Cinderella Tunic

I finally got the chance to make it to the fabric store up here and they were having an awesome sale. As we were going in, I was trying to explain to my little one that we won't be long and Mommy was trying to find some fabric to make some new clothes so she needed to be good while we were in the store. She got super excited and asked if she could have a Cinderella dress. I told her we would look at the fabric (it's usually $10/yard! eek!) but it ended up being on sale! So, she picked out her fabric and proceeded to tell every person we passed that she was getting a Cinderella dress and then would start singing a Cinderella song to them. She thinks she is the center of attention everywhere we go, and she ends up being just that. I told her I would start the dress the next day and she didn't forget that! As soon as she woke up, she took her jammies off and was tying to put the yard of fabric around her as a dress. So, I had to start the dress. She watched me the entire time and tried to help until she had to take a nap. Her nap didn't last long and Mommy still had to hem the dress. As soon as it was done, she stared at her self in the mirror for a while then was ready to show it to everyone. She's had it on the past 2 days...I think I'm going to have to make a few more. So if your little one is as crazy about "Erella" as my little one is, this a simple dress to make for them. Heck, you can make one for each day! 

Materials:

About a yard of fabric

Matching thread

A loose dress to use as a pattern

1/4" elastic and 3/8" elastic

To get started, turn the dress you're using inside out and fold it in half. Put it on the fold of your fabric, leaving a couple inches from the fold to where your dress starts. Trace around the dress, extending the neckline and bottom of skirt and leaving enough room for seam allowance around the rest of the dress and cut out 2 of these.

Once you have your pieces cut out, put right sides together and pin the shoulder seams and the side seams. Then serge or zigzag stitch your seams and press.

At this point I tried it on Aubree to make sure the armholes were large enough. That was a huge mistake! She thought her dress was done and would not take it off.

Now, get out your iron and ironing board and press the neckline over (to the wrong side of the fabric) with enough room to put 1/4" elastic and having room for stitching. You may need to notch some places to get the curve to fold over correctly. Then pin in place and stitch down, leaving at least an inch opening to get your elastic in. Then measure around the neckline of the dress you used for your pattern and cut your 1/4" elastic to that measurement plus 1 inch. Slip a safety pin on your elastic and feed it through your casing. Once it is all the way around, overlap your elastic by 1/2" and zigzag stitch together. I always go down, then reverse, then back down and tie off. Get all of your elastic back in the casing and stitch the opening closed.

Time to put the elastic waist in. Instead of making a casing; which I normally do, I cut the 3/8" elastic to my daughter's waist measurement plus 2". Overlap your elastic ends by 1/2" and zigzag stitch together the same way you did for the neckline elastic. Lay your dress out flat and mark a straight line across the waist on front and back (making sure they match up!). Now, slide your elastic band around the dress and pin on one side seam then pull the elastic and find the middle and pin that onto the other side seam. Do this again to pin equal sides of the elastic to the front middle and back middle. Once pinned down, you're going to zigzag stitch the elastic down. Sewing elastic down can be tricky, but all you have to do is pull both sides of your elastic while sewing it down. It will stretch out the elastic to sew down properly then will gather once it's stitched.

 
















Last steps are to hem the armholes and hem the bottom. Hemming the armholes can be tricky too, just notch where needed to get the fabric to lay down flat. I always serge my hemlines so I don't have to press 1/4" in then press another 1/4". If you serge it, all you need to do is serge then press over, pin and stitch. 

Now you have a fabulous Cinderella Tunic that your little one will NEVER want to take off! I made this for my daughter, but you can always use these steps to make one for you too. It doesn't have to be Cinderella fabric, but I won't judge it you want to be a pretty princess!

If you like this tutorial, feel free to share and follow me on pinterest to see all the tutorials I post at makeitlovediy 

Update on color block dress: I STILL CANNOT FIND WHAT BOX IT IS IN!!!!!! It is driving my crazy! This dang dress is almost done and I have no idea what box I put it in while packing. As soon as I find it, I will finish it and post the blog. 

  

Your Favorite Romper

This week's tutorial: a Romper! Rompers are one of my favorite pieces of clothing. They are so comfortable and a perfect piece for summer! I wanted to make myself a romper because every one I find that I like is way too short or just doesn't fit right.

