Winter Weather Inspiration

Hello Readers!!!
It's Cathy here and I just want to say that it is winter! I am sure for many of you, I don't need to remind you of this. I know many people enjoy the crisp cold air and many outdoor sports and activities that the winter offers. Me not so much anymore but with chattering teeth on a cold afternoon, I did bring my daughters to the movie theater to see Disney's Frozen. We all thoroughly enjoyed the entire movie and I even bought the sound track. I am so looking forward to it coming out in DVD and I even heard a rumor that it is coming to Broadway!!! Yaaaa!

And here we come to the reason for today's blog post. I was speaking with Carla and Jeanine about how much fun it would be to make a "Frozen" inspired dress. We all immediately agreed that the Simply Sweet with its many variations, great fit and style would be the perfect pattern to use.

Carla provided a few modifications to the pattern itself which we are going to make available to you (please see below). Both Jeanine and I used them to make a casual dress and an Elsa-inspired dress. Perfect for layering, playtime and dress-up!!! Would you like to see them? 

I put a blue short sleeve tee underneath but you could really layer it with a peasant top, long sleeve shirt or simply wear a cardigan sweater over top. (In an upcoming blog post, I am going to show you how I did the appliques for the dress.)

Here is the back. I added a removable "cape" too:

and a close-up of both the front and back:

Before I set you free with the modifications below, let me show you how I did the "cape" part. I ordered a yard of sheer fabric (mine had a little sparkle to it). I trimmed the edges ....

and curved the two bottom corners. I was very technical and used an upside down American Girl doll table...lol. You can use any rounded surface such as a plate. This gives the bottom of the cape a rounded appearance. I simply traced and cut:

Next, I set my machine up to gather along the top edge. I pulled out the bobbin thread, set my machine to the longest stitch (5) and loosened the tension (1). I actually make my top thread a different color than my bobbin thread so I don't accidentally pull on the wrong one. I stitched about 3/8" from the raw edge along the top of the cape and pulled on the bobbin thread to gather the cape.

Next I cut a piece of fabric the length of the top of the back bodice, which was about 5 or 6". I used matching fabric. This will become the binding piece for the cape:

 For the width, I made mine about 4" wide but I would recommend making it about 5" wide so that when you fold it, it comes out to be about 1 1/4" wide. 

First, I folded the short ends in so that the piece is about 1" shorter than the width of the back bodice. Press and keep those ends fold in. Next I folded the piece in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and pressed it. Then I unfolded it. Next, I folded both raw edges in to the center and pressed it again. Then I refolded it in the center. This is also how I make seam binding. Here is a picture of it folded:

I inserted the gathered top of the cape between the folded binding piece and pinned it:

Then I simply stitched from one end to the other which captures the gathered cape and closes the ends.

 Here is the binding attached:

 Next, I used my snap tool to add three snaps to the cape....

 Here they are done. I used them to align the snaps on the back bodice (fashion fabric):

 Make sure you add the matching snaps about 2 to 2.5" below the top raw edge. This will leave you room to assemble the bodice. Here is where I attached mine:

 Final picture! Here is the back bodice before I did the side seams. I wanted to see how long the cape would be. It does touch the floor. You could definitely trim the length once you try it on. 

I am happy to say that the little girl whom I sent this to was thrilled with the dress. Mom told me she had it on and off six times today and insisted on wearing it out shopping! So funny!! Glad she liked it. If you have questions, feel free to ask. :)

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SO HERE ARE THE MODIFICATIONS:

There were only a few modifications for this look. Here are the directions done by Carla:

The construction for the dress remains the same despite the changes.

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Here is Jeanine's version of the dress!

Hi all! I decided to take the modifications and make everyday style tops for my girlies :) My kids haven't seen Frozen, and are not really all that into dressing up yet. But I LOVE a sweetheart neckline! So here are what the mods look like in an everyday top, and I think you will agree, this tutorial has a LOT of potential!

This first one I made for my oldest and followed the new tutorial directions:

 My very active oldest would not turn to the camera at all or put her book down. 

For the cheeks I rounded the dip a little for a more sweetheart look and I did the Simply Sweets flutter sleeves: 

(shown with the narrow leg easy fits)

 We Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial for how to change up the Simply Sweet!!!

Coming up in February we will be having a bit of fun with books and sewing combined! (Two things we love!)

We hope you will join in on the fun!