Sweet & Simple Summer Sundresses!

Summer is almost here and I have been busy making some Simple Summer Sundresses for my grand-daughter, Jaden. The first two pictures are front and back of my Sweet & Simple Summer Sundress, which I have instructions for below. The last picture is a Sundress & capri set. This was the simplest of the two to make. I was in Hobby Lobby and found some adorable shirred fabric that I thought would make an adorable sundress! I purchased about 2/3rds yd of the fabric. Next step was to put the fabric around my grand-daughter and pin it so it fit her snug. I then serged the side seam, making the top a tube. I turned up a hem and straight-stitched, then added ribbon ties to the top to tie on the shoulder. I already had the cute pink capri leggings and thot those just finished this little sundress off! I just know this is going to be one of Jaden's favorite Summer Sundresses!

A few weeks ago, Jaden wore a sun-top that I made her last summer and it reminded me of how quick & easy it was to make! She got alot of compliments on it that day, so it motivated me to dig out some cute princess frog fabric in my fabric stash and make her a sundress using the basic instructions I used for the sun-top that I had made her last summer.

Here are the instructions for how I made my sweet & simple summer sundress: Sweet & Simple Summer Sundress

This is a PDF file, so it might take a little time to load for you, it's 4 pages, so your internet speed will depend on how fast it loads for you. I hope you enjoy using my instructions!

Oops! it's too short, now what?

I decided to blog again on another sewing room "Ooops!" I was in the midst of making an A-line reversible jumper and after cutting it out, I decided that altho the top portion of the jumper looked like it would be the correct size, the rest of it just looked too short to me. I am using the same pattern that I used for the jon-jon/shortalls in my previous blog entry. Often times this can happen when you don't have the little person you are sewing for right there to check measurements. I am sure others have had this happen, so I decided to show you all what I did to make this little jumper longer without detracting from the cuteness of it!

I decided to add about 4" in length, so using the cut out skirt as my guide, I marked and measured on some excess fabric and cut 2 pieces of fabric of each of the fabrics. I decided to make the added pieces out of the contrast fabric just to give the jumper a little character!

I serged the added length to all bottom portions of the jumper.

Once the panels were added, it was time to monogram the fronts of the jumper and lining. I also decided to make a pocket for one side of the jumper, so used the contrast fabric to coordinate with the added hem.

Here are pictures of the completed reversible jumper.

Using the fonts in my Artista Ver. 5 software, I created the "M" and MaKenna

I also digitized the butterfly applique since I couldn't find one anywhere that would coordinate like I wanted it to for this jumper.

All in all, I am pretty pleased with how this "Oops!" turned out and I think that it is also an easy fix for when you want to lengthen a previously made dress - just add a contrasting fabric to the hemline and you are set! I hope you enjoyed Part 2 of some sewing Oops! 

Next blog entry will be TWO easy summer sundresses - all pattern instructions will be included, so make sure you join to follow my blog so that you don't miss it!

Uh-ohhh! It doesn't fit! Now what?!?!

How many times have you made something and then said  "Uh-ohhh! It doesn't fit! Now what!". I spent several days making 3 pair of Jon-jon's for my grandson, Paxton. In a sense, these were 6 jon-jons, since I made them reversible. Here are pics of the 3/6 pair of jon-jon's I made, as always, you can click on the picture to enlarge it:

He wears size 24 mos in RTW (Ready To Wear) clothes, so I figured that making a size 2 would be plenty big on him - WRONG!!! After hours upon hours of machine applique work, I tried on one pair of the jon-jon's on him on Monday and gasp! they were too snug around the tummy, and almost too short in the torso. Now what?! was my first response - there was NO WAY I was going to just throw all my hours of sewing to the wayside. I just had to come up with a way to make these jon-jon's fit him! 

On Tuesday, I set out to come up with an idea that would work to make these jon-jon's fit! Lucky for me, I still had plenty of fabric left. I decided that I could add in panels to the side seams and that would give the needed room thru the tummy. I cut the strips 2 1/2" wide by the length of the side seams.  Since the front side of the jon-jons are the seersucker stripe, I figured that the stripes would really easily hide these added seams. For the solid side, I chose to also use the striped fabric for the panels which I think gives it a sporty look and ties in nicely with the Monogram Applique on the front. Here is how the finished added in panels look on the solid sides of the jon-jons:

My next dilemma was to give some added length to the torso. I had thought about just adding a button-on tab at the shoulders, but, I really didn't need to add much more than an inch or so. I decided that I could just add to the back straps and once buttoned, the seam line would be hidden by the front tab. Here is a picture of the added fabric to the tab:

I am very pleased with how my "fix-it" job turned out - next time I will make sure I check measurements before I cut and sew!

For those wondering - the pattern I used for the reversible Jon-Jon's is from Martha Pullen's Favorite Applique Book:  

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I am going to try to keep up with this on my blog and have a Not Me! Monday! too! Please feel free to post your Not Me's in my comments - this should be alot of fun, not to mention hilarious to read!

So, here are my confessions for my first Not Me Monday! Please, please leave your comments and add in your own Not Me's for me (and everyone else) to read and join in the fun!

1. I did NOT spend several days and hours and hours of sewing & machine appliquéing 3... ahem that would be technically 6 jon-jons since they are reversible, for my grandson to find out today that the jon-jons are too tight around and too short from crotch to shoulder - nope, not me!

2. I did NOT just assume making a size 2 would fit him bigger or close to the same as the 24 month size he wears in RTW, nope, not me!

3. I am NOT going to spend Tuesday coming up with an idea on how to make those jon-jons wider & longer, nope, not me! hehehe!

Please don't forget to leave your comments!