A quick quilt

Hi,

I need to blog about this quilt before I forget all the details.

On day we got a phone call to inform us that one of our good friends had fallen and broke a few ribs and was feeling pretty bad.

Fortunately we were on school holidays and I didn't have any other real sewing commitments so I came up with a fabric pull and a pattern and got busy.

The fabric is half a jelly roll of Carolyn Friedlander's Doe collection, a black tone on tone and Bella grey. The pattern is Traffic by Jaybird Quilts in lap size.

Because of the way this quilt is pieced it went together really quickly.

I basted this one on the floor because I was in a hurry, sometimes I go and use my mums huge cutting table but I didn't really have time for that this time.

The whole time I am making a quilt I am trying to decide how I am going to quilt it. I wanted it fairly simple. It still seemed to need something more though, so I added in free form zigzags to finish it off.

I posted it to our friends, who live a couple of hours away, and heard that there may have been a few tears shed upon opening it. It gives me a real thrill to give people surprises!

This quilt took a week to make. It was super fast, one of my quickest finishes ever I think. And I loved every minute of it!

Make it sew, Jess

 

 

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Dotty Angel Frockalong - Winners!

Hi!

We are so glad we had some fellow frock sewists link up with their frocks!

There was Vagabond Quilter who made a lovely lemon frock.

And Carole of Our Kooky Life who made a super cute frock. And she has styled it nicely, with tights and denim jacket, perfect for winter.

We had April with a pretty Paisley frock. And Kerry with a lovely green version.

And also Jacquie with a lovely frock that you could dress up or down to suit whatever your mood may be!

Thank you to our lovely sponsors too.

Sew to Grow is giving a winner a paper pattern for The Bondi Top. Which is a lovely pattern worth $22!

Handmade by Emily is giving one of our participants a $25 voucher to spent in her online store.

Raylee of Sunflower Stitcheries and Sunflower Quilting has donated a handy little gift pack containing thread, needles and scissors!

And lastly but certainly not least, we have a voucher from Stitches Quilting to the value of $50!

I just couldn't decide the winners for myself so I resorted to Mr random number generator himself, who told me.....

The $50 voucher from Stitches Quilting goes to Kerry!

The Bondi Top pattern goes to Jacquie!

The $25 voucher from Handmade by Emily goes to Vagabond Quilter!

And, the gift pack from Sunflower Quilting goes to Kerry! I made a huge Miss Universe style mess up here...I did have different winners for each prize, so I was shocked when I realised I had awarded Kerry two! I am so sorry I have to amend the prize draw, but Kerry still gets the $50 voucher and no one else loses out.

So, now gift pack from Sunflower Quilting goes to April! (Who was one of the original 4 winners).

 

I wish I could have given you all a prize! Can the winners please make contact with us so we can organise your prizes.

I think I can safely say, for Cassie and myself, that we have really enjoyed hosting the Frockalong! Please feel free to continue to use the #dottieangelfrockalong tag on Instagram.

Make it sew, Jess

 

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Dottie Angel Frockalong - Link up!

Hi fellow frock sewists!

Welcome to our link up post! But first I'll just do a brief outline of what Cassie and I have covered in the last two weeks.

First up we had the Kick off post, which talked about picking your size and fabrics. And I also spoke about lowering the pleats.

Next Cassie covered how to sew the pleats and the pockets. Part 1 and part 2.

Cassie also introduced us to our sponsors! Don't forget there are some great prizes up for offer and any progress counts!

Then I covered how to do French seams, how the neckline is finished and how to do the sleeves.

There was a great interview with Catherine and some more frock inspiration next.

And finally Cassie showed us how to do the hems and other finishing touches.

This is one of my finished Dottie Angels frocks, this one has the shoulder pleats and is made with beautiful soft summery fabric with cute zebra pockets.

I hope we have helped in your frock sewing adventure!

Please follow the link below to add a link to photo of your progress. I look forward to seeing what you have been up to!

