"Eggplant Purple Retro Reproduction Dress" or "How I Stash Bust"

Once again I've made a Retro Reproduction dress!  Surprise! Surprise!  This is another circle pocket version made up in corduroy.  The length of corduroy was left over from a project last year and I didn't have enough length to cut out the front and back of the dress so I slashed the front across the breast and added piping.  This is a great way to eek out another dress from a small or odd shaped piece of fabric.  

The piping and bias tape are me-made and are the reverse side of black and white striped fabric.  I started to use the right side but didn't like how sharp the contrast was, when I turned the fabric over I realized the stripes appeared to be gray which I loved.  This is one of the sewing tricks I like to use when I'm not 100% satisfied with a fabric in my stash, I just turn it over and see if I like the reverse side or "wrong" side better.

 I'm thinking that the next iteration of this dress might just have to have some gather or pleats on the center front under that slash line...  The bottom is bias tape finished and that adds a little extra length that this growing tidbit needs.

 You may notice those awful bug bites on little girl's arms and legs - those are from the massive amount of mosquitoes in our back yard.  We have battled and battled those darn critters but they are the meanest mosquitoes I've encountered.  They care nothing about any kind of "gentle" kid friendly repellent.  Hopefully they will subside soon when the weather cools.  

I just had to include this picture of little bit bending down, it really puts me in the mind of Eloise Wilkin drawings.  Her illustrations are always my favorite.  Well, here's to one more Retro Reproduction dress to transition into fall, I'll say it again, its such a quick make that its really sew little trouble to add pockets and bias tape.

Bubble Pockets Pattern and Tutorial

Back in July, I used the Retro Reproduction pattern to make a corduroy jumper for my daughter.  To change it up a little I added bright "bubble" pockets:  large pockets that had an exposed lining and were gathered at the bottom, and were accented by piping.  After reading lots of positive feedback (thank you!), it seems that many of you would like to be able to add bubble pockets to your Retro Reproduction dresses as well-- so here's the pattern and tutorial.

Click here for the pattern.

Just as a note, I only drafted one size bubble pocket, and it was originally used on the size 4 Retro Reproduction dress.  Since the pockets don't affect the fit of the dress at all, they can really be any size you'd like.  So to make the pockets larger or smaller, simply change the scale when you print the pattern pieces.

So without further ado...

Bubble Pocket Tutorial 
The pockets should be added to the Retro Reproduction Dress before the side seams are sewn together

1.  Print and cut out the patten pieces.   For each pocket you will need one pocket lining and two pocket exteriors.  For the lining: fold your fabric with wrong sides together.  Place pattern piece on top of the two layers, pin, and cut.  Now you should have two pieces, mirror images, for the left and right pockets.
For the exterior:   Fold your fabric with wrong sides together. Place the pattern piece on top of the two layers, pin, and cut.  Repeat for the pieces for the second pocket.  You should have four exterior pieces, two sets of mirror images. 
Be sure to cut the notches in the exterior pieces, this is where your gathering stitches will go (see step 2). 

2.  On the top edge of the pocket lining, fold over 1/2 inch towards the wrong side and press.

3.  On both exterior pieces use a gathering stitch and sew between the notches, 1/4" from the edge.  Do not gather the stitches yet.

4.  Next prepare your piping. At one end of the piping, pull the cord out approximately 1/2 inch, and then clip the cord.  This will allow you to tuck the piping into the seam allowances later on.

5.   With the right side of the fabric up, line up the unfinished edge of the piping with the unfinished straight edge of the exterior piece.  The end of the cord that you clipped should be inside the casing.  This end should line up with the end of the straight edge, with the empty casing extending beyond the fabric. 

 

6. Baste the piping to the exterior pocket piece.  Using the stitch lines on the piping as a guide, sew as close to the cording as you can without stitching on it.

7.  With ride sides together, pin the two pieces of the exterior pocket together.  Make sure the side with the piping is on top.  The piping will now be sandwiched between the two pieces.  Sew the two pieces together, stitching on top of the basting stitches.  This will allow you to sew as closely as possible to the piping without seeing it.

8.  Open the two pieces, fold so that the wrong sides are together, and press. 

9.  Pull the gathering stitches on both the top and bottom pieces so that the exterior pieces fit the curve of the lining.  The straight edge of the exterior pieces should run diagonally through the lining, meeting at the opposite corners.  On the top corner, tuck the piping casing behind the lining.  Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, baste from the top right corner all the way around to the bottom left corner.

