Riley Blake Fabric Fest Blog Hop and Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway!

   

So I know I mentioned it quite some time ago, but this September I will be heading to Las Vegas to teach at Riley Blake Designs 'Fabric Fest'! I'm so excited about this opportunity. I have really enjoyed working with the folks at Riley Blake Designs and I know their first conference is going to be amazing. There are going to be so many great classes and teachers during this conference.......if you haven't signed up, you definitely should. There is something for everyone!

I will be teaching three hands-on sewing classes during the conference and will be on a panel for one lecture class about finding your signature style. So what exactly am I teaching in the hands-on classes?

CLASS 1 - EMBELLISHING GARMENTS WITH TRIMS:

My 1st class is 'Embellishing Garments with Trims' and you all know how much I love trim! In this class we will be talking about using trims to embellish garments and how to use trims to pull a look together.

We will also be creating an embellished t-shirt during the class using all of the adorable trims from Riley Blake Designs.

Riley Blake Designs really has some of the best trims for embellishing! From every color rickrack, to different lace and crochet elastics, to picot edging and the most adorable buttons in all shapes, sizes and designs. For those students that sign up for the kit for the class, they will be receiving a sampling of trims from Riley Blake Designs!

My hope is that the take-away from this class will be how trims and the proper fabric pairing really can pull an entire look together and take a garment from ordinary to extraordinary!

CLASS 2 - LINED GARMENT CONSTRUCTION:

My second class is 'Lined Garment Construction'. This class makes me so excited because I get to teach some of my very favorite techniques for finishing the inside of lined garments including armholes and the hems of lined garments. These are all techniques that can be applied to some of my own, The Cottage Mama, sewing patterns and can be incorporated into other patterns as well.

Personally, when I sew a pattern from another designer, I don't always follow their construction instructions because I have a specific way I like to finish the insides of garments. I'm hoping the students will take away the techniques from the class and apply them into their everyday sewing. To help us learn the various techniques, we will be sewing the basic variation of The Cottage Mama 'Janey Jumper' pattern using some gorgeous Riley Blake Fabrics!

CLASS 3 - SEWING WITH PATTERNS:

My final hands-on class will be 'How to Sew with Patterns.' I know there are many people who just don't care to sew using commercial patterns. Either they have had a bad experience or just aren't quite sure how to interpret the different symbols and wording in a pattern. In this class we will be talking about sewing using paper patterns and PDF printable patterns, how to preserve paper patterns, transferring pattern markings and explaining what all the different markings mean...plus more. Students will leave this class feeling confident about being able to sew garments using patterns. We will be using the Katie Cupcake 'Elloise' pattern and students will leave with the garment cut out and ready to sew!

FAT QUARTER BUNDLE GIVEAWAY:

And because we are having so much fun talking about Riley Blake Designs Fabric Fest, I've got a great giveaway of one of their beautiful Fat Quarter Bundles (Kensington by Emily Taylor Designs for Riley Blake Designs)!

You can enter the giveaway via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the blog post!

Subscribe to the NEW The Cottage Mama Newsletter

During the blog hop, these great sites will be blogging all about Fabric Fest and the wonderful classes they are teaching. They will also be giving away some great prizes, so you'll want to keep this list close by!

Wednesday, June 5

Jina Barney of Riley Blake Designs

Thursday, June 6
Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet

 Friday, June 7

Elizabeth and Liz Evans of Simply Simon & Co

Saturday, June 8

Nancy Zieman/Deanna Springer of Nancy Zieman.com

Monday, June 10

Melissa Mortenson of The Polka Dot Chair 

Tuesday, June 11

Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore

Wednesday, June 12

Paige Hill of Riley Blake Designs, Jennifer of Tatertots and Jello,

Becky & Kari of U-Create

Thursday, June 13

Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish

Friday, June 14

Kim Christopherson & Kris Thurgood of My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe

Saturday, June 15

Bonnie Bailey on Riley Blake Designs

 Monday, June 17

Lila Tueller of Lila Tueller Designs

Tuesday, June 18

Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter

Wednesday, June 19

Lindsay Wilkes of The Cottage Mama

Thursday, June 20

Sue Daley of Sue Daley Designs

Friday, June 21

Eleanor Burns/ Sue Bouchard of Quilt in a Day

Saturday, June 22

Jenny, Natalie, & Sarah of Missouri Star Quilt Company

 Monday, June 24

Andrea Goddard of And I Sew

Tuesday, June 25

Becky, Brooke, Jamie, Kirsten, & Nikkala of The Crafting Chicks

Wednesday, June 26

Deonn Stott of Quiltscapes 

 Thursday, June 27

Sandy Workman of Pine Mountain Designs

Friday, June 28

Sydney Haglund of Memory Quilt Maker

a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It

Easy Knot Dress ~ Free Pattern and Tutorial

I love an easy sundress, don't you? It's still pretty cold and snowy around here in Chicago, but I'm already dreaming about spring. The minute I saw the Little Matroyshka fabric in the Riley Blake Designs catalog, I knew I must use this fabric for my girls. I love the little nesting dolls and the different coordinating prints. Savannah, my oldest, is becoming quite picky about her clothing loved this line too so I was happy to be able to use it to make her a dress for our upcoming (hopefully soon) warmer weather. But until then, she can still wear it layered with a long sleeved shirt and tights or leggings.

This Easy Knot Dress tutorial is an adaptation of my free pattern, the 'Summer Picnic Dress'. This dress comes together in an afternoon and is age appropriate for itty bitty girls and a little bit older girls as well. The free pattern is offered in size 12m - Size 4, but can easily be sized up or down by adjusting the chest width and dress length.

Pattern Adjustment (sizing up): I sized the dress up from a size 4 to a size 6 by simply adding 1" to the yoke and facing pattern pieces to the side that says 'fold', 2 inches to the length of the main dress and an additional 1" to the longer ruffle. By adding 1" to the yoke and facing pieces, that gave me an additional 2" across the chest because the piece is cut on the fold. Another great option when drafting a sewing pattern up or down, is to use a piece of clothing your child already owns and you know fits well and use that to compare to your pattern to make sure your adjustments are accurate.

Easy Knot Dress
SIZE 12 MONTH - SIZE 4

A Free Pattern from The Cottage Mama for Riley Blake Designs

MATERIALS:

1 - 1.5 yards of fabric (cotton, seersucker, linen, lined eyelet, denim, ect).

1/2 yard - 3/4 yard rickrack or other trim 
Baby cording (if adding piping)
Double Sided Fusible Interfacing (i.e. Steam-A-Seam Lite 2)

Basic Sewing Supplies 
For the Easy Knot Dress print the Summer Picnic Dress Pattern (print HERE).

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the easy knot dress you will need to print the Summer Picnic Dress Pattern (print HERE).  Cut out the appropriate size and tape together the main dress piece.  There are four pieces for the main dress that need to be put together.  Overlap the pattern pieces at the solid lines to form the main dress pattern piece. See the final page of the printable pattern for a diagram.

If you have any trouble printing the pattern, please check your printer settings.  I have printed it out many times on my own home printer, so it should print properly. Make sure your printer is set to NO scaling.

Cut all pieces according to pattern.  You should have the following pieces cut using the pattern:

2 - Main Dress

2 - Yoke Pieces

2 - Facings 

For the pocket, cut two squares according to these measurements:
Size 12 Month & 2T: 4" x 4"
Size 3T and up: 5" x 5" 

For the straps, cut 2 rectangles according to these measurements:

Size 12 Month & 2T: 15" x 4.5"

Size  3T & 4T: 17" x 5"
*If you would prefer a shorter strap, by all means, just reduce the length measurement.

For the bottom ruffles, cut 2 ON THE FOLD* of each of the following:

Size 12 Month & 2T: 3"x 18" and 4" x 18"

Size 3T & 4T (also used for size 6, if sizing up): 4" x 22" and 5" x 22"

*The measurements for the ruffles given above are the measurement on the fold, not the long finished piece measurement. Again, cut 2 of each on the fold of the measurements given. You will end up with four pieces for the double ruffle.

ALL SEAM ALLOWANCES 1/2'', UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

 

For the pocket, cut your two squares. Find an item in your home with a rounded edge and use that as your template for cutting the two rounded corners. Round two of the corners on both pocket pieces.

Add the doll to the pocket. Apply double sided fusible interfacing (I like Steam-A-Seam Lite 2) to the back of a piece of the nesting doll fabric. Once you have applied one side of the interfacing, cut out the doll. Remove the paper backing, position on pocket and press to fuse the doll to the pocket. Using a satin stitch or your favorite applique stitch, sew all the way around the doll with embroidery thread.

Insert the rick rack into the pocket. This is completely optional as you can definitely skip this step if you would like. Line up the rick rack with the edge of the pocket and hold in place by using Wash Away Wonder Tape or pins. If you are using pins, baste stitch the rick rack in place before adding the other side of the pocket. But if you use the wonder tape, no basting is necessary.

Place the other pocket piece on top with the right sides together and sew all the way around the pocket, leaving a slight opening on the side of the pocket. Check the size of your trim. If you are using a larger or smaller rick rack then you might need to adjust the placement so that your 1/2" seam allowance will have the little edge of the rick rack poking through. If you are using standard rick rack, it should work just perfectly.

Clip the corners and notch out the curves of the pocket. Turn the pocket right side out by pulling the fabric through the opening.

Once your pocket is turned right side out, press it so that it lays nice and flat. Make sure to press under the little opening in the side of the pocket.

Pin the pocket to the dress. The placement is entirely up to you. Just place it where you think it would look good. Sew the pocket to the dress, leaving the top edge open. Make sure to sew some reinforcement stitching to the top corners of the pocket (kids can be really hard on pockets). Once you have sewn around the pocket, the topstitching will have closed the little opening on the side.

You will need two straps for the knot dress. For the ends of the straps, cut them so that they make a point. Fold the strap in half, with the right sides together. Sew down the long side and to one of the points. Leave the short, straight edge open. Turn the strap right side out and press. Topstitch or Edge stitch around the strap. Do this for both strap pieces.

