fall flower girl dress

November 14, 2012November 14, 201268 Comments

i was so excited when my husband’s cousin Amy asked Em to be a flower girl in her wedding. then i was HONORED when she asked me to make Em’s dress and gave me free reign on the design! seriously! sewing mama’s dream come true. i literally jumped up and down.

Amy and i went fabric shopping together, her bringing swatches from the bridesmaid dresses, me bringing ideas. my two major inspirations were this wedding dress, and this lovely dress by my friend Danielle. Amy approved. 🙂

fall flower girl dress

Amy and her awesome fiancé Ben chose beautiful colors – teal and bright yellow – which paired perfectly with their vibrant flowers and the fall season. there were peacock feather fascinators for the bridesmaids from etsy, and I loved that they ordered one for Em too! everything just came together so nicely! isn’t it great when that happens?

the flower girl dress is sparkly silk organza (was originally going to use tulle so i didn’t need to hem, but they didn’t have the right colors), with cream overlay on the bodice and top layer of the skirt, then three layers of teal getting progressively deeper in tone as they got closer to her body, like her angelina tutu. i french seamed the edges to join them, then folded each layer to create a bubble hem. i gathered it all together and attached it to the bodice, then serged. next time i’d enclose the raw edge of the skirt with the batiste – Em said it was scratchy and i felt pretty terrible about that.

i incorporated the gathered shoulder design in the overlay. underneath, there’s a basic tube top with exposed invisible zipper (tutorial here by kate), and i added teal satin ribbon as straps which i tied around each shoulder layer to gather them.

i took these photos over a week after the wedding, since the ones i took on the day were more of the event itself. the dress isn’t quite so perfectly arranged and her hair isn’t as fancy, but you still get the idea. she was happy to wear the dress again. the day of the wedding, i actually hand-sewed the back layers together so the zipper wouldn’t show.

the yellow sash is satin.

you wouldn’t believe how thrilled Em was to be a flower girl (or maybe you would?). she made it through the church ceremony, going up to stand on the altar with the bridesmaids and then back to sit down multiple times, paying close attention for over an hour with minimal fidgeting, no meltdowns. she sat with the bridesmaids, not with us, and she only knew a couple of them. i was so proud of her!

it was so cute seeing her there with the bridesmaids in teal and yellow. she also complemented Amy, who wore a cream dress with teal shoes and had a sparkly sash/belt. i wasn’t quite sure how my homemade dress would play into the whole look of the wedding, but i was really relieved that it looked like it belonged up there! PHEW!

Em felt so special wearing a little makeup and having her fingernails painted sparkly for the occasion. it also helped that her cousin S was the ring bearer. they’re just 10 days apart in age and they’re even in the same class in school! more like brother and sister than cousins, really. he did a great job up there too, and aren’t little guys in suits the cutest? his mom sewed his teal bow tie!

okay so confession time – i got worried about how i was going to sew the organza and whether i’d even be able to execute such a fancy occasion dress (since my style is much more casual), so i procrastinated a bit. i worked on it the week before the wedding and it was taking a long time to sew, plus i was a bit burnt out from KCWC and halloween sewing.

i tried the dress on her midweek, and discovered i needed to redo the overlay – it was too big. i was too tired after the rehearsal dinner to work on it, but figured it was a quick fix so i hit the sack and figured i could do it the morning of the wedding. then i woke up at 2:30am in a panic and HAD to sew it right then! it was actually a peaceful time to sew, and i also ironed O’s outfit and made myself a little emergency sewing kit (which came in handy, i ended up helping secure the bustle of Amy’s dress with a safety pin!). then i went back to bed.

and there ya go! Em keeps talking about the wedding and wearing her fascinator around the house. she’s definitely itching to be a flower girl again, which is a good thing because my sister is getting married in the spring!!

i’ll be back with my wedding gift for the happy couple, Amy + Ben! i hope you enjoyed the flower girl dress photo overload. 🙂

foldover doily clutch tutorial

November 12, 2012November 1, 201319 Comments

i recently gave a clutch like this to my sister laura as a birthday present, and i thought i’d write up a tutorial for it because…you know…it’s getting to be that gift-giving time of year! i think a pretty but casual little clutch purse is great for girl time, date nights, a quick errand, that type of thing. it’s the perfect gift for sisters, moms, babysitters, teachers…any lady in your life, really!

this foldover style clutch features a metal zipper and appliquéd doily on a lined bag. in these photos it’s carrying my wallet, phone, and keys – the essentials.

