I made two dresses

[Lil Sis]

Originally Posted by dawn27

Lol ..Donna, You sound like my Home Arts teacher Mrs Bass giving us last muminutenstructions bebeforeut next sewing prprojects..

You did an amazing job.... they are Beautiful. Her date is going to be one lucky little fella when he shows up with her wearing either dress. Cant wait to see the photos.

Ha ha...so true! I teach home economics ( foods now..but I did teach sewing ) and I would have to say some odd instructions! I will add ...don't put you finger under the needle when threading the machine

[MandiesMom]

They are both gorgeous, Donna! Great job!!!

[dawn27]

Originally Posted by Lil Sis

Ha ha...so true! I teach home economics ( foods now..but I did teach sewing ) and I would have to say some odd instructions! I will add ...don't put you finger under the needle when threading the machine

OMg someone in my class acctualy did that and it broke the tip of the needle off in her finger. The strangest thing about it was a few days later the tip came out of her big toe !!! How is that possible ?

[ldcox29]

Originally Posted by DBlain

Well after about 14 hours of sewing I finished 2 dresses. I can't believe how long it takes me. good thing I have no plans to try to sell anything. I must admit I like it and am learning a lot from trial and error. The main thing I am learning is patience And lets see what else.
1. Make sure to check that you are sewing the right side or the back side, just know what side you are dealing with, and that goes for trim as well.
2. run a zig zag stich on fabrics like brocade that fray like heck.
3. trim is your friend since it covers up puckers and messy seams.
4. don't try to grab across the table for the new extra sharp scissors by the open blade
5. blood stains light colored brocade, so keep band aides in the sewing box
6. remember where you store special trim so an unnecessary trip to the store does not have to be made

So the weekend is almost over, my house is a mess and Lola and my DH feel neglected, but what the hey, I have two new dog dresses

The gold one is my favorite, I did fine on all the pieces until it came time to stuff the skirt inside the bodice, since I love full skirts this is becoming a challenge for me. If you guys have any pointers for me on how to make that easier to do I would appreciate it.


I tried to do the Valentine Ball picture, but forget it the only ones that came out good were the ones of her trying to fall asleep on the pillow props. so I will try again tomorrow.

Beautiful dresses. A little trick I learned when attaching the skirt and bodice is to use starch. I make my fold then starch it and iron it to where the opening is stiff, then I put the skirt in, pin it, and sew it. Hope that helps you out.

[DBlain]

not sure I follow do you put the startch on the skirt or on the bodice.

what I did was first attach the skirt to the linning side, then that kept it in place to do the more imortant side.

do you only keep the width of the part that you tuck the skirt into open. that's what I do but next time I am going to keep the whole lenght of it open then attach I think that might be easier.

[Lisa and Pic]

Love your color choices, very pretty, and great job! Can't wait to see the Valentine Ball pictures.

[ldcox29]

Originally Posted by DBlain

not sure I follow do you put the startch on the skirt or on the bodice.

what I did was first attach the skirt to the linning side, then that kept it in place to do the more imortant side.

do you only keep the width of the part that you tuck the skirt into open. that's what I do but next time I am going to keep the whole lenght of it open then attach I think that might be easier.

I keep the bottom of the bodice open, fold in the raw edges, starch it, iron it, then tuck the skirt inside. I pin it and sew straight across. Hope that makes sense

[dawn27]

Originally Posted by ldcox29

I keep the bottom of the bodice open, fold in the raw edges, starch it, iron it, then tuck the skirt inside. I pin it and sew straight across. Hope that makes sense

I find that ironing all of your seams open/flat and all of your pieces once you turn them right side out help when it comes to lining everything up to make your final stitch.

[ldcox29]

Originally Posted by dawn27

I find that ironing all of your seams open/flat and all of your pieces once you turn them right side out help when it comes to lining everything up to make your final stitch.

Yes, I agree. I wish I knew that when I started making my dresses -- it would have saved me some frustration. LOL

[Ldyrev1]

If this is your first attempt on your own, you have wonderful taste in fabrics and trims and your dressed are gorgeous!! I am so impressed, especially with this being your first solo! You did a great job!!

[DBlain]

Originally Posted by Ldyrev1

If this is your first attempt on your own, you have wonderful taste in fabrics and trims and your dressed are gorgeous!! I am so impressed, especially with this being your first solo! You did a great job!!

Thanks Diane I appreciate your nice words, I made a few others with the help of friends but LOL they would usually take over the machine out of frustration. I have always loved fabric and would spend hours looking at the bolts in the stores, even though at the time I did not have a machine. LOL when I first got Lola I did not realize I would turn her into my living barbie doll I now spend to much time on the computer looking at pet clothing, seems like I got myself on a lot of high end pet fashion FB pages so I get ideas from there. I have found it is often only the fabric and embellishments that make a dress look high end. If you check out my albums on here you will see some of the dresses I had made by other people with me picking the stuff out. I had to put together photos for the GE that is why there is a running narrative on what I like about certain styles under the photos.

I will post a few pictures of some hand embellished vests that I did, that is what I am trying to make more of so I have been collecting embellishments. A friend made the vests but now I will start, eventually my goal with the vests is to give them to people in return for them making direct a donation to a pet rescue group like Yorkie Haven or Yorkie 911

[DBlain]

here are the two vests I embellished. The beige one was made from old beige jeans the other one out of blue denim fabric. My friend did not like sewing on the used fabric she felt it stretched in weird directions. The gold one is Lola's, the other one was for a very small dog that sadly passed away before having a chance to wear it. I think I will adjust the placement and style of the D ring. These were patterned after harness dresses I have bought and they are very secure for walking but I don't want the D ring as prominent in the future. It's hard to see but on the blue vest there were swarvoski crystal hearts, I plan to use a lot of swarvoski gems on future vests, and each will have at least one small crocheted heart. These are called Lola Rose one of a kind; named after Lola, my grandma Rose and my mom's prize winning roses. I had pretty labels made but can't seem to post it here. The first one I will be giving away will be for a yorkie rescue raffle

[Ldyrev1]

These are beautiful!! You know I love to sew heirloom garments for babies and children and I have tons of laces and embellishments like this. It never occurred to me to use them on outfits I might make my puppy! You have really opened my eyes to new possibilities. Thanks so much!

[Perrella]

Originally Posted by DBlain

here are the two vests I embellished. The beige one was made from old beige jeans the other one out of blue denim fabric. My friend did not like sewing on the used fabric she felt it stretched in weird directions. The gold one is Lola's, the other one was for a very small dog that sadly passed away before having a chance to wear it. I think I will adjust the placement and style of the D ring. These were patterned after harness dresses I have bought and they are very secure for walking but I don't want the D ring as prominent in the future. It's hard to see but on the blue vest there were swarvoski crystal hearts, I plan to use a lot of swarvoski gems on future vests, and each will have at least one small crocheted heart. These are called Lola Rose one of a kind; named after Lola, my grandma Rose and my mom's prize winning roses. I had pretty labels made but can't seem to post it here. The first one I will be giving away will be for a yorkie rescue raffle

OMgosh, these are beautiful! I love the embellishments what a fabulous job Donna! The little roses are perfect...so your mom &. grandma make them for you? What about the bottom trim, where did you get that, I love it, perfect!

[Verbena]

Donna the dresses are just beautiful. You did a wonderful job. Love the vests especially the white one. Too bad they are for girls. I would love one for Galen lol