Jess

An InLinkz Link-up

 

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Dottie Angel Frockalong - the interview!

Welcome to today's, yesterday's...sorry I'm late! Dottie Angel Frockalong post. Today I am sharing an interview with Catherine (@knittingcatherine) and a few links to some other great Dottie Angel frocks.

Shall we begin?

Hi Catherine!

Can you tell us how long you've been sewing for and what drew you to this hobby?

I have been sewing since age 9 so I guess 50 years, phew how time flies! I was drawn to sewing not as a hobby but as a necessity. I am the daughter of a single parent in the 50’s, so to say there was not a lot of money is an understatement. Working with donated clothing I remade them. My mother sacrificed to get me a sewing machine at age 11 that is where the magic happened. We moved to an apartment building and one of the neighbours worked at a drapery factory. She would bring home bags of fabric, and she passed one bag to me the rest is as they say history. I have been sewing ever since.

I noticed on your Instagram feed that you had made a couple of the Dottie Angel frocks, how many have you made?

I have made 5 for myself and 1 for a good IG friend @pamalajane. This is a great pattern; I foresee many more in my future.

What caused you to do the the modification on the sleeve hem?

I am a perpetual pattern tweaker , and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add more contrast fabric. I like a little sleeve versus sleeveless so adding the cuff was my solution. I also made some other modifications as well, lowering the darts to the waistline, placing darts on the back in lieu of ties and finally making my pockets double as well as reinforcing to back, I tend to stuff a lot in my pockets haha.

Can you walk us through how to do it so we can do it too?

I trace all my pattern pieces first onto Swedish pattern paper with a hot pink pen so that I can clearly see all the markings.

This is where I make all modifications: lowering the darts and adding them to the dress back, lowering the pockets, and finally lowering the contrast panel.

Sew darts on both front and back.

Sew the 4 cut pockets wrong side together to create two pockets, turn right side out and press. Sew the contrast strip to the tops of both pockets.

Attach pockets to the front dress panel. Sew on contrast panel to the front and back dress panels. Stitch together with French seams first stitching fronts and back wrong sides. Mark 3 inches up from the dart on both sides this will become your sleeve.

Stitch together with French seams, first stitching fronts and backs wrong sides together then clip at the place that will become the sleeves. Turn to the wrong side and sew seams.

For the cuff cut 2 pieces from contrast fabric 3” x 13” (You may need to check the length of your cuff as it might change depending on the size you make.) Seaming short sides together to create a circle that will become the cuff.

Pin cuff to inside of dress armhole matching raw edges and sew seam allowance. (The pic has the cuff pinned to outside of dress not inside but it's still a good guide for where the cuff goes).

Finish raw edges with over locker or zigzag stitch. Flip cuff to outside of dress and press. You could also top stitch close to the edge to hold the cuff links n place. See the finished cuff below. There is a good tutorial here about how to sew a cuff which is a different dress but done the same way as Catherine's, it might help if this is confusing.

On this version I added a bit of antique lace which is sewn between the layers.

Thank you Catherine! I love the way you have done the pockets and the sleeve cuff!

Now for some more inspiration!

If you do a hashtag search on Instagram for #dottieangelfrock or #dottieangeldress and similar searches on Pinterest you can find loads of inspiration!

Here is a frock that I found on Instagram. @dillidallidayz has turned her frock into a fantastic looking summer dress!

I searched in Pinterest and saved some great frocks to my Sew...Clothes board. Feel free to go check them out!

All these dresses are awesome! I love the kimono sleeve version! And the green one has some fantastic details with the hem and under bust gathering.

You could also go directly to the source of the Dottie Angel frock for inspiration! The Dottie Angel Facebook page has loads of inspiring pics in photos.

What is coming up next? On Friday Cassie is going to do a post covering finishing the dress, particularly the hem and the things that can be done to make it your own.

Make it sew, Jess

 

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