Shirred Sundress

I've caught the shirring bug again!



I realized a couple weeks ago that K doesn't have many summery dresses in her closet, and what's more comfortable than a dress in the summer? I wanted to make something nice and easy, so of course I thought of the shirred dress I made last summer. No pattern to cut out and directions to follow-- just a rectangle of fabric and some elastic thread!



I changed it up just a bit by making ruffly little straps. Again, just rectangles of fabric with a couple rows of elastic stitching. This stuff makes anything look fancier!



I had some trouble getting the tension figured out this time. The last time I worked with elastic thread I was using my old sewing machine and I tried using the same settings, but wasn't getting good results. I finally realized that I had to hold the tails of my top thread and elastic thread very tight for the first inch or so of stitching. Otherwise I was ending up with a loopy mess of elastic on the back. It may take a little time getting the tension worked out, but once you have the right settings, sewing with elastic thread is easy peasy! And the results are so fun!

Father's Day Cards & Free Pattern!

Father's Day is coming soon and I've made a couple of paper pieced designs in honor of all the dads out there. And I'm sharing the patterns with you!



I made the shirt & tie version first. I think it's super cute, but none of the dads in my life wear a tie (unless there's a wedding or a funeral involved), so I decided to make a more casual version.



I embroidered a little pocket on the t-shirt because it reminds me of my dad. For the thirty years I've known him (OK, thirty-one years), my dad has worn a solid colored t-shirt with a pocket just about everyday. If it's chilly a flannel shirt is added, but that's pretty much his entire wardrobe. I machine stitched the shirt & tie block to the card, but I thought the t-shirt block would look fun with big hand stitches around it.

My obsession with paper piecing continues. It's a great way to use up little fabric odds and ends from your stash, which is great for me because most of fabric is what others would consider "scraps." I have very little yardage. However, working with small pieces of fabric can sometimes backfire on me. This is all the "shirt" fabric I had left after making the shirt & tie block. I was sweating it there at the end, hoping I'd have enough to finish off the little block!



You can download the patterns for these shirts here. Each block finishes at 3.5" (3" if you trim off the seam allowance around the outside), which works well for a 4"x6" card. This is the first time I've tried using this Google Docs thing, so if it doesn't work let me know!