Posts Tagged ‘style’

Sewing: June’s Baby Doll Outfit

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As a goal for this year, I promised myself I’d take time out to sew each week. It hasn’t happened as religiously as I would like, but it’s happened. I’ve made a couple of little outfits for June and Pen. I’m in the middle of a couple projects for me. It’s been great to do some non-work, just-for-fun sewing. It relaxes me. But apparently it stresses the heck out of June.
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Lately she’s been in such a terrible mood. She’s got most of her teeth now so I wonder if she’s getting her two-year-old molars super early. What else would explain how a normally chill kid freaks out at the littlest thing? She wouldn’t have any part of this little photoshoot I set up for her yesterday. I still think she’s the cutest anyway.

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Around Valentine’s day, I made her this matching babydoll set. I found the fabric in my stash from a fabric swap years ago. It’s a soft, light-weight knit with oversized florals. The color scheme is a little more “Christmas” than it is “emerging spring” but the lightweight long-sleeves are great for those days when the sun is warm but the temperatures are still cool. Also, the dark fabrics hide all the gross stains she gets along her front for refusing to wear a bib. I’m all in favor of hiding those stains.

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I designed the top with an empire waist and low back. The low back is so adorable! I think it’s got to be my new favorite design element on kids’ clothes right now.

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The pants are little harem pants with a gathered waistband. She gets range of motion and I get an incredibly easy sewing project. I didn’t hem any of it besides the neckline. That biz has to be reinforced, but everything else has curled up nicely to look purposefully finished.

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Despite her terrible mood she is absolutely so adorable.

Outfit & Photo details:

Style: Easy Marble Pencil Skirt

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All those mountains behind me in the below image are marbled with snow now! I took these pics with Sam back in November and I’m just getting around to sharing them with you. I haven’t done much by way of sewing these days and it crushes me! Calligraphy and teaching have taken up the bulk of my free-time these days. I’m itching to get back into sewing before the holidays hit. I’m in desperate need of some cozy sweaters and dresses.

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All photos by Sam Pierson

I found this awesome marble printed neoprene at MOOD, so I bought it. I can’t remember if I got one yard or two, but I’ve got plenty left for some leggings, skirts and perhaps a dress for the girls. I’m a sucker for matching outfits. Poor Felix gets left out of my plans for matching. He doesn’t care either way, though.

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Want to make one of your own? It’s insanely easy. NO serger required. See my wiggle skirt tutorials below:

Leather and knit wiggle skirt

Color-blocked wiggle skirt

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Outfit details–

 

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Sewing Style: Mini Me

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This girl may be the spitting image of Chris, but she’s mini me. Her love for crafting, art, music and fashion are definitely me. I love that. When it comes to school work, she’s also a mini-me: a free spirited day-dreamer.

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I had just enough fabric left over from my color-blocked shift dress that I thought I would make her a matching skirt. Then she suddenly grew too tall for the black shirt you see above.

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Instead of giving it away or saving it for June, I repurposed it as the top of her new color-blocked dress. Now we really can be twins! Also, I don’t have to keep nagging for her to pull up her skirt and down her shirt so that the two ends meet. The below-the-knee length on the dress will give her a lot of versatility. She’s growing like a weed.  melissaesplin-penelope-mommy-daughter-dress-3

As it stands, this is her go-to Sunday dress along with a sea-foam sequin number I bought for my sister’s wedding. Proud mama moment right there when I don’t have to nag her to wear the things I’ve made for her. It certainly makes me want to do more (and more to come, her halloween costume this year is epic).

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This girl cracks me up. She styled herself, put on the lipstick and mascara herself and begged me for the photo shoot. She got a bit sheepish when her friends were near the playground, she didn’t want them to see her lipstick. It breaks my heart when I see the self-consciousness come to play. I hope she can hold off just a little longer before she cares what people think.

Outfit details:

  • headband: Target
  • top: H&M, repurposed
  • dress: fabric from Mood
  • shoes: c/o My Cents of Style (here)
  • Lipstick: ELF matte scarlet red

Sewing Style: Floral Two-toned Shift Dress

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I live in this dress. It’s comfortable enough to throw on and chase the kids all day, but it’s nice enough for a date night out.

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I originally bought this fabric (Mood!) like 3 years ago on a girls’ weekend to L.A. fabric district. We each bought a yard of this gorgeous fabric to see what we would do with it. I was so nervous to cut into the fabric, I ended up tying it around my waist and joking with a “no sew” tutorial. To see what everyone else did with the fabric, click here.

