Sewing For Little Girls...So Much Fun!

I have so much fun sewing for the 2 little girls in my life, Julianna, age 5 and her little sister Brooklyn, and now that shirt orders have slowed down a bit, I have time to make some pretty things for them!

 Front of Ruffle Top-- washable "silk" flower accent added by me.

This top/tunic is super fast and easy to make. While I could have just looked at the photograph and drafted my own pattern, I do not think it is fair to get design inspiration from an Etsy shop, without paying the Designer/Pattern-maker for their ideas.  This pattern is called "The Double Ruffle Top", and comes as a download from the Etsy pattern shop, 
 "Little Lizard King"  (<--- link to shop)

Back of Ruffle Top-- The ties come through 2 buttonholes in the back bodice.

The pattern instructions are written for beginners (no interfacing, exposed seams). More advanced sewists will know where to use more refined techniques, and that interfacing the bodice will give a more "finished" look to this little top.

In addition to interfacing the bodice, I decided to add one of my -Washable "silk" Flowers- to the front bodice, in order to balance the bow on the back of this top. If you would like to see the tutorial I wrote about making these floral embellishments....CLICK HERE for The Washable "silk" Flower Instructions.

"Wrinkle Free" does not equal "Hassle Free"

Give me wonderfully fine Swiss Cotton Shirting any day....over shirting fabrics marked "Easy Care".

Ladies and gentlemen, it took me HOURS to sew this shirt...a design that should have taken 2 hours max.  Why?  It's made from "easy-care" aka "no wrinkle" fabric that I was foolish enough to buy during a sale when my regular shirting fabric suppliers were a little low on selection.

Can you even see that the contrast fabric is white with blue pinstripes?  Probably not, since the fabric has a strange sheen that made photography a challenge no matter what camera settings I used.

I hope my client likes it....because the only thing I didn't have to do twice on this shirt was match the checks and fuse the interfacing..those two things were easy.  The rest, like creasing folds and getting perfectly even topstitching, was a challenge.  And of course, I chose to add bias details, because gee whiz when the fabric is strange to sew with, you might as well frustrate yourself  further by placing crucial parts like the collar band and cuffs on bias, right?

Ah well..I will soothe myself today by working with some delicious Italian Shirting cotton..that's woven so finely it resists raveling. And so I will stay with "Ravel-resistant" and skip "Wrinkle Resistant" from now on.

Angled Yoke and Blue Checks too!

 
This "Angled Yoke" shirt was made from some interesting reversible fabric that I received from an unexpected source. I used the lighter side for the left front placket, yoke lining, collar stand, inner cuffs, and as an accent on the hem of the pocket.  

The best part about making it was the surprised smile on Roger's face when I told him that this shirt was for him, not a client!

SEWING NOTES--I chose to interface this shirt with "Pro-Woven Fusible Light Crisp Fusible Interfacing", an exclusive product from www.FashionSewingSupply.com.  Both collar pieces were fused, as were both the inner and outer cuffs and both pieces of the collar stand. It gave the perfect amount of support to this novelty shirting.  The white buttons are from the "Light Assortment--Designer Buttons by-the-Scoop" also from www.FashionSewingSupply.com