It's raining. Let's make summer dresses!

While the weather has been wild outside, it's been a perfect excuse to hide indoors with my sewing machine!

This is a lovely light cotton fabric that I really enjoyed working with.  I picked it up while I was on holiday in Cornwall last year.  It's sized for a 6 - 9 month old baby, and it has a couple of features I haven't tried before.  The gathering for the skirt was a lot harder than I expected!  I also used top stitch around the bodice and I'm really pleased with it!

I was so pleased with it, I made it in this fabric too! 

I need to finish them both, they need a good press, and also some buttons and button holes.  Any excuse to shop for buttons!  Before I do that, I'm going to make the same dress in this fabric

I think the fabric is so cute!

We've also been making really brightly coloured suntops and coordinating shorts ready for summer - when it arrives!

These are in larger sizes, this particular one is for a two year old.

New Dress

So this is one of the dresses Ive been working on.  It's the simpler of the two, I've been having a few issues with the other one!

This dress is made in a lovely light floaty cotton, and features a yellow padded pocket with matching yellow buttons and button hole detail.  I had designed it with a yellow flower as well, but once I had lined it, sewed it and turned it in the right way, I wasn't happy with the finish so I opted to leave the flower off.

As soon as I'm finished with the other design, I'll post a picture of that too :)

This dress is one of the items we are displaying on Sunday at the Orsett craft fair.  The fair is open from 10 until 1, so if you are in the area come down and say hi - It will be lovely to meet you!

Button Holing!

I've finally finished the little owl dress for my niece!  I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her - she popped by unexpectedly over the weekend which was lovely.

Here is a picture of the button holes marked out ready to sew.  I always measure and check at least twice before I actually sew the garment.  It's also very important to have a practice run on some fabric of the same weight as the garment to check that the stitches on the machine are at the correct tension and size!  Its also a good idea to check that your pen or chalk does wash out without leaving any residue marks.

Finished Seams

I like to finish my seams with a french seam.  I think it gives a nice drape to the finished garment, and its nice and tidy too!

Ive also finished the hem now, only the buttons and button holes to go!

We enjoyed the craft fair on Sunday, it was a beautiful, hot day and it was in a lovely setting.  We were near the windows and could see the river - brilliant!  :) 

Wednesday Chat

I really enjoyed meeting little P on Saturday, she's so very sweet, and her mum is doing brilliantly!

I've nearly finished the dress now, I've just got to finish the hem, and I'll put some pictures up.

Debbie is doing a craft fair on Sunday, its at Mucking Wildlife Trust Centre, so if you are around, pop in and see her!  The Wildlife centre has just been redeveloped and the area around it is a haven for all sorts of wildlife.  The fair is 10 - 3.

Summer has arrived!

Well, I still haven't finished my niece's dress!  I must do it this week as I'm seeing her on Sunday, yay! :)  It's been very hot here this week, and my garden is suffering, though my tomatoes look like they may be building up to something great!

In between projects, I've added a two little dresses to the shop - I love them!

Our craft fair for Saturday has sadly been cancelled, so Im using the time instead to meet my new cousin, P.  I cant wait for my first cuddle!

Dress making - the adventure continues!

So, after I'd pinned the yoke pieces together for my nieces dress and sewn them, and then the dress pieces together and sewn them, I pinned the yoke in place ready to sew:

I was feeling pleased with myself once I'd sewn all the pieces in, but as I went to turn the pieces out to press the seams, I noticed I'd sewn right side to wrong side.  :(  Why does unpicking take so much longer that sewing! 

Dress Making!

So, this is what I have been up to over the last couple of days.  I've been making a dress for my neice out of the owl fabric that I have.  I had to scale the pattern up first, but I triple checked all my measurements, and I'm confident!

Here is the first step, all the pieces pinned out, ready to sew :

Returning to an old hobby!

After our craft fair, which was fun but exhausting, I had a bit of inspiration.  A few years ago, I used to embroider a lot, pictures and small motifs for greeting cards for family and friends mostly.  I wondered if I would be able to use some of the skills I used to use to be able to embroider designs directly onto fabric.  So that's my new experiment -  learning to create patterns on the fabric directly.  Ive got a few things I need to think around - how to keep the tension correct so that it doesn't pucker the fabric once washed, how to hide the thread ends, and most importantly how to make it look good on both sides!  Im thinking mainly of flowers at the moment, but Ill see how it progresses!

In the meantime, this is a dress that we were showing for the first time at the craft fair.  Its a pinafore style dress for a one year old.  I think the fabric is really cute!