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:o) well I finally did it.
This the first in a series of 4. The other 3 are ready to be hemmed, gathered & attached.

and (drum roll please) here it is!

http://www.boomspeed.com/bonadea/JulesSpinning.jpg
:o) Jules loves it. The first thing she did was start spinning.

http://www.boomspeed.com/bonadea/DressCloseUp.jpg
And here is a close up. Sorry for chopping her head off. I just wanted a pict of the dress and that's what I ended up with.

LOL The stiching to the shirt is not straight. And in the future i'd like to try serging the strips together for strength reasons. But over all I'm pleased.

Crossing my fingers I like the next 3 because one of them as to be good enough to be used as a B-Day gift on Sunday.

-Jenn J 4/98, Jules 5/00
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust

Jenn, the dress looks GREAT!!!!! I thought you did "lettuce" at the top of the skirt. lol! http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/wink.gif

I bet the other dresses will look as great! Jules sure seems to enjoy it! http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/smile.gif

<font color=blue>~*~ Live and let live! ~*~<font color=blue>
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<font color=green>We get to play dress-up on:
October 5th, 2002! </font color=green>http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/smile.gif

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

I thought you did "lettuce" at the top of the skirt. lol!

<hr></blockquote>

Wayy cool. lol. it really isn't that bad but I sure notice it.

Thanks,

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

cute and twirly, great combo!

::hmm wonder what I can convince Jenn to sew next...:::

--------------------------------------
My two beautiful boys
http://www.mywahbiz.com/~scarlet/beautifulboys.jpg

How cute! I think thet would make a great b-day gift!

Renee
SAHM to Lydia Joy (9/17/01), wife to Aaron
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Yeah, what are you going to *make* me do next?

At least I turn you down occasionally. :o)

Anyhow, I couldn't have done this as eaily without your "hints". With your hints prior to any cutting or sewing I was able to do it much easier that without.

You want to hear scary? I'm looking forward to doing more. Yikes.

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

That is just too darling! As a potential, chomping at the bit quilter -- please share! How wide did you cut your strips. Was it a pain to gather once sewn together? Tell all. Even the gory bits, please! ;-)

You've inspired me!! :-))

Lynn

Hey Lynn, when I made my patchy jumper, gathering the skirt was really easy! Here's what I do: Sew 2 rows of basting stitches along the top of the skirt. Pull the bobbin threads to gather, then sew between the 2 rows of stitching when you sew it to the top half.

Renee
SAHM to Lydia Joy (9/17/01), wife to Aaron
http://members2.photofun.com/Lydiasmomma/iTOOLImageGallery/Lydiawithtoy.JPG
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Ooooh please tell me what pattern you used
Sabreena would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

<font color=red>M</font color=red><font color=blue>a</font color=blue>r<font color=green>i</font color=green><font color=purple>o</font color=purple><font color=red>n</font color=red> http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/wink.gif
World's Greatest Bee Gees fan
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Marion,
No pattern.
Just a store bought shirt and scraps of fabric.
Read below I'm giveing directions.

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

LOL the gorry bits mostly apply to Scarlet and I but here's what I did.

Found scraps that I wanted to use.
I prefer full length (aka 44-45").
Then I trimed/cut them to whatever they lent themselves to.
I knew I didn't want to go smaller than1.5" cut (finished 1" since I use 1/4" seam allouances like in quilting) and I didn't want to go any larger than 2.5" cut (thinking 2" strips on a little girl would be plenty wide).
So in the end I ended up with 5 sizes of strips. 1.5, 1.75. 2.0, 2.25, & 2.5. LOl it is that frugal quilter in me. If I hadn't been dealing with so many sizes of scraps I think I'd prefer to just do three sizes 1.5, 2.0, 2.5. That way I would get a little more variation. But cutting all 2.0" would work for me too. I think that would be the perfect size strips on a little girl and give lots of variation.
At this stage I played with all the strips. I found that I had almost = #'s of red vs all the others so I made two piles and sewed a red one to an "other" one.
Then I ironed all the seams to the red side
Then I played with the strips again to decide color placement.
Then I sewed 2 sets of 2 together. Then iron so all seams are faceing the same way. {Can you tell this stuff is ingrained in my brain after so many :o{ all 15 years of quilting?}
Then resort, makeing sure everything still looks ok.
Then sew 2 sets of 4 together.
Press.
And sew (so) on until all the strips are done.

