McCalls 6948 modified

My middle daughter was in need of a new Summer dress, and I jumped at the chance to sew one for her. She had a very specific picture in mind of what she wanted - a simple sundress with contrast yoke, waistband and hem.

She picked out the fabrics from our local fabric store, can you tell her favourite colour is blue?  The pattern I used is McCall's 6948 - my modifications included piecing the bodice with the two fabrics, lining the bodice instead of using bias tape, made the skirt shorter, added the waistband, and added the contrast hem.  It was a quick sew and she's excited that her design turned into a finished dress.

Overnight bag tutorial and GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS LORI! Hope you're enjoying your giveaway prize!

Today I have an Overnight Bag tutorial to share on the Fabri-Quilt blog, and I'm hosting a giveaway for you to make one right here!

This bag is an easy sew, using Fabri-Quilts pre-quilted fabric. They have many prints to choose from; the fabric line I selected for mine is called Who's Who featuring some sweet little owls and butterflies, perfect for my sweet little eight-year old.

So do you want to win three yards of Who's Who fabric so you can make one for yourself? I've made up a little collage of some of Fabri-Quilt's pre-quilted fabrics. Leave a comment below letting me know which one is your favourite, or suggest a project using pre-quilted fabric - I'm thinking of pencil pouches, a new cover for my serger, and a quick table topper.  Then hop on over to the Fabri-Quilt blog and leave a comment on the tutorial post for a bonus entry. Good luck!

Tween dress . . .

I have a hard time finding dresses for my twelve year that fit her properly, but are long enough in length. We googled some styles together and found one we both liked - a high/low style with lace top and knit bottom.

In my sewing room was a lace shirt waiting for an upcycle project, a piece of ponte de roma knit from Girl Charlee's boxing day sale, and the Tara Tank dress pattern from Serendipity Studio.

I went with the XXS size, and the only modifications I made were eliminating the drawstring waistband since she wanted to wear it with a belt, and taking an inch from the top of the shoulder seams to give a better fit. I used a light cotton to line the lace in the bodice, and used the plain bodice pattern piece instead of the pleated style.

She loves how comfortable is, and that it's long enough to wear without leggings. I'm loving how quick of a sew it was, and that it's age-appropriate for her. Still can't believe that I used a ladies pattern for one of my daughters (sniff, sniff) but I guess that was going to happen one day.