Birthday Ice Cream for Bethany

Tomorrow Lidia is off to an 8th Birthday Party.

She desperately wanted me to sew a dress for her little friend.
So much so she gave up her own special yardage of Parisville by Tula Pink.

We decided on an oliver+S Ice Cream dress which is quite a nifty sew if the pockets are left off.
At times I struggle achieving a nice 'V' at the neck and often omit it but then the dress can be a snug fit over the head.
This time I drew the 'V' in situ.

I also popped a wee square of interfacing at the base of the 'V' to prevent tearing.

I then sewed the 'V' with a tiny stitch length before sewing the complete neck seam.

From the back

It worked really really well!

Don't you think?

I used a special pink MOP button sent to me from a dear friend.

I sewed it with the sweet aqua green thread.

I do like this dress lined it adds a delicious fullness.
I did blog the process here,if you fancy a peep!
Lidia was far too skinny to model for me so Zara stepped in.

I think she would quite like to keep it herself!

xx N

Skinny Sketchbook Jeans

As promised.......
Sketchbook skinny jeans.

I previously blogged the construction for the oliver+s Sketchbook shorts here,so I shan't go over all that again.
Just the twiddles I fiddled with.

Firstly,to make the shorts into trousers use an existing pair and lay it over the shorts pattern front and back pattern piece and lengthen accordingly adding seam allowance around the edges.
You will find that you may taper the shorts pattern piece to line up with the trousers.

Here I have taken a Sketchbook trouser pattern I made for Hugo and tapered it to make a skinny jeans version.
I used a pair of size 8 Sketchbook jeans I  made Zara a few years back for a guide and added length.

Elsa requested a deeper pocket opening so I used a bread&butter plate as a template.

As you can see,by tapering the pattern some of the pocket is lost.

I also removed the front pleat as the girls are quite slim and don't need the extra fullness.

The back leg pattern piece.

As the pocket opening has been increased a new pocket piece will be needed.
Trace off the existing pattern piece.

Using the new front leg pattern piece,re-draw the pocket opening.

As Elsa requested a zipper feature on the pocket I needed to make the pocket bag longer to accommodate it.

Tailors chalk is really useful for these modifications.

Here is the new pocket compared with the original pocket.
NB I decided to recut this piece in cotton as I was worried about the pocket becoming too bulky.

The pocket bag had to be enlarged as well.

I cut the waistband with the grain as I didn't want that to stretch.

Elsa requested back pockets too!

I muddled up my own method for fitting the zipper.
It's not perfect but it's mine.

I started by drawing a rectangle the length of the zipper teeth.

I then drew a line down the centre and triangles either end to determine slash lines.

Cut the slash lines and take the chance to mark the other front leg.

Press the fold lines of the rectangle to the wrong side.
I used some scraps of interfacing to hold the folds in place.

Carefully pin the zipper in place from the top.
Using a zipper foot,top stitch in place.

The finished zipper from the wrong side.

The top stitched zipper.

As I mentioned previously,I recut the pocket with a cotton to reduce bulk.
I used some of my precious precious City Weekend print.

Normally,this step would be sewn RIGHT sides together,this time it is WRONG side of the pocket to the RIGHT side of the pants front.

After trimming,pressing and turning it should look like this.

So when you unzip you see this!

I then completed the pocket and top stitched it in place.

Continue on with the other pocket and put the front together.
Check out the tute mentioned above if you would like any tips.

As you have lengthened the pattern the hems can be uneven so I recommend pinning from the crotch seam out.
Match any notches!

Nearly there!

One pair of skinny Sketchbook jeans!

With zipper detail on the pockets.

A chance to show case some groovy fabric.

Cute little pockets.

For some seriously cute girls.

 Good bottom coverage.

 Groovy zippered pockets.

A nice high waist.

Snappy back pockets.

Worn with a light weight wool Class Picnic blouse

We have a winner!
xx N