I tried to get some photos of her the other day with limited success, but hopefully they'll give you an idea.
The fabric has cat silhouettes in the yellow and grey circles. It's not really a little girl fabric but she seems to like it a lot - if you poke her on one of the cat spots she'll meow for you :D
The neckline has a wee keyhole detail in the middle, and is finished with binding that extends into two ties. That's the only part of the pattern I don't like so much, that the binding is put on with zigzag stitch, I think it detracts from the simplicity of the pattern. Next time I'll put it on differently. Having said that, the pattern is marketed as 'easy' and yes it was super-easy to put the binding on that way so it's very effective from that point-of-view!
Hazel had her face painted at creche that day, funnily enough there was a navy blue moon on one cheek and a yellow flower on the other which matched the colours in the dress perfectly, though by the time I took the photo those had been largely rubbed off. In this photo she's eating some of the peas she had just picked out in the garden.
There's quite a lot of the fabric left over so I think I should probably make myself a tshirt or something like that from it. I just need to draft a pattern for myself from Cal Patches book!
thats a cool dress -love the fabric!
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely - I find it really difficult to get nice little girly knit fabrics but this one is really gorgeous. Love to hear more about that Cal Patch book when you've drafted the pattern - it's on my wishlist at the moment.
ReplyDeleteHazel looks like a gorgeous little hippy girl with that cute wee dress and long flowing hair! hehe
ReplyDeleteSorry I, like you, have not figured out how to hem knit fabric without it snapping... !
such a cute dress, looks like she loves it! sorry, i don't have any tips for you regarding knits. :(
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of peas from your garden as much as the dress - lovely!
ReplyDeleteSweet dress, especially the sleeves. I am so glad to see that she is wearing it. I stay away from stretch fabrics as I am yet to make something I would want to wear so I can't help you at all with your hemming dilemma. Do tell all when you discover how to do it though.
ReplyDeleteYour daughter is getting more gorgeous by the day! Seriously.
ReplyDeleteThe dress is pretty cute too :)
Cute cute dress!
ReplyDeleteHemming knits eludes me a bit too - the stitch that looks like a zigzag but has a few stitches of straight stitching between each zig and zag (clear as mud?) works really well for not breaking, but it's also not very subtle...
Oh wait, serpentine stitch works quite well too (the wavy one)...hmm, i'm just overwhelming in my specifics and technical jargon today!
Very cute! I like the pose too! How about using a cotton binding in a plain colour, then stitch that on with a straight stitch? Use like a thick binding of at least 1 inch? I thought long and hard over the 50% off knits at the Global Fabric sale, then went for the safe and easy cotton prints! One day I'll tackle knits too! But never knitting hahhaa thats what Nana is for!
ReplyDeleteThat dress is just adorable - and so is the model! She looks like a beautiful flower child :)
ReplyDeleteYou should make and sell clothes online, because I'd totally buy a stock just in case I (or someone I know) might need them :D
I'm a bit daunted but I can't put it off forever! A tshirt should be fairly simple (I hope!).
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes I'm pleased she likes the fabric too, although it's odd to see her out of pinks.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to do some research into this hem thing and will let everyone know what I find. There must be a trick to it!
ReplyDeleteI think it's the cats she likes. It probably wouldn't have a show if it weren't for them :)
ReplyDeleteThey're pretty good. Not many of them as the plants haven't grown very well, but they taste nice!
ReplyDeleteSuch an adorable dress - and of course little girl.
ReplyDeleteI like your confidence re: the hem! But yes I will because I need to solve this problem!
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say, good DNA ;)
ReplyDeleteYes I know the stitch you mean and I've used it on elastics before. As you say though, not very subtle. But the tshirts I have are done with a twin needle, as are the knit dresses, so I think that's the way to go but maybe the thread is the key, they use the wooly overlocker stuff on the bottom. Wonder if that would fit on a bobbin...
ReplyDeleteGlobal Fabrics is evil. I managed to stay away from the last sale by telling myself I had to use up all the fabrics I'd bought from there previously that hadn't been used! You should try knits though - on a basic level they're not as hard as you might think, even without an overlocker. I find I do a fair amount on them with my regular machine anyways.
ReplyDeleteIt takes me such a long time to make anything that it wouldn't be very economic to try and sell them - or else I'd have to charge so much for them that people wouldn't buy! But for friends who have babies I like to make little gifties, just so you know.
ReplyDeleteThanks on both counts! Though really it's my DNA that takes credit for Hazel ;)
ReplyDeleteah, yes, I hear ya! My daughter is the same way! I never know when
ReplyDeletesomething is never going to get worn or not!
"if you poke her on one of the cat spots she'll meow for you" -- hahaha, soooo adorable.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion for knits is to get a sage rub & light it. The scent from the incense will summon the Knit Gods to come and see that your sewing goes on without a hitch. If that doesn't work, I got nothin' for you.
Oh you had me there for a second! :)) I'm thinking 'what sage, is this some
ReplyDeletefabulous sewing notion I don't know about?". Hee hee.
I went through massive anxiety about it about 6 months ago, got to the point
ReplyDeletewhere I didn't want to sew for her anymore, but I've had a great hit-rate
recently so either what I'm sewing has changed or she has! I would have
massive envy of the mamas who would blog about how much their kids loved
their creations, but since then of course I've noticed posts from other
blogs whose kids are like Hazel so I feel a bit better :)
yes, I get like that too sometimes where I read about other people's kids
ReplyDeleteloving their stuff. It's really frustrating when you work so hard on
something and they end up not wearing it. The worst is when my daughter
tells me where I went wrong and how I should have changed it! this coming
from a 3.5 year old!!!
I took a week off of reading blogs and just stumbled on this today... hopefully it helps! You have a walking foot, right? I thought I'd seen you say you had at some point.
ReplyDeletehttp://omi-creates.blogspot.com/2010/02/shopping-for-stretch.html
Oh pooh, right blog, wrong post. THIS one is the one you want. She has great tips on how to sew knits with no serger.
ReplyDeletehttp://omi-creates.blogspot.com/2010/02/baby-boy-onesie-with-binding-tutorial.html
Thanks for the link and yes, I do have a walking foot which I love! From
ReplyDeletethe research I've done on this over the last couple days I'm going to try
using wooly nylon in the bobbin, a twin needle and stretching the fabric a
little. Unfortunately I don't have a stitch on my machine like the one Omi
uses, it looks like an ideal one but it may be worth playing with some of
the ones I do have that might be similar.
It looks gorgeous :D Would love to see what type of type you end up with.
ReplyDeleteThat dress is adorable! I'll have to try that pattern. The kitty fabric is great!
ReplyDelete