It’s that time again – a project completed in the past that I want to show off – here is a little shift dress I made up just after my son was born. I got some fabulous fabric from Lincraft and searched for the perfect pattern to make it in.I ended up getting a book on pattern making (this was the beginning of me actually making clothes from a pattern, before this it was all draping or trial and error), and made this dress! Its a really simple pattern, just two skirt pieces with two darts each side; and three bodice pieces – one for the front (with two darts) and two for the back. It has a long zip that travels into the skirt a little bit, and the armholes are not as wide as normal, giving that modern look.
The only bad thing was, I couldn’t be bothered to get out the Overlocker, so although the armholes and neck has 3 cm of facing, the seams are beginning to fray. No one else but me knows this, because you can’t see the seams… but it is annoying! Ill have to fix it up one of these days.
That’s all for today – I’m starting work on a Learn to Sew series, and if I can find a decent tripod it will be all happening soon, so stay tuned.
Yay! Finally finished the listing for the cot rail teething guard, so it’s up on Etsy now (www.frianki.etsy.com). It comes with featured options such as button, snap/press stud, or tie closures, and the inside is padded with full instructions on how to sew it. And the best part? It can fit any cot. There are clear and concise instructions on how and where to measure your cot and construct a custom pattern, just for you.
Sometimes Pinterest, in all its fabulousness (yep it needs its own word to describe just how much I love pinterest… @frianki… follow me!) just doesn’t cut it. I love having sketches and swatches in front of my face when I’m designing – so a new freebie is up for grabs!
Head to the Freebie section of the site (or find it here) to learn how to make a fabric pin board in half an hour. Starting from literally a blank canvas, and ending up with a handy board to pin all your favourite things to, the PDF takes you step by step through it all. And yes, the picture shows what my pin board looks like at the moment!
Another flashback to things I’ve made previously – this one was not too long ago. When I first started sewing for Sadie, she was only 3 months old, and I wanted to use this cute zebra fabric I found. Created from a combination of using existing clothes for sizes and draping on her little frame in muslin, it took about three days of sewing every now and then to finish.
The skirt is pleated, and the bodice lined with the outside cotton. I hand stitched the ribbon around the edges, just for decoration, leaving about an inch open at the back, so you can tie the ends together and get the fit tighter (or looser). And the highlight of this dress, the reason why I love it? The heart cut-out in the back, with a button for closure. Took me a while to figure out exactly how to do it (I ended up cutting the bodice pieces, sewing around the heart and then turning it inside out), but was really happy with the result!
And now a sneak peek at what I’m currently working on…
A pattern to make your own Cot Rail Protector, so no more bite marks!
Just in case you missed the last Freebie February post, don’t forget to like Frianki on facebook to have a chance to win 50% off your next order! 2 Winners will be drawn & announced every Saturday in February…
Finally I have uploaded the Baby Footsie Leggings pattern, the beginning of my winter collection. But it took so long to get to this point! So simple, so easy to make (with a pattern), but they have taken me the longest time to create out of all my patterns to date.
WHY?
Well, the rate babies seem to grow always astounds me – and trying to find the average size and difference is a killer, especially in their pudgy little feet!
I ended up making 7 muslins (Size 00 and 2) to try and find the right fit. From the crotch being wayyy to low, to the feet being the wrong size; the biggest issue was the dorsal (the top of the foot) being the wrong shape, as this meant the foot became too short and the (walking) kids’ heels kept making the pants fall down. But sure enough I figured it out – and as per usual, one tiny alignment and problemo solved.
But it all worked out in the end, and the pattern is now available from the Etsy store.
Stay tuned because I have some big news (new associations) coming up soon!
So I meant to post this yesterday – for flashback friday… But better late than never! I thought every so often I would do a post on things I have made in the past, in this case only June last year.
Friends of mine, Hollie and Jordyn, were looking to dress up as Ana and Elsa from the Frozen movie for Comic Con, and hired me to make them custom costumes. 7 months pregnant and renovating our house at the time, this was no small feat, but they turned out great! Here’s a few pictures and details on how I made them:
Sorry for the blurry pictures; who knew I would need them for publishing one day.
