Ruffled Skirt with Covered Elastic Waistband

Posted on December 31, 2011 by lisa

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year! I didn’t get as many posts up in December as I hoped, partly because I was busy making so many wonderful things! I also couldn’t post the Christmas gifts I was making my daughters because they would have seen what they were getting!

So first up is a ruffled skirt I made my younger daughter. She loves ruffles so when I saw this ruffled fabric and some of the projects that use it floating around blogland, I figured this was a wonderful quick project to whip up for her. The skirt takes less than a yard of fabric and requires no pattern. It is simply a tube attached to an elastic band. The fabric also doesn’t fray so there is no need to hem. You simply determine the length of the finished skirt and trim it beneath the ruffle. You can purchase the fabric and matching elastic at www.rufflefabric.com. I used the 1 inch ruffled fabric for this skirt and the matching 1 1/2 inch elastic. The ruffled fabric website recommeds that you serge each side of the fabric before trying to sew the seam. If you don’t have a serger, you could straight stitch the side as well. The point is to make sure all your ruffles are lying in one direction before you sew the seam. The fabric is delicate and doesn’t take well to ripping out so taking a few extra minutes to serge each edge first is worth it. I also recommend lots of pins before sewing the seam.

You can see my serged edge as well as all my pins. I matched up and pinned each ruffle. Then I serged the seam together.

This resulted in perfectly matched ruffles! I know that skirts with elastic waistbands have been seen on many blogs and even in ready to wear, but I am just not crazy about them, so I decided to cover the waistband to give the skirt a more polished look.

Here is the finished waistband with the elastic all nicely covered. The fabric has widthwise stretch to it so using it to cover the elastic without gathering it is not a problem.

I used two ruffles worth of fabric which is a little over 2 inches. The elastic is 1 1/2 inches wide.

I positioned the seam of the top ruffle with the top edge of the elastic and wrapped the fabric over to the inside. I wrapped the bottom edge of the fabric around the elastic letting the ruffle hang free.

I am hoping you can get the idea from this picture. Please email me with any questions and I will try and do a better job of explaining!

I stitched the bottom of the waistband with a zigzag to provide as much stretch as possible. The zigzag won’t show since it will be covered by the ruffle. The top layer I stitched using a straight stitch. It also is covered by the ruffle but I could not stitch off the edge as I could with the bottom.

Here is the inside of the waistband. No, the inside of the waistband does not look all that pretty and yes, normally I do want the inside of something I sew to look attractive. I didn’t use a tube of fabric for the waistband because I wanted a flat look that would reduce bulk at the waistband. I didn’t think ruffles all gathered together would be a flattering look!

Holiday Pillows and a Hidden Zipper Tutorial

Posted on December 2, 2011 by lisa

Before you get buried in Christmas shopping and baking, how about a quick sewing project to add some holiday sparkle to your home or a quick gift for a friend! In an hour or so you can cover that existing boring pillow, add some holiday cheer and spice up your decorating.

This post is linked to http://www.flamingotoes.com/page/2/.

: Boring Pillow

Exciting Pillow!

A friend of mine asked if I would make up a few pillows for her that included a hidden zipper so she could switch things around when she wanted a change. Now before you have a heart attack at the idea of a hidden zipper – it’s easy I promise! Inexpensive home decorating fabrics are easy to find when you only need a small piece, and I bet you already have a pillow sitting on your couch or chair that could be covered for the holiday season. Consider using a solid backing like the beautiful cream velvet my friend chose to make your home dec fabric go even farther if you only have a small piece.