10.  Prepare the piping by again pulling out the cording and cutting off approximately 1/2 inch.   Line up the piping with the top right corner, with the empty casing extending beyond the top of the fabric .  With unfinished edges aligned, pin the piping along the entire curved edge of the pocket.  Baste.

11.  On the front of your Retro Reproduction dress, mark along the side seam where you want your pocket to be placed.  Pin the unfinished straight edge of the pocket along the side seam of the dress.  Baste.  Turn the edges of the piping and pocket to the wrong side, so that the seam allowance is in-between the pocket and dress, and just the piping is exposed.  Pin.

12.   Starting at the top inside corner, top stitch along the folded top edge of the pocket, and then "stitch in the ditch" between the pocket and the piping. 

And you're done!  When you sew the front and back of the dress together the raw edges of the pocket will be enclosed in the seam allowance. 

We'd love to see what you're creating with the Retro Reproduction pattern!  So feel free to link up your creations to our flickr page, found here.

Fall Retro Reproduction Dress and Aster Cardigan

The Retro Reproduction Dress FREE Pattern is available here.

By now, if you follow this blog, you know that we have a great free dress pattern we call the Retro Reproduction Dress.  This outfit for my two-year-old is another iteration of this pattern with added half circle pockets and the Aster cardigan from Willow & Co. patterns.  Fall is just around the corner and the sun is starting to cast those nostalgic shadows while the leaves are just giving hints at the colors to come.  So I felt the urge to make something that will transition in Little Bit's wardrobe into the next season.  

The Retro Reproduction is made up in some medium weight denim from my stash.  The hemline is finished with bias tape for a bit of extra length (this girl is getting tall).  The pockets are half circles finished with me-made gingham bias tape.  Since this dress is only made of four pattern pieces making additions like these pockets feels like no burden- in fact I usually still have time and energy to add a little something extra to this dress since it is so simple.  I envision Little Bit wearing it with golden yellow leggings this fall when there is a chill in the air!

Now on to the cardigan.  This cardigan was in fact made from the most homely turtleneck one could ever behold.  It was a bit worn and sad but I just love that cranberry color for fall so it was destined to be reborn into this cardigan.  If ever I hope to save a knit garment I sometimes use the "wrong" side of the fabric as my new "right" side so that any pilling or fading is inside the new garment.  The bias tape used as flat piping here is some gingham cotton and I simply basted it to the collar before stitching the collar together.  The buttons are sewn on and instead of using buttonholes I used snaps.  The pattern has instructions for buttons and buttonholes but my fabric was too bulky to fit under my buttonhole foot.  

This worked fine for me and probably is better anyway since buttonholes on knits can sometimes look wonky and stretch out over time.  The pattern was good to work with and knits always sew up so fast.  This is a size two for my two-year-old so the sizing seems right.  I think I may lengthen the sleeves this winter so that she can wear them when its colder but this length is perfect for putting on top of all those sleeveless summer clothes that she still fits into right now.  

I really love fall colors and love the way that both of these pieces came together.  I have been trying desperately to pare down my stash fabrics and making clothes for my two-year-old is perfect for pieces that are too small for adult clothing like this denim.  

This is just the beginning of my fall sewing (my favorite time of the year) and fall colors are my very favorite colors to coordinate.  I have lots of plans for some of my fall looking quilting cottons, I definitely think a few more iterations of the Retro Reproduction dress are on the docket.  If any of you are interested in a tutorial for these pockets let me know and I may add that to the bill this fall, until then, happy sewing!

Linking up to Frontier Dreams Keep Calm and Craft On.

Retro Reproduction Dress: Corduroy & Pockets

The Retro Reproduction Dress FREE Pattern is available here.
The pattern and tutorial for the Bubble Pockets are available here

Today was our cool-weather day for the week (82 degrees today, compared to upper 90's the rest of the week!), so it seemed like an appropriate day to try out a Fall outfit.  Last winter I bought some corduroy  on clearance at Joann's with the intention of making a cute jumper for my daughter-- which, of course, I never did.  But now with the Retro Reproduction pattern available I have no more excuses-- it's easy, quick, versatile, and you can do so much with it (come on, that was a great sales pitch!  Are you sold on it yet?  And did we mention that the pattern is free?!)

Anyway, the Retro Reproduction dress makes a GREAT corduroy jumper to wear with a long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings.  Perfect for those cooler months.  For this version I decided to add bubble pockets (I'm not sure if that's really a thing, but it seems like it should be) with an exposed lining and piping.