In my case I really wanted my skirt to have a 57" skirt based on a dress Jules has that is nice a full. Unfortunatly, my scraps only =ed 52" but I decided that was close enough.

Then I took my panel of strips to the store to find a shirt that would work with what I had going on.
I ended up not finding exactly what I wanted but did find 4 shirts (3 different) that I wanted to try.
Then I took my least favorit shirt :o) I did.
And figured out aprox how long the skirt should be.
The shirt I used was a onesie type. SInce it was my 1st I didn't want to waste too much of the strips so I cut the skirt 10". This size also allowed me to make 2 additional in the length that I thought I wanted so it worked out just fine.
After cutting it to length I sewed the end strips together.
Then I hemed one side. I finger rolled as I sewed. (on the other 3 I ironed the hem first and I don't think one way turned out better than another so what ever you prefer)
Then I rad a length of stiching about 1/8 of an inch from the waist side of the dress. That was to secure the stiching at that end so while I was gathering the skirt they wouldn't pull out (I used a 1.0 (small) stich on my White).
Then 1/4" away from that (that's just what worked for me you could do it further) I ran another line of stiching using the largest stich length you can. Make sure you leave enough thread on both ends of the stich because you are going to be useing that to pull on for gathering (Lynn I pretty sure you know most of this stuff. :o) But just in case someone else needes the info I'm trying to cover all the bases.)
Then you gather pulling on the bobbin thread. That may vary from machine to machine but since that's my experience and Renees it may very well be universal.
I always over gather but it would work better if you gathered a little then checked the shirt you are going to be attaching it too to make sure it is close to the correct size.
When you are happy with the gathering and size. ...
PIN (I don't usually pin anything but imo you have to pin on this one) the skirt to the bodice.
The sew. I did mine stiching between the two lines I had already there.
Once the skirt is attached to the shirt take out the basting stich.

TA DA You are done.

I've got 2 more skirts pinned to the shirts and 1 more ready to pin. I'm going to try serging the skirt to the shirt.

And I also decided that the 17" I wanted would be to long so I stuck with the 12" length from the waist line. I did end up with one really short piece (ok6" maybe) and I'm attaching that to one of the shirts (Pink 4T) and I'm going to offer it up hear at Amity's once it is finished. I really like the look of longer "skirts" on little girls. This one will be more like a shirt with a long ruffle. And would still be super cute with a pair of pink or red or even black leggings.

In addition I found the black to be to overwelming. If I had more scraps to choose from I think I'd leave the black out this time. It does have red harts on it so it really does go but it makes the piece unbalanced imo.

Whew, more than you wanted to know.

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

What a great idea Jenn! I love the idea of using a onesie! I bet this is pretty fast to do, too! Cool, I can't wait to try it!

Renee
SAHM to Lydia Joy (9/17/01), wife to Aaron
http://members2.photofun.com/Lydiasmomma/iTOOLImageGallery/Lydiawithtoy.JPG
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WOW!!! That is so gorgeous! I bet Julia is delighted to own it!

Great job! :)

<font color=purple> Amina - Mom to Garrett the EGGPLANT!!! </font color=purple> http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/smile.gif

<font color=green> We are a hb, fb, cd, veggie, ebf, no circ...etc. kinda happy family!!! http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/wink.gif

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Major big AWWWWW! I was wondering what you guys were using for the top! Aren't you clever cats! Well, I have to go to Wal-Mart today anyway ... LOL

Thnx!!!

L

Thnx so much, Jenn!! I can't wait to get started. Thnx!!!!!

L

So Jenn, did you keep the bottom of the onsie that you cut up? I considered it and even cut the snaps off and sewed up the crotch and tried it on Rohan, but then thought 'nah' and threw it in a fit of passion!

--------------------------------------
My two beautiful boys
http://www.mywahbiz.com/~scarlet/beautifulboys.jpg

Scarlet,

That was a tough call.

I don't like onesies in the first place & Jules is using to potty... lol....*if* she's bare bottomed and at home.. although she stayed dry during a 3+ hour outing yesterday. She only had a Sandy with No cover, I'm not ready for the soaking though undies and I don't honestly think she is really ready but I'm trying not to hold her back.

