Tutorial: Easy Play Dress

This tutorial was created for Sewing Mamas by sewingmel, who can be found blogging here.

Items needed:
-your favorite girl’s t-shirt pattern
-knit fabric for bodice
-woven or knit fabric for skirt
-foe or binding for neckline

Step 1:
Adjust your favorite t-shirt pattern. Mine is Ottobre 4/04 #36. If you don’t have this issue, please buy it today! It is so worth it!

A: Draw a line from the underarm seam to the center of your shirt. I drew it slightly sloping down, but you can go straight across if you like. This is the dotted line in the picture below step B.

B: Draw a solid cutting/folding line as far away from the dotted line as you like. I just did a 1" line this time, but I do 2-3" for bigger sizes.

Step 2:
Cut out front, back, and sleeves. This can be done with long sleeves, short sleeves, or no sleeves (you would need foe for the armholes).

Step 3:
Sew up shoulders, and attach sleeves. Pretend that you are sewing up a regular t-shirt for now.

Step 4:
Finish sleeve hems any way you like. I just folded under and used a zig-zag stitch. You could also coverstitch, use a rolled hem, use trim, or use foe. The choice is yours! Be creative!

Step 5:
Pin each arm and underarm together. Sew last seam in shirt.

Step 6:
Decide how long you want to make your skirt. I made mine 16 inches for a 2T/86.

Cut a long rectangle the width of your fabric (if woven) or about double the width of your waist by your desired length.

If you are making a much larger dress, you may need 2 lengths of fabric for the skirt.

Step 7:
Finish your hem any way you like. See step 4. I turned mine under 1/4" and again at 1".

Step 8: Please remember this step! I always forget it!
Mark your four equal parts (front, sides, and back). Your back seam is not finished at this point. I kept in mind that I would use 1/2" seam to take care of the selvage I did not cut off.

Step 9:
Sew 2 gathering lines about 1/4" apart along top edge of fabric. (Pay no attention to the presser foot. The stitches are on the far right.) Gather up skirt.

Step 10:
Match up midpoints of skirt and shirt and pin fabric right sides together. Sew back seam shut.

Step 11:
Sew bodice to skirt.

Step 12:
Finish neckline with foe, binding, or ribbing. I chose foe.

You are finished!

Looks great, thanks Mel!

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

Tutorial: How to Sew Patchy Side Panel Pants

Today we are digging wayyyyy back into the Sewing Mamas forums for this fantastic tutorial to make patchy side panel pants. This tutorial was created by Tara for Sewing Mamas back in 2005.

Supplies:

 
 

• lots of scraps
• a two-piece basic pants pattern
• fabric for the pants pattern and elastic for the waist
• coordinating fabric to line the insides of the side panels

Step 1.

Start with your scrap basket and find scraps that are at least 5″ wide and 3″ tall. All of them should be cut to 5″ wide, but the height can vary if you want the side panels to have different sized patchwork. I cut mine 3″-5″ tall. Then, line them up in the order you’d like them to be, from top to bottom, and serge them together. I do pin mine before serging–I’m a pin freak. You need to make two strips of patchwork; one for each side of the pants.

Here is a photo of some of the scraps before serging:


After serging, from the backside:

Step 2.

Once you have serged all of the scraps together for the side panels, measure them and make sure each side panel is at least as long as the outseam measurement of your pants pattern.

Here is one entire patchy strip, after serging, from the backside:

Step 3.

Take the coordinating fabric and cut two long rectangular pieces to fit each strip of patchwork. Pin and serge around all 4 edges for each side panel.

Here are the strips pinned to the coordinating fabric before serging:



And after serging:

Step 4.

Set aside the patchwork panels, and cut out the pants. I used medium-wale hemp/cotton cord which I coffee-dyed last night. It’s a little darker than the original natural color. Some people take in the width of each of the pieces when they are cutting them, but I like the pants nice and full, so I cut out the pattern without any changes.

Here are my pants pieces, right sides of fabric together:

Step 5.

Take one patchy side panel, one front pants piece, and one back pants piece. Pin one side of the side panel to the outseam of the front pants piece. Pin the other side of the side panel to the outseam of the back pants piece.

Step 6.

Serge along where you have pinned, attaching the side panel to the outseams of the front and back pants pieces.


