The Lazy Saturday Maxi Dress: A Pattern Hybrid

It's Selfish Sewing Week over at Imagine Gnats, and I decided it was high time I did a bit more sewing for myself.  So, I busted out some ITY knit that I've had in my stash, and a couple of my favorite self drafted patterns, and created this super comfortable knit maxi dress.  I LOVE it.

  

First off, you can find the two projects that I combined to make this dress on my blog:  The Easy as Pie Tank Pattern was used to draft the neckline and arms, and the Lazy Saturday Shirt  uses a similar technique to shirr the extra material in the width of the dress. You can find my more information on the shirring technique used, here and here.

The Easy As Pie Tank has a dart included in the pattern, I didn't change that.  The shirring pulled in the extra material from the dart.  Using an existing maxi dress as a guide, I determined how long, and wide  I wanted my dress to be, and cut my fabric accordingly. 

  

I finished off the neck and arms using a technique similar to attaching ribbing.  The only difference was that my ITY knit didn't have quite as much stretch as my typical ribbed knits, so I used longer strips to finish them off?  Lost?  I'll have to do a ribbed knit technique tutorial in the future.  

The shirring pulls the dress in at the waist, and gives the dress a bit more shape.  After sewing up the dress, at the side and shoulder seams, I tried the dress on, and decided where I wanted my first row to start.  It was really a sew as you go type project.  The important thing to remember is that you don't want your shirred rows to start too high (like my Lazy Saturday Shirt), or the rows will be crawling up your bust.

This was a super quick sew, and well worth the time and material.  I love the finished product.  It might be the only selfish sewing project of the week, but I'm happy with it, so that is a win!

Pleated Knot Tunic Tutorial with Jessica of Me Sew Crazy

Who's excited that Jessica is here?  I know I am.  I love Jessica, her blog, and of course her amazing site, Sew Set.  She is down to earth, super sweet, and extremely talented, and one ambitious lady.  You'll find her sewing up adorable tops and clothes for her kids, and for herself.  I'm especially happy that she is sharing a top that she made for herself.  I think that it's important to take time and spoil ourselves with something new every once in a while. So without further ado, Jessica.

Hi everyone! Jessica here of Me Sew Crazy & the creator of SewSet, your on-line sewing pattern search engine. I love Tricia's TopTober Series, and have followed along ever since she started doing it. I think shirts are one of the easiest, and most rewarding things we can whip up simply because they get the most use. And I am all about that.  The joy of sewing for me comes when I see my kids running around in the creations I make for them. So tops, easy tunics, and comfy dresses make up most of our wardrobe. The inspiration for the Pleated Knot Tunic actually came from the fabric, I saw this gorgeous knit at The Fabric Fairy (found HERE) and simply had to have it!!! I was in love, and as soon as I had it in my hands I knew I wanted to make something for myself with it...

The fun always comes in adding the details. Now I readily admit, this TopTober post is a bit of a cheater. It can be seen as a dress or tunic, or made shorter into a shirt. It all depends on your personal style preference. But any which way you make it, it is one easy top to sew together...

I particularly love the back detail of this dress, which can be made with a knot, of even a simple twist - and I will show you how to do both! But this is a perfect project for someone who is beginning to experiment with sewing for themselves. No tricky darts to play around with, no patterns to try to cut exactly right. All you need is a nice body-fitting shirt to cut around, 2 yards of a good thick stretchy knit (this one has 35% stretch, and is a nice really soft and thick fabric), and your basic sewing essentials. Let's go...

When I say ending just beneath the bodice, I mean just underneath your bust line. Approximately 5" down from your armhole on the side. 

I like to keep white wrapping paper on hand (much cheaper to buy), and I draw all of my mock patterns on this white paper.

This is where you can alter the length to adjust for a longer dress, or shorter for a shirt! It is up to you! Just be sure to buy more fabric if you want it longer, I would suggest 2.5 yards.

Now we get down to the fun stuff - sewing it together! Once you have your back bodice pattern sewing together at the top center for both the exterior and the lining, simply...

Twist it or knot it, both will look just great!

Take a break and give your child some attention now...lol

Moving on...

Here is a fun way to sew your shoulders together to make everything look seamless and easy!

Now we will simply be attaching the skirt pieces to your bodice...

This next step you can choose to make however you want, use gathers, pleats, pintucks - whatever sewing method you feel most comfortable with! I happen to like pleats when it comes to sewing for myself because it doesn't add too much bulk in an area I don't want it in (around my belly).

Have excess fabric stretching beyond the sides of the bodice? No problem, simply cut it off!

