Jamie/Marissa Sew-A-Long Day 4!!!!

Oh my gosh - today is the last day of the Jamie and Marissa sew-a-long!! Can you believe it?! Are you excited that the sew a long is done in time to wear the dress for Sunday? I know I am happy to have it done!

So let's get started! The hardest part of this dress is done, so today we have a fairly easy sewday !

First I want you to take the two strap pieces and fold them so the longer ends are together and then sew them up!

Turn them right sides out :)

Now to cut your elastic, cut the back  according to the chart whether you are nursing or not. If you are a nursing mom cut the elastic like 4 inches extra - I only used about 2 inches extra after adjusting ( more on that later) but better safe than sorry I always say.

now put the seam of the strap towards the middle and then bunch it up - attach it so the front of the strap is facing the front of the bodice

Sew it on. Do this for both sides of the straps to elastic on the bodice front!

Just sew the strap/s into the end, be sure to tuck in the edges nicely (see above pic). 

*If you are doing the nursing modifications sew in only 1 of the straps and then pin the other. 

Now take your back elastic and feed it through

I always pin with a bit of extra out so it is easy to attach the straps

Attaching the straps to the back bodice - I really couldn't take better pics than in the pattern, so hopefully if those confused you this will help :)

Sew the straps down into both sides of the bodice back, again being sure to tuck in the edges.

Now if you are a nursing mom - check the fit of the front elastic, to make sure it sits nice but you can still nurse :) This pic is me at 11 pm with no make-up and hair obviously not done haha. Black and white to make it even scarier!

Now hem that bottom and you are good to go!

Dress is DONE!!!!! YAY!!!! Do you love it? Try it one and snap a pic and post it in the Album in the Facebook Lab Group and you are entered to win a prize! (you don't have to post a modelled pic if you are uncomfortable, just thought I'd throw that in there - especially if you are making the Marissa )

Here is my finished Jamie picture ! I LOVE my dress!!!! and my husband says he loves it too! I also love that I did the pockets from the Angie pattern :) YAY pockets! 

Jamie/Marissa Sew-A-Long Day 3!

Welcome back to the sew a long!!!! Today is the "scary" day! Which means zipper installation - but no worries - I did a couple videos for you! If you would rather see it in pictures check out Cathy's album in the Lab Group on Facebook!

but before we get to the zipper we MUST attach this skirt to the bodice!

Sew your 2 skirt pieces together on only 1 side! So you will have one LOOOONG piece vs. a tube/skirt. I used my Angie pattern for the skirt - so I have pockets

Now sew 2 gathering lines (longest stitch length and no back stitching) along the top edge of your skirt

Pull the bobbin threads to gather

Line it up with your bodice - I pull each side to get the center to line up. I find that the easiest way to get even gathers.

Pin your skirt to bodice, right sides together

Sew it up and then trim and zigzag or serge to finish the edge

Now onto the other side of the skirt, fold it over and line up - pin up and then mark where the zipper metal stop is (as marked by the pen). Mark that point

Now I had to trim my pocket on the zipper side... 

Now sew up the side until you get to the point you marked for zipper end - 1/2inch seam allowance for this part!

video of zipper putting in part 1:

video of zipper putting in part 2:

Now we will take our dress to the sewing machine, move your needle over to the far position and sew nice and close to the zipper and being careful to keep the edges aligned. (I still do a few pins just to keep it in place since I don't have patience to wait for the glue to dry.

Stop sewing a few inches from the end (as seen below)

Repeat the zipper sewing for the other side.

Now you will turn over and mark to finish the square - be sure to have a peek at the good side to make sure everything is staying neatly in place with the glued in bits. 

Sew that square up! and then turn around and admire your tidy zipper install! 

So how was the zipper putting in? Was it easier or harder than you expected?

Remember you can find us on Facebook in the Lab if you need any extra help or want to chat! The album for finished Jamie/Marissa's will be open until the end of my day on the 7th of August!

Tomorrow we will do the straps and finish off the dress!

Jamie/Marissa dress Sew-A-Long day 2!!!

Welcome back ladies! (and men?) Today we will be working on the bodice! 

For both the front and back bodice pieces you will do the following steps!

Pin the lining to the outer, right sides together, for both the front outer and lining and then the back bodice outer and lining.

