sew + tell: donna’s building block dresses

Donna recently got into a sewing craze over the holidays, creating a whole collection of Building Block Dresses and Art Museum Vests for her grandchildren. The results? Absolutely adorable! I just had to share these delightful creations with all of you. Donna is here today to tell us more about her sewing journey.  **Name:** Donna **Where can we find you online?** Flickr, Pinterest, Facebook, Etsy **Patterns Used:** Building Block Dress, Art Museum Vest **Fabrics Used:** Kaufman Manchester Metallic in silver from Gloversville Sewing Center, accented with silk velvet that I picked up last summer at Portsmouth Fabric Company. **Project Details:** When I fire up my sewing machine, a personal message pops up on the screen: "Make someone happy!" There's nothing quite as rewarding as seeing my four granddaughters and two grandsons light up with joy as they twirl around in their handmade special occasion outfits every Christmas and Easter. I adore using patterns like the Fairy Tale Dress and Garden Party Dress in luxurious fabrics such as silk, velvet, organdy, and Swiss batiste to craft timeless heirloom pieces for the girls. However, this past Christmas was a bit different. With my new part-time job at a local sewing center, my time became limited. I had a copy of the Building Block Dress pattern, and I was eager to give it a try. Between making four dresses and two boy outfits, I found myself pressed for time and inspiration. One day at work, while cutting silver metallic Christmas fabric for a client, I had an epiphany! I could design a series of simple yet elegant dresses using the Building Block Dress book, experimenting with different sleeve and collar combinations. Who doesn't love the extra flair a fuller skirt adds to a dress? It makes for endless twirling opportunities! While I worried about getting the sizing right despite living far away from the kids, following posts and discussions about the Building Block Dress gave me the confidence to dive in. Once completed, I sent the dresses off in special Christmas boxes. I received two wonderful FaceTime calls where I saw my granddaughters spinning happily in their new outfits! **How Did the Sewing Go?** The entire project was a pure delight! Everything came together quickly. The design and construction pages in the book made choosing combinations for each dress a joy. For the youngest granddaughter (age 4), I went with a classic look featuring a deep green velvet collar and puffy short sleeves. For the two older cousins (ages 7), I opted for sleeveless designs in silver with velvet belts in either deep grey or merlot tones. The middle girl (age 6), who has a creative streak and adores the color blue, got a collarless dress paired with a stunning deep blue velvet belt, keeping her look modern with classic cap sleeves. For the boys, I matched their sisters' fabrics in silver and grey. I absolutely love how the velvet gathers beautifully in their bow ties. Since the fabric was actually a quilter's cotton, the dresses and vests sewed together beautifully. The cotton does wrinkle slightly, but as you can see in the photos, the texture looks great even with a few creases. I lined each piece in either gray or white voile. Although the silk velvet presented some challenges, I only used it as an accent, so the difficulties were minimal. After finishing the dresses, I felt they needed just a touch more sparkle. My daughter suggested adding vintage pins for some bling at the waist or collar. Fortunately, my friend at Daisy Dry Goods in our village is always generous, and she helped me track down some vintage rhinestone pins and earrings to attach to the dresses. **What Was the Best Part?** While my husband and I couldn’t be with our children on Christmas Day, we visited them during the holiday break. Our Christmas celebration felt complete when all six of our grandchildren were together on New Year’s Eve, dressed in their special holiday outfits. They enjoyed watching fireworks, dancing, blowing horns, and leading us in heartfelt expressions of gratitude for the past year and hopes for the future. Watching them revel in their handmade clothes brought me immense joy, and in working to make them happy, I found myself feeling happier than ever.  This experience reminded me once again why I love sewing—it’s not just about creating something beautiful, but also about creating cherished memories. If you're interested in trying out the Building Block Dress pattern, I highly recommend it. It’s a fantastic way to experiment with different styles while ensuring comfort and elegance. Happy sewing, everyone! --- Let me know if you'd like further tweaks or additions!

Warp Knit Interlining

Woven bonded lining is a kind of lining coated with hot melt adhesive, which is one of the auxiliary materials often used in fabric production. The bonded interlining is attached to the back of the fabric after heating and pressing. When the fabric needs to express clarity and thickness, it can be reflected by adding the bonded interlining, or when the fabric is too soft and slippery to operate, adding the bonded interlining can make the fabric flexible. Woven adhesive interlining is often used in the main body or important position of the work, and also has soft and hard points, which need to be selected as appropriate.

Garment interlining is a large category of clothing accessories, which acts as a skeleton on clothing. Just like building a house requires reinforced concrete as the skeleton; making clothing requires interlining as the skeleton. Through the modeling, reinforcement and shape retention of the interlining, the clothing can form all kinds of beautiful styles.

Warp knitting interlining is a kind of adhesive interlining, and some people call it double-sided; It is made of all over as the basic coating processing, the organization is relatively simple, generally using the warp interlace weft interlining method, such organizational structure can make the warp all over soft and elastic.

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