From my studio last week: May 23, 2011

So I have two things to show you from my studio last week. 

First, a recycled t-shirt dress for the little girl.  Because clearly the little girl is hurting for playdresses. HAH!!  I crack myself up sometimes.

As she grows taller, I find myself having to piece together shirts in order to get enough length.  I used to piece just two shirts, but now I’m starting to add in a wide sashing at the waist to extend the dress a few more inches. 

The color combo on this dress is soooo weird.  And yet I think it works.  The bottom of the dress is a beige and golden yellow striped polo.  The sashing at the waist is some scrap gray knit with itty yellow flowers, and the top is from a minty green t-shirt.  The bow around the neck is from a bright yellow polka-dotted polyester blouse I snagged from a rummage sale. 

Here’s a close-up of the neck detail.  The little girl insisted that I place the bow off center.

And the second project – a simple peasant blouse to wear with my new awesome blue trousers.  It took some doing to make it look right.

I’m sharing the unflattering photo first.  It’s not even hemmed yet at this stage.  I used what I thought was a drapey fabric, but it turned out too poofy and too shapeless through the torso.  Ugh. 

A little experimenting in the mirror showed that it looked a lot better with a belt, but the shirt was too short and flared out all crazy at the hip when I cinched it in at the waist.  Sooo…. 

First, I took in a little on the sides to get rid of some of that poofiness under the bust.  My side seams now have a bit of an hourglass shape, though the shirt is so full that you really don’t see it when I’m wearing it. 

Second, I added an elastic casing to the hem.  The casing cinches in the fullness at the hip.  This is a good thing because my pear-shaped figure doesn’t need ANY extra fullness at the hip!

Now I can wear the shirt two ways.  Here it is by itself, no belt at the waist.  The cinching at the bottom makes it look like it’s tucked in, but actually it’s just sitting free and easy on my hip.

I can also wear it with a sash at the waist.  The elastic casing keeps it from flaring out too much at the hip. 

I’ll be writing up a tutorial showing how I do my casings.  It’s nothing earth-shattering, but there are some tips and tricks that I use to make it easier.  Look for that tutorial either today or tomorrow. 

Toodles!