pepper dress to coat sew along - day 1, bodice and sleeve construction

welcome ladies - if you are just now joining us, check out the details of this sew along here. in a nut shell, we will be transforming the pepper dress pattern into a fully reversible coat that depending on fabric choice will shine in any weather! let's get started!

ps - hanging my head in shame...i still don't have pictures of my little one in it. please don't throw stones!

today we will focus on getting everything cut out (which seems like a TON considering this will basically be 2 dresses you will cut out) and starting the construction of the bodice and sleeves.

what to cut:

choose the size you want to go with (the pepper dress isn't a super fitted dress to start with, so you really don't need to size up for a jacket fit unless you want to use a more restricting, heavier fabric) and make sure you cut the bodice for the LONG SLEEVE dress, please don't use the sleeveless bodice. 

for the sew along, since this will be fully reversible, i will refer to the fabrics as inner and outer fabric. hope that doesn't confuse anyone!

this is what all you will cut:

• bodice front right - one of inner fabric, one of outer fabric. MUST BE MIRROR IMAGE of each other, trust me. i wasn't paying attention when cutting and had to rip seams and re-cut halfway into the dress. it wasn't a good time to be had.

Just a little aside for those that aren't familiar with "mirror image." This is how I cut mirror image pieces. Place your fabrics either right sides together and place the pattern piece on top and then cut out. Doing this in fact gives you two pieces of fabric that are mirror images of each other. So, for the bodice pieces, place your inner fabric right side up and then your outer fabric right side down (so the right sides are touching each other) and then cut out your piece. Mirror image is important when you have pattern pieces that directional or pattern piece shape is important. Hope this helps!!

• bodice front left - one of inner fabric, one of outer fabric MUST BE MIRROR IMAGE (if i could make this flash and beep at you i would) of each other.
• bodice back - one of inner fabric, one of outer fabric on fold
• sleeves - 2 of inner fabric, 2 of outer fabric
• sleeve cuff - see instructions below as i have changed it from how the pattern has it laid out due to it being reversible.
• pockets - 4 (with 2 sets of mirror image) for outer, and 4 (with 2 sets of mirror image) for inner. you don't have to do pockets for both fabrics, but i will show you how to make them for both in case you are interested.
• skirt - following pattern dimensions, 2 of each fabric. this gives it the fullness it needs. as i stated in the previous entry, i took about 2" off of the length of the skirts to make it a little shorter for a coat since my lou is such a peanut.
• button tab - 2 for each side, just as per pattern. so, if you want a button tab on both sides of the jacket, you will need to cut 4.

okie dokie. let's get started. since i did the sleeve cuff a bit different, let's start there. in the pattern, the sleeve cuff gets folded over and sewn to the bottom of the sleeve to give the bottom of the sleeve some weight and a nice finished edge. but, since we will sew both of our outer and inner sleeves together for the coat, there is no need for all of that extra weight. so, here is how we will make a change. i am making the size 4, so the pattern tells me to cut 4 3/8 by 20. let's keep the length of 20, but here is how we will change.

sizes 6-12 mo to 2: cut 2 of each fabric 2 3/8" wide by 20" long

sizes 3-12: cut 2 of each fabric 3" wide by 20" long

clear as mud? just in case i lost you, you will have 4 sleeve bands cut.

as you can see, clearly the band is is longer than the bottom of the sleeve, disregard that as we will cut it down later. also disregard that seam in the middle, some cheapy mccheaperson tried to make do with as little fabric as she could and ended up piecing things together.

now, you want to place your cuff right sides together along the raw edge of the sleeve and pin in place. sew along the bottom edge as shown below. seam allowance will be 3/8" just as in the pattern. repeat with other 3 sleeves and bands. there is no need to finish these seems as they will all be enclosed. fancy pants.

once sewn, take all of your sleeves to the ironing board and press the seam up towards the sleeve.

now, we will address the extra fabric of the sleeve band. you want to trim the extra band fabric following along the angle of the sleeve bell as shown below by the white line to the left. what i have found is the easiest is to place a ruler along the edge of the sleeve and use my rotary blade to nip the rest of the band. repeat with all 4 sleeves.

