Marine dress

Before I start, Happy Diwali to my lovely friends. Today's festival of light marks a new year, and even more fabulous one for all you people ahead.

Inspired by the super cute purple dress by Crissi (next post below), I decided to finally do my own little official dress. I'd never did a proper cut out dress. It was always taking the easy way out, attaching some fabric to a stretchy material for the boob part. I thought I should grow up and embark on the real stuff. So, no pattern in mind or hand, I drew out a simple tank for the top, double layered the inside and out so I'll get nice flat seams. The secret is to snip the curve areas. The bottom is no secret, just a long rectangle. 2 rows of 1 inch wide elastic holds the center part together.

I'm partial towards marine styles, so 2 rows of white grosgrain ribbon trims the bottom. ;+) Love how it turned out, fits great. No zipper coz it can be pulled over. Easy. 7 hours of easy, that is. Now I wanna make some more. Certainly more rewarding than buying one off the shelves.

I leave you with a lovely song.

The St Paddy's Day Top

I looked in my closet and there was nothing green! 'Cept for an old grass green tank & a flutter cami, I was out of cute green! Nothing else to do but to whip one up. I didn't want to get pinched on St. Paddy's Day. LOL Besides, I want to fit in when I meet a Leprechaun. ;+)



The design is relatively similar to the Babydoll dress I made earlier.

The top portion is from an old navy tee, cut about 6" across from the bottom. It depends on how "thick" you want the top panel to be. I find 6" works for me.

I used cotton gingham for the bottom panel. You'll need your hip measurements, add 5" for the gathering effect & 1" for seam allowance. In my case, I cut out one long rectangle and stitch up only one side, which sits on the center back. You can choose to cute 2 rectangles & stitch up both sides. Fold up 1/2" twice of the bottom raw seam & sew across. You can choose to add ruffles if you like. I think I might do that later. ;+)

My pockets are about 7" square. If you have leftover from your tee, cut 2" strips & add them to the top of the pocket for interest. I added some cotton lace as well. To place the pockets, place your rectangle tube flat out. Measure 1.5" from side and bottom & pin your left pocket on for sewing. Do the same for the right one.

The tough part is to fix the top & bottom panel plus the elastic all together. You'll need a piece of elastic that will sit comfy around your under bust & stitch the ends together first. I find that the elastic stretches out a little after sewing so I usually make sure its a bit snug on the under-bust, not tight though. Put the top panel into the bottom panel, good sides together. Find the center of each section, pin the top & panel bottom together.

When you've pinned at least 8 sides, use the same method, add the elastic on. This stage can be trying & annoying, but keep going knowing your top will be cute! Have a drink or take a BREAK if you need!

When you're all done pinning, go to your sewing machine, pick the longest stitch, start at the side seam. Stretch both front & back while sewing. Go slow. I went 2 rounds to make sure everything is nice and tight. Flip it around, you're almost done!

If you like to have shoulder straps, cut 13" by 8" for 2 strips, fold lengthwise, good sides together, sew up the sides, flip it inside out and iron flat. Measure your favorite top's shoulder straps if you don't know how long it should be. You can choose to add ruffles to the sides or add lace, ribbons, etc. Its good to wear your top at this time and find out where you want your strap to sit. mine was 3.5" from the side. For the back placement, you want to place it a little angled and inner than the front placement. This will ensure the strap sits nicely on your shoulders.

You're almost done here! I added small white buttons for fun but you can do anything else! ;+) I'm already thinking of doing yellow summer tops & of course, pink ones! :D

DIY Tuesday: Polkadots Babydoll Top

Made a new top! Actually I made it last week and had already worn it twice & had gone thru the vigorous washing machine process. hehe Thought I'll save this for a slow blogging day. ;+) I really was in need of something new for my blah wardrobe as mentioned. I hardly get to shop for clothing these days, not to mention the mass-production quality leaves me nauseous. Ugh. Anyhoo, I had this super cute classic polkadots fabric hanging around for a while, actually planned for a cute bubble-hem dress but thought I'll try a top first, besides, I needed it right away! Instant gratification can be pretty satisfying sometimes! And how easy was this top & pretty cute on too! If you got a tee, some fabric, a sewing machine & some 1/8" elastic, you're good to go. Instructions below!



1) First, take a well-fitted tee, draw a straight chalk line across the bottom very near to the seam, cut off the bottom band, and measure about 7inches up, draw another line across. Make sure this band fits your bust line and its not too loose.

2) Cut the band out and fold over & iron about 1/2 inch on the top to form the top hem ready for the elastic.

3)Take your 1/8" elastic, go around yourself above your bust, make sure it fits snug, add an inch & cut. Sew the elastic together with an zigzag stitch.

4) Sew the elastic around the top hem you made on the t-shirt band earlier. To do that, watch this episode of Threadbanger. You'll need to pin the joined elastic portion to the back of the top hem, the other side to the other half. Stretch and sew along the elastic with a zigzag stitch.

5) Take out your fabric for the bottom portion. Depending on how wide/comfy you wish the bottom to flare out, you'll need to adjust. A good way to measure is your hip measurement, adding 10-20 inches in order to have that babydoll effect. My polkadot fabric is pure cotton which doesn't stretch so I added a couple more inches for luck. If you're using another tee, and prefer your bottom not to flare out too much, add about 5 inches to your hip measurement. The length depends on your favourite top/preference. Don't worry if its too short/long. If its too short, you can always add lace! If its too long, simply cut, leaving enough room for a bottom hem. I left 3 inches for the bottom hem since it adds a bit of weight and boxy style. :+)

6) Fold your fabric in half and sew down one side, iron open the seam. If you're super neat, you can fold both seams and sew down both sides to secure it. I simply cut both sides with pinking shears and they've been good.

7) Put the top Tee band into the bottom piece, right sides together, back seam to back seam. If you're skillful, add in the elastic (measured to your underbust comfort level) and sew them all up together. If not start with the top & bottom then add in the elastic, like the top hem of the top. If you notice, I did the bottom elastic looser than the top since I look better without the scrunched up fabric at my underbust, revealing a huge potbelly when I sit down! Its a bit more forgiving when the underbust elastic has a bit more give. ;+) Stretch and sew with a zigzag stitch and you're almost done.

8) Fold in and hem the bottom. I just went over it with a straight stitch.

9) If you like to wear it as a tube top, you can stop here! There's so many options here! I simply took out the leftover tee, measured about 6 inches and made 2 bands, pinned it on to the top elastic, stretched and sewed across with a zigzag stitch. The stretching gives it the slight ruched cuteness & it holds better when on the elastic. Of course, you'll need to wear the top and measure if the straps would fit you before sewing. If you prefer a halter, simply cut 2 long strips and sew to 2 front ends. Alternatively, use ribbon, rope, whatever you like it to be! ;+)

And you're done! Apologies for the word-only tute. Didn't expect to be writing a tute but thought you guys might wanna know the how-to. I promise when I do up my next maxi dress in the same style (soon!), I'll post the step-by-step tute with pics. Its in quite a similar style as the amazing Tee dress on Threadbanger so do hop on over if you need to!

EDIT: Tutorial!