Boatneck Lady Skater and French Cuff TUTORIAL

Well, I couldn't restrain myself.  I had to make another Lady Skater Dress.  I've worn my previous, ahem, 3 dresses quite a bit.  I've had my eye on this dress, but the fit isn't the most flattering on me.

I happened to find almost the exact same color ponte knit at Joanns, so why not another Lady Skater?

This time I made a boatneck.  In a nutshell, here's what I did for the neck.   

 I brought the scoop neck up and widened it, making it dip a little bit lower in the front.  Before sewing the shoulder seams, I applied some Steam-A-Seam Lite to neck.  I turned the neck to wrong side, sewed the shoulder seams, then top-stitched all the way around.

Okay, now for the fun French Cuff. Measure the circumference of the sleeve you want to add the cuff to.  Cut a shape like below using the circumference and your desired cuff length being sure to add your seam allowance (SA).  My cuff length was about 4 inches.

Apply a lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of half the cuff.  With right sides together, fold the cuff in half and sew the sides.

 Turn the cuff to the right side and press.

 This step is really important, so follow along carefully.  Turn your dress sleeve inside out.  Fold your cuff in half, matching the angled side. Align the fold of the cuff to the seam of the sleeve.

Pin the cuff to the wrong side of the sleeve, all the way around, so the angled sides end up directly opposite of the sleeve seam.

 Sew the cuff to the sleeve.

 Turn your sleeve to the right side.

 Fold the cuff back, press and add a cute button.

 Hope this tutorial makes sense.  It's really pretty simple once you sit down and actually do it.  And, it's adds a really nice touch to a simple dress.

Kimono Slippers

 The leaves are changing color and the air is crisp and cool.  It's officially slipper season.  

Every year I feel like it's a bit of a struggle finding the perfect, cozy slippers.  Duh, why not make my own.

 I settled on this pattern.  I love the instant gratification of a PDF pattern.

 Mine came out cute and cozy, but not nearly as cute as the ones pictured.  The pattern is fairly easy to follow, though there were times I could have used a little more detail.  I read a review that said the pattern ran small.  I cut a size 7, which is my size, and found that for me, the pattern ran way big!  I had to alter the sizing quite a bit.

 To make the insole, I ended up sandwiching Peltex between 2 layers of fleece, cutting it to size, and then sewing a zig zig stitch all the way around. 

I also used some grippy fabric for the bottoms for functionality.  Not so cute, but comes in handy when chasing kids around the house.

Overall, I like the slippers and I like the pattern.  I'm looking forward to making another pair for me and maybe some for the kids.  The pattern isn't sized for kids, but I think I can figure out how to size it down.

 

Do you have a favorite slipper pattern?  I'd love to hear about it.

My Favorite Lady Skater Dress

 And probably my last....for now.

 The fabric is a medium weight cotton lycra that I got from the Fabric Fairy a while ago.  I've been trying really hard to use fabric from my stash before buying anything new.

 The weight and stretch of the fabric is perfect for this dress.  Though I did end up having to redo the skirt.  The original was too full and the fabric didn't drape properly.

 Sewing for myself has been really fun.  At first, I really hated taking photos of myself.  But truthfully, the more I do it, the more at ease I feel.  I still don't love looking at photos of myself and wondering why I'm making silly faces.

But, it can be fun to play around with the kids and the remote which sometimes spurs some cute candid photos.  And, the boy is still wearing his Flip Vest from February.

Now that I'm done with sewing for myself for a while, I might have to make him a new one.  The next Kids Clothes Week Challenge is coming up in a few short weeks.  Are you joining in?