Sunday, June 24, 2007

Heading out the door!

Well, we are minutes away from heading out the door for our family vacation out west! We'll be back July 3rd, Lord willing, and so orders that are placed will be sent out after we get back.

Lets just say I set a new record this morning with making a peasant blouse in under a half hour! With being in the desert and Grand Canyon, I'm needing another shirt to accomodate 100 degree + weather! =)

See you all later!

Friday, June 22, 2007

A-line skirt pattern tips

A few friends had asked for my A-line skirt pattern/directions and so I thought I'd post on my blog (rather than sending out several e-mails) how I make my skirt, so other's may benefit as well! Please note that this will fit roughly someone who would wear a ladies size 12, so if you are a different size, you will want to add/decrease from these measurements.

My main skirt pattern (I don't have a pattern, actually. I just cut as I go.) is 11-1/2" at the top on the fold and the bottom of the skirt is 17" on the fold. I obviously cut out two of these for a front and back skirt. Since it is a A-line/flared skirt, there is some curve up at the top and bottom. The below picture is a rather bad example of this (poor photo angle) but it gives you an idea of how it looks like:

As far as length, just make it how ever long you want it. On this particular skirt, I'll be putting in 5 one-eighth tucks in the skirt (1-1/2" above the edge of the main skirt along with a 5" flounce for the hem, and so I already figured out the math for this.

Here is my waist bands (I cut two of them out) at 23" long and 3-1/2" tall (1-1/4" finished in the front). These are for an elastic waist, but if you wanted to put darts in the front, make the front band shorter:
I won't go through the detail's of putting the skirt together, as I assume alot of my readers know how to sew.
As far as other detail's for the skirt that I mentioned such as tucks and ruffles, the possibilities are endless to spruce up a basic skirt pattern.
In the entry I posted earlier, that had 3 one-fourth inch tucks in it. The tucks/pin-stripes are easy to put in. All you do is make a "big hem" of how many inches you want, sew it, and then iron the tuck towards the hem.
And the ruffle: I must confess my selfishness in not wanting to give out my secrets as to what I do (it's fun to have something of my own...!) but I know that isn't Christ-like, so here is what I do....
It is basically a circular flounce that has no gathers. (If it's easy and I can save time, I like it!) You cut it out in a semi-circle and MUST make sure that the inside circle will match the hem of your skirt. So if the hem of my skirt, on a fold, is 17" then the inside of my circle must 17."
Here is a picture of the inside of my semi-circle cut out to 17." From here, you can determine the length of your flounce. If you want something smaller like this, I cut my ruffle out to 3", so once it's sewn on a 5/8" seam, you have a flounce a little over 2." If you like something bigger in my previous post, and like what I'm cutting this one out to be, cut the ruffle out to 5-5/8." Here I am marking the fabric, taking the measuring tape as I go along to get it right:

This is what it looks like cut out. Since both sides are on a fold, you'll need to cut one of them for your side seam. So you will need a total of 2 of these for the front and back skirt.

And that is it!
As far as yardage, for a 5" or larger flounce you'll need around 3 yards or so. For a smaller flounce, 2-1/2 yards should do.
For fabrics, I have found that I really like linens for the the flounces. They seem to drape really well. This one is a slate blue linen, and in the previous post the skirt was made out of navy linen. However I have done skirts with flounces out of cottons and polyesters, and they all turn out great.
Have fun making skirts, and if you do make skirts like this, would you mind sharing pictures with me? I'd love to see them and other might be inspired too if I were to post them on my blog (hint, hint)! And I guess I'm off to the sewing room to finish up a nightgown (from a 60's pattern with lots of alterations) and start on a new dress and headband (I found this cute pattern here) for Molly before we take our vacation this weekend.

Coming soon...


...making an A-line skirt with special details!

Monday, June 18, 2007

Once I get started, it's hard to stop...

This afternoon I finished up another Regency dress for ebay after the first one sold so quickly. It's so much fun to sew them; quite addicting I might add. =)

My next one I hope to make in a cross-over gown (if you've seen Sense and Sensibility, it is the gold colored one Marianne wears) which will be a new pattern to explore.

While browsing on ebay, I came across some lovely fabric that is an antique reproduction for the early 19th century. It's what I call "perfect" for a Regency gown! It ends tomorrow and I have a bid on it, so we'll see how it goes.

The "Feature of the Week" will be posted shortly.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

In the Shop...

Well, I was in the mood to sew today (I guess my sickness for it wore off quickly...) and sewed up a Regency dress for ebay. I decided to offer it at "Buy-It-Now" and with a lower price, as I have several of these that I need to make and want to get them sewn up and out of here. =)

Interested? Click here to see it.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

The decision has been made!

I decided to add lace to the dress instead of ribbon, but I found a lace that I liked better than the white that seemed to blend in more with the dress instead of really standing out, but yet give it that "finishing touch." What do you think?

And the sister who took the two pictures below doesn't normally take pictures, but they give you all an idea of what the dress looks like on a person. =)