Happy Herringbone Modification

Happy Herringbone Modification

One Piece Skirt Panel

I would like to show you how to make what I call The Lazy Happy Herringbone.  I LOVE, love, love the stripwork on the Happy Herringbone, it is really beautiful.  I needed a very quick sew and I realized a solid panel skirt on the Happy Herringbone would do the trick.  I would love to show you how to make the Happy Herringbone with a solid panel skirt.  

The cutting measurements for the solid skirt panel are in the chart below. 

Cut two skirt panels from the chart above.  Cut the rest of the pattern pieces according to the pattern measurement charts in the pdf.

You will have a pile similar to this:  bodice pieces, skirt panels, elastic and shoulder straps.

Sew the two skirt panels together to make a solid loop.  Serge the seams.  Follow the rest of the directions from the pattern instructions.

When you finish, you will have a beautiful Lazy Happy Herringbone!  The Happy Herringbone is so happy even without the stripwork.

Bundle Up SALE - April 26th through May 2nd ONLY

You've been patient, but the wait is now over.  It's LIVE and you can start shopping!

You can pick and choose from 11 patterns to make your OWN bundle (must purchase 6 or more)

There are 7 dresses/tops + 3 pants/shorts + 1 swimsuit

and SEVEN of them are new patterns that have never been released before!!!

The more you buy the more you SAVE.  You'll never get these patterns at such a discounted rate again.  Grab them while you can.  After May 2nd they will all be released individually by the different designers and return to full retail price.

You can find reviews and more photos of patterns included in the bundle HERE. 
You can check out the FAQ page HERE.

Happy Shopping and Happy Sewing!

Endless Dress Sew Along Contest

Endless Dress Sew Along Contest

A couple of weeks ago we had a sew along for the Endless Dress, you can find the instructions here.  We spent four days sewing together, asking questions and sharing our progress.  I had a great time and can't wait until the next one in May.  I wanted you to see a few of the dresses that some of the ladies made during our little contest.  Aren't they adorable????

I also wanted to remind you about the add on packs for the Endless Dress.  Volume 1 of the Add On pack comes as a bundle with the Endless Dress.  Volume 2 was just released and gives even more options for this adorable dress!   There are over 1,000 different variations you can make with this dress and the add on packs!  Of course you have to use your creativity.  Don't wait to purchase the Endless Dress pattern and Volume 2 add on pack.

Joey Hendricks - Joey made several versions of the dress during our sew along.  Adorable!

Ingrid Echard - Look at the pin tucks and buttons on the bib.  Love!

Heather Toews Ratcliff - What creativity!!!  She used the Endless Dress for these!  Awesome!

Allison Parrish - It's hard not to be happy looking at this dress.  Precious!

Nikki Souster - She made so many variations that were all fab.  Too cute!

Audra Dean - The picture says it all!

If you aren't part of the Jocole Sewing Group on Facebook, join here.  We have so much fun in the group and everyone is so helpful.  Our next sew along is turning the Basic Brief and Shoreline Halter into a swimsuit.  That should be tons of fun.  See you in the sewing group!

Knit for a Princess!

Guest post by Joey Hendricks
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My daughter and I LIVE in knits. They're easy to wear and care for and they can hold up to our crazy daily life. As you can imagine, I was beyond excited when Jocole released the Endless Dress that can be made in either wovens or knits. Seriously, could that dress BE any more awesome?

Yes, it can! It can be made in fairy printed pink baby rib knit with an foe neck binding and pretty princess sleeves!! It was so simple to make and it looks so great.

Cutting
The first thing I did to adapt the Endless Dress pattern was when I was cutting my pattern pieces, I cut 2  of the high neck front bodice pieces. Since I was making my dress in knit, I didn't need the button closures in the back (cut one on the fold along the grey dashed center back line instead) and I didn't want to add a collar.

Then I traced the sleeves from the Everyday Princess Top. I like added fullness for the skirt so I (typically) ignored Jodi's good advice listed in the pattern and I cut my skirt pieces the full yard width wide. (That's pretty darn WIDE in a knit fabric. Somewhere near 5 feet...let's just say I scaled that back and LISTENED to Jodi lol).

I'm pretty devoted to Jocole patterns and have a FEW (oooooor all of them...don't judge lol) that include a neck binding, So I busted out my trusty old copy of the Ruffle Tee and I scoped out the measurements for the neck binding :) and I cut my piece of foe just about an inch longer.

Laid it all out and cut my fabric..

Construction

As with any Jocole knit top, I started my construction at the shoulder seams and did the neck binding right away. I used fold over elastic at about 75% of the circumference of my neck. Fold over elastic isn't nearly as stretchy as ribbing so bear that in mind and cut yours a little bit longer. I just folded it over the raw edge and zigzagged it on with matching thread. I stretched it a bit as I was sewing just like I would've with ribbing.

