fun in the sun(dress) Lavender Fields

**This post was supposed to be up on Thursday and I just noticed it was still in draft! Sorry!**

Today we are featuring Casey, from her blog Elegant Musings.  

Casey is a lover of vintage, art, design, sewing, and more... and she blogs about it all.  

If you love to sew, you will find some excellent tutorials and techniques on her blog, along with other tips and tricks, even hairstyles.

She creates gorgeous vintage inspired clothing and accessories too!

Take a look at this cute 40's-50's Western Style Skirt:

This cute bow belt (tutorial):

and this gorgeous Mad Men-esque dress!

Without further ado....

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Hello! My name is Casey and I blog over at Elegant Musings. I’m so excited to be participating in this sundress series; especially since I currently live in the “Sunshine State” (Florida), so sundresses are something that make up a large part of my summertime wardrobe.








Making a dress from scratch is awfully fun, but sometimes it’s just as fun to take an old dress and remake it into something fabulous! On a recent stop by my favorite thrift shop, I spotted this 1980s dress hanging on the rack. I loved the fabric, a pretty periwinkle floral print, but the overall style is a bit dated and lacking. Almost right away I knew it’d make a beautiful summer dress—and $2.50 was a price I couldn’t argue with!








< p>Remaking a dress can sometimes be tricky; I like to say that it’s 50% inspiration and 50% ingenuity. Deciding what style to refashion the garment into, taking into consideration your figure and garment needs, the fabric as well as the existing style takes a bit of thought and planning. This particular style though, is really easy to apply to just about any dress. Mine had a few features I knew I wanted to preserve: a button placket on the front and an elastic waist.








If you enlarge the image above, you’ll see some notes I made about construction. I started by cutting the top of the bodice off along the front, under the arms and across the back. To finish the edge I used a bit of blue seam binding (rayon—it’s really soft. Incidentally, it’s a thrifted notion!), stitched to the right side with a 1/8” seam, then turned to the inside and stitched down. This also helped create a casing for the elastic to go through around the back (just make sure to leave an opening to get that elastic in!). I measured from under my arms, around my back and reduced that measurement by 3” for a snug fit. You can see in the diagram where I inserted the elastic just forward of the side seams, and secured it at either end by stitching over it multiple times.

Next up I shortened the dress to knee length (my favorite skirt length!) and used the remaining 2” of excess fabric to make spaghetti straps for the bodice. I used my Dritz loop turner tool for this—an invaluable gadget for turning narrow fabrics! (How I managed to sew for years without one, I’m not sure…) The straps were tacked in place by hand.
Originally I had intended to use the collar pieces, salvaged from the dress, to trim the upper edge of the front bodice. Alas, one of the collar pieces had a faint stain and so I opted to recreate the look using some vintage embroidered organdy trim in my stash. The finishing touch was a little bow using a small piece of the blue seam binding to decorate the top of the bottom placket on the front.









This piece reminds me of one of my favorite 1970s vintage sundresses—it’s comfortable and didn’t cost that much! Plus it only took a few hours to do; always a plus when it comes to refashioning a garment. Just goes to show you that it doesn’t take more than a browse through your closet (or a trip to a second hand shop) to find a gem worth remaking into a summer-worthy frock!

fun in the sun(dress) Kimono

We want to welcome Kayla from Freckles in April!

I found Kayla's blog not too long ago, and it quickly became a new favorite of mine. She is a fashion blogger, with lots of extras on the side, like recipes, lifestyle, and DIY too!

Check out this amazing refashion using dye:

And this cardi makeover...(love those!):

And take a look at this hand-painted dress from scratch!

We are so excited to have you, Kayla!

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Click the image to visit my blog, Freckles in April

As a freckled girl with a family history of skin cancer, sundresses are more about sun protection than exposure for me. I wanted something light and breezy enough to handle our not-for-wimps Arizona temps but with enough fabric to cover my delicate shoulders and burn-prone knees.

I'm an amateur seamstress so my dress had to be super simple. I spent weeks trying to figure out exactly what I was going to contribute to this fantastic series. Autie and Jen sent out an e-mail with the lineup a while back and I sort of froze. I am in serious company here, people. These girls actually know what they're doing, as opposed to me who just Googles things and hopes to find a decent tutorial and then flails through.

I ultimately decided on a project that doesn't require any skill beyond the ability to cut a rectangle and sew a straight stitch. My kind of project. When my husband, who lived in Japan for two years, saw my prototype he said, "It looks like a kimono!" And The Kimono Dress was born.

This is in no way the most original project out there. After I finished I found a couple online tutorials that basically accomplished the same thing and saw a handful with the same silhouette for sale in stores at the mall. So, you know. Great minds and all.

We're going to start with some measurements. They don't have to be exact! Just ballpark it. You can always trim it down later if your dress is too large.

My shoulder measurement was 14 inches but, if I were to do it again, I'd use less. More like 12.

These measurements are the dimensions of your rectangle. You're going to want to cut two of them.

I spent $5 on a bedsheet at goodwill and cut it on the bias. I did this for a couple of reasons: 1. bias cut fabric doesn't fray, which means I could skip the seam finishing and save myself a lot of time and 2. I'd never done it before and I wanted to take a crack at it. If you don't cut on the bias then you're going to want to finish your seams.

