Pattern Hack: Adding Fringe to the Hazel Dolman

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Pattern Hack: Adding Fringe to the Hazel Dolman

Hi Sunshines! I’m An from Diskordia’s Curvy Sewing. I’m so excited to be your guest blogger today. I’ll be showing you how to do this very easy fun hack for adding fringe to your Hazel. The drawstrings on the shoulders of this pattern reminded me of a Mickey Mouse dress my mother bought me when I was a kid. It had the same sleeves as Hazel, but it also had this fun fringe at the bottom. It just had to be recreated! 

It’s awesome, cause you don’t have to hem the bottom, nobody likes hemming right!? and you get to play with your fabric, which is almost as fun as playing with your food as a kid ;). I guess our fabric is kind of like our food as a sewist if you come to think of it. Anyways, I’m wandering off. (This happens a lot to me) Another great thing is that you don’t need anything more than a pair of scissors or a rotary cutter if you are braver then me. Also make sure your fabric curls, if it won’t curl, you won’t be able to make the fringes. 

How to do it!

I cut this one at dress length and marked the sideseams where the tunic line hits. This mark will be the end of your fringe, so you can move that up or down as you like. Construct the dress as you would otherwise but stop sewing your side seam where the mark is. That’ll be the end of your side seam. 

I used a scrap for the tutorial pics, cause I’m a bit daft and I forgot to take them while actually making the dress. Round of applause!!!! :p

I then marked my scissors (using magnets) with the length of the fringe, so I didn’t have to mark the entire dress. Then cut strips the width you want it to be, I cut the strips about 1 inch wide. Do this around the entire dress. The hem is a bit curved, so keep that in mind while cutting, don’t be too worried about your cutting, once it turns into fringe you will not notice any too long or too short or too wide, etc. cuts.

Once that’s done, the fun starts, you now want to turn those strips into
a fringe, just grab hold of the bottom and the top, pull it a bit and it should curl up. It takes a bit of practice. You’ll get the hang off it after a few.  I did a short video on how I do one. You can find that here: Awesome Fringe Video.
Put on your favorite tv show, grab a cup of tea (or heck a glass of wine, I won’t judge) and get them all done, this will take a while! But hey, easier than hemming still…maybe. 😀 Once you’ve done this, you are done! Make sure to show off your hacked dress in our facebook group! 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How To Create and Attach a Knit Binding

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Knits are some of my favorite fabrics to sew with for so many reasons. Mainly, how comfortable the clothing is once it’s done! But when you live in a hotter climate and don’t want the double layer of a lining, or just want a slightly more sophisticated finish than a band at the neck of your garment, you might need a secondary option. That option is a knit binding and I’m going to show you how to create and attach one now!

 

How To Create and Attach a Knit Binding

Supplies:

Garment (unfinished)

Matching or coordinating fabric

Sewing Machine

Thread Scissors

(basically, the usual suspects)

Step One: Creating the binding

Thankfully, this is easier for knits than it is for woven fabrics. To create a woven binding, you have to cut on the bias in order for it to have the stretch it needs to be successful. For a knit, you just cut along the stretch. I will typically cut my binding 2″ tall which leaves my binding approx 1/2 inch when finished, but you can play with it to create your own personal aesthetic.

The length can be a little tricky. As a general rule, you want to cut a neck or sleeve binding at approximately 80% of the opening you are binding plus a seam allowance. So, or you have a neck opening of 20″ your binding would be 16″ long plus 1/2″ on each side for a seam allowance for a total of 17″ in length. This percentage can vary with your knit type but works well for cotton lycra in my experience. (Of course, if you’re replacing a band with a binding, you can always use the band length to make it easy!) Once you’ve done your math and cut your rectangle(s), it’s time to move on!

Step Two: Attaching a knit binding

Again, this (for me) is easier than dealing with a woven binding. First, you’ll want to sew the two short ends together to form a loop.

Then, it’s much like a neckband, only you will not fold the loop in half. Instead, you’ll take this flat loop and place pins at the quarters, starting at the seam. Do the same for the opening you are binding.

Now, with the RIGHT side of the binding against the WRONG side of the opening, match up the pins (with the seam at center back) and add a few pins between to make sure everything is all nice and even.

Once you’re all pinned, it’s time to sew! Sew at 1/4 the width of the binding (or just a smidge less). In my case, I sewed at about 3/8″.

Now comes the slightly tricky part. You’re going to pull the binding up out of the neckline.

 

Fold the loose raw edge in to meet the raw edges you just sewed together.