Repeat with the other side panel piece and the two remaining front and back pants pieces. You will end up with two mirror image pieces of the above photo, and here is what they will look like on the right side:

Step 7.

Right sides together, pin the front and back rises of the pants.


Serge the rise from back to front.

Step 8.

Open up the pants so that you can pin the inseam from ankle to ankle, making sure you match the crotch points exactly.


Serge the inseam from ankle to ankle. Turn right side out, and your pants will look like this:


At this point, I have also serged around the waist and around each ankle hem to finish the fabric and keep it from fraying.

Step 9.

Turn inside out. Turn waist over about 1″ (or enough to accommodate the width of your elastic), pin, and stitch, leaving enough of an opening to feed the elastic (which is shown here with a big safety pin). I’ve also added a size tag and a decorative sun tag.

After you feed the elastic all the way through, overlap the edges of the elastic slightly and stitch to attach them. Then, stitch closed the opening in the waist.
It will look like this:


I’ve also added a decorative leaf tag on the outside of the back of the waist–the colors really matched the side panels:

Step 10.

Now you’re ready to hem the ankles.


All done!

When you’re all done, come share them in our Runway!

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

Tutorial: Satin Stitch Applique

Today’s tutorial was created by Krista, a member of Sewing Mamas!
Here is how I do the satin stitch applique.

What you will need:
-Fabrics of your choice
-Heat N Bond lite
-pencil
-scissors
-stabilizer
-iron
-and sewing machine, of course

First take the piece of fabric you’d like to make the applique out of and iron the Heat n Bond Lite onto the back. I usually lay my piece out and cut around it, then turn it over and iron it on.

Cut out the shapes you want to applique. In this case I am doing 3 pieces (2 for the front of a shirt and one for the back) Here the pencil comes in handy to draw an exact shape on the paper backing, and you can also trace something on the paper part before ironing it to the fabric too…just remember the shape will be reversed when you put it on your item.

Tip: don’t cut out the exact shapes until after you iron on the Heat N Bond Lite, it makes it so much easier to cut it out afterwards and not have to line up exact shapes.

Peel off the paper backing and position it to where you like it. Then iron them on.

Tip: When you have one overlapping the other, sometimes it’s good to cut away the excess so that only the edge overlaps. This is great for when you use lighter fabrics and can see through them and also keeps it so it’s not so bulky.

Next I cut a piece of stabilizer and place it under all of the fabrics (I use a tearaway kind) Pin around the edges to hold it in place.

Now it’s time to sew!
The satin stitch is just the zigzag stitch. You can make it as wide and as long a stitch as you like. (for these I used a stitch width of 2.5 and length of almost 0, I like mine tight together) I know all machines are not the same so play on a scrap and see what you like. I start on the outside edge and put my needle right next to the edge of the applique.

When I stitch on a curve, I go a couple of stitches and, with my needle in the fabric, I lift my presser foot and slightly turn the fabric, then repeat. Tip:for an outside cuve (like I’m doing) stop your needle on the outside when turning…for an inside curve, stop your needle on the inside.

Tip: for straight square type stitches-when you get to a corner you want to go a couple of stitches past the edge and then turn. (sorry the pic is kinda hard to see)

Tip:when working with more than one piece, I always start stitching the one that is underneath if possible. That makes it so the edges get covered by the last one you stitch.

And last I take the pins out and tear away the paper stabilizer.

All done!

Looks simple enough, right? Thanks to Krista for her hard work!

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

Tutorial: Reverse Applique

This sewing tutorial was created for Sewing Mamas by Katie, aka that*darn*kat. Check out her etsy shop, that*darn*kat, for great patterns, including a fabulous pattern for children’s undies!

First, choose your design. For a first try, I recommend a simple shape (the toes on my froggie were a bit tricky, so try something with fewer turns at first, then you can progress to more difficult images). I use google image search when I’m looking for ideas, I search, for example, "frog silhouette" and see what comes up. If you find the perfect image, use that, or you can draw an image inspired by what you find.

Here is my shirt front, contrast fabric, and the froggie I drew (I drew one half, folded the paper and cut it out, so it’s symmetrical). I cut out my image so I can sew around it, but you could put it on tissue paper or the like and sew through it, you’d just have to pick the paper out of the stitches later.