           

when finished, you should have a sleeve that looks something like this:

now, because i hate pretty much doing anything in the round, i am going to show you my nifty trick for the sleeves to save a temper tantrum later when you go to sew the coat inner and outer together. go ahead and take all 4 sleeves to the ironing board and press up a 1/2" hem along the bottom of the cuffs. i hope you thank me later.

okay, set the sleeves in a safe place away from all rotary blades and let us turn our attention to the bodice. place one of your back pieces on a flat surface and with right sides together, match up the shoulders of the 2 front pieces. pin in place and sew with a 3/8" allowance both of the shoulder seams as shown by the black lines below. repeat with other bodice pieces.

 

take both of the bodices over to the ironing board and press out those shoulder seams.

now, just as instructed in the pattern on page 18, fold your sleeve to find the center and match it up one of the shoulder seams of your bodice. with right sides together, pin in place and then grab another 100 pins to ease that sleeve into place. since this is a sew along, i will not go into as much detail as i did in the pattern, so if you get stuck - please reference the pattern. you can do this! :) once eased and pinned, take over to the sewing machine and sew the sleeve to the bodice with a 3/8" seam allowance. repeat with the other 3 sleeves.

now, give yourself a big ole pat on the back. one of the hardest parts is done. yipee! once again, there is no need to finish these seams as they will be enclosed. take the 2 bodices over to the ironing board and press the sleeve seam up towards the bodice as shown below. repeat with all sleeves.

and now my dearys, day 1 comes to an end. you should have 1 outer bodice with sleeves and 1 inner bodice with sleeves. rock on girls. 

tomorrow we will pick back up with the pocket, skirt and trim construction. don't forget to join in the fun on the brownie goose lovers page on facebook. this group is an awesome place not only for sew along questions but also for general BG questions and just a good time with lots of creativity!

xoxo - amy

baby it's cold outside...a stylish sew along from BG

i am a true southern, low country girl. i keep my toenails painted, i use my manners (this may surprise some of you), i never miss the opportunity to soak up vitamin D (although nowadays slathered with SPF 50), i enjoy the smell of the salt marsh, i can look at the river and tell you if the tide is coming in or out and i feel confident i could hold my own at the dinner table with the ghost of emily post. and most of all, i am not a fan of cold weather. seriously. if it drops below 55, don't expect to see me outside. this was great, grand and wonderful growing up in savannah as the weather there is mild. however, in my dear city of athens...it gets a little cold. and this week i have learned complete and utter respect for anyone that lives in a place that it gets really cold. seriously, hats off (well, maybe not in the cold) to you. i certainly wouldn't make it. oops.

with all of this said, i will admit that i have a canary yellow long coat with a big collar that makes me happy on cold days. so, in a way...a jacket can make all the difference in the world. enter this sew along.

let's turn this dress

into this TOTALLY reversible coat (i promise to get pics of it actually on my kid sometime soon, we've just been dealing with the crappy terrible 2s lately with nash and i seem to be losing my mind and motivation/efficiency).

who's in?

great. now this will start next week. but, i wanted to go ahead and put this out there today for those of you that may want to grab some fabric. if you don't already have the pepper dress pattern, no worries my friends. i may have just reduced the price of it in my etsy store for the sew along. ;)

here is a link for the materials needed for the dress. i have not gone through and done a seperate chart for the sew along (remember that issue about motivation??) but i will list below the changes you may need to adjust for:

• the bodice - i have this listed on the materials needed with it including the lining. so, for the pepper coat, what you can do is take the requirements and half it. so, if it said you needed 1 yard for the bodice (i am using simple math here, still not finished with morning coffee) on the chart - you will need 1/2 yard for the outside fabric of the bodice and 1/2 yard for the inside fabric for the bodice. clear as mud?
• the skirt - since you will be making 2 dresses in a nut shell and then sewing them together, you need double what the chart has listed. so, if it requires 3/4 yard for the skirt, know you will need 3/4 yard for the outside skirt and 3/4 for the inside skirt. i took about 2" off the measurement of the skirt for my coat just to shorten it a bit, this is totally up to you but shouldn't make a huge difference in fabric requirements.
• sleeves - again, double this since you will be making 4 sleeves instead of 2. so, if it says you need 1/4 yard, you need 1/4 yard for outer sleeve and 1/4 yard for inner sleeve.
• contrasting sleeve band - i changed this up a bit since the construction of the sleeves is how we make it reversible, but with that said...i feel you are fine with 1/8, but remember you will need it for both inner and outer fabrics.
• inseam pockets (this is totally optional, but i find it is a great thing to have on a coat) - if you want to do pockets for both layers, double this. so, instead of cutting 4 pockets, you will cut 8. you certianly don't have to do pockets for both layers, but i wrote the tutorial including that info, so it may be helpful AND your little miss may find it fun to have hidden inner pockets. :)
• bodice trim - i have extended the trim down the front side of the jacket. i think it looks really great. so, you will need what is required plus the length of the skirt. you only need 1 as it is sandwiched between the 2 layers. more details of this trim are included in the pattern tutorial.
• back tab - again, double if you want a tab for both layers.
• buttons - same with back tab. but, the front of the jacket - this is all up to you. i just put 2 on the one i made for louisa, but only because that was how many i had in my stash. feel free to add more or just put one around the waist and let the top flap down to expose the inner fabric. :)

i think that covers it. and hopefully it makes sense. in essence, as i said...you are sewing 2 dress shells (meaning not lined) and then sticking them together to make one, big completely lined dress. it really is awesome.

now, fabrics. here is what i suggest:

• quilter's cotton - this is what i used. i treated myself to some joel (it has been far too long since i sewed joel) and used cotton for both inner and outer. it makes a great spring-weight coat but i don't find it will be very warm.
• so, if you need warmth, how about a fleece or a minky for the inner fabric? that would not only provide warmth but also softness if it was worn on the inside.
• you can also line the jacket with flannel if you wanted to. i didn't include that in the instructions, but it wouldn't be hard to do at all and that way you could have a cotton both inside and out and still have warmth. (meaning put a layer of flannel between the 2 cotton layers so it isn't seen)

schedule time. let's start this sew along middle of next week. here is how it will work on the blog. 

wednesday (1/15) - bodice and sleeve construction

thursday (1/16) - pocket, skirt and trim construction

friday (1/17) - final construction and finishing touches

now, if you aren't able to start on wednesday, or if you start and aren't able to finish...don't stress! i will not take this info off the blog and i ALWAYS have a link on the top toolbar for sew alongs. basically, this sew along isn't going anywhere! but, the pepper dress pattern will return back to regular price next week, so make sure you grab it on sale!

oh and before i forget - i am sure there will be lots of sharing, trouble-shooting, tips and fun on the brownie-goose lovers page on facebook. if you haven't joined yet - come on in and see what fun we have!

xoxo - amy

the newest member of the BG family

before i go on to tell you all about the newest pattern i have, let me first set down some rules. if i ever, ever, ever, ever try to come out with a new pattern in november or december i need one of you to come find me and rearrange my teeth. i won't hold it against you. promise. i mean, if i even mention it...yall discuss it amongst yourselves and figure out who will come do the disciplining. :) bad, bad timing on my part. in fact, i usually take november and december off, but this year i must have had a moment of invincibility in which i could do it all. lesson learned.

but with that said, at the end of the day i had an amazing set of testers that helped me along the way. this was my first time using a facebook group for testing and i must say i am now hooked. you will see in this post with 3,931 photos how awesome of a job they did. but first...a little behind the scenes.

cricket is the newest pattern to join the family of BG. and the best part - inspiration for this pattern came from all of you! that's right. i kept seeing all of these fabulous creations you were making on the brownie-goose lovers page on facebook, especially the one you all called the "lazy pepper." for those not familiar, people were using the bodice of the lazy susan and the bell sleeves of the pepper for a really pretty combination. so, i got to work. i took that beautiful boat neck from the lazy susan and scooped it out just a bit more. then, i added quite possibly my fave part...the gathered bishop sleeves. i just swoon every time i see them! then i put a sweet curved hem on the bottom of an a-line and finished it off with a keyhole button closure in the back. i love it. simplicity at its best.

