No, I am not a seamstress, I am a dentist. And between my work hours I love sewing clothes for my little girl.
I learnt sewing when I was on vacation, at school, waiting for my board exam results. Mostly due to the insistence of my mother who thought it may help me out in need, partly because I wanted to kill away time and the nervousness of waiting for the dreaded results of my school exams.
The teacher was an old lady, who taught me simple basics over a period of 20 days on a rickety old machine run by one's feet!! The results were out, off I went to college for a gruelling five years of dental undergraduate studies, and the years as an intern flew by. Then marriage happened, and I had long ago forgotten the sewing machine or anything to do with it. But over 4 years ago I was blessed with a sweet little daughter.
Don't know if pregnancy changes the brain, but I suddenly found myself fascinated by little girl clothes. I would day dream about some pretty little dress and conjure up images in my mind dressing up my little one in them. After choosing a fabric and a tailor I would painstakingly make sketches and explain my piece of imagination to them. I would be greeted by a vehement shaking of the head , telling me they don't do it.
Then over her first birthday, I took the plunge and bought the most basic sewing machine of the rack, my Brother Ls-2125. Dusted out my basic knowledge of sewing, Googled up so much great information available online. Many trial and errors and 3 years of sewing I have come up with pretty good end results. Often after the 8-hour work shift you will see me sewing away like crazy, making tiny little clothes for my daughter or niece.
This simple purple frock is out a purple velvet jersey fabric and was made over say 5 hours or so.
Lets begin with some things I learned through trial and error.
- Drafting your own pattern is very simple, just use a T-shirt to draft the bodice.
- Draft your pattern on a paper or muslin if you are a beginner, saves a lot of costly fabrics from being ruined.
- Pin/ use weight as you cut or sew. Gives perfect edges.
- A serger is not necessary, just use the widest zigzag on your machine.
- Always oil and clean and use a new needle for each of your projects. Prevents you from getting stuck and frustrated in between.
- Sew on scraps of the fabric to get hang of the thread tension, before starting the project.
- Clip away loose thread and finish your inner seams as good as you can. Your end product will look like its been bought of a rack.
- Always open up a seam and iron on them before the next step. Gives a perfectly finished garment.
- Make sure that children's clothing has as minimum seams inside as possible. The technique of a lined bodice here gives perfect results each time.Here is a great tutorial on lined bodices http://www.sewalongs.com/moneta/moneta-sew-the-bodice-all-versions
And sew away.
1- Use a T shirt to draft the bodice and its lining. Leave 1/2" seam allowance when cutting.
2- Sew the front and back pieces of the bodice along the shoulder seams. Repeat with lining.
3- Iron the seam allowances along the shoulder open.
4- Place the bodice and its lining, right sides facing each other. Pin along the neck and the arm holes.
5- Sew along the neckline and arm holes. Once done snip along the seam allowances to get the right curves when turned.
6- Turn in the bodice through the shoulder straps.
7- Open up the side seams of the bodice. Sew in a straight line with the right sides of the bodice together and lining together, separately as shown.
8- The bodice is ready to be joined to the skirt. The we have the sash, zipper and the embellishments.
Well I have tried my best to document the steps that went into making this dress. Jersey is a very easy fabric, and not as difficult as imagined. Its very forgiving on the fit. And looks great if you use a double needle to get the perfect edges.
The post is turning out to be humongous. Hence there will be a Part 2, coming up on thursday.
Stay tuned.
Happy Sewing
Farz
This post has been linked to
Coloursdekor.blogspot.ae: Weekly story 3
April linky party @www.notjustahousewife.net
NOTE: You can find the Part 2 here http://colorsofourrainbow.blogspot.ae/2015/01/diy-girls-frock-story-of-purple-dress_22.html
CELEBRATIONS: We have been featured here :www.threadingmyway.com
Thank you, Pam.
I learnt sewing when I was on vacation, at school, waiting for my board exam results. Mostly due to the insistence of my mother who thought it may help me out in need, partly because I wanted to kill away time and the nervousness of waiting for the dreaded results of my school exams.
