I'd love to see all the different dresses people on here have made for themselves and thought it might be interesting to see how different patterns turn out. The link below is to pics of two dresses I made from Kwik Sew pattern no. 3154. The black one is in wet look lycra with silver foiled stars and a 'galaxy' of rhinestones and the greeny blue one is in a clear sequinned lycra velvet. Will add more of other patterns when I find them.

If you have pics and wouldn't mind posting a link to them here with some info on the pattern and fabrics used etc I'd love to see them.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...f&id=602703870

Those dresses look great! I love the pattern. Now if I could only sew...

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Amazing dresses, I can't sew but what I do is take whatever dresses I have and make them a matching bracelet. I made one for my competition dress this year and when I compete I wear the bracelet and my mom (who I made a matching bracelet for) wears hers also. I guess it's a good luck charm, well sort of.

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I made all my dresses without a pattern lol...

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Tidesong

Can we see pics?

LOL yeah I did the no pattern thing too (www.geocities.com/sessy_liz/bootcovers/ ), but I bought a pattern now too because you kinda need it if you wanna sewn-in pants. I did some pants with the second dress, patternless, but I wasn't happy with them eventually and replaced by others.

I really like the starry dress!

I don't have pics of a decent size here I have to dig them up (some I may not have at all...), but I got the videos here...
These I sewed everything...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=daBS0y1rBCk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=idHMWiHlpKU
http://youtube.com/watch?v=c56dZgpspzs


then these two I bought the leotard, sewed the skirt on and converted an existing top and sewed it to the leotard
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2jZC0Nfiiuw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Egv6pBx6AaM

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Tidesong

why is the third video flagged as adult content?!

Lovely dresses (great to see you skate too!). On the ones where you made the whole thing were you able to copy from another dress or did you design it all yourself as well. Very impressive either way!
I couldn't get to the third video either since it claimed adult content - did it just have the word 'adult' in the title maybe?

Not sure I'd be able to follow your instructions on those dresses but the end results look good. I liked the bit about not using zippers 'cos they're difficult. That's why I now use the Kwik Sew pattern with the low neckline that just pulls on - no fastenings at all.

I did put a zipper in this dress
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...b&id=602703870

It was made for a march rhythm original dance and adapted from a Butterick pattern no 5781 in puple velvet lycra. I used the plain body with the long sleeves, made the skirt longer, changed the collar to a stand up (mandarin type) one and added the gold frogging.

Unfortunately I followed their pattern instructions precisely and put a full length zipper in the back. The result of course is that all the stretch that you would normally get from the lycra fabric is constrained by the totally non-stretch zipper with the result that you skate with a permanent wedgie - not good!!!!!! As usual I was still making it the day before the competition so did not have time to replace the zipper. (Still maybe it helped the posture as I won that class!)

If I made this pattern again I would put in a much shorter zipper (half the suggested length would be more than enough to get it on - or put it in at the side seam maybe where you don't need the stretch so much)

Lovely dresses everyone.

I have a mock up of a freestyle dress cut out, but I'm scared to sew it. It's not even with good fabric yet! But I think skating costumes are beyond my sewing means...

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I did something else on a dress that I tested the first time in, I didn't put in a zipper, I put pressure eh... thingies. You know like two little buttons, one with a hole, the other with a pin in the middle, you press them together? That way both stayed stretch - and let's face it, they're easy to apply. But it was a bit hard to put that dress on cuz of the 12 of those pins I needed or so. Not good when your hands already are shaking with nerves. Besides the skirt made my butt look REALLY big so I bagged that dress.

I kinda need a closed chest and back, otherwise I'm coughing my lungs out the next day. That kinda complicates the stuff I can wear (the black-and-white dress didn't work for me for that reason btw) so I can't really have dresses that just pull over your head... *sigh*
I've got a pattern by Jolie now which has a small closing on the back.

Mine are really simple. Some are really ugly too!
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Sessy- I believe that the word you are needing for these "thingies" (which your description described quite well) in American English is "snap".

(or more properly "snap button"- but I've never actually heard someone use that. I just saw that a lot when googling for images to confirm this is what you were talking about, so I didn't instruct you on the wrong word.)

Is this what you are talking about? These are snaps.
http://ccc178.ec51.com/images/bank/1162795290.jpg

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Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

otherwise known as 'poppers' in the UK

yep that's them!

funny, poppers are small bottles of feigling around here.

Go for it! Skating costumes are very forgiving of small mistakes. The stretch fabric means fit is not such an issue and as they are only going to be seen from a distance then you don't have to be too perfect.

If your machine has a decent stretch stitch then sewing lycra should be quite easy.

The velvet lycra can be more of a problem as it can tend to creep but with plenty of pins it usually works (I can never be bothered to tack before I sew!)
It usually looks best with the pile direction running up the body too which gives a deeper colour and less unwanted 'shine'.

The bit I hate is putting in the elastic for the knickers and necklines which is why I am putting off finishing my costume for the Christmas show. It is a Pirate styled skating dress (we are billed as 'sexy lady pirates ' ) but if it works out OK I will eventually put the pic on this thread.

Sessy - what on earth is feigling??????

Well, I did have the word 'adult' in the title I think... hmm. Anyways, I just kinda designed the whole thing as I went along. I always do it leotard and skirt. I always start with a rectangular looking thing, thats why I haven't really bothered with sleeves yet and then I cut the neck line into what I like, then I add or subtract other cloth for decorative purposes, make straps if needed and then sequin until satisfied hehehehe. Skirts are almost always circular. I have also tried box skirt (which isn't up there...)

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Tidesong

i don't even have a stretch stitch on my 50's sewing machine. I just use zigzag.
Oh yeah I do have an overlock, but half the time I don't use that either - lycra doesn't ruffle, so just the zig-zag of the seam is already enough half the time.

feigling is a type of strong liquor.

How do you put in the elastic? I just fold it over and leave a centimetre from the edge to form a tunnel I can put an elastic through with a pin later on, but I hate the fact that then you have this zigzag stitch all over it. Is there a better way? Plain stitch rips when stretched.

I've always followed the patterns which tend to suggest zigzagging the elastic to wrong side of material with elastic close to edge of material, then fold over and zigzag again just catching down inner edge of elastic. You do end up with the zig zag stitch on top but if the thread colour matches I haven't found this to be very noticeable. You do have to divide the elastic in to quarters with pins and stretch it to fit the neckline/knickerline whatever but I find it easier than having to thread through after wards.

Is there a website for skating dress patterns? Or even separates?

Couldn't find any in the regular pattern catalogs at our fabric store...

Kwik Sew has quite a few patterns, and I use them for almost all my dresses. They are easily modified. You can find them at any store that sells Kwik Sew (our local Hancock Fabrics carried them, until it closed on me! ) or on their website www.kwiksew.com

I also have a few Jalie patterns. They are nice patterns, and the few I have used turned out good. The panties are cut a but narrower in the back, so they tend to show more backside than I like. I just cut them a bit wider. They come from Canada, you can find them at www.jalie.com. I just looked, and I think I need to shop a bit....

There is another company called Specialty Sportswear. I have never used them, they look a bit pricey, and the site kinda confuses me (not hard to do!) www.specialtysportswear.com

Honestly, Kwik Sew gets me to wherever I want to go. They are very straighforward patterns, and they don't assume you already know how to sew.

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I second the Kwik Sew recommendation. I've used several of their patterns for myself and for my kids and have always found them easy to follow and with good results. They also do a book on sportswear that includes a multi pattern for all sorts of leotards, swimsuits, cycling shorts, skirts etc which would be great for anyone wanting to design their own stuff as almost every style is in there somewhere!

I had trouble finding any in the ordinary pattern books til I discovered they are often under the 'costumes' part along with the fancy dress patterns!

Here's another I've made from the Jolie pattern. I, too, found the panties too high-cut, even after I made them lower in cut after reading somebody's findings above. So next time I'll make them even lower. Also I'd have liked to see the back neckline cut a little higher, so I'll modify that next time too. The shawl doesn't go with the dress.

Here's the backside without the shawl.

Thanks for posting the pics, Sessy. That Jalie dress looks really good on you--it fits very nicely.

I wanted to try one of their skating dress patterns that has a kimono-like bodice, but I wasn't sure if the fit would be good in the arms, as the sleeves looked kind of loose in odd places on the model on the package.

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