Saturday 23 May 2009

Instant gratification

A clothing crisis occurred at our house last night. DD the younger had nothing to wear on a Saturday trip to the Sunshine Coast with her sister and Dad. Growth is a wardrobe limiting event.
I prefer sewing with wovens, but have to admit that knits are fabulously fast (when all goes well). Amazingly, this tunic/dress was straightforward and problem free.

I used a probably cotton knit stripe print that was passed on to me by my Mother's quilting group. The waistband is a remnant of cotton lycra knit from Fashionista Fabrics.
My daughter is wearing this with her yoga pants made last year from Jalie 2215, also from the Fashionista Fabric cotton lycra. The pants are a little short, even after I let down the hem, but she tells me ankle length is fine! I will make her another pair once I find some suitable fabric.
The outfit is designed to unlayer as the day warms up. I am in big trouble for making her remove her coat at 6.30am, but wisely insisted on a pre-sewing agreement that she would pose for photographs, in daylight,in the finished product. I was, however, only permitted one photograph without the coat. Her is a close up of the button fastening at the bodice. These are probably not necessary to keep the neckline closed, but we like the buttons.

The last photograph is from my daughter's previous use of the pattern - Lizzie McGuire Simplicity 4568. She made the previous one herself, but is not currently interested in sewing. Maybe I should just give her a pile of fabric next time she wants a new outfit?

This time we used the biggest size, ignored the bust darts/gathers when cutting out, took in all the vertical seams a little as the fabric is knit,added a centre waistband (stretching the waistband a little at the front bodice seam to gather under the bust)and used the width of the fabric, gathered slightly, for the skirt. The bodice is lined with the same knit fabric, and the length determined by how much was left.

4 comments:

Patricia said...

Mum is a hero! Hurray for Mum!! (in case it wasn't said aloud by anyone else)
Your dd's face has changed a lot since the previous top was made.

gwensews said...

Cute dress, and beautiful young lady!

Anonymous said...

You must be the best mum ever. Simply trade sewing time for chore time! Then you can enjoy yourself and the house will be taken care of too!

Anne-Marie said...

Cutty cute that girl is ! I like this dress/tunic so much. The fabric is so versatile, you can wear that with numerous colours. Very nice