The next step was the sleeves. My daughter requested "puffy princess sleeves, mama." I'd never gathered with knits before, not really. I went with the clear elastic gathering method and it worked like a charm. I will never gather any kind of knit fabric any other way! It's so simple, too. All you do is measure your gathering elastic against whatever you're joining it to and add an inch or so to hold it while you sew! You have to try this! Make sure you stretch the clear elastic quite a bit when you're sewing it on. The more you stretch, the more gathers you create.

The tutorial, written by a professional and not meeeeeeee can be found on the blog at http://jocole.blogspot.com/2013/01/clear-elastic-gathers-and-ruffles-easy.html

 For the princess sleeves, you need to gather both the top and the bottom to create that awesome puffy look. Then you just sew the sleeve band on. There's no stretching or anything...just pin it on and sew. The armhole works exactly the same way!

One thing I did want to say about gathering with clear elastic is to watch your stitch width. If your stitch is too wide, like a standard sized zigzag, your elastic won't ruffle. It's too well held down lol. Ask me how I know? I ended up just using my normal stretch stitch on the elastic and I'm super happy with the way the sleeves turned out!

Tada!!!

 The rest of the construction was pretty normal. I used the clear elastic to gather the skirt. The elastic helps a lot with keeping everything together while you're attaching things.This is how it turned out :D My daughter loves it so that's a WIN!

Bundle UP Sale ... coming soon

Are you ready for some exciting news?

The first installment of Bundle Up is coming SOON.  Bundle Up is a collective of your favorite established pdf sewing pattern designers coming together to offer you a sweet deal on both hot NEW patterns and favorite past releases.

So what makes Bundle UP different from other bundle sales?

• We only feature established designers whose patterns and reputation you already know and trust.
• We create themed bundles -- our first is girls (next is ladies).  You get more of what you need and none of what you don't.
• We offer primarily new releases patterns and throw in a couple oldies but goodies to round out the bundle.
• We allow you to "Build a Better Bundle". You gets to pick and choose which patterns and how many to include in your bundle.  Already have one of the patterns? No problem, just pick from the others.
• The more you buy, the more you save!

Are you ready to see who is in the first Bundle Up sale?

How does it work?

These patterns are already a great bargain, marked about 50% from their retail prices, but we have an even better deal for you.  The more you buy, the better deal you score!!  You must buy at least 6 patterns to get the bundle pricing, but the more you add to your cart, the cheaper they get.  Here are the details:

• $4.50 each for 6 ($27 total)
• $4.25 each for 8 ($34 total)
• $4.00 each for 10 or more ($40-$44 total)

here's a sneak of the NEW  Jocole pattern

Easter Coloring Pages

Easter Coloring Pages

And Some Family Memories

Are you looking for a fun activity to do with your kiddos for Easter?  Look no further!  Jodi has designed some coloring pages just for our kiddos to have a ball with.

My girls had a fun evening color the cute clothes and eggs.  (If you look closely you can see that my son was not interested in coloring.  He's on the computer on the couch.)

 

And they worked hard on those cute eggs and adorable girls!  That phone is never far away!!!

 

There are 3 girl dolls, 1 boy doll and a coloring page of eggs in the pdf.  Included are the Circle Flounce Dress Doll, The Crossover Dress and the Endless Dress.  Your daughter can color the Endless Dress you made for her last week!

It would be even more fun to allow your daughter to design her own dress and then you make her design come to life.  Wouldn't that be exciting for a little one?  She gets to tell all of her friends that her mommy made a dress just like she colored!

Showing off her creation.

 

And she's reading, Happy Easter.  You can find the coloring pages here.

I'm not sure what your Easter celebrations entail, but for me it is all about family being together.  Easter is one of the holidays that makes me miss my family in Texas the most.  Of course Christmas is hard and birthdays remind me how far apart we are, but Easter is one of my fondest memories of childhood.  The day was about family, all day long.  We started out Easter Sunday going to church together:  all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and grandparents.   We all sang at the top of our lungs and I'm sure sounded like a pack of wild dogs!  We were all happy to be together and celebrate the real reason behind Easter.

After church, we all went to a family member's house.  We had a huge meal together, talked, laughed and did whatever kids do.  I was always so excited because I knew my mom would bring her famous potato salad and it was the highlight of the meal for me.  I could have eaten only that potato salad and I would have been a happy camper.

My best and most favorite memory of those family gatherings was the egg hunt.  My Aunt Judy always made such a special effort to have a fun egg hunt.  She had a ball hiding the eggs and watching all of us find them.  While all the other adults were busy doing adult things, my Aunt Judy was there with the kids making us feel like we were the most important part of the day.  That is a great feeling for a kid--to be important.  My Aunt Judy made my life special in so many ways, but that is one of my favorite things she did for me.  

