Sewing Friends: Maegan from Foster Ramblings

Hello! I'm Maegen, and I am extremely excited to be guest posting today! I blog over at Foster Ramblings, though blog posts have been sparse during my first trimester. I have one sweet little boy, who I love to sew for, but we're hoping baby #2 is a girl, seeing as I spend so much of my time sewing dresses. 

 

I have been following Project Run and Play since season 3, and decided right away I wanted to get in on the fun. During the All-Stars season I was shocked and excited by my win with my Starry Night inspired dress.

But before the time commitment this sort of embroidery requires scares you away, today I'll actually be sharing a tutorial based on one of my other sew along looks.

That little orange gingham number in the bottom middle. The consensus has been that this dress is the favorite. My husband definitely loves it. So I'm going to share with you how I altered one of my favorite patterns to make it. 

The pattern is Sew Much Ado's Infant Peasant Dress. I love this pattern! I've probably made 20 of these adorable little dresses. But, the tiny little elastic casings for the sleeves are very time consuming. So I created an alternative sleeve. 

Alright, to start off, you'll cut out your front and back pieces in your base fabric. I used a muslin that is extremely wrinkly.

Then you'll cut out a front and back of your top fabric using only the top part of the dress pattern. The bottom of my fabric is about 8 inches up from the bottom of the pattern piece. You'll need to put a small hem in the bottom of this piece right away. 

Lastly, cut two sleeve pieces. These are just rectangles. I've had success with sleeves that are 4 X 3 1/2 inches, 4 X 4 inches, and 4 X 5 inches. I did not have success with a sleeve set that was 4 X 9 inches. Anything bigger than 5 inches stretches the neck out too far. 

Take a sleeve piece and fold it in half with right sides out. (the finished sleeve will be 2 inches long). Then pin one side to the top of your dress piece, also right sides together. 

Take your shorter dress piece and pin it on top of the sleeve and other dress piece. Right sides together. Your sleeve is sandwiched between the dress pieces.

Here's a view of the sleeve pinned in place.

And after it has been sewn. You don't need to sew down the sides of the dress at this point-- just around the armhole.

Pin the other side of your sleeve to the other two dress pieces and sew along the armhole.

It seems weird, but it should turn out. Don't be discouraged if you get things twisted. 

You'll want to repeat those steps with your other sleeve. The hardest part is sewing the last sleeve in place. One side of the dress will be hanging out from between the pieces of the other side. Like in the picture above. 

Top stitch your contrasting piece to your base piece, and the hard stuff is done! From here on out, you'll follow the original tutorial. 

 

My little model wasn't very happy for pictures at first, but after a change of diaper and a change of outfit, we got some cute shots. 

Here's Charlotte in a simplified version of the sleeve, without the lined bodice. 

Head on over to my blog for a little more information on this little blue dress.

Thanks for having me, I can't wait for next season!

Sewing Friends: Courtney from Sweeter Than Cupcakes

Hi all! I’m Courtney, and you can find me over at Sweeter Than Cupcakes. What I love most about Project Run & Play is how it pushes me to try new things. During the last season’s “It’s all in the details” week, I created the shirt below with a twisted, pleated shoulder detail.

I thought then that the twisted pleat would be fun for an applique, so today I bring you the twisted pleat flag tee perfect for the 4th of July.

To make this tee you will need a plain tee, striped fabric for the twisted pleats, and a rectangular scrap for the “stars.” Cut a rectangle of striped fabric larger than you want the final flag shape to be. You can trim things down later.

Fold the fabric wrong sides together along one of the stripes and pin.

Sew along the next stripe over.

Keep pinning and sewing stripes together until the fabric piece is all pleated. Just keep your spacing equal and leave room on each end to sew it to the shirt.

Press one side of the pleats up and the other side down. Baste along each side. Trim the rectangle to the desired size plus 1/4” all around

Turn the tee inside out and pin the right side of the striped fabric to the wrong side of the front of the tee.

