August 9, 2012

High Low, High Low! It's Off to Play I Go! Dress Tutorial

Well, I am not that big a fan of the current high-low hem lines buuuut I thought it would look cute on Cailey. ;) So, here it is! The High Low, High Low! It's Off to Play I Go Dress! ;)

This dress was very easy and very fast. I started it this morning and between running errands and normal day to day stuff I managed to finish it and write this tutorial! LOL







As you can see, Colin decided to photo bomb. LOL And I spelled it wrong on my picture.... Fantastic.... LOL That's what happens when you are trying to fix pictures while one or more people are yelling MOOOOOOOOOMYYYYYYYYY!!!!! MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMYYYYY!! LOL









What I used-

About 2/3 yard for the bodice

Just over 1/2 yard for the skirt

One button

Small piece of 1/4" elastic

1/2 package of bias tape

Ball point needle for the knit



Step 1 -























I measured Cailey's chest while she took a deep breath. ;) It measured 24" so on the fold I cut the bodice width at 7".

I cut the neckline and the arm hole. Then I cut a deep curve at the bottom. I sort of eyeballed all of that but you can definitely measure your child. I think I am just getting used to her measurements! LOL



Step 2 -













Take the front bodice piece that you just cut and use it as a guide to cut the back.

I cut the back neckline without as much curve and I cut the bottom of the back bodice without as deep a curve.

Cut a little notch in the back for the button area. ;)



Step 3 -





I cut the knit for the skirt at 29" wide and 24" long.



Step 4 -





Next I cut the curve in the bottom of the skirt. This I just went with instinct and eyeballing. There's probably a MUCH better way to do this.... I just didn't stop and think of one. ;) LOL



Step 5 -





Pin the shoulders, right sides together and sew them. I use a finishing stitch first and then a straight stitch. I know, I know.... It's backwards but that's the way I like to do it! ;)

Press your seams!!



Step 6-





Next, pin the sides, right sides together. Sew the seams and press to one side. :)



Step 7 -





Next, open up your bias tape, pin it around the armholes and stitch it on! Press!!

Now, this is not exactly the "right" way to do bias tape but I have never had an issue doing it this way and it is MUCH fast!!!



Step 8 -









Next, open up the bias tape, pin it around the neckline and down into the cutout for the button. Stitch it on and press!!



Step 9 -





Now, place your button and sew it on.



Step 10 -











I cut about 2" of the 1/4" elastic and attached it to the inside of the back neckline directly across from the button. :) It's so small that I didn't bother with a zigzag stitch and just used a straight stitch.



Step 11 -





Next, run 2 sets of gathering stitches at the top of the skirt.

To do a gathering stitch on my machine, I set both stitch setting to the highest numbers and run a straight stitch, pulling back slightly.



Step 12 -





Now, turn your bodice inside out. Insert the skirt part so that the right sides of the bodice and skirt are touching. You are going to pin the bottom of the bodice to the top of the skirt, adjusting the gathers as needed. Make sure that the open part of the skirt is dead center of the back of the bodice and slightly overlap the ends.

Now, sew them together!



Step 13 -





Now, pin the sides of the skirt part together and sew the seam!



Step 14 -





Turn the dress right side out and use your seam ripper to remove those gathering stitches that are showing! ;)



Now, you can finish it by hemming or do as I did and leave it alone. I like the natural look of unhemmed knits. :)



ALLLLLLL DONE!!!! Wasn't that fast and easy???













And Colin is photo bombing again! LOL



As always, I would LOVE to know if you make this!!!!

Was this easy to follow???



OH!! Don't forget to enter the CONTEST!!!!!



27 comments:

  1. This is adorable.. I love the knit fabric at the top.. so pretty. and Cailey looks adorable..
    What little brother do you know, that wouldn't HAVE to get in on the photo shoot?? what ever way he can,.lol..
    Loved the tutorial.. I may get some knit and try it out on one or more of my grandkids. thanks for sharing.ps easy to follow. Is your sewing machine doing better.. Looking good.

