Dress Set Sewing Tutorials

Scarlet Ruffled Dress Set Tutorial: iCandy Handmade at Kojo Designs

Finding dress sewing tutorials is pretty easy on internet. Almost every sewing blog published them sometime or the other. However, finding tutorials for the complete outfit can get a little tricky.
With that in mind I compiled some tutorials which have not just the dress, but also matching accessories, bloomers etc. Here is my hub for dress set sewing tutorials.

Work in progress

Based on the A-Line Dress Free Pattern here.

A-Line Dress Free Pattern

 Here is a mini tutorial to sew an easy and comfy A-line Dress. It will be a wardrobe staple in the warmer weather. My monkey likes hers very much and would wear it every day if I let her.

Level: Confident Beginner
Time: 2 Hours
Pattern:

Download the A-line Knit Dress Pattern in 3 years size here. Print on 8x11.5 inch paper.

Set the margins to 0. Print and join with tape at the overlap area on page 1.
Print 2 copies of each page and tape page 1 and 2 together on both of them. Cut the upper neckline on the first one. This will become the back of the dress. Cut the lower neckline on the second set. This will become the front of the dress.

Seam Allowance: 3/8 inch unless otherwise specified

Material: One XL or bigger sized Tshirt.( both Men's /Women's would work)

Construction:

Fold the Tshirt/Fabric in half and cut both front and back pieces of the dress using the upper neckline. Now remove one of the pieces and cut the front neckline using the lower neckline on the pattern. While cutting take care to A) cut such that the bottom of dress falls on the hemline of the tank top or Tshirt you are using. B) Keep both the layers aligned if they have stripes or any other symmetrical print.

Sew along the shoulders and the sides ( right sides together)

Bind the neck and armholes using Tshirt neck binding tutorial.

There you have it! The simple knit dress your daughter would want to live in...this summer.

Sewing tutorials Roundup: Pretty Pillows to Sew

Coastal Cruiser Pillow Sewing Tutorial by Tula Pink

I did a Sew For Home month in March on my other blog Sew Pretty Sew Free. Before that I had a vague idea that there are maybe a couple of cute pillows sewing tutorials in the blogosphere, but when I started researching sew for home tutorials I was blown away by the gorgeous pillows that were popping up in the form of sewing tutorials with an alarming regularity. So many that my daily sewing tutorials on Sew Pretty Sew Free became a roundup of tutorials whenever I featured pillows there. I just had to compile them into a Top 10 Pillow Sewing Tutorials Hub just to document so many cute tutorials somewhere.

I have tried to focus on different techniques and ideas in this hub rather than just showcasing pretty pillows with similar techniques. So take a look and let me know if I did well. If you have some good pillow tutorials hiding in your mailbox, be good, share them with all of us.

Sewing Kids Clothes: Basic Skirts

Here is my latest tutorial on Clothworks Blog. I show you how to sew a basic skirt and then add a little twist on it. Get the tutorial for sewing basic skirt over at Clothworks Blog.

Tutorial on Sewing Tulip Hem

Tulip hem is being seen a lot in the dresses these days, especially for women. Its an easy way to add some interest to a pattern with a simple bodice. It also gives more coverage while allowing ease of movement that dresses lack sometimes. I thought I will share how to sew tulip hem in a separate tutorial.

Level: Beginner
Time: 15 - 30 mins for just the skirt
Materials: For kids up to 5 years we could make a decent tulip hem skirt in half yard, for kids  5 - 10 years 1 yard would be a good amount to begin with.
Ric-Rac - 1.5 yards (optional)
Sewing margins: 
Hemline : 1/4 inch
Top edge: 3/8 inch
Pattern:
Pattern free/self drafted


Construction:

With the half yard fabric place it such that its shorter ends align.

Cut out an arc on both layers. For my skirt I cut out an arc of 8 inches x 6 inches. The rule of thumb I followed was to begin the arc at about two-third of both length and width.

Turn the fabric inside 1/4 inch or as little as you can. Turning only a narrow margin will ensure that you don't get waves or gathers around the curved part.

If you want to finish it with a ric-rac, sew the ric-rac on the right side, otherwise just fold it one more time and sew, and you will have a finished hem. For the ric-rac, try to keep your needle in the center of the ric-rac but don't worry if all your stitches don't catch ric-rac. That is normal because of the wavy shape of ric-rac. In the picture above we left the ric-rac ends unfinished because this end will be sewn to the bodice anyway.

If you chose to finish with ric-rac in the earlier step, now you fold the ric-rac on the inside such that half of it is peeking on the outside. Now sew a seam as close to the edge as possible on the right side. This will keep the ric-rac firmly pressed on the inside.

Now sew a seam along the unfinished edge with the longest stitch size, do not back stitch. Pull the thread gently to gather the skirt to match the size of bodice.

Now petal skirts are usually stitched as wrap skirts, meaning the two ends of the skirt are open and overlapping. In that case you don't need to gather the part that will get overlapped as much. In the case of the dress shown above, you can see that the right front side of the skirt is overlapped by the left front. So it will be helpful if you keep the gathers in the right side minimum and try to gather the left end more.

And that is all there to make a tulip hem, easy peasy!

Latest Sewing Project: Tulip Dress

I'm here, and I have been sewing... but I'm trying to take better pictures of my projects. It was my new year resolution to get better at this whole photography business.

 That means taking pictures in sunlight and that means unnecessary delay for people like me who are out of home most of the day. But I have finally been able to take some pics ( go me!) - on manual ( yaay!).

Although these aren't the greatest pictures, at least I understand the meaning ( and effect) of ISO now.

By the way, the dress above is a kimono style wrap dress with a tulip hem. I tried to make it a little mismatched on purpose. Though I'm not sure about it now...I have to try and leave my comfort zone often to experiment. Yep! Another new year resolution.