Kids Disney Boutique / Customs Clothes Part 5

[sahm1000]

I second the recommendation to get the ruffler foot. I think I paid $30 for mine.



It depends on how much I like it. If I think it will be a good mixer, but not necessarily a primary fabric in an outfit, I buy a yard. If I think I want to use it as a primary fabric in an outfity, I buy two yards. If I love it so much that I'd be heartbroken if I never find it again, I buy the whole bolt! Or 5 yards, depending on the price. I ALWAYS buy what I like when I see it now. It's just frustrating to try to go back and find it again.



GREAT JOB! She looks to be very happy with her new outfits!



ABOUT THE TOY RECALLS! DO NOT throw the toys away. The toy manufacturers have stated that the toys need to be returned to the company and a replacement toy will be issued. I work for a major charitable organization that is highly visible at Christmas. We are having to go through every single toy that we give away at Christmas to make sure that it is not recalled. My understanding from our instruction is that disposing of the toys is against the law (someone could get ahold of it and get hurt). If you return the toy to the manufacturer, they will issue a credit for another toy.

I never thought about throwing it away and someone else getting hurt. Good point, I'll be returning mine, but I got it at Wal-mart. Anyone know what they are doing about it?

I finished one other outfit for my DD1, but of course she will not model it for me! I cased this idea from t-beri:

It is much cuter on, but like I said no modeling today! Well, I shouldn't say its finished, I still have to add buttons!

Whew, you're fast! Very cute! Love yours and T-beri's!

very cute ! i want to get sewing today but i have a fever and a headache i just think i will lay in bed all day and dis ...

Hope you feel better soon! That is no fun!

Thanks for the welcome and the advice. Is it really hard to get started? What type of sewing machine do I need, accessories model # or styles?
TIA

I have the Brother sewing machine from Costco. It has a ton of accessories (most of which I have no idea what to do with though ). It seems that everyone on here likes the Brother machines. Wal-Mart sells one for about the same price as Costco but it is a different model (though I suspect it's the same machine, just different accessories since they look the same). I have a clear embroidery/applique foot that I bought from a sewing store and LOVE it. I've got to get a ruffle though!

Our new WM does not carry fabric and I was told by the mgr. they were phasing it out and the new stores will not have it and soon the others won't either. I like WM because I am usually there for groceries anyway now I will have to drive into town for a fabric shop.

Two out of three WM's in town carry fabric but of course, not the one closest to me! It really is too bad and I hate that they aren't going to carry it anymore.

For those of you who are having trouble with the baste and pull gathering, I highly recommend the dental floss method that someone mentioned earlier in this thread. You just do a wide and long zig zag stitch rather than the basing stitch. You can either stitch over the dental floss or thread the floss through by hand with a needle after stitching. It works great for me because I've never had the floss break like the basting treads can do. I also pin like stephres mentioned so I have a smaller sections to work with. [/COLOR]

I do a method similar to this but I use elastic thread instead of the dental floss. It seems to work just fine but it is still a pain! A ruffler foot has got to be easier!

Here is a pic from last Halloween. DD was Stitch, although most people thought she was Eeyore.

What a cute little Stitch!

 

[sahm1000]

here are my kids at Dca for Mickey's Halloween treat with pooh

Cute picture! I loved these outfits!

I agree with you on this. Not only could we keep a better eye on production standards but we could actually give more Americans more jobs rather than outsourcing everything. I can't tell you how much it annoys me when I call a customer service line (for an American company) with a question and I am connected to someone in India.

I called once for Dell since my computer's hard drive had gone bad. They kept asking me if the computer is on! Yes the computer is on! I don't really care where they are but please get them to speak fluent English if you expect English speaking customers to call and get help. I know Americans are arrogant about the language thing but if you are English speaking customer and bought a product in an English speaking country, you should be able to speak to a fluent English speaking customer service rep. I do think though that we should be better about learning other languages but I personally am terrible at languages. Give me math anyday!

