An Easter Dress

Hello! I decided to post some pics of my project in progress... it's an Easter dress for one of my daughters. It's in a burnout poly/cotton print that I picked up at JoAnne's recently. It's semi transparent, so some of the "guts" of the dress will be visible from the outside. Read "this might be a disaster". It's the same pattern as The Sorbet Dress, so I've dealt with the difficulties already and should be prepared for them... hopefully!

Cutting out the pattern using the muslin... I fitted this dress to my daughter, and narrowed the waist by three inches. She's a stringbean. A cute one.

And finally, a pic of the hem of the dress, using Hug Snug, just like the Sorbet Dress.

Watermelon Blouse

I love watermelon. I love the whole bright, sweet, juicy, messy lot... Here is a blouse, made in lovely watermelon chiffon. It's a simple blouse that I made as a practice garment for chiffon, before I started the pindot blouse, with sweet little aqua buttons on the placket.

And here is is styled with my White Market skirt and a pretty pale aqua Land's End cardigan.

 I'm wearing it tomorrow night to dinner with my sister and her NEW fiancee!!

Pattern: Simplicity 2211

Cost: $6

Time: 6 hours

Note to Self: You need to make more CASUAL clothes, that's what you usually wear!

Black Pindot Chiffon Blouse Day 1

So... four words: What Was I Thinking????

This chiffon is fiddly, hard to cut out, difficult to sew, and the pindots make it kind of op art ish... it's hard to focus my eyes when looking at it! Here are the two front pieces, and a difficult curved seam to fit over the ladies... this pattern is a difficult one, as well, I should have chosen a loose, flowy top to use with this fabric. BUT, I love the idea of this blouse in the chiffon with my plaid jumper, or my white market skirt, or my bright teal coco chanel inspired skirt, or my black and cream lace skirt, or my burnt orange skirt, or even a pair of jeans!! 

Here it is with all but the hardest part pinned. How do I pin these two pieces together? Well... it's mostly just matching edges and tons of pins along the seam line. Then I baste the seam before I sew, just in case I have trouble with the curve.

Here is the result, the seam is a bit puckered, even after pressing, not sure what to do about that... I think it happened when I was zigzagging the seam to finish the edge.

 I've already clocked 3 hours on this blouse and I've only got the two fronts sewn!

However, there is a bonus to this difficult fabric, I can only work on it in daylight, which means lots of picture opportunities... so get ready for a play by play on the pindot blouse!!

Sound of Music Dress

The Sound of Music dress... Why? Like our lovely Maria, I used old curtains to make a play dress! These used to be my living room curtains and since we moved, I've been using them to line my cutting board for slippery fabrics, for muslins, and just to look at on my shelf! The dress is constructed from the muslins for my Coral Silk Cocktail Dress which makes it NEARLY free. All I had to buy was a zipper. And since I'd already cut the pieces in the construction of my silk dress, I only had to cut the lining from the fabric leftover from the shirt dress I made for my daughter for Easter. So, on both the moolah and time fronts, this dress is super economical.

Also, very cute, I think... it has a rather 1960's feel and is in a cool cotton for summer, with a shell print or anemones or just... what are they??? Whatever they are, they will be perfect for our trip to the beach this summer! It's styled with a thrifted white woven belt and a necklace I made of ribbon and black faceted beads.

Project: Sound of Music Dress
Pattern: M5972
Project Time: 4.5 hours
Cost: $3
Note to Self: Wear with black flats or brown sandal wedges and rock it, Girl!

Dressform

I have a new model... She's a trooper, I tell ya! Just stands there, modelling my clothes quietly, and she's just my size! Here she is in my new top and skirt... 

And here in my new top and an old skirt that I made two years ago.

These are both Lisette patterns, which aren't difficult to sew at all... the top was actually cut out on Tuesday morning and worn to quiz night at a local pub Tuesday night... of course, someone said it looked like blood spots were on it (sob). It's actually made from Japanese double gauze by Naomi Ito, and a dream to work with... presses beautifully, and has just a tiny bit of bite, I hardly had to pin the straight seams at all! It's thin but not see through, cool, and the prints have that lovely Japanese minimalist aesthetic and refined feel. I bought some that's a wee bit thicker for a summer dress that's coming up soon in the queue. The color of natural muslin, that thick cream color is good for my coloring.

The skirt is a nice cream corduroy... Good for spring or fall, though it's a wee bit short for my taste... perhaps I'll have to fit the next one more carefully at the waist and lengthen a smidge. For there WILL be a next one, the pattern is simple and clean and not difficult to sew. 

I think the buttons are sweet, but I've already replaced the ones I used for a St. Patrick's Day dance.

Patterns:  Both Simplicity, Skirt: 2211, Top: 2245


Cost: Skirt: $20, Top: $26


Time: Skirt: 8 leisurely hours, Top: 6 hours

Painting in Color

Painting my dining room counts, I think! Painting the ceiling wasn't THAT hard, but it was a challenge. I think it was worth it!

Project Cost: Martha Stewart Paint Colors: Mushroom 1 gallon Satin, Powder Puff 1 gallon Flat. $28


Time: FOREVER I didn't bother to tape the trim, and it was a LOT of trim


Notes to Self: Find those pretty apricot Lusterwear tea things and get them displayed! Find a new china pattern to collect.

Some Sweet Nothings

I have been buying blouse patterns... And I splurged and bought some black pindot satin at JoAnne's the other day, but then realized that I don't want a shiny black blouse with pindots... and so, I decided to make a camisole and tap pants, which I've been wearing a lot lately. I used some old cream lace that I had in my stash, and it looks sweet on the satin...


The set looks so sweet and feminine... and is just as pretty inside as out... French seams and cream lace... mmmmmmmmmm.

 I'm sure most of you know what French seams are but, if not... I'll make a sort of tutorial about them, and how to press seams, too. Yay! So, without further ado... the Sweet Nothings... I have plans and materials to make two more sets, it was so easy and fun!

Project Cost: $8


Project Time: 5 hours


Pattern: One of Meemaw's she gave me long ago!!


Note to Self: I do not love the camisole, it is wearable, but not perfectly so... I think I'll try to draft a new one... or get a new cami pattern?

French Seams

Well, Lovelies, the first thing that I want to say is this: sewing a garment that will last a long time, and continue to bring pleasure for years takes time to do it right. You don't just throw things together and say... ah, that's good enough! You CAN do that for things like children's halloween costumes, that are only used for one night... Who cares if they stay together or not, later?


One thing that is always a temptation for me, is to leave seams unfinished... I don't like to use my serger (a whole nother issue!!!) and I dislike the look of zigzagging.... I don't have pinking shears, which really only work on things