FREE Girls net petticoat DIY

DIY - Sew Your Own… Girls Net Petticoat

This is a free patternless tutorial for a net petticoat with an elasticated waist, perfect to be worn under the new Anna Vickery Sewing Patterns For Children’s Clothing Childs Rock n Roll dress, or Childs Party Dress.

Materials:

15cm cotton fabric (115cm wide)

1m25cm of dress net (150cm wide)

50cm of ½” wide elastic

Matching thread

Sewing machine/iron

Pins/safety pin

Cutting board/metal ruler/tape measure

Scissors/tailors chalk/rotary cutter

Step 1: Cut - With the width of the fabric folded in half, cut a 15cm long strip from the cotton fabric for the waistband and 4 equal lengths of dress net (see table below for net lengths.) A cutting board with metric markings, metal ruler and rotary cutter make this quick and easy, but if you don’t have them this can be done with a ruler, chalk and scissors.

Net Lengths:

Age 1-2 = 24.5cm x4

Age 2-3 = 26cm x4

Age 3-4 = 27cm x4

Age 4-5 = 28cm x4

*If you use these lengths the petticoat will not show under the dress - if you want the hem of the petticoat to show make the net lengths longer*

Step 2: Press folds in waistband - While to waistband is flat press a double fold using an iron of 1cm, then 3cm at the top for the elastic and 1cm, then another 1cm at the bottom for the hem.

Step 3: Back seam - Because the back seam edges of the waistband are the ‘selvedge’ edges of the fabric they do not need finishing (handy!) Open out the pressed folds at the ends of the waistband and join the ends with right sides together, pin and sew using a 2cm seam allowance. Press the back seam open and the folds back in place.

Step 4: Stitch waistband - Machine stitch around the folds on the waistband. Stitch close (3-5mm) to the inside folded edges. Leave a gap in the stitching of 2cm on the top section for the elastic to go through.

Step 5: Attach net - I find it useful to mark the waistband into quarters with pins so I know what space each 150cm long piece of net has to fit into. Machine sew the net straight onto the waistband hem in a single layer, gathering up the net by hand as you go along, the edge of the net should be about 1cm above the hem on the right side and the stitch line should be in the same place as on the hem. When you get to the next waistband quarter/150cm piece of net overlap the net pieces by 5cm so you can’t see the join.

Step 6: Insert elastic in waistband - Attach 1 end of the elastic to a large safety pin and pin the other end to the waistband near the 2cm gap in the stitching. Slide the safety pin into the top fold and pull the elastic through the channel, gathering up the waistband cotton fabric as the elastic works along. Once the safety pin reaches the gap in the stitching again pull it out, adjust the elastic to fit the childs waist measurement, knot the elastic ends together, trim off any excess and sew the gap closed. 

Step 7: Decorate - Trim the petticoat with ribbon, lace, ric-rack or bobble trim. You could also add bows or ribbon roses, the petticoat will be so pretty it could be worn on its own with leggings or under a handmade dress made from an Anna Vickery pattern.

Anna Vickery 2014 Ó

Don’t forget to look out for kids dress workshops at Millie Moon and keep up to date on Facebook & Twitter.

New Patterns from Anna Vickery

Hello, Anna here again to introduce you to my second instalment of sewing patterns for childrens clothing!

The first 3 patterns seem to have gone down really well - thank you all for your lovely comments and feedback, it’s been fab to see photos of all the dresses you have made on the Millie Moon facebook page, please keep them coming……

I’ve come up with 4 new patterns for the summer,

 I think my favourite is the dungaree dress, it looks like it would be really comfortable to wear and I love a skirt with pockets. 

There is also a rock n roll style dress with a full circle skirt, the pattern for this one looks a bit scary because of the size of the skirt, but it’s well worth it for the way it drapes and falls, perfect for dancing and twirling in. 

The third dress is a summer sundress, based on the pinafore dress shape, but with little tie straps and patch pockets, lets hope we get some nice weather for it.

 And the fourth pattern is, drum roll…., a shirt for little boys! We’ve often said what clothes can we make for boys, and there are some brilliant boys fabrics in Millie Moon at the moment, so here it is - I hope to be able to offer this as a workshop soon too.

