Trio of dresses done for my troublesome Princess :)

Well 3 out of 4 aint bad!

A long while ago Louise picked out her own pattern and Fabric from Ashley Brooks and I have only just got around to sewing them (bad mummy). 

       

Nice and simple pattern, great for the summer. These are the three fabrics Louise picked, I had the pink ditsy print in my bag from a previous visit. The muslin was nice and easy to put together. The first dress (pink ditsy with trim) I left out the buttons due to my fear of button holes….Not a good move!!!

          

So here we have my first ever attempt at button holes. My machine has a 3 step button hole setting but the sides come out different so I had to redo one side on a smaller stich size to make them look the same.  Second time round I got better but not paying attention too my measuring I made the top ones bigger (whoops). The gathering was nice and simple, used 2 basting stiches and pulled. I was also very impressed with the neatness of the neck and arm lines when lining is used.

     

All straight seams were French seams I am so impressed as its the first time I have done “real” ones :) I also used a long strip of fabric as bias type binding to hide the join at the waistband and stop it irritating Louise's skin. She is a happy bunny.

 

Its reportedly going to hit 28 degrees tomorrow here in the UK so she might just get a chance to wear them out! Now onto my dresses *big grin*

Presenting my first Burda (SS 2012–425)

Well I never! This was a first for me despite I having brought all issues of Burda Style since January I have yet to use the patterns. This is top 425 from the Burda Plus magazine, Spring/Summer 2012.

            

I love the fact its asymmetric with different length sleeves and the collar is unusual. The only thing I am upset with is that the fabric I used (a fantastic silky feel bi-stretch from Ashley Brook Fabrics) did not drape as well as I expected. Next time I will use a much thinner and a better draping fabric. My bad.

The biggest thing that scares me about the Burda patterns that come with the magazines is purely this:

            

It is the reason I am yet to use any of their patterns. It was hard but I managed to fins all the lines and pieces, I will admit there were a few minor errors but hey-ho. I did make a quick muslin just to check the sizing and to see if it suited me.

What I am most please with is the fact I was so very good on this project and made sure I finished off all the seams. I don’t have a over-locker and I really did want to try French seams (but thought I should leave that to a pattern I am more confident with) so I finished all the seams as I went with fake French seams:

    

I have to admit I am pleased with how my techniques are coming along and how much more professional this garment looks compared to my last. I cant wait to get started on my next project.

This is also the first time I have used Live Writer to compose my blog and am finding it very good and easy to use especially with the layout of pictures.