PR&P Pattern Remix: A Winter WEAR-Wolf

VOTE HERE

(*A little note about the name - no I didn't pick it for the W's!!!  My husband once asked what I would brand my clothes if I ever made a collection... my answer was 'Winter Wear'.  So when I was struggling to come up with the perfect name, he suggested a 'Winter WEAR-Wolf' with a smirk... and thus it was named!)

They sure know how to kick things off right - every season (I think) starts off with a pattern re-mix.  It is an awesome way to see how each designer views and re-interprets a pattern or idea.  Week one was one of my favorite weeks sewing along last season, so I was super excited and on pins and needles to see what would be chosen this season for our re-mixing pleasure.
When I saw that we would be doing the Party Dress from Lindsay at A Cottage Home, I experienced a gasp of delight and then a downward spiral of despair   You see, I am a pinterest junkie (well, mild addict maybe) - and this was one of the first dresses that I pinned to make for baby girl.  Woooohooo, something I already love.  But OH NO - something I already love 'just the way it is'.  It took me almost two full weeks of designing, redesigning, and designing again before I could start working on this outfit.  I went through so many different styles inspired by so many different things until my head was spinning, I couldn't see straight, and my boys had enough scrap paper to color on for months.
Finally I had to take a step back, take a deep breath, and ask myself the two questions that mean the most when I am making clothes for my kids.  1: What do I have in my stash to use or re-purpose and 2: What can they honestly get the most use out of in their wardrobe right now.

I was immediately drawn to this teal blue linen-ish fabric that I scored from my church's pile of old shephard costumes that have not seen the light of day in over a decade (and made their way into my home as I made decor and games for this years Christmas Party).  I then searched through the piles until I found a gorgeous grey linen-ish wrap skirt.  I'm a little in love with grey at the moment.  The two together immediately turned my thoughts to the arctic.

(source)

With fabric in hand, I knew immediately what I was making.  I had fallen in love with a dress for me - and it became the inspiration for baby girl. The answer to question two was a fun play dress - not a fancy holiday dress, but something she could wear anytime; and most importantly something warm enough for our NE winter weather.

I knew I would shorten the dress and that baby girl would need bloomers added - and ruffles didn't seem appropriate with this design, but the bloomers needed something to make them special... hmmm.  Well I was already inspired by the Arctic and baby girl's nursery is Little Red Riding Hood - so a Wolf it had to be.

(source)

THE MAKING:

-I started with the original pattern grading the size just slightly for my 8month old (size 12 month) daughter.  I wanted a little extra room for crawling movement and to have a shirt layered underneath so I didn't grade down as much as I would have if it was a summer frock.
-I then laid out the pattern pieces and decided where I wanted my piecing to be - I cut the pattern and created new pieces with seam allowance.

-When I attached the pieces together I then top stitched every created seam with silver thread.

-I lined the bodice using my method from the Puttin on the Ritz dress (where you leave the side seams open rather than the shoulder to turn - it is all personal preference, but this way you don't have to top stitch around your arm hole).
-The skirt was also pieced and top stitched along each seam, but I also wanted pockets - I love pockets even if baby girl has no clue what they are. So pockets went into the seams of the front panel. LOVE

-I decided to line the entire dress so that as she crawled around, showing off the inside of the garment to the world with her booty in the air, there would not be random seams staring the world in the face.
- I used the band concept of the original in the lining, this makes sure that the grey linen is really the only thing you see as she moves around.
-The lining bodice and lining skirt pieces were sewn together by hand so that there would be no visible stitching and could in theory be a reversible dress (it is of course not reversible because of the buttons only being on one side ;op)

-The buttons are stolen from an old coat and held on with elastic bands.(I find for babies, elastic can be so much easier to button than fabric loops).  These buttons are so perfect, they are a grey in the center that radiates out to black.

-The Belt is a tube of the blue fabric turned and top stitched with a loop at one end for threading the end through and then tying/knotting in an 'oh so mod' way.  I am thinking I need to make a bunch of these belts for me, so easy and a great pop to add to pieces in my wardrobe!!!