Then fold again so that the raw edges are all enclosed within the binding. Also, take care that the first round of stitches is hidden beneath this fold. Pin it well.

Then, being careful not to stretch as you sew, edge stitch around the fold to finish it off. That’s it! Beautiful bound edges!

One Other Idea

There is one other way to incorporate a binding into your project, and that is to bind your hem! If you want to do this, the instructions are pretty much the same. You’ll just want to adjust the length of your binding up to 90% of the opening.

I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful! As always, feel free to join us in our Facebook group for fun and support! And check out our sew along group to sew patterns as a group! We’ll be sewing up something at least quarterly, so come join us!

Halloween Costumes Made Using Bella Sunshine

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It’s that time of year again! Temperatures are coming down, trees are starting to drop leaves, there’s pumpkin spice EVERYTHING in the stores… Fall has arrived! And with fall comes my favorite holiday, Halloween! Crafty moms (and dads) everywhere are gearing up to make this the best Halloween ever for their kids by making them the cutest, fiercest, scariest costumes their kids have ever dreamed of. So today we’re going to show you some amazing Bella Sunshine hacks that became amazing Halloween costumes for you to use as inspiration!

Halloween Costumes Made Using Bella Sunshine

 

As I stated before, Halloween is my absolute favorite! So, of course, I’m always on the lookout for fun new costume ideas! Let’s start with Sahara. Its fun shape and low difficulty level make it a no-brainer! And its versatility can take you to SO many places!

picture by Debbie Schaeffer-Parker

Anna

What little girl doesn’t want to be a princess at some point in her life? And with the ever-popular Frozen remaining at the forefront of most girl’s minds, this Anna dress is perfection! The details can be stenciled on or embroidered, giving you a couple of options to recreate this beautiful look.

picture by Indu Anakareddi

Supergirl

Girls can totally want to be superheroes too! I completely ADORE this Supergirl look! The added touches of the arm warmers and cape round it out perfectly.

Picture by Stephanie Hauser

Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter)

Witches are SO popular for Halloween. But why be a traditional witch, when you can be an unconventional Luna Lovegood? This dress has it all. And the added additions of the hat and wand make it SO unconventionally Luna!

picture by Anna Fisher

Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time)

Why let the little kids have all the fun? I’m 40 and proud to admit I totally still dress up! So I love seeing big people in costume too! Which is why this group speaks to me. Princess Bubblegum (in the pink dress) was achieved here by mashing the Sahara bodice (slightly modified) with the Amelia skirt. And I  think its perfection!

Let’s move on to another great option, Adaline! With a few tweaks, she’s perfect for costuming as well!

picture by Danielle Jasmin Oliver

Queen Elsa

This Ice Queen has it going on! This Adaline was sewn pretty much as she comes, but the maker added a cape and crown that paired perfectly with her fabric choices to create a truly beautiful Elsa dress. And the model looks so regal!

Picture by Sandra Zeigler

Mulan

Admittedly, this one took a bit more tweaking. But if you’re good at hacking patterns, something like this is totally doable! This stunning Mulan was made with Adaline as a base, and I think she looks amazing!

Our next look was made using the super simple Maggie pattern, but it was JUST what the costume called for!

picture by Rachel Daymude

Sally

From the Nightmare Before Christmas… The Halloween/Christmas move we all know and love. Maggie’s simple lines make it the obvious choice for Sally’s simple dress. And if you can find the right fabric… *happy sighs*

And how about Juliet? All of those ruffles are worth it for some costumes right? Well, feast your eyes on this one…

picture by Melissa Prendergast

Nemo and Dory

Those ruffles made the BEST little fins, right? Nemo and Dory have never been so cute! And the color blocking and trims add just the right touches, don’t you think?

Our last inspiration picture is my absolute favorite, which is why I saved it for last. The Sansa pants were used for this one. Are you ready for it?

picture by Lindsay Hamilton

Lady Glitter Sparkles!!!

I cannot get over how amazing this one is. If your household is anything like mine, you know the Trolls movie well. And being a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel, Bridget aka Lady Glitter Sparkles is my favorite. The Sansa pants were used to make the bottom of this jumpsuit with a little horsehair braid in the hem to really make them pop. How can you NOT love this?

Which one was your favorite? Have you made an awesome costume using our patterns? Please share with us in the comments below! Or better yet, join our Facebook group and share ALL of your Bella Sunshine creations with us! We really do love seeing them!