As a special thank you to everyone that has purchased patterns, and hopefully to those who will soon i’ve written a little free diy for you to make a net petticoat that would be perfect to go with the new rock n roll dress or party dress from the first batch of patterns (or any other dresses/skirts your little girls have with full skirts, or even to wear on it’s own over leggings!) Enjoy x

Anna's patterns are available in all the shops or online £10 each

www.milliemoonshop.co.uk   FREE POSTAGE!

Hello hello, 

Anna here and I’m very excited to be introducing my new range of Sewing Patterns For Children’s Clothing!

They’ve been a long time coming…..I’ve been working with Millie Moon for over a year now and I’ve often been asked when people see my little dresses in the shops ‘Do you have a pattern for that?’ or during workshops ‘Can I buy a pattern?’ and the answer is now YES!!

My mission was to create an easy to follow, multi sized range that was simple to sew at home and that you can buy all the lovely materials you need to make at Millie Moon. There’s 3 styles to fit ages 1-5 to start with - a very cute Party Dress with a full skirt, a versatile sleeveless Pinafore Dress and an A-line T Shirt Dress with built in sleeves.

They’ve been a challenge to put together, I had to use my, somewhat rusty and self taught, CAD experience and call upon some of my lovely friends for their help - huge thanks to Chris at Wing’s Art and Design Studio and Aran at Latitude Photography for their skills, and everyone at Millie Moon for their        enthusiasm and patience.

I hope you enjoy making the patterns as much as I’ve enjoyed putting them together - all feedback would be much appreciated, I’d love to see photos of your finished dresses and hear your suggestions for the next additions to the range.

Please note…….All my patterns are clearly marked Not For Commercial Use, this means they are for home use only by Mummys, Aunties, Nannys etc making for their friends and family NOT for business or any other monetary gains/sale. As simple as the patterns and instructions look they have taken me a long time to develop and I also design and sell handmade ready to wear dresses. Copyright law exists to protect designers who risk sharing their ideas and I hope people understand and respect this. Thanks x

GIVE AWAY TIME

So, 3 styles, 3 samples, 3 Millie Moon shops, I thought what better excuse for a little introductory giveaway! There’s 1 free pattern up for grabs at each Millie Moon store - simply pop in as soon as possible, have a look at the sample dress and enquire:

 ‘Do you have ANNA's pattern for that?‘ 

to claim the hot off the press 1^st editions…… 

remember - Just one pattern per shop - first come first served

 I’m also aiming to cover making all the little dresses as workshops at Millie Moon, starting with the Pinafore Dress on 9th February in Keynsham and 27^th April in Frome - these workshops include all materials too, bargain.

Papped in Frome by Fromemaid

The Roman blinds for beginners workshop on September the 17th was fully booked and the new shop layout worked really well in allowing space for customers to browse whilst the workshop was in progress.

The photographer from the local paper Frome Times came by and Rachel; one half of the sisters team who own the business, invited him to return when the workshop was in full swing.
  Whether this was prearranged or spontaneous I do not know!  All four ladies were happy to have their picture taken and I think it will be a lovely momento of my time at Millie Moon when I am older, our copy has gone in our family keepsake box!

More importantly, each participant successfully completed a sample sized Roman blind and felt equipped with the skills and knowledge to go home and produce their full sized blinds in their homes.

I too was inspired  by the workshop and this seasons trend for "Scandi greys" soft furnishings and bought plenty of my favourite fabric; from the Michael Miller range "Just my Type" by Patty Young, to make blinds and a quilted throw for our bedroom. It feels very much a modern interpretation of Orla Keily to me.

Many thanks to Martyn of the Frome Times for allowing us to reproduce his photographs in this blog post with his kind permission.

By Fromemaid xxx

Join Fromemaid for her next Roman blind workshop In Wells on Sunday 20 October 2-5pm £40 inclusive of fabrics.  

The workshop makes a sample blind approx

65x35cm to allow you to learn the skills and gain the knowledge to go on and make a full size blind. 

There is nothing standard about our lamps :)

Workshop with Fromemaid.
Sunday the 8th of September saw my first whole day of lampshade making in our Frome shop.  We used the  individual lampshade kits now stocked by Millie Moon which make the whole activity that more approachable to beginners-not to mention more affordable, if you only want to make one, or a few for personal use.
Eight lovely women attended the  morning and afternoon workshops and as ever, the range of fabrics chosen varied greatly from person to person. So at the end of each workshop there were four very professional , individual lampshades to wear (!)

