Raspberry Pink Sunki

Sew and tell here today. We already have snow here in Minnesota, so this long sleeve wool dress is nice and cozy :)

THE PATTERN// Figgy's Sunki pocket dress and leggings. Difficulty level ~ intermediate which I feel is right on, it's not beginner, but it's not too difficult (and not too time consuming). I really like this design, I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, it's so unique and I already have plans to sew at least 2 more.

THE FABRIC// For the pocket dress: super thick raspberry pink wool which was an absolute dream to work with and for the side panels gray quilted linen (remember the gray quilted linen vest?) For the leggings: thin gray knit.

THE SEWING// I sewed size 4/5. For the pocket dress: they offer 3 different sleeve lengths (which is really nice) and I chose to go with the long sleeve on this one. My daughter has gotten used to nice deep pockets that I've been putting in her dresses lately like this one and this one, so she was a little disappointed that these pockets weren't very deep. This pocket tutorial is very helpful. The dress is not fully lined, but the wool I used is super thick, so no worries. The pattern called for a regular zipper, but I prefer invisible, so I might consider using an invisible zipper in future Sunki's that I sew. For the leggings: maybe they are a little too long on my daughter, they look a little bunchy don't you think? I don't have much experience with sewing with knits, but they had some very helpful advice about what sewing machine needle & settings to use. During the first wear there was already a seam coming apart, not sure why, but should be easy to fix.

I want to try to sew all of my daughter's Sunday School dresses this school year. It goes through April and this is her last year. So far I've sewed The Little Blue Dress, the Gabriella Dress Knock Off, and this raspberry pink Sunki... more Sunday School dresses to sew...

Happy Tuesday everyone !

SYTYC Guest Post

Today I'm visiting Missy at So You Think You're Crafty. Click here to see the tutorial on how to make this Button Banner Advent Calendar.

PS Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it.

Gabrielle Dress Knock Off

left photo source

 {This was originally posted for Heidi's Knock-it-off series at Elegance and Elephants 2 weeks ago. Heidi sure could use some prayers for her daughter right now, so please pray for her.}

  I'd been wanting to sew my daughter a dress similar to one that I saw at an online boutique, I thought I could sew something very similar and save a lot of money. So I knocked it off, it's called the Gabriella Dress and it's from Marie-Chantal Children, an online boutique based in London, and the dress sells for $208. (Instead of brown puppy tooth fabric (or navy as is shown in the other color option for this dress), I used solid gray wool).

 Today I'm going to show you how I took 2 sewing patterns and tweaked them to knock off the Gabriella Dress.

I used the Fairy Tale dress, a sewing pattern from Oliver+S. And to add pockets to the dress I adapted the pocket parts from Melly Sews Clean Slate Pants.

From the Fairy Tale dress pattern I followed View A, but I eliminated the crinoline.

source

Instead of cap sleeves as shown on the Gabriella dress, I went with the tulip sleeves as shown in View A of the Fairy Tale dress.

And instead of a detachable store bought belt as shown on the Gabriella dress, I went with the tubular waistband (without the front bow) as shown in View A of the Fairy Tale dress.

 I adapted the pants pocket parts (from Melly Sews Clean Slate Pants) as I needed right angles in the corners of the skirt front.

 I then used those new patterns I made to add side pockets to the front skirt piece.

 Next, I added 3 box pleats to the front of the skirt (I kept it gathered in the back of the skirt as shown in the Fairy Tale Dress).

 I finished the pockets according to the pants pattern instructions. And I also added one silver shank button on one pocket, the button is non-functional, purely for decoration only.

 I had some charcoal gray wool leftover from a previous sewing project for the collar & waist details.

On the peter pan collar I added bias tape trim in the charcoal gray. To do this I made my own bias tape by using a 1 inch bias tape maker. I just wanted to add that I later had another idea for achieving the same look for the collar: the double collar method.

 One reason to do a knock off is to save money, for materials it cost me about $19 to make this dress, saving me about $189!

 As you may have noticed I ended up later adding a 2nd silver shank button to the other front pocket. This was done by my daughter's request, she likes symmetry, but it totally made sense since I bought the buttons in a package of 2 and the other button would have just been sitting around unused.

 I must admit that I am not a huge fan of sewing in (dreaded) set-in sleeves, but these tulip sleeves were a dream!

A warning about this dress pattern and one of the reasons it is given a difficulty rating of 3 out of 4 scissors is that it is very time consuming to sew ~ it's all those wonderful details.

 In the designer's (Liesl Gibson) words, referring to the Fairy Tale Dress Pattern: "I’ve seen dresses like this in boutiques with some giant price tags attached. Find yourself a gorgeous fabric and have fun with this one! People won’t believe it when you tell them you made it yourself."

My daughter has already gotten many compliments on her Gabriella dress knock-off, she loves it, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out, too, so it's a mega hit!

If you don't already own the Fairy Tale Dress pattern, then I highly recommend you buying it. I have already used the bodice pattern when I sewed the Purpledicular Dress and plan to use it for many more future dresses :)

If you like Oliver+S patterns you may also like some of my previous posts:
:: purple Russian nesting doll lazy days skirt
:: 3 lazy days skirts
:: pink ruffled halter
:: music box jumper
:: tutu
:: white eyelet ruffled halter
:: floral art smock
:: Russian nesting doll art smock
:: mittens
:: school photo dress
:: 5 lazy days skirts
:: sail boat pants

PS the modeled photos were taken at the American Swedish Institute (in Minneapolis, Minnesota) decorated for a Nordic Christmas.

