CC Hillary

This* is a Children’s Corner Hillary that I whipped up to send to a women’s ministry group that will be going to an African orphanage for Easter. Hillary is a quick and easy sew that produces a cool, twirly sundress (and what little girl DOESN’T like the twirl factor?). The fabric is a Fabric Finder’s print and the piping is V-Blue**.

Hillary features pleats at center front and gathers to the armholes. I used the scallop angel sleeve pattern featured in Creative Needle May/June 2004 issue.

I chose to do back ties instead of a button. The pattern includes instructions for back ties and button views.

 

*Sorry for the terrible pictures. This fabric is really hard to photograph. Swatches are available upon request.

**Piping is not up on the website yet but is in stock. Add color and yardage needed to the customer comment box on checkout.

Heirloom Sewing on a Budget – Part Two

Below are two photos of the 4 dresses that I made for my four nieces one year.  I used most of my economy ideas in making them!  They are all four made with Imperial batiste.

The lavender dress has a row of simple machine stitching down a strip of fabric.  Simple lace beading is less costly than lace.  The peach dress has tucks along the fancy band and pintucks and tucks on the bodice. The ruffles weren't very full.

The Neptune dress used a simple lace design to embellish the bodice with beading and ribbon around the waist and the fancy band.  The blue dress had two-piece sleeves, slit down the middle from shoulder seam, to add interest.  The lace edging at the bottom of the fancy band is attached flat to save on lace.

Cathy

Guest Blogger: Cathy – Heirloom Sewing on a Budget

With the economy the way it is, I thought I'd share some of my ideas for heirloom sewing on a budget.

1.  Shop the sales.  Why state the obvious?  Because sometimes we forget to do that!

2.  The same goes for using your stash! 

3.  Use wider width fabrics when available.  For slimmer dresses, 58-60" is sometimes plenty of fabric width for the skirt, meaning you only need to purchase one skirt length.  Most of our fabric needs are for the skirt sections.  With a wider fabric, you don't even have to make side seams!  Just put one seam (the selvages together) in the center back.  This means your sleeves may have to be sewn-in "in the round," but that doesn't bother me a bit. 45" is even wide enough for a tiny baby dress!  Another way that the wider fabrics can save money is by reducing the total length of fabric you need to buy:  if you need 2 skirt sections, each one about 35" wide, then from a 60" wide fabric, you would have a 23-25" width of fabric that is the length of the 2 skirt sections in which to cut your bodice and sleeve pieces, with some left over!

4.  Lace beading usually costs a lot less than lace insertions, so if you mix some beadings in with your insertions on fancy bands and yoke treatments, you can save on the lace purchase. Satin ribbon is quite reasonably priced and really makes an outfit shine!

5.  Swiss insertions bordered by entredeux are often overlooked.  Initially they seam pricey ($5-8) per yard, but with entredeux running nearly $3/yd. now, enough entredeux to go around two sides of lace insertion would cost nearly $6/yd.  At this point, the embroidered section between the entredeux is nearly free!  This product also makes wonderful waistbands on dresses, sleeve cuffs and adds dimension and detail to a yoke or fancy band. I've even used it in the side seam to expand the width of the dress!  If a pattern calls for a smocked garment's skirt to hang from lace and entredeux, I would prefer to use the swiss insertion as it is much stronger and better able to support the weight of the skirt. Swiss beading is a wee bit less than insertion and can be used in the same places and techniques.

6.  Using edging lace or swiss embroidered edgings at the hemline of a dress can save money because the shirt section will be shorter than if you use a fabric hem. Judicious placement of fabric within a fancy band can give you a place in which to add more laces and other design features to lengthen a dress that still fits the child around the bodice.

7.  Vary the widths and patterns on your laces.  Two wider laces separated by a narrow lace is really pretty! Choose lace patterns that initially cost less per yard because once the dress is finished, it will look great! The lace pattern itself seems to matter less than the fact that the dress has been embellished with lace.

8.  Tucks.  Any kind of tuck can fancy up a skirt.  Yes, you need more fabric, but in the long run fabric costs less than lace!  On the first french dress I made for my DD, I placed 3 half-inch tucks just above the fancy band.  My DD was always very slim and grew up and never out, so to extend the life of the dress, I removed the stitching from those tucks the 2nd year, and used my pintuck foot to place 3 groups of 3 pintucks using the fold and stitching lines from the original half-inch tucks.  This not only concealed the folds in the fabric, but it allowed me to stitch really straight since I had a mark to follow across the whole width of fabric!

9.  Puffing can be made from scraps of fabric, and it looks really good when placed in a dress!  It is one thing that looks fancier than it really is!  Puffing, pintucks and pin-stitching are all things that don't cost a lot, do use up some time, but look very effective in the finished project.

10.  For smocked print dresses, you can mix and match fabrics, prints and solids.  By using contrasting hem bands, cuffs and collars, you can use up smaller bits and pieces in your stash than if trying to make a whole outfit out of one fabric. Contrasting hems are another great way to add length to a dress when it gets shorter. Line your bodice with another coordinating fabric to save on the feature fabric.

11.  Piping.  Another thing that takes very little fabric. Make your own!  You can cut your own bias strips from scraps.  For any straight edges (yokes, hems and cuffs) that need piping, you can even cut it straight on the cross-grain. Use piping liberally for great effects without upping the budget.  Gingham and stripes make wonderful bias pipings!  Contrasting pipings in seam allowances can really brighten up a dress or boy's outfit. Even if you don't like yellow (which I didn't), it is the one color that make almost any project "pop" when used in small amounts for contrast.

Cathy

Sunday Brunch

Oliver + S is a fairly new pattern company that have some amazing patterns. The styles are fresh yet vintage. The patterns are rated for difficulty on the back so you can choose your sewing level. 

The instructions and illustrations are very detailed and easy to understand. I found Sunday Brunch to be a breeze from start to finish.

I finished this set in about 4 hours.  The jacket is Featherwale Corduroy in Tahiti. It looks red but is actually a really HOT pink. The skirt is a cotton dot.

1st entry-January COTM

My first completed UFO this year is an LSU bishop. This is a 3 month bishop smocked using three different plates. The top row is from The Pep Rally. The center scallop is from Candle Glow. The tiger is Tiny Tigers by Fancy Stitches.

 
I used Fabric Finders’ Pima Cotton 60 “ Gingham in Grape. This fabric pleats wonderfully. It is a good choice for picture smocking as the pleats are crisp and plump.

I am adding this first entry of the January Challenge of the Month to the Princess Designs Flickr Gallery. The January COTM deadline is February 15. The prize drawing will be held February 16.