Sew the arm side seam up until the point which is the little circle on the pattern piece. You can mark this point with a pencil, disappearing ink, notch... I personally do a tiny little slit and it is easy for me to know where to stop ! Then sew along the top edge. In the picture below you can really see where my slit is and the stitching along the arm edge

Next sew along the top edge of both the front and back bodices

clip the little edges of the top edge

Now, turn your bodice right sides out, and iron flat - or if you are lazy like me, just really roll out the edges and pin and then sew. I start at where I stopped sewing for the arm side and sew along until i get to the other edge - staying under the opening. (arm bands will go in the openings!

Se the pretty little opening for the armband:

and thus concludes the following of the same steps for front and back bodice pieces.

Front bodice to waistband:

Next sew a gathering line along the bottom edge of the front bodice (stitch the bodice outer and lining)

Pull the bottom threads to gather! (Remember 2 gathering lines will give you a very pretty and even gather)

 Now gather until the bodice front is the same length as the waistband

Pin it, right sides together, and stitch along the edge with the usual seam allowance, and then zigzag or serge to finish the edge.

Now for page 12 I decided to just a quick video for you all! It goes together very fast once you can see it, I think :) Remember if you need anymore help (or just want to chat with an awesome group) to check out the Lab Group!

About this time my baby was needing attention and thought stealing my camera away would be sooooo funny. .. So I think this feels like a good place to stop sewing for today!

See you tomorrow!!! Day 3 we work on the skirt!

Welcome to the 1st day of the Jamie/Marissa Sew-A-Long!

before we get to the actual sewing I want to go over the printing out. You only need to print the pages you need for the size you are making, our patterns are NOT nested! (yay!) Also be sure to print on "actual size" and then to measure the 1inch square just to be sure :)

ok, so I forgot to take pics of cutting the fabric - Well to be honest I had... but my nearly 3yr old grabbed my camera to take some selfies and deleted it :(

(her selfies are getting better lol)

Ok, so piece wise you should have:

1. 2 front bodice pieces (lining and outer)
2. 2 back bodice pieces (lining and outer)
3. a front waistband and a front waistband lining (remember the front waistband outer will be wider than the lining)
4. 2 skirt pieces.
5. 2 arm band pieces

NOTE: To make my Jamie nursing friendly I cut the full bust cutting line (even though I do not have the full bust! If you do have the full bust you may want to go up a size for the bodice pieces (the bottom is gathered anyways to the waistband size you need so you will just be giving yourself ease room in the bustline)

Remember the notches are important to cut and taking the little extra time to cut them now really will save you hassle when it comes to sewing!

Here you can see the outer and lining waistband pieces:

Now in the pattern it shows you to pleat and if you want you can certainly follow those directions, but i did mine a little differently. 

I sewed along each side of the waistband front (longest stitch length) and gathered to be the length of the waistband lining

Remeber to go back to your normal stitch length and then stitch each side down of the waistband outer to waistband lining - wrong sides together.

Next when you ironed as per the directions I hope you did the pleats (fold in half and half again and iron)

Bunch up your fabric in an eye pleasing way and sew down those lines you ironed in!

You will sew 3 down lines :)

Ok, I don't know about you but cutting and sewing up this lining to waistband seems like a good time for a snack break.. So I'll see you ladies tomorrow! Remember if you have any questions be sure to ask them in the Lab Group on Facebook - and that is where the sew-a-long album will be too (and there will be a 3 pattern prize pack awarded via random.org!)

So what are you snacking on today?

(I'm eating raspberries and chips!)

ANNOUNCING a sewalong!!!

Guess what is new ladies!!? A SEW-A-LONG!!!!!! Well not the idea itself but we will be having a new sew a long here on the blog and in the lab group starting next week!

The Jamie/Marissa pattern will be our next sew a long! For those of you who fear zippers - now is the perfect time to conquer that fear! And if you love zippers, well then this is the perfect project for you!

This dress is absolutely stunning and perfect for all occasions, dress it up in the right fabric and accessories for weddings, flower girls, date night or dress it down for the beach or going for a walk to everyday wear! You will love it I am sure!
We aim to start on Wednesday, July 24th and will have an album created on Wednesday in the lab group for you to add your completed during the sew a long Jamie and Marissa pictures to! 1 dress = 1 entry! and There will be a 3 pattern prize pack winner determined by random.org!

Ok - so who is excited????!!!


Oh, and did I mention both the Jamie and Marissa are now on sale for the whopping price of 5bucks a pop! Yes, you can get BOTH patterns for the price of one!!!! Wahoo!

