Rainbow Upcycle Lego Dress - a tutorial (part B)

 I hope you enjoyed part A of the Rainbow Upcycle Lego Dress tutorial for making the skirt. Now, let's make the sleeves and neck look purty!

 At first, I thought I would just serge the sleeve edges to give them some color. Not liking the look of it, I decided, instead, to do a true upcycle and take some of the fabric from my old tee shirts and make a new neckline and new sleeves. 

First step, cut off the neckline, staying as close to the original as possible.

Next, cut off the sleeves at an angle.  

Doesn't have to be exact but I would say that mine is a 60 degree angle.  

(for you math types)

 

Save the parts. These are your pattern pieces!

 

Cut open the sleeves, as above, and lay one of them on your fabric.  I have two pieces of fabric here.  Trace about 3/8ths of an inch all the way around. I have some tools for this job but you don't need them.

 

Look at your tracing and check to see if it looks even on both sides. 

 

Fold the fabric in half, at the middle of the piece, and cut out your sleeves on the tracing. By folding them in half first, you insure they will be symmetrical. When you open them up, they will look like this.  

Serge or hem them.  I serged with my rainbow of colors.  

You can use a rolled edge or regular serged edge.

Join the two small edges and sew or serge them closed.  

What you see here is going to be the inside of my sleeves.

See, it will line up nicely when you are done. 

Pin your sleeve and tee, right sides together.

This is very important!! When you sew the sleeves to the bodice, you want to leave the middle three inches (give or take, depends on the size dress you are making) open for the shoulders.   You can see below that I did not make the purple bodice pieces meet. There are three inches left on my sleeve piece where it is not attached to the bodice.  

 

 Now, we are ready to work on the neckline. First, measure around the opening. Mine measured 23 inches around.

Next, measure the piece of neckline you removed. Cut it and lay it flat. 

Mine measured 19 inches. The rule of thumb for making a neckline from knit fabric is to use stretchy fabric with good recovery and cut it at 85% of your neckline size. 

So, .85 times 23 is 19!  Perfect.  

 

Note: recovery means how much your knit fabric will stretch back.  My old tees are pretty stretchy. I stretched the pieces a few times and they did go back to original length. Some rib knits do not. They will stretch out and stay there, which can be a major PITA. I have learned that the hard way!  You end up with a neckline that stretches out and looks wonky and doesn't lay flat. I now take my fabric and test the stretchiness before I attempt to use it for necks, cuffs, etc.  If it doesn't stretch out and back nicely, it doesn't get used. Here is an excellent blog post by One Little Minute about the types of knit fabrics. 

So, let's make a neckline! Cut your knit fabric the appropriate length by 4 inches.  4 inch width should work for any girl size 4 and up. 

For a toddler or baby, you might want to use 3 inches. 

Sew the ends together and fold in half. Iron in half.

I will now refer you to my friend Kristi's fabulous video tutorial on how to sew the binding to the neckline.  If you do not have a serger, just do a zigzag stitch instead.

 

And voila!  

One true upcycle dress, Rainbow colors, Lego Friends tee in the middle!

 

Pattern Designer Interview - Deanna from Birdsong Patterns

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1. When did you start designing patterns and how did it come about?

First, thank you for interviewing me! I am really honored and appreciative. I am a new clothing designer! I started writing PDF tutorials for hair bows, fabric flowers, and other accessories in 2010. For the past year I have been intensely studying clothing pattern design, and just released my first patterns, using knits, in May 2013.

2. What training do you have or how did you learn?

I'm a trained journalist who also minored in art in college, and worked for about 10 years as a newspaper reporter. Then I worked in public relations/marketing for another couple of years. During that time I started a hair bow business, Birdsong Bows, and sold hair accessories for 3-4 years before I decided to write tutorials. I've sewn for more than 10 years but focused on quilts and other accessories; I never enjoyed sewing the patterns from the "Big 4" designers in craft stores - they were not very user-friendly for beginners, even when the pattern claimed to be easy. Inspired by others, I decided to crack open the books and learn how to design my own patterns and write my own instructions that *would* be easy to understand.

3. What is the process of designing a new pattern like?

 

To be frank, after the initial idea, it's mostly math. For my first two patterns, I decided to go with the basics in the the Not-So-Basic Tee pattern and the Comfy-Fit Leggings pattern. Additionally, it's a lot of computer time. In 2011 I took a community college class on Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, which were very helpful - without some of these types of skills, it's hard to make a professional pattern. The fun part is the sewing and trying my designs on my two girls, where I then make changes and more changes before sending the design off to others to test them on their children.

Not-So-BasicTee pattern size 6-12

(modeled by my little girl - I tested this fabulous pattern)

 This pattern comes in toddler sizes.

You can also buy all sizes together.