10-Year-Old Award Winning Seamstress’ Triumph

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While perusing Facebook sewing groups, we ran across a post made by a woman named Lea O’Reilly in which she shared her 10-year-old award winning seamstress’ triumph in obtaining 5 major awards in 2 different fairs with a dress she sewed herself. We found this very inspiring. And also very impressive. So we requested an interview with the mother and got to interview the girl herself! Let’s see what she has to say about sewing, her award-winning dress, and her plans for her future!

10-Year-Old Award Winning Seamstress’ Triumph

 

The girl’s name is Serenity Ventura (which is an awesome name!) and this is her interview.

So, Serenity, how long have you been sewing and what got you into it?

I’ve been sewing for almost 5 years and I started sewing because I joined 4-H and it looked like fun.

That’s so cool! Do you use Bella Sunshine patterns very often? And which are your favorites?

I have been using their patterns often and I like the Sahara and the Amelia. The Amelia crossover is what I used for the top of my dress.

The one that you submitted for your fair project right?

Yeah!

That dress was so gorgeous! Can you tell me more about your fair project?

Sure, I really liked the Amelia top and the candy castle dress bottom so I decided to put them together. The top and bottom of both had cutting and sewing on the bias. It was hard to hold all the layers together but it was fun to make. Crossing over the front of the Amelia was interesting and wasn’t as hard as I thought. I made 2. One for my 5th-grade graduation and the other for fair. My one for graduation didn’t do well at a 4-H event but I tried again for fair. The different knits acted differently when I made the tops, probably because the skirt was heavy.

That’s a fair assumption. Can you tell me what awards you dress won and at which fairs?

It was entered into the San Diego County Fair and it won Best in Show and 2 Donated Awards and then it was entered at the Ramona Jr Fair in Ramona, CA where it won Home Economics Best in Division for Junior Sewing (ages 5-13) and Home Economics Reserve Best in Show Overall, for all ages and divisions.

That’s amazing! Do you have any plans for the next fair?

I want to do a 3 piece outfit. A jacket, shirt, and pants and work with new materials.

That’s ambitious. What materials?

Wool, twill, and challis.

That sounds challenging, but I’m sure you can pull it off!

Thank you. I want to try making Gabriella’s winter coat next. It looks really cute.

I love Gabriella! It’s one of my favorites. Do you think that will be your next project?

Yes, it will!

What do you think your sewing future looks like? Is this something you plan to continue doing?

Yes, I want to start my own business soon. I also want to make my own patterns and I want to continue to make my skills better.

What kind of business?

My own clothing business so I can make things such as sports wear, dresses, shirts and leggings.

Thank you so much for talking with me! And please make sure you or your mom shares your Bella Sunshine projects in our group! We LOVE seeing young talent!

Thank you, we will!
I want to thank Serenity and her mother Lea again for a wonderful interview with an extremely talented young seamstress! We wish her all the luck with her future endeavors and expect to see great things from her!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Three

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It’s hump day! And the third day of the Back to School blog tour with Bella Sunshine Designs! Are you ready to see some awesome back to school gear? I am! Today we’ll get show-and-tells from Jillayne Whipple Richey, Amanda Cross, and Becca Olson! I’m ready to see what they’ve whipped up, are you?

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Three

Jillayne Whipple Richey

Jillayne is a mother to 4 and Arizonan at heart. She likes dancing in her bare feet, balanced budgets, books, quilting, sewing (especially when it looks good), music, playing music, baking bread, being warm, getting organized, making stacks, getting organized again, soft beds, baby noses, chick flicks, hugs from her kids, skipping ahead to read/watch the ending, quiet, chaos, singing really loud, her family and sharing her sewing on her blog ‘Hazelnut Handmade’. For today’s share, she hacked the Maggie Top for her daughter’s back to school outfit.

Amanda Cross

Amanda Cross, Cross Stitches Custom Clothing, was inspired by the seamstresses in her family to also take up the art and has been sewing for 24 years. She appreciates the ability to create a custom fit when it is near impossible to find it off the rack from Ready-to-Wear garments. She enjoys sharing the creative process, wonderful fabrics, ground-breaking patterns, and the necessary know-how for taking a garment from Home-Made to Hand-Made.

Becca Olson

Becca Olson Nana to 2 adorable monsters. Addicted to sewing, quilting, and basically anything she can add to the studio without getting busted by hubby. Her favorite thing to do though is sewing for those monsters. For the back to school blog, she focused on the FREE Regan Raglan…
Please check out Day One and Day Two if you missed them! Also, don’t forget that Bella Sunshine is having a week-long Back to School blowout sale in effect ALL week long! It’s the perfect opportunity to grab some of those patterns you’ve been on the fence about at a great price! Come back tomorrow to see what new pretties we have in store for you!