Here is what you need:

Home Dec fabric that measures the dimension of your pillow plus one inch – for a 20 inch square pillow this would be a 21 inch square of material.
Backing fabric that is the same size as your home dec fabric. This could be the same fabric if you want a reversible pillow.
Invisible Zipper that is longer than the length of your pillow – for a 20 inch pillow, get a 22 inch invisible zipper.
Invisible Zipper foot
Matching thread
Sissors
Tape Measure
Pins
Fabric Marker
Ruler or French Curve
Iron
Sewing Machine
Pillow insert

Begin by getting out your invisible zipper, unzipping it, putting it face down on your ironing board and ironing it. Use the tip of your iron and push the teeth of the zipper toward the center of the zipper. There is a fabric role that you are trying to unroll. Use steam if you can, but be careful, the zipper is polyester and you don’t want to melt the zipper teeth. Next, cut both the front and back fabric for your pillow to the size of your pillow plus one inch, so for a 20 inch square pillow, cut two 21 inch square pieces of fabric.

Next, we have to trim our corners. You may be wondering why on earth you need to do this since you want a square pillow. Trimming the corners prevents empty corners with no stuffing – trust me your eye will still see a square pillow! If your fabric is fairly lightweight fold the first piece of fabric in quarters. At the corner, measure in 1/2 inch and mark with the fabric marker.

Starting at the corner mark, and tapering to nothing by the time you reach the edge, use a ruler or french curve and draw a curved line. If your fabric is thicker, fold in half instead of quarters and mark the two corners.

Then make a mark at the center of each side of the pillow adjacent to the corner. Now draw your rounded corner line from the corner to the middle of each side and trim the two corners. The idea is to have all four corners identical. In my example pillows, I was able to fold the silver home dec fabric in quarters, but the black home dec fabric was too thick and cutting 4 layers at once would not have been accurate, so I folded it in half and did 2 layers at a time.

Unfold your front fabric that you have trimmed, pin it to the backing fabric, right sides together and cut the corners. This will make sure the two sides of the pillow match up.

See how nicely my corners match up! Now that we have everything matching up, mark with a pin on both the front and back fabrics the side where the zipper will go. I realize we have done everything we could to make sure the 4 corners are identical, but in reality there are slight differences, so it helps if you sew together the sides you trimmed together. If you fabric frays quite a bit (the black fabric did) run a quick zig zag stitch or serge stitch around the edges.

With your fabric cut and zipper ironed, it is time to install that zipper!

With the RIGHT side of the fabric up and the zipper unzipped and facing DOWN, (in other words, right sides together) pin the left zipper tape along the side of the pillow. Line up the top edge of the tape with the side edge of the fabric and side of the zipper tape with the edge of the fabric. The majority of the zipper is towards the body of the pillow. Using the invisible zipper foot and regular stitch length, with your needle going through the center hole, and the teeth of the zipper under the right side of the foot, stitch down the length of the zipper to the end backstitching at the beginning and end. Your stitching should fall in the little groove you exposed when you pressed the zipper. I hope you can see the groove.

Zip up your zipper and pin the front and back fabrics of the pillow RIGHT sides together on the three non-zipper sides with the backing fabric on top. Your zipper is sandwiched between the right sides of the fabric. Now pin the RIGHT side of the non-stitched zipper tape to the RIGHT side of the pillow backing. See how the zipper is sandwiched between the right sides of the pillow. I am going to pinch the right side of the zipper tape and right side of my backing fabric together lining up the edges and pinning from the zipper side. I hope you can see how this works. If you have questions, just email me! Use lots of pins, especially if either of your fabrics have a lot of texture like the cream velvet I am using – it wants to shift all over the place! Unzip the zipper, and unpin the fabric on the non-zipper sides to the extent you need to. Using the invisible zipper foot, and having the zipper teeth under the LEFT side of the zipper foot, stitch the second side, again backstitching at the beginning and end. Again zip up the zipper and check that everything lines up! See how your zipper is sandwiched between the right sides of the front and back of your pillow? Hang in there, we are almost done!

