Bird on my Windowsill

So I got some money as a gift on my birthday a couple of months back and I used it to buy some jewelry making supplies that I had been eyeing for a while.
(I know....such a nerd)

Here's what it became....I just love wearing this cute necklace.

On another totally unrelated note: I have written a mini tutorial for the firefly dress here. I will probably add some more details about the firefly applique later, but if you're impatient like me, you could check it out now.

Sew Easy - Part 7: Carnival Dress

You can read the story behind this series and the first part here. Click here to read the second, third, fourth , fifth  and sixth edition of this series.

After having many tutorials with woven fabrics, I think its time we go back to knits and up-cycle some more T-shirts. With that in mind, I made this Carnival Dress. I named it so, because all the strips reminded me of the buntings and other festive decorations. I love how blue and yellow look so happy together. It is mostly a cut easy project, instead of sew easy. Interested in making one of your own? Lets do it.

Supplies:
2 T shirts in co-ordinating colors, same colors will also work
Basic sewing supplies - scissor, thread matching with the Tshirts

Measurements - Measure your child from shoulder to the desired length of the dress, lets call it L               Measure your child all around the chest and add 4 inches to it, then divide it all by 2. Lets call it W.
 


1. First cut one of the shirts to L length, measuring from hem upwards.  Basically we want to reuse the Tshirt hem as our dress hem. Ok?

2. Now place this on top of the other and decide how much overlap do you want between the two. And starting from bottom cut that much. So we can reuse the hem from second T as well.

3. Now insert one Tshirt into another such that their raw sides align. Look at the picture.

4 . Now start cutting 3 inches long slits, one inches apart from raw ends on all four layers.

Keep cutting until you reach W width from one end.

When you reach W, instead of cutting a slit, keep cutting upto the hem. To get a Four layered piece of length L and width W.


5.

Now start Knotting these slits with one strip from Tshirt 1 and one strip from Tshirt 2 right behind it. Pull the strips a bit while tying the knot, this will cause the fabric to bunch up a little, which will give us a little gathered look. Tie the knot one more time to secure. 

Just leave 4 sets of strips 2-3 inches apart in the center. Dont tie them, because they will become the shoulder straps of the dress.
 Keep tying the knots with the other strips at the back as well, when you reach near the center of the back, leave 2 sets of strips then tie the center strips and then again leave 2 sets of strips.




6.

This is how it will look after tying all the knots. I have knotted the front and back shoulder ties together, but I recommend doing it at the very end.




7.

Now lets sew together the side of the dress thats still open.


Pull apart both the layers, taking care not to stretch the knots too much. Now sew each layer, right sides together.
Settle them back in place.




8.

Now take a look at all the hanging strips and see if you like them as is. Maybe they need a haircut. Cut them to a length you like.
At the end, mine were about 1.5 - 2 inches long.

Neckline at the front...and the reason why I shouldn't cut my toddler's hair :D

This is how mine looked from the back, after cutting the strips to a smaller length.

9. Now sew a seam along the neckline ( and back) as close to the knots as you can get. This will help the strips stay in place.




10.

Now slip it on the child and tie the shoulder ties. This may take a couple minutes, so bribe with candy.

Enjoy your carnival dress!

Flutter Sleeves Dress from Tshirt -Sew Easy Part 2

Read the story behind this series and the first part of the series here (skirt sewing tutorial).

If you read the first part of the series, I hope you like your sewing machine / needles and thread a little more now. Last time we learned how to make a skirt out of a TShirt. This week we'll apply the same idea and make a dress. How does that sound, good? Good!

Supplies

1. Half Sleeved T Shirt - Preferably XL size
2. Elastic - 1/4 inch wide ( ~ 2 yds)
3. Safety Pin
4. Scissor
5. Ruler or measuring tape
6. Thread matching with the TShirt color
7. 3-4 cute Buttons ( optional)


Measurements:

1.

(a) Measure the child around the bust = B
(b) Measure the child around the widest part of her body ( tummy or butty ) = W
(c) Measure the length of the dress from bust to where you want the hemline to fall = L
(d) Measure the length from bust to shoulders = S

Now lets add some ease to these measurements
  (a) subtract 3 inches from B: B - 3 = B1
  (b) Add quarter of W to itself: W+0.25W = W1
  (c) L remains the same: L= L1
  (d) Add half of S to itself: S+0.5S = S1

So now B1, W1, L1, S1 are your new measurements


2.

Lay your TShirt flat. Measure its width, if its equal or greater than W1 then you are in the luck. You just need one side of the shirt to sew your dress. Go to step 3 (a ) Else go to step 3 (b)


3

(a) slit open the side seams of the Tshirt and cut it across the width just below the neckline. You will have a rectangle with you. Now cut a rectangle of
W1 X L1 from this piece, making sure that W1 side of rectangle falls on the hem of TShirt.

3 (b) Divide W1 in half: 0.5W1 = W2
      Now cut a rectangle of W2 X L1 from both sides of the Tshirt. Make sure one W2 side falls on the hemline of Tshirt.

In 3 (a) we will have only 1 seam at the back center of the dress. In 3 (b) we will have two seams one on each side of the dress. This will make step 10 different. I'll explain when we get there.


4.

Now using the TShirt hem as elastic casing, insert the elastic into it with the help of a safety pin ( This will be the neckline of the dress). Insert B1 length of elastic through the casing and secure the ends with the safety pin. At this point it will be helpful to try the whole thing on the child, just to make sure that the elastic is fitting comfortably on her bust. If its too tight or too loose, adjust accordingly and secure the ends with the pin again when you get the right fit.

5.

Now sew the L1 ends right sides together. Make sure you go over the elastic 2-3 times to secure it. This part will take the most stress while wearing and you don't want the seam to unravel.


6. Now that the main body of the dress is ready. Lets work on shoulder straps.

7.

From the sleeves of the shirt - cut a 3 inches wide strips where one end is the end of sleeve.

Cut the triangle at the seam to get a flat strip.

Cut these strips to the S1 length.

8.

Now using the sleeve hem as casing, insert elastic into it.

9. Repeat the same with the other strip



10 Attaching the shoulder straps to the main body of the dress.
If you did 3(a) :
   Position the dress such that the lengthwise seam is at the center of the back.
If you did 3(b):
  Position the dress such that both the seams are on the sides of the dress.

Now find the center of the front. Position the straps about 1.5 inches from the center of the front. Sew on the straps on the inside of the front of dress. Make sure that the raw edges of the straps are facing outwards.

Now Pull the elastic to ruffle up the shoulder straps on both sides. Make the elastic length about an inch lesser than S. Sew these on the inside of the back of dress, again 1.5 inches from the center.

Here I made a change, instead of adding the straps at 3 inches apart at the back, I added them close to each other at the center of back, to get sort of V neck at the back. You can do whichever way you like. 

Turn inside out.

Add some buttons, iron-ons or patch in the front of the dress. I added this small pinwheel, I had.

Then I didn't like it that much, so I added a ribbon bow instead.

I also used the same ribbon at the hem to give the dress some more oomph.
Put on your favorite little one, admire!

Here's another tutorial for a super easy skirt from A Girl and a Glue Gun via Sew Dang Cute.


PS: I know, I still owe you embellishment ideas for the skirt we had sewn last time. A post is coming soon on that. The long weekend trip threw off my plans a bit but I'm working on it.

PPS: I switched the earlier pics with the latest ones which are taken after I spiced up the dress a bit, hope you like them more. (I do)