sewing for my girls

I really know I’m getting over the newborn days when I get to switch on my sewing machine and do a spot of sewing. I just feel normal and like my old self again when I get the chance. For anyone new here, I love to sew. I love craft full stop but I love getting the time to sit at my machine.
 
Ready for action!!!!
 
I picked it up again when keira was a baby and haven’t stopped since…………well except each time I have a new baby. Summer is a great excuse to make up some simple dresses for my girls. They don’t cost a lot of money to make, they’re easy (I avoid any girls pattern with a zipper in it) and my girls love wearing them. I do find it hard to pay $60 for a cotton dress when I can make my own  in an afternoon.
 
Elodie has a new dress! There were lots of breaks to feed Emerson, make lunch, change nappies, keep elodie entertained!
 
First cab off the rank was Elodie. I decided to make her this dress (Simplicity 5695) and make it size 2. Only trouble was that I couldn’t find the ruffle piece for the pattern so I used a ruffle from another pattern that was bigger. Anyway the whole dress turned out to be a big size 3 so we moved it on to Tillie. She was pretty happy about that and that’s the great thing about having 5 kids! Something will always fit someone in the house.
 
Might make it as a tunic too to wear over leggings
 
Perfect
 
and like all girls, Tillie needed to test out it’s ‘twirlability’. Happy to report it passed the test. She wore this dress 2 days in a row and wanted to wear it to bed. We’ve agreed to make another one in a different colour and I got it in the washing machine as fast as I could! By the way and because I know you’ll ask the fabric is Lecien Colour Basics.
 
She loves it
 
I then pulled out a modkid pattern that I had been selling at markets. Keira picked out some crazy fruit fabric and I then put it back and picked out a few fabrics I thought would work a bit better. I have to say that modkid patterns are fabulous.
 
I'm happy:)
 
Super easy to follow instructions, she leaves nothing to chance and you don’t have to wing your way through the pattern the way I often find I have to when instructions aren’t clear or the designer has used a round about way of doing something.

Pink pink and more pink

The dress came together easily and fairly quickly – except that when you have a baby on you or near you it’s not as quick. I got a little bit unstuck with my overlocker. I always use my overlocker for seams and especially when you’ve ruffled/gathered something, you have threads going everywhere and the overlocker trims them all away and you get a nice neat edge. I love using it when I do my gathered skirts. Only thing is that this is a curved skirt and I was moving too fast – I finished up with the overlocker, inspected my work only to discover I’d sewn over some of the skirt at the back. I very carefully unpicked the stitches but my worst fears came true – the cutting knife had cut right through the back and left a big hole. Bummer. That was not the word I used but you get the picture.

When your overlocker cuts the dress :( I've got a solution!

Thankfully I made my boo boo on the back piece of the apron. So I simply cut off that back piece and when I assembled the dress I just sandwiched the front apron piece inbetween my skirt front and back pieces and sewed the seams together. Ta da. You’d never know. And next time I’ll flick back the cutting knife!

Ta da!

Now this is not a pretty stylised photo of her wearing the dress because I was interrupting her playtime!!! This is the size 6 in the pattern and fits her perfectly. She loves the dress, she’d prefer it not to be in pink, but she loves it. The spotty fabric is Lecien Colour Basics and the cherry blossom fabric is Kate Spain Good Fortune. The stripy fabric was from the quilting section at Spotlight, a few years back.

upload
 
Now to make a dress for Miss elodie and I’ll be happy.

Comments

  1. Gorgeous !

  2. They’re such pretty dresses!

  3. They are really gorgeous – love that Lecien spot! I must get cracking with some new dresses for my girls – they grow so fast and they need a couple of summer dresses.

  4. Well done you! I must stop making quilts now the summer is approaching and whip up some dresses for my little girl. Any other pattern recommendations? Are Simplicity as simple as the name sounds?

  5. I am so impressed that you can produce a dress in an afternoon! I’m feeling inspired. My girls could do with some summer dresses and skirts, too.

  6. Very very pretty.

  7. Gorgeous – I always feel this incredible sense of calm when sew. I can understand why you need it. Nancy

  8. They are just lovely dresses! I love how you made the mishap work regardless, you’ve gotta just go with it sometimes, don’t you?

    I haven’t replaced my sewing machines (lost five machines in a fire) just yet, but that day is getting closer and I cannot wait!

    I’m much like you too, I love the quick easy-sew dresses too. If you stuff around with zippers and the like, then they just grow before you get it done anyway.

    Another thing I like to do, is when the youngest can’t fit the chest area of the dress anymore, I turn them into elastic waisted skirts. Just lets it go that little bit further:)

  9. Beautiful dresses :) I just put together – made my very first item of clothing for my little girl… A pair of cotton voile harem pants! (Have still yet to to reveal them on my blog) They’re gorgeous and so breezy for summer! Sunny loves them too. She refused to take them off so she’s walking around the house with unfinished hems! Oh well…

    Next challenge for myself will be a summer dress for Sunny and then perhaps something for myself :)

    Sophie xo

  10. They are gorgeous dresses! I love that pink spot fabric, simple and so pretty. Feeling inspired now but I think I’ll wait till school holidays are over before I drag out my machine!

  11. The dresses are gorgeous Corrie, I also love sewing and before returning to work 16 years ago (the time has flown by)I made my two girls MOST of their clothes – dresses, tops, shorts, skirts, leggins, track suits, PJ’s. I am looking forward to make things for my future Grand kids…

  12. Lovely dresses. I had to laugh about Keira not wanting pink. My girl stopped wearing pink when she was 6! With a very few exceptions for bright pink… Thought you better be warned LOL

  13. Looks fab – so comforting to know you make those responses to bloopers too!

    Corrie – I wanted to ask you about the Michelle Bridges challenge thingy…Could you spare a minute to email me your opinion please..

    nice to see you blogging like mad again!

  14. beautiful

  15. Beautiful dresses and well done for making the time to do something you love :)

  16. It’s beautiful. I have a modkid skirt pattern I’m wanting to sew. I will be extra careful with my overlocker

  17. I love these Corrie. How clever you are whipping these beauties up for your gals. So lovely to have gorgeous little girls to make pretty things for xo

  18. Just lovely :)

    Just wondered about the skirt you bought in Noosa. I was thinking about buying one. I tried to zoom in on your picture of it and wondered are the edges of the stripes of fabric going around the skirt hemmed or will they fray when you wash it?

    Thanks

  19. You have inspired me to take up sewing again and make my girls some summer dresses. Thanks

Trackbacks

  1. […] And I made a dress for elodie that turned out huge so that went to tillie. I love this japanese fabric so much. It’s simple and pretty and this is another of tillie’s favourite dresses. Blogged here. […]

Leave a Reply to A little bit Country Cancel reply

*

Optionally add an image (JPEG only)