Sew Pretty Bubble Tea

When Sew Pretty Tee Shirt Dresses book arrived in my home, each member of my family went through it and chose their favourites and I had requests, plans, and and demands from all directions. For once I didn’t even mind, because these projects all start with a finished tshirt or tank top, and refashioning is right up my alley. If you have never tried this type of project, you might be surprised to realize just how much time you save when you start with some finished elements. Whether you’re using stained tshirts, too short tshirts, or even buying cheap tshirts on sale just to make dresses with, this kind of project is a quick way to customize your girls’ wardrobes! 
 

My husband chose this simply darling tie-waisted ‘wrap’ dress and requested one for Nicole.

This dress immediately reminded me of a dress I had pinned ages ago, so you just know I have to make it for at least one of my girls.

And after flipping through the whole book, Nicole has decided she must have one of the cover dress before her wardrobe will be complete. (Olivia had no opinion, she was likely off conditioning her hair with A&D Diaper Ointment or getting into my hot pink lipstick.) I had grand plans of doing one of these gorgeous projects. But then life happened. And I kind of like the plot twist, because instead of pretty happy shiny “And with all the free time in the universe, Laura whipped up boutique dresses at her leisure while sewing aprons to donate to silent auctions and baking goods to donate to lunches and raising three children AND keeping them alive…” which I mean, HAHAHA. Not even fairy tales go there.

What really happened is much more grounded in reality. For some reason, I often find myself deciding The Night Before that I would like to whip something up for one of my girls and staying up all night making that happen. So I flipped through the book and selected a few simpler projects, and then narrowed it down to the Bubble Tea dress. From cutting, deliberating over fabrics, changing my mind on who I was sewing for, all the way to completion, this project took me less than two hours. None of these dresses have patterns to mess with, just cutting instructions. I altered the bubble a tiny bit to fit in the amount of fabric I had decided on using, but otherwise followed directions that really helped move this project along.

So whether you’re living the dream or you’re a bit closer to my own reality, this book has sweet little projects for you. And if you’re curious, I was in bed by 11:30 AFTER also doing some laundry. A new record for procrastination projects! I recommend this book for beginners looking to start out with some big satisfaction, all the way to advanced sewists who would like some quick and easy wow factor. Not to mention that all these based-on-a-tee dresses are super comfortable for their intended models!

If you want to see more projects that involved a little more planning and a little less flying by the seat of one’s pants, or even get a chance to win a copy of this dress, check out the other fabulous bloggers on the blog tour!

May 5
The New York Mom will feature a finished project
Nouveau Stitch will feature a finished project, “Flirty Shirt”
Just Pure Lovely will host a giveaway
The Crafty Princess Diaries will host a giveaway

May 6
Craft Knife will feature a finished project, “Cool Water”
Stitched by Crystal will feature a project for her 9-month-old
BlogHer DIY will feature a project

May 7
Prudent Baby will review and host a giveaway
House of 34 will host a giveaway

May 8
Smashed Peas and Carrots will feature a finished project, “Bubble Tea”
Simply Modern Mom will review and might do a project

May 9
Marsha’s Spot will feature a finished project, “Patchwork of Art” and host a giveaway
Sew Spoiled will review the book
Maya Made will feature a finished project

May 10
Dollar Store Crafts will feature a project
Only From Scratch will feature a project

May 11
A Few Shortcuts will review and host a giveaway
Wild Olive will feature a finished project
Positively Splendid will feature a finished project

May 12
On the Laundry Line will feature a finished project
Elegance and Elephants will feature a finished project

May 13
Luvinthemommyhood will review and host a giveaway
My Little Gems will host a giveaway

I received a complimentary copy of Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses in exchange for this review. All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. Images above from Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses by Sweet Seams Studio, published by Sixth&Spring Books. Photography by Dan Howell and dress design and instructions copyright © 2013 by Sixth&Spring Books/Soho Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

simple 15-minute dress refashion tutorial

This dress is a simple case of recycling, and is sewn together in one easy step if you have a serger and skip the topstitching, maybe adding one extra step if you only have a sewing machine available and you’re not confident with it.
I had a pink ribbed tanktop somebody had given me for Nicole, but there was some stretch lace on the bottom that had shrunk and was too tight for the rest of the shirt. Without it, the tank would be too short. I also had an empire-waist dress I’d bought for Nicole last year on sale at the end of the season, but it barely got worn last summer and it was too small this year.

So, your supplies are as follows:
- ribbed tanktop
-outgrown empire-waist dress that has a gathered skirt so there’s lots of wiggle room
-thin elastic

First, cut the tank off where you want it to end, leaving a bit of seam allowance. I wanted this to end at her natural waist, since the dress would be pretty short at empire length.  Then you cut the top off of the empire waist dress, making sure to cut the seam on the side of the skirt.

Here’s where it gets quick… pin the skirt to the top, right sides together and matching the seams. Just stretch your ribbed top out as you pin around. Then measure around your little girl’s waist where the waist of the dress will lie with the elastic and cut to size. Don’t use a seam allowance, you want it to be a little snug. Sew the ends of your elastic together to form a loop.

Pin your elastic around the dress a bit inward from your seam allowance as shown above. Just pin it at the sides, front, and back – it won’t really fit. Now, if you have a serger, feed everything through as shown above. The elastic should lie just to the left of your knife, and your serger will encase it in the seam. This will keep your dress nipped in at the waist!

See what i mean? If you are using a sewing machine, you could do the same thing with a zigzag stitch. If you’re confident you could do it in one step, otherwise you could sew your top and bottom together and THEN add the elastic. Regardless, stretch your elastic as you go to make its circumference match that of the dress.

Here’s another shot, this time with the elastic stretched out. (as far as it can go, obviously, in my case.) Once you’ve finished sewing around the dress and you turn it right side out, this is what you’ll have:

I prefer to iron the hem towards the skirt and topstitch, but that’s a personal preference and isn’t necessarily something you have to do. You can call it a day here if you like, which makes this dress take something like 15 minutes.

Nicole liked it and threw it right on, on top of her jeans and tshirt. I haven’t gotten any proper modelled shots yet… you know, wearing the dress without clothes underneath, preferably outside or somewhere near natural light, without the crazy faces, and maybe not on top of an ikea organizer in the basement… beggers can’t be choosers though. And when you’re trying to get your three year old to model, you’re definitely a begger. (Note: I put it through the wash and dryer to get the ribbed top and the elastic to shrink up and she wore the dress to church on Sunday. It looked really cute!)

Hope this little tutorial is helpful! I didn’t take any pictures of the cutting steps because I thought I was just doing your average refashion, right until I decided to try adding that elastic into the seam and realized how nicely it was working.

I might add a belt or bow to this yet, but I think it works without, too. :)