Monday, June 18, 2012

See & Sew

One day last week my daughter was really excited to sew a dress.  She picked out fabric from my stash and drew several designs, not understanding what a pattern actually was.   So, in the excitement of it all, we drove to Joanns to look through the pattern books and she picked out this pattern for her dress:

Butterick See  & Sew sewing pattern Children's Girl's  Dress Top Shorts

The front says “Yes!  It’s Easy” but sometimes I feel like the tissue paper kind of patterns are anything but.  Step 16 literally says, “Turn facing to inside, turning shoulder straps out; press.  Turn under ends of facing to clear zipper teeth SLIPSTITCH to zipper tape.”

Incomprehensible to me since I don’t really have any garment sewing experience.  But, I had about two hours to get the dress sewn.  So, what did I do???

I made it up!  Thank goodness I’ve been sewing long enough to know the rule to sew right sides together.  I just winged it and figured out a way to get the bodice lining sewn to the dress in a relatively unhaphazard way.  The dress looks great from a distance, and pretty good up close.  I omitted the zipper and put about 4 inches of elastic in the back instead.  The dress was done by 10pm and my daughter stayed up late for her “fittings” so I could adjust the elastic and situate the straps, and she happily modeled it for her dad who was mildly impressed.

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We used coordinating Barbie fabric from Over the Rainbow.

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Here is the back sans zipper.  I kind of like the elastic better, to tell you the truth, because she can get herself dressed without my help.

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My first love is definitely quilting, but sewing the occasional dress is fun, especially if it means spending time with my daughter.

3 comments:

  1. Jamie, this dress is so pretty. Great job! I love the elastic in the back, I think it's much more practical than a zipper. You totally rocked this one!

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  2. Good for you Mum - that dress looks really cute - almost as cute your daughter! She will love wearing because her mum made it for her!

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  3. What a sweet dress for a precious little girl. Her dress came out adorable. I am with you, I have a hard time reading the patterns I am very visual and I do the pictures. Love what you did instead of putting a zipper in.
    Hugs
    donna

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Some days the only adult I talk to is my husband...help him keep his sanity by leaving a comment so I have another adult to talk sewing with:) I will make sure to reply!