Tutorial: Adding Ruffles to The Rory Romper

Does your little one need some ruffles on her ROMPER? Of course she does! Let's GET SEWING!

One of my most recent sewing patterns is The Rory Bubble Romper for Girls. It's made from 2 pieces, sews together in under an hour and slips on and off easily. My little girl has been wearing hers twice a week for the past 3 weeks so I decided it was time to spice it up a little! (Because girls love clothes right? And this Mommy LOVES SEWING for her little girl! It's a win-win situation in this house!)

I love taking a pattern that I have (or one I've bought) and tweaking it to make it look more custom made. I'm going to show you how to add a ruffle trim to The Rory Bubble Romper sewing pattern to make this precious outfit:

The happy lady is showing off and smiling!

"Look at my smile, Mommy. I forgot how to smile. Is it like this?" Um...no that looks like a mean face, baby girl! Try again.

Can't you just see your little girl in this ruffled romper? Adorable!

TUTORIAL:

How to add RUFFLES to The Rory Romper Sewing Pattern

Materials:

The Rory Romper Sewing Pattern (Instant download here: www.seaminglysmitten.com)

1/2 yard of fabric

thread, sewing machine, scissors, pins, straight edge

1. Follow instructions on the pattern for cutting out your romper pattern.

2. Cut out 4 strips of fabric that are 5 inches long x the width of your romper pattern piece.

(You need 2 ruffle strips for each romper piece.)

 3. Lay your ruffle strips right sides together and sew along one short end. Open it up and press your seam. This gives you ONE LONG ruffle strip.  Repeat for the other two ruffle strips. Now you have TWO LONG ruffle strips.
 4. Lay your ruffle strip right side down. Fold it in half, matching the long ends and press with an iron. Now the right side of the long ruffle strip will face you. Repeat for the other ruffle strip.

 5. Sew a basting stitch along the raw edge of your ruffle strips using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Leave a 6 inch tail of fabric at the beginning of your ruffle strip and at the end of your ruffle strip. Do NOT backstitch. Repeat for the other ruffle strip.

6. Holding on to the bobbin thread ruffle your strip (slide the fabric along the bobbin thread gently) until it is the same width as your romper pattern piece. Repeat for other ruffle strip / other pattern piece.

7. Lay your pattern pieces right side up. Match the raw edges of your pattern piece and your ruffle. Pin your ruffle in place.

 8. Sew along the pinned edge using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Remove pins as you sew. Repeat for other romper piece.
9. Serge or zig-zag stitch the raw edges. I make sure my needle goes on then off the fabric with each stitch.

 10. Fold ruffle down and press with an iron for each romper piece.

 11. Topstitch using a 1/8 inch seam allowance above your ruffle (or as close to the sewn edge as you can get). Repeat for other pattern piece.

 12. Sew the romper together just as the pattern suggests, but leave off the elastic in each leg. No worrying about hemming when you add a ruffle, either! It will save you a step!

Enjoy your new Rory Ruffled Romper!

I hope you LOVE it and your little one wears it ALL SUMMER LONG!

 You will smile everytime your little girl wears it because she loves it and you know you made it!

 Below is the original Rory Romper with the elastic in the legs for you to see. Don't you love creating variations from sewing patterns? Use your imagination and go with it! You might even surprise yourself.

Happy Summer Sewing!!



Instant Download Pattern Shop is here:

www.seaminglysmitten.com

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WINNERS of 500 Likes Giveaway!

The "500 LIKES" GIVEAWAY

And the WINNERS are...

Thank you all SO MUCH for entering our 500 LIKES GIVEAWAY! We had 72 entries and I'm thrilled to announce the 4 winners today!!

*If you won, please email me:  seaminglysmitten@gmail.com to claim your prize!!

The Grand Prize Winner is JENNIFER BLYE!! She WON a girl's OR women's clothing item designed and sewn by Seamingly Smitten in the winner's choice of size and favorite fabric colors. The item will be designed using a Seamingly Smitten sewing pattern!

Winner #2 is JEANINE THOMLINSON!! She WON 3 FREE Seamingly Smitten sewing patterns!

Winner #3 is RENEE STANLEY BURRAHAM!! - She WON 2 FREE Seamingly Smitten sewing patterns!

Winner #4 is ANIS ISMAIL - She WON 1 FREE Seamingly Smitten sewing pattern!!