-for the bloomers, I used a Simplicity pattern and then created the piecing the same way I did for the bodice and skirt.
-I did flat feld seams on every seam since I did not plan on lining the bloomers... it is rare that I take the time to finish garments this way, but I LOVE the finished effect.

-The leg casings are made with grey bias tape to create smooth casings with no puckering in the stitching.

-The Wolf was appliqued on and created using each of the fabrics from the outfit (muzzle: cream knit, head:grey linen, pupils and nose: grey lining)

-The shirt and leggings are both made form a cream knit with one way stretch.
-They are both my own patterns drafted from other clothing baby girl owns and then adapted
- The shirt has a gentle boat neck and gathered sleeves
-All seams are serged.  All hems are serged then turned and sewn with the twin needle for a professional finish.

-The neckline of the shirt is finished with grey bias tape and a small bow (this shirt will be a staple for layering or wearing on its own)

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due:
Dress: Party Dress  by Lindsay at A Cottage Home(adapted size and added piecework, lining, pockets, etc...)
Bloomers &wolf: Simplicity 0291(adapted piecework)
Shirt: Self Drafted
Leggings: Self Drafted
Bow: Inspired by pinterest Japanese felt bow - my pattern and tutorial HERE

And more pictures!!!!!!!!

 Baby on the prowl...

 Going..... Going....

Gone!!!

I am absolutely in love with this outfit - and baby girl seemed very happy to play in it, so happy that she wouldn't stay still for a picture ;o)

Now GO VOTE - there are some amazing outfits out there so pick your favorite (and if that happens to be mine, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!)

Knocking Off J Crew: The Ruffle Dress Tutorial

This was originally posted as a part of Heidi's 'Knock off November' over at Elegance and Elephants.  Since I can't show you what I've been working on for the past few weeks until FRIDAY, I figured it was time to put this tutorial up on my own blog to kill time ;op
So here is the tutorial to make your own JCrew knock off.


JCrew Dress Knock off:
Well if you read my Dilemma Post, you know that this dress almost ended up in the 'circular filing cabinet' rather than finished.  It was never thrown across the room, but it did get left in a puddled lump for days at a time on more than one occasion.  It is NOT perfect, but I am sooooooooooooo happy that I finished it.

Theirs: $188

Mine: $0

J Crew does this weird thing where they only post front pictures of many styles and then go back weeks later and add a photo of the back.... ummmmm, great.  So I designed the dress 'back unseen', then stumbled upon the real back and scrambled to make a couple alterations so that the knock off would be as close as I could get.  (My original back had a standard high rounded neck and an invisible zipper - you can see I left out the darts - my pieces were already cut to match each other and I just didn't want to change it at the 11th hour ;op)
I made an active choice to sew down the ruffles and have them attached into the bodice.  The combination of  satin and a small size just made me feel like the ruffles would be overwhelming on baby girl unless they were somewhat tamed.  I also made the bodice an empire waist because I think this is easier for babies to wear - toddler and up I would do a standard bodice that hits at or just above the belly button.

Although baby girl did not NEED one more Christmas dress, it makes me really happy to have made something for my daughter for her first Christmas - and I made it a 12 month size so she can also wear it for Valentines day.  I've already been plotting a soft tulle version for Easter (WHAT did I just say I was going to make this thing AGAIN????? Well, tulle wont have to be roll hemmed ;op).

 

Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

 (* if you are a beginning-intermediate sewer who happens to have and love the rolled hem foot, go ahead and tackle this!  OR make it more casual and use a knit)


You will need:
-1.5 yards of Fabric for a Size 12month (or 1/2 of lining and 1 of outer fabric - I used a bridesmaid dress, so I'm guessing a bit on fabric amount)

look at that bridesmaid dress in all it's glory!!!

