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Showing posts from February, 2023

Remake: Shift Dress + Old Skirt = New Dress

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Pregnancy and breastfeeding have controlled my wardrobe over the last two and a half years. Now that I've passed that stage of motherhood again, I desperately needed to refresh my wardrobe. There is such simple pleasure in once more being able to wear a dress with a back zipper or a well fitted blouse with no buttons on the front.  For this remake I was just desperate for something fresh to wear. So I looked in my wardrobe to see what could be transformed without too much effort. I had a black rayon maternity skirt with a stretched out shirred waistband and a shift dress that saw me through early pregnancy and on into breastfeeding after I inserted a zip into the front. Both items were tired in their original form but had some good potential and the fabric was still in good condition. So, using a simple waisted dress pattern with darts for fitting, I carefully cut the bodice from the shift dress. The lines in the design of the fabric made this tricky as it had to be centred properl

Baby Romper

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I love when my family and close friends have new babies! It's a marvelous excuse to find some lovely fabric and a sweet little pattern and make something special. New baby clothes are so little and cute! This romper was made for my brother's new baby boy. I already had this lovely linen blend fabric and the pattern in my collection. I used Kwik Sew K214 as my base pattern and removed the sleeves and collar. I also used snaps to close the back instead of the zipper recommended by the pattern. In my opinion, back closing zips are not comfortable for small babies as they spend so much time laying flat on their backs. This was an easy pattern to sew, but I did find that the front yoke was not sized correctly for the rest of the romper to attach to, so some adjustments were necessary to get the right fit. I also enlarged the neckline slightly to be less close fitting. I love a good romper pattern and this would be one of the nicer ones I've used in recent years. I made the same