First up…the winner of the slip Giveaway I had yesterday…
I gathered up everyone’s name who commented or emailed me…
…put those names in a bag and had my hubby draw one out…and he said, “Hey, I know her!” (She and her hubby came to visit my hubby when he was in the hospital in St. Louis.)
It was our very own creator of all those fun scenes with her American Girl dolls. It was Linda! She won a slip, so I’ll have to ask her which doll she wants one for… I know she just got a Wellie Wisher’s doll, Emmy, but she also has lots of American Girl dolls. Just let me know Linda! I’ll get in the mail Monday… Congratulations!!
Now, how about a sewing tip?
Do you ever make a sleeveless dress for a doll with a white lining and the lining peeks out at the edges? No matter how much you press it, the lining is determined to show just a sliver of the white. I have a simple solution that I use on most of my sleeveless dresses… I was making something and thought this might be a good time to show this tip…
Okay, so here is what I’m talking about… you make the bodice, you get it all pressed and this…
The lining is showing from the backside.
This particular facing isn’t terribly obnoxious, but I still wanted to fix it.
Take something that will fit between the armhole and neck seam, like a short ruler or a piece of cardboard or an emery board, like I’m using, and push it up between the lining and the fabric.
Here is a short 14 second video of me showing how to do it… (Please don’t look at my poor hands and fingernails…I should never had posted this! They are SO dry and I have orange fingernails because I peeled an orange earlier… just focus on the video.) EEK!
What I’m doing is taking short little whip stitches to pull up a little bit of lining fabric from the neck and armhole side. Just take tiny little 1/8″ stitches and make a little ridge as you pull the stitches just a tiny bit. The emery board or whatever you use keeps you from catching stiches on your dress fabric.
Just stitch from about the upper shoulder blade area to just above the bust area.
It pulls the lining in just a hair and keeps it from showing on the front side. It’s not as noticeable on a fabric with a white background and print, but if you have a red sleeveless dress with a white lining, it will definitely make a big difference.
Here it is after being pressed… no more white lining peeking out…
Here is what the inside looks like after the side seams have been stitched…
I LOVE the selvage along the edge of this fabric…isn’t this pretty?
I searched the fabrics on my shelves, looking for the Springiest, brightest, happiest fabric in the whole lot and came up with this!
Guess who gets to wear a dress made from it?
Yep, Nyssa! She’s so excited, even though it doesn’t show on her face!
Have a wonderful weekend! I’m planning on giving myself a manicure! :o)
See you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh my gosh, I won!! I had no hopes that would happen, so didn’t really think of who it would be for! It is so early now, and I can’t really think, so I will check through my things to see who would need a slip the most! I’ll email you, Jeanne, later in the day with who I want it for. I feel like I won the lottery and need to check with my lawyers to see what to do with it all! Ha, ha! Thank you so much for doing this!
Well, I don’t sew all that much, but yes, that happens often when I do sew, so that is a good tip. I notice that on some clothes that are sewn too quickly on some of the things I see on Ebay.
You think your hands are bad, you should see mine! I can’t for the life of me get my nails to grow much at all! Have fun with your manicure!
I just saw Alina’s comment that was the last one on your post from yesterday. What a terrible, stressful time for them! Praying that peace comes soon for the whole region. Alina, know that we are with you in spirit, if not in person.
I’m sure you are over the moon winning the slip giveaway. A big congrats to you!
Congratulations, Linda! How nice that you won the slip–and what a surprise for George, that he drew the name of someone he had actually met!!
I agree with Linda–my nails don’t grow very much, and I have trouble keeping them from getting raggedy, so I just clip them off. In the past I tried wearing nail polish and found it just made my feel like my fingernails were suffocating (if that makes sense) and I’d end up picking off the polish within 24 hours!
Thanks for the tip on getting the lining to stay hidden, Jeanne. I will have to try that next time.
Freida has chosen the trim for her new dress. Stay tuned!
Congratulations, Linda! Glad you won and your girls will be too. No fighting, everyone will get their turn to wear it except Betsy a no Emmy. They’ll get over it, ha, ha.
That’s a good tip. One could even machine stitch a tiny tuck in the lining fabric before sewing the lining in using your approximate measurements for how long the tuck should be. Always refini your techniques and letting us in on the secrets. Thanks.
Alina, my thoughts are certainly with you and the Ukrainian people. Thanks to your country for taking in the refugees. No one is truly exempt from becoming one themselves.
Glued to the news. Thoughts with Ukraine.
Thanks Jeanne on a fun contest.
Congrats to Linda. Can’t wait to see the slip in action on one of your girls. 🙂
Who would have thought an 1/8″ tuck would fix that peeking lining problem. Around the neck, I can usually pull the lining down to the waist enough to fix the problem, but not so on the arms. Great idea from Jeanne’s Tip Bag. 🙂
Love Nyssa’s Rifle print new dress. Beautiful spring fabric and perfect for her. So how tall is Nyssa? Refresh me on her size please. I would love to see her posed next to a RRFF girl, an AG, and maybe a Meadow Dumpling for reference.
Slightly warmer this morning, but no rain in the forecast. Even without rain, the weeds seem to be taking over. Ugh. Hope those still in the cold have spring soon. 🙂
I forgot to mention my dry fingers cure. I discovered Avon Silicon Glove hand lotion. It seals up the cracks and keeps my fingers happy. I gave some to my son in law as his hands were cracking from using so much hand sanitizer. Works for him too. I haven’t had cracked fingers again.
