RoCa and Company: Guest Blogger: Irina from Sew and the City

Remember these lovely twill tape craft labels from Sew and the City from a couple weeks back?...

Well, Today we have Irina sharing another fabulous tutorial. Her labels were the top viewed link during our first It's A Rockin' Party and therefore she gets to be a guest blogger here...so without further ado, here's Irina.

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Hi!

My name is Irina and I blog over at Sew And The City. I am so happy to be here today to say hello and to show you a simple tutorial of how to make a dress using an old jumper. I was so flattered when Carmen asked me to be a guest blogger, as I have been a frequent visitor to her blog which I know you'll agree with me, is full of wonderful ideas.

My family and I are currently living in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and I am trying to embrace the new culture. This year the summer was not extremely nice but we were very lucky to have almost two weeks of glorious Indian summer – sunny and not too hot – just lovely. Well despite the warm weather the autumn is here in I think it is a very beautiful season. I love all the warm colours that autumn brings – yellow, orange and red, tobacco green and brown – so warm and pretty.

We regularly went to the park to collect conkers and leaves– conkers are very important in the life of a three and a half year old, you know. The more the better, they are used to cook with, as form of payment and even as treasures hidden in secret places, especially pockets.

The leaves we collected were so lovely that I decided to make leaf appliqué. An old felted jumper from my husband provided the fabric, so I decide to make a felted dress. This is the second piece of clothing that I have made from an old jumper. I love the fact that something which initially was heading for the bin can be reused; and also all those felted jumpers are made of 100% wool, so are sure to keep my girl nice and warm on cold days.

The dress was really fun to make and I can’t believe how easy it is to sew with felt. I am yet to clean my sewing machine – apparently felt fluffs a lot, so a regular clean is a must.

1 1-3 You’ll need – an old jumper, or other wool felt fabric, pattern, and scraps of autumn coloured fabric (I chose browns) and a nice selection of leaves to use for your appliqué.

4. Make your pattern – fold and existing dress that fits in half and trace around it (adding seam allowance) to create a simple A line dress pattern.

5. Place the pattern on your jumper / fabric and trace with magic marker or water soluble pen. Cut the dress shape.

6. Pin and machine stitch the dress on the sides (I later wondered if it was better to stitch the shoulder bit – like in photo 9 and add the bias tape around the arm hole first and than sew the sides together – YES it is better)

7 - 8 Trace a selection of leaves onto paper and cut. Use Vlisofix or freezer paper to trace and iron the leaves onto your chosen fabric (photos 18 -19)

10-12 Add he bias tape – I first stitched one side of the bias tape to the back on the garment, and than fold it and stitched on the front – photo 11 – it gives it a very nice neat finish

The button closure at the back was absolutely easy to make. I followed this tutorial – its fool proof.