Congratulations, ladies!!!

www.seaminglysmitten.com
 Sewing Patterns shown: The Classic Pillowcase Dress paired with The Ruffles Galore Pants.
We love mixing and matching!

Celebrating 500 LIKES - GIVEAWAY TIME!

500 Likes...Time for a Giveaway!

This giveaway came at the most perfect time to celebrate! Not only did our Facebook page reach 500 LIKES, but our brand NEW website is HERE! All Seamingly Smitten sewing patterns are now INSTANT DOWNLOAD! That means you choose the patterns you want, pay via paypal and your patterns are emailed to you INSTANTLY! No waiting around for an email from me - you can head directly to the fabric store or even to your fabric stash and START SEWING!


It's been in the works for months and I'm SO EXCITED to share it with you now!!
Check it out!  www.seaminglysmitten.com

 

I want to THANK YOU for helping my sewing pattern business grow so much over the past year! What started as a love of sewing and designing my own patterns has turned into a sewing pattern company that sells patterns worldwide. A year ago it was only a dream and now, because of YOU, I get to do what I love every single day and I THANK YOU for that. When I sit in my sewing studio dreaming up new designs, sketching, picking out fabrics and sewing them together, I am doing it all to share my love of sewing with you. I hope you are Seamingly Smitten!

Do you want to WIN a boutique clothing item made by me exclusively for you or your little girl? Then this giveway is for you! (Check out our PDF sewing pattern shop www.seaminglysmitten.com to see all the sewing patterns you can choose from if you win.) **All patterns are now instant download.

See something you like?

  Seamingly Smitten has just reached 500 LIKES on Facebook and to CELEBRATE we are having a GIVEAWAY to THANK YOU for being such loyal fans, customers and friends!!

The "500 LIKES" GIVEAWAY - Enter below to win!

*There are 4 chances to WIN this Seamingly Smitten giveaway. Want to know what is up for grabs?

The Grand Prize Winner: will win a girl's OR women's clothing item designed and sewn by Seamingly Smitten in the winner's choice of size and favorite fabric colors. The item will be designed using a Seamingly Smitten sewing pattern and can only be sewn in the sizes available in that pattern.

Winner #2 - will win 3 FREE Seamingly Smitten sewing patterns

Winner #3 - will win 2 FREE Seamingly Smitten sewing patterns

Winner #4 - will win 1 FREE Seamingly Smitten sewing pattern

Want to know how to win? Enter using Rafflecopter below - leave a comment on our blog, like us on facebook or follow our blog. Winner will be chosen May 28, 2012 and announced in this blog and facebook. Good luck!

Good luck and Happy Sewing!!

~Jenny

www.seaminglysmitten.com - Sewing Pattern Shop - Instant Download Patterns!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Boy's Pajama Pants - Green Lantern fabric

**Win a pack of 4 Seamingly Smitten sewing patterns at Sew Can Do blog - CLICK HERE

Pajama Pants for John Patrick

The other day I happened to be at Walmart doing some grocery shopping and ended up walking by their fabric aisle. Of course, a sewer cannot simply walk right by that aisle, there usually is some browsing involved and maybe some purchasing of some notions or fabric. Well, right as I thought I was going to walk away with just one piece of fabric, something for my little boy, John Patrick, caught my eye. It was Green Lantern fabric. Now, I don't know Green Lantern nor has John Patrick even watched a Green Lantern movie, but he went to a birthday party last weekend that had that theme and it's his new hero. I knew that my little boy would give me the biggest hug ever if I made him something with this fabric, so I bought a yard and went home to wash it and start sewing. (It's 100% cotton, lightweight, no stretch.)

Since the fall my son has grown 3 inches - needless to say it was definitely time for some new pajama pants! I sewed them while he napped and left them by his door to surprise him when he woke. He was sooo excited that he ran out and wrapped his arms around me and gave me the biggest hug and plenty of kisses on my cheek! 20 minutes of sewing yesterday afternoon was SOOOO worth it!

Here are some pictures - and if you notice, he's totally crazy about his Woody doll, which just so happened to be in every picture. My boy has lots of heroes I might add. :)

He even hangs their hats together at night. Best buds. Seems like I need to find some cute Woody material for my little man! Back to the fabric store soon - just what I love!