4. What is the hardest part about designing a pattern in pdf form?

For me, it's the things that seem like they'd be simple - digitizing the pattern in different sizes and making sure it comes out accurately, so it's easy to print and use. Because this was my first time with clothing design, I did pay another designer to help me with that....but because I'm fiercely independent, I'm on my own next time. I didn't want to delay my pattern longer while I continued to work on this area of the finished product, and I wanted to deliver the most accurate product possible to my customers.

5. What is your favorite of your patterns and why?

 

I love every aspect of designing PDF patterns and tutorials, on some level or another. I love the "fresh idea" stage, then working on the design as an idea takes shape, and then seeing and photographing the final product after all of the time and effort spent on the details. And because I'm a writer, I do enjoy writing the instructions and tutorials for my pattern books and tutorials. It's fun for me to figure out the best way to teach someone how to accomplish each step. I don't go for concise writing as much as I go for informative writing - there's a difference, and I like to find a balance. 

Comfy-Fit Leggings pattern

Size 12mos - 12 

You can buy just the big girls pattern 

Or, just the toddler pattern

6. Do you sew for your own family or for sale? What do you prefer more, sewing or pattern design, and why?

  I love sewing for my daughters, particularly my youngest, who is still enthusiastic about everything I make for her! I like sewing and pattern design equally. I really love sewing with knits because I like their drape and ease of wear, though wovens are fun to work with because of the larger variety of prints.

7. Have you learned anything from feedback from customers that you would like to share with other designers or wanna-be designers?

My clothing patterns are new, but with my past tutorials I know that customers appreciate that they're accurate, thorough, and well-designed. For newbies: Be prepared to be detail-oriented. There's no "quick entry" into the PDF design business....and free advice goes only so far. You'll have to either take a class or set aside time and study on your own. Without an accurate, nicely presented product, customers won't return! Also, if there's something you just aren't "good enough" at yet, don't hesitate to hire it out the first few times. When you're done, make sure your final product is tested, and then give it to someone else to proofread. It's hard to catch everything yourself, and testers are often too busy "testing" to catch all of your typos or other silly mistakes.

There are many more pdfs at Deanna's Etsy store, like hairbows tutorials 

 

8. Best time and place to design?

I work from 8:30 to 2:30 during the week while my girls are in school, but as a new PDF launch deadline approaches, I also work on weekends and evenings for a couple of weeks. I do try to keep those times mostly free for my family otherwise. During the summer I work from 8-12 daily and then mostly take the afternoons off with my girls. I have a sewing "studio" in the finished portion of our basement, but I don't have an office there - I'm currently using my laptop on my dining room table, lol! 

 9. Favorite fabric of all time?

Wow, I'm not sure; my tastes change so much. I'm always drawn to a bright print, though, and I have a "thing" for paisley!

 

10. Favorite thing to do for fun?

I like dyeing fabric, quilting, and photography. I loved knitting but haven't had the time lately. The solids used in models' samples are all dyed by me, to coordinate with the prints....I like mixing colors and working with different color palettes. I guess you can say that color makes me smile! To relax and "stay young," I do yoga and pilates, and even do some running and weight training. A healthier body promotes a clearer head, at least for me!

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Note from Kathy: I tested both the leggings and top patterns. I made my oldest girl a long sleeve top and long leggings and my little girl a short sleeve ruffle top and capris. These patterns are EXTREMELY well done.  I highly recommend them for anyone new to knits.  Deanna spent a long time writing many tutorials for how to hem knits, how to choose fabrics, which stitches to use to sew, and more.  They are must-haves for anyone new to knits or not feeling comfortable with knit fabrics and sewing. You will get a ton of use out of them. I promise!

 

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There are so many wonderful new pattern designers on the horizon.  I hope you enjoyed reading about one new designer.  Next week, look for an interview with Sara Beth of Molly Blossom Design.

 

Rainbow Upcycle Lego Dress - a tutorial (part A)

  

 Last fall, I saw this tutorial over at Lil Blue Boo, for a pieced block dress, and bookmarked it. I wanted to try it!  Not the blocking, but the piecing. It is just a cute look, not something we normally do here in this house.  I like to try new techniques!  But, I didn't want to buy the pattern she sells, only because I already own so many patterns. I figured I could wing it.  And I did.  Not only did I wing it, I barely even pinned it!!  And it was almost entirely made on my serger.   This dress is that easy to make!

Here is how I did it. 

Part A -  The skirt

First, buy a tshirt or find one in your closet.  Here are two Lego Friends tees I bought, one from Zulily and one from a friend.

Next, find the fabric you want to use for the pieces.  In this case, I had a rainbow of old Hanna Andersson tees I needed to upcycle.  They have served me well for several years now but, each one having at least one stain, it was time for them to move on.  Since the fabric is just too nice to turn these into rags, into the upcycle-me bin they went!

 

Aren't they pretty? It's a rainbow!!

 

First, I went through each tee and cut off the unstained portions. You can do this with any old knit items you own. Just cut off the stained parts and keep the good parts for future sewing projects. In this case, all the tops had stains that I could not get out.