 

[tnmom25]

Here's a picture of the Christmas stripwork jumper that I made dd. The strap are just safety pinned for now...I haven't decided if I want to attempt button holes or just put sew on snaps on it... it is a size 5, and I thought it would be roomy on my dd, but it really isn't all that big. I think I should make a size 6 next time...anyone knows if the sizing runs slightly small.

From my experience, that jumper does run small. I use a size 8 for my dd7 and a 3 for my dd2. Your ruffles look great!

If I see that Mickey fabric, I'll pick some up for you. How much would you want? I don't know when I'll get out there again, though.

Don't get any without asking me for sure, Maureen might get me some too.

I was just looking on ebay for sheets that I could use for fabric and found this.

I remember having these sheets as a kid. I'm not sure what I would make with them but I think I must have them just in case.

Love those sheets!!!!! BTW, when did you change your avatar? What was it before, I can't remember? I just know it's different!

 

[tnmom25]

You could call this a shameless post to stay at #2, but it really isn't

I forgot to comment on everyone's outfits today, so I wanted to say that they all were very cute. And, I did know it was Stitch cause we have an Eyeore costume and I know the differences!!!

 

[tnmom25]

For those of you who are having trouble with the baste and pull gathering, I highly recommend the dental floss method that someone mentioned earlier in this thread. You just do a wide and long zig zag stitch rather than the basing stitch. You can either stitch over the dental floss or thread the floss through by hand with a needle after stitching. It works great for me because I've never had the floss break like the basting treads can do. I also pin like stephres mentioned so I have a smaller sections to work with. [/COLOR]

I guess I'm the black sheep or something, but I only use one basting stitch and then gather. Works perfectly for me! I run one long stitch about 1/4" from edge, then pin in marked spots and gather. Anyone else do it this way. I used to use the dental floss method and the two basting stitch method, but have since found out this works just as well.

 

[livndisney]

I guess I'm the black sheep or something, but I only use one basting stitch and then gather. Works perfectly for me! I run one long stitch about 1/4" from edge, then pin in marked spots and gather. Anyone else do it this way. I used to use the dental floss method and the two basting stitch method, but have since found out this works just as well.

I have not tried the dental floss, I still hand pin my ruffles

Cindee

 

[LisaZoe]

$40 sounds a little steep! You either have a slant shank, a low shank, or a high shank. So, if you find out what one you have, you could look online to find one. If you need a low shank, Joann has them for $14.99. I believe they are $30 at Hancocks. I found my slant shank on ebay for $15 w/ shipping.

I got my ruffler foot at JoAnns and wish now I'd checked around a bit first to see what options different brands of feet have. Mine doesn't have the screw to turn to finely adjust the ruffle depth. I've also seen a tutorial that showed a ruffler foot where the flat fabric was under the fabric being ruffled. That would allow for much easier application of small decorative ruffles on top.

More questions about gathering foot and the ruffler foot...wish I had waited for the response before I headed out to the store...I picked up the gathering foot and the low-shank attachment (which I didn't realize I already have)..so I will be back to return that tomorrow morning and I am thinking that I will return it and get the ruffler foot instead unless you ladies suggest that I keep the gathering foot as well.

Anyway, I tried out the gathering foot and followed whatever little bit of instructions came with the foot..it says put the fabric to be gathered under the sole of the presser foot, and the fabric that you do not want to gather in the slit...I did exactly that with couple test fabric...the fabric that I wanted to gather about three times the length of the fabric that I didn't want to gather...but there were so much fabric left. I am thinking that I should have changed the stitch length? but how would I know what to set it to so it will match exactly with the fabric that I want to attach the gathers to?

Sorry for all the questions...

Thanks!

I think you got the right foot. The names might just vary on different brands. The gathering foot I have looks like most other machine feet. I'm not sure how it does the gathering but IMO it's not very useful - I can easily get the same amount of gathering with a couple rows of basting stitches and some thread pulling. The ruffler foot is VERY different in appearance from the other feet I have. It's more of a "contraption" than a foot.

