Hannah's flower girl dress...

My mother-in-law's co-worker is getting married in July, so she commissioned me to make her niece a flower girl dress.

I made it out of a brushed cotton and tulle as the base of the dress, and a black satin sash as the embellishment.

This was the first flower girl dress I made, but the second wedding gown I've made with tulle.

My new sewing room in Lincoln :)

I've been doing a lot of sewing in preparation for my fall sprouts maternity line on etsy. Our bedroom, on the second floor has become the new sewing room. We set it up with our kitchen table, sewing machine and dress form. It has a lot of natural light, lots of space and hardwood floors, so it's been making sewing a breeze when it comes to clean up! It's proven to be the perfect room for dress making.

Here's a sneak peek into the sprouts maternity sewing room, with out giving away too much before launching of the fall line...

This is a maternity hooded sweater jacket that is near completion...

A good part of the line is finished already, but I might be able to get a few more items done before the big photo shoot... in a few weeks. :) Can't wait!

the fall/winter wedding dress project...

Ok, so it's been a while since I last posted about the progress on the wedding dress... but I thought I would update you all with some of the picts I was able to capture over the project duration.

 

Layer 1: Lining

 

Layer 2: Bustier

 

Layer 3: Crinolyn

 

Layer 4: Bridal Satin

Layer 5: Lace

 

Layer 7: Tulle & Ribbon

Last step: Bustling

 ______________________________________________________

THE FINISHED DRESS

 

Skirt alterations...

I've been working on a lot of alterations recently... mainly taking in and/or hemming skirts and dresses...

This is one of my recent projects... it's my husband's co-worker's skirt. It had to be taken in around the waist for a better fit. To do this I had to take it a little from each panel at the waistline. This project required the client to come over so I could fit the skirt, as well as a fitting after the skirt alteration was completed, to ensure fit.

My other skirt alteration was from a friend of mine. With her skirt the invisible zipper had broken, so I had to replace a new one for the broken one. This project required no fittings, just a simple fix.

A Sneak Peak At Kathrine's Dress...

My friend's wedding (who I was making the wedding dress for in a previous post) is just around the corner, so I thought I would show you a sneak peak before the big day...

These two photos show the lining, crinoline and bustier (with boning).

Here's the bridal satin layer on top of the lining/crinoline/bustier layers. More layers to follow :)

Stay tuned to see the final wedding dress...

Aprons make the perfect gifts...

Over the summer I gave my friend one of the children's aprons I made earlier this year for her bridal shower. Her friends liked them so much that they requested them too.

These 100% upcycled women's full length aprons are values at $30 each or $50 each for full length reversible.


Aprons make the perfect gifts for those family members or friends who enjoy baking. Check out my etsy store www.jnsweeney.etsy.com for more aprons. (Childrens full length aprons (for $20) and Mommy and me sets (for $40-$50) are also available.)

How to... hem a prom dress

I recently hemmed my cousin's prom dress and thought to my self "this would be a valuable skill for young people to know how to do, especially if they don't have the money to hire a tailor." Since most of us don't have that special interlock machine that will finish the hem of the dress, I came up with a simple technique that looks pretty professional in the end.


Step 1: Fold under 1/8" further down from where your desired length would be. Pin to keep in place. Press (with med to low heat iron) a creaseon the fold of the hem.Step 2: Sew 1/8" closest to the folded edge. Taking out the pins as you go.


Step 3: CAREFULLY cut off the extra unneeded hem length with a sharp pair of sewing shears. Try to cut really close to your finished stitch line you just sewed, but try not to cut more than 1/16".


Step 4: Fold under about 1/8" to 1/4" pressing and pinning as you go, so that no raw edges are exposed.Step 5: Sew as close as you can (1/8") from the inside edge, so that you attach the rolled under edge to the inside of the dress.

Congratulations! You have mastered this important life long skill, and saved a bit of money too.

If you would like to see more handmade or vintage products of mine, please feel free to check out my sproutsmaternity shop (for maternity, children and accessories) or my jnsweeney shop on etsy.com (for vintage items).