Re-pin the non-zipper sides of the pillow RIGHT sides together, again making sure everything lines up. IMPORTANT! Before stitching the other 3 sides, reach inside your pillow and unzip the zipper for several inches – you need to leave a way to turn your pillow right side out once it is stitched! I marked my stopping point before I inserted the zipper but now you want to mark the zipper bottom one inch from the side of the pillow. This will be your stopping or starting point to sew your pillow. There is no need to mark the top side of the zipper – just begin or end where the zipper teeth start. Starting on the zipper side one inch from the end (or the beginning) of the zipper, begin stitching the seam using a 1/2 inch seam allowance and go all the away around the pillow and end one inch into the other side of the zipper. In other words, you are stitching 3 sides of your pillow plus one inch at the beginning and end of the fourth (zipper) side. When stitching the side with the zipper, pinch the zipper into the seam allowance so you aren’t catching it. Check that you are happy with everything. Press open the seam allowances, snip off the extra zipper tape at the zipper end so it is even with the seam allowances and turn your pillow inside out. Insert the pillow form and admire your new pillows! When you want a change, simply open the zipper and switch the cover.

Party Frills: From Design to Garment

Posted on November 25, 2011 by lisa

I asked my friend Julie if she would share her design process and tips on constructing the extra special touches she included in her Party Frills Blouse. Julie’s entry won the Best Adult Design of our “It’s A Party Sew-Off!” using Candy Cane Stripe and Red Rosie from Pink Hollybush Designs. So while I go clean up from Turkey Day, enjoy Julie’s Deisgn Process!

Okay, Lisa has asked me to Guest Blog about my ‘It’s a Party’ winning entry as I had told her that I took photos during the construction and she particularly liked some of the little touches I had added. So here goes.

I decided to use my two fabrics to make something for myself as red is my favourite colour and I thought maybe all the other entries would be for children. Sometimes we just need to make the time to work on something for ourselves. We can put off making our self something by saying it won’t fit or I can’t alter the pattern or it will look homemade, but if we are truthful, those are just excuses not to put a bit more effort into something. So, I found the shirt pattern that I had used for a class my Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA) chapter, Thimbleberry, held with Canadian teacher, Judith Marquis. I had all ready made some alterations to the pattern and knew it fit me. (The pattern used was Simplicity 9818).

Next I researched some frilled blouses and shirts on the Internet and decided the style I wanted to make from those. I took the time to look at lots of photos of ready-to-wear items as someone else has gone to the trouble of making the design changes and I could just decide which one I liked best.

I drew a rough sketch of my design and then altered my pattern pieces to make my own version. I folded the front pattern piece back at the neckline to give a V neck and made adjustments to the collar stand to allow for the smaller neck measurement.

Lastly I drafted the front frill.

To do this I looked at a book I have from the UK that shows pictures of the finished look and then how to make the pattern piece to achieve that look. The book, Metric Pattern Drafting by Winifred Aldrich, was purchased in 1989 but is still available and has been updated several times. You can use it to completely draft a pattern from your measurements but lately I have used it to redraft sleeves or as in this case the shirt frill.

As I had to use the contrasting fabric on the garment, I had all ready decided that the frill and cuffs would be in my accent fabric. I cut everything out and began construction. As this was going to be a shirt rather than blouse, I used flat fell seams for inserting the sleeves and on the sleeve and side seams.

I made the sleeve placket in the contrast fabric and instead of hiding it inside the sleeve, took it to the right side and made it a design element.

The hem of the shirt is curved and is a little tricky to get perfect at the side seams, so I chose to add a little contrast fabric piece there to hide any errors-if there were any! I made a bias strip for the front of the blouse, rather than the usual shirt front for added interest in the contrast fabric. One of my inspiration shirts had the buttons grouped in threes, so I copied that design idea also.

A couple of days later I had the finished shirt ready to wear. And yes, I have worn it-in fact at the SAGA National Convention in Anaheim, California and it got many compliments. I had also worn the white shirt I had made in the class with Judith and was able to say that they were from the same pattern. My next project with that pattern is to make a fitted sleeve version as I am not over fond of the drop sleeve, but have yet to find the time to make the changes. Believe me I know I can make the changes-that isn’t my excuse!

