Sew Suite

Well after a prolonged delay (too many projects going on at once!), I managed to complete another outfit for Livy- I envisioned Olivia greeting the fall in this ensemble:)

I purchased the espresso long sleeved T shirt & walnut corduroy skirt (with attached modesty shorts underneath) from Land's End (on clearance, of course!) with the intent of adding some customized embellishment. I opted for the Stampin' Up! fat quarter bundle of 'Sew Suite' fabric:

It's just 'sew suite'! I love all of it & here are some of the coordinating scrapbook supplies showcased in a book I made for Rose:)

Once again, I got out my handy dandy sewing machine, rotary cutter etc... and began working...at midnight!

I started by cutting 3x3 squares (pre-wash & iron beforehand!) and built a pattern for my patchwork ruffle.


Next, begin attaching the squares, keeping in mind your pattern- I found stacking my squares in the right order alleviated any potential user error...after all, we are talking about midnight:)

Now it's time to iron each of those little seams flat and then iron a 1/4 inch fold along the entire bottom, fold another 1/4 inch and iron along the entire length again- I didn't bother to take a pic of this (yawn).

Line up your ironed edge and begin to sew the hem.

I stitched close to the edge- go slow if you need to, like me:)


I then added a second line of stitching to ensure the hem would fall nicely and have a more snazzy, 'finished' look- I only had white thread on hand and didn't want to waste the night so I plowed ahead anyway...orange would have been better though:)


Now, adjust your machine and sew a basting stitch along the top and start to carefully pull those threads to form the ruffle.


Take a few moments to space the ruffles appropriately and admire your creation thus far- I did:)


Next, I lined up the ruffle to the skirt edge and began to pin in place- adjust the ruffling as necessary to ensure everything fits:)

(Following morning & brown thread located...) Carefully sew the ruffle in place, removing pins as necessary- I used the hem of the skirt as my guide. I dithered about adding some yoyo flowers but frankly just didn't have the time, so operation 'sew suite skirt': completed!

On to the top...


I attached 6 squares, ironed and hemmed (in brown thread!) and then basted the top and cinched to form a rosette- this took a lot longer to accomplish than it did to write out:)

Next I attached 3 squares (total glutton for punishment at this point), ironed and hemmed and cut them right down the center, leaving me with a 1 1/2 inchish piece vs 3 inches. I then finagled this into a yoyo/smaller rosette- more tricky with the patchwork vs a sold fabric circle....

Lastly, I threaded a jumbo orange button (also from the Stampin' Up! 'Sew Suite' collection) and added this to my layer of rosettes. I'm sure there was an easier and more efficient way of accomplishing this, but it was late and since I'm a novice I just 'figured' out a way to make it work at the time! All three pieces were stitched over the existing pocket on the front of the T-shirt.

Yeah! It's done! The orange 'flipped flops' I made match perfectly but I also have some brown tights and brown Mary Janes to complete Livy's fall look:)

Putting the finishing touches on Livy's hair accessory and will then post the details + pics of Olivia modeling, I hope:)

Thanks for looking,

Tiffany