Sponsored Post- LLK Peasant-Style Sewalong- Day 1- Getting Started

Hello, lovely readers! Today, I'm thrilled to take part in the Little Lizard King October Sewalong! This is my first time leading a sewalong and I'm really excited to guest on the Little Lizard King blog, and right here on All Things Katy! 

Welcome, welcome, welcome readers new and old, sewists of all levels and those of you that just want to have a little sewing fun!

What:

-A sewalong is a personal sewing challenge done in "community" with others throughout the internet. It will end in the creation of a beautiful peasant-style dress.

When:

-This week- Monday, October 13, 2014- Friday, Friday, October 17, 2014-, we're sewing up peasant-style dresses (Personally, I'll be sewing up the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress). I will do one blog post, each day, walking you through the steps of creating the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress.

-Winners* (Yes, I said WINNERS! :-) will be announced after Monday, October 20, 2014

How to get started/join:

Interested in joining? (I bet you are! Did I mention that there will be winners selected at the end of the sewalong?! ;-)

-First, purchase the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress pattern. (or, the Princess Dress pattern). Both the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress and the Princess Dress will be discounted this week. Just use the code, "ARIA" when checking out on the Little Lizard King Website. While you're at it, why not pick up the Princess or Birthday Crown pattern? The crown would be the perfect finishing touch to your already gorgeous dress! (Discount code for the crown is "CROWN.")

-Second, follow along with the sewalong on either the Little Lizard King blog, or, right here on All Things Katy! I'll be posting daily, with pictures, tips and suggestions.

-Lastly, using the hashtag,  #LLKPEASANT to share your beautiful creation(s) on the Little Lizard Cafe (Facebook Sewing Group). You MUST use the hashtag, " #LLKPEASANT" in order to be entered in the contest.

*There will be three winners selected. One from each of the following categories, 1)Fan favorite, 2)LLK favorite, 3)Participation Winner (selected by www.Random.org). And, a teeny, tiny birdie told me that if you wow the socks off of the judges, we just *might* add a fourth winner for "most creative." *Hint, Hint* Halloween is right around the corner and these peasant-style dresses would be PERFECT (and quick to whip up!) for all those pint-sized princesses out there! ;-)

Okay- is everybody ready? Let's get started!

*****
Day 1- Getting Started

If you've gotten this far in the blog post, you are ready to roll! You've already purchased the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress pattern (or, the Princess Dress pattern). Go ahead and read through the tutorial(s), If you have any questions, feel free to hop on over the Little Lizard Cafe and post your questions. We'll try to help along the way. :-)

Now, print out your pattern piece. For both the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress and the Princess Dress there is just one page of pattern pieces to print. One! That's it! No pattern assembly required. No tape needed.. Couldn't be simpler- just print, cut out the appropriate size (For the sake of this sewalong, I'll be sewing the size 5. Any measurements that I reference throughout the sewalong will be pertain to size 5.) and be done- love that!

Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress Pattern Piece
(Make sure to print your pattern at 100%, no scaling. The little square should measure 1")

Now, here comes the fun part- select your fabric! Look through your fabric stash (Or, if you are lucky enough, go SHOPPING :-) and decide what fabric should be the bodice, which should be the sash, the skirt, the ruffle, the sleeves, etc. Another really great thing about the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress is that it has a kind of "bohemian" feel to it. This means that as long as all the fabrics have the at least one little part with the same color, it will more than likely coordinate and flow as an overall dress.

Here are the fabrics that I chose for my Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress.

Selected fabrics- there's a whole lot of pink/pattern going on....! :-)

Sadly, my Lil' Miss is getting to the size where just one yard of fabric isn't enough for a full dress. I've been sitting on this Michael Miller Sweet Treats fabric for some time now, not sure what to create. So, combined with various other scraps, the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress is a perfect way to use up my hoarded precious fabric!

Our final task for Day 1 of the LLK Peasant-Style Sewalong is to cut out our fabric pieces. Cut the fabric according to the "Measurement Chart" on slide 3. Cut according to the size that you are sewing. Once again, for the sake of this sewalong, I'll be sewing a size 5. For the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress, each pattern piece will be a rectangle (Tomorrow, I'll show you how to use the armhole pattern piece we printed out, above). For now, just cut out your rectangles. Press each piece so that it's nice and smooth.

Bodice and Sleeves

Side Sash, Center Waist Sash, Tuxedo Ruffle

Skirt 

(This gorgeous Michael Miller "Sweet Treats" fabric was too busy (for my liking) to do four separate panels. Therefore, I just added the width of two panels and cut two pieces- one for the skirt front and one for the skirt back.)

Skirt Ruffle

Once you've selected your fabrics and cut your pieces, go ahead and take a little break. We'll be picking up, right here, tomorrow. See you then!

Happy Sewing,

Heather

http://www.allthingskaty.blogspot.com/