Hour #2

1. laying out pattern pieces: I think laying out pattern pieces to use the least amount of fabric is a lost art. I am certainly no good at it. And I find many new patterns I buy don’t even include a layout diagram!  Oliver + S does of course. I tend to use freezer paper for my patterns so I don’t have to pin anything. This photo is right before I ironed all the pattern pieces down. And right after I took this picture I thought, “wait! I should really make a muslin.”

2. making a muslin: this photo should be titled “trying to sew a muslin while carrying on a conversation with a 3 year old (about snacktime) and a 6 year old (about what a muslin is) simultaneously.” The title explains why the darts are on the outside and why one shoulder seam is right and the other so wrong.  It did fit–it may not look like it in the photo, but trust me it fit.

3. cutting the fabric: now this took me the whole hour. Every piece up there is double (either folded in half or two pieces stacked on top of each other).  This is how 6 yards of fabric comes together to make one little dress!

The fairy tale dress (view B) is mostly one color, but the collar and bow can be a contrasting color. Well, obviously you can do whatever you like, but two fabrics are suggested (and it’s a good suggestion). I was going to find a sweet floral print for the second fabric, but then I discovered this vintage sheet in my fabric stash. White swiss dot for the main fabric and multi color polka dot for the contrasting fabric? I mean come on! It’s perfect!

Kid’s Clothes Week has started! We will be featuring beautiful handmade clothes everyday on the kcw blog. There are already some lovely things to see on day one!  In the past, I’ve tried to have a new garment to show you each day, but this time I’m going to do something a bit different.

We like to talk about the process, but tend to only show the finished product. The finished part is pretty, the seam ripping and the swearing not so much. I wanted to take this week to break down a project into all its parts. Kid’s Clothes Week says to take an hour each day to focus on making kid’s clothes, so each post this week will be how I spent that hour. And by sheer luck I chose a project that took me a little over 7 hours.

Hour #1 :

1. printing out the pattern: I’m using the Fairy Tale Dress pattern by Oliver + S. This is my first pattern by them (I know, I know) and I chose it because I wanted something complex but totally clear. Also, my daughter’s first communion is at the end of kcw and she need a dress for the occasion. It’s true  Oliver + S patterns are expensive, but when I saw this beautiful dress on flickr made with the same pattern I knew the pattern would be used for years to come.

I purchased the pdf version of the pattern because none of the shops in my area had it in stock (and I didn’t plan ahead). Instead of printing and taping all the millions of pages together, I sent the pdf to my local print shop. They printed it out on one giant ream of paper. It was slightly more expensive than I hoped ($12) but it also saved me a ton of time. I was in and out of the shop in 5 minutes.

2. tracing the pattern: I could have just cut it out, but that seemed too wasteful. I’m starting to warm up to tracing patterns. Armed with a hot cup of coffee, I might even say I enjoy it.

3. ironing fabric: ironing on the other hand, not so enjoyable. For a size 7, the fairy tale dress pattern requires almost 6 yards of fabric. Crazy, right?! I was lucky to hit Joann’s on a 50% off sale day. The main fabric is a pretty swiss dot ($4/yard), the contrasting fabric (for the collar and bow) is a sheet I got at the thrift store long ago, and the lining is simple white shirting ($3/yard). I wanted to do it in eyelet, but I had no idea eyelet was $20/yard! I love the fabrics I ended up using, but they wrinkle easily. The ironing took me at least an hour if not more!

Stay tuned tomorrow for hour #2. It will be riveting, I’m sure!