For my birthday, my awesome Grandma bought me a dress form and then wanted me to pick out some fabric. My Grandma loves batiks fabric and we saw this one at Hancock's. I'm usually not a huge fan of them, but they have some awesome tribal prints and tie-dye ones now and they're 40% OFF this month! Batiks are 100% cotton and pre-washed. If you're using a fabric like this, you need to have a low neckline so you can get into your romper without tearing it. If you want a higher neckline, try using a knit or cotton t-shirt that has some stretch to it or find a poly blend with spandex in it. 

Materials:

1 1/2- 2 yards of fabric

1/2" elastic- enough for your waist

Double fold biased tape

To make a romper, you want it loose. I did mine about 2x my measurements. The least I would do is 1 1/2x your measurements. To make your pattern, use an old tank top that you like. Make sure that the top you choose for your pattern has a low enough neckline that it will be able to slip on easily. Turn it inside out and trace the armholes and neckline then angle it out to the width that you need. Your top needs to be long enough to hit your waistline (or where you want your elastic) plus seam allowance. To make the shorts pattern, use a loose pair of shorts to trace out. Turn them inside out and fold them in half, tracing around them leaving room for seam allowance. Extend the bottom of your shorts down to the length you want plus seam allowance. Then extend the top of your shorts up high enough to reach your waistline plus seam allowance and at least another 1" for your elastic casing. Extend the waistline of your shorts out to 1/2 the measurement of your bodice pattern. Make sure you have enough room from your crotch to the top of your shorts to fit comfortably. If it's too short, you'll have a perma-wedge or even worse, camel toe!

Cut out your bodice front and back and your shorts. To cut out your shorts, have your fabric folded in half and cut the pattern out twice. If you want to add pockets, cut them out too. I cut out (4) 5x7 rectangles for the pockets.

Start with your bodice and put right-sides together and zig-zag stitch or serge your seams and press. 

To sew your shorts, start with the pockets. With each quarter of your shorts, mark where you want your pockets to start on the right-side of your fabric. Keep in mind the extra inch and seam allowance we added to the top of your shorts. I measured down 6" and marked to start the pockets. Pin the right-side of each piece of pocket to the right-side of your shorts. Zig-zag stitch and press your seams.

Now to sew your shorts together. Put right-sides together (front and back) of each side of your shorts. Lining up the pockets and side seams. Pin starting at the top of your shorts, down around your pockets and down the rest of your seam. Then pin the seam under the crotch of your shorts. Zig-zag stitch or serge and press your seams.

Now, this part is a little confusing...once you've sewn up each "leg" of your shorts, turn one right-side out and put it inside the other leg so right-sides are together. Line up your crotch and pin together. Zig-zag stitch or serge and press your seams.

Now that your bodice and shorts are sewn, we need to sew them together. With your shorts turned right-side-out and your bodice turned inside out, pull your bodice over your shorts so the waistlines are together. Pin your bodice about 1" below the waistline of your shorts and zig-zag stitch together. Once they're stitched together, fold the casing down to your shorts. Pin in place and zig-zag stitch down making sure to leave enough room in your casing to push your elastic through. 

 (I forgot to take a pic of this, so here's one from the Maxi Dress from last week of how to create your casing.)

Now to put in your elastic. Measure your elastic out to the measurement of your waist minus 1". Hook a safety pin through one end and feed it through your casing. Once all the way around, overlap your elastic by at least 1/2" and zig-zag stitch together. Then finish closing your casing.

Now keep your Romper inside out and hem your shorts. Fold over 1/4" and press and another 1/4" and press, pin and stitch closed.

Last step is to finish the bodice. Like I've said before, I hate hemming necklines and armholes. That's what we have the double fold biased tape for. I pinned the biased tape to the raw edges of my neckline (I started in the middle of my "v" neckline) and when it got to where the straps should be, I measured out how long I needed my straps and continued to the back middle. Then repeated for the other side of my neckline and the same for the armholes.

Now you've finished your romper! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Sometime in the future, I want to make a structured romper, but I've never done boning before so I'll probably have a few too many mistakes before I can perfect it. Fingers crossed it will work out!

