The kids looked so cute in matching aloha wear. I finished the dress the night before and I finished the shirt two hours before we left for the event.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Hula Girl and Boy
For our church's annual luau, I sewed matching Hawaiian dress and Hawaiian shirt for my kids. The dress is from a Butterick pattern B4436 and the shirt is from a McCall pattern M4164. The fabric was purchased at Fabric Mart in Honolulu. I love the bright turquoise color and the oceanic themed print. A yard each was needed for each outfit. The dress has a flounce skirt and split flutter sleeves. The shirt is a typical short-sleeved camp style shirt.
The kids looked so cute in matching aloha wear. I finished the dress the night before and I finished the shirt two hours before we left for the event.
The kids looked so cute in matching aloha wear. I finished the dress the night before and I finished the shirt two hours before we left for the event.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Pictures of Mermaid Dress
I just figured out how to add photos to my blog. Here are some pictures of the mermaid dress. The dress is a little long and my daughter has to hold it up so she doesn't trip when she walks, but overall I'm very happy with how it turned out.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
My Little Mermaid
My daughter loves mermaids. I wanted to make her a special mermaid costume and found McCalls' pattern M5498. For the tail, I found a beautiful, shimmery turquoise fabric at Walmart. The fabric was lightweight and crinkly and resembled fish scales at a distance. It had a little bit of stretch to it too. For the overlay, I chose a shiny foil dot magenta stretch fabric, also from Walmart. For the bodice, I found a nude color knit fabric at Joann's Fabrics.
Materials
3 yards turquoise $4.00/yd (only 2 yards used)
1 yard magenta $5.99/yd (only 1/2 yd used)
1-1/2 yard nude knit $3.99/yd (only 1/2 yd used for bodice)
turquoise gem button for brooch (Walmart $1.99)
turquoise, magenta, and nude thread
I cut pattern size 3-4 dress B. There were many pieces for this pattern. This was the first time I used the type of fabric that I bought and also the first time that I used 3 different types of fabrics in a single project. The many pieces to the outfit, plus the different types of fabric was challenging. Because the fabric colors were different, I also had to change the thread color in my sewing machine often.
The directions called for cutting fabric for lining for the bodice. Because I was using a knit fabric, I decided not to have a lining. The bodice would have been too heavy. Therefore, I had to modify the sewing a bit and not follow the directions exactly. The armholes and attaching the ruffle was a bit challenging. I wanted to make long sleeves using the nude knit fabric in case it was cold on Halloween, but it was too difficult to work with the small arm hole and three layers of fabric, so I abandoned the idea. I also decided not to put in a zipper like the directions stated. I put a button at the back since my daughter is so slender and the back can overlap.
For the tail, I decided to take out my serger and try the rolled hem feature. The directions call for lining for the fish tail, but I felt it would make the tail too heavy so I didn't cut lining for it. I'm still very new to serging and the thought of having to rethread the thing with turquoise thread to match the turquoise fabric was intimidating. But I watched the serger video again and read the manual and I managed to rethread the machine. Then I had to learn how to set it to do a rolled hem. Finally, I tested it on some scrap fabric and it looked great. I used a rolled hem on the peplum ruffle and fish tail. I then tried to set the serger back to 4 thread serger mode and although the chain stitch was created, the tension was all wrong. The loop threads were too loose. Well, I guess I have to go back to the sewing store and ask them for help. In the meantime, I decided to just use my sewing machine to stitch up the costume. When it was time to attach the tail to the bodice, I noticed that the waist for the tail was shorter than the length of the bodice. The directions said to sew darts for the tail pieces. I ended up removing the darts and the tail piece fit the bodice. I'm not sure what happened. It could be that the knit fabric for the bodice stretched too much or the darts made the tail waist section too narrow.
Overall, I'm pleased with the results and my daughter loves it. It was probably the most challenging sewing project so far. I would love to make another one using different fabric for the tail someday, maybe after she outgrows this one. I saw some beautiful chiffon greenish blue fabric at Beverly's.
Materials
3 yards turquoise $4.00/yd (only 2 yards used)
1 yard magenta $5.99/yd (only 1/2 yd used)
1-1/2 yard nude knit $3.99/yd (only 1/2 yd used for bodice)
turquoise gem button for brooch (Walmart $1.99)
turquoise, magenta, and nude thread
I cut pattern size 3-4 dress B. There were many pieces for this pattern. This was the first time I used the type of fabric that I bought and also the first time that I used 3 different types of fabrics in a single project. The many pieces to the outfit, plus the different types of fabric was challenging. Because the fabric colors were different, I also had to change the thread color in my sewing machine often.
The directions called for cutting fabric for lining for the bodice. Because I was using a knit fabric, I decided not to have a lining. The bodice would have been too heavy. Therefore, I had to modify the sewing a bit and not follow the directions exactly. The armholes and attaching the ruffle was a bit challenging. I wanted to make long sleeves using the nude knit fabric in case it was cold on Halloween, but it was too difficult to work with the small arm hole and three layers of fabric, so I abandoned the idea. I also decided not to put in a zipper like the directions stated. I put a button at the back since my daughter is so slender and the back can overlap.
For the tail, I decided to take out my serger and try the rolled hem feature. The directions call for lining for the fish tail, but I felt it would make the tail too heavy so I didn't cut lining for it. I'm still very new to serging and the thought of having to rethread the thing with turquoise thread to match the turquoise fabric was intimidating. But I watched the serger video again and read the manual and I managed to rethread the machine. Then I had to learn how to set it to do a rolled hem. Finally, I tested it on some scrap fabric and it looked great. I used a rolled hem on the peplum ruffle and fish tail. I then tried to set the serger back to 4 thread serger mode and although the chain stitch was created, the tension was all wrong. The loop threads were too loose. Well, I guess I have to go back to the sewing store and ask them for help. In the meantime, I decided to just use my sewing machine to stitch up the costume. When it was time to attach the tail to the bodice, I noticed that the waist for the tail was shorter than the length of the bodice. The directions said to sew darts for the tail pieces. I ended up removing the darts and the tail piece fit the bodice. I'm not sure what happened. It could be that the knit fabric for the bodice stretched too much or the darts made the tail waist section too narrow.
Overall, I'm pleased with the results and my daughter loves it. It was probably the most challenging sewing project so far. I would love to make another one using different fabric for the tail someday, maybe after she outgrows this one. I saw some beautiful chiffon greenish blue fabric at Beverly's.
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