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Metamorphosis Butterfly Frock

11:20 PM

This is a project I think you'll love or hate.

There's no in between because it's weird, nerdy, and a titch creepy.

Kind of my nerdy spin on all the girly butterfly stuff everywhere.

I took the life cycle of monarch butterflies and appliqued the process on a little dress for Ellaria.

And I love this thing.

My husband had a Saturday off and I had some precious "alone" time and busted it out.

I hadn't sewn in a while with the new baby and preparing our house to sell, and just creating it made me so happy.

Some people exercise, shop, or get a message for "me" time, but making this was so fulfilling and fun...which is why I have a butt-load of pictures in this post.

Anyway, the idea has been mulling in my head for over a year.

In 2nd grade we spent what felt like weeks studying the life cycle of monarch butterflies and I remember having to draw and write out all the stages, so it was fun to relive it a little again.

AP Biology was also one of my favorite classes in high school.

I remember the text book had an owl on the cover and I seriously considered never turning it back in.

It was my senior year so they couldn't have tracked me down or had any real consequences, and I really wanted to keep it as a reference because it was that great and I am that nerdy.

But on to this nerd sewing this butterfly dress.

I was inspired by:

- the pretty greens and blues of the chrysalis and steps in this image.

-the jute neutral base and applique hem in Cherie from You and Mie's little Fantastic Mr. Fox tunic

-Ellie's favorite book right now is Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar

RJ (almost 5) was really interested in learning about metamorphosis and helped me plan it out on the dress.

We watched this video over and over, he thought it was cool and I was trying to figure out which stages I wanted to sew.

So basically the life cycle of a monarch butterfly starts as an egg,
then the...

I wanted the images to wrap around the dress so it wasn't just flat on the front.
So I cut out the dress front and back, and sewed the right side seam to work on the appliques with a flat surface.

The baby caterpillar ends up on the back side, but I liked the wrap effect of the imagery around the hem of the skirt.

HOW TO SEW SOME BUTTERFLIES!

The process is really quite easy, and was a lot of fun.

PAINT:

I first took a scrap of green fabric (formerly a sheet) and used fabric paint in green and a mix of blues to paint a strip of green to blue gradient.

Basically pouring a glob of green on one end and blue on the other and sloppily painting them until they slightly mix in the center.

Once dry, this strip is what I used to cut out the chrysalis pieces.

APPLIQUE:

Using the pellon fusible webbing that is double sided with paper backing, I drew out the shapes of the different fabric portions.

Next, I ironed the webbing on the back of the fabric scraps, cut out the shapes, arranged them on my skirt, peeled off the paper backing, and ironed them on.

THREAD DRAWING:

To create the details, I used my free motion presser foot and "drew" with thread.

I put the feed dogs down so I have free moving fabric and draw away.

I think my favorite aspect of the thread drawing is the sketch-like quality it gives the final shapes, like you used pen and ink.

I used different thread colors, like adding white on the butterflies and two colors of gray for the empty chrysalis.

DRESS DETAILS:

After all the time making this dress, I wanted to make sure she could wear it a while.

So it's a basic a-line jumper that is a dress now, but could be worn as a tunic with leggings when she's older.

The neck and arms use the same orange fabric as the butterfly wings with homemade bias tape.

Milky green and blue buttons finish it off on the back for the 1" wide placket.

So both Ellie and I love this little dress and I've been thinking about my next artistic, nerdy, piece of clothing to make....

....the Krebs cycle? Mitosis? Immune System cartoon battle? Pollination & Fertilization of plants?

girls clothing

Neon Necklace Dress

3:00 AM

Ellie has a long torso.

So most of her shirts are too short and her belly hangs out.

Lately I've been trying to whip her up some tunics and casual dresses to wear with leggings so she'll have some options other than all her belly tops.

This little knit dress was inspired by a boden necklace dress and a charcoal backpack with neon trim.

{boden usa} {backpack}

The inspiration boden dress has rows of the necklaces, but I overlapped mine to give it more of a jumbled necklace look rather than the rings.

I upcycled a boys neon pink t shirt that was on sale for $3.00 for the knit trim and leggings.

The "necklaces" are strips of t-shirt 1/4" wide that are zig-zagged onto the dress.

I also added just regular pink thread zig-zags between for smaller details.

The pockets have the neon piping along the top as well.

Neon Necklace Tutorial:

1. Cut out:

-dress

-neon knit strips 1/4" wide

-front and back neckline facings = the same neck and shoulder pattern of dress but only 4" long

2. Sew facing to dress along neckline with both front and back pieces.

3. Open facings and align front and back with right sides together, sew shoulder seams making sure the dress-facing seams line up.

**You could also sew the facings and dress right sides together at shoulder seams separately, then join them sewing around the neckline, either way works.

4. Pull facing away from dress and zig-zag around, understitching (with a zig-zag or stretch stitch) facing to dress seam allowance to help keep facing down.

5. Press neck seam with facing down

5. Take your thin knit strips and zig-zag them to the dress, using the facing as stabilizer.

I drew a path with chalk then sewed it around, overlapping "necklaces" to look more natural.

I also added a zig-zag stitch between knit lines.

You could do lots of unique things or designs with the thin neon strips beyond the necklaces, and could even just use them to embellish an existing top or dress!

girls clothing

Ikat Toddler Dress from Blouse print disaster

2:07 AM

I made a cute little dress for Ellie.

But it was the remedy for a big project fail.

I really liked the colors in this ikat printed chiffon and made myself another simple blouse.

It's the 4th time I've used my little pattern, so I just sewed it up.

I tried on the finished blouse and to my horror realized the unfortunate placement of the print on my chest.

NOOOO!

When I cut it out I didn't think about the print becoming offensive in its placement.

Not only the dark dots, but the white "v" shapes were just in the wrong spot.

A friend saw the photo and called it "tribal boobs".

Another friend suggesting fixing it with a pocket, which would have maybe saved it, but at that point the blouse was already tainted and hacked up too make a toddler dress.

It was such a bummer to put it on and just realize I'd never be comfortable, always wondering if anyone noticed the ikat tribal boobs.

The bummer is I went back to Joann to buy more to remake the blouse and they were out of the fabric.

I had bought in on the clearance rack so I wasn't surprised, but I'd been really excited about the blouse and was going to make a camel colored skirt to go with it.

SO now it's a little dress for Ellie.

I just cut a simple neckline with little cap sleeves.

The lining was used to finish the neck and sleeve opening so I wouldn't have to hem them, as it would have been a pain with chiffon.

The construction to use the lining to finish the neck and arms is kind of like putting a vest together, sewing the neck and arms first then the shoulder and side seams last.

For the back closure I used navy satin ribbon as the thin chiffon couldn't support buttons very well.

Usually Ellie doesn't care what she wears, but she really liked this little dress and didn't want to take it off.

The only problem is the static made the lining ride up on her tights so it was just sheer chifffon from the waist down a few times.

I'm thinking in the summer with out tights it won't ride up as much.

Ellie loves candy.

So in the end I'm glad my disappointment turned into something I could still use even though I'd rather have had a blouse for myself. Next time I sew an ikat print I'll be more aware of where shapes are falling!

Yellow Owl on Pink Backpack

Metamorphosis Butterfly Frock

Neon Necklace Dress

Peek-a-boo Swim Suit

Ikat Toddler Dress from Blouse print disaster

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