If you would like to add piping in the seam between the yoke and the main dress, you can check out my piping tutorials. For how to make your own piping, click HERE and for how to insert piping, click HERE. I actually did not cut this piping on the bias since I knew it would be inserted in a straight seam and I already liked the diagonal of the fabric. If you were planning to make a lot of piping and wanted to use it in future projects, I would not recommend doing it the way I did......go ahead and cut it on the bias.

So for the rest of the dress construction, you can refer to the instructions for the Summer Picnic Dress. To find those instructions, click HERE. Just remember, you are only inserting straps in the back part of the dress, you need to make two small, 3/4" buttonholes on the front yoke and if you are doing the double ruffle, just layer the two ruffles together before gathering.

This is such a simple dress that your little lady will love to wear day after day. The design is pretty forgiving, so she should also be able to continue to wear it as a top once she gets taller. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and thanks so much for stopping by!

Pin It

Knot Dress Tutorial & Riley Blake Designs Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway

Can you believe that I am registering this little lady for Kindergarten today? Yes, it's really true. How did this happen? Please hit the pause button right now!

Today I am over at Riley Blake Designs sharing my Project Design Team Tutorial for this Easy Knot Dress. I hope you'll pop over and check it out if you get a chance.

Click HERE to learn how to make this Easy Knot Dress.

And the giveaway.......

Because it's my Project Design Team Day, I also get to giveaway an entire Fat Quarter Bundle of one of my favorite fabric lines, Little Matryoshka by Carly Griffith for Riley Blake Designs. This bundle includes 21 Fat Quarters of the entire line. You are going to love it!

To enter the giveaway, please enter via the Rafflecopter below........
a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It

Scrappy Ruffle Headband Tutorial

Today I'm sharing a tutorial for the Scrappy Ruffle Headband Tutorial that I created for Riley Blake Designs Project Design Team. This headband is made from Riley Blake Fabrics (The Sweetest Thing) and Sew Together Trims and Buttons. These headbands come together in no time with very little sewing involved. Use up the scraps from whatever quilt or outfit you have around and you've got a fun accessory any little girl would love to wear!

Scrappy Ruffle Headband Tutorial

by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama

Supplies:

2 coordinating fabrics (scraps)

1 plastic headband

1 piece of ruffle elastic trim (or other trim)

1 button

Glue gun or strong craft glue

Scissors

Hand sewing supplies

Instructions:

Cut two coordinating fabrics into rectangles. Cut the larger one 5" x 3" and the smaller one 5" x 2". If you would prefer a larger ruffle on the headband just adjust your measurements accordingly.

For my headband, I used the ruffle elastic trim from Riley Blake's line of Sew Together trims and buttons and cut the trim 3" long. However, if you don't have this, you can use regular elastic or you can use a gathering stitch and apply trim on top in one of the later steps.

Layer the two coordinating fabrics on top of one another, making sure to center the smaller piece on top of the larger piece.

Place the ruffle elastic on top of the two fabrics running straight down the center. Stretch the elastic so it is the same length as the fabric. Sew down the center of the elastic (while stretched). I used an elastic stitch that is on my machine, but you can just use a regular zig-zag or straight stitch. Whatever works for sewing elastic.

Like I said above, if you do not have this product, you can certainly run a gathering stitch down the center of the two fabrics and pull the thread to achieve your desired length. Then you could sew trim such as rickrack or ribbon on top of your stitching.

I purchased a five-pack of headbands from our local dollar store. They aren't the most beautiful things, but for 20 cents a piece, you can't beat it! If you can find plain plastic headbands you can skip the next step, but use whatever works.

Snip the end of the cloth cover on the headband and remove the cover to reveal the plain plastic headband. 

Cut a strip of fabric 1/2" long by about the full width of the fabric (42"). You may need more or less depending on how layered and tightly wound you want to cover the headband. Selvage fabric would be good for this step, since there always seems to be strips near the edge leftover after sewing different projects.

Take your glue gun or strong craft glue and wrap your fabric strip around the headband. Place glue every 2-3 wraps and continue wrapping until the entire headband is covered.

Sew or glue your button to the center of the ruffle and then glue the ruffle to the headband.

I also decided to make a coordinating look for my little miss and had the opportunity to try out Riley Blake Design's new knit fabric. And let me tell you, it is dreamy. It washes perfectly and the stretch is amazing. My daughter commented over and over again how soft it was on her skin. She also asked if I could make her a blanket from the knit. I might need some more yardage for that one........

Here is her outfit.......

I made a pair of leggings with a yoga waistband. It's hard to see in the picture, but the leggings are banded at the bottom. I also wanted this to be a layered look, but the sleeves are actually attached to the dress, so it's not a separate shirt. The sleeves have a banded cuff as well.

And here I leave you with a picture my silly little girlie. She has so much fun posing for her mama when I make her new outfits......it really warms my heart.

Have a great day!

Pin It