Coral Lace and Blue Jersey Dress

Since I have become one with this certain style of dress, I decided to go ahead and make another one! This time, I wanted to make a better neckline than the white lace dress. I decided to sew the fabrics together to create a substantial neckline and you know what...it worked! Here is what I did...

I found some vibrant blue and coral fabrics. Now from the picture the blue looks dull...but its not! I originally found the blue and wanted to find blue lace to go over it, but found the coral instead. I thought it would be a great idea so I tried it :)

I went for the same style and concept as the last 2 dresses I have done. I mimicked the white lace dress, but went for a better neckline. I cut out my bottom pieces (front and back for each fabric) and my top pieces (front and back for each fabric). I also cheated a bit and used the selvage edge of each fabric as my bottom so I would not have to finish the bottom of the dress! :)

I wanted a better neckline, so I put the outside of the lace to the inside of the blue fabric and sewed together the neckline and above the shoulders. Then I flipped the lace over so the outside would be over the outside of the blue fabric (I did this for the front and back pieces). Then I ironed the seams down good. Next, I put the front and back top pieces together and put lace to lace and sewed down one side of the top under the armhole. Then I flipped it right side out and ironed the seam again. 

I completed this dress rather quickly and forgot to take some pictures! After sewing the top (one side), I sewed down one side of the bottom (the same side as the top). Then (with the dress attached by one side all the way down), I sewed the top and bottom together in the middle. I ironed the seam and then added the elastic in the middle. I used a bigger zig-zag this time, which means I used a smaller number on the sewing machine. My straight stitch is a 2 and my tension is usually 3. With the white dress I though the larger the number the better the zig-zag...but it made them smaller. So, this time, I made the number smaller and got a larger zig-zag. I measured the elastic by putting it around my waist where I wanted it and subtracting 3 inches. Then after sewing the middle to death...I finished up the other side of the dress and over the shoulders. Remember to iron over all of your seams so they will lay down better.

Below is the dress with and without a belt. I like it better without and have worn it twice so far! I love this dress! I will say, I did not measure just about at all for this one and it almost bit me in the you know what! It barely fit! Luckily, the blue jersey is very stretchy and even though the lace was not a stretch lace it did stretch a bit and fits great now. I have even washed it and it still fits good!

I hope the brevity of these posts will show how easy it can be to whip up a dress or skirt! I am going to venture out of the comfort zone and make a shirt or two here soon. I hope you enjoyed this post!

Happy Sewing :)

April

Empire waist black and stripped dress

A while back I bought some really cute stripped fabric. Well, since I had a 4 day weekend for the 4th of July, I decided to get some projects done. Here is my fabric I used:

I used about 3/4 of a yard for the skirt and about half a yard for the top. I used the outline of my white lace dress I made for the neck cutouts and arm holes, as you can see from my drawing on the fabric. I made a small slit in the back piece to create a keyhole and added a button. I didn't have to do this, but it just added to the dress. I determined how long I wanted my top part to be based on where I would want to wear a belt with this dress. For me, that was 12 to 16 inches. I made the empire portion of the bottom part of the dress 4 inches, so I made the bottom of the top 16 inches from top to bottom of the black fabric. I knew I would use about an inch on the top and bottom, so the actual black section is about 14 inches in length. I made sure to finish around the neck and arm holes.

 

Then, I sewed the to top pieces together only where the fabric would be above my shoulders. Remember, outside facing together to sew the shoulders so the seam is on the inside!

The next picture shows you the keyhole I made and the button and elastic I added. The button is green, even though you can't tell from the picture.

Below is the bottom half of the dress. I created the faux empire waist at the top and measured where I wanted the top to hit me and added an inch. I wanted to make sure it fit just right when I added my top pieces. I finished off the bottom with a 4 inch seam. Then, I sewed up both sides (all the way up one and 3/4 of the way up the other). I would be adding a zipper so I needed one side open. I measured from the bottom of the black fabric (since I sewed the shoulder parts together I went ahead and put it over my head and measured down from there) and determined the length of the bottom of the dress.

Then I added the top pieces to the bottom piece and created small darts in the front on both sides. I also finished up the sides under the arms of the black piece. Below, I show the zipper. I used a whole zipper and incorporated it into both fabrics. This wasn't too bad, but make sure when you do this that you reinforce your fabric if it is thin. My black fabric was very thin and not real sturdy under the arm with the zipper, so I sewed up and down a few times to give it some support. I think I did pretty good lining up the seams for the zipper :) Remember with a zipper to sew over the zipper below where your fabric will stop the zipper just in case there is ever a need to stop it from going farther later.

Once the zipper was in place, I poured myself into the dress and from there, there was no turning back! But, alas...it FIT! Here I am with my little one...she wanted to pose too! I have it here without the belt, and below that with the belt.

Once I was completely satisfied, I went ahead and cut off the excess fabric on the inside of the skirt portion of this dress. I wanted to make sure I had the measurements right (since I didn't do much measuring) before I took any extra away.

I hope you enjoyed this project! I think I am getting pretty good at this shape of dress...

Happy Sewing! 

April