Finally Posting - Fall Dresses

OK I forgot to post these... a while ago!  These are the dresses I made for my daughters for my cousins wedding... and back to school... These are both Ottobre patterns. The pink one is Ottobre 3/2010 #27,28. I think the purple one is from 2002, but I'm not sure...

They absolutely love these dresses and get lots of wear out of these!

My grandmother is 94 years old and still doing well, although she is currently recovering from a fall. She loves visiting and seeing the kids!

With their Great Gramma!

Loveliness Dress (Ottobre 2/10 #16)

Loveliness Dress
Originally uploaded by l3designs

I needed a dress for my cousins wedding. I made this dress using a lightweight poly and lined it with a thicker weight poly (same fabric as the sash).

The dress has a side zipper, so I took out the centre back seam. I also changed the lining to remove the darts to take the bulk out of the waist.  I interfaced the bodice with some broadcloth as I didn't want to use fusible. I made a sash style belt instead of the one included in the pattern.

I made the following pattern modifications for fit:

• lengthened bodice (for a long torso)
• shortened above bust point on front
• shortened skirt (I'd lengthened the bodice...)
• tweaked dart fit

It is taunting me....

Fabric ready to cut out...

Loveliness Dress, Ottobre 2/10 #16
Its sitting on the table, the pattern is traced, altered and laying out ready to be cut. I will now go cut out my dress!

The only question is how to finish the seams. I think that has been what has delayed my cutting so far... I can't use french seams and insert an invisible zipper in the side seam... Guess I could serge them, but for dresses for the girls, I have started doing french seams and a hong kong finish on the centre back seam -- and really enjoying the process...

I've thought about just serging the seams, but would rather have nicely finished seams. So the fabric sits, holding me hostage -- I can't cut it out until I know what size seam allowance to cut...

I'd ask for suggestions... but realized I don't have any fabric to finish the edges to do Hong Kong Finishes. So I will serge! I think I will serge each piece separately and press open! So I will cut 1/2" seam allowances. Dilemma solved.

An old dress... worn again....

I first made this dress in 2003 for my older daughter to wear at 1yo... sorry I can't find a picture of it being worn...and it was by 2 different kids




And my youngest wore it when she was 1yo too! And she wore it again this year at 4!!! With a petticoat and matching leggings... (the matching dress her sister has from when she was 1 is still way too big for her)

So I made a petticoat & leggings. For the petticoat, no pattern was used, just a width of satin backed crepe leftover from my wedding dress - crepe side out, with pre-gathered eyelet attached at the hem, stitch up the back seam and add elastic at the waist. The leggings used an Ottobre pattern I'd previously traced for her from 1/08 (need to use a different pattern next time as these are a little tight!)






And I recreated a dress for me... but need to either take it in again or start over. I took it in in November and really should have taken it in again before wearing it to the Christmas party a couple of weeks ago.

Kerttu

Kerttu
Originally uploaded by leahholland

A gift for my neice.

Solid twill and striped canvas. Eyelet hem and trim around heart shaped pockets.

Using an older pattern

I pulled an older pattern out of the drawer and tried it... It is McCall's 4827 Pinafore & Blouse Pattern from 1975. I just made the Pinafore.



I used a size 2 for my 3.5yo daughter - her measurements were spot on for chest and waist. There was only a single size in the envelope... I did lengthen the bodice an inch and added wide eyelet trim to the hem. I was hoping the fit would be better than current patterns. This pattern has about 3.5" of ease at the waist, which would probably be fine in the winter with heavier tshirts or blouses underneath, but with a light tshirt or nothing underneath in the summer, it really is too much ease. Some of the ease can be taken in by the ties. In the drawings on the envelope, the skirt looks much shorter than actual length, but my daughter prefers a longer dress. I solved the length problem by adding the eyelet. And I sewed the bow on so it ties in the front (oops...)

Another Valentine's Dress

Valentines03
Originally uploaded by leahholland

So she saw her sisters and needed one for herself!

Glad they are both in the same size range.... gotta love patterns available in sizes 92-128! Lengthened about 5"!

Valentine's...

	The first Dress
	The second Dress
	Embroidery for my son.... he chose the colours, the robot is brown - I tried to get him to use grey/silver so it would show more... The heart is a light pink and looks almost white against the red.
Happy Valentine's Day

Walking in the rain

Walking in the rain
Originally uploaded by leahholland

First Day of School 2008

First Day of School 2008
Originally uploaded by leahholland

Here are a the outfits for the first day of school. Sorry the photos don't show off the details of the outfits, I'll try and get better photos when they are next worn. The youngest didn't want her picture taken!

Summer sewing....

My lonely blog... I have been sewing, just not completing anything quickly, nor taking pictures and posting the finished items.

The flowers were picked on the walk home from school. All are wild flowers or from my garden.

Yesterday I had a few daylight hours to sew as the girls were at Grampa's so I finished dresses for them.

The smaller dress is based on Ottobre 2/05 #3 without the petals, lengthened and done in a double layer of fabric (the peach is a cotton batiste). Its two dresses sewn together at the neckline and a ruffle hem added to the lower layer. The overskirt needs shortening...

The other dress is based on the tunic 4/07 #31 without the sleeves and tie. The skirt has also been lengthened.

An easter dress

easter_dress
Originally uploaded by leahholland

An easter dress with chick and egg appliqué. Fabric is a cotton (possibly with some linen in it) purple plaid fabric, with dress skirt and sleeves cut on the bias.

The Ottobre pattern originally had petals on it that I skipped.

Appliqué is from Ottobre 1/04 which I repeated 3 times.

I also made a pair of shorts/capris to wear under it but she wouldn't but them on.... The photos of the appliqués aren't flat as my 2yo wouldn't take it off for photos :)

Some Christmas Sewing

Originally uploaded by leahholland

Christmas Clothing

Here is my daughters new Christmas dress... Ottobre 6/2007 #17. Butterfly print fabric is quilting fabric left over from my Gram's 90th Birthday Memory Quilt. Stripe is a coordinating cord with eyelet trim.

J-skirts


Christmas Gifts
Below is a small list of the items I made for Christmas Gifts

• teacher gift - bag & notepad cover
• small makeup bag
• binder cover
• teacher gift - bag, notepad cover & lunch bag
• handbag (blue cord)
• Housecoat
• Princess Bag
  

Other Items Sewn:

• 2 pairs of KS2704 PJS (photos soon...)
• nightie for my mom
• lap blanket
• mitts and hooded scarf
• nighties, pants and doll clothes