Alas, I didn't answer your question.

:o) since this was the only onesie that I bought & I figured I'd donate it if it was too bad.
I left the bottom intact knowing I could serge it off later if needed.

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

Tee!Hee! Made Sinead a patchy dress this morning and the first thing she said was that it was like Jules'! LOL Well ... sorta. I did Sinead's in blues w/gold stars and moons and a contrast of a burgundy strip every 6 blues. Really pretty but ... it def has a pucker from the top. Is it cuz the top is a poly/cotton blend? Too much skirt? Wanna help w/solutions, gals? I was thinking of pulling the skirt to more waist length - it's at the hips now -- and adding a sash. Whatcha think? My mom wants me to cut the two apart and just make it a skirt. I'm resisting this path. Any ideas?

TIA

Lynn

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

it def has a pucker from the top.

<hr></blockquote>

ahhhammmm I'm not sure what you mean.

Could you have too much of an extra seem in there from attaching the skirt? aka bulk?

Did you sew it?

Did you serge it?

Did you take the basteing stich out?

I've got one poly blend and one 100% cotton ones that just came out of the wash and I'm not seeing a pucker per se. :o) I'm not a prewasher so I had to do a quick wash so I could give instructions for the mom who will be recieveing the other 2 in the series at the B-Day today.

I do have spots where my skirt was not big enough and it puckered the shirt part so it doesn't lay flat. But nothing noticeable when it it on the body kwim?

:o) I'll check back later.
The kids are gone to the party with the aunties and dh and I are going to have our own party :o)

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

Wow wow wow! That's cute!

I started sewing skirts onto t'shirts last summer. Instant gratification, LOL. Now I'm doing t-shirt dresses with the q&c pattern. I'll have to try a patchy one! http://www.amitymama.com/images/icons/smile.gif you guys r so inspiring!

Shecki
mom of Zachary, Annaliese, Josiah, Samuel, Brianna, and baby Elias Patrick, born 8/23/01

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I fixed it! Had too much skirt. Went kinda nuts w/the patchies! LOL So I cut off the top, cut out the gathers and started from scratch. BTW, I added a lining for the skirt so the quilting wouldn't ravel. Anyone else add a lining or am I just possessive of my work? LOL Anyway, looks MUCH better -- also I like it not so low on her hip - KWIM? When my digital comes home, I'll snap a pic. I'm dead pleased w/it and am inspired cuz to be honest -- for a minute there, I contemplated using my quilted pieces as a lap quilt! LOL Hmmmm .... I see a new rotary blade in my future! :-) Thnx for all of your help, gals! And hope you had a fun party, Jenn! ;-)

Lynn

I totally understand wanting to add lineing. I just hadn't figured out the easiest way and :o) didn't have any co-ordinating fabric left for this set.

Good to know about what happens when there is too much skirt. I think I would easily have that problem.

Thanks for the advice.

<font color=blue>-Jenn</font color=blue> <font color=orange>J 4/98, Jules 5/00</font color=orange>
<font color=green>Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
They are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust</font color=green>

Well, I picked up some white lining the other day at Wal-Mart from their $1/yd table. Tell me I'm not psychic?! LOL Turned out super! Sinead is probably going to sleep in it since ever since she tried it on, she refuses to part w/it. Which is a pity cuz I still need to hem it! LOL I'm already going through the closet in search of the next one! LOL Meijer's had all of their winter tops on sale this weekend - 75% off! I see a new wardrobe in the works!! :-)))) Too much fun. Thnx for my newest addiction. Just what I needed! LOL

L

Wow, what an adorable dress! And this pattern is easier, b/c you don't have to sew the neck or the sleeves (most difficult parts of a dress for me). It looks so cute!

Mom of a boy here, or I'd be making one right now. Hmmm...I wonder how ridiculous *I* would look in something like this? LOL

Tara

I didn't line mine because I serged all the seams (o:

--------------------------------------
My two beautiful boys
http://www.mywahbiz.com/~scarlet/beautifulboys.jpg

On my patchy jumper and the patchy skirt I'm making, I did french seams on all my seams.

Renee
SAHM to Lydia Joy (9/17/01), wife to Aaron
http://members2.photofun.com/Lydiasmomma/iTOOLImageGallery/Lydiawithtoy.JPG
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