Dress Pattern from Scratch

For someone like myself, who has never attended any dress making class before, drawing the right pattern is a bit tricky. I usually do it by using any existing clothes that fit and trace the pattern from there.  It works, although I cannot say that this is the right way of doing.  But what matters is that it works, right?  So, in this entry here, I am going to show how to draw a pattern to sew a little girl’s dress.

First, get a dress that fit your child.  Fold it lengthwise into two, with the front facing out.  Put it on a piece of paper and trace the outline of the top, right till the torso, where the skirt starts,  Remove the dress and you will need to draw a line to join the torso.  Straighten any crook lines with a ruler. We need to draw the seam allowance next.  I prefer my seam allowance to be 1cm.  Thus, I drew another line, measuring 1cm out from my earlier tracing.   This, I label as the back piece.  Note that I also labelled the seam allowance as 1cm so as not to confuse myself later.  I also labelled the folding part as ‘fold’.  When we transfer the pattern to the fabric, the ‘fold’ of the pattern should coincide with the folding of the fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

It should be noted that the above is for the back piece of a dress where the zipper is at the side.  If you prefer to sew the zipper at the middle, then you will need to cut 2 piece of the fabric, as the mirror image.  I find it easier to fold and cut the fabric as described, and then cut along the ‘fold’ to get 2 identical mirror pieces.

Next, we need to trace the pattern of the front piece.  The back and front piece differs at the neckline.  The neckline for the front piece is usually lower than the back.  The steps for tracing the back piece is repeated.  However, we couldn’t draw across the front neckline.  Thus, I put a mark at where the neckline is, removed the dress, and draw the curve freehand.   Again, the drawing of the 1cm seam allowance is repeated.   This piece is then labelled as the front. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we move on to drawing the pattern of the skirt.  Measure the skirt starting from the torso to to the end.  I labelled it as A cm, as shown in the pic.  Then, measure the front piece of the skirt, from left to right (all fabric spread out) and label it as B cm.  Next we draw a rectangle on a piece of paper, with the length as A +2 cm and the width as B/2 + 1cm. 

For example, if you find A as 30cm, then you should draw the length of the rectangle as 32cm (30 +2).  If B measures as 50 cm, then the width of the rectangle should be 26 cm (50/2 + 1).  Label the side as ‘fold’ to remind yourself to coincide it with the fold of the fabric when cutting.  The reason to add 2 cm seam allowance to the length (A) is that 1cm is for the top where the skirt will join with the top and another 1cm for the hem of the skirt.  If you feel that your child will outgrow the skirt very soon (children grow very fast), by all means, allow a few extra centimetres for the hem so that you can lengthen it when the time comes.  It should be reminded that you will need to cut 2 pieces of this skirt pattern for the front and back.

So now, the pattern of the dress is ready.  Happy sewing!

 

Cinderella's Costume

This is the second in the Princess Costumes' series.  Having sewn the Princess Jasmine's costume earlier, and stirred up some excitement and hoo hah, I moved to sewing the Cinderella's costume next.  

Did some modifications to it as well where I have done away the sleeves.  The side puffs at the gown are too puffy for my liking and I decided to just let it drop and drap over the gown so that the dress will not be overkilled to wear to any other parties.    Again, I sewn it in blue and lilac. 
So here they are :

Princess Jasmine's Costume

My girls were invited to a Princess theme party recently.  At first I thought that they can go as civilians, since I am a bit lazy to sew lately.  After some thoughts, I felt that it would be exciting to sew a princess costume for them, even if it is just to challenge my sewing skills.  So off I went to google images of the Disney's princesses. 

Belle (Beauty and the Beast)'s costume seems a bit complicated and overkill while Ariel the mermaid does not look suitable.  I shortlisted Snow White, Princess Jasmine (Aladdin) and Cinderella.  Snow White's outfit looks nice but I would imagine my girls to hate the big back collar.  Finally, I settled for Princess Jasmine and Cinderella.

Princess Jasmine's costume looks nice and it is something different from the usual big gown princess outfits we often see.  I did some modifications to it though as the off shoulders looks a bit revealing and my girls do not like anything hanging at their shoulders or arms. 

Although initially I planned to only sew one costume each, I ended up sewing one of each costume for each of my girls.  So now I ended up with two Princess Jasmine : one in blue and another in lilac.

Ikea's Tablelamp Makeover

I always like to try on new things.  It challenges my mind to figure out how it can be done and also challenges my crafting skill.   A friend posted a picture of a very nice and cute commercial table lamp and I felt the itch in trying to make it on my own. 

It so happened that I have a very simple table lamp which I bought from Ikea some time ago.  So, putting my CNY projects aside for one night, I managed to give the table lamp a makeover.  It is far from the picture that my friend posted, but I felt that it is still acceptable.

Ikea's Table Lamp  (Before)

 

 

 

 

After  : 

 

 

 

 

 

Tutorial - Cheongsam for Little Girls

Below is a step by step guide in sewing a cheongsam for little girls.

Materials :

1) Printed cotton (1m)

2) Bias tape (1 packet)

3) Chinese clasps (3 sets)

4) Metal snaps (3 sets)

5) Elastic tape

The printed cotton is to be cut into patterns as shown in picture below.  (Pattern for printing to be uploaded later).

For the Top :

Steps :

1) Open up the bias tape and align to the wrong side of the fabric for the front piece.  Sew along the fold.  

2) Turn over the bias tape to the right side of the fabric and sew in place.  

 Top left :  Sewing the bias tape along the fold to the wrong side of fabric,
Top right : turning over the  bias tape to the right side
Bottom left  : Sewing the bias tape to the right side of fabric
Bottom right :  Finished front piece

3) Putting the right side of the fabrics together, sew along the shoulder line for the back and front upper pieces.  Your garment should now look like this :

4)  Place a strip of printed cotton, right side of fabric facing up, flat to the working surface.  Align the collar of the garment (wrong side of fabric facing up) on it.  Then, place another strip of printed cotton (wrong side facing up) on top of the garment.  Sew along the edge.