I also wanted to talk about sergers. I've had a few questions about them, so I thought I would explain exactly what they are. A serger has 4 different threads in it that basically ties up your seams. Look on the inside of your shirt. The seams that you see are what a serger creates. Sergers also have little knives on them so they can cutoff any excess fabric while sewing your seam up. Sergers make sewing garments so much faster and looks a lot cleaner. You won't have any raw or fraying edges. Another plus about a serger is that you can change the hem. On my maxi dress, instead of hemming the bottom, I used a rolled hem on the serger. A rolled hem is smaller so that you can hem the bottoms of some garments without having to fold, press, fold, press and pin.

 I love my serger! Again, I have an awesome Grandma and she bought me my serger for my birthday last year. I was just expecting a peddle foot for an old serger and she surprised me with a Janome Harmony 9102d! Hancock's tends to put Janome sergers on sale fairly often and you can find something in your budget. The only down side to a serger is that if you make a mistake, you're screwed! If you have the knife up, it will cut any excess fabric off, which sometimes you might need back. If you have the knife pulled down so you're not using it, and you make a mistake, you still have to seam rip 4 threads! It takes forever! I was making a hi-lo dress one night and was so excited that I was almost done. Just needed to sew the skirt to the bodice...I sewed it on backwards and had to rip the serged seam out to turn the skirt the correct way.

Anyways, if you want to start sewing more often, I would highly suggest getting a serger. Even though it takes 4 threads to run it, the maxi-lock thread is only $3/each with something like 3,000 yards on it. You'll use it forever! And it will make sewing garments so much nicer. 

Y'all have a great week! I don't have in mind what's going to be posted next week...there are too many things I want to make and not enough time. It usually comes down to what fabric is on sale.

Maxi Dress

Time to make a Maxi Dress! Once you see how easy these dresses are to make, you won't want to buy one again. I like maxi dresses because of their versatility. You can dress them down and be casual or dress them up. Good for any occasion! 

I wanted a super flowy maxi dress and found a great polyester fabric at Hancock's. Even better it was only $4.95 and I used a 40% off coupon! Since polyesters are synthetic, they don't breath much. You can find a cotton or knit that's a bit more breathable but with how flowy this dress is, it won't be too horrible in the summer heat.

Materials:

2-3 yards of fabric- depending how tall your are

1/2" elastic- enough for your waist

Flexi-Lace Hem Tape (optional)-used this for my straps

To start cutting out your pattern, you need to start with the skirt. If you have a maxi dress or skirt, measure the bottom to see how wide you need the skirt. You want to make sure it won't be too constricting. The first Maxi that I made, wasn't wide enough for the bottom and you can't walk great in it! I cut both panels for my skirt 27 1/2" wide. Measure from where you want your skirt to start down to the floor and add 2". Cut out your skirt. It should be 2 long rectangles.

To make the bodice, I made a pattern out of an old loose tank top. You need something that has straps to make the pattern. Turn your tank inside-out and trace your shirt leaving room for seam allowance. (As you can see, I usually make my patterns out of newspaper or tissue paper.) Measure out how long you want your bodice and add room for seam allowance. The bottom of your bodice needs to be as wide as your skirt so it will sew together properly. Since my original pattern wasn't as wide as my skirt, I had to expand it out to make it 27 1/2". I didn't want to expand the underarm because I wanted it to fit normally and be flowy towards the bottom of the bodice. There's a pic below to show you how I expanded it. I don't like hemming my bodice, so I always cut a lining out too. So, you'll have 4 pieces for your bodice.

 

 

 To sew your bodice, first start with the front of your dress and the lining. Pin right sides together and zig-zag stitch the sides together, the armholes and the neckline. Keeping the opening between armholes and neckline for your straps. Do the same with your back bodice and lining. Notch around your armholes and neckline, turn inside out and press.

Now that your lining is sewn in, put your dress bodice with right sides together, pin along the side seam and zig-zag stitch or serge and press your seams.

For my straps, I used a Flexi-Lace Hem Tape that I found at the fabric store. You can use whatever you would like. (I just really hate making biased tape to use as straps. It takes FOREVER!) Measure and cut how long you want your straps and add room for seam allowance. Hook a safety pin to the top of your strap and push it down, through one of your strap openings on the front bodice (between your armhole and neckline). Turn it inside out so you can see your strap coming through the inside. Pin your strap in place like this...