Thanks for the Silicon Glove tip, Joy. I remember that product from when I sold Avon out of my dorm room back in 1967-68! I think it was brand new back then. I’ll have to check at my hairdresser’s for an Avon book–it’s the only place I’ve seen them in ages.
Charlotte, I thought I was the only one whose nails feel that way with polish. I’m glad to find someone else feels the same way.
Congratulations on the slip, Linda — Emmy will love it.
Susette is right — no one is exempt from catastrophe. We had a huge nearby fire — it’s so easy to lose everything. Possibly losing your country too would be heartbreaking beyond words.
Nyssa is going to look wonderful in that bright, cheerful fabric, Jeanne. Temperatures here are starting to go up, and we send our weather your way, so you might get some outdoor pictures of this dress. Ash Wednesday is coming — Easter is on the way.
Great tip today and such a pretty material for Nyssa and her red hair.
Alina I am so glad that we heard from you. It must be terribly stressful in your entire region. We are all praying and hoping all the monsters in the world crawl back under their rocks.
I thought it was about time for Nyssa to be the recipient of a new dress. She wears clothes so well I love seeing her in everything you make.
I gave up on pretty fingernails years ago. With sewing, doing needlecrafts, playing the piano and once having to do my dishes by hand, it just didn’t work. I’ve come to like them short.
Thanks for the cool tip on making sure the lining doesn’t show. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
Susette you had a good idea about avoiding the traffic jam but it wouldn’t have worked this time. They are doing extensive construction on I-10 between here and Katy and the shoulders are missing in a lot of areas so I wouldn’t have been able to do it all the way. On top of that not being an emergency vehicle I would have had trouble getting back in if the shoulder ended because people get tired of people doing that so they can get ahead of the jam and make sure you can’t get back in so it probably would have taken more time. The construction is a problem when there is an accident and makes the jam worse. And there’s the time David was just a few feet from his exit in a traffic jam and scooted over to the shoulder to take the exit. He got stopped and told he shouldn’t be in that lane if he wasn’t and emergency or highway construction vehicle. He only got a warning. If I had taken the shoulder and gotten stopped I would have had to take the time to explain why I was doing it. A police escort is doubtful because they couldn’t get all the way through either. Thankfully the bleeding had stopped. If it hadn’t I would have taken him to our local ER.
Alina, I’ve been praying for days that the invasion of Ukraine was just saber rattling. I was not only shocked it occurred but on such a huge scale. Disrupting people’s lives so drastically because a head of state “wants” the country should just not happen. My best friend in high school was from Estonia. She belongs to the Estonian organization in the U.S. and has an apartment in Tailinn. Her husband is also Estonian. Estonia and the other Baltic States are sitting on pins and needles afraid they’re going to be next. Bless Poland for taking in as many refugees as possible. I hope this all finds a resolution soon so people can hopefully return to their homes. Stopping this now that it’s started is going to be difficult. I was told when I visited the United Nations as a child that its purpose was to aid in resolving conflicts so things like this don’t happen and we would have no more wars. I actually believed them.
Congratulations, Linda! I wonder which of your girls will get a new slip.
So glad you checked in, Alina. We are all watching the news anxiously and praying for peace. God has it all in hand. Please stay safe. Blessings to Poland for taking in those escaping the Ukraine.
Pretty start for a dress for Nyssa. I’m sure she is pleased to begin the Easter parade of dresses.
What a wonderful way to have the lining not show. Thank you so much for sharing that, Jeanne.
I don’t know about you, but in the past my hands would be dry and have cracks on my knuckles in the late fall and through the winter so I would put on lotion and would end up in this vicious cycle of hands feeling dry and putting on lotion. Now I never put lotion on my hands and they never get cracks. I also only use two brands of organic soaps and that made all the difference no matter how often I wash my hands a day.
I agree with you about nail polish, Charlotte. I use to wear it all the time in high school and college and then got out of the habit. When I wear it now I use a totally toxic free like Good. Kind. Pure. or other brands that are completely toxic free. It’s the formaldehyde. toluene. camphor etc that makes the regular ones hurt. Also use non-acetone nail polish remover. I switched to safe options of many things years ago.
Ice still on every branch this morning and upper 20s was our high which is warmer than it has been.
Congratulations on your win Linda. I am sure you will have a doll that will be very happy.
Thanks for the tip Jeanne I can definitely see me using it in the future. I love the fabric you have chosen for Nyssa but I am sorry, I can’t warm to her. To me she always looks like she’s about to have a tantrum.
Alina, I missed your post yesterday, you must have posted after I had looked. There are a lot of people praying over here for peace to return. It is a scary time for Europe and by extension, the rest of the world too.
We have a small shop near us called The Russian Shop. It imports lots of foods etc from Russia. Apparently someone has graffitied it. It is sad that people can’t separate ordinary Russians, particularly those who have left to start new lives elsewhere, from megalomaniac leaders. I just hope it doesn’t go further and turn into more than graffiti..
Keep praying everyone .especially Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a very brave man.
Anne, I totally agree about why can’t people separate the horrible leaders from the ordinary citizens. I have a very good Russian friend. She and her husband came here for a better life. I would never hold what is happening against her. I get massages at a place called Bamboo Massage. The people are Chinese. I would never hold COVID or anything the Chinese government does against them. They do a great what they call “Chinese Backrub”. I missed them when they were not operating in the early days of COVID and was so glad when they reopened. Few of them speak a word of English but they are good people and always have a smile. I’m sad when I hear that people are taking out frustrations on innocent people.
Congratulations to Linda for winning the slip! I am happy for her.
We’re praying for those who are dying and the dead in Ukraine. Hope Alina keeps safe!