Tuesday 1 September 2015

Ditsy flowers summer dress

The summer is almost over and I still haven't shared my summer creations.
One of them is this summer dress I self-drafted and sewed for my toddler girl two months ago. Since then I've been working on something very time-consuming which hopefully will be ready soon.



I've been dedicating some time for making hair accessories as well (I find that such an enjoyable activity). Sometimes I find it hard to balance the time spent on different sewing and craft activities. I am keen to do so many things, but simply don't have enough time for everything.


Back to the dress. It's a simple dress with a little square neckline decorated with lace trimming. It features a little pleated pocket on the front and button fastening on the back. I aimed for something light and comfortable.

























The fabric I used for the dress is one that I bought from Hobby Craft store. I loved the ditsy floral print and although I had many other fabrics waiting to be sewn, I couldn't resist it. It's quilting cotton and has some stiffness. For a garment for an adult I would definetely go for fine and drapey fabric, but for kids garment I can easily use quilting cotton.

I have decided that my next challenge would be sewing with knits. I have very little experience with them and even have bought a book on that. Having a small collection of knits, I think it's time to put them into use.

Friday 27 March 2015

A "Frozen" inspired dress

It was shortly before last Christmas when the whole family went to the cinema to watch "Frozen". After good reviews from friends I thought that maybe my son was already old enough to understand the film. I expected my two-year-old daughter to get bored really quickly and twist in her seat most of the time. To my suprise it was my little girl who watched the movie with greater interest, mersmerised by the beautiful animation. It's a girl's kind of movie. Honestly, I don't know a little girl who doesn't love it.




Anyway, my daughter definitely didn't understand the story, but she loved the songs. She was dancing around to them using her little blanket as a cape. So I thought I could sew her a princess dress to wear at home whenever she wanted to feel as a princess.
Initially I didn't plan to be "Frozen" kind of dress, it could be any suitable colour.


But then I came across this beautiful snowflake organza fabric in a local fabric shop. I bought 1 metre polyester fabric and 1 metre snowflake organza. Now I think I should have bought a little bit more to make the skirt with more gathers and maybe have added netting fabric under the skirt for more fullness.

 
 





Thursday 5 March 2015

Hair clips

I love spending my time sewing and making patterns but often those spare time gaps during the day are so short that by the time I get my sewing stuff out, lay it on the table and get ready to start, it's almost time to do the school run, or my toddler wakes up from her afternoon nap or something else needs my attention.

For that reason I needed some really quick projects, something that I could make in these precious twenty minutes when it's quiet and there are no other distractions.

These small felt hair clips turned to be the perfect project. They are so quick and easy to make.







Till recently I had never used a hot glue gun, but now I can't imagine not having one. It's so useful in making accessories.

My daughter loves the hairclips, although she plays with them more than she wears them. I am lucky that I managed to photograph them all. You can find them around the house in the most unusual places. Yesterday I found one of them in my son's school bag and another one in his pencil case.







Tuesday 24 February 2015

My very gathered party skirt

It's been a long time since I sewed something for myself. I sewed for my daughter, for my mum, for my friends' kids but nothing for me recently.

It all started from the fabric. I liked the shiny taffeta and the first thing I imagined was a skirt. The stiffness of the fabric would be great for achieving shape. So here is what I made for myself : a very gathered party skirt.


The skirt is knee length, with an invisible zip on the back. For the construction I used three rectangles - one for the front and two for the back skirt. I haven't added flare as I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. I have decided that this would be a quick project (not that quick in the end).


Unfortunately, that skirt is not a garment I would be wearing very often. It would probably gather dust in the wardrobe for a year before the next wear. Next time I sew for myself I will make something for an everyday wear.