Lapped Zipper Tutorial

Posted on November 21, 2011 by lisa

Hi Everyone! I know I haven’t done a great job of keeping up with the blogging this fall. It seems it has been one thing after another, and I hope to do a better job in the New Year. Did I hear a New Year’s Resolution creeping in already? My latest excuse is the 128th playing of “The Game” as the match-up of the annual Harvard verses Yale football game is known. I had a houseful of very happy college students staying with us to watch the game which was at Yale this year. Harvard trounced Yale 45 to 7. So now that the college students have left, the first of many loads of laundry is in and the Thanksgiving menu is planned, it is time for a quick tutorial on inserting a lapped zipper!

My green dress may have turned out frumpy – you can read about that here - and I am still debating what to do about it, but the lapped zipper on the dress turned out terrific! I used the method outlined by Lyn Weeks in her book Precise and Professional. Lyn is a Heirloom Seamstress and teacher from Austrailia. She will be teaching in Connecticut in April 2012, so if you are interested contact the Thimbleberry chapter of SAGA . On to our tutorial!

First sew your seam using a normal stitch length to the marked bottom position of the zipper. Back stitch to secure and then baste to the top of the garment. Press open the seam allowance. Pin the zipper, right side down, to the seam allowance only. Pin to the right-hand side for boys and left-hand side for girls. I am showing the boys version.

Here you can see I have not pinned the zipper through to the dress but only to the seam allowance.

Starting from the bottom, baste the zipper to the seam allowance keeping the dress free.

Close the zipper and turn it so it is facing right side up and the entire garment is folded to the other side. I hope you can see here that the entire dress is folded toward the bottom of the picture. Only the seam allowance is under the zipper tape.

Here you can see the fold.

The fold should be close to the zipper teeth, but not cover them. Here is a close-up of the fold. Beginning at the bottom, baste close to the fold through all layers.

Here you can see the basting on both sides of the zipper tape.

Turn the dress over smoothing all the layers and pin the zipper tape in place. It has been basted to both seam allowances but there is no stitching that has attached it to the dress itself.

Here is what it looks like from the wrong side.

Baste 3/8 inches from the seam line. Check that everything is smooth. The basting should end up close to the stitching guide line on the zipper tape. If you are happy with everything at this point, topstitch close to the basting from the bottom to the top.

Remove your basting threads and cut the basting threads holding your seam closed. Your lapped zipper is complete!

I Love Paris Fabric from Kokka of Japan.

Posted on July 15, 2011 by lisa

My Daughter requested an Overnight Bag as a present for her upcoming Birthday. After looking around I settled on the Amy Butler Weekend Bag. The Bag is made from “I Love Paris” fabric from Kokka of Japan available from Pink Hollybush. This fabric is a home dec weight and worked beautifully for the bag. The contrast print is a Waverly fabric that matched the rose pink and lime green in the I Love Paris fabric. The directions included with the fabric were fantastic; I am very pleased with the results and my daughter loves her new bag! This wasn’t easy or what I would call enjoyable sewing. I broke 2 jeans needles putting the bag together! As you can hopefully tell from the picture, this bag is firm sided. This is achieved by using an interfacing from Pellon, called Peltex as well as regular interfacing. The bag is esentially cut out 4 times and you are sewing all those layers together.

My only complaint with the pattern is that the directions do not recommend trimming the piping. From my heirloom sewing background, I know to always trim the piping, otherwise that little one isn’t going to want to wear the outfit you just labored hours over because the bump in the underarm seam from the yoke piping is rubbing and doesn’t feel good! Below is an explanation of how to trim the piping on the Amy Butler Weekend Bag if this is something you normally don’t do.

One of the first steps in constructing the bag is applying piping to the outside large pockets. In the picture below, I have stopped sewing a little short of the seam allowance.

Rip back and expose the piping.

Now trim the piping even with the seam allowance. You can then finish stitching the fabric without piping in place. The seam allowance and its lack of piping will be covered by the piping that goes around the entire bag. This way, you don’t have a spot with a double layer of piping – there is enough bulk with just the two layers of fabric!

