She's Gone Country (PR&P Week 3 Challenge)

Since I'm on a roll and sewing up a storm I figured I'd challenge myself and sew something for PR&P's week 3 challenge.  The theme for week 3 is details so I decided to try making pintucks and design a dress for the baby.  I did have more than one "make it work" moment with this dress...originally it was going to be all seersucker and have pearl snaps.  I should have known that since seersucker is textured that the pintucks wouldn't really show but I learned the hard way.  I didn't want to re-cut a new dress, so I looked through my stash and found some scraps of chambray that I could use for the front bodice. I thought if I used the chambray and added pearl snaps that I could make a cute western dress, but I couldn't get the pearl snaps to stay when I tried to attach them.  Luckily I did have some regular snaps on hand to use...I sure wish the pearl ones would have worked!  I added a little eyelet ruffle to make flutter sleeves since I thought it looked so plain without the pearl snaps.

The dress was made using the Lucy Dress Pattern by Owly Baby.  This pattern was super easy and a snap to sew.  I really want to make some more of these little dresses, they look so darn cute!  Also, since this pattern includes instructions on how to make the dress reversible, the possibilities are endless!

The inspiration for my dress came from this blouse by Lauren Moffatt and this dress by Madchen (which is also by Lauren Moffatt):

                                                                              Source: laurenmoffatt.net via Ashley on Pinterest

 

                                                                         Source: anthropologie.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I liked the off center placket and the pintuck details with the snap closure.  The Lucy Dress pattern doesn't include pintucks in it's pattern so I took a short cut and added pintucks to my fabric before I cut it.  I got the idea from the new fabric collection, Rick Rack and Ribbons, by Robert Kaufman.  It all worked out just fine after I figured out that I needed to use a smaller twin needle and adjust the tension on my machine.  As for the snaps, I only put them at the top of the dress so the baby has room to move around (just in case she's not walking by the time she wears the dress).

p.s. - Bonus points if you know where the title of this post is from!
   

Riley Blake Chevron Challenge (PR&P Week 2)

I managed to finish my project for the PR&P week one challenge and I was overjoyed at the wonderful response my Starry Night dress received!!!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left a comment, it really meant a lot to me!

For PR&P week two, the Riley Blake Chevron Challenge, I hadn't planned to participate because I didn't actually own any Riley Blake fabric from the chevron collection (and I was trying to avoid buying more fabric).  However after talking to my husband about the challenge, he was very supportive of me participating and he even gave me some feedback on my sketches.  Which almost never happens...most of the time I get a blank look when I start talking about sewing.

After throwing around a few ideas I decided that I'd participate in the challenge!  So with less than a week left, I contacted every fabric store within 50 miles of me (that are listed on the Riley Blake website as vendors) to try and locate some chevron print fabric.  Most of the stores around me were sold out and there was no way I'd be able to get an online order by the time I needed it...I was almost in despair until I called Beverly's.  Their website didn't list any Riley Blake chevron fabric but they were my last hope and to my surprise they actually had some!  I rushed over to Beverly's right after work and bought 2 yards of fabric and when I got to the counter I found out that the fabric was 50% off...score!!!

I made a little dress, size 12 months, for our baby girl who is supposed to make her appearance in July 2013.  The dress was based off this pattern but I made a few changes to the design and added some topstitching details with silver thread.  I really love this gray glitter fabric that I found at Joann Fabrics, I'm sure I'll find more projects to use it for.  I also made a matching chevron print headband (but I should have made the bow bigger).

p.s. - Happy 2nd Birthday to my son, Nik!!!  

Just in case you're wondering how I find time to sew...the truth is that I do my projects while I'm making dinner.  Which means I multitask like nobody's business and only get about 15-20 mins of sewing time in a day.          

Art Inspired

...So there's this blog that I've been following for a few years now, called Project Run and Play.  If you haven't heard of it, I recommend you check it out!  They have so many creative bloggers that compete.  During the last two years I've hoped to join in the sew-a-long competition but I never managed to finish my project by the deadline, until now.

Currently Project Run and Play is hosting an All-Star competition and the first week's challenge is to create an art inspired piece. I may have been a bit literal with their theme but I like the way the dress came out.  I wanted to focus on the main parts of Van Gogh's painting, which are the swirls, the cypress and the moon/stars.

The dress was made using this pattern and with some supplies from my stash.  I'm hoping to participate in a few other PR&P challenges, let's hope I have the time!

Starry Night Inspired Dress

I'm not sure if you can see but I used gold thread to make
swirls for the stars and brown thread to define some parts of the cypress.

Project Run and Play Pattern Remix

I adore Project Runway, it's one of the few shows that my husband actually likes to watch with me.  I find it funny when he critiques the designers, "That's hideous, gross."  We both have very different tastes.

While reading one of the blogs I follow I discovered Project Run and Play, I thought it was a cute idea, especially because I need to start sewing things for my little man (I feel so bad that I haven't made him any clothes like I had hoped to do).  This "season" on Project Run and Play they are hosting audience contests, so the folks at home can sew along and win prizes.  For week 1 the challenge is pattern remix, here is the original pattern:

My remix: