Friday finish - sweater dress

My daughter, Lizzie decided to organise a sewing day with our friend Laura. Between themselves, they chose a project - Quilt block your sweatshirt by Fancy That Design House.

The first order of the day was to visit a couple of charity shops for sweatshirts. A second sweep of the two shops provided something to embellish as stock was being put out as we shopped. In the first shop Lizzie was thrilled to find two game controllers with venom packs (??). They need to be checked today as Lizzie returns home tomorrow.

I changed the block in the pattern to be completely symmetrical just by turning four half square triangle blocks. I had decided to do a Xmas block and had recently tidied my box of Xmas fabric, so I was able to search by fabric colour. I started with three penguin fabrics, which we purchased at Gather Here in Boston in Autumn 2019. Little did we realise then what 2020 would look like! I used two of the penguin fabrics and also the white and red by Aneela Hoey and the red fabric from my Xmas box. The red fabric is slightly directional, so I cut the red rectangles carefully - two horizontally and two vertically. Probably I'm the only person it would annoy, but I felt it was worth it.

Once the block was pieced, I carefully considered my options for attaching the block to the sweatshirt dress. First, I cut off the hood to the dress to reduce the bulk. I then added a piece of very thin iron on wadding to the back of the block ensuring it was 12" square. Then I pressed the seam allowances to the back of the block. I then stitched down the seam allowance and quilted the block. Finally, I stitched the piece to the back of the dress and did additional quilting around and across the centre square, so it was secure. 

I added a contrast ribbing at the neckline, but it is too floppy, and I think I will replace it with a shorter grey neck piece. I had thought I would turn the dress into a sweatshirt but it's actually quite a nice length and lovely and warm for the winter. That is definitely our last joint project for now.