I place the contrast fabric behind my shirt front, making sure there’s plenty of room around the edges, then place the image on top of the shirt front, pinning everything in place. I like to center the image from side to side, but place it more to the top of the shirt.

Here you can see the contrast fabric pinned on behind:

Now, you’ll use a fairly short stitch length to sew around your image. I started at the froggie’s "armpit", stopping with needle down to pivot at any turns:

Here’s another shot, a bit further around the frog. Stop to take out/reposition any pins that are in your way, but be careful not to skew your template from where it started.

Whew! I made it all the way around!

And, after I take out the pins/template:

Here’s what it looks like from the back, you can see the stitching better here:

Now, I use a small, sharp pair of scissors to cut out the image from my shirt front, just inside the stitching line. Since knits do not ravel, I leave the edges unfinished. I like the vintage look the edges get when they roll a bit after being washed.

Start by pulling the layers apart and snipping a little in the middle. You do not want to cut through your contrast fabric, so be careful!

I put my hand behind the contrast fabric while I’m cutting, so I know I’m only cutting the shirt panel (black fabric here):

Now, I’m done trimming out my applique! Stop and admire your work:

On the back, you’ll want to trim away the extra contrast fabric:

Now, sew up your shirt, and wait for the compliments to start rolling in!

Thanks, Katie! Looks great, doesn’t it? I especially love that this is something that can be used for sewing for boys and girls. So often we focus on the cute girly things with the frills and the ruffles, it’s nice to have fun things for boys, too!

Do you have some spring sewing that this would add interest to? Tell me! And I’d love to see it in the Runway!

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

Tutorial: Cargo Pants Pockets – 4 different ways! (Last in the 4 part series)

This tutorial is the final one in a series of four that shows how to make 4 different kinds of cargo pockets to add to pants. This handy how-to was contributed to Sewing Mamas by Monica (Mnemonics on the forum).

To add these pockets to pants, sew the outer leg seam of the pants pocket and then sew the pocket in place on the side. Sew the inner leg seam after the pocket is attached. For each pocket, the starting fabric size is given, but feel free to adjust the size to your liking for the pants you are making.

Four Different Cargo Pockets – Pocket Four: Pouch Style Pocket

I cut the fabric for this pocket at 9″ x 9″

Turn the top end under and sew.

Fold up the fabric at the corner matching raw edges. Mark the depth you want the pocket to be plus seam allowance – I used 1 1/2″. Mark a straight horizontal line on the fabric. Repeat this for the other end of the pocket too.

Sew both ends where you markings are. Turn the pocket right side out – this is what your pocket looks like right now.

Turn under seam allowances on the three edges of the pocket. Press with iron.

Place pocket on the desired place on pant piece. Pin in place and sew (easier said than done :-)). This shows the top view of the finished pocket.

Bottom view of the finished pocket. You can stitch the top side edges down if you want the top of the pocket to lie flat.

Cargo pocket 4 is ready….. and now you know how to make four different kinds of cargo pockets for pants!

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

 
 
 

<--- Back to Part 3 in this series ** OR – grab a pdf of the whole series from our Downloads!

Tutorial: Cargo Pants Pockets – 4 Different Ways! (Part 3 of 4)

This tutorial is part three in a series of four that shows how to make 4 different kinds of cargo pockets to add to pants. This handy how-to was contributed to Sewing Mamas by Monica (Mnemonics on the forum).

To add these pockets to pants, sew the outer leg seam of the pants pocket and then sew the pocket in place on the side. Sew the inner leg seam after the pocket is attached. For each pocket, the starting fabric size is given, but feel free to adjust the size to your liking for the pants you are making.

Four Different Cargo Pockets – Pocket Three: Fold to the Left, Fold to the Right

I cut the fabric for this pocket at 7 1/2″ x 9″

Turn the top edge under and sew

Fold under seam allowance on the other 3 edges and press with iron.

Fold the the left and right sides of the pocket over to the size you want the finished pocket to be. I turned it under 1 1/2″. Press with iron.

Topstitch the left and right edges.

Open out the edges of the pocket at left and right.

You will sew the edges of the pocket to your pant piece by placing it underneath the topstitched fold of the pocket on either side. Hopefully that will make sense as you look at the rest of these pictures. Sew where it’s pinned down.

Repeat on the left side of the pocket.