Patchwork Blazer Tutorial

 Patchwork Blazer Tutorial (this was part of a look I created here)

This is for a boy's blazer size 8.

Supplies needed:
:: 3/4 yard of 2 different gray wool suiting fabrics
:: rotary cutter
:: quilting ruler
:: cutting mat
:: your favorite blazer pattern (I used Melly Sews Basic Blazer)
:: piping (optional if you would like to add piping along the edges of both the lapels)

Instructions:
Cut 4 inch strips out of both gray wool suiting fabrics.

 Make 2 sections of fabric that are exactly the same. Take half the 4 inch strips of each color, with 1/2 inch seam allowances sew the strips together, alternating the grays, so you end of with stripes. Iron down all the seams in the same direction & topstitch seams down.
Repeat this for the second half of the strips.

 Cut 4 inch strips out of the striped fabric.

 With 1/2 inch seam allowances, sew the new strips together, lining them up so that in the end it is a checkerboard pattern. Iron down all the seams in the same direction & topstitch the seams down.

 In the end you will have 2 sections of fabric that will be 8 squares by 15 squares (each square will be 3 inches by 3 inches).

 Cut out your blazer pattern pieces.

 Follow the pattern instructions & sew the blazer together. If you are going to add piping to the lapels I suggest basting them to the lapel first before sewing the lapel pieces together.

Those are my tips and tricks for sewing your own patchwork blazer.

Happy sewing !

Lingonberry Headband Tutorial

 Lingonberry Headband Tutorial (this was part of a look I created here)

Supplies needed:
:: 6.5"X2" green wool felt
:: several red ball buttons
:: thin elastic store bought headband
:: red thread
:: hand sewing needle
:: disappearing ink marker

 Instructions:
:: First with paper and pencil, draw your pattern, creating a leafy design with a heart shape at each end. Do this within a rectangle that is 6.5"X2"

 :: With disappearing ink marker, trace your pattern on to the green felt.

 :: With scissors, cut out your green leafy design.

 :: With hand sewing needle and red thread sew each red button through the green felt and the headband (make sure to made nice big knots and sew each button on separately this will prevent each button from popping off as the headband does get stretched a bit each time it is put on).

 All done !

Enjoy wearing your new lingonberry headband.

Holiday 12 Ideas House

 {this is not my house}

Are you ready for another tour of the Bachman's Ideas House? If you'd like, you can visit some from the past: Spring 10, Summer 10, Holiday 10, Spring 11, Summer 11, Holiday 11, Spring 12 and Fall 12.

This house was built in the early 1920's and for Holiday 2012 it was decorated with an alpine chic theme. A glamorous take on the rustic lodge with a mix of deep, natural tones and textures like wood, fur and antlers accented by a glitzy twist on traditional holiday colors and patterns.... “cozy, up-north cabin meets big city bling”. Nearly every item is priced for sale.... enjoy the photo tour...

In the porch, saddlebag as planter

 In the living room, coffee table made from a wooden wagon & layered tree rounds

 End tables made from stacked luggage & glass top

 Wall embellished with hand-panted grandfather clock outline

 Christmas tree topped with feathers & antlers

 Christmas presents wrapped with fur & burlap ribbon with ornament accents

 In the sunroom, vintage wooden toolbox used as wine holder

 In the dining room, decorative bark panels on wall

 birch candles

 In the kitchen, chandelier decorated with kitchen utensils & dishtowels

 workbench as kitchen island

 oversized vintage metal sign used as recipe magnet board

 In the bathroom, toilet paper holder made from a mailbox

 In the girl's bedroom, headboard made from a cabinet & table, chandelier made from painted & deconstructed plastic water bottles, wall covered with furry blankets

 wall calendar made of clear bulb ornaments filled with candy

 hose reel as tinsel Christmas tree base

 In the boy's bedroom, headboard made from a basketball backboard & rope lighting, basketball rim mounted to wall as nightstand, pillow made from referee shirt

 basketball cage turned into a desk, basketball halves turned into lamps, graph chalkboards hung from metal rulers as wall art

 media unit made from vintage lockers

 In the den, vintage trunk as coffee table

 salvaged wood & oversized black & white photo turned into wall-mounted TV cabinet, vintage snowshoes & birch logs as wall sconces

 metalworker's cabinet as bookshelves

 birch poles as valances with pinecone finials

 In the master bedroom, vintage arched window as headboard, lamps filled with holiday ornaments

 dresser top covered in sheet music

 hand painted family tree with hanging frame ornaments

 birdcage as ceiling lamp

 jewelry holder made from vintage retail key tag fixture

 A theme throughout the house white knitted decorated items...

 basket

 vases

 candles

 Christmas ball ornament

 mug

I hope you get a chance to visit this Holiday 2012 Ideas House (there are so many more ideas to see than are in these photos), it's open until December 16th, 2012 . And if you cannot make it to Minneapolis, Minnesota to tour the house in person, I hope you can get some inspiration from this photo tour.

PS Sounds like the Ideas House will be continuing in 2013 (Spring, Fall and Holiday) as they have been so successful, so hopefully I can offer another photo tour in May :)