- metal zipper (mine is stolen from a pair of jeans)

-Basic A line dress pattern with scoop neck bodice (we'll alter it to add the front gathers)
-Template for the ruffles (you can use LBB's here, or do your own - I made my own because of the small size.  I do think a full circle would create a fuller ruffle - hindsight: 20/20 and all that.)

16 cut out ruffles - so pretty, so daunting

-Rolled Hem foot (if you don't have this: choose either a fabric that doesn't need to be hemmed, or practice doing a rolled hem by hand on a piece of curved fabric - maybe it will come naturally for you, but it didn't for me)

*I feel like the construction images I took are hard to decipher, so I made lots of diagrams ;o)
Altering the Bodice:
You will cut your lining pieces and back bodice piece as usual.  The only piece you will change is the Outer Bodice Front.

-Lay your front bodice on a piece of paper to trace
-Trace the bottom, side seam, and center (cut on fold) lines

-Now slide your pattern 1 inch away from your center line and trace the neckline and shoulder seam.
*This will give you two inches to gather at the center, if you want a fuller gather you could add 1.5 or 2 inches (just don't add too much or the bodice will have a poofy look)

- Now you will twist your pattern piece so that the shoulder seam and side seam of the arm hole match, and trace the arm hole.

Here's a look at the comparison of the two pieces and your new pattern.

*I promise, when the front is gathered, the pattern pieces will line up perfectly with one another!

Prepping the ruffles:

-Cut out all your ruffles, I cut 16 but used 15 (the extra is now a rosette accessory)

-You are going to do a rolled hem along the outter(longer) curve and the bottom straight edge.  The top you can leave raw if you are attaching it into the bodice.  If you want them to hang free like the original, hem the top edge too - ensure that your ruffles are the perfect length to end just shy of your seam allowance, the curved edge will stretch a bit just like bias. 

*I suggest cutting an extra or two that you can practice the rolled hem on - all fabrics behave differently, and the technique gets easier as you go along.

Here is a great tutorial for rolled hems - pay attention to the hand position, it made ALL the difference

Attaching the ruffles to the skirt:

What gives this skirt ruffles is that you are sewing a curved piece along a straight line

(*Seriously, go read LBB's tutorial if this condensed version doesn't make sense)

- Lay out your skirt with side seams sewn but the back left open.  You should hem your skirt at this point - it will make your life easier and you will thank me!

-Measure the top and bottom and divide by the number of ruffles you are going to attach (in my case 15: 7 in front and 8 in back, I regret only doing 7 in front because the back is so much fuller with that ONE extra ruffle)

-Mark where each ruffle will be , top and bottom.  Then connect the lines (with fabric pen or chalk)

-Sew One ruffle along each line right side down. (Your skirt should already be hemmed, start at the bottom and sew up to the waist - any overage will get evened up in the waist seam.)

*Line the edge of your fabric against the inside of the foot - 1/8 or smaller of a seam

-Iron the ruffle over so the right side is showing and then top stitch the same way you originally stitched on.

-Pin the free edge of the ruffles down, lined up with the top of the waist then baste in place.

-Trim the edges even with the skirt waist line.

Voila - ruffle skirt ;o)

Bodice Construction:

- First we need to add that cute gathered section to the outer bodice piece.

- Mark your center and measure out 1.5 inches on each side, totaling 3 inches.  

- Sew a basting line along those three inches. (don't back tack at the end)

- Pull your top thread to gather the material

-Hold it up against your lining piece to make sure the neck lines are now the same and top stitch the gathered section to hold your gathers in place

-Sew together your shoulder seams for the lining then the outer bodice

-Lay the two bodices right side together

 - Stitch around the arm holes and neck hole, but not the back seam, side seams, or bottom

- Turn the bodice right side out.  Splay the side seams open and then sew together the front and back in one straight line.

- Press Press Press

For the zipper, I chose to just baste,  turn, and press the center back edges and top stitch the zipper in place (after sewing the bodice to the skirt).  There are many other options, but this was the easiest for me to achieve the look of the original.

And there you have it, a J Crew Knock off!

*If there is anything I failed to explain, just ask...