When the left and right sides of the pocket are sewn to the pant, sew the bottom edge of the pocket. The part of the pocket that’s attached to the pants is hiding behind the original topstitching.

The finished pocket. If you want you can sew the top side ends of the pocket down to keep the top of the pocket flat.

That’s it! Now you have three different kinds of pockets to add to your cargo pants. We’ve got one more coming!

Happy sewing!
Kelly

<– Go back to Pleated Pocket (part two in the series) ** Go on to Pouch Pocket (Last in the series!)

Tutorial: Cargo Pants Pockets – 4 Different Ways! (Part 2 of 4)

This tutorial is part two in a series of four that shows how to make 4 different kinds of cargo pockets to add to pants. This handy how-to was contributed to Sewing Mamas by Monica (Mnemonics on the forum).

To add these pockets to pants, sew the outer leg seam of the pants pocket and then sew the pocket in place on the side. Sew the inner leg seam after the pocket is attached. For each pocket, the starting fabric size is given, but feel free to adjust the size to your liking for the pants you are making.

Four Different Cargo Pockets – Pocket Two: A Pleat Is Sweet and Neat

I cut the fabric for this pocket at 7 1/2 ” x 10″

Turn the fabric wrong side up

Fold it in half

Measure how deep you want your pleat to be & mark – I measured 2 inches from the folded end of the fabric.

Stitch about 3/4- 1″ at the top and bottom where you marked. (Stitched in white here.)

Open out the fabric ends…

Form the pleat at the center

Top view of the pleat:

You can stitch the edges of the pleat if you desire – I have stitched it to make it more visible for the sew-along

The rest of the steps are similar to Cargo pocket 1 – Fold the top end under & sew. Fold under the other 3 edges. Iron. Place the pocket in the desired place on the pants and sew it in place.

Your Pleated Cargo Pocket is now done!

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

<– Go back to Easy Pocket (part one in the series) *** Go on to Pocket Three – Fold left, fold right (part three in the series) –>

Tutorial: Cargo Pants Pockets – 4 Different Ways! (Part 1 of 4)

Today’s tutorial is part one in a series of four that shows how to make 4 different kinds of cargo pockets to add to pants. This handy how-to was contributed to Sewing Mamas by Monica (Mnemonics on the forum).

To add these pockets to pants, sew the outer leg seam of the pants pocket and then sew the pocket in place on the side. Sew the inner leg seam after the pocket is attached. For each pocket, the starting fabric size is given, but feel free to adjust the size to your liking for the pants you are making.

Four Different Cargo Pockets – Pocket One: Quick and Easy Pocket

I cut the fabric for this pocket 7 1/2″ x 6 1/2″

Turn the top edge under and sew

Fold under the other three edges. Iron. Place the pocket on the pant at the desired place and sew the 3 edges in place.

That’s it! Your quick and easy pocket is done! Stay tuned for more pockets in this series.

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

 
 
 
Continue to Part Two –>

Quick fix for kids’ winter gear!

Here’s a quick and easy way to keep track of your child’s snowpants, because having a name on the label means nothing to a little kid just trying to get on the closest pair of black snowpants as quickly as he can to go outside. You know, the black snowpants that look like every other pair in the school?

Oh, yeah, those.

Snowpants strap covers!

These are super quick and easy if the shoulder strap can come completely off the closure. These can:

These are sewn to keep the strap attached to the closure,

and this is nice for a ton of reasons, but will add extra work for us, see bottom of post at the **.

We’ll talk about the first type first. The pair we’re working with has a strap that’s 1.25″ wide*.

Fun fabrics are great for this -

To make two strap covers you will need:
2 pieces of cotton woven (or quilter’s) fabric, each 3″ wide by 8″. You can make them longer or shorter if you like.

These are sewn with a 1/4″ seam allowance. If you want a wider seam allowance, increase the 3″ width by 2 times your additional amount. (If you want to instead sew with 1/2″ seam allowance, you’re adding 1/4″ more to each sewn side, so cut your pieces 3.5″ x 8″.)

* If your snowpants have a wider strap, simply measure the width, add the seam allowance and double the result.
(width+seam allowance)*2=width of cut fabric

Step 1

Hem the short sides. Press wrong sides together 1/4″.

Zigzag the hem so it goes just over the cut edge. (You can do this on the wrong side instead of the right side if you like.)