Sundress Series

Melly Sews announced a huge sundress sewing series that will start in June. Guess what? It will be an entire month long!! Whoo-hoo!! Each day she will feature a sundress post or tutorial written by some amazing bloggers! If you want to see the line-up, you can check it out here. I was so excited when she asked ME to join in the fun! I have a few ideas in mind and will definitely post a tutorial for you to sew something amazing for yourself. I hope you check it out!

** I will post a sundress tutorial on June 7th.

Check out Melly Sews by CLICKING HERE.

Happy Sewing!

Tutorial: The Mini Dress for Girls

Tutorial: The Mini Dress

(This will make a size 2T, but you can make it in any size.)

Materials needed:

One t-shirt that fits your child (it can be long or short sleeved)

1/3 yard cotton fabric

pins, scissors, sewing machine, thread, ruler

1. Gather materials.

2. If the shirt you have is long sleeved, cut the sleeves at off. You can leave the edges raw or zig-zag stitch the edges to make them have "lettuce edge" - which will curl them. I left mine raw.

 3. You will cut up the side seam on the right side of the shirt (cut the shirt and the sleeve seam) to "open" your shirt. Don't worry - this will make sewing on the skirt so much easier and sewing it back together is a cinch! Are you freaking out? Just go with it, trust me! You can do it!

 4. Open the shirt so the bottom of the shirt is stretched out from end to end and lay it right side up.

 5. I wanted this Mini Dress to be 18 inches long when done, and the shirt was 10 inches long, so my final skirt length needed to be 8 inches. I cut a piece of fabric 10 in long x 26 in wide. (Cut yours to 10 in long x 32 in wide...mine came out a little snug. Good thing my little girlie is petite.)

 6. Fold up the hem of the fabric 1 inch and press with an iron. Fold it up another 1 inch, press with an iron and pin along the hem. Sew the hem. (You are not sewing it to the shirt yet. Just sew the hem.)

 7. Lay your fabric right side down onto your shirt which is right side up. Now the fabric and the shirt are laying right sides together. Pin your fabric to your shirt's bottom edge, gently stretching the t-shirt as you pin it to the fabric. See how easy it is to pin since the shirt is laid open?

8. Sew your fabric onto your shirt, removing pins as you sew. Make sure you gently pull the t-shirt as you sew the fabric to it. It will give your shirt dress a little more stretch. If you simply pin and sew it without stretching it, there won't be any wiggle room for your little one.

 9. Press with an iron when done. Topstitch 1/8 inch above your fabric - securing your fabric down onto your shirt.

 10. Almost there! Lay your shirt dress right sides together. Pin along the side seam that was previously cut.

11. Sew along your pinned edge, removing pins as you sew.

12. Add any embellishments you wish.

13. Turn dress right side out. You did it!!

Try it on your little girl and be proud of what you made!

Add some cowboy boots to really "sass" up the outfit, a big bow and maybe even a baseball. You know, little ladies like all sorts of things! I'm amazed my little one posed for this picture! She thought her boots were so fun that she was dancing around the yard and I kept having to say, "Freeze and smile!" :) I finally got a few good pictures!

 Now you have one little Mini Dress for your little girl that she can wear whenever she wants!

 Catherine was saying, "Mommy I love it! I can't wait to show Daddy! See my dress?"

Definitely a Daddy's little girl :)

Happy Sewing!
Jenny

Dress A Girl

When I was introduced to the blog Hopeful Threads, written by Kristy Smith, I was struck with admiration for what she does. Kristy finds causes to put her sewing talent to good use and she is not alone in her endeavor. Each month Kristy finds one cause that needs handmade/handsewn items and posts about her month's project and people start signing up to help her simply by commenting. Within a few days Kristy not only exceeds the goal that she had for herself and her blog, but surpasses her goal.

Last month Kristy's challenge was to sew dresses for the cause, Dress a Girl Around The World. This organization coordinates sending pillowcase dresses that people sew to little girls that need a new dress. These dresses may be their only brand new dress they have ever received. Can you imagine? Knowing how much my little girl adores her dresses, I knew this was something I had to do. I sorted through my fabric stash, bought 2 packages of double folded bias tape and got to work. Here are my 4 dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World. I will ship them tomorrow and I am so happy that 4 little girls will have something brand new to wear pretty soon.

If you want to learn more about sewing for those in need, check out her blog, Hopeful Threads, by CLICKING HERE.