Back to School Blog Tour~ Day One

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We’re pretty much all gearing up for back to school. What better way to prep and get a little stress relief too, than by sewing up some new wardrobe pieces? Each day this week we will feature three talented seamstresses who have sewn up some Bella Sunshine goodness for back to school! Today’s post will feature Auke Leufkens, Miranda Bodo, and Leisel Engelbrecht.

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day One

Auke Leufkens

Aukje from Sew Cucio loves to sew for everybody in her family including herself, although the girls get most of the sews. She especially loves to sew dresses and with a deadline, therefore she loves blog tours and pattern tests. Her sews are recognized for its bold fabric combinations with lots of colors. For the back to school blog tour, she used three patterns, two free patterns, the Eden Leggings and the Reagan Raglan, and the third is the Apple Cardigan, to create a full outfit.

Miranda Bodo

Miranda from Inspinration sews fast, has a passion for sewing with knits and is a hacker at heart. For the back to school blog tour, she used all those qualities and created an all knit mini capsule. It contains eight pieces, four tops four bottoms that can be mixed and matched to create sixteen different looks. Miranda has a passion for color and print which leads to her kids looking like walking happy rainbows, but for the tour, she tried something new, a basic color scheme and several uni-colored fabrics.

Leisel Engelbrecht

Liesel has been sewing for several years, and enjoys sewing for children the best! She homeschools her four children and loves photography, music, and thrifting as other hobbies. Her blog is “It’s Liesel” and you can find all her sewing shares there. She made the Maggie dress and a modified Clementine top for back to school outfits for her girls.

I think these three ladies did an AMAZING job, don’t you? Make sure you check back tomorrow to see more awesome back to school sews!

 

 

An Emmaline Sew Along is Coming!

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At Bella Sunshine, we like to hold regular sew alongs to foster a sense of community, to create together, and to give those who might need an extra little push that needed motivation. So, when one of our favorite new patterns released, we thought the timing was perfect! So… let’s get ready for an Emmaline sew along!

An Emmaline Sew Along is Coming!

How excited am I? SO VERY! I’ve been waiting for the Emmaline for a very long time. I absolutely adore the chevron color blocking. It’s effortless to wear, and easy to sew. The sew along will begin on Monday April 23rd and run for 8 days. Here’s the schedule:
We WILL be allowing hacks during the sew along also! So feel free to grab your Sahara or Amelia pieces to mash with the Emmaline! Be creative! We LOVE seeing all of the thought and work that goes into creating the PERFECT garment. So start thinking about fabric choices and get ready… because it’s going to be fun! You are welcome to do the ladies or child version. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, grab the bundle and make it a set!

Be sure to join our main facebook group as well as our sew along group to participate in the fun! We look forward to seeing you there!

5 Sewing Techniques To Try Today!

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In our quest for sewing perfection, we are constantly learning new things. Building skills that we can build on more to perfect our craft. Sometimes it’s easy. Other times, not so much. Today, we’ll look back on some previous sewing techniques that we’ve shared. Maybe you’ll find one you missed out on and can try something new! You never know…

 

5 Sewing Techniques To Try Today!

 

1. How To Understitch

This handy tutorial will teach you all about understitching. Why we do it. How to do it. And why it looks so awesome when you use it!

2. Adding Trim To Any Hem

Sometimes you just want to take a pattern up a notch. There’s a very simple way you can accomplish this. Add a trim to the hem! It can easily add a nice pop of color, or just a cool detail to make your garment stand out!

3. Add An Inseam Pocket To Any Skirt

You know you love pockets… Who doesn’t??? So why not add them to ALL of your dress/skirt sewing projects? This tutorial will talk you through how to do exactly that. Never be pocket-less again!

4. Installing An Invisible Zipper

Truth time. The thought of zippers used to terrify me. Any zippers. And invisible zippers? Forget about it. But I overcame that fear, and guess what? They aren’t that hard! As long as you know the steps… Read this tut to show you a quick and easy way to get them right every time! You’ll be glad you did. And never fear the zipper again!

5. Adding Appliques And Reverse Appliques

Another fun way to add a bit of spice or interest to your work is with appliques! Another scary-sounding prospect, I know, but SO worth it… and not as hard or scary as it sounds, I promise! Just read up to learn how!

Fabric Panels and What To Do With Them!

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Many seamstresses nowadays belong to any number of custom knit fabric groups on Facebook. Most of those groups are now offering fabric panels to turn into garments, blankets, bags… all kinds of things! But if you’re newer to sewing or newer to these custom groups or the concept of knit panels, what do you do with them? I’ll tell you!

