Hi this is Jenifer here with you today to share a couple things you can do to handmade clothing to give it more of a designer look. My daughter needed a dress for a recital that she was performing in; all of the dresses we found were not really appropriate or didn’t really fit properly. My daughter is very tall and thin and what will fit her waist ends up being 5 or 6 inches to short in the length and if we buy the right length then she is usually swimming in it. To get the proper fit and length I usually end up making her clothing but I try to add little touches to give it more of a designer feel instead of handmade look.

For this dress I used Simplicity pattern 2986 and added about 4″ to the length. May Arts have such fun, beautiful and quality ribbons to make my garments go from good to fantastic.

A few yards of eyelet around the sleeves and hem give a nice finished look. Honestly it doesn’t take to much more time to add these little details. The details make the difference.

For the hem I used some eyelet and then a piece of mesh ribbon to cover my cut edges, to give a beautiful finished seam.

To finish off the dress I fashioned a belt with a bow from the EA line.

Here she is in her dress all ready to go. She even has some of the May Arts elastic in her hair as a headband and a hair tie 🙂

By Jenifer Cowles