For the piping that goes around the entire bag leave an unstitched section at the beginning and end of the piping. Again allow an overlap and cut your piping.

Fold back the fabric on one side and trim the piping so they but up against each other.

Fold in a 1/4 to 1/2 inch seam allowance on the left hand side.

Bring the fabric down around the piping, encasing the piping on the right hand side and stitch in place.

The fabric is finished with no loose ends, the piping is enclosed with no gaps, but you aren’t trying to sew over a double layer of piping! I hope these tips help if you decide to give the Weekend Bag a try.

Adding Heirloom Touches to your Blouse: Whip Tucks

Posted on June 13, 2011 by lisa

Whip Tucks are a wonderful way to add heirloom, hand-made interest on a garment. Often Whip Tucks can be found on vintage baby clothes and vintage ladies blouses. They are simple, take up very little fabric and add a nice design interest. I love regular tucks on clothes, but tucks need to be incorporated in the planning process. Even a 1/8 inch tuck can take up a significant amount of fabric. If I incorporated 6, 1/8 inch tucks on the front of my blouse, each tuck takes up 1/4 inch of fabric (1/8 inch on each side of the tuck), multiplied by 6, that is 1 1/2 inches I have removed from the front of my blouse. That will effect the sizing and needs to be compensated for. Whip tucks only take up a thread or 2 of the fabric and unless you are going to incorporate gazillions, can be added at the last minute to create a little more interest. Whip Tucks can also follow a curve and do not have to follow the grain line like a larger tuck should. As with Pin Stitching, Whip Tucks are usually done on a natural fiber garment – usually linen or cotton batiste. I have incorporated them here on my Handkerchief Linen Pendrell Blouse.

Mark the tuck (I used a blue marking pen, making sure to follow the grain line) – if the line is straight and not curved, it should follow the grain line.Knot and wax your thread. As with Pin Stitching, you want the thread to be invisible, so use as light a weight as possible. I used 80 weight, all cotton thread from Pink Hollybush Designs. Wax the thread to make it stronger, so you can pull it slightly. Crease your fabric along the line, using your fingernails to get a sharp crease.Come up from the wrong side of the fabric, on the neck edge side, in the seam allowance, straight through your crease. This stitch is worked from right to left, and from back to front. Insert your needle from the back, straight through to the front, about 2 threads over from where you started, and 2 threads down from the crease. Continue inserting the needle from the back to the front. The thread “whips” over the top of the tuck and froms a slightly slanted stitch. Give a slight tug upon completing each stitch.

Here is an “in progress” shot of my blouse. You can see the marked tucks on my blouse as well as 2 completed Whip Tucks.And here is a close-up of the finished Whip Tucks! I hope you give this technique a try. It is very easy to accomplish yet looks so elegant!

Adding a Cap Sleeve to Your Pendrell Blouse

Posted on June 7, 2011 by lisa

One of my resolutions after making my Gray Crescent Skirt is try and make some of the basics that I need for my wardrobe. One basic that I have needed for several years is a basic white short-sleeve blouse. As luck would have it, I had a half yard of beautiful White Handkerchief Linen left on the bolt from Pink Hollybush Designs and couldn’t let it go to waste! So yes, I managed to make a Pendrell with 1/2 yard of fabric! First a few caveats – I made a size 8, my fabric was 52 inches wide, and I didn’t include any of the ruffles. It certainly wouldn’t work with 45 inch fabric and I am not sure I could have gotten even a size 10 out the fabric. The secret is to simply make the neck and sleeve bindings out of color-coordinated Batiste (in this case white) instead of the fashion fabric. You could even use a fun print if you wanted it to peek out now and then as you move. I will have to try that next time!

