First Attempt at Sleeves and a little lace bow….

Last night I was super motivated to sew. I have wanted to work on this “peasant dress”, that I had won a pattern from, from Little Lizard King for some time.

I had not yet learned how to do sleeves but desperately wanted to learn. I have been terrified because when I look at the patterns for sleeves, they look nothing like what I think a sleeve should look like. Well I bit the bullet and tried it out. This is the pattern I used. I haven’t used many patterns yet, but this was very different.  Normally when I use a pattern, it is a cut out piece that you cut your fabric from in a certain size. Perhaps because of the simplicity of this dress, I was given a chart of measurements to cut my pieces and one tiny pattern piece for the sleeve. It was just different than what I am used to. Included with my pattern was a step by step tutorial which was VERY helpful.

I began by cutting my piece to the chart given. Under “Dress” for size 2 which is what I was going for, was a 17.5 X 17 piece and it had a (2 cut) next to it so I knew to cut 2. One for the front and one for the back. I cut my pieces and I cut my sleeves and I got things pinned and sewn and was really excited. I altered what I was doing a little because I did not account for the “border” at the bottom of the dress. When I tried my dress on miss Livy, it wasn’t terrible, but a little short. (it actually was kind of cute, but without bloomers or something to cover that hideous diaper, it just wouldn’t work). So I managed to cut some more fabric and just Chrissy Couture a bottom drop waist ruffle.

  

Whats a picture without Spiderman hands? When Livy sat down I heard some stitches snap crackle and pop....but all seemed to remain intact......:)



Then a little bow to add some Couture. J

The sleeves really weren’t as difficult as I thought they would be. I opted for the short sleeve length rather than the ¾ due to the fabric I had. It’s a stretch vintage fabric, but again, I couldn’t tell you what it is. I cut my first sleeve wrong and had to re-do it, but other than that, the whole dress came together pretty smoothly. No seams to rip and re-sew! That’s a first I think! J

 

Overall it took me about 3 hours total, stopping occasionally to make sure children weren’t killing each other and a few fittings. Definitely going to make more of these.

What do you think?

Until Next time…..

Stay Calm…..and try out a pattern with Sleeves….