Now is the time for some math. You are going to want to figure out your total length (shoulder to where you want the skirt to fall) and then figure out where you want to cut off the tee.  The total length minus the tee length is your skirt length. 

Here are big girl's numbers:

Here are little girl's numbers:

You are going to want your skirt strips to be wider than the tee, so you can angle it A-line.  So, grownup items work great for upcycling into children's items.  My tees are wider than the girl's tees, so this was no problem for me.  If you need measurements, take the waist of your tee, laying flat, and make your strips four inches wider on both sides.   So, a 13 inch waist tee would need 21 inch-wide strips. 

Because I have five strips of fabric, I cut five 2 inch strips for the little girl's dress and  three 3" strips plus two 4" strips for the big girl's dress. Basically, take the total length you want your skirt to be and cut strips of fabric that will equal that length.  For each additional piece you add to the dress you will need to add a 1/2″ to your pattern length to account for the seams.

Now, center your tee on top of your strips, like below:

I want the skirt to be A-line, so I measure 3/8th of an inch off the edge of the tee (you want good seam allowance measurement here) and then angle my ruler a bit. Because I centered the tee, I just angle the rule to the bottom edge and both of my skirts will have the same width at the bottom.

Voila

Now, I serge the skirt pieces with wrong sides together.  Keep your skirt laid out on your work table and take one piece at a time. Make sure wrong sides are together when you serge, so the serging shows.  You can also do a rolled edge.  They both look nice and are trendy right now. 

Work carefully, so you get the serging on the correct side!  You don't need to cut anything off while serging so you can even disengage your cutter. I just used my cutting blade as a guide.

  

Here is one side, all done. Look so fun!

I used a rainbow of threads for my rainbow upcycle!

 When you get both sides of the skirt done, pin them right sides together. The photo below shows me lining up the serged edges. I wanted them to go UP, so I lined them up that way and pinned then in place. I also want each strip to match nicely at the side seam.

Use your sewing machine to sew them sides together, then serge. You can serge on outside or inside. I chose to serge on inside, like the LilBlueBoo dress.  After sides were done,  I serged the hem.  I normally do not like serged edges. They look unfinished to me. But, for this dress, it seemed fun to use this as a theme.

To finish the hem, leave a long tail on the serging. Then, use an embroidery needle to thread your serger tail back through the serged hem. That will secure it nicely.

To attach the skirt to the tee, put the tee inside the skirt, wrong sides together.  Pin it in a few places, to keep it lined up, and serge the two parts together. Make sure you remove the pins as you serge!!

And here they are again.  The girls love them. They are comfy and fun.

  

Next up, sleeves!  Look for Part B on Thursday.  

Tutorial roundup - shirring, zippers, and embellishments

Some people call me the google queen because I love to search for answers and I am pretty good at using different terms to do those searches. I think I should have studied library science, instead of elementary education, but at least now I can put my abilities to good use. I have a bank of bookmarks I am going to share with you!

Today, I am going to share tutorials on sewing zippers, shirring, piping, and beginning appliques. Be sure to bookmark them, or at least bookmark this post!

First up, shirring! I cannot say I am an expert at this but I am getting better, due in large part to these tutorials:

1. Pink Fig Designs has some lovely patterns which require shirring so she created a very nice tutorial to help.  This is my favorite shirring tutorial because it has great step-by-step photographs and instructions.

2. TaDa! Creations has a lot of wonderful tutorials.  This one on shirring is also a tutorial on making a shirred top or dress. Free pattern! Aren't they sweet?

3. Make it and love it is another blog full of great tutorials.  Her tute on shirring even has nifty graphics and a troubleshooting list.  That is very helpful if you don't get it the first time. (like me).

4.   Last, but not least, my lovely friend Kyla at Bows-n-Bugs shows how to use shirring to make ruffled shorts!

Now for zippers!  Ooooh, skeery. Seriously, they freak me out sometimes.  I would much rather do buttons! But, some patterns require them and I am learning to sew them.

1. Make it and love it again! That Ashley is so good at tutorials!  This one, on zippers, is amazing. It really helped me feel better about zippers.  I recently put one in a hoodie, for my youngest daughter, and it looks pretty good!

2. What the craft is another website full of tutorials. They have a video on how to install an invisible zipper. I love that she says to throw out the rules!  The rules often don't make sewing sense to me anyway, so this is great!  I have not tried it yet but I have been looking at this tute for a while and thinking about it!  Someday! 


So now, how about some embellishments to try?

1.  Cottage Home mama Lindsay has a wonderful, cheery blog full of ideas.  She has two tutorials on piping.  First of all, piping basics, meaning how to use store bought piping to add detail to your sewing. 

2. Then, Lindsay came up with this tutorial on how to make your own piping.

3. Her bias tape tutorial is extremely helpful! I do love bias tape!

Aren't these all great!  Look for some more tutorial roundups, real soon.

Thanks for visiting!