I made this dress a few weeks ago and am finally getting around to sharing it. I made it from some old fabric I bought at a thrift store about 6 years ago.  I don’t usually wear orange, but I like the print and it felt like it was screaming to be a dress of some sort.

I was going for the Heather Ross Mendocino Sundress, but I knew that I wouldn’t like the shirring all the way around (causing the very unflattering uni-boob). I know this because I tried a store made version of this sundress and didn’t like it. SouleMama talks about this problem here.  So I made some modifications that I was hoping would help. I think it did.

Instead of shirring all the way around, I did about 4 rows all the way around, then back and forth down the back another 12 rows, then all the way around again for another 4 rows.  I also shirred the straps so they would be stretchy and stay in place better, which they do.

Next I want to make this really cute top.

The boys desperately needed some pajama shorts, especially for days when pajama wear turns into daytime wear.

I had my little one try to pick fabric he liked, but I don’t have much boyish stuff.  Then I came across my pillowcase collection and there were a few that I thought would work.  The best part about using pillowcases, is that you can take advantage of the hem and, in some cases the side seams, which means less sewing. YAY!

I thought I’d share with you how I made these. They are very simple and easy to adjust sizes. Depending on the pillowcase, you can make almost any child’s size.  First, you’ll need a few measurements.  The waist, side seam length (I measured from hip to knee for longer shorts) and the rise (from crotch to belly button).

Using the side seam length measurement, add 1.5 inches for elastic waist casing.  Lay pillowcase flat and cut a piece using that measurement, keeping pillowcase side seams and hem intact. The pillowcase hem with be the hem of the short’s legs.

Now cut the pillowcase in half- these are the legs.  For my bigger guy, I used the whole width of the pillowcase. I cut an additional 2 inch strip off each piece for my little peanut, so that it would fit his waist better.  If you want to be more specific, add 2-3 inches to your waist measurement and then divide by 4.  This gives you the measurement of a quarter of your measurement, which is one leg (above) folded in half. Open the fabric piece flat, and it  should measure half of your measurement. Does that make any sense?

Now open the pieces flat with right sides together.   Pillowcase seams are now lined up together in the center. Cut the rise using your measurement (crotch to bellybutton or center waist line). If you got 8 inches, cut out a piece measuring 8″ x 1″ for the front, slightly curving around the corner for better fit.  Cut 8″ x 2″ on the other side. The extra inch allows for extra bum space.  Pin together and sew. I also did an overlock stitch along the edges with my regular machine. This helps keep the bum from ripping open during high action kung fu moves.

Now, open piece up, lining up the front and back rise in the center with the side seams now on the sides again.  Pin together and sew along the inseam -see dotted line above.  Again, I did an overlock stitch along the edge for extra reinforcement.

Now have your little one try them on to make sure they are going to fit. They need to be pretty loose so that when the elastic waist is in they will have extra give.  If they are WAY too big, you can sew along the side seams to take them in a bit.

To make elastic waist casing, iron down the top edge a quarter of an inch all the way around. Fold down another inch and iron all the way around. Now sew along the bottom edge, all the way around, making sure to leave an inch or two open to slide in the elastic. I used 1/2 inch elastic cut to fit around the waist.  Slide elastic through the casing using a large safety pin, sew elastic edges together, then sew little opening closed.  It’s probably a good idea to mark an x on the back side so the kids know which way is back.

* Use the left over pillowcase pieces to make cool stuff like THIS.

* Please let me know if you have any questions.

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We are heading out of town tomorrow!! I’ll be back later next week. Until then, I’m hoping to do a photo journal of our trip  here. No words, just photos. See you on the flip side.

We’re not doing much today.  Just sewing and getting ready to go to Oregon on Tuesday to see my sister and her family. YAY!! I am super excited. Tonight we are grilling corn and sitting on the roof with some soy ice cream & root-beer floats, strawberries and watching the fireworks.

I made this dress almost immediately after my discovery of elastic shirring. Boy is it ever FUN!  This dress is super easy and it’s called “the most flattering shirt dress”, which I have to agree, does a great job at hiding those tummy troubles.  I shaped mine differently so that it would have longer sleeves.  You can find the instructions here.  The fabric was bought at a yard sale over 5 years ago and I thought it would make good practice fabric.  I’d love to make another dress like this, but with a different fabric. Any suggestions?

I already have the Mendocino sundress made, I just need to add straps.  I hope I can get to that before we leave. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing some cute pillowcase pajama shorts I made for the boys.

I made Jennifer’s boat neck top and LOVE it.  I saw it and just knew I had to make it asap. First I had to go through some sewing machine difficulties, before getting into a good sewing place.

I’ve finally decided that my machine will not shir–I tried everything. It does NOT like elastic in its bobbin case. So sad, because it caused me to say some really mean and harsh things to her.(I did make this little sundress last year, but had to hand pull the elastic thread to get it to gather~ a total pain!)  This left me with no other choice than to have a sewing affair with my friend’s machine~an affair that may have to continue for a bit longer until I get shirring out of my system.  Look! Shirred fabric! It was like magic~especially after adding some steam.