 Pin your strap the same way on the other opening of your front bodice and serge or zig-zag stitch closed. Turn right side out again. With safety pin attached to the other end of one of the straps, push down through your strap opening. Make sure your strap isn't twisted! Turn your back bodice inside out again so you can properly pin in place. Do this for the other strap. Pin and zig-zag stitch or serge closed.  Turn right side out and press your bodice.

Now to the skirt...With right sides together, pin, zig-zag stitch or serge your side seams and press. 

To attach your bodice to your skirt, turn your skirt right-side-out and your bodice inside-out. Fit your bodice over your skirt, so both waist lines are together. Since we're going to put elastic in, we have to make a casing for it. You added 2" to your skirt length for seam allowance and for the casing. Pull your bodice down your skirt enough that there's about and inch of your skirt waistline sticking out from your bodice. Once you sew your bodice to your skirt, we'll use the extra 1" to make the casing. Match up your side seams, pin and zig-zag stitch your seam. 

To make the casing, press your 1" of your skirt up to your bodice. Pin all around, matching up side seams and zig-zag stitch around, leaving an opening at the end large enough to push your elastic through.

Your elastic needs to be your waist measurement minus 1". Put a safety pin through one end of your elastic and push it through your casing. Once you get it all the way around, overlap your elastic by 1" and zig-zag stitch closed. Stitch your casing closed.

For the last step, all you need to do is hem the bottom of your dress and you're done!

I also made a shorter dress to show you...

Materials needed:

1-2 yards of fabric
1/2" elastic- enough for your waist
Biased Tape (optional)


This dress is made basically the same way, with a few changes. I made this blue one out of a 100% cotton t-shirt material. (Only $2.50/yrd on sale!)It's super stretchy and very cool. Since it's a thicker fabric than the polyester, I didn't make a lining for it....but I did add pockets! Every dress should really have pockets! I love 'em!

To start this dress, I cut out the front and back bodice. I used a different bodice top pattern for this one but you still have to angel it out for how wide you need it. This dress is 2x the size of your measurement or wherever you want the elastic to fit. I didn't cut lining out for this dress since the fabric is so thick. Put right sides together and pin your side seams and shoulder seams. Sew or serge and press your seams.

Cut your skirt the same way for the maxi, but make it as short as you want it. Remember, it needs to be the same width as the bottom of your bodice and add room for seam allowance, enough room to make your elastic casing (at least 1") and your hem. Cut it into front and back pieces, so you'll have 2 pieces for your skirt.

 To make the pockets, I cut out (4) 5x7 rectangles of fabric. I wanted my pockets to start about 5" down, but have to add another 1" to account for the casing. So, mark 6" down on either side of each of your skirt pieces. Pin your 5" side of one piece of pocket to the right side of your skirt starting at the mark you made. Repeat pinning the pockets onto the right sides of your skirt. Once pinned, zig-zag stitch and press.

Once your pieces of pockets are sewn down, put your skirt pieces with right sides together, lining up your pockets and side seams. Pin, zig-zag stitch or serge down your skirt, around your pocket and back down the rest of your skirt and press your seams.

Put your bodice and skirt together, just like for the maxi. Turn your skirt right side out and turn your bodice inside out. Place your bodice over your skirt, lining your skirt up 1" below the top of your skirt. Pin and zig-zag stitch together. Press your seam and fold your casing down over your skirt. Pin and zig-zag stitch the casing, leaving an opening to thread your elastic through. 

Use a safety pin to hook onto one end of your elastic and feed it through your casing. Your elastic should be the measurement of your waist minus 1". Once your elastic is pushed through, overlap your ends by 1/2" and zig-zag stitch together. Sew your casing closed.

Hem the bottom of your skirt. And for this dress, I used double fold biased tape to put around the armholes and neckline (since I really hate hemming round necklines and armholes). It makes it soooooo much easier! Of course, you don't have to buy it, you can always make it but it takes way too much time for me. Pin the double fold biased tape around your neckline and armholes and top stitch it down. If you haven't used biased tape, the double fold opens up and you can put your neckline and armholes in the middle so if folds over on the front and the inside of your dress.

Now you have two great dresses for Spring and Summer! Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Next week, I'll hopefully be putting up a tutorial for a romper. Go figure, I LOVE rompers! Every romper I find just doesn't fit right so I'll show you how I make them!

Have a great week!