Early on I decided to try and make the dresses as close to the animated characters as possible, while still being realistic. While I think they turned out great, I learned a few things on fabric choices with this job – I always chose colour over fabric type, which was a mistake. The green shirt for Ana (Hollie, on the right) was a bit fiddly, and I had chosen a thin muslin, which wanted to gather and fray at every chance it got. Super frustrating. On the upside of fabric choices, the blue skirt of Ana’s was the perfect colour – and a type of felt, so it fit well.
Both dress bodices have boning, which was a task in itself as I had never done it before, but once I had watched a few online tutorials and practised it wasn’t so bad – much easier on Ana’s dress (yet again), because the silk of Elsa’s dress just wanted to crumple and gather all the time.
ANA (Hollie’s) Costume
I made a mint green undershirt from a muslin, reinforcing the collar with interfacing, and using a matching mint green silk ribbon around the edges of the front hook & eye closures and cuffs (not pictured). The dress had a black cotton drill bodice, with back zip and boning, trimmed in a gold ribbon around all edges. I then used fabric paint from Lincraft, and painted the flowers directly onto the fabric, last.
The skirt of the dress was a blue felt, which I also painted directly onto (a few times, the paint fell through the fabric like water). Last but not least was the maroon cape – made of a suiting material, I then painted on the decoration pictured. I also made small baubles from a matching wool, and the closure is actually kids air dried clay, which I painted black and silver, and embedded a hook & eye into for closure also.
ELSA (Jordyn’s) Costume
I used a thin silk for the bodice and skirt of this dress, lining the skirt with a polycotton. The bodice has hand stitched sequins, gathered at the bottom of the bodice for effect, and zip closure. I cannot for the life of me remember what the name of the material I used for the shirt & train – definitely a polyester, kind of a close knit mesh, and it had a lovely sheen to it – it was however, ridiculously hard to work with, fraying everywhere.
The top of the shirt is edged in a lovely white & silver sparkle bead, and it was a keyhole one button close at the back. The train I managed to attach with hooks & eyes to the top of the bodice – and all the snowflakes were painted on by myself. Note – don’t paint on meshy type fabric… especially without anything underneath. Lucky we were renovating!
All in all, I was very happy with how they turned out, and cannot wait to make more!
I’ve been quiet on the blog for the last few weeks – because I have been busing sewing, sewing, sewing! I’ll begin though with my apologies – I have been fighting with my computer for the last couple of days, and I still can’t upload my fabulous pictures I put together for this post! Grrr. Hopefully later. SIDENOTE: Yay! Just fixed it, pictures now on the post!
But back to sewing. We had a lovely school holidays visit with miss Madison, which gave me a great opportunity to make up a few of the designs I had set aside for her, in girls sizes. I’ve already put up a Halter dress (3rd from left), Harem pants (far right) and the Hi-Lo dress (second from left) on Etsy (and Facebook, and Instagram, and Twitter, and… sheesh!) all in children’s sizes 4 to 10, and I have one more to go.
The last (for now) will be some children’s Pyjamas (far left), so I’m now up to grading the pattern and making instructions to upload those too.
On the sewing plate for babies – I have just finished some boys shorts (loving double stitching as a finish lately! So professional!) and some leggings with feet that will be great for both boys and girls, for the coming colder days and nights. If I can get my two munchkins to sit still for a photo, I could be in with a winner there!
There is a few posts in the pipeline, on different finishing techniques – and I’m working on a competition for February! Stay tuned 🙂
I ended up getting a book on pattern making (this was the beginning of me actually making clothes from a pattern, before this it was all draping or trial and error), and made this dress! Its a really simple pattern, just two skirt pieces with two darts each side; and three bodice pieces – one for the front (with two darts) and two for the back. It has a long zip that travels into the skirt a little bit, and the armholes are not as wide as normal, giving that modern look.