I made a few alterations to the top, that now, I’m wishing I hadn’t.  First, I don’t like things close to my neck (I hate turtlenecks!) and decided to make more of a downward curve around the neck, then went further and also cut a slit in the front. Now the slit keeps opening and that is irritating too.Maybe I’ll put a button on it to keep it closed. I don’t know….

Now I want to make Heather Ross’s Sundress and this Most Flattering Shirt Dress.  I’m even looking at some of my old tops that could use some shirring.

We are going to Oregon to see my sister in almost 10 days and I wanted to take a little something for my little niece Ruby.  Fortunately, my friend Amy had an awesome pdf sewing pattern that I bought on her etsy shop.  You need 3 fat quarters and roughly 3 hours to complete it.  Just whipped it up this morning.

It was supper easy and the instructions are written very well.  I think I may have messed up the armhole curve because I wasn’t paying attention, doing the opposite of what the instructions said. I think it will still work. Now I just have to wait until our trip to see if it fits( I still have to sew in the buttons because I’m waiting).  If it’s too big, I can see her wearing this in the winter with a long sleeve shirt underneath and cute little leggings.

Here is my finished skirt. It’s very girly-twirly and fun.

Like I said before, I used the Sew Mama Sew Tutorial, which was great.  I just couldn’t get the shirring to work on the waist band so I made a straight band with zipper and it worked out well. I used lots of fabric to make the skirt extra gathered and twirly – about 3 times the lower waist circumference.  I have a similar skirt that I love that has pleats instead of gathers I may try to make that next.

aren’t they pretty?

We’ve been enjoying our weekend, sipping on some delicious blackberry smashes (recipe here) and watching old home videos of the kids. It’s so hard to believe that those teeny, fat babes can grow up so quickly into big, robust boys.

I’ve also been working on this skirt. I have to re-do the waistband because it’s too big. But I don’t care because I love the fabric soooo much. I tried following the Skirt Sew-along tutorial, but I couldn’t get my fabric to shirr for the waistband, so I made it with out. I still have to hem it, but I don’t think I’ll be making it as short as the one in the tutorial. Knee length is better for me. I’m hoping to wear it tomorrow when we take daddy out for dinner.

It’s so frustrating to work on something for so long and have it not work in the end. Well, maybe I am exaggerating a teeny, tiny bit. It is wearable. Just has some problems. Read on…

1. pink, 2. b&w, 3. grey, 4. floral, 5. stripes, 6. white&gray

This is simplicity pattern 3964, which I *love* and have been wanting to try for so long. I especially loved it after seeing it made so beautifully by all the talented sewers above.  The very first one that I fell in love with was THIS ONE, but I couldn’t get it into my mosaic.

So here is what went wrong. First I made it way too big. I even took it in 1/2 inch on each side, which is better, but still not right (it just throws everything else off when you do that). You might not be able to tell how big it is, but trust me on this one.

Secondly, that ‘blippin” insert piece (the diamond shape piece) really was a booger to sew in without accidentally adding more unwanted creases and puckered up areas.  I tried sewing this piece in THREE times. I thought I could iron it out. Finally I gave up. Oh, did I mention the gathered areas. Those are always a pain for me. Fortunately, I used very inexpensive fabric.

SO, despite all that, I want to try again. Am I crazy?  You can only learn from your mistakes, right?   Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Boy am I on a roll with sewing clothes. I’m so proud of myself for not stopping after the first top.

This is from an old pattern I pulled out of my stash- simplicity 4589. I had tried the round neck version a while back and it turned out wonky around the neck. The square neck was easier, but those little gathered areas are still a pain.

The over exposed shots are from this mornings intensely bright sunshine. And there’s my little guy trying to get in on my photo shoot. I love it!   He still likes getting his picture taken, unlike big brother who gives me the hand in front of face pose.

I sure would love to sew up another top today, but I just got called into work (urgh!) and am sure not to have any energy when I get home this evening.

There’s always tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great feedback on my top. I am totally keeping that top belt free, and then I may make another solid color one that I can wear a belt with.  I think you were right about keeping that flowered print free instead of covering it up.

This is the skirt I made a few days ago, which would have been very simple, had I bought the correct pattern size. For some reason, I bought the 16+ size and had to re-draft the pattern to make it my size. It wasn’t too hard since the pieces were made up mostly of straight lines. I ended up decreasing the cut edges by a 1/4 inch per size that I needed to go down.  Now that I have the pattern figured out, it will be easy to sew up another one.

I used Simplicity pattern #3796 in a heavy weight cotton.  It has very simple pockets (which I love) and a draw string waist. Very casual and comfortable. There is also a pants and shorts option. I may try out the shorts.

See my Post Punk Kitchen T that I’m sportin’. The hubby gave it to me and it’s my favorite t shirt. It’s from Isa Moskowitz (my favorite vegan recipe writer) which is why I’m standing in my kitchen holding a pear (wha?). Yeah, I don’t even know if that makes any sense, but there you have it.