I also added a cap sleeve because I am always cold, and wanted a little more sleeve than the sleeveless version provided. Below are directions on how to add a cap sleeve to your Pendrell. Here is my basic Pendrell pattern laid out on the fabric. You can see how the pattern is taking up every each of the fabric! I took a piece of wax paper and taped it to the top of the front and back side pattern pieces. Measure over 2 3/4 inches from the arm hole edge along the shoulder line and place a mark. Measure down 2 inches along the side seam and place a mark. This is where your armhole ends and your side seam begins.Connect the two marks using a french curve to maintain the curve line of the pattern. As you can see from my pattern pieces above, the arm hole opening goes right into the side seam. It is there for important to mark your pattern (and then your fabric) where the armhole stops and the side seam begins! Now sew your Pendrell seaming side fronts to center front and side backs to center back. Sew the shoulders and pin the side seam closed. Try on your Pendrell and make sure you like where the armhole opening falls. You may need to raise your side seam by 1/2 to 1 inch to make sure your bra strap doesn’t show. I raised mine to 1 inch.

Since the cap sleeve comes to a point as it merges into the side seam, it is easier to finish the armhole edge with the bias binding before sewing your side seams. Here I have stitched my binding to the armhole edge. Then keeping my binding free, I stitched a french seam to finish the side seams. (Don’t you love the band-aid. I stabbed myself with the seam ripper!)Yes, you do see a small zigzag stitch. I used Lynne Weeks method to do a French Seam. The first pass is done with a small zig zag. This lets you trim VERY close to the stitching and then you stitch your second pass. Finally, I Pin-stitched the binding to finish edge. The next post will be a tutorial on Pin-stitching. I hope you try a cap sleeve Pendrell. If my directions aren’t clear enough, just drop me a line and I will try to do a better job explaining!

Applying a Bias Binding to Finish the Neckline and Sleeves

Posted on April 30, 2011 by lisa

For the April Dress I applied a bias binding of Soft Pink Check from Pink Hollybush Designs to finish the neckline and sleeves. This is simple to do and provides a simple contrast without a lot of fussiness. First, you may recall that our Oliver + S pattern has 1/2 inch seam allowances. To apply a bias binding trim, you first need to remove the sleeve allowances. This is because the binding will wrap around the bodice of the dress and finish the edge. No amount of fabric from the bodice is used to finish the edge.

However, in the Music Box Jumper, the directions have you sew the bodice and the lining together to finish both the neck and sleeve edges, as well as the center back edge. We still need to finish the center back edge, so the first step is to sew the shoulder seams of the lining and the bodice and then sew the lining to the bodice at the center back seam only.

Here you can see I have sewn my shoulder seams and the center back seam and pressed both open. Pin the bodice to its lining with wrong sides together. They are only joined at the center back seams. Now carefully mark a 1/2 inch seam allowance on the neck and sleeve edges. Carefully trim the seam allowance away. Next sew the the bodice front to the bodice back pieces at the underarm. Do the same for the lining, pressing all seams open. I find it easier to trim the seam allowances when the pieces are laid out flat which you can’t do once you sew the underarm seams. Re-pin the bodice to your lining and treat them as one piece of fabric from now on. I find it helpful to baste the edges of the lining and bodice together.

Cut bias strips 2 inches wide and press in half bringing long edges together. Measure the distance around the sleeve opening and add 1/2 inch to that measurement. Cut the bias strip to that length and sew the short ends together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Pin the bias strip to the arm opening aligning the 2 raw edges of the bias strip with the raw edge of the bodice. Sew using a 1/4 seam allowance. Press the bias strip toward the arm opening.Use those mini-hams to get a good pressing! Turn the bias to the inside and slip stitch in place. Do the same thing for the neck edge only you won’t be sewing the strip into a circle. Instead cut the strip 1/2 inch larger than than the neck edge. Press into the shape of a circle to make attaching to the neck easier.Pin the binding to the neck edge allowing 1/4 inch to extend beyond each back edge. Stitch in place using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Press the strip away from the bodice. Fold the 1/4 inch to the back and then fold the binding to the inside. Slip stitch in place. Enjoy the beautiful spring weather – we finally have some in New England!

