DIY Couture dress, Kwik Sew skirt 3744 pattern and the end of term happenings...

I love summer sewing, the girls all break out in color and the dress and skirt patterns get taken out.

The two patterns that end up being the easiest to work through the term and allows scope for making it different is the DIY couture dress pattern booklet and the Kwik Sew 3744 Skirt pattern . easy to sew up and while there are variations to make this shape, the dress and skirt are really is quite easy and satisfying for the students to make up. 

This was made by a student who used a lovely bird printed knit for the body and woven cotton for the upper gathered bit. 

There are a few more in the making and the girls want them finished before the pictures are taken. I will  post on completion! 

And  this one which I made in under an hour to wear on a hot sunny day. Sorry for the grainy picture quality...

Kwik sew Skirt 3744

Made up into...

 This was a variation made up into a skirt. made up by one of my youngest students, The picture is not the best but she had a lovely contrast pocket with trim!  

Nothing like a bit of twirling to celebrate a great make!

There are two competitions happening next week and I look forward to posting the new make pictures next week. Meanwhile lots going on with the sewing kits that I am working on and that have finally made it to sale. available on the tab at the top of this site, under sewing kits... Have a great week. 

Light Layer top

I love this time of year, the light turns slightly golden and there is a nip in the air, the time to layer is here. I looked through my cupboard and realized that it was woefully lacking in the light layer department. Having wanted to make something to help with this I cut out a pattern from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design book. I also wanted to try out this way of embellishing for the Year 3 class.

The pattern in the book for a cover up was a short one which I did not want to use, a bolero. I used the t shirt pattern which had the length that I wanted and since it would not have a fastening in the front I cut down the middle of the pattern and added a few inches for the front facing. I also used a bell sleeve pattern from the book which is nice though rather long (I ended up gathering it up from the side hem a bit.)... I had some of this fabric left from the mountain of t shirt fabric bought on a whim :) A lovely light black with a goldish tint to it. It does'nt have tons of stretch to it which always made to re think using it for t shirts, perfect thought for this project. 

I cut the basic pattern out and then used fabric gathers to accentuate it 

It took me a few nights in front of the TV and at little miss's ballet class to get this done but it feels lovely to wear, more than just because I made it! It feels special. One last look at my current favorite make... More of this on the way.