One last tip - if you are having trouble hemming the knit fabric without causing it to 'wave', you can try either my tissue paper method found HERE. OR you can use the fabulous 'Stitch Witchery' product by Dritz, which I have recently stumbled across and love.  I simply iron it on, and then sew over it to secure. Takes care of all wavy seams - BUT please note - do not use this product if you still need the fabric to stretch. It removes most of the stretch because it has ironed the fabric securely to the hemming tape. But there you have it - a super cute, fun and flirty tunic dress or top that you can wear all year round!

Looking for me things Me Sew Crazy? You can always find me hanging at any one of these places: {blog} {sewset} {facebook} {pinterest} {twitter} {instagram: @jessrabbott} And to find the gorgeous Fresh Produce Shockwaves Fabric used in today's post - be sure to check out The Fabric Fairy and their lovely selection of on-line knits! Thank you so much for having me here today Tricia, I absolutely love your TopTober Series and look forward to seeing what else is shown!

Don't you love it.  I need one.  Want to see some of Jessica's other creations, check out her designer page on Sew Set. The Flying High Fleece, Flower Tunic, and Quilted Fairy Tales Jacket, are just a few of my favorites. Thanks so much Jessica for being here today, and sharing this fun project.

The Granny Hoodie...A Tutorial

Top-toberfest in winding up, with only a few posts left I'm a little bit sad.  But today I have a fun project for you. I call it the Granny Hoodie, it features  delicate lace trim, and a little vintage applique that I inherited from my grandmother.

There's nothing quite as cozy as a hoodie on a cold day, and this sweatshirt fleece is so soft.  I LOVE it.

A better look at the lace trim and the applique.  I was really tempted to add elbow patches as well, but in the end left them out.

Lace Hemmed Shirt with Sumo of Sumo's Sweet Stuff

I'm so excited  to have Sumo, or Sumo's Sweet Stuff, joining in on the Toptoberfest fun today.  She's a mother of three adorable girls, and is always coming up with great projects.  On her blog you'll find a wide range of craft and sewing tutorials,  and not to mention one heck of a link party.  Today she's sharing an adorable lace embellished top, but I'll let her fill you in on the details.

Hello everyone!

I’m Sumo, or Summer if you wanna get formal.

I blog over at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff.

It’s my little place in the blogging world where you can come to find sewing and crafting inspiration. Sewing is my favorite creative outlet, but I’m not afraid to bust out the Mod Podge and paint when the mood strikes. You might also catch me professing my love of Target (or the popcorn store as we call it), talking about my relationships with Lucy (Cameo) and Veronica (sewing machine), or bragging about my three beautiful girls. I have an extreme fondness for Diet Coke, my minivan, historical fiction, and most sweets.

With three girls, I spend a lot of time sewing for them. I have a disease where I like them to coordinate, and while I do my fair share of shopping for them, I'm kind of snobby about wanting their church dresses to be homemade. When I got invited to be a part of this fun series, I decided to go outside my usual sewing habits, and make something for ME!

It’s not often that I find something to sew for myself that isn’t a skirt. Granted, this is just embellishing on an existing shirt, but I was still excited to make something for me for a change: a lace hemmed shirt!

The inspiration for this shirt came from this shirt from Zara.



Love the shirt, love the lace, but don't love the price. So I set out to make one of my own!

Here's what you need:

- shirt
- lace (mine was leftover from another project, bought off a bolt by the yard)
- sewing machine/accessories

I started off by laying out my shirt, and then laying out a double layer of lace, with the wrong sides facing towards each other; just as it would be when it is sewn on to the shirt.

Cut the lace about a quarter to a half of an inch extra to the width of the shirt, then fold the lace in half width wise.

Cut the curve to your lace. I just eyeballed it (I'm daring like that), but you could certainly use something to get your curve, too (like a bowl).

Here's your lace all cut out.

Take your lace, and hem up the edges all the way around. Do this to both pieces.

Pin the right side of the straight edge of the lace to the wrong side of the hem of your shirt.

Sew the lace directly to the shirt.

Repeat on the backside, and guess what? You're done!

Pretty easy, huh?

Immediately go and try it on so that you can send pictures to your bestie.

Get a nice close up view.

Then maybe a side view.

Wear your new shirt the next day and recruit your four year old to take some pictures of you wearing it.



She does a pretty good job, doesn't she?



Thanks so much for having me here today! I hope you'll come on over to Sumo's Sweet Stuff to find more sewing inspiration!

Thanks so much Sumo for being here.  You look great, and so does the top. I'm loving the lace, stripe, and polka dot combination.