Step 2

Zigzag opposite end.

Step 3

Fold the piece in half the long way, right sides together. I like to press this because then I don’t need to pin it.

Step 4

Stitch together with 1/4″ seam allowance.

How nice!

Step 5

Zig zag in the seam allowance to keep it from fraying. I find if I line up my straight stitching so it’s just barely visible where the presser foot sticks up on the left, it stitches in just the right place.

Then you have this:

Step 6

Trim threads. Turn it right side out.

Slide your strap into the tube you’ve just made, that’s it!

Bonus Tip!

If your child wears the snowpants without the bib overalls, sew a ribbon loop to the inside at the waist so they can be easily hung on a hook. This keeps things tidy and helps them dry faster than when they are left in a pile.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
** If your snowpants have a strap that’s sewn together to keep it from coming off the closure, you have a few options.
Option 1:
Grab your seam ripper and use it to free the strap so you can take it off the closure. When your strap cover is completed and on the snowpants, re-sew the part you seam ripped. (This will make the neatest cover and is also the quickest. Just make sure you’ll be able to sew it back together before you seam rip it! I strongly recommend only removing one strap at a time so you can see how it goes back on.)
Option 2:
Make your strap cover wide enough to go over the closure. To do this, take your measuring tape and measure all the way around the widest part of the closure. Double your seam allowance and add that to your measurement. The result is your fabric width. (This will result in a cover that may be a little slide-y.)
Option 3:
Instead of making a tube, use Velcro-like closures in a manner similar to the way we made our luggage handle covers, skipping the interfacing to avoid its added stiffness. (This will take the longest.)

Happy Sewing!
Kelly

Luggage Handle Cover Tutorial

The colder it gets here, the more I dream of a sunny vacation. Here’s a tutorial to make your luggage easier to spot if you’re one of the lucky travelers this winter and your bag is one of the many black bags coming down the carousel at baggage claim.

You’ll need:
1 outer fabric 12″x7″
1 piece of iron-on interfacing 11.5″x6.25″
Hook & Loop Aplix, Touchtape or Velcro, I’m using 1″ wide, but 1.5″ would probably be okay.

1. Center interfacing on wrong side of outer fabric and iron on.

2. Finish the top edge, either by serging or zig-zagging. (This will be inside later, don’t worry if it’s not pretty. You can skip this if you really want to. You just have to promise not to be confused later when your top edge doesn’t look like mine in the pictures.)

3. Fold right sides together, matching short ends. Stitch along bottom and side edges, leaving top open.

Now you have an inside out pouch like this:

4. Start at one end of the top edge and sew about 2″ in.

Then leave a gap for turning and sew to the fold, like this:

5. Clip the corners. This will make them nicer when you turn it right side out.

6. Turn right side out. Poke the corners to make them nicer. I used my bamboo pointer/turner, but a chopstick also works well, as does an unsharpened pencil.

7. Press, folding under the seam allowance at the hole you left for turning and then topstitch all the way around, a little less than 0.25″ from the edge. This will close up the hole you left for turning.

8. Fold the bottom under about 1.75″ and press. (Notice this is not an exact science.) Repeat for top side.

9. Attach hook fastener to the back of the bottom side. I use a zigzag stitch. It’s going to be about 5″, but it’s easiest to just line it up between the topstitching on either side and cut whatever size piece that is and cut a piece of loop fastener the same length.

Notice that the top and bottom/front and back haven’t really mattered until now. The side that you put the hook fastener on will be the side that is on the inside of the cover, so if you like the way the fabric design is better on one side, put the hook fastener on the other side!

10. Attach loop fastener to the top of the front side.

All done! Now it’ll look like this:

Put it on your luggage handle.

Flip it around if you want the closures underneath.

Variations:
Use denim or equivalent weight twill and skip the interfacing.
Embroider a name or initials on the fabric, top/bottom centered on one half so it appears when the cover is on the handle.

This particular cover is on its way to Vegas this morning as my husband travels for work. He’s gotten lots of comments on it from Packers fans across the world!

I’d like a happy floral print on luggage headed somewhere sunny with me, but I don’t see that in my future. Where would you like to go?

Happy Travels!
Kelly

Image: Hilton Kauai Beach Resort by Mr.Thomas