Another Hand-made dress

[pinksalamander]

My second sewing project... it is SO much better than my first one!

Total cost = £6

Total time = about 3 hours

It was so easy! I'm definitely planning on making a second. The fabric on this is a little too summery, and because summer is officially over I probably won't wear it until next year (unless some rich and handsome young man decides to whisk me away to the other side of the world anytime soon).

I'm going to hunt out some navy and white polkadot and maybe put some broidere anglais around the neckline and hem, maybe even put an underskirt inside it (its not lined at all, only on the chest part).

Any opinions? Any constructive criticism is welcome!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[myheart]

pinksalamander wrote:

...(unless some rich and handsome young man decides to whisk me away to the other side of the world anytime soon).

Any opinions? Any constructive criticism is welcome!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

I will pray for you, honey, to have that little hottie come by to sweep you off your feet. We all need a little of that sometimes....

I love the dress!!! You are so talented! I never took a sewing class, and I regret that very much. I also regret not taking a shop class, and possiblybeing the only female in the class(Hint on place to find a hottie). It would be good to try different things, especially while you are young.

myheart

 

[pinksalamander]

Well I'm taking an A-Level in woodwork, like to sew, I paint and was a member of the gifted & talented art club and I like taking photos too... I guess I'll do anything creative!

Sadly I have been at an all girls school for the last 5 years... I'm still at the same school now but in our 6th and 7th years boys are allowed in too, although they are still greatly outnumbered, and either taken, weird or gay!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[myheart]

pinksalamander wrote:

...although they are still greatly outnumbered, and either taken, weird or gay!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

LOL... I know the feeling!!!!! I think they say that the male population is smaller than the female population in general. I am sure that ratiogets worse as one gets older. Anyway, I'll still pray for you...The good one's are worth waiting for.

myheart

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

very pretty!!!!!!!!

 

[mouse_chalk]

That looks great!

I so envy you for being clever with a needle... I can't even take up a hem- it just falls back down again!

 

[pinksalamander]

For hemming, webbing tape is the answer! Its this really cheap tape stuff. You just fold over the hem, iron the strip on and voila!

I used that on this dress, but along with a ric rac stitch for a bit of interest. I don't have an overlocker/serger so I can't do nice hems

Seriously Jen you should give it a go. It was so easy! I made the pattern a little bit better myself by adding the fabric facing on the inside of the chest so I don't get any, erm, 'exposure' but the basic way is literally just two bits of fabric, front and back, sew down the sides. All you need to do is cut a piece the size of the bust, sew it to the top and fold it in. Then sew the elastic on using a criss-cross stitch and sew the seams. I could teach you to make it in a few hours!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[Bo B Bunny]

That's adorable!

Could you make my daughter a showmanship outfit?

I need to learn to sew!

 

[pinksalamander]

If her showmanship outfit needs to be a dress very similar to this, then yes, yes I can. :biggrin2:

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[pinksalamander]

I still want to make a navy and broiderie anglais version, but I just found this gorgeous Tana Lawn on eBay:

I think I might make one out of that, although its pretty pricey fabric.. but then it is Libertys! I think it would look nice with a little cardi and some pink flats for school.

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[Bo B Bunny]

LOL! Nope much more detailed!

You did a great job on the dress tho! I love it!

pinksalamander wrote:

If her showmanship outfit needs to be a dress very similar to this, then yes, yes I can. :biggrin2:

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[LadyBug]

cool:biggrin2:

 

[MissBinky]

It looks awesome

 

[mouse_chalk]

pinksalamander wrote:

For hemming, webbing tape is the answer! Its this really cheap tape stuff. You just fold over the hem, iron the strip on and voila!

I used that on this dress, but along with a ric rac stitch for a bit of interest. I don't have an overlocker/serger so I can't do nice hems

Seriously Jen you should give it a go. It was so easy! I made the pattern a little bit better myself by adding the fabric facing on the inside of the chest so I don't get any, erm, 'exposure' but the basic way is literally just two bits of fabric, front and back, sew down the sides. All you need to do is cut a piece the size of the bust, sew it to the top and fold it in. Then sew the elastic on using a criss-cross stitch and sew the seams. I could teach you to make it in a few hours!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

I don't have a sewing machine though- do you use one?

And how do you make it the right size? Is there a different pattern for each size, or do you just measure it round yourself first?

In theory, it's a great idea for me, because I can never find the kind of dress I want in shops. In theory!!

 

[pinksalamander]

mouse_chalk wrote:

pinksalamander wrote:

For hemming, webbing tape is the answer! Its this really cheap tape stuff. You just fold over the hem, iron the strip on and voila!

I used that on this dress, but along with a ric rac stitch for a bit of interest. I don't have an overlocker/serger so I can't do nice hems

Seriously Jen you should give it a go. It was so easy! I made the pattern a little bit better myself by adding the fabric facing on the inside of the chest so I don't get any, erm, 'exposure' but the basic way is literally just two bits of fabric, front and back, sew down the sides. All you need to do is cut a piece the size of the bust, sew it to the top and fold it in. Then sew the elastic on using a criss-cross stitch and sew the seams. I could teach you to make it in a few hours!

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

I don't have a sewing machine though- do you use one?

And how do you make it the right size? Is there a different pattern for each size, or do you just measure it round yourself first?

In theory, it's a great idea for me, because I can never find the kind of dress I want in shops. In theory!!

Yeah, its machine sewn. But they are really cheap. Hobbycraft has a brand new Brother machine for £79, but you could find a second hand one wayyyy cheaper. I use my Mums Husqvarna Orchidia (was worth around £1,500 new ten years ago) but I also have a little Singer that my Grandparents bought me second hand for about £35.

The patten comes as one size. It has a measurement chart on it, so you measure hip, waist and bust (for this dress bust is most important obviously as that is where it is fitted) then you find your size.

The pattern has one overall shape but it has different lines (like some are ... and some are ----) for each different size, so you cut it according to your size. This pattern only went to a size 44, and I'm a size 48, so I cut it big, but you just estimate it and cut around the piece of paper. Say, in-between the size 42 line and the size 44 line is 1cm, and I'm a 48, so I cut it 2cm bigger. You can always cut it a little bigger because its easier to take in than make it bigger!

You cut most stuff on the fold. So you fold the piece of fabric in half and place your pattern up against the fold, cut it out, so it is equal on each side.

This pattern has 2 pieces, back and front. It also has interfacing (sticky stuff used in collars to make it stiffer, you iron it on). All I did was lay my front piece on the interfacing and cut out the shape of the bust 3 times, so I had 3 pieces of interfacing to stick on to make it stiff. Then I cut an extra piece out of the fabric to make the lining.

The elastic is about 20p a metre, and the ribbon is about 50p a metre. If you can find a nice cheap bit of cotton in the rem bin it will be v. cheap. I used a 1.6 metre piece on this dress.

Fran :hearts :brownbunny

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Very nice dress! Looks great! You are very talented. I just stick to sewing on buttons!

 

[slavetoabunny]

Very nicely done Fran.....and you look so nice in the dress!!! I can see you moving on to more complicated patterns. I can hand sew a championship quilt, but asking me to sew a dress is a recipe for disaster!!!