The March Dress: Getting My Ducks in a Row

Posted on April 2, 2011 by lisa

I finished the March Dress around 11pm on March 31st. Thanks to the chaos in my house, it is just getting posted today! In other words the only place my ducks are all in a row is on this dress! I want to thank Wanda who had the idea for this dress at the lake and Jan Kerton from Windflower Embroidery who teaches how to make these adorable stuffed animals and puts them on the most beautiful blankets you have ever seen.

To make the ducks, begin by drawing them on a piece of tear away stabilizer and pinning it to the wrong side of the wash cloth. Remember they will be facing the other way once they are stitched and turned. Using a thread color that you will be able to see slightly on the washcloth, stitch the inside lines with a short stitch length (in this case the duck’s wing and the line separating head and bill.) I used white thread and 1.5 stitch length.Pin a piece of lining material to the back of the wash cloth and stitch around the outside of the ducks. Tear away the stabilizer and trim the ducks leaving a 1/16 th to 1/8 th seam allowance.Cut a slit in the lining and turn the duck right side out. You can then add a small amount of stuffing is you want to give your ducks some dimension. Whip stitch the opening closed. Using up and down back stitches and 2 strands of orange floss, stitch around the wing and the line between the head and bill. Use brown floss to make a french knot eye on the baby ducks and a granito eye on the mother duck. Using a simple whip stitch, attach the ducks to the dress. I tucked mine under the ric rac to look like waves and stitched the ric rac to the ducks. In order to give the ducks a smooth surface to swim across, I shifted the one central pleat on the front of the jumper to 2 pleats. In order to do this, simply measure the size of the pleat – on a size 5 this is 3 1/2 inches. So I need to make 2 smaller pleats each 1 3/4 inches. Divide the skirt front in thirds and mark. My skirt is 18 inches so I made 2 marks each 6 inches apart. Starting at the mark, measure 1 3/4 inches toward the side seams and make a second mark. If you center your pleats on the 6 and 12 inch marks, you will be taking too much material from the center. Join your two marks and stitch the pleat as per the pattern directions. Have you finished your Easter sewing? I need to finish my dress and of course the April jumper will have some ideas for you as well!

March Dress: Inserting Ric Rac into Seams

Posted on March 29, 2011 by lisa

It is the end of the month and I am finally getting to the March Dress! I have been absent from posting for awhile and tomorrow I will post pictures of the reason – it is very cute! But on to the March Dress! For this dress I am using Blue Microcheck and White Imperial Broadcloth plus a yellow baby washcloth – unusual I know, but stick with me and I will show you why very soon. Of course, I am also using the Oliver + S Music Box Jumper. All supplies are available from Pink Hollybush Designs !This post will give some hints on inserting jumbo ric rac into the seams of the bodice. All of the seams on the jumper are 1/2 inch. My jumbo ric rac is 5/8 inch wide. If I just inserted the ric rac and sewed the 1/2 inch seam allowance, the ric rac would be caught by the seam; however, the ric rac would protrude too far into the arm and neck area to be comfortable for the child. We want the outside edge of the ric rac to fall on the child where the seams were originally designed to fall. In order to accomplish this, I marked the 1/2 inch seam allowance on the bodice and then trimmed it off. I then lined up the edge of the ric rac with the new edge of the bodice, pinned and then basted in place.Here is a picture of the ric rac basted along the new edge.The March Dress is also going to have a hem facing on the skirt. You can read about that here. I want to insert ric rac above the hem facing on the skirt. In order to find the correct position on the skirt. I laid the hem facing on top of the skirt and marked the top edge. The hem facing will also have a 1/2 inch seam allowance so if I place the Ric Rac along my marked line and baste it in place, when the hem facing is stitched down it will catch the bottom edge of the Ric Rac.Here is the Ric Rac basted to the skirt. Stay tuned to see the finished March Dress, what on earth I am doing with a baby wash cloth, and pictures of the distraction that has kept me from posting!

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