Sew around the rectangle with 1/4” seam allowance.

Turn the tee right side out. Carefully pull the tee away from the striped fabric and cut it away. I cut from the center out to the corners and then trimmed along the edges.

Use Heat-n-bond to adhere the “star” fabric in the corner. This is slightly tricky because it’s not a completely flat surface, but you just need it to stick in place long enough to sew around.

Zigzag stitch around the “star” fabric.

You’re done! Now, you have a dimensional flag detail with those twisted pleats.

Come visit my blog to see my handsome nephew wearing his new shirt! Courtney http://sweeterthancupcakes.blogspot.com/

Sewing Friends: Jenn from A Jennuine Life

Hey Project Run & Play readers!  I'm Jenn from A Jennuine Life.  I am so. excited. to be joining you as a Sewing Friend - what an honor!

I have been avidly following along since the very first season.  There is always so much talent displayed in the competition and great new blogs to follow.  I had never sewn along with a season.  When I decided to try out for a spot in Season 6 even though the timing couldn't have been worse I made a deal with myself that I had to complete every challenge regardless.  I didn't make it into the competition, but I did satisfy my bargain and finished a look or looks for each week:

And I had an absolute blast!

Today I'd like to share a project I made using the skills I built while sewing along with Project Run & Play, and then put to use when I did make it onto a sewing competition - Sew-vivor hosted by Rach at Family Ever After.  I used my Sparkle, Shine, Swirl dress I completed for the signature look challenge as my audition piece.

The first round for Sew-vivor was the Emerald Challenge.  I'd had this vision of a dress with a plunging back and sash at the empire waistline for a long time.  I found this adorable green on white dotty ombre fabric from Moda's Simply Color line by V and Co. but after sewing it I decided that it wasn't "emerald" enough for the challenge.

You might have heard the term "wearable muslin" which means making your first draft dress out of fabric that you would actually wear instead of just cheap unbleached cotton.  So that's the approach I took for this dress and my "muslin" has gotten much more wear than the fancy "finished" version.

Wanna make your own?  Here's how:

I drafted my bodice using a basic sloper I've used many times and know fits well.  I adjusted the front neckline to bring it up higher to follow the line of her collarbone and the back with a gentle curve to about 3" from the bottom back.  I was shooting to have the sash about halfway between the neck and the waist and line up comfortably below the arms.  Cut bodice front and back from main and lining fabrics. 

With right sides together (RST) sew at shoulders for both front and lining.  Press seams open.

With RST, sew along neckline and arms.  Be sure to leave the side and bottom seams open.  If you prefer button loops, this would be the time to insert them into the seam at the lower back.  I used buttonholes for this one.  Clip curves, turn right sides out and press.

This is difficult to show in pictures, but with RST align the side seams outer front fabric to outer back fabric, and lining front to lining back.  Be sure to match up the seam at the armpit.  Repeat for the opposite side.

Finish the bottom edges in your preferred method.  I used my serger (I call her Nina).

Cut your skirt pieces.  For the dotty dress I had only purchased a yard of fabric, so I was able to squeak out two pieces about 2x the total bodice width x 14".  I cut one piece in half across the long edge and finished all the edges.  Sew back pieces together with RST, leaving an inch or so open at the top to line up with the bodice back opening.  Press and sew seam allowances down along the opening.  Sew front to back with RST.  Hem the bottom edge.  As my skirt was only 14" I had to do a narrow hem for this dress.  Run two lines of basting stitches within the seam allowance to gather the skirt.

With RST match and pin back edges and side seams of the skirt and the bodice front.  Pull the bobbin threads to gather the skirt until each section fits where pinned.  Spread out the gathers until they're even and then pin generously.  Sew, remove pins and press.