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Just before leaving for Hawaii back in May, I decided it was time to do something about that yard. I didn’t have enough yardage to make a dress knee length, so I got creative and color blocked the top to give me a little extra room at the hem. I didn’t want it to look like I just pieced a top and a bottom there. I sliced and diced Megan Nielsen’s Briar tee pattern. I raised the neckline a touch and pieced the front and back. Piecing isn’t as hard as you might think. Especially if it’s in straight lines. It’s easiest if you have some tracing paper. I like to use large sheets of tracing paper from a roll (you can get them in 24″, 36″ and 48″ widths). See below for the full tutorial.

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We had so fun at the photo shoot that I forgot to get a straight on back shot of the dress so here’s one flat from my studio.

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Sewing the ‘v’ together was a little tricky since I didn’t want any puckering to occur (go slow!), but I tell you, using two knit fabrics for piecing like this is a lot easier than piecing two woven fabrics together. There’s a lot more wiggle room. Literally.

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First things first, you’ll need:

For this, I used a pattern piece from the Briar Sweater pattern. This technique works on any pattern piece.

 

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Draw a line where you want your color blocking to happen. Drawing directly on the flat pattern how you want the pattern piece to look and where you want the seam to fall.

Then slip the pattern piece under the tracing paper and trace each section carefully. Transfer markings and information.

THEN ADD SEAM ALLOWANCE. You’ll add the same seam allowance to your color blocking lines as the pattern calls for. Write those seam allowances on the pattern pieces.

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Cut your fabric pieces out and align right sides together from the top corner to the middle. Pin at the pivot point.

Sew up to the pivot point and release your presser foot while keeping the needle in the fabric. Align the remaining fabric pieces and pin. Continue your line.

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Here’s the key: press your seam and top stitch the seam allowance to that side. I chose to stitch the seam allowance pointing upwards because of the fabric choices it just looked better.

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Now sew your pieces together as directed in the sewing pattern. DONE!

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View More: http://piersonphotocompany.pass.us/melissaoutfitsOutfit details:

  • hat and bracelets: c/o Tai Pan Trading
  • necklace: handmade (tutorial)
  • dress: handmade by me! using Briar tee pattern
  • shoes: Toms
*This tutorial is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering any files is NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this freebie for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

Sponsored Style: Striped Tunic Shift Dress

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This post is sponsored by Sven Clogs. Original hand-crafted clogs since 1974. Clogs made-to-order with premium styles and materials for man, woman and child.

Connect with Svens Clogs on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!

After I made Penelope’s sweet summer romper, I knew I needed to make a matching look. I mean, seriously. Gold clogs and red striped fabric? YES. So much yes.

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All images by Pierson Photo Company

I’ve got a few of these dresses in my closet now, I can’t stop making them. Can we talk about how awesome shift dresses are?! I can have a giant food baby in there and no one would ever know. And yes. There was a food baby in there. No real baby.

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To switch up the style just a touch, I added a tunic-style hem with a slit on the sides and a high-low hem. The blunt high-low hem changes the look from any other shift dresses out there. I feel like it adds a bit of edginess in there. Maybe a slight ’90s vibe? I’ve been crushing on the ’90s hard core lately.

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Creepy skull!! Hahah! I love that. This is one of the few stores I’ve been to lately that didn’t have Christmas Decor up already. Sheesh. It’s still September. I’m not sure I want to think about Halloween quite yet!

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This dress is perfect for Summer, but I’ve been layering it with blazers and jackets to transition to fall. I think the black leather warms it up for the cooler season that’s approaching.

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Let’s talk a little about the sewing process! Here’s what I did:

  • Used Megan Nielsen’s Briar Tee as a base
  • Raised the neckline
  • Lengthened the hem to a dress
  • Shortened sleeves
  • created a high-low hem

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Creating a split hem isn’t as hard as one might think. It’s a little trickier when serging the side seams, but not impossible at all. Here’s how to do it with a serger:

  • Serge the side seams before putting the layers together (if it’s woven, if it’s a non-fraying knit, no need for this step).
  • Sew the seams about 5″ shy of the desired slit spot.
  • Switch to a regular sewing machine, with a straight stitch sew all the way to the slit line (make markings on both sides for consistency).
  • Fold the seam allowance back in on itself and sew a top stitch around the slit. I do up over and down on one slit in one go.
  • Hem front and back as desired.

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If you’ve been nervous about split hems like this, don’t be! They’re super easy! Let me know if you need illustrations for the above instructions. :)

Outfit details:

Let me just say, I absolutely love these clogs. They fit perfectly. I’m wearing them constantly. They’re the perfect momiform shoes: they’re easy to chase kids in, they’re comfortable all day and they look so cute! I’m a huge, huge fan. Seriously, I can’t seem to get enough.

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