New Dress - Freddy Style?

In Joann's recently, I saw this red & navy stripe fabric. It's some kind of rayon blend. At the time I had no idea what I'd make w/ it, but with the 4th of July around the corner, I decided on a dress - for me! I used the Lil Blue Boo Pieced Tunic pattern (this is my 4th) but used yardage instead of pieced tee shirts & scraps. Using the yardage makes for a totally different look - it looks just like something I'd buy at the store! The only modification I made to this pattern was to add a ruffle at the bottom (with the stripes switched to run vertically). I pretty much love this dress.

Keep reading, it's funny....

The cut of this dress is so flattering and I love the bouncy ruffles. Whenever I wear it, my daughters ask if I'm a princess. The ultimate compliment! Below, the racerback detail.

Pardon all the spatulas in the background - I took a cooking class last night w/some girlfriends and I was surrounded by kitchen gadgets. (The class was at Sweet Basil for Phoenix people - delicious and fun. Just eat a snack first because you don't get dinner until about 9pm = starving!)

Back to the funny stuff ...when I first showed my husband he said it looked like a Freddy Kruegger dress. WTF? No it doesn't ... but there's something about the colors and stripes that make him think of Freddy. Hmmm. For fun, I found a picture of Freddy online and made a little collage of us! ;) I only wish I'd seen Freddy's pic first because I'd probably have tried to mimic his awesome pose - with the nails!

Happy sewing / crafting everyone ... and to a nice weekend! ;) I just got my serger back (more on that later) and LOTS of knit yardage - I see a sewing weekend coming up!


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Another Shirt for Me! and Sewing Machine Discovery

I introduce you to my Lil Blue Boo Pieced Tunic No. 3! I daresay that I may be obsessed with this pattern, ok all of Ashley's patterns from Lil Blue Boo ... I love knits, her patterns are easy to follow, fit is super flattering and always comfy! And, now that I've gotten the hang of this tunic, it really is quick to sew!

I bought some Modal Spandex from this eBay store and used it for the top front & top back pieces (the pink). It's pretty slippy and a little tricky to sew, but SO WORTH IT. It really does drape beautifully and it's SO soft. When sewing the spandex to spandex, I definitely had to start at a middle point and sew out to the ends to avoid my machine "eating" it. (I don't have a serger -YET - so this was done on my regular sewing machine w/ a ball point needle).

Other than the pink spandex, I upcycled tee shirts & some jersey.

• Hog's Breath Tee from Key West circa 2001. I bought this for my then boyfriend, now husband. He never liked so I just took it back! Hog's Breath is a staple in Key West; what's he thinking?
• The gray is from an Atlantic Beach tee shirt ... I didn't get a good picture of it, but you can see a little of the words in the pic above.
• Grey / white stripe - in waistband. In a desperate move to add stripes to this tunic ... I ran to Goodwill and crossed my fingers. I came away with a ladies shirt in this grey /white stripe for $4. Sold!
• The ribbed knit for the neck and arm bands is also upcycled. Years ago, I made a MOBY wrap for myself because I couldn't see the sense in paying $50 for a long piece of knit. I no longer have a need for it, so I have started cutting into it and it's just perfect for the 'bands.'

Speaking of the neck and arm band ... if you're making these or any knit items with a neck or arm band and having some trouble, check out this video! Wow! This helped me SO MUCH in making Tunic No. 3. Being able to see someone else do it properly helped me alot. It was also incredibly helpful to see how to 'quarter' the neck band since the front is so much lower than the back. Really helped me out. The video is by Threads Magazine, which appears to be a great resource! I decided to buy the current issue @ Joann's the other night to see what it's all about - I haven't gotten to it yet, but maybe this weekend!?!

I'm still  a fan of the racerback!

=

Attempted close up shot of the quote ... this was the front of the Hog's Breath tee; flipped around and used on the back.

What about my discovery? It's a new stitch that I've discovered on my sewing machine! When I saw down to make these tunics, I decided to read up in my sewing machine manual about "stretch stitches". I tested them all and discovered that I really like this one called "slant overedge." It creates a seam AND finishes it at the same time. Since I'm sewing on a regular sewing machine (Singer Confidence), this is a big time saver. I use this stitch in lieu of a straight stitch followed by zig zagging the seams. Also, I seriously think this just looks better. It lays very flat - I liked it enough to put it on the right side in tunic no. 2 (on the back). (I really wish I'd discovered this sooner - it would have been helpful with these pieced jersey dresses with all those layers!?)

Anyway, here are the tunics in sequential order; I do love them all and wear them all! I have so much more modal spandex left (a "cosmic" silver and some pretty blue / aqua), that I'm pretty sure I'll make more. Maybe I'll take a page from Fashioned by Meg's book and switch up the pattern because how cute is her variation in this post? I love it! And, I love that bustle skirt she made (which is from a free LBB pattern). Hmmm, this is why blogging is so much fun - you never run out of inspiration!

Tunic No. 1



Tunic No. 2



Tunic No. 3 - I swear my mother taught me to put my shoulders back ... why didnt' I just do it in this pic? Grrr.

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LBB Pieced Tunics

So, Little Blue Boo published an adult pattern (woo hoo!)- and of course I bought it. I've made several Sienna dresses, love sewing with knits & repurposing items, so the new pattern was a sure bet. I LOVE how this turned out...it's pretty / comfortable / flattering; I will absolutely make more of these! As usual, the LBB Pieced Tunic Top / Dress pattern was very easy to follow with good pictures to illustrate each step.  

Here's a shot of the back; I like the racerback style.

In this LBB pieced tunic, I repurposed:

• black / white stripe: stretchy shirt from Limited
• red: old tank from Ann Taylor Loft
• chopper tee: stole from husband
• aqua: very stretch GAP tee

The only problem that I experienced was some difficulty w/ the neckline. I had to REALLY stretch and pull to make it extend to the perimeter of the actual neckline. But it worked...the pattern calls for a ribbed knit for the neck and arms, so I bought some for my next round. Because really, these are perfect summer tops, and living in the desert, one really cannot have too many tanks.

Via the LBB flickr page, I discovered Meg from Fashioned by Meg, who also made pieced several pieced tunics. Hers turned out awesome - and she provided a link to an eBay shop to purchase Modal Spandex, which is the recommended fabric for this pattern. I've already ordered 3 yards ... and while I'm out of town this weekend on a very exciting kid-free trip to visit my favorite mama to be; I suspect I'll start on the next round of tunics promptly upon my return! :)

Here's my Tunic No. 2, I'm not as in love with this one - there's just a tad too much going on here: a little too patchworky for me in the end. In my head this was going to be all funky and cool, but I got a little carried away with all the fabrics! Oh well, it didn't stop me from wearing it to the park, and then on a slew of errands. :)

This tunic is repurposed from:

• "music saved my life" tee that I wore during both pregnancies - til the end (that's HUGE!)
• orange and brown - old white tees that I dyed a while back using Rit powder (the orange was in this dress)
• stripes - shirt from the girls' closet that was too small for them
• butterfly on yellow tee - a 3-6 month appliqued tee I made for Izzie when she was teeny tiny. I hand appliqued all of these tees & tanks back then, and cannot stand to get rid of them. So, they may be popping up in clothing from time to time!
• aqua - other sleeve from the stretchy GAP tee I used in Tunic No. 1

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