 

These pockets are perfect for a three year-old:  they are just the right size for all the little figurines that she loves to carry around. 

And despite the summer weather, we did test it out with the long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings.

So what do you think?  Is there enough interest to have these pockets as an add-on to the pattern? Are there other variations you'd like to see?  We'd love to hear your feedback!

Diagonal Color Blockin'

This dress may be the only thing I get done for this week's Kids Clothes Week challenge.  Its a diagonally slashed version of our Free Retro Reproduction Dress pattern.  I made some tweaks to give the dress a little different feel like bias tape finishing the hemline which let it be a little lower than originally designed, putting two buttons on each closure instead of one and of course the diagonal slashes with inserts.  I fudged the top around the neckline a bit making the point where everything comes together not quite sharp enough but I can live with it.

 We're hoping to have tutorial up for this version soon.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to explain it and or make it work for any of you who are wondering.  Its one of those things that is simple to do but might be a little confusing for a new sewist.

The blue fabric is some kind of poly-cotton chambray that was given to me and the floral is from a vintage bed sheet.  One thing I love about this version of our pattern is that it can highlight small pieces of fabric, so if you have a remnant that's languishing in your stash and just can't figure out what to do with it this might be the pattern for you!  Personally I am ALWAYS trying to find ways to use up those odd lengths leftover from other projects.

So we have been tweaking this pattern and playing with variations (Hanni has another cute one in the works) and wonder, what might you try with this pattern?  Do you have any ideas for how you might like to see it altered?  We are open to suggestions and have plans to make it in some Fall friendly fabrics as well!

Sometimes our "photo shoots" take a weeee bit of bribery and I'm not sure anything says summer quite like an orange creamsicle, a bubble mower and sidewalk chalk- did I say a weeee bit maybe a smidge more than a weeeee bit- ha!  But his little bit is getting good at having her clothes photographed at one point she realized I was taking a picture of the front of her dress and after a moment's pause turned around so I could get a shot of the back of the dress- HA HA.  She knows the drill I guess!  Happy summer sewing and I hope your projects end with an orange creamsicle like ours did!  

Our Favorite Sundress and Retro Reproduction Dress

Update:  the free pattern of the Retro Reproduction dress can now be found here

I know a pattern is a "keeper" when my daughter wants an exact replica of a dress she wore the summer before...that is the case with this red polka dot and floral sundress.  Last summer I made Simplicity 2469 out of this same floral/fruity fabric and a different red polka dot.  She wore it constantly and it has quickly become her "go-to" sundress this year as well.  We pair it with these shorts and we are good to go!

This is really a tried and true pattern for us.  I also made one in Crafty Chloe fabric by Heather Ross.  I haven't seen this fabric line featured anywhere on sewing blogs but it is super cute and based on an illustrated character drawn by Heather Ross.  You can see below the Simplicity pattern made up in Crafty Chloe fabric.  If you want to know more about the Crafty Chloe character go here.  Its an adorable blog with crafting ideas for kids.  We have this book in the collection and really enjoy it.  

It warms my little Mommy heart when I get a request for an exact replica of a dress I've sewn before and its also great when the pattern is at hand and I have yardage left over from the first time I made it!  

Now on to Bitty Girl's dress (below).  This is the dress that I'm now calling the Retro Reproduction dress since I copied it from a vintage dress that both of my children have worn.

In my last post about this dress I said it really lends itself to applique and you can see that here.  The whale applique is from an old crafting book I have and its hard to distinguish but I added water spouting from the top of it with black stitching.

Again I LOVE this shape on tiny ones, their little legs sticking out and bloomers peaking out...Love it.

I said in my last post that I would try to offer this as a free pattern and I still plan on doing that, I've got the original scanned into the computer and now to clean it up and create a pattern that is easy to use!!  It will happen soon, its just that most of the time going out for ice cream, playing in fountains and in general nurturing little human beings comes first!  Plus this week my youngest is turning two!! Two!- I tell you, so hard to fathom how the days are long but the years are short!  

So tell me, exactly how interested are some of you in making this pattern, any ideas for what you'd like to applique on the front of it?  My hope is to offer it before mid-August.  Starting with sizes 2T and 3T (with Hanni's help of course-right Hanni!?).  

Linking up to Frontier Dreams: Keep Calm and Craft On.