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!

Adding a Ruffled Bib Front to the Simply Sweet

Hi! So, today is a tutorial for how to add a ruffled bib front to the Simply Sweet pattern. The simply Sweet is one of my favourite patterns because of how versatile it is already, but I just HAD to try making it with a ruffled bib front and thought you might like to add it to your Simply Sweet's as well! 

First print off your pattern piece/s. To make the ruffles you will want to have them be 2x the height of the front piece (I did empire waist by the way) and I found 3 inches wide to be perfect width

Now for the bib piece itself measure a rectangle that is the height of the front bodice and do about 3.5-4 inches wide

I like to get as much of my ironing done at a time as possible. So iron the edges of the bib front over on the two long sides and fold the ruffle pieces in half and very lightly iron them. Also take your front bodice piece and fold in half and iron to get a good crease down the center.

Set your machine to the longest stitch length for gathering the ruffle strips

Sew down the raw edge of the ruffle strips (folded in half as shown). Do NOT backstitch!!

Make sure to remember to set your machine back to it's normal setting 

Pull at your bobbin threads to get your ruffle strip the same width as your bib piece.

Pin on  the ruffles! I tried to get a close up picture - It turned out a bit blurry - sorry. But what you are looking at here is that I aligned the raw edge of the ruffle strip with the edge of the folded and ironed over bit of the bib piece. (top right cormer shows it best)

Stitch the ruffle strip to the bib front. repeat this for both sides of the bib piece.

Fold your bib piece in half and mark with a pin at the top and bottom.

Now line up the pinned center of the bib with the crease - top and bottom.

Pin your bib front on.

Stitch it on! I did over the line of stitching I used for the ruffled piece and a line very close beside on each side of the bib front.

Here it is all finished! I also added three buttons on  My husband doesn't care for how many colours this dress has - but I love it !