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Designed by Olivia, age 7

December 5, 2012 by girlinspired 3 Comments

If you missed the dress and purse I made for the K.I.D.S project at Me Sew Crazy, I’m posting it here today.  I hope it inspires you to hand the design reigns over to your little one at some point. 

I am SO thrilled to be participating in the amazing K.I.D.S. project here at Me Sew Crazy.  Seriously, brilliant series.  My girls see me playing with fabric all the time and they love to get involved in any way they can.  Olivia is especially interested in fashion design and at age 7, she’s getting pretty good at sketching up just what she wants.  She didn’t skip a beat when I asked her to draw anything and I would make it for her.  

I think her design turned out quite chic and I did my best to replicate it….minus the 10-inch heels…though I did let her go pick out some of my heels to wear for the photo shoot.  
To make the dress, I started with the “Ashley Knit Dress” by Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop, but elongated the bodice all the way to knee length, shortened the sleeves, and added two rows of ruffles around the hem.  
Since Olivia is so petite, I worked off of a size 4 pattern and custom fit the sleeve and hem lengths.  I used a really soft, jersey knit for the dress, as I was trying to mimic Olivia’s sleek design.  I think it was a good fit for a child’s dress, but I was concerned that it might look too much like a nightgown, so I added a silk bow on the shoulder for just a little touch of dressiness.  
Of course, Olivia included accessories in her design, so I stitched up a “phurse” based on her sketch.  
This was super quick and fun to make and Olivia was THRILLED that it actually opened.  
The temperature here has dropped drastically in the last few days so we had to run out in the freezing cold for a quick photo shoot the other evening.  We left the phurse on the counter inside and had to run out again for another shot with it.  Olivia was SO cold, but totally determined to model her design!!
I love how she poses in all her pictures – such a natural!  I guess her mama would think so!  
Anyhow, thank you so much for inviting me to participate in this series, Jessica!  One of my favorite projects yet and I love seeing what all the other little ones are designing! 

Filed Under: Sewing, Sewing Ideas and Inspiration Tagged With: dresses, fabric, girl clothes

Vintage Inspired Children’s Dress

June 15, 2012 by girlinspired 4 Comments

Today, I’m reposting a vintage-inspired dress I created for Kristin and Jess’ Vintage May Series a little while back.  I hope it provides a little weekend sewing inspiration!

Isn’t Vintage May such a lovely idea for a sewing series?  I’m so excited to be included!  I do love some vintage goodness – furniture, dishes, housewares, sewing notions, clothing – I love to get lost in the stories of old items, imagining how these “vintage” items might have played a role in someone else’s life.  History makes everything so much more interesting and fun!  Children’s clothing from years past, in particular, conjures up images of innocence, attention to detail, simple embellishments, carefree play… It’s different in so many ways from today’s clothes.  It was hard for me to choose a direction for a vintage-inspired outfit – so many fun options to try!!  

 In the end, I created a sweet little dress with tucks, pretty piping, and embroidery details.  The fabric for the dress is Pink Mini Rose from the Annie’s Farm Stand line by designer Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods.  Love this fabric!  The dress is cut in an A-line shape with cute little tucks across the bodice.  I used a new pattern – Butterick B4176 for this main part of the dress.  
But a vintage dress HAS to have a collar, right?  So, I added a crisp, white collar and embellished it with handmade piping.  A little satin bow finished it off.  
In the back, truth be told, I ran out of fabric, and had to get creative. 
 I actually love how the dress came out with the pieced white panels on each side of the center.  Rather than a zipper, I closed the dress with these great pink, vintage buttons all the way down the back.  And then I couldn’t resist throwing some embroidery on there, too.  
With so many “pretty” details, I decided to leave the dress sleeveless, with simple hemmed armholes.  Cute, puffy sleeves would definitely fit the vintage bill, but I think that by omitting them, I’ve created a lovely dress that is vintage-inspired, while still remaining current. 
Pretty, playful, and sweet.
For a roundup of all the contributions, please visit the Vintage May Series at Skirt as Top.

Filed Under: Pattern and Product Reviews, Sewing Tagged With: dresses, fabric, girl clothes, vintage inspired

A Cottage Mama Dress Pattern and Giveaway!