The teacher was an old lady, who taught me simple basics over a period of 20 days on a rickety old machine run by one's feet!! The results were out, off I went to college for a gruelling five years of dental undergraduate studies, and the years as an intern flew by. Then marriage happened, and I had long ago forgotten the sewing machine or anything to do with it. But over 4 years ago I was blessed with a sweet little daughter.
Don't know if pregnancy changes the brain, but I suddenly found myself fascinated by little girl clothes. I would day dream about some pretty little dress and conjure up images in my mind dressing up my little one in them. After choosing a fabric and a tailor I would painstakingly make sketches and explain my piece of imagination to them. I would be greeted by a vehement shaking of the head , telling me they don't do it.
Then over her first birthday, I took the plunge and bought the most basic sewing machine of the rack, my Brother Ls-2125. Dusted out my basic knowledge of sewing, Googled up so much great information available online. Many trial and errors and 3 years of sewing I have come up with pretty good end results. Often after the 8-hour work shift you will see me sewing away like crazy, making tiny little clothes for my daughter or niece.
 |
| My trusty old machine!! |
This simple purple frock is out a purple velvet jersey fabric and was made over say 5 hours or so.
Lets begin with some things I learned through trial and error.
- Drafting your own pattern is very simple, just use a T-shirt to draft the bodice.
- Draft your pattern on a paper or muslin if you are a beginner, saves a lot of costly fabrics from being ruined.
- Pin/ use weight as you cut or sew. Gives perfect edges.
- A serger is not necessary, just use the widest zigzag on your machine.
- Always oil and clean and use a new needle for each of your projects. Prevents you from getting stuck and frustrated in between.
- Sew on scraps of the fabric to get hang of the thread tension, before starting the project.
- Clip away loose thread and finish your inner seams as good as you can. Your end product will look like its been bought of a rack.
- Always open up a seam and iron on them before the next step. Gives a perfectly finished garment.
- Make sure that children's clothing has as minimum seams inside as possible. The technique of a lined bodice here gives perfect results each time.Here is a great tutorial on lined bodices http://www.sewalongs.com/moneta/moneta-sew-the-bodice-all-versions
And sew away.
1- Use a T shirt to draft the bodice and its lining. Leave 1/2" seam allowance when cutting.
2- Sew the front and back pieces of the bodice along the shoulder seams. Repeat with lining.
3- Iron the seam allowances along the shoulder open.
4- Place the bodice and its lining, right sides facing each other. Pin along the neck and the arm holes.
5- Sew along the neckline and arm holes. Once done snip along the seam allowances to get the right curves when turned.
6- Turn in the bodice through the shoulder straps.
7- Open up the side seams of the bodice. Sew in a straight line with the right sides of the bodice together and lining together, separately as shown.
8- The bodice is ready to be joined to the skirt. The we have the sash, zipper and the embellishments.
Well I have tried my best to document the steps that went into making this dress. Jersey is a very easy fabric, and not as difficult as imagined. Its very forgiving on the fit. And looks great if you use a double needle to get the perfect edges.
The post is turning out to be humongous. Hence there will be a Part 2, coming up on thursday.
Stay tuned.
Happy Sewing
Farz
This post has been linked to
Coloursdekor.blogspot.ae: Weekly story 3
April linky party @www.notjustahousewife.net
NOTE: You can find the Part 2 here http://colorsofourrainbow.blogspot.ae/2015/01/diy-girls-frock-story-of-purple-dress_22.html
CELEBRATIONS: We have been featured here :www.threadingmyway.com
Thank you, Pam.
You have a great blog, look forward to read more fabulous DIY projects. Thanks for stopping by my blog :)
ReplyDeleteHi Disha,
DeleteGreat to see you here. Thank you for the sweet comments. Its a motivation to hear from such a talented person as yourself. Thank you again.
Cheers!
Always great to read how sewists began their sewing journey. The first sewing machine I ever used was a treadle machine, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting this post, Pam. Yes, you are right about the sewing journey :)
DeleteStill a long way to go.
oh wow!! wow!! thats impressive!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Patricia.
Delete