Splish Splash Dress

Today I am guest posting at Brown Paper Packages. Leisel has a great blog, if you haven't had a chance to check it out...well I'd suggest you go look...TODAY ;-) Here is the project I made. I think it turned out pretty cute...read the end and see what happened when I was making it though! The Project was part of Leisel's month of Pattern make overs

When asked to re-do a pattern, I started to think of what I wanted to make....well, with summer on it's way, we spend a lot of time at the splash pads around our house. So I thought I would work with a pillowcase dress pattern, and turn it into a swimsuit cover dress for my daughter.




With the pillowcase dress pattern, I decided to change it by using a different type of fabric and adding appliques.

Instead of a typical cotton fabric used in a pillowcase dress I used a knit material. (As a confession I have actually never used knit before, and it was much easier then I thought it would be!)

The bottom edge and armhole were a ribbed knit fabric (in the turquoise color). Both the bottom hem and the armholes where made by taking the ribbed knit material and making a bias tape. Need help making bias tape? Check here for help.




Doing something as simple as changing the type of fabric can make a huge difference.

The other change I mentioned was using appliques. The pattern for an applique can be found anywhere, clip art, a free hand drawing, I used my die cut machine to create what I wanted.



The key to using any applique is to remember to use Wonder-Under, especially on knit! The material shifts far too much, you need the Wonder-Under to help stabilize the design, then you can go around and satin stitch around the design......Changing your thread to match each piece of material will give you a much cleaner look.




I loved how easy and cute this simple dress turned out to be. I think that when you have a pattern you love, perhaps you don't need to look at making a major change to it, start simple by changing things like the fabric and adding appliques to your dress!



Summer here we come!

You know, I just cant seem to ever make a project with out something going wrong...and lo and behold this time was no exception.
When I was almost done with the project, I was multi-tasking (always a bad idea) I wrote something with a pen....not realizing it was leaking all over my hand and then picked up the dress...the WHITE dress, and the ink got all over the dress!




AHHH!



I quickly tried to remove the ink (Is that even possible?) All it did was make it seep through to the backside...

So I added some little circle appliques to cover the before mentioned pesky ink stains!

Problem solved!

Love,

Binding

Ever wondered how to make your own bias tape?

It's really not hard at all....And since bindings only comes in select materials, knowing how to make your own can be a great thing to learn.

Start by cutting material to the length you need, the width can vary. When I made the 'Splish Splash' dress the arm hole-sleeve binding tape with 3 inches wide.

The hem was cut to 4 inches wide.




I start by ironing the fabric in half the entire length of the fabric.

Next open the fabric back up, this ironed line down the center will act like a guide for you.



Fold the edges up to the center and iron down. Make sure to iron both sides.



Then take the new folded edges and fold in half.
Iron down again.



It's as simple as that....If you are making a binding out of knit fabric, it has a tendency to want to unfold, so pin in place until you are ready to use it on your project. Using starch or even a water spray bottle will help keep your ironed folds nice and crisp.



That's it your done and you have a nice binding for finishing a quilt or finishing an edge of a dress ;-)

Love,