June 12, 2012 by girlinspired 108 Comments

 One of my very favorite seamstress and pattern designing friends has done it again!  Lindsay, from The Cottage Home blog and The Cottage Mama dress and pattern shop, has just released her three latest children’s sewing patterns and they are as awesome as ever!  
 You might remember the Janey Jumper dresses that I made my girls to wear this past Christmas, which were made using one of The Cottage Mama’s first patterns.  Well, Lindsay was kind enough to include me on her blog tour for this pattern release as well and today I’m sharing my creation from the Charlotte Apron Dress pattern.
The Charlotte Apron Dress sewed up like a dream.  I cannot emphasize enough how straightforward and clear these patterns are.  All the pieces are clearly marked, the assembly of the dress makes sense, and there are plenty of ideas for embellishing and altering the pattern to make your own creation.
I used several fabrics from Sarah Jane’s On Parade fabric line.  I love the bright colors and playful pictures.  And I love that the Charlotte Apron Dress has enough embellishment to allow me to showcase several fabric patterns all at once.  Addison LOVES this dress and she was so excited to wear it on her actual birthday for ice cream cone cupcakes and hot fudge sundaes.  Along with her party hat, she was so giggly and goofy, I had quite the challenge capturing pictures of this darling little dress.
So…..would you like to create a Charlotte Apron Dress for your little cutie?  The Cottage Mama is GIVING AWAY one pattern to a Girl. Inspired. reader!  How about that?  In order to enter this giveaway, go visit The Cottage Mama shop and then come back and leave me a comment!  That’s it!

And for more sewing inspiration with all three of The Cottage Mama’s new sewing patterns, you can visit all of the stops on:
 The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns 
Blog Tour
Week 1: 
Stef from Girl. Inspired (Charlotte Pattern)
Jessica from Me Sew Crazy (Ruby Pattern)
Christina from 2LittleHooligans (Run Around Pattern)
Jess from Craftiness is not Optional (Ruby Pattern)

Week 2:
Maureen from Maureen Cracknell Handmade (Charlotte Pattern)
Liz and Elizabeth from Simple Simon (Run Around Pattern)
Andrea from The Train to Crazy (Ruby Pattern)
Destri from The Mother Huddle (Ruby Pattern)
Beverly from Flamingo Toes (Charlotte Pattern)

Week 3:
Shannon from Luvinthemommyhood (Ruby Pattern)
Mama Reita / Amy from Positively Splendid (Charlotte Pattern)
Susan from Living with Punks (Ruby Pattern)

Filed Under: Pattern and Product Reviews, Sewing Tagged With: dress pattern, dresses, fabric, giveaway

Botanicals and Birds and Flying Girls

May 3, 2012 by girlinspired 7 Comments

Just before the afternoon errands, Grace and I dashed outside for an impromptu photo shoot.  She cracks me up.  She’s really into posing with her head tilted and her smile spread so wide her nose scrunches and her eyes squint up.  Today, she was into bending her knees sorta squat-like and resting her hand on her cheek. 
 I love having these photos stored up in bulk to look back on – her personality shines through.  But, sometimes, I need a specific angle or view when I’m photographing an outfit and not just my child.  One thing that I’ve found to be especially helpful is to distract the kids from the camera.  Today, I told Grace to jump; I counted to three and she sky-rocketed into the air.  
 Many times.  I got some really fun shots of her in the air – I also got some really cute, natural pictures of her in between.  
Try it.  It’s an easy way to get little ones to loosen up and give you a variety of “poses” without needing to ask them to change the way they are doing things.
Grace is modeling the Botanicals and Birds Flutter Dress, which will be available in the shop later today. 

Filed Under: Sewing, Sewing Ideas and Inspiration Tagged With: dresses, girl clothes, photo tips, shop

