Showing posts with label ruffles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ruffles. Show all posts

Saturday 16 August 2014

Pretty owls summer dress

Hello! Summer is not over yet, so I have taken the opportunity to sew another summer dress for Eva. Dresses have always been my favourite garments to design and sew.


It all started with two fabrics in mind - the pretty owl fabric from "Nested Owls" collection by Addornit (I wrote about it here) and the red mini polka-dot fabric by Sevenberry. I thought they would go well together so I started planning what I could turn them into. They both are 100% cotton and have a little a bit stiffness which is great for adding some volume to a garment.
For a week or so I couldn't decide on the style. I envisaged a little dress, coquette and with an interesting
detail.


For some reason my daughter didn't want to try the dress while still in the making. I would try to persuade her to wear it so I could do some measurements but she wouldn't try. What if she refused to wear the dress once it was all sewn up and ready. It would be a shame to have spent so much time designing, drafting, cutting and sewing something that could never be worn.







Luckily, once the dress was completed, washed and ironed, she willingly let me dress her in it. I was more than happy as believe it or not that little girl could be very stubborn and picky.


To make the dress hang nicely I opted for a decorative finish of the hemline. That was the best I could achieve with my mum's sewing machine (which to put it mildly could be unmanageable at times).


I used snaps to close the side of the dress. They are so practical and easy to sew that I wonder why I haven't used any before. For me one of the most important things to consider when sewing for the kids is the easy wearing of the garment. Because if wearing is complicated, kids quickly get annoyed and they might never want to wear that garment again. I remember when a few years ago my boy couldn't take one of his jumpers off and got panicked so I had to cut through it. After that for a period of time, he was scared everytime he was wearing something through his head.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Kids Clothes Week Winter 2014


I came across KCW (Kids Clothes Week) a few weeks ago. Every season it challenges sewers to sew garments for their kids during one week, sewing every day for at least one hour. During that week everyone shares their creations on the website.
I like sewing events, but I must confess I was a bit hesitant whether to sign up for it. And it wasn't because I didn't want to participate, but because I can't schedule my sewing. One day I might find the time to sew a few hours and then the next 2-3 days not to be able to get anywhere near my sewing machine. For example during the winter holiday I had planned to sew some things, but both my little ones were down with flu and stomach bug, and the last thing I thought of, was taking the sewing machine out.

Finally, I decided to sign up for KCW, being pretty sure that I would be the only one, who would make one or with lots of luck two kids garments.
But does it really matter how many garments you sew? Why counting them? I think the idea of the KCW is more about the process of making something and sharing it with the others.


The first two days of the week I've been working on and off on summer blouse for Eva, which I made from an old t-shirt of mine. For some time it had been sitting on a chair in my bedroom, waiting to be used somehow. I found that I could easily cut old clothes and make something from them, but when it came to new fabrics I was very careful.


The t-shirt was quite small, so all I could do with it was a little blouse. The ruffle detail was a last minute decision, when I had already finished the rest and wondered how to make it look more interesting.
Believe it or not, the most difficult part of completing a garment for Eva is actually the fitting process. That little lady is probably the most wriggly girl in the world. When I finally manage to get her in the toile I have made, she doesn't stop moving for a second, which makes it almost impossible for me to figure out where adjustments are needed.



By the way I have already started working on another blouse, again self-drafted and this time I am going to use the pretty white fabric, which I wrote about in this post.