Bee Skirt
I made this skirt as part of a costume for a bee party I went to a few months ago. Since I haven't been doing the best job of taking photos as soon as I make something, this post (as well as the next one) are quite late.
I went on amazon and bought two meters of the cheapest black and yellow striped fabric I could find. Originally, I had intended to make a dress from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book, but I came across a problem when it came to the bodice. I cut the bodice out a size larger than it needed to be, but the armholes were so small I couldn't fit my arms through them.
Because I was a little pressed for time, I gave up on trying to fit the sleeves and bodice to myself and made a skirt instead. The skirt is simple, made from three rectangles: the front, back, and waistband. I zig zag stitched all the raw seams and included a side zipper.I would like to eventually make this skirt into the dress I originally wanted. The bodice pieces only need small modifications in the shoulder and armpit area. While the pattern originally called for short sleeves, I probably won't include them because I don't have enough fabric left to recut them.
French Fry Dress!
This is the dress that I briefly mentioned in this post. I finally got outside and took some pictures of the dress! (Seven months after I made it-Oops!)
The pattern I used for this dress is the Seersuker Sundress from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing and I used two yards of French Fry fabric. Since both the book and the fabric were Christmas gifts, I found myself with two yards of fabric and a pattern that called for three. Luckily, when I went to lay out my pattern pieces, there was easily enough space for all of them.
Pictured above is the muslin I made for the dress. I only made one muslin, and I only needed to adjust the front and back by taking them in by about 5/8 of an inch. I fully lined the dress with the muslin.
I put in an invisible zipper instead of a lapped zipper, and this is the best invisible zipper I have ever done. The secret is to hand sew the whole zipper. I also took my time on the gathered skirt in order to make sure the gathers were perfectly even. Instead of gathering by sewing over a thread and pulling it, I pinned every gather out individually.In fact, this garment is probably the best I have ever made. My only regret is that I didn't take more time with the four darts in the front of the bodice - I could have adjusted them to fit better. Despite this, the French Fry Dress has been worn a few times already, (It was too cold to wear when I made it) and will definitely be worn over and over again in the future.
Cupcake Bears!