Fabric Panels and What To Do With Them!

As far as clothing goes, panels can be GREAT fun. You can use them as a panel in a skirt front (think of a knit Isabella’s!). You could use it as the back of a cardigan. Or, my favorite, simply the front of a tee shirt, which is what I’m going to share with you today.

The fabric I’m using is from a  Facebook group called Moon Beam Textile Company (you can find the site for purchasing here), and they run SO many amazing geeky prints! I absolutely LIVE for the geek, so it’s one of my all-time favorite groups to be in.

Making a Graphic Panel Tee

To start, get your panel and make sure your shirt front will fit within the piece. Here, I’m using the Maggie for myself and also Maggie for my daughter. You can usually fit up to a size 4t on a child-sized panel and most adult sizes on an adult panel. When you fold the panel in half, make sure your fold goes through the center of the panel design so it isn’t off-center when you cut.

Cut your front from the panel. Sometimes you can get a neckband out of the panel as well, but not always. Cut your back, sleeves, and neckband (if you didn’t get it from the panel) out of a coordinating fabric and sew as usual. When you’re done, you have a unique self-made graphic tee that is perfectly you (or your kid) in every way from fit to personality!

I LOVE using fabric panels and fun custom prints to make wardrobes that are unique to my family. They fit all of our interests and personalities. They’re fun, colorful, and uniquely “us”, which is always worthy of striving for! Do you have a favorite fabric group? Or a way to use panels that we haven’t mentioned? Please share with us in the comments below!

Also, join our Facebook group to join the community and share your makes, questions, and triumphs with us! We adore our community and LOVE to see it growing with such amazing, kind, and talented people!

Pencil Huggers- A Valentine’s Day Craft

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Today we have a fun little project to share with you! Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching and I don’t know about you, but I think my kids get MORE than enough candy during the holidays. So this year, I’m making these fun little pencil huggers for my preschooler’s class. They’re super cute, easy and fairly inexpensive to make. And I’m going to show you how to make them too!

 

Pencil Huggers- A Valentine’s Day Craft!

To start, we need supplies.

You’ll need:

  • a shape template (that you can get free here)
  • felt (pick a traditional red or pink, or go crazy with non-traditional colors or printed felt!)
  • some fun pencils (if you aren’t as concerned about the candy, you can use suckers instead)
  • pins
  • scissors

and

  • your sewing machine

Prep Work

We’ll start by cutting out the smallest heart shape from the template. Then take that heart and trace it onto your felt. I used a sharpie pen so it would be easy to see, and after construction, you shouldn’t be able to see the markings anyway. As you can see in my photo, I managed to get 12 hearts per sheet of felt.

After they’re all traced out, I laid the sheet of felt with the traced images directly on top of a second unmarked sheet. I then placed pins through both layers at the center of each of the traced hearts. This helps the felt to not slip while you’re cutting.

We will cut the two layers at once to make sure they are perfect pairs. this helps in the final construction.

 

Now, remove the pins, but keep your pairs together. Take the traced heart piece from each pair (I recommend doing this one at a time, so as not to confuse the pairs) and draw a roughly 1/2″ line about 1/2″ from the top and bottom center of the heart. This will be where the pencils are placed. Use your scissors to clip a little slit through the one layer where you drew your lines.

Construction

Now that we have everything ready, we’ll get to the fun part. At this point, I want you to consider that your perfectly matching heart pieces are right side together with the visible part of your tracing on the outside (wrong side). I want you to flip both of those pieces so that they are right sides together with the ink to the inside. If you did this correctly, your pieces should still be perfectly matched. Pin those pairs around the perimeter.

Here’s where you have options. You can use a hand blanket stitch to finish these if you’re good at that sort of thing (I’m not). If you are going to machine sew, you can choose to match or contrast the thread with the felt color. You can choose a straight, zigzag, or decorative stitch to complete the project. I chose to use a contrasting white thread with a decorative stitch, shown above.

The easiest way to do this without the machine trying to eat at the felt is to start at the center top and sew down to the bottom point. I place my felt just past the 1/8″ mark to sew. Then repeat for the opposite side.

Now all you need to do is stick a pencil through the holes and you have finished pencil huggers! Aren’t they adorable?

The BEST thing about these pencil huggers is that you can adapt it to ANY holiday by simply switching out the shape you use! Use a bunny for Easter, a pumpkin for Halloween, a tree for Christmas… possibilities abound! If you loved this craft, or have suggestions for other blog topics you’d like to see, please drop a comment below! Also be sure to join our Facebook group for fun, support, and showing off and all things BSD!

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