Birthday Dress

Birthday Dress



I recently had a color analysis and learned I was a “calm summer” and should focus on garment fabrics that are cool, light and muted to highlight my best features. As soon as I saw this beautiful John Kaldor cotton sateen that featured at least three of my best colors I knew it would make the perfect birthday dress!

You can learn all about how I made it on Minerva now. And to make your own special outfits with this beautiful John Kaldor cotton sateen visit my affiliate link.

This fabric was gifted to me in return for a post and this post contains affiliate links. I love my birthday dress and will certainly work with this cotton sateen again! Thank you for your support.
Read more »
Marissa
0 Comments
Modern Hanbok

Modern Hanbok


 


This past weekend I had the great pleasure of celebrating my daughter's first 100 days of life. It's amazing how much she's changed and grown already. As we've fallen into a more regular pattern I've begun to find small amounts of time to sew. I purchased Baby A's formal hanbok for her party online, and was thankful not to have the pressure of getting her dress done on time. However, women's hanboks were quite expensive and I wanted to coordinate with her perfectly so I decided to make my own.

The pattern I used is designed for woven fabrics so once Baby's hanbok came in the mail I took it to my local quilt shop Crimson Tate to find coordinating fabric for my dress. I ended up with a Rashida Coleman-Hale Speckled Metallic Sorbet in pink for the top and Robert Kaufman Metallic Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in emerald for the skirt and love how it coordinated with Baby's outfit.

The pattern instructions and pieces are written in Korean so I leaned heavily on Sewing Therapy's video tutorials - thank you Sara! A few key differences she pointed out about this pattern were new-to-me pattern marks and the need to add seam allowance. I also had a difficult time reading and understanding the size chart - I made a size small but probably should have sized up at least one size and made a medium.

We weren't able to have a large celebration due to the pandemic, but we were able to celebrate in style with our family and couldn't have been more happy. I can only imagine what the next 100 days will hold.

Pattern: Dailylike Adult One-Piece Hanbok
Size: small
Fabric: Rashida Coleman-Hale Speckled Metallic Sorbet (Pink) for the top and Robert Kaufman Metallic Yarn Dyed Essex Linen (Emerald) for the skirt
Time: I would guess 5-8 hours, between watching the video tutorials multiple times, tracing the pattern, cutting and sewing the garment. But it's hard to tell when you try to squeeze all that making into naptime!

Cost to Make:
pattern - $19
fabric - $58
interfacing and thread from my stash
TOTAL: $77
Read more »
Marissa
0 Comments
Nursing Tulip Tee

Nursing Tulip Tee



Many generous friends shared their maternity wardrobes with me and it was a huge blessing! I sewed a few maternity items I wanted, but didn't need to make a lot of new garments. However, many of those same friends are still nursing and not ready to part with their nursing tops so I need to make a few nursing friendly options for myself.


Thankfully I had the Patterns for Pirates Tulip Tee in my collection, which comes with a nursing option. Having made this Tulip Tee once before it was straightforward to make, even with the additional modesty layer below the tulip "petals." I used a fusible knit stay tape to achieve the best possible hem along the bottom and sides of the top panels and love the final result. I didn't make any changes to the pattern and can certainly see a few additional versions making their way into my nursing wardrobe.

Click here to see my first version of the Tulip Tee, in a sparkling blush sweatshirt fleece from Minerva.

Pattern: Patterns for Pirates Tulip Tee
Size: small
Fabric: black knit blend, originally from JoAnn
Time: 4-5 hours

Cost to Make:
pattern - previously owned
fabric, stay tape and thread - from stash
TOTAL: FREE
Read more »
Marissa
0 Comments
Lavender Heirloom Dress

Lavender Heirloom Dress


 

When I saw this beautiful lavender floral fabric I knew I had to make something for my daughter with it.

Lavender is my mother’s favorite flower and it always reminds me of her, so I chose to make a pattern her mother, my maternal grandmother, made for me when I was a baby. This Butterick pattern was printed the year I was born and my grandmother made view D for me. I made view B for my daughter and although they look fairly different from the front I found myself referring to my grandmother’s make a few times to clarify the pattern’s instructions. Grandma has been gone for a number of years now, but I love that, in a way, I was still able to share this make with her.


This fabric was gifted to me in return for a post and this post contains affiliate links. I love baby's new dress and can't wait to get her in it! Thank you for your support.
Read more »
Marissa
0 Comments
Willow Wrap Dress - Nursing Top Hack

Willow Wrap Dress - Nursing Top Hack



I have a new hole in my wardrobe and have been energized to create nursing friendly garments post baby. In the short amount of time I've been nursing her I found that I prefer tops and dresses that can be pushed to the side so I can easily see baby's latch. This H&M top was the perfect inspiration for just such a top!


I used the Willow Wrap Dress pattern from Love Notions as the base for this top and added a modesty panel in coordinating fabric using a similar ready-to-wear nursing top I already owned for reference. This pattern has so many options, I started by cutting the plain front panels at the lower neckline and the skirt pieces at the line for a peplum style top.


To better match the inspiration top I narrowed the skirt front piece by an inch on each side at the bottom. I created a modesty panel by folding the front pattern piece in half, placing it on the fold, tracing a curved neckline two inches above the lowest point of the V and cutting it off six and half inches below the armscye. I sewed the modesty panel to the shoulder seams after adding the knit binding to the neckline, but would sew it in before finishing the neckline in the future as this didn't create the cleanest finish.


I loved working with this fabric from June & Lu Fabrics because it was stable enough to hold its shape even after nursing baby a few times. Of course, I had a bit of fabric left over and had to make baby girl a few coordinating onsies and headbands. These are our first mommy and me outfits! I love this top and wear it regularly - it can be dressed up with black slacks or worn more casually with jeans.



Size: Small
Fabric: Organic Water Lilies in Creme Jersey Knit Fabric by Elvelyckan Designs, 1 yard (*this is a directional print so make sure to purchase enough); Organic Rose Solid Jersey Knit Fabric by Elvelyckan Designs, 1/2 yard. Find this fabric and coordinating solids at June & Lu Fabrics.
Time estimate: 5 hours, including cutting and sewing

Cost to Make:
pattern - previously owned, $12 value
pattern printing - previously printed, $17 value
fabric - gifted, $21 value plus shipping
thread - from stash
TOTAL: $50 value

This fabric was gifted to me in return for social media posts. This fabric has great recovery and I love how it washes and wears. I would purchase it in the future!

Read more »
Marissa
0 Comments
[name=Marissa] [img=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgft-3vDDqLpq4lxEo2Wx4YkE4-TQNU7SAldhEeqsnJ5NGKN48OSU2c-E6TmDZGf5IPiR6oTsNR332bRJ3dZZcIO7bkMkNpuXcp1K9AtFQ5rlu0kfvBzzjk-gyIKt6lGyYAM1HQ5b-z1Xg/s355/NielsenFamily19Final-11+%25282%2529.jpg] [description=Hi, I'm Marissa, a hobby seamstress. Thanks for joining me on my journey as I create a handmade wardrobe. Like and follow via the social media links below to see my newest makes!] [(instagram=https://www.instagram.com/sew_help_me)] [(facebook=https://www.facebook.com/SewHelpMebyMarissa)] [(bloglovin=https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/sew-help-me-19274771)]