Tuesday 17 June 2014

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!



Sunday 26 January 2014

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 1st 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 27th April in Frome - these workshops include all materials too, bargain.