Lightning McStitch

Whatever you like!
But here’s a picture where i prove that you can French seam every seam on the Lullaby Layette blouse/bodysuit. It’s a lovely, tidy finish if you can be bothered. If you look in the tutorials section of the website you’ll find quite a number of seam finish tutorials.

I confess I bought myself a big, benchtops snap press a few years ago – what’s a hobby if it doesn’t allow for tool purchases, right?!
I’ve heard good things about the Snap pliers (KAM or Snapsource), but in my experience the hammer in snaps you can buy from fabric shops are a nightmare. (Bear in mind I’m in Australia and the plier snap sets don’t…[Read more]

I think I’ve only made the tulip sleeve once in all my Fairy Tale iterations, but no, no problems…
Did the sleeve sew into the armhole ok? Obviously, the amount of overlap would affect the tightness when worn but would also change how the sleeve attached.
From memory, after you’ve overlapped there’s still a bit of gathering of the sleeve head.…[Read more]

Hi Nancy. My feeling is that the pants are the simplest of the three garments in the Lullaby Layette.
However, there’s nothing overly tricky about the jacket or blouse/bodysuit and the instructions will walk you through it nicely. In fact, if you ever quilted and you’re a dab hand at applying binding then you might find the jacket the…[Read more]

Hi Lisa,
Sorry for the late reply. Can you specify which pattern piece you’re referring to. Or which step in the instructions.
Are you working from the paper pattern or a print out if the PDF?
I can look at the printed pattern and see if I can help, but not having made it before I’m not sure which piece has gathering.
Shelley

Hi Heidi. There are heaps of these type of dress patterns out there, especially among the indie pattern companies.
For me, I’d start with the dropped sleeve bodice, so I’d use either the maritime tee, or the weekend getaway patterns for the bodice (for the weekend getaway, just cut on the Gold and omit the facings) then just drafting the length…[Read more]

I’m all about shorts at the moment, so I’d plump for Sandbox pants as shorts with love heart shaped pockets!

Lots of options:
I’m sure @juliamom2009 used fold over elastic.
Or, you could make long tubes of fabric and then put elastic inside them, like gathered straps.
My daughter just requested a jumpsuit like that so she doesn’t have to re-tie the bows with every toilet break.

From looking at diagrams for high/round/full bottom adjustment, I think it’s best described as an FBA for the backside.
It’s the same slash, pivot and spread as an FBA but applied to the middle(ish) part of the centre back seam.
Does that make sense?

Looking at the instructions and pictures again, and checking the true 1″ wide facing strip, I can only conclude there’s an error…
@liesl ? It works perfectly with the instructions and illustrations if the strip were even 1/4″ wider…
Currently you sew 1/2″ inch, fold over 1/4″ and that only leaves 1/4″ to cover the seam allowances. Yet the…[Read more]

To save modifying my comment again I’ll leave the error there for posterity 🙂
I was adding up to a strip of some width other than 1″ (1&1/2″ would be the sum of 1/2″+3/4″+1/4″)
Anyway, the short answer is: trim those seam allowances aggressively and maybe fold your raw edge over by slightly less than 1/4″
Apologies for the brain fade.

For your first question about adjusting the skirt: if you took the bodice in at the side seams I would do the same with the skirt. Simply because it makes the maths simpler.

The cuff question: you’re on the right track with your stitching but you’re imagining the next step differently to where the pattern is taking you. 🙂
The raw, unstitched…[Read more]

Hi Denise, I think you have misread the instructions but have the right idea.
You construct one set of front, side and back panels out of fabric A, then the same out of fabric B (lining). Then the hood. Then sandwich it all together and stitch the periphery before turning it through an armhole.
Which step is it that you’re reading?

Hi Kathy, there’s a tutorial that shows how to make any bodice sleeveless here: https://oliverands.com/community/blog/2014/04/customizing-the-layette-sleeveless-bodysuit-tutorial.html
Do you have the Building Block Dress Book? Changes like this are also well described in there.
I think the shirts will look great without sleeves. Have fun!

It’s just a matter of adding length to the collar as you add length to the neckline. Adjust your neckline (lowering, widening etc) then measure the new neckline at the stitching line. Compare that to the original and add the same length to the collar. They’re curved lines so you end up freehand drawing it.
The good thing is that collars are only…[Read more]

Hi Becca, if you lower or scoop out the neckline then you would need to make adjustments to the length of the collar do that it still fits.
I wonder if perhaps what your daughter needs is a Forward Shoulder Adjustment (FSA). This moves the shoulder seam forward and helps prevent the front neckline from falling backwards and feeling like it’s…[Read more]

Hi Susan,
If you ever want to find something relating to a particular pattern then the easiest way is to go via the “shop”. Click on the pattern you’re interested in, and you’ll find tabs that will take you to forum discussions, blog posts, or sewn up examples of that pattern.
Here’s the sew along which I found via the blog posts tab in the Extra…[Read more]

Hi Tricia, yes the waistband is just one long piece (pattern piece 6).
The only other pattern pieces are the skirt, and the front and back plackets.
Maybe sleep on it and just follow the instructions in the morning. I always find Oliver + S patterns work perfectly if you don’t overthink them, and just do as Liesl says! 🙁

Hi Phyllis, here’s a lining tutorial that is perfectly adaptable for the Extra Sharp Pencil Skirt:

how to line shorts–or any pair of pants

Those bags look like fun, and a great way to use up scraps – assuming your scraps are better co-ordinate do than mine!
Fun to see an old thread bumped up, thanks.
You’ve inspired me to put the waistband on my Hollywood Trousers and finish them off.