The Brooklyn Frock - A Pattern Review

The pattern: The Brooklyn Frock
The designer: The Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop
Cost: Free
Special skills: Bias binding, gathering, button placket, button loops
Cut + First sew time: 2.5 hours
My sample size: 3T

Over the last few days, I've gotten the chance to finally sew up a couple of these cute little dresses. If you're looking for a cute little dress that's quick and easy to sew up, this one is a pretty good fit. I really love the asymmetry of this design and how you can fab it up with really funky fabrics or chill it out with sweet little prints like the ones I used.

Yardages/Cutting: It only takes about ten minutes to configure the pattern pieces and get the pieces cut out, especially if you're cutting out smaller sizes. The pattern pieces are clearly marked/labeled with what they are, how many to cut, and whether or not to cut on the fold. Yardage requirements are pretty accurate, but it can't hurt to buy an extra 1/3 yard just in case you forget to do a layout before you cut (the designer recommends laying out first). If you lay out your pieces prior to cutting, you will have less fabric waste and may even have a nice usable scrap left over. Because of having to cut both main pieces of the dress on the fold of such a small piece of fabric, it would have been nice to just have a cutting layout included in the pattern. Not a deal breaker.

Special Techniques: Most of the instructions are very clear, though you do need some experience, or at least access to information or techniques, to accomplish some of the detail on this dress. One of the special skills you will need for this dress is how to attach double fold bias tape. Attaching bias tape is not something explained in the instructions so you might have to pull out that dusty sewing book or hit up YouTube for some instruction. I've only used bias tape one before so I had no idea what I was doing the first time around on this dress. Another special technique used on a major part of this dress is gathering. There are two or three different ways to accomplish this, so brush up on whichever way you like best and have at it. Buttons and button plackets are another detail used here, though I'm not sure the type used on this dress is an actual placket since it's done more like a keyhole here.

Sewing: This pattern goes together pretty quickly once you know how to do all the techniques mentioned above. First sew time (the time it took to get through the whole pattern the first time) was about 2.5 hours.

One of the drawbacks to this pattern is that notches aren't included in the sleeve pattern pieces. This makes gathering at the shoulder and at the bottom of the sleeve a little more difficult since they're supposed to be isolated to the centers. Pocket placement could be marked. The sleeve binding also gave me some issues due to how they're sewn together. The instructions tell you to attach the binding and then sew the sleeve and dress sides together at once. The finish would look nicer if the sleeve and dress sides were sewn and then the bias was attached - but this would require that you know how to finish a bias binding. Completing this step the correct way would probably make the dress sleeve more comfortable for the wearer and it would look nicer, too. Although I didn't change the pattern in any way, I would add a little something around the bottom edge - maybe more binding.

Off Topic Tuesday - The Necktie Onesie and Owl Bib

Yes, this post comes a day late - I've had a lot to coordinate lately (a good thing)! But I've also been trying to concentrate on gift-worthy items for boys. I have a whole outfit planned out right now. Look for that coming up sometime in the next few weeks, too, among other boy-focused items.

Don't you just love how androgynous babies are until you clothe them?? Ivy makes a good boy model :)

Ruffling Foot Attachment - A Review

**This article has been updated. Please see end of post for updates.**

In December 2012 I finally bought a little gadget for my sewing machine that I'd had my eye on for quite a while. It's called a ruffling foot and it's kind of scary looking, like it doesn't belong anywhere near a sewing machine. I got mine at Hancock Fabrics. It's made by Creative Sewing Solutions (but you can only get it through Hancock's).

Crazy, right?

But as I started using it, I realized how ridiculously amazing and time-saving this foot attachment could be. The first project I tested it on was a rather small one - a set of decorative holiday trees to sell at a local craft shop.

It did an amazing job and made super fast work out of making smaller pleats in long strips of beautiful (and thick) jacquard. I think they turned out rather pretty, if I do say so myself (and I do, of course!).

But then I stuck the contraption in a drawer where it patiently waited to be used again. Two months went by and I got it out once again to use on Liv's Sassy and Classy Tutu Dress.

Again, it just amazed me how easy it made the task of ruffling up some tulle for the tutu dress. And tulle is a completely different animal than the jacquard I used on the trees, so I was even more impressed.

You can see the ruffles made with the ruffling foot here.

And all was well and good until I noticed something rather disturbing. I'd gotten something in my hand while I was working on the tutu ruffles and it just kept getting more and more irritated. So I looked at my hand and there was a tiny splinter. I kept looking at it trying to figure out where I'd gotten a splinter and I was thinking that it didn't feel like a wood splinter (do different kinds of splinters feel different to you?), but it did feel like a metal splinter.

So I began to examine my machine and noticed tiny metal shavings on the platform between the throat plate and the housing. "Where the heck did those come from!?" I internally shouted. By now I was actually kind of panicking because I have no idea how to repair a sewing machine with a computer. Then I found it.

This.

And from another angle:

That's my needle clamp screw housing and I'm pretty sure it can't be replaced. How did this happen? Well, in order for the ruffling foot to ruffle, that 'C' shaped part goes on the needle clamp screw housing. As the needle moves up and down, it hits the 'C, which causes the ruffling foot to do its thing. Unfortunately, it really wore on my machine. This is after about ... maybe about 40 yards of tulle ruffling.

And not only did it damage the needle screw clamp housing, but because the table top machine is so lightweight and can't be secured to the surface it's on, the foot actually caused enough vibration to
break the needle loose once or twice. Luckily - as far as I know - it didn't cause any damage to the bobbin area. In addition, the ruffling foot vibrated so much during use that the settings actually changed themselves while I was working so the ruffles would be more like tiny pintuck pleats than ruffles.

Negative stuff aside, I REALLY LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of using a ruffling foot, but this one just doesn't cut it with regard to my machine.

Please learn from this - ALWAYS READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE YOU BUY - if you can find them! It look like this foot has been discontinued by Hancock's. Maybe lots of people have had the same problems.

I would love to hear any feedback on how YOUR ruffling foot does for you!

Good luck with your ruffling adventures!

**Right after I wrote this post, I contacted Hancock Fabrics about the problem. I promptly got a response and they worked with me to find a solution to my problem. In the end, they decided I bought the wrong foot (pretty dang sure I didn't, btw) and told me they wouldn't repair my machine. But they did exchange my ruffler foot for one they said is the right one. It doesn't look different to me. And it didn't look different to the wonderful ladies at my local Hancock store, either. Once I get my machine repaired, I'll give the new foot a go and see if the same thing happens. Then we'll know for sure.**