If you're doing ties you'll need to cut a couple more rectangles. I cut four 5 inch x 48 inch rectangles then sewed them with right sides together, leaving one short end open, then turned and pressed them. Alternatively, you can use a piece of elastic stitched directly to your dress or threaded through a channel. Or just use a belt (I was tempted). My mom suggested a yellow or coral sash would have looked lovely with my dress and I kind of wish I had tried that. Whatever suits your skill level.

Put your 2 rectangles together, right sides facing. You're going to sew along the edge, leaving a 16 inch gap in the middle. If you want a more plunging neckline then you can leave a larger gap. If you're more conservative, go smaller (but make sure your head fits through the hole). Also, you want to use at least a half inch seam allowance so you can finish the edges around the neck.

Pardon my left handedness

Open your fabric and press your seam open. You can top stitch just around the neck hole or do like I did and top stitch the whole way up and down both sides of the seam with a little reinforcement stitching at the bottom of the V on both sides.

Outside the neck hole

Inside the neck hole (you can see my reinforcement stitching)

top stitching all the way down

Then, you're going to fold your rectangle in half, right sides together.

Measure 8ish inches down from the fold and start sewing. These are going to be your arm holes, so give yourself more room if you need it.

This step took me a couple tries. The first time I just sewed straight down and the end result was...not attractive. I ended up curving in a bit under the arm holes and I'm happier with it (I still could have taken it in more except I had already added a pocket and didn't want to redo it). Also, I stopped a few inches from the bottom of the dress so I'd have some slits. Trim off the excess fabric.

leg slits

With the dress inside out, fold the seam allowance up over the edge of the armholes and stitch. If you left slits at the bottom, fold the seam allowance under then stitch around.

Sleeves from the wrong side

Armpit with reinforcement stitching

Slits from the wrong side

Hem, press and you're done!

Thanks to my lovely husband, Aaron, for being willing to trek up a desert hill with me while hauling his massive camera!

(Giveaway) Shabby Apple

***This giveaway is now closed***

Get excited for another giveaway!

We know you guys have heard of Shabby Apple Dresses...they're designs are to die for!  We are so excited to be able to offer you an opportunity to win one of their adorable kids dresses: 

Caribbean Blue:

To win this adorable dress, size 0-6 months, please:

1.) Become a follower of iCandy and leave us a comment

2.) Check out the rest of the Shabby Apple kids dresses, pick your fav, and come back and tell us which one you like best

3.) Blog/Tweet/Facebook about this giveaway, and come back and give us the link!

Please leave us your email address in each of your comments so we can contact you if you win!

ready, set, go!

AND...don't forget to enter this giveaway if you haven't yet {$25 to our sponsor, brynnberlee sewing patterns!}

fun in the sun(dress) Simple Raglan

Today's guest is Kalleen from the blog At Second Street.  Kalleen is such a well-rounded crafter! 

She makes amazing cakes:

Fisherman's Cake

printables:

home decor,

refashions,

and sews from scratch too!

Striped Maxi Dress

We are super happy Kalleen is here to share her creation with you!  After you read this post, go check out many more just like it At Second Street!

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Hi, I'm Kalleen from At Second Street and I am so excited to be part of this series. I adore Autie and Jen and all the fabulous things they are always making. I'm never disappointed when I come to visit. I hope you'll like this raglan sundress. I made my own pattern and it's simple enough you could do it too. 

Originally, I was only going to make one dress for my middle daughter. 

Then while I was making it, my oldest daughter begged to have one too. 

And since I love to put my girls in matching clothes and it was so simple to make, I made two. 

The younger one has a pleated sleeve. 

And the older has a flat sleeve. 

I have one more daughter and a lot more fabric, so I'm sure I'll be doing another one soon. 

To make your own pattern you'll need an existing pattern for a sleeveless bodice. I'm using one I made for my daughters Easter dress, but you could use one from a store bought pattern.  

I traced the pattern onto freezer paper. Wrapping paper works well too. 

Next I drew a line with my ruler from the armpit to the middle of the neckline. Then because I wanted a wider neck I lowered one side. It still has a curve it's just a lot more gradual. This was the final pattern I used for my front.

***At this point you will want to cut out your front and use it as a guide to draw your other pieces.***
I'm going to continue to draw on top of the same pattern but you'll want to trace the front bodice several times and cut new pattern pieces.

Add an inch to the fold of the front piece to get your back. Don't cut this piece on a fold.

For the sleeves, I measured 3 inches down from the neckline at several spots and left a dot. Then I connected the dots to get a 3 inch curved band.

When it is cut it will look like this. If you cut it to the length of the front piece it will work for the flat sleeve. If you make it the length of the back piece it will work for a pleated sleeve.

You will have 3 pieces when you are done. A front, a back and a sleeve (flat or pleated).

cut :
1 front on the fold
2 backs
4 sleeves on fold

To put the bodice together:

Sew the front to the back pieces together at the sides and finish your edges. Then finish the edges of the arm holes, but not the neckline.

Sew the sleeves right-sides together on the outside seam. Turn right side out and press. Finish the edges on the ends. If you have a pleated sleeve, add pleat and baste the inside seam.

Next I folded over the arm holes and 1/4 in and ironed. Then I pinned my sleeves into place lining up the neckline.

Then I top stitched down from the neckline around the armholes and back up to the neckline. Your stitch should hold down your fold and secure your sleeve in place.

Next I added biased tape around the neckline.

All that is left to do is attach a gathered bottom, sew up the back and add buttons.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for reading!