As for gathering and attaching the ruffle to another piece of fabric in one step, it takes some experimentation. What I'd suggest is to take a few strips of fabric of equal length and then put them through the ruffler. Change your settings on each - make sure to note the settings. This will help you determine the settings to get the amount of gathering you want.

My foot I can adjust how often a tuck is made - I usually leave it at every stitch but it can go up to one tuck every 12 stitches. Adjusting the stitch length will also affect the amount the fabric is gathered. I usually keep a fairly long stitch length. I like to have the gathering at a point where the finished ruffle is 1/2 the original length. The last thing I can adjust is the depth of the tuck. A small tuck looks more like a gather while a deeper tuck looks more pleated. How you set yours just depends on the look you want to get.

When anyone here finds a fabric they like, but don't really NEED for anything at the moment, but decides to buy it for 'someday', how much do you buy? DH thinks I'm nuts, but I figure if I dont get it when I see something I like, it may not be there later.

Like others, for me it all depends on the fabric. If I see some that I think would be a great accent fabric even though I don't have a specific use for it when I see it. I'll usually get 1-2 yards. If the fabric is something that I think will be a main element in a set, I get 3-5 yards. Of course, right now I'm trying very hard to not even look at new fabric until I reduce the size of my fabric stash. It's hard with all the beautiful new prints that come out monthly but I'd rather miss one than try to figure out where it's going to fit.

Speaking of my stash, I promised to show a current photo of it. I think TeresaJoy(ce) thought it might help when her DH complains about her buying "more fabric". She can show him my stash and point out she's not nearly as bad as she could be. Anyway, I just took this photo. I decided I won't try to show all the stash because much of it is in boxes and cupboards where I can't easily photograph it. However, this photo shows what I think of as my "working" stash - and is probably about 1/2 or less of my total stash.

Another "speaking of" segue... in an effort to use up some of my stash while also figuring out my ruffler foot better, I've been working on making some twirl skirt sets that will also help use up some of the blank tees I've acquired over the past year or so. Here's one I got done between working on other projects:

I also made these 2 skirts but just need to decide what kind of top to make to go with them. I'll probably do a simple tee for the Christmas skirt but I was thinking of trying a hoodie type top out of a cool lacey knit fabric I have and put a tank or tee underneath - not sure if I'd prefer white or brown.

 

[2cutekidz]

I guess I'm the black sheep or something, but I only use one basting stitch and then gather. Works perfectly for me! I run one long stitch about 1/4" from edge, then pin in marked spots and gather. Anyone else do it this way. I used to use the dental floss method and the two basting stitch method, but have since found out this works just as well.

I gather this way too. the dental floss DID NOT work for me. But I usually use a ruffle foot for those looooong ruffles for twirl tops.

 

[camelotcats]

I got my ruffler foot at JoAnns and wish now I'd checked around a bit first to see what options different brands of feet have. Mine doesn't have the screw to turn to finely adjust the ruffle depth. I've also seen a tutorial that showed a ruffler foot where the flat fabric was under the fabric being ruffled. That would allow for much easier application of small decorative ruffles on top.



I think you got the right foot. The names might just vary on different brands. The gathering foot I have looks like most other machine feet. I'm not sure how it does the gathering but IMO it's not very useful - I can easily get the same amount of gathering with a couple rows of basting stitches and some thread pulling. The ruffler foot is VERY different in appearance from the other feet I have. It's more of a "contraption" than a foot.

As for gathering and attaching the ruffle to another piece of fabric in one step, it takes some experimentation. What I'd suggest is to take a few strips of fabric of equal length and then put them through the ruffler. Change your settings on each - make sure to note the settings. This will help you determine the settings to get the amount of gathering you want.

My foot I can adjust how often a tuck is made - I usually leave it at every stitch but it can go up to one tuck every 12 stitches. Adjusting the stitch length will also affect the amount the fabric is gathered. I usually keep a fairly long stitch length. I like to have the gathering at a point where the finished ruffle is 1/2 the original length. The last thing I can adjust is the depth of the tuck. A small tuck looks more like a gather while a deeper tuck looks more pleated. How you set yours just depends on the look you want to get.



