Jubilee Joy

I know this post is a bit late but here is the dress I made for Louise to wear over the Jubilee holiday. She was ecstatic when she had her picture taken with the queen bless her.

    

Hope everyone is having a great week. xxx

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*

She loves it. Now she cant wait for the others!

You will have to excuse my daughter. Although she was a willing model she would not stretch to having her hair brushed!

She is very impressed with the muslin and is now getting impatient to wait for her others to be done in the fabric she picked!

Even Louise said "Mum its too long" I will have to do some serious length adjustment on the pattern :)

It seems louise has a smaller back like me, I am not sure if I will use buttons as this slips on and off her fairly easily. I may be lazy and sew a center back seam instead (fear of button holes......I know!!)????

It passed the jump and twist test too! She is one happy (but slightly impatient) bunny :)

Mini Me: Summer Dress

I got this great New Look pattern from Ashley Brook Fabrics during their pattern sale thinking it look nice and quick!! :)

I must stop reading the pattens before I cut the material as I nearly had a heart attack and didn't have a clue what some of the instructions were saying and started to panic! Time for a muslin!!!!

I cut the pattern in a 4 as Louise is quiet small for her age but I know it will still be way too long for her! The style I went for had 5 pieces so was nice and easy to cut.

Once I got sewing the guide made sense and the process moved along quite quickly. I was very impressed. Gathering took a long time...Note to self to invest in a gathering foot.

Here is the finished muslin, I basically used an old sheet. I used contrasting cotton to see where I made mistakes and it worked a treat as there are a few things I need to make sure I don't do on the final dress.

The gathering turned out well which I was pleased with. I must remember to snip the inside of the seams on the bodice, I did remember to grade them though!

The back was a bit tricky as I have never done this type before, but in all fairness I let the thinking confuse me and should have just followed the guide without trying to work it out before hand! All I need to do is the button holes (I am so dreading that).

I must say I am looking forward to Louise trying it on in the morning :)

Louise picks her 1st lot of material

So I took my little one Louise (age 4) to the fabric shop with me. Ashley Brooks in Romford Marketplace (or now known as the Romford Shopping Mall) are really good with her and don't mind her sitting down behind their counter out the way while I browse and procrastinate over fabrics!

I asked her to pick some fabric she liked for her summer wardrobe and here we have her choices all priced at £2.40p/m and perfect for the hopefully hot summer.

I was very happy with her choices however I was thinking dresses and she has asked for skirts which would be easier but then I will have to match them with tops!!!!