The Angie Dress Review

THE ANGIE DRESS PATTERN REVIEW

I am so in love with this dress pattern. As I've stated before in another post; I can never stick to the actual pattern. I always find a way to have a perfect fit for me. As you can see, I've added arms on most all of them. I wasn't a big fan of bias tape, well I can still say that now. I rather have sleeves than deal with the bias tape. I have a fully lined bodice. I guess I should have taken that into consideration that I would need to maybe expand .5 on both sides because of the extra fabric. It wasn't that snug though. I always wear a sash. Well most of the time. I do not like the gathered look with the elastic. It isn't for me. Looks good on others. Just not for me. I love the pockets that I have added. I am no fan of purses, so pockets came in handy for my inhaler, chap-stick and of course my phone. 

I always opt for the high neck. I do not like my neck plunging. It is very uncomfortable for me. There are those pockets ad then those sleeves. I love it. 

This picture is from my Employee Mardigras Party. Needless to say it was a hit. I even shortened the original skirt so that I could have a color block.The only thing I did to add the color block was sewed the green and purple pieces together and when it was time to cut out my skirt piece, I cut them out at the same time and treated them as one piece of fabric instead of two. 

This is the only dress I actually had some sense on. Not that I didn't on the other, well not so much. Anyhoo. This dress, I decided instead of doing a full bodice; I'd just cut out a pattern from the actual front and back bodice and go from there. I only cut out the neck line on each one. I don't remember taking a picture of it. However, it is super easy. So my bodice is not even 50% lined, it is lined enough to give me a perfect neckline without the bias and that makes me happy. 

I love the whole  mommy and me dresses. She's the reason I started sewing in the first place. I'm more of a tomboy and refused to wear dresses, outside of prom, grade and high school graduation.

This dress I have dubbed The Sunflower Dress. We were taking family pictures, the boys in shorts, suspenders and bowties, the girls in The Angie Dress and Peasant Dresses. I made this dress according to the pattern. It was too long for my liking. I tried shortening it. However, I only had enough time to shorten and then get dressed as we were meeting the photographer pronto. I now cut it just two inches shorter than I want and the measurements are dead on.

My husband and I sharing a moment.

 

The sleeves were actually borrowed from Made by Rae's Washi Dress Pattern.

http://www.made-by-rae.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Washi-Sleeve-Pattern-by-Rae.pdf

https://www.sisboom.com/store/patterns/angie-dress-pdf-pattern-for-women/

(I apologize for the blurriness of the pictures)

Thanks for stopping by.

Baby Legs for the baby. Ankle Socks for the toddler. From one pair of socks.

There are so many tutorial on the WorldWideWeb.... that I'm sure I don't need to make another one. However, when I first started making baby legs or toddler leg warmers. I never really knew what to do with that bottom part. Until. I'm thinking why throw it away when I can actually use it for something? Along came the anklet. You'd start off with your regular pair of women/men socks.

Next you would put the socks together and then cut them with a rotary cutter or scissors, whichever you have on hand. I find that the rotary to be the best. You can just slice right across and it is an even cut.

Next, you'd get some ribbing. The picture isn't the best. My photographer hasn't been hired yet. :-) you cut it to the lengths you need it. For the baby legs, no more than 5x5. for the toddler anklets no more than 6x6. The 5x5 would work with both depending on your child's leg. My skinny 7yo doesn't have a problem getting either pair on.

You then add the ribbing to the bottom of the sock and voila, you have yourself some baby legs. But what about that ankle part that was left. No worries, you don't have to throw it away. There's hope for you yet.

Take another 5x5 piece of ribbing or 10x10 and cut it in the center. Add the ribbing to the top of you ankle socks and now you have a functioning pair of anklets.

Here's the all in one. Easy enough?

THE LANE RAGLAN REVIEW (HEY JUNE PATTERNS)

                     The Lane Raglan is a darling pattern. I didn't pay much attention to the neckline when I purchased it. I just found a Raglan for women and I was sold. I printed it and took it home the same day and got started. First up is the navy and red Raglan Tee. I didn't want the bottom portion of it (the band) I didn't take that into consideration when cutting the pattern out. I should have make the back and the front much longer. It would've came to where I wanted it to. The length is fine (for my first shirt) The next few shirts I made I either put the band on or made up for it and just added the extra two inches. The neckline is rather wide. I prefer my shirts close fitting. I don't like too much of my neck/chest plate out. I did this shirt in a color block. Red in the front, navy in the back.

                        The very next one I did was the yellow and gray one. I'm not 100% sure that the neckline is as long as it needs to be. Even with 2x2 rib knit (very stretchy) I have to add an extra inch. When I use the knit from the actual shirt I have to add about 2-2.5 inches. That's not a big deal at all, however when you're not sure that you need to do that, it becomes a big deal; having to use the seam ripper and produce another neckband. Depending on how much stretch the material has I would just cut it to about 25 inches and form there cut off the excess after the neckband is attached. No biggie. I added the waistband just to add more yellow. The gray in the pants and shoes was too overbearing for my liking.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

If you guys haven't noticed by now, I have a huge obsession with coordinating. So much so that I don't care if my kids socks are the same colors, they have to be a match. (I'm working on it) This was the third one as you can see from the order of shirts. I really enjoyed making this one, mainly because it was dead on with the shoes (Saucony). I realized then that the stretch of your shirt really makes a difference. I've always known all knits weren't the same, actually having to sew with some though; that doesn't have much stretch was almost like sewing with flannel. The orange is a pop of color that I was trying my best to bring forth Spring in Chicago. Didn't happen though. 

I finally decided to couple the Raglan with Jeans, boy was I pleased. It goes well with just about anything. You can make it as colorful as you want or you can make it all solid. I don't understand why one would want all solid when there are so many colors in the world. 

Finally my last one well not really, but just a little bit different. I finally found some stretch lace for a decent price, $4.99; at least I think that was a decent price. The regular non stretch in Joann's in about $7.99-$9.99. If I'm not mistaken, I can get four front pieces out of one yard of stretch lace. Roughly two shirts (just the front and back) from a yard of stretch lace. You all should definitely get some. I paired this with a pair of stretch jeggins and some boots I found on sale at Target. Looks like a great match to me, even though the fuschurple (fuscia and purple) isn't an exact match. It got the job done.

Overall it is a great pattern, as with any pattern you'd have to do some adjusting to your liking, taking something out, extending, shortening.... I love it. Follow link below to get your own copy of the pattern. The possibilities are endless.

http://www.heyjunehandmade.com/lane-raglan.html