5) After sewing, trim the excess fabric by cutting small triangles along the seams.  This is so that the curvy part of the collar does not bunched up.

6) Turn up the strips of printed cottons.  The wrong sides of the both strips will now face each other.  Align the left and right sides of the front top pieces so that the end of the collars touches each other.  Cut away the excess if necessary.  Trim the corners to slightly rounded shape.

7) Open the bias tape and sew along the fold to the wrong side (or inner side) of the garment.   Then turn the bias tape over and sew in place along the outer side.

Top left :  How the collar arrangement should look like
Top right :  Trimming the excess fabric along the collar
Bottom left : Aligning the pieces in place
Bottom right : Sewing on bias tape to the collar

After sewing the bias tape

8)  Arrange the garment neatly and place the front piece on top.  Pin in place. 

9) Sew only the left side of the front panel to the main garment, as near where the bias tape as possible to hide the stitches.  The garment should now look like this.

10)  Flip over the garment so that the right side of the fabrics are facing each other.  Sew along the left side from the armhole to the hem.  Repeat at the other side, only that the stitching should be done from the armhole to the upper piece of the right front piece.

11)  Fold the edges of the right side of the garment and sew a few stitches on top and bottom to hold it in place.   The folds are where the metal snap buttons will be.

12) Open up the bias tape and sew to the inner side of the armhole.  Flip over and sew along the outer side of the garment.

13)  Hand stitch in place the chinese clasps (1 on each side and the collar)  and metal snap buttons (right side of garment).

14)  Fold and sew along the hem of the garment.

For the skirt :

Steps :

1) Place both rectangular pieces of the skirts with the right side facing each other.  Sew along the left and right sides.

2)  With the wrong side of the fabric facing up, fold about 1/2 inch of the upper edge and sew along, leaving a gap of about 1/2".  The gap will be where the elastic tape will go through.

3)  Fold and hem the skirt.

4) Cut a piece of elastic tape to the length of the waist of your child.  Thread it through the gap in Step 2, making sure the other end of the tape does not go into the gap.

Threading in the elastic tape

Both ends of elastic tape at the gap, after threaded through the waist of the skirt

5) Align both ends of the elastic tape together to overlap of about 1 - 2 cm.  Sew in place.  The skirt is now done.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

The main reason I bought the ice cream maker which I made the Chocolate Ice Cream with was to make frozen yogurt. I figured it is a healthier option than ice cream and definitely cheaper than buying them outside.   It is only today that I really get down to make it.  I have chosen strawberry as my debut.

Ingredients :

2 1/2 cups     natural low fat yogurt
1       cup       thickened cream
2       tbsps    brown sugar
1       cup      fresh strawberries



Method :

1) Pureed the strawberries with a food processor.
2) Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
3) Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
4) Churn the mixture with the ice cream maker for 35 minutes.
5) Keep in freezer till set.


The frozen yogurt is a bit to the sour side.  Drizzling with honey helps tame the sour.  One can still taste the fresh strawberries in the yogurt.  Definitely an advantage over artificial flavouring.

Churning in process

Served with fresh strawberry

  

Served with Chocolate Sauce

DIY Board Games for Little Ones

I noticed that many, if not all, of the board games available are not suitable for small children.  Those classic board games like snake and ladder, chess, etc, need the players to at least, able to count or read simple instructions.  So when a friend introduced me to the Orchard Toys, I jumped into it instantly.

The Orchard Toys board games come in varieties, suitable for children as young as 2 1/2 years old. It only needs the child to be discipline enough to play the game.  I have since bought 2 sets of the games and I must say that they are really good, fun and educational.  I would have bought the whole store, if only I can afford it.  You see, the games are not cheap at all.  Plus, they are only available in 2 stores in the entire country.    One can get them from online stores of course, but shipping charges will add to the cost.   Fun as they are, I would imagine my girls to be bored with them very soon if there is not much of variety.  So, in order to keep them attracted to educational games like this, I have come out with the idea of DIY them on my own.

The theme I have decided on is : Time of the Day, featuring School Time, Bed Time, Meals Time and Play Time.  I searched for the suitable pictures and did the templates using Microsoft Powerpoint.  Next is to print them on glossy paper, which will look more attractive as the colors will be brighter.  After that, the print outs were pasted onto a cardboard to make them thicker and harder.  The shapes were then cut out and the sharp corners trimmed.  I tried to wrap them with cling film to protect them so that they will last longer.  However, the outcome didn't look that nice so I decided against it.  The game is now done.

There are 4 boards in this game, meaning it can be played by 2 - 4 players.  Each board represents a certain time of the day and the small pieces represent the items that are associated with that particular time. 

For example :

 School Time -  pencils, books, schoolbag, black board, writing, water bottle

 Meals Time - sandwiches, bread, fork and spoon, plates, fruits, cupcakes

 Play Time - playground, ball, music, story book, swimming, cycling

 Bed Time - pyjamas, teeth brushing, bath, shampoo and soap, potty, mummy tucking

Instructions to play :

1)  Each player choose a board depicting the time of the day.

2) The small pieces are to be put face down.  The first player pick a small piece and if the piece matches what she has in her board, then it is to be put on it.  Otherwise, the piece is returned to the pool, after showing all the players what it is.

3) The next player should do the same as the 1st player.

4) The first player who collected all the pieces in her board wins.  The game can be continued with the remaining players.

This is very easy to do and fun to play.  Only I must add that cutting the hard cardboard is really a chore.  Next time, I should get a paper cutter instead.