Pinning from the inside, match up the lining bottom edge with the skirt bottom edge and then fold down the lining so it aligns with the stitching where the skirt is attached.  Topstitch from the outside a scant 1/8" above the waist seam.

I didn't take pictures of the sash, but it was pretty straightforward.  I wanted it very simple, so I just cut a rectangle about 3.5" wide by a couple of inches longer than the chest measurement just below the arms.  Sew together leaving an opening for turning along one long edge.  Clip corners, turn and press.  Pin in place along bodice using a ruler to get it nice and straight and stitch in place about 1/8" from edge.  Add buttonholes (and sewn button loops if you're using those) and buttons.

There you are!  I hope to sew along again in upcoming seasons - maybe without the set prerequisite to finish every one this time.  If you haven't sewn along and want to try, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so!  Not only did I make some really fun outfits, I've made some great friendships with other sew along-ers!

If you'd like to see more of my sewing, crafting, DIY (or whatever else I scheme up to try), come on over to A Jennuine Life for a visit and stay a while!

Angled Bodice Inset Tutorial

Hi, I an Zoeope from Zoeeden Designs. I am a working mother with three children and I lovee!! making dresses for my girls mostly. I'm just so happy when they outgrow thier dresses, more excuse to make more. :) Thank you so much for inviting me over Project run and play.  I have been blessed by this website with all the tutorials and designs posted and I am so happy to be able to 'give' back.

I play with the basic bodice pattern a lot. I use it for pretty much everything. I just alter and use it. Used it for Dresses, Jackets, A-line dresses, different neck designs etc.
I get my dress designs mostly on-line as I don't go shopping for clothes (ha ha ). One place is pinterest, I have my own collection there now. I came across this dress one day and thought it will make a nice design for a little lady. :) So I made mine. Will show you how to alter the front bodice to get this design.

Inspiration Picture from Pinterest

Tutorial for making front bodice piece.

This was made for a three year old.

Front Bodice with grainline

Take your front bodice pattern, mark out the 'fold' and 'grainline' (this helps you position your pattern piece on the straight grain of the fabric for cutting)

Take a ruler and draw out a slant line.  Notice that the ruler is not at the tip of the fold line, if you do this, the centre piece will form a "v" which is not what I wanted.

The slant line is the pink line which is then cut.

Add your seam allowance to the two pattern pieces. 

Pieces all cut out.

Skirt here was for second dress.

Side front pinned to centre piece

Pin the two side front to the centre front piece, sew.

Front Bodice ready

This is your new front piece. Take a look at the picture and you will notice that the black (centre piece) extends down a bit at the bottom and up a bit at the shoulders. Trim. 

Note: this trimming did not affect the size of my top bodice but if you feel it might then add about 0.5" to the length of the pattern from the beginning.

Variation
The centre piece could be made into horizontal pleats for added texture/effect.
Simply get a piece of fabric three times the length of pattern piece and 1" wider than its width.
e.g bodice was 9.5" long and 9" at width. Fabric used will be 30" long and 10" wide.
Make the pleats (1" wide), Iron in place, then place pattern on top and cut.
Jess from craftiness is not optional has a similar tutorial on her site.

Skirt: Long rectangle pleated at the sides.

My shirt piece was just a long rectangle 76" long. ( I like me a full skirt !!) which is then pleated at the two sides. To get this, fold your long rectangle skirt into two. At the centre I measured 6" (inches) then did the pleats after that on the two sides leaving another 3" after that to have the same look at the back.

I then join the front bodice to the back bodice (back bodice not altered) at shoulder and sides.

Join the bodice to the skirt

Add the zip at the back.

Will not go into too much construction details, which can be found on-line.

She will not standstill for a picture, decided to use my dummy.

Extras

I always make the same thing for my girls. This time around however I wanted to try out a different design so came up with this second dress.

Thank you so much for having me, hope to visit again.

To all the wonderful ladies (and men) out there, keep designing and  God bless you. :)

Thank you Project run and play!!!