Tag Archives: January Dress

Finished January Dress!

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It is late on January 31st, but the first of the Dozen of Dresses - the January Dress is Done! I love how it turned out.  If you have never thought of using flannel for a little girl’s dress, think again. My sixteen year old daughter said if she could get away with wearing a flannel owl jumper, she would – it is just so cuddly!

I did want to give you some finishing notes.  On the hem, first I attached the hem facing and then finished the sides of the skirt by folding them to the wrong side by 1/2 inch and edge stitching as per the pattern directions. After trimming to 1/4 inch, I folded the skirt sides in again by 1 inch. At this point, you could use the button holes and buttons to keep the side skirt facings in place as per the pattern directions, or do as I did and stitch again on the previous line of stitching – this leaves a line of stitching showing on the right side.  I didn’t mind this since I chose to edge stitch the arm holes and neckline as well as the tabs.  If instead, you don’t want a line of stitching down the skirt sides, and you want to use the buttons and button holes to hold the facings in place, I would recommend slip stitching  the skirt side facings to the hem back in the area covered by the hem facing, since the skirt side facings are not held down by the hem as they would be in the original pattern directions. The pattern directions also suggest stitching the bottom of the box pleat in place.  I tried this with the flannel fabric and did not like the look at all. The flannel is soft and cuddly, and the sharpness of a crisp box pleat did not seem appropriate.  I will certainly try it when I make this jumper out of a cotton broadcloth where a crisp box pleat would look adorable.

If you follow my example and edge stitch the neckline and arm holes, make sure to attach the skirt to the yoke, and slip stitch your lining in place before you edge stitch the arm hole area.  The bottom of the arm hole is just too close to the yoke seam allowance to have room to work if the armhole is edge stitched already.

The key to great looking tabs is good pressing before edge stitching the tabs.  Here is where those mini-hams come in! I finished the tabs with these fun flower buttons, but I wanted to have some Pinky Diamond fabric showing on the back so I decided to use covered buttons.  Next up is the February Dress – stay tuned!

Design Element: Drafting a Hem Facing

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Snow Again!  It was beautiful this morning, but tough shoveling.  I didn’t get as much done of the January Dress because I had to help out with the driveway since the snow blower couldn’t handle it. I did get the hem facing attached to the skirt which is our design element for January and wanted to walk you though it. I traced off a size 5 of the  Oliver + S Music Box Jumper, View B so I could save the bigger sizes on the pattern for another time.  This is the front skirt.  From the hem, I measured up 3 1/2 inches and made small dots.  I then connected the dots. There will be a 1/2 inch seam at the bottom edge of the skirt and a 1/2 inch fold to finish the top edge of the facing which will make the finished facing 2 1/2 inches –  visually that seems about right for a size 5. You can make your facings smaller or larger depending on what size you are making. The green line is the facing line I drew.  I then placed a piece of wax paper over the pattern and traced my new facing pattern piece.  I did the same thing with the back skirt.  Here is my facing pattern.  Make sure to transfer all markings, including the seam line on the back facing and place the front facing on the fold. Using my new facing patterns, I cut the facings from Pinky Diamonds.  I seamed the back facings to the front facing, pressed open the seams, and pressed the top edge down 1/2 inch.I have also ripped out the temporary basting in the skirt that formed the box pleat so the skirt is flat at the front. Next, matching side seams and notches, pin the facing to the skirt bottom with the RIGHT SIDE of the hem facing to the WRONG SIDE of the skirt.  I know this unusual, but trust me, it works.Here you can see the right side of Pinky Diamonds pinned to the wrong side of Little Owl. Stitch a 1/2 inch seam along the bottom of the skirt. Press the seam flat, press the facing down away from the skirt, press the seam allowance up toward the skirt, trim the seam allowance to 1/4 inch, and finally press the facing up onto the skirt!  I know that is a lot of pressing, but you want a sharp, flat edge along the bottom of the skirt. Finally edge stitch the top edge of the facing in place.Here is your finished facing on the skirt.

The Reason for Understitching – Avoiding the Dreaded Creep

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My daughter had an early dismissal today due to the latest winter storm.  We slipped and slided all the way home, but once we made it safely, that was it – no one was going anywhere! I recuperated by spending the afternoon sewing and got a terrific start on the first of our Dozen of Dresses, the January Dress! I cut out the main body of the Oliver + S Music Box Jumper  in Little Owl, and the lining, tab pockets and hem facings (more about that in tomorrow’s post) from Pinky Diamonds. I assembled the yoke. Step 7 of the directions explains how to understitch the yoke facing to the neckline. At the end of the step, the pattern states “if this step seems confusing or complicated, feel free to skip it…”.  Explaining in words how to understitch can seem confusing, but in practice, it is very simple and necessary to avoid the Dreaded Creep!Can you see the lining creeping to the right side of the dress – that is the Dreaded Creep and it is what you want to avoid on the front of your jumper.  The solution is to simply understitch.  Once you have sewed the main fabric of the bodice and lining together and turned them right side out, separate the lining from the main fabric by looking inside the jumper.  You will see the seam allowances of the yoke seam. Position your sewing needle on top of the seam allowances with the lining underneath (Pinky Diamonds in this case), and the main fabric (Little Owl) free.  Start in the middle of the front yoke and stitch toward the shoulders for as far as you can. This will secure the lining to the seam allowances, and no stitches will show on the main fabric. More importantly, your lining won’t creep to the front of the jumper! For a completely different look, and as an alternative, you can edge stitch the main fabric and lining together around the neckline. Tomorrow more snow and hem facings!

Introducing Dozens of Dresses

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I know it is almost the end of January and a little late for New Year Resolutions, but I am finally listing my challenge/resolution for the new year!  On my website, www.pinkhollybushdesigns.com, I explain in the pattern descriptions that my goal in picking patterns is to provide you with the most bang for your buck so to speak.  I choose a pattern based on good directions, strong drafting, the pattern pieces fit together well, (ever try making a pattern where the front and back yoke pattern pieces don’t match up – I have and needless to say, Pink Hollybush doesn’t carry those patterns), and many options for your money.  

It is the many options for your money that my resolution addresses.  I am going to take one pattern and throughout 2011 produce a dozen dresses – one each month. Along the way, I will showcase various techniques and design ideas to hopefully expand your sewing repertoire, and ignite your creative juices.  You can reproduce my designs exactly or use the ideas and techniques you see as a springboard for your own designs.  I would love to see what you design and will see about setting up Flickr group so we can all share our finished projects! 

I have chosen the Music Box Jumper by Oliver + S as our pattern for 2011. 

  

  

It is rated beginner so will be simple to sew if you are just learning to sew for children.  A jumper is perfect because it is a blank canvas for all sorts of design possibilities.  It also is simple sewing because there are no sleeves! So join me and let’s get sewing! 

First up for January – a warm snugly jumper made out of flannel because this is the view from my backyard and they are predicting more snow for tomorrow! 

I have picked this adorable Valori Wells Owl flannel and Pinky Diamonds, another cuddly flannel by Anna Maria Horner as our fabrics.  This time around I will be making View B of the Oliver + S jumper because I love those tab pockets! Stay tuned to see how I combine these beautiful fabrics in the first jumper of the new year

and if you want to join me, all fabrics and patterns are available at Pink Hollybush Designs, of course!

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