The Recital Dress Tutorial

April 27, 2012 by girlinspired 27 Comments

I so appreciate your comments on the recital dress and miss Olivia.  It’s encouraging to have that affirmation that other moms struggle with the same things that I do.  My shy girl’s sensitivity weighs heavy on me most days and it’s so good to know there are other moms struggling with their little ones, too.  
So, on with the tutorial.  I’ve been cleaning and rearranging in my sewing room (I have a new piece of furniture that I’m hoping to show you soon), and I searched around for Olivia’s dress sketch, but I can’t find it!!!  I think I might have thrown it away – eek!  So, I’m sorry, I know you were wanting to see a sketch – and you certainly won’t ever see a sketch out of me – but I promise there will be more from Liv and I’ll scan ’em in!  
 The Recital Dress
Supplies:
~ 1 – 1 1/4 yard main fabric
Zipper
Piping
I only had 1 yard of the fabric Olivia chose, so I used about every last bit of the yard.  I used packaged piping, but you could make your own.  I use 1/4″ seam allowances, except on the zipper seam, where I used a 1/2″ seam allowance. Ready?  You will need three measurements for the main part of the dress:  underarm to waist, chest, and waist to knee.
Cut your bodice piece – just one nice rectangle.  If you want to curve the top a bit to dip under the arms, you can do that; I was trying to stay as true to Olivia’s design as possible.  Her finished dress also seems a little snug because she always wants everything as skin tight as possible, but you could add some wiggle room.
We’re going to add piping to the bodice.  This is so simple – cut a piece of piping the same width as the bodice.  Match raw edges and pin the piping in place along the bottom (waist) edge.  Pop your zipper foot on your machine and stitch the piping down as close to the piped edge as possible.  
Next, cut two panels for the skirt.  I used the full width from selvage to selvage so that the skirt would be super full.  Then cut one of the panels exactly in half along the width.  Stitch the two smaller panels onto each side of the larger panel.  This will give you two side seams and an open back for your zipper – make sense?
Now, run a gathering stitch along the top of your entire skirt panel.  Gather it up until the edge is exactly the same width as the bodice panel – make sure your gathers are even.  Press your gathered edge well.  Pin the gathered edge of the skirt panel onto the waist edge of the bodice panel, matching raw edges and right sides.  Be generous with your pinning.  
Now, stitch the bodice and skirt together, still using your zipper foot and making sure to stitch right along the piping – since the piping isn’t visible, you’ll have to rely on the seam allowance.  Check your stitching when you’ve finished to make sure that everything is in place.  I anticipated needing to rip a couple sections and adjust, but it actually came together without any trouble.  (This is my first piping on garments experience, by the way.)  
Serge this finished edge if you want and press the seam up.  Next, you’re going to sew up the back seam and put in the zipper.  I recently came across Michelle‘s tutorial on Sew Mama Sew for the glue-set zipper installation method and I wanted to give it a try.  I have to say – I LOVED doing the zipper this way, it was so fast and easy.  Use whatever method you’d like.  This picture of the zipper is on the finished dress – I didn’t take a picture along the way.
Once the zipper is in, we’re going to add piping to the top edge of the bodice.  Open up the zipper and cut a piece of piping the width of the bodice plus a little extra for turning the edges under.  Stitch on the piping the same way you did previously.
Next, you will want to decide on your straps.  This dress looked SO cute strapless, but maybe not age appropriate.  Olivia really likes the idea of strapless; second choice is spaghetti straps, which is what she sketched up for this dress.  However, when I held up the teeny straps, I thought that the bright design called for something a little heavier on top, strapwise.  Cut two pieces of fabric double the width (plus seam allowances) that you’d like the straps to be and with enough length to fit over the shoulder.  Sew the strips into a tube, turn right side out and press.  Use your model or a dress form to place the straps on the dress.  To attach them at the center front and have them angle up over the shoulders, they will need to be attached at an angle.  Pin them in place on the raw edge of the bodice top/piping.  Baste and check the fit; adjust if needed and stitch them down.  
Then serge (or cut and zigzag stitch) off the excess so that it won’t make a lump under the bodice.
Put the dress back on your model and pin the straps in the back where you’d like them.  Stitch them on the same way and then trim them off.
Turn and press the piping and straps and then topstitch around the entire top.  Then, just hem the bottom!
So, there you have it!  A most gorgeous, twirly dress with some fun piping.  I think this would be super cute with a little brooch pinned right at the center top, though I don’t have the right one yet.
Happy sewing and happy weekend!! 

Linking up at:  Positively Splendid

Filed Under: Patterns and Tutorials, Popular Posts, Sewing Tagged With: dress pattern, dresses, girl clothes, tutorials

Polka Dots and Stripes?

April 3, 2012 by girlinspired 12 Comments

The girls are home for spring break this week.  Hooray for sleeping in and wearing pajamas all day!  I’m so excited to just spend time with my girls without the need to jump in the car and drive around town all day every day!  
I wanted to share these pictures with you (they are a few weeks old now).  This dress is a revised version of the pattern I created for Emily Taylor Designs in March.  The pattern is still available on Emily’s blog for a limited time.  By omitting the patchwork skirt and adding a sash in place of one of the bodice bows, I was able to sew this dress up in less than an hour.  I think the striped shirting material and the orange polka dots are fun together.  A little different from my typical fabric choices.
Did you make one yet??  What materials are you sewing with this week?

Filed Under: Sewing, Sewing Ideas and Inspiration Tagged With: dress pattern, dresses

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It is my hope that you will find inspiration on the Girl. Inspired. blog. All photos are copyright protected by Girl. Inspired. If you wish to share something that you have seen here, I am absolutely thrilled! Please use only one picture with a direct link back to the project you are referencing. Thank you so much for your understanding!

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