I can't live up to my Aunt Judy(or my mom's potato salad!).  She is an amazing person.  I can only hope my own children feel as loved and important as she made me feel.  I hope your Easter is filled with bad singing, great family, potato salad, a fabulous Aunt Judy and an AMAZING egg hunt!

Happy Easter!

How to Make a Cheer Bow

How to Make a Cheer Bow

My oldest daughter started cheer competitions this year.  She has never been interested in competitive teams before, so this was something new.  I realized very quickly that if you are going to cheer competitively, you MUST have a specific cheer bow.  AKA, a HUGE bow on the top of the head.  Every competition we went to, they were selling cheer bows for $15-$25.  To me, that is crazy.  I know there are lots of people out there that would gladly pay for the bow just so they don't have to make it.  I'm not one of those people!  I love a challenge and I love to do something new.  Let me tell you how I made this one!

Supply List:

1. 2 1/2 to 3in ribbon
2. 1 1/2in ribbon
3. 3/4in ribbon
4. zip tie
5. glue gun
6. heat 'n bond (optional)
7. hair band

I found the ribbon at JoAnn's, there is a small section with cheer bow ribbon(it's not with all of the regular ribbon).  The 3in ribbon is the most important size, the others can coordinate with the large ribbon.

Cut the ribbon to 30 inches.  This is the perfect length for cheer bows.  Cut the heat 'n bond to the size of the two smaller ribbons.

Iron the heat 'n bond onto the ribbon.  To keep the ribbon from burning, it's a good idea to put a piece of fabric over the ribbon.  Iron the fabric (with the ribbon under) being sure that the heat 'n bond adheres to the ribbon.  The reason for using heat 'n bond is so that there is no need to pin the ribbon together.

 Place the medium size ribbon over the large ribbon.  Be sure to place the ribbon right in the center and iron them together.  Zig zag stitch along the inside ribbon.

Fold the ribbon in half (WST) at the end of the ribbon.  Clip the end at about a 45 degree angle to create the "V" shape at the end of the ribbon.  Repeat on the opposite end.  (If the smallest ribbon you are using isn't thick, go ahead and attach it before cutting the ends.)

Use a flame to seal the ribbon edge.  Just pass the flame near the ribbon to slightly melt the edges.  This process keeps the ribbon from fraying.

Repeat the heat 'n bond process with the smallest ribbon.  Zig zag stitch the small ribbon onto all ribbons.  Clip the ends to match the larger two ribbons.

 Mark the center of the ribbon by folding it in half, end to end.  Cross the ribbon making sure to line up with the center mark.  Starting at the center point of the ribbon and the point where it crosses, begin gathering the ribbon at the center.

 Once the ribbon is pulled together and gathered, use the zip tie to secure the ribbon together.  Don't tighten the zip tie all the way, zip it loosely so you can be sure the ribbon looks nice and is in the right place.  Once you like the position of the ribbon, zip the tie as tight as it will go.

Clip the end of the zip tie off.

Hot glue the hair band right on top of the zip tie.  Be careful not to get glue all over the ribbon.

With the bow facing up, use a small piece of ribbon to create the center tie.  Hot glue one end to the hair band area, wrap the ribbon around and hot glue the other end on top of the ribbon.  Again, don't use too much glue because it will ooze out and look bad.

 The finished ribbon looks something like this.

 And it's even cuter when it's on a pony tail!

Endless Dress Sew Along Day 4

Endless Dress Sew Along Day 4

You should have 3 skirt panels sewn together; a back panel, front panel and another back panel.  Let's sew the band onto the skirt panel.

Sew all three band pieces together along the short side; one back panel, one front panel and another back panel.   Fold the band in half WST and iron.  The band panels will match up exactly with the skirt panels.  Attach the band to the skirt by matching the raw edges, and serge or zig zag stitch.   Iron the seam up to the skirt panel and topstitch.  You have one long skirt piece with the band attached.

Serge the open side of each back panel.  Pin the back panels together marking down 2-3in from the top of the skirt panel.  This will be the opening for the bodice buttons on the empire bodice(if you are doing a regular bodice you do not need the opening at the top of the skirt).  Attach the panels together.

Iron the seam open.  You can see the opening in the picture.

Topstitch around the opening.

Gather the skirt to the same length as the bodice.

With the bodice front facing the skirt front (RST), insert the bodice into the skirt.

Attach the skirt to the bodice.

Serge or zig zag the seam.  Turn the dress right side out and iron the seam up to the bodice.  Topstitch the bodice.

Congratulations!!!!  You completed an Endless Dress!  I hope you had as much fun as I did.  Come back next month for another sew along!

And, we're outta here!

But mom, I don't want to take any more pictures!!!!