Like others, for me it all depends on the fabric. If I see some that I think would be a great accent fabric even though I don't have a specific use for it when I see it. I'll usually get 1-2 yards. If the fabric is something that I think will be a main element in a set, I get 3-5 yards. Of course, right now I'm trying very hard to not even look at new fabric until I reduce the size of my fabric stash. It's hard with all the beautiful new prints that come out monthly but I'd rather miss one than try to figure out where it's going to fit.

Speaking of my stash, I promised to show a current photo of it. I think TeresaJoy(ce) thought it might help when her DH complains about her buying "more fabric". She can show him my stash and point out she's not nearly as bad as she could be. Anyway, I just took this photo. I decided I won't try to show all the stash because much of it is in boxes and cupboards where I can't easily photograph it. However, this photo shows what I think of as my "working" stash - and is probably about 1/2 or less of my total stash.

Another "speaking of" segue... in an effort to use up some of my stash while also figuring out my ruffler foot better, I've been working on making some twirl skirt sets that will also help use up some of the blank tees I've acquired over the past year or so. Here's one I got done between working on other projects:

I also made these 2 skirts but just need to decide what kind of top to make to go with them. I'll probably do a simple tee for the Christmas skirt but I was thinking of trying a hoodie type top out of a cool lacey knit fabric I have and put a tank or tee underneath - not sure if I'd prefer white or brown.

Holy wow, Batman! I love those skirts! SOOO cute! The little set with the pink top is the latest "I want that, mommy!" from my dd. must remember to only check this thread when she is in school or asleep!

Speaking of stashes, trust me, EVERYONE's Dh's would shut up if they saw mine....I buy in bulk and I have purchased estates, too. I have rendered people speechlesss with the volume of my stash. However, I am ALWAYS in awe of beautiful, neatly stacked stashes of volume. VERY nice, and good for you getting motivated. Every time I go up into my stash, I end up spending hours fondling fabric and daydreaming about "what if"s, and lose a day of sewing.

As soon as my main machine comes back from repair, I am setting up the backup with the ruffler and figuring it out! You guys have motivated me!

 

[HeatherSue]

I got my ruffler foot at JoAnns and wish now I'd checked around a bit first to see what options different brands of feet have. Mine doesn't have the screw to turn to finely adjust the ruffle depth. I've also seen a tutorial that showed a ruffler foot where the flat fabric was under the fabric being ruffled. That would allow for much easier application of small decorative ruffles on top.

I noticed that our JoAnn has 2 different kinds of ruffler feet for low shank machines. They are both $14.99. One of them has the adjustable screw thing and the other one doesn't. I know the one with the screw also allows you to attach the ruffle to the fabric as you make the ruffle. So, you can get the nicer ruffler at JoAnn for $14.99, too. I believe it was Whites brand. HTH

 

[karamat]

When anyone here finds a fabric they like, but don't really NEED for anything at the moment, but decides to buy it for 'someday', how much do you buy? DH thinks I'm nuts, but I figure if I dont get it when I see something I like, it may not be there later.

Lately I've been buying 2 yards (1 yard for accent fabrics.) Of course with my DD not due for another 6 weeks, nothing I'm buying right now is NEEDED, but I keep telling myself (and DH when he shakes his head) that when I do NEED it, it won't be available anymore. Right now my dining room looks like a mini-JoAnns - one of these days I'm going to get it all sorted out and neatly put away like TheSeamstress showed

 

[billwendy]

Hi everyone... I just wanted you all to know that Ireland's had an accident. She needs a little pixie dust sent her way. She will need my care for a while, so I'm not sure when I will be back online. We just arrived home from the hospital, and I have to tell you....it was absolutely heartbreaking. Hearing that your child has been in an accident is just about the worst thing... I'm tearing up now, just thinking about how terrified I was..I won't go into detail, but to make a story short, while my Mom was watching her, and I was at school, she took out her bike, and had a terrible fall. She wasn't wearing a helmet. We live at the top of a hill, on a few acres, so thankfully she fell in the driveway and not in the street, but she lost consciousness and didn't know where she was or who she was. My mother had to carry her into the house. She wound up with a broken thumb, split lip, huge road rash area on her cheek and chin, which is really swollen, huge lump on her head, a concussion, and fluid in her elbow, that is supposed to go away. So my little darling will be out of commission for a while. Take care all and say a little prayer for her, and I think Santa will be buying her elbow pads, knee pads and a helmet..and maybe put the training wheels back on...

