Dresses 15 and 16 - Little Foxes

Dresses Fifteen and Sixteen are all about adorable foxes.

The Fox went out to the chase one night,
Prayed to the moon to give him light,
He had many a mile to go that night,
Before he reached the town-O!
Town-O!  Town-O!
            Folk song sung by Burl Ives

I first bought the fabric with the white background at Joann.  Not long after, Val received some donated items for decorating DAG dresses that she is making.  She shared some with me, and it included some appliques - foxes!  When I went back to Joann, I found a coordinating print to the one I had, with a robin's egg blue background.   I had about one yard each.  I decided to split the fabric and swap out some with the other.  

                                                                                                    

The top and bottom pieces were sewn to the body portion with French seams. Once the three portions were together, I hemmed the bottom. Finally, the seam was sewn down the back.   I added gold rick rack at both the top and bottom seams.   Elastic was sewn into the front and back channels.

POCKETS

Now for the fun part.  I had two different fox appliques. First, I ironed them on the pocket squares I cut out.  I knew there was no way they would stay on after washing, so I sewed all around the edges on the sewing machine.  I made a coordinating pocket to go with the appliqued one.

MAKING BIAS TAPE FROM QUILT BINDING.

I didn't have any matching gold bias tape for the ties, but I did have gold quilt binding.  It was very easy to turn into bias tape.

Below on the left, is blue regular double fold, double wide seam binding, used for the shoulder ties.  On the right, is gold bias tape quilt binding. 

As you can see, when opened flat, the gold is twice as wide as the blue.

I split the quilt binding and ironed flat.  Then I folded the sides to meet in the middle, and then in half again to enclose the first fold.   Instant bias tape!   I sewed on as usual.

I attached the pockets, and sewed on the label.  Here are the two dresses, ready to go.

 

Rachel, the Pink Cowgirl

I received this adorable pink western fabric from Ambassador Monica.   I immediately thought of the founder of Dress a Girl Around the World, Rachel Eggum Cinader.  Several of her photos show her in a cute, pink cowgirl hat.


Rachel, dresses thirteen and fourteen are dedicated to you, the "Pink Cowgirl."






Rachel founded Dress a Girl Around the World in  October 2009, and according to a recent post she made "We’ve distributed 1.5 million dresses to girls in need in more than 82 countries!"    Photos of Rachel below are from the DAG official Facebook page. Link Here

I received one yard of the pink fabric.  I wanted to make two dresses.  I cut the yard in half from selvage to selvage.  This gave me two 18 inch pieces to start with.

On my last trip to Walmart, I raided the remnant bin.  I got 3/4 yard of Waverly fabric called onyx bandana, for $1.  It coordinated perfectly with the cowgirl print.  I would be using it as the bottom print on the dresses. 




One thing I noticed was the pink print was a bit thin.  The true test is to hold it up to the light.  In this photo, the screen door is easily seen through the fabric. 

If you have a thinner fabric that is cute but may not be usable, there is a simple solution -  line it!   It takes very little extra time.








As you can see in the photo on the right, I cut the skirt lining to the same size as the pink fabric.  I sewed the back seams of both, creating two tubes.





I have always bought gently used sheets from thrift stores to line clothing I make for myself.  They are very soft from several washings.  Once the two tubes are sewn, insert the lining into the fashion fabric, and baste together at the top.  By putting the two seam allowances facing each other on the inside, no seams are showing.

Next, since the pink was only 18 inches long, I added the black and white fabric to the bottom, making it approximately 27 inches, long, after the black was sewn to the bottom.





As seen below left, the inside, lined fashion fabric is sewn with a French seam to the black, and right photo, the outside.  I did not line the black, it is thick enough.

Next, I made my elastic casings, and inserted a 7 1/2 inch piece in the front and back.  Then I added the bias tape ties, 36 inches long. making sure both the lining and the fashion fabric were pinned down good before sewing.
 
 


Left - Here is the dress before trims are added.   


Below.  White rick rack is added between the pink and black fabrics.   I had a fat quarter in a black and white print that matched, and used it to make the pockets.  Remember to line the pockets and make them sturdy for all the treasures to be collected.   Two rows of pink rick rack and a pink button finish off the pocket.                                              
                                                       

Add the labels, and all done!