My First Disco Dress

My First Disco Dress

I have loved the Disco Dress pattern by Ainslee Fox 

for the longest time. I finally bought it and this is my first dress.

I bought the fabric from Spotlight. It has an oriental feel to it and I just love it.

I made the size 7 and it is almost perfect for my almost 7 year old. 

It has just the right amount of growing room in it.

I love the little belt loops.

And I found the most perfect shoes to match.

Here are some photos we took on Good Friday of my daughter wearing her dress.

My daughter is such a clown.

A clown with a nice dress ;)

I Made Some Lounge Pants for My Girls

Today I made some lounge pants for my girls.

I went to the Salvos the other day and found this pink knit fabric.

It was only $1.50. I thought it would be perfect for some new jammies.

As I am not very experienced with sewing with knit fabric, I decided to take the easy way out and finish the hem with lettuce edging. That way there was no worry about stretching the hem :)

I had enough fabric left to make a couple of headbands which I added a big bow to.

My little one was getting tired right about now.

...and with tired, comes tears...

Luckily she has a great big sister who knows how to make her laugh ♥

Don't the pants look comfy ?

I used Butterick 4695 for my little one's pants.

And for my bigger girl I used the Ben & Mia pattern from Lily Bird Studio. 

I added a little extra height to the waist so I didn't have to add a separate waistband. 

I also lengthened the leg and reduced the flare slightly.

Pandora Hipster - Pattern Testing

Pandora Hipster - Pattern Testing

I had the pleasure to be chosen as a tester by 

Cloudsplitter Bags & Design for their new bag pattern -

The Pandora Hipster.

I have made a few bags in my time, but this would have to be

 the most challenging bag to date.

I struggled to understand how this bag would come together, 

but kept working at it, bit by bit.

Once completed, I couldn't be happier.

Front View

Back View

The pattern calls for 2 square D rings and a slider. 

This allows the strap to be adjustable.

My local fabric store has the smallest bag making section and only had 

1 pair of gold D rings and no sliders.

I could have ordered some online but I really wanted to make a start on this bag 

straight away so I decided to look for a bag at the Salvos 

(thrift store) that had the hardware I needed.

I found this ugly little bag with the perfect hardware.

 

It wasn't until I got home that I noticed it only had 1 D ring so I had to improvise.

I had to attach the other end of the strap to where the strap anchor would have gone.

It worked out fine :) 

I even managed to recycle the magnetic snaps from the second hand bag.

I decided to make the bag using plain material as 

most of my clothing is made from patterned fabric. 

It does , however, have a little surprise with the striped fabric on the inside.

This bag has a very professional finish and would be great for an experienced sewer.

You can buy this pattern from Etsy now!

Easter Baskets

Easter Baskets

I just wanted to show you some little bags I made up.

They turned out so cute!

Anna's Coronation Dress

Anna's Coronation Dress

My little one had been waiting her turn 

for me to sew her up an Anna costume.

She told me she wanted the Coronation dress,

and that is what she got.

This is the dress as it looked before I got the transfer on the front.

Firstly I sketched a dress, inspired by many dresses I found on Pinterest.

I had chosen some fabric that wasn't exactly like that of Anna's dress, 

but had the same tones. I think it really works.

It was a bit of a mission to work out 

the maths for the skirt but I ended up using 

10 patterned panels at 3 inch wide x desired length

20 light green panels at 1.5 inch wide x desired length

10 dark green panels at 1 inch wide x desired length.

I had originally thought to use the bodice of the 

Eden dress, the sleeves of the Simply Sweet top 

and the waistband of the Glinda dress.

In the end I found a tutorial that was so much easier 

than combining all the other patterns. 

I made the size 6 bodice for my 4 year old. 

I am glad I did because she has a bit of growing room 

and will get much more use from it.

I tried a few different options for the pattern on the front bodice

but I am so happy with my final decision.

It is done with a vinyl heat transfer. 

It is permanent and doesn't crack or fade. 

And best of all, a neighbour 2 doors away does it so I am sure 

I will be using her services again very soon :)

Needless to say, I have a very happy little girl x