in the tutorial, i have included pattern pieces for both a cricket dress and a tunic. as you will see from all of these pictures, you may be hard pressed to pick a fave. the tunic was made for a pair of straight leg or skinny blue jeans - and i am dying over the dress paired with cowboys and flats. i have also added a tutorial in for a how to on adding/removing length from a curved hem (not everyone loves the dresses as short as the girl behind BG does) and how to add/remove length from a sleeve. these are tips you can use with almost any pattern, so a great addition to the sewing arsenal! 

so now for the best part...all the beautiful tester photos!

 

 i had almost forgotten that the cricket is fantabulous with the henrietta pant!!

that sleeve...i just die.

 

these next few girls are so stinking excited about the never ending possibilities for fabric choice...cotton, voile, knit, oh my!

 pearls and cowboy boots...the way to the girl behind BG's heart!

 between this gorgeous keyhole and this little girl's personality, i think i need to put her in my pocket.

 the dress is designed to hit right above the knee, but with the tutorial i included you can easily adjust it for a more modest length.

i am going to need this one right here in my size. 

 

that sleeve...every time i cannot hardly stand it. swoon.

 

 i don't know what i love more...the wooden button, the yellow fabric or those cheeks!!

and last but not least...these sweet sisters in flannel crickets. overload.

now for the question that everyone is asking...when. not sure just yet. remember what i said about the whole bad timing and this month being wild? well, it holds true for me and my awesome graphics girl that not only just moved but is also renovating, grieving the loss of her sweet hound dog, being a momma to two of the most adorable boys you have ever seen (she calls them her clowns, i have a soft spot for them) and unpacking.

so, i foresee the cricket in the next couple of weeks. i just couldn't hold it from you anymore and wanted to share all of the fun photos! i will also attach a link for materials needed and size chart here in case anyone wants to take advantage of new years fabric sales. :) i will announce the debut on the facebook page - so don't miss out!

click here to be directed to the size chart and materials needed list.

xoxo - amy

boutique challenge auctions AND brownie-goose

ladies - i have been DYING to tell you all about this but i was sworn to secrecy and although i wanted to bust at some times, i didn't. but now, i get to let the cat out of the bag!

i was COMPLETELY honored to be contacted by one of the girls at boutique challenge auctions. if you aren't familiar with this group of ladies - i must say do yourself a favor and check them out (here is the facebook page). this is a group of insanely talented ladies who are given a challenge and a deadline to come up with designs in the sewing world. for instance, they may be given a challenge of rainbows and they must come up with a design around rainbows, or they may be given a specific designer and challenged to mix some of the designer's patterns, etc. needless to say, these girls know what they are doing when it comes to the sewing/design world. at the end, an auction is held that offers these creations at less than retail price. i mean, can you even stand the fun!!??

well, the brownie-goose challenge just hit the blog, and i must say...i am FLOORED. i am completely amazed and humbled at the creativity of these designs. i mean, holy macaroni - some of these designs are out of this world! this is the kind of thing that makes me all warm fuzzy and giddy at the same time. sewing is RAD people, and it makes you feel good! congrats to all of the ladies that entered, your creativity is out of this world!

so, as the featured designer i am supposed to pick just 1 design that "wins" from the designer side. how in the hiccups am i supposed to do that!!!??

that my geese, is where i need your help! head over to the boutique challenge blog and cast the vote for your fave design. this also enters you in the chance to win a gift certificate to BCA. once you do that, come back here and comment and tell me your fave! let me know before friday at noon (EST) so i can have the chance to tally all the votes up and make a decision. :)

with that said - i am actually leaving town early in the morning. byron and i have a kid's free wedding weekend at the grand in point clear (one of my fave places). due to spotty cellular service, i have the shop shut down until i get back in town. but, i will be checking in for this challenge to see who your fave is!

thanks again ladies, go VOTE and have a great weekend!!