To little Ireland - I hope she feels alot better really soon - what a big OWIE!!!!! Just think happy disney princess thoughts until you feel better!

Here's a picture of the Christmas stripwork jumper that I made dd. The strap are just safety pinned for now...I haven't decided if I want to attempt button holes or just put sew on snaps on it... it is a size 5, and I thought it would be roomy on my dd, but it really isn't all that big. I think I should make a size 6 next time...anyone knows if the sizing runs slightly small.

This is the third thing that I ever sewn...and I know it is not perfect, especially the gathers but I don't think I can take it apart anymore..the fabric are already fraying!!

Wow - this is awesome if you ask me!!! GREAT JOB!!!

I also made these 2 skirts but just need to decide what kind of top to make to go with them. I'll probably do a simple tee for the Christmas skirt but I was thinking of trying a hoodie type top out of a cool lacey knit fabric I have and put a tank or tee underneath - not sure if I'd prefer white or brown.

Hi - where do you find all the cute pink and green Christmas fabric? I'd love to get some of this stuff!!!

 

[Stephres]

I noticed that our JoAnn has 2 different kinds of ruffler feet for low shank machines. They are both $14.99. One of them has the adjustable screw thing and the other one doesn't. I know the one with the screw also allows you to attach the ruffle to the fabric as you make the ruffle. So, you can get the nicer ruffler at JoAnn for $14.99, too. I believe it was Whites brand. HTH

Which one did you buy, per chance? (just wondering...)

I am very upset, Megan took my seam ripper. I am making a top for a neighbor and when I sewed the lining to the bodice one of the shoulder straps tried to escape and is hanging out halfway. I went to get my seam ripper and remembered that earlier Megan brought it to me saying, it's sharp and needs the top on it. I can find the top now but not the ripper!

 

[celerystalker]

steph - sorry about the missing seam ripper - but I've got to ask - I've seen the fish killer comments for the past few days -
but what in the world is the story?

 

[spongemommie05]

wow that is a awesome stash i only have 1 tote full but one day i aspire to be just like you
Love all the outfits, they are as always beautiful. and so very creative

well my fever is gone but i have a terrible earache now, i am hoping to be able to sew. after all thanksgiving is just around the corner

 

[Stephres]

steph - sorry about the missing seam ripper - but I've got to ask - I've seen the fish killer comments for the past few days -
but what in the world is the story?

I found my seam ripper!

Here is the fish killing story: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/05/Hillsborough/News_on_the_go.shtml

Even though I am not teenage boy caught on tape killing fish, Heather has been warning people to keep their fish (and fishy kids) away from me. She thinks it is amusing. I would not mind if you told her she was crazy.

 

[my*2*angels]

Whew, you're fast! Very cute! Love yours and T-beri's!

Thanks! And it was almost complete, just needed tick rack! I am really not that fast!

WOW! That it ALOT of fabric! I can't imagine having that much, I would have NOWHERE to put it all! All of your outfits are FANTASTIC! You do truly amazing work!

 

[celerystalker]

steph! Those poor fish! How could you?

Seriously, some people are just cruel. But since when do you look like 2 teenage boys? Heh.

Heather! You are crazy!

 

[TinkerbelleMom]

Wow!! As perfectly spaced as those ruffles look, I'm starting to suspect you photoshopped this outfit!! It's really cute!! If you can get your model to cooperate later, post some pics of her in it!

I was noticing the ruffles too, they look just perfect!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I end up spending hours fondling fabric and daydreaming about "what if"s.

OH TAG FAIRY LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL