The ruffle fabric was the inspiration for this jumper. The jumper is made from chocolate baby weight cord and is lined with reddish/orange batiste that picks up the color of the ruffle.
The unique part of this dress is the back yoke. The straps are one piece of fabric that continues around the back and forms the yoke.
The unique part of this dress is the back yoke. The straps are one piece of fabric that continues around the back and forms the yoke.I plan to add to this outfit by making the Peter Pan blouse from the same pattern in white with red piping and also making pants in the same fabric as the ruffle.
I did have two frustrations with this pattern - first, I am not a good hand sewer and since this jumper is lined once I turned the jumper right side out I had to hand sew the seam left open for turning. Thankfully that is on the inside so unless someone decides to check out the inside :-D, no one will ever know. Secondly, sewing the back yoke on on to the jumper was a little tricky as the two curves are opposite with right sides together. With careful pinning and slow sewing I was able to get the two sewed together with no problems.
My tip to all you seamstresses out there is to buy pattern weights. I despise the pinning/cutting out phase of sewing. If I could skip that, I would. Using pattern weights made laying out my pattern so much faster and easier. From start to finish this pattern took me about 2 hours and the time was significantly reduced by using pattern weights. It also saves your patterns wear and tear since you are not pinning through them. I did transfer my original pattern on to tracing paper which makes my pattern more durable and ensures my original doesn't get messed up and is usable for years to come. Transferring is also helpful for multi-size patterns
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Answer to Liz's question:
If you don't have tracing paper to transfer the pattern to you can always use a different kind of "tracing paper" and a tracing wheel to transfer the pattern lines to your fabric. Once they are transferred you cut around the pattern where the sizes follow the same lines and then lift back the pattern to follow the line on the fabric where they aren't. I don't like this method because it can be very hard to see the pattern lines if you have a printed fabric no matter the color of tracing paper you use and the tracing wheel has little points used to transfer the markings which can quite effectively cut your pattern after it has been traced a time or two and that totally defeats the purpose.
I took my pattern, laid it on my cutting board, laid the tracing paper over it and used the little marker wheel (which was well worth the money, so easy!) to transfer the basic pattern outline for the size I was making. I also transferred any markings such as button holes, notches, etc. Once done I labeled the pattern just like the original (i.e. Kitty, Size 1 front, cut 1 lining, cut 1 fabric). I only traced out what I needed. Other sizes and pieces I left for next time. I also used my pattern weights when transferring the pattern to keep the tracing paper from moving around. Next I laid out my fabric as directed in the guide sheet, laid the pieces down, and then used the weights. I don't have enough weights to do all pieces at once so I laid each piece in the general area it was to go to ensure I had them laid out correctly and then used my weights and cut each piece, one at a time.
The batiste is hobby lobby - 2.99 a wonderful deal! The fashion print came from our local bernina store that has a wonderful selection of 100% cotton prints and solids. I love their fabrics just not the prices. You definitely pay a premium for good fabric but the quality = the price. The feel of this cotton is so soft and smooth. Kind of the difference between 200 thread count sheets and 400. The cord came from Farmhouse Fabrics and is such a nice corduroy. This online store is a well known supplier of great materials in the smocking/children's wear community. My mom gets a magazine that I love to look through called Creative Needle. They have such wonderful ideas in there and always reference patterns and suppliers. Many times the supplier for the fabrics is Farmhouse Fabrics. I was privileged to be able to go and shop in the warehouse. (The lady who owns it lives in the same unincorporated town as my Grandmother and is just a mile down the road. She's also a friend of my grandmother and I remember swimming in her pool as a child.) It was a huge building with floor to ceiling fabrics, trims, patterns, etc. Overwhelming but so much fun. I have to say the highlight though was seeing all the samples that appeared in the magazine. In fact, one of the samples was how I decided on the Kitty pattern.
I did have two frustrations with this pattern - first, I am not a good hand sewer and since this jumper is lined once I turned the jumper right side out I had to hand sew the seam left open for turning. Thankfully that is on the inside so unless someone decides to check out the inside :-D, no one will ever know. Secondly, sewing the back yoke on on to the jumper was a little tricky as the two curves are opposite with right sides together. With careful pinning and slow sewing I was able to get the two sewed together with no problems.
My tip to all you seamstresses out there is to buy pattern weights. I despise the pinning/cutting out phase of sewing. If I could skip that, I would. Using pattern weights made laying out my pattern so much faster and easier. From start to finish this pattern took me about 2 hours and the time was significantly reduced by using pattern weights. It also saves your patterns wear and tear since you are not pinning through them. I did transfer my original pattern on to tracing paper which makes my pattern more durable and ensures my original doesn't get messed up and is usable for years to come. Transferring is also helpful for multi-size patterns
-------------------
Answer to Liz's question:
If you don't have tracing paper to transfer the pattern to you can always use a different kind of "tracing paper" and a tracing wheel to transfer the pattern lines to your fabric. Once they are transferred you cut around the pattern where the sizes follow the same lines and then lift back the pattern to follow the line on the fabric where they aren't. I don't like this method because it can be very hard to see the pattern lines if you have a printed fabric no matter the color of tracing paper you use and the tracing wheel has little points used to transfer the markings which can quite effectively cut your pattern after it has been traced a time or two and that totally defeats the purpose.
I took my pattern, laid it on my cutting board, laid the tracing paper over it and used the little marker wheel (which was well worth the money, so easy!) to transfer the basic pattern outline for the size I was making. I also transferred any markings such as button holes, notches, etc. Once done I labeled the pattern just like the original (i.e. Kitty, Size 1 front, cut 1 lining, cut 1 fabric). I only traced out what I needed. Other sizes and pieces I left for next time. I also used my pattern weights when transferring the pattern to keep the tracing paper from moving around. Next I laid out my fabric as directed in the guide sheet, laid the pieces down, and then used the weights. I don't have enough weights to do all pieces at once so I laid each piece in the general area it was to go to ensure I had them laid out correctly and then used my weights and cut each piece, one at a time.
The batiste is hobby lobby - 2.99 a wonderful deal! The fashion print came from our local bernina store that has a wonderful selection of 100% cotton prints and solids. I love their fabrics just not the prices. You definitely pay a premium for good fabric but the quality = the price. The feel of this cotton is so soft and smooth. Kind of the difference between 200 thread count sheets and 400. The cord came from Farmhouse Fabrics and is such a nice corduroy. This online store is a well known supplier of great materials in the smocking/children's wear community. My mom gets a magazine that I love to look through called Creative Needle. They have such wonderful ideas in there and always reference patterns and suppliers. Many times the supplier for the fabrics is Farmhouse Fabrics. I was privileged to be able to go and shop in the warehouse. (The lady who owns it lives in the same unincorporated town as my Grandmother and is just a mile down the road. She's also a friend of my grandmother and I remember swimming in her pool as a child.) It was a huge building with floor to ceiling fabrics, trims, patterns, etc. Overwhelming but so much fun. I have to say the highlight though was seeing all the samples that appeared in the magazine. In fact, one of the samples was how I decided on the Kitty pattern.
4 Responses:
I have wondered about that every time my scissors went through my patterns forever chopping off the sizes 2, 3, 4. . . etc. I tried to think of some clever way that I could cut out the fabric w/OUT cutting the pattern. . and I guess I just wasn't clever enough. So, you trace out the whole pattern onto tracing paper. . then use the pattern weights to "pin" this tracing paper onto the fabric? then you cut?. . .Just trying to get the exact image here.
The jumper is adorable! Where'd you find your fabric. . that must always be asked!
Liz, I've answered in the post because it just got too long for this little box! :-D
such a cute jumper! i want to see the real thing in action in the nursery to check it out. i've only managed to do one jumper pattern for catherine. maybe i need to try some more for the fall.
I tried using a tracing wheel to do my markings for buttonholes, etc, but I HATED it! So, I bought a chalk wheel & really like it. The chalk went on pretty easily & it was easy to see, & easily came off (but not too easily) -- the biggest bonus in my mind. So, the tracing paper you are talking about would be a permanent pattern? So, you really want to use some sort of permanent pen or something to trace on the paper?
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