Tuesday, May 1, 2012

More Little Lisettes

I'm so delighted that I got these dresses (Little Lisette 2063) finished - thanks to KCWC. It doesn't seem much, after a week of sewing, but a few 'inconveniences' such as not enough fabric, and cutting pieces out incorrectly caused some delays!

The pink dress is for my just-turned-6 year old niece, who told me her favourite colours were pink, purple (no surprise!) and orange. My daughter loves spending time with her, so enjoyed helping me decide on fabric. My niece has blue eyes and light brown hair, so I wasn't sure if pink was her colour, so the neck binding has some blue stripes which I hope will help.

The neckline binding is a lovely detail on this pattern, and is explained very clearly, especially how neatly the ends are finished.

The buttons are on the opposite sides of the dresses because of a mistake I made in cutting out the bodice pieces for the white dress. It was almost a disaster as I had no more fabric left, so lots of alternative thinking was needed. If I hadn't added lining to the dresses, it might have been much more difficult to fix!

 

The inside, lined with a very lightweight cotton. I flat-felled all the side seams, as well as the ruffle seams so the dresses would be comfortable to wear.

 

 

 

My favourite part, the ribbons which hide the seam allowance of the ruffles. 3 of the ribbons are Farbenmix, and I have forgotten where I bought the one with pink elephants. My daughter picked these out, I think they're her favourite part too.

 

The white fabric is a Hilco cotton from Dotsnstripes, and, if I remember correctly, the polka dot is a Stenzo from Volksfaden

As I only had 1 metre of each of these fabrics, I had to cut the lower 2 ruffles as rectangles instead of curved like the pattern piece. These were cut a few inches wider than the pattern pieces. I also cut the underdress wider at the lower hem, which make the dress more twirly.

 

My daughter had a lot of fun trying these on. This is, she told me, her 'funky dance'!??

 

And the twirling picture .....

 

I really thought all the ruffles would get the better of me, but once I got started they weren't so bad. As I have no ruffler foot, and always get tangled in all the thread from the other methods, I use a method described in Simon Henry's book The Little Best Dress. It just involves pinning the fabric to be gathered in even sections to the smaller piece, and then sewing the seam while pushing the fabric under the foot with a seam ripper, or large needle. It takes a little practice to get the gathers even, but works!

The white floral dress is for my daughter to wear to another niece's First Communion in a week, but the weather is so cold here at the moment, I may just need to sew her a warmer dress!

 

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18 comments:

  1. so cute!!!! need the good weather now

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    1. Thank you, Juliette. We really do need to see some sun!

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  2. These are adorable! Perfect twirling dresses. If the weather stays miserable (it's been horribly rainy here in London) maybe she could wear it with a little cardigan?

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    1. Thanks Karin. Your weather must be exactly the same as ours :-( I think a cardigan will be needed, and probably leggings if it stays so cold.

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  3. They are lovely, lovely dresses, and even the inside seams make me sigh in hushed admiration.

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    1. Thanks, Mise, and you have a wonderful way with words :-)

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  4. Those are so great! I love how you used the ribbons. Beautiful.

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    1. Hello Sarah, thanks for stopping by. I had planned on using binding, but didn't have any that matched. I'm glad I thought of using the ribbons.

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  5. Lovely dresses! I'm always in awe of what a great job you do with finishing. Not an ugly, exposed seam in sight!

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    1. Thanks Cindy. The finishing can take lots of extra time, but is always worth it, I think.

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  6. Lovely seam finishes and I love how you used the ribbons too, smart!

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    1. Hello Shelly. thank you. The ribbons are very much loved by my daughter too.

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  7. Very cute! And I want to try that ruffle method. It sounds quick and practical.

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    1. Hello Zina. Definitely give the method a try, I don't dread ruffles or gathering so much since I've started doing it like this. Just make sure you pin the fabric into small sections about 2 inches.

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  8. Ho, I love these dresses, really pretty! I'm also getting ready now for sewing summer dresses for my girls....

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    1. Thanks Michal :-) I'll be looking forward to seeing what you make for your girls.

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  9. Wow those dresses are SO CUTE !!!! lovely. you pick some great fabrics. I haven't stopped by here to your blog in ages, so I see you made a Minoru jacket. I pattern tested that and the sleeves were a bit slim, I though also. Yours is very nice and that sounds like a lot of work to waterproof it. I just pattern tested a new Sewaholic pattern, can't say yet what it is but I highly recommend.
    Happy Spring to you, Beth

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  10. Hello Beth :-) Thanks for the compliment about the fabric. interesting to hear of your experience with the Minoru, I'm looking forward to seeing what the new pattern is.

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