers in my garden quite nicely. It even looks fabulous surrounded by luscious red tomatoes in my salad bowl.

It just doesn't look good on me. Which is why I've avoided wearing and sewing green for many, many years. Possibly since I sewed this jumpsuit back in 9th grade. And even then I only choose green because green and white were the school colors.

So you might be wondering what ever led me to purchase a yard of bright green fabric from Fabric Mart Fabrics this past spring? It's simple. It was still rather drab outside and I was seduced by visions of a brightly colored spring wardrobe, complete with a bright green pencil skirt.

But the sewing didn't happen until this past weekend. Instead of a pencil skirt I decided to try a ruffled skirt using New Look 6898.

The skirt has a narrow waistband and is designed to sit just below the natural waist (see photo below). The front has small pleats and the back has darts. The lower right edge (as you look at the photo) is sewn portion of the skirt that is above it.

That diagonal seam is then sewed securely into the side seam. Hmmm, funny what photos pick up that the mirror doesn't. See that funny little bulge just below my hand? I'm going to need to go back and adjust that upper hip area a bit.

Now that the skirt is sewn I realize that, with the exception of this white lace knit top, I have absolutely nothing to pair it with. That makes it a bit of an impractical skirt, but oh how I love that ruffled layered hemline. It brings a smile to my face.

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Handkerchief hems and side drapes - Vogue 8651

Handkerchief hems and side drapes. You either love 'em or hate 'em.

I'm in the love 'em camp.

Oh I'll admit that I wasn't at first. I found them a bit odd looking.

Until I purchased a top with that hemline treatment. It's one of the most flattering knit tops I own. And trendy. Especially considering the fact that the entire neckline is embellished with a zipper. Two trends in one. That's why I'm wearing the heck out of it this season. I doubt the dual zipper neckline/handkerchief side drape hem trend can be worn for too long.

Anyway, soon after purchasing above mentioned top, Vogue released a pattern for a knit top (number 8651) with a handkerchief hem. Perfect. Now I could sew another one to kick around in.

Except when I was shopping with my daughter she found a top like this one that she really liked but it was sleeveless and she prefers some type of sleeve. Mom to the rescue! I quickly offered to sew one for her knowing I had both fabric and pattern waiting for me at home. Hey, it's not too often I get to sew for my girl any more...

I pulled out a wonderfully drapey red (because my daughter looks gorgeous in red) RPL knit (probably from Fabric Mart) and got to work. With 1/4 yard less of fabric than the top required I ended up shortening the tunic quite a few inches. Which actually works out well as my daughter is not exactly on the tall side. It will be a better length for her this way.

This is another pattern accurately rated "very easy". It took about 2 to 2-1/2 hours from cutting out the pieces to sewing the hem. The only thing I changed was to add clear elastic to the scooped neckline for stability. To do that I serged clear elastic to the wrong side, turned the edge inside and topstitched in place.

There's only three pattern pieces - a front, a back, a sleeve - so of course it's simple. And don't' bother sewing the sleeves in the round as instructed. Sew them in flat and then sew the side seams. It's much easier that way.

Here's a shot of the top flat so you can see the interesting pattern piece.

This top has a 1" hem, complete with mitered corners (using the technique I blogged about here).

What is not obvious from the pattern drawings or description is that the front is shorter than the back. I actually didn't realize it until I tried the top on. At first I thought perhaps I had miscalculated and shortened the front piece more than the back. However as you can see, the back is longer than the front. (In this picture the curved top edge is the side seam. )

All in all, I think my daughter will look adorable wearing this tunic. It will get her through the remaining summer months and will look darling layered under a long sleeve top, worn over leggings and boots when the weather cools off. Now if I can just convince her to model it for us... Pin It

Twirl, Baby, Twirl - The Vogue 1027 DKNY Dress Review

Everyone once in a while you come across a pattern that is an absolute dream to put together. The pattern pieces match, the rating is accurate and the outcome is just as you pictured. As you sew you swear the stars must be aligned.

Vogue 1027 is one of those patterns. As I sewed I only had one question "why in the world did I wait so long?"

Just a few alterations were needed before the sewing began - an FBA and forward shoulder adjustment. With the knit I may not have needed the FBA but choose to do one to ensure there was enough room in the bodice to prevent the empire waist from being too high in the front.

Construction itself is simple with good instructions provided by the pattern company. For example, shoulder seams are stayed, which is something the pattern companies don't always remember to add to the instructions for knit garments.

In fact, construction on this dress was so straight forward that I only glanced at the instructions rather than follow along step-by-step.

The neck edge is simply serged, turned to the wrong side and stitched in place. I usually add clear elastic in these front crossover necklines to ensure no gapping, but it wasn't needed this time.

I choose to use the armhole facings. After topstitching I trimmed the excess away on the inside of the garment. By the way, and you might be able to see this in the photo, I used a narrow zig-zag stitch when sewing and topstitching the seams and edges on this dress.

The tie end and back band was the only place I should have followed the instructions provided. I folded the tie end in half, right sides together, and sewed together leaving one short edge open for turning.

Actually I didn't just sew it, I serged it. Which meant when I realized I had goofed, I could either unpick the serged seam or recut the tie. I choose the path of least resistance knowing I had enough fabric left to recut the tie. Whew!

This time when I folded the tie end in half, right sides together, I only sewed to the dot large circle. Now when I added the back band I was able to sew the tie to the bodice leaving a small portion unsewn in the center front.

That portion of the tie is pulled together tightly when the dress is worn. Hmmm, how does that go again?

The pockets were a must have and, in this knit, don't add any bulk. I'd leave them out if I was sewing this in a really soft drapey knit. Now I have the perfect spot to clip my ID badge when I wear the dress to the office.

I didn't notice until I was done that this dress actually has 1/4" wide elastic sewn into the seam that connects the bodice and skirt. Much like this top I sewed recently.

While the elastic might seem excessive, knowing that the tie will pull the dress in slightly, I really liked the addition on that black top. However, I serged this seam and didn't relish the thought of ripping the seam out just to add a casing for elastic and left it as is.

While the tie does indeed pull the dress in slightly, after wearing the dress for a day I realize that part of the dress could be tighter. So next time I'll either plan on cutting it a bit smaller or remember to add the casing and elastic.

The final step was to let the dress hang for a day (or two or three or a seven...) before hemming the bias skirt. My skirt did need some slight adjusting before sewing the final hem, but as it was only longer in the back it may have been due to the need for a back length adjustment.

I'm so pleased with this dress. It's incredibly comfortable and versatile enough to wear running errands or to the office on hot, steamy summer days.

Best of all? It passed the twirl test.

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