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  2. THANK YOU, Judy!!
    ROFL!! Yep, he always has to try!! LOL But if I WANT to take a picture of him he runs off! LOL
    Yes, thank you! My machine is SOOOO much better now. SHEW!!!! It's so nice to have it working properly! KNOCK ON WOOD! ;)

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  3. I love this! So pretty!
    Thanks for stopping by http://earning-my-cape.blogspot.com
    I am now following you via Bloglovin'. :-)

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  4. AWW!!! THANK YOU!!!!!! :)
    I have actually been thinking about it. And it's definitely something I want to do!! LOL
    THANK YOU, AGAIN!!!!!

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  5. Adorable!! Thanks for joining the Keep Calm and Link Up party! Hope to see you there again next week!
    Barbara @ Chase the Star

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  6. wow such an awesome job! You're very talented. Thanks so much for linking this up to our Weekend Wonders party. We hope to see you again on Thursday. Have a great week!

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  7. I think it's safe to say that anything you make is going to look adoreable on Cailey... that girl could wear a garbage bag and be gorgeous still.

    I do love the dress though! My C would wear it too if it came in her size!

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  8. So cute. Another great project. Thanks for sharing at the All Star Block Party.

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  9. Great project Stacy, you make it look so simple......maybe I'm getting closer to actually sewing, that sure would be great! Thanks for sharing on Craft schooling sunday!

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  10. Thank you SO much!!!!
    Oh!! I hope you are getting closer to sewing!!! Fingers crossed!!

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  11. Hi there! I just wanted to let you know I featured you on Blissful and Domestic today. Stop by and check it out:>

    http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/2012/08/10-fashionable-fabric-projects.html

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  12. YAY!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH, Danielle!!! :)

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  13. If I could give you just a piece of advice on the gathering. If you will do your gathering within the seam allowance (closer to the edge of your fabric), then you will not have to pick out those stitches because they will not show on your garment. Additionally, If you open up your bias tape and pin edge of tape to edge of garment and then sew in the fold, fold and pin the bias tape to the inside of the garment and hand sew a blind stitch, the finish of your bindings will look much more polished. Otherwise, your idea is really cute, and if I had a granddaughter, I would make one similar. :)

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  14. Thank you very much for your advice!
    I am unable to hand sew much of anything which is one reason why I do it the way I do.
    Gathers and I are still getting to know one another. LOL But I am getting better so there's definitely hope! ;)

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  15. :) Also, on the gathering, another easy way to do it is to lay a thread down on the edge of your fabric and do a WIDE LONG zigzag stitch over that thread. You can pull to gather the fabric and make sure your gathering is even throughout the length of the area you are gathering. There is also a gathering foot that can be purchased for your machine. I have one, but actually prefer the zigzag over a thread method. Regarding the blindstitch, if you are not familiar with this, I'm pretty sure you could find tutorial videos on youtube using the keyword blindstitch. I'm sure once you learn to do this, you will really like it and like how your finish work turns out.

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  16. Thank you, Tania! I have heard about the zigzag over the thread and I almost used it the other day! LOL I definitely need to look into getting a gathering foot.

    Is there a way to do blind stitching on a machine? I guess I could Google that... LOL

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  17. Yes there is. Your iron will be your friend. Make a tiny fold at the edge of the fabric you want to hem and steam press all the way around. Determine the width of your hem and press that in all the way around. now fold up so the upper edge of your hem is folded against the garment--right sides together with the wrong side against your ironing board. Lightly press-no steam. Then you are ready for the machine. If your machine has a hem stitch use that. if not set to a LONG NARROW ZIGZAG. Set the edge of your fabric so that the upper folded edge of the hem is right under the CENTER of the needle. You are set. You should barely catch just a little bit of your fabric layers in the stitch and the other side of the stitch should not be on the fabric. Go slowly so you can control the fabric going through the feeddogs. Overlap your stitches when you come to the end so you do not have to backstitch. Then back to your iron and board and press the hem down. This time, use steam. :) Hope this is clear for you. If you have any more questions, please facebook friend me. I'm on there as Tania Lynn Petry.

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  18. Forgot to add that if it makes you feel more secure, pin your hem in every few inches. Pin vertically, not horizontally the way you did your bias tape. Pinning vertically will hold the fabric in place with a little more stability than pinning the other way. :)

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  19. THANK YOU!!! I am definitely going to try that out!!!!

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  20. Oh, I was just used to seeing my grandmothers pin that way and go into the habit of doing it that way myself.

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  21. […] 4 - High Low, High Low! It’s Off to Play I Go! – August 9, 2012 – 3,423 views […]

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