it has vintage-modern style with the doily and rough linen-y hemp fabric i used, but you could skip the doily and do a fun print, or stamp a fun design on there too. i had fun adding a doily to a skirt during vintage may, so i thought that’d be neat to try that technique again.

due to the proportions of the clutch and zipper, you don’t need to reach for the pliers and you don’t need to worry about breaking a needle, either! deep cleansing breath – you can totally do this.

okay let’s get started…

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guest posting at me sew crazy

November 8, 2012November 8, 20126 Comments

i really love it when i’m able to participate in fun, creative blog events like the one the awesome Jessica from Me Sew Crazy dreamed up – it’s called KIDS – kids inspiration design series and in it she challenged sewing mamas to have our kids design garments for us to bring to life!

K.i.d.s.

it was a little scary wondering what Em would have me make, and i wasn’t sure if she was even old enough to draw a real garment yet, but she totally rocked it. wanna see what she had me sew? YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHICH COLORS SHE PICKED!!

check out our team creation right here, and keep following me sew crazy because she’s got a fantastic lineup of guest bloggers and i can’t WAIT to see what their munchkins come up with! our kids see us sewing, they know what we can make…but can we rise to the challenge and make what they dream up? do you think i came close? come see!

chambray big bow dress

November 6, 2012November 6, 201230 Comments

ah pattern testing, my favorite sewing blog activity!

i first found the big bow dress on pinterest. it’s by miranda of one little minute. i feel like it had popped up in my feed over and over, and each time i saw it i was like “ooooh that’s so cute, is there a pattern?” i’d click through to her blog post and was always bummed to see there wasn’t a pattern, she just took custom orders for them. since i sew, i don’t buy dresses for Em anymore, so that didn’t really help me. i wanted to MAKE one!!

but then i started following miranda on instagram and saw a photo one night showing she was working on a pattern! yippee! i told her i was excited, and a little while later she asked me to test it for her!

the big bow dress pattern is now for sale! for testing purposes, i sewed mine in a lovely chambray (purchased here) with vintage sheet lining. i love the casual vibe it lends to this more formal dress, and the blue floral sheet inside is so soft! i made a 3T in 4T length, and i just love how it looks on Em.

Em is kind of a sucker for exaggerated details, i think, so she loves the bow and the roomy a-line fit for dancing too. even despite the blue color, she was sold on it pretty quickly!

miranda was great at listening to tester feedback and as a result i think the pattern is really user friendly, though probably advanced beginner/intermediate-level since it involves a buttonhole, zipper, pleating, and lining…though the pattern is good at explaining it all too.

chambray big bow dress

i have just one construction tip that didn’t make it into the final version of the pattern that may help, and that is this: after sewing the buttonhole, sew a basting stitch down the length of the dress, continuing the same distance out from the fold as the buttonhole on the right side of the dress. press open the front box pleat and then remove the basting stitches. this will help you keep an even box pleat down the length of the dress.

my dress has a tiny inverted box pleat in the center of the bigger box pleat, which wasn’t miranda’s intention…the pattern actually calls for a knife pleat. take a look at her photos, not mine for specific details. 😉

the dress closes with an invisible zipper, and her technique involves no hand stitching of the lining! yay!

Em wore this to a wedding rehearsal and dinner (she was the flower girl! much more to come on that) and it’s great as a formal-ish but still so comfortable dress. perfect heading into the holiday season, don’t you think?

you can get your own big bow dress pattern right here! it goes from 6 months to size 6 and i think it’d be especially adorably ridiculous on a little baby.

thanks for letting me test this pattern, miranda!!

handmade halloween 2012: pink elephant costume

October 31, 2012November 7, 201250 Comments

you know about Em’s elephant obsession, right? and her love of the color pink, right? so you’re not surprised at all that this was her halloween costume choice, right?

there’s something about four year olds where they just get obsessed with things. any child psychologists out there, please clue me in. it’s like her whole life is pink and elephants (and maybe ballet?). so predictable it’s hilarious.

when we first asked her what she wanted to be for halloween (maybe in august?), she drew this:

a pink elephant sketch for me to sew from. since she drew it, she has not wavered. okay no, ONCE she said she would be fantastic mrs. fox, but the next day she was back to pink elephant. dang! i was kinda hoping my costume sewing would be taken care of with film petit.

i had a hard time fully conceptualizing the elephant. couldn’t figure out my designs – hoodie? jumpsuit? separates but wearable later? very specific and one-time use? i ended up going with separates, and had to do my own sketch because hers wasn’t entirely humanoid (yes i said humanoid).