tutorial Archives - Page 35 of 61 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

A Ruffle Sundress (A Tutorial)

June 29, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

I love this dress from Free People. I made a simplified version of it using some soft beige cotton lycra knit:

The dress pieces were so large it was hard to get a good photo of them so I’ve drawn several diagrams instead:

Step 1: First, I cut 2 large rectangles of knit fabric….

…..and then cut out the dotted lines to form the shape as shown below (the measurements are how I made mine):

Step 2: I cut 2 pieces for the bottom ruffle….you may need to sew multiple pieces together so it is long enough to attach to the entire bottom section of the dress once ruffled:

Step 3: With the right sides of the main dress pieces places together, I sewed the seams shown below closed:

Step 4: I turned the dress right side out again and used a coverstitch to hem the top of the dress. You can also use a zigzag stitch or a straight stitch as long as you stretch the knit as you so as to not “pop” any stitches when you put the dress on.

Step 5: To gather the knit ruffle, I added elastic thread to my bobbin (regular thread on top) to my regular sewing machine…..the elastic thread gathers the knit:

Step 6: I attached the ruffles to the bottom of the dress by stitching along the gathering stitch:

Step 7: To make the straps I cut three 3/4″ strips of fabric for each one…..

…..and braided them together:

A straight stitch keeps both ends of the braid secure:

Step 8: I tried the dress on to get the placement of the straps perfect and pinned them in place in the front.

A few stitches to keep the strap in place:

I attached the back straps and voila! A finished sundress! (or maternity dress?)

I’ll post more as I make them….my next one needs to be a tad shorter I think:

The Square Top (A Tutorial)

June 24, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

Super easy summer top…..made from a simple square piece of knit fabric. This top definitely has its roots in my mathematics background. I kept trying to visualize how to make it work with minimal sewing and finally one day it just clicked. So here it is…..the Square Top. It’s a perfect project for a beginner!

Step 1: I cut a 30″ x 30″ square piece of knit fabric for Boo’s size (a solid 4T)…..I got that measurement by measuring from her shoulders to below her hip (15″). I folded it in half on the table and marked the center:

Step 2: I marked two 2.5″ semi circles on the fold about 3.5″ to the left and right of my center point for the arm holes (the 3.5″ measurement because I want the front and back piece to be about 7″ wide to cover her chest):

Step 3: I carefully cut out the semicircles:

Step 4: I cut the fold connecting the 2 circles…..creating the front and back edges of the top.

Step 5: I cut 3″ strips of fabric for the trim. Two pieces 32″ long for the ties and 2 pieces long enough to trim the front and back edges (about 8″ each):

Step 6: My least favorite thing to do is make bias tape….so I cheated a little here. I folded the trim pieces in half and sew the edges shut….

…….very close to the edge:

Step 7: I ironed the pieces flat so the sewn edge is in the center where the fold will be:

Step 8: I folded the front trim around the top edge of the top and stitched carefully so the needle caught both sides:

The trim was slightly longer than the top edge so I just trimmed off the edges. Same process for the back top edge.

Step 9: I started at the center of the arm holes and pinned the center of the longer trim in place…..and pinned along the rest of the exposed arm hole edge.

Step 10: Starting at one end of the folded trim, I sewed the trim shut and all the way around to attach it to the arm hole and back up the other end. I did this for both sides/arms.

Step 10: Lastly I trimmed the ties at an angle to make them look neater:

Updated: A few closeups of the finished top and straps:

Quick, easy, comfy and stylish.

Fun and billowy.

Long enough to be just a tunic with leggings.

How to make an easy square top. DIY tutorial via lilblueboo.com

The Perfect Shorts ePattern

June 13, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

A few new patterns on the horizon! The first of which is the Lil Blue Boo Perfect Short ePattern! It is now available in the Lil Blue Boo Pattern Shop!

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