Or of course, you could make them as gifts or adorn your home with them, which probably makes more sense!

The sheer delight of these is they are so easy to do once you have made your first one.  There is no sewing involved at all, so they are really relatively quick to complete, certainly something you could make one evening after work on your kitchen table.

They are a really affordable way of adding some individuality to your home decor, we worked out to make a  size 30 cm barrel shade using our kit and buying  40cm  of your chosen  fabric would cost just £ 20.60.  

Come along and Join Fromemaid Vickie on the next Lampshade workshop -  Wells on October 20th.  Followed by another in Frome on January 5th. Price £40 including all materials

Invitation to the opening of Millie Moon in Keynsham, Bristol

On Saturday 7th September at 11am we will open the doors of our 3rd Millie Moon Haberdashery Boutique in Keynsham, Nr Bristol. Its so exciting! (if not just a little scary). 

Over the last month we have roped in family and friends to help with the painting, decorating and little extras in the new shop. We love the way it looks and we hope you do to. A very big thank you to everyone for their continued help and support, especially local designers; Make me a Dress, Ooh la la Lampshades, Gingergirl, Angela Lai Yen, Fromemaid, Little Fuzzkits, Jo Lucksted Ceramics, Edamay and Unicorn Shoes.

A special mention to John and Julie, Mum and Dad, Jamie, Sam and all the kids who have had to put up with us running around, writing lists and giving out jobs. 

We thought you might like a little sneaky peak of the new shop before we open officially... 

Lamp by 'ooh la la lampshades' in the fabric room

button bowls, fat quarters,  haberdashery

threads by Gutterman, Dresses by 'Make me a dress'

ribbons, toy stuffing and haberdashery

christmas!

Moda pre-cuts

embroidery threads

We would love to see you all for the opening on Saturday, please come along... there may even be cake!

love

Rachel and Becki

xx

our cute new sign

All in all a thumbs-up Freemotion Embroidery class.

Hello hello, I've been at it again - meeting some lovely ladies whilst teaching them the ways of freemotion embroidery at Millie Moon. For a little while now I've taken a break (only a very little one - a smudge of a break) from creating with freemotion embroidery, so it was a lovely change to my day to be passing on the skill to keen sew-ers along with showing off my lovely collection of Anchor Embroidery threads, taking my stork scissors out of hiding and demonstrating the ingenuity of the magic marker pen which I can almost guarantee an'ooh' and an 'aaah'. (All tools that can be found in your Millie Moon Shop.)

In the class I introduce you to the tools you will need, show you how to set up your machine and demonstrate a few different exercises to build your confidence and knowledge of freemotion embroidery. You will also aim to finish a picture in the class which you take away with you.

What is freemotion Embroidery?? - I hear you cry. Well in essence (also known as freehand machine embroidery) is a technique on your sewing machine that uses your creativity ability to embellish and decorate by drawing. This is not to say you have to be great at drawing to get the best out of the technique - if you like shape and colour or just sewing you should give it a try.
So anyone can have a try?
If you can already sew and are quite happy and confident with a sewing machine then you can try freemotion embroidery, but I wouldn't say this technique is for everyone. Its a technique I have learnt over the years that firstly you have to have patience (and lots of it at times) and also to keep experimenting and playing at - the more mistakes you make the more you learn and the more rewarding it becomes. A lot of my mistakes involving freemotion embroidery turn into happy mistakes. 
Do I need a special machine?
No, not at all. A household domestic sewing machine would work fine just check that the dog feeds (the zig zag teeth underneath your needle) can be lowered or you have a metal/plastic plate to go over them: to disengage them.

When teaching a class in freemotion embroidery - I do love it when a. the students really enjoy themselves and get excited about the technique and the time just flies away with you and b. you see a definite style appear within the way the student creates and manipulates the technique. Its very rewarding and all in all the class becomes a thumbs-up class. Have a look what some of you creative types have made in pass classes (sorry if your picture is not on here- I'm a bit rubbish at recording things) - 

If you fancy a taster at freemotion embroidery my next class is in the Millie Moon Wells shop on Sunday 25th August.......ooops that ones booked up now. Let's try again the next one is............10th November in Frome 

Also keep a look out for Freemotion Embroidery Christmas baubles 17th November in Wells and Freemotion Embroidery birds which will be making an appearance in the next batch of workshop.

Hopefully see you soon (perhaps on a freemotion embroidery class),
Angela