Get your Jamie pattern for only $5 (limited time offer)

Get your Marissa pattern for only $5 (limited time offer)


Here is a pic of the Jamie I made awhile back, I can't wait to make a new one!!

and in case you need some inspiration check out our Jamie/Marissa pinboard http://pinterest.com/sciseamstress/jamie-and-marissa-by-sisboom-and-the-scientific-se/

Oh Vanessa! 3 tutorials to modify in 1 post!

Hi!!! It is I, Jeanine, here with another tutorial/add on post!

This time for the Vanessa pattern! (kids/tween version is the Bettyann) 

I LOVE this pattern!!! I LOVE my shirt length one with shorts and I LOVED this one before I added the 18" ruffle to this one and I LOOOOOOOVE it maxi length!!!! So pick up your copy and try it out!

Today I have 3 tutorials for you! 

1. the straps to make this dress friendly for those of us with nursing babes!

2. a back cinch to give the back a little more shape in a very easy way!

3. 18 inch ruffle on the bottom! (isn't it gorgeous with the ruffle!)

Most of the dress you will be sewing as stated in the pattern but there are a few steps where you will need to pause and do the following! 

To start with get a measuring tape and notice about where on you 18 inches from the floor hits - for me that was bout knee so I looked at the handy dandy leg chart and cut my main Vanessa pieces at the appropriate length for my height 

So Let's begin with the first tutorial - the straps to be nursing friendly! 

First when you sew your straps - sew them MOSTLY as directed - the only difference is that you will sew about the square edge and clip the corners. Then turn out and topstitch as pattern directed.

Then continue following the patetrn for putting them in the back of the Vanessa, but when  you get to putting them into the front - DO NOT put them in!!!! (see below - no straps inserted between the layers!)

Now do a buttonhole at the bottom of each strap. I love my auto button holer! but I suppose you could also do snaps if you dislike buttonholes :)

Now where the pattern had you draw the dots (or if you are like me I square out those bits), anyways, in between those is where you will put your buttons - but on the pretty side 

 See - the button sewn on! and the back side of where the other button is right there by my thumb on the left

Now continue as the pattern says with the topstitching, elastic back, etc.

This Next part you do one completed sewing the dress up

2. Cinching up the back! I personally liked the look of it not cinched at the back - but the husband thought I should cinch it in a bit - so I let him have that one. compromise..

I looked in the mirror to get an idea of where I wanted it to go in a bit and then had my husband measure from the top to where I wanted the cinch in to be and then marked that line on my fabric with  disappearing fabric pen

For myself this was 7 inches from the top.

Then I took a piece of elastic that was the length of my back (or you could use the measurements given for the top elastic piece- but that might give it a bit of a tighter for than my cinch in) Pin each end of the elastic to the ends and the middle of the elastic to the middle of the back. (I marked it on the dress and elastic). Then I stretched and pined half way between each pin. 

Next take that to your sewing machine and stretch the elastic fully out to the fabric as you sew (If you have made the Tommy/Louey boxers you are familiar with this how to) I used 3/8 elastic and just did one line of stitching through it. 

And lastly the bottom ruffle - this one is quite easy to do - but fabric heavy :)

Measure the bottom of your Vanessa as is. Now you will want to cut 19" ruffle pieces that are 1.5-2x the length of the bottom (depending on how gathered you want it to look) Mine is 1.5 times the length for light gathers.

Sew what will be your bottom ruffle pieces together (short sides, right sides together)

Now hem the bottom of your ruffled skirt piece, this will be the bottom of your dress. I use my fancy foot and then turn over again and hem, but you use whatever method you prefer. 

Next gather your top edge of the bottom skirt. (I forgot to get a picture of this... )but increase your stitch length to the highest you can and then sew two rows of gathering stitches - do NOT backstitch, and pull the bobbin threads to gather.

Now put your ruffle piece inside your vanessa bottom - right sides together. Pin the side seams first and then the middles, spread your gathers evenly and stitch it up! Don't forget to finish your seam - zig zag or serge :)

There you have it - all done!!! Now try it one and do a photoshoot and share a picture with us pretty please! on our facebook page or in our facebook group!

Perfect for playing in! and it keeps the bugs off the legs!

Any tutorials you would like to see next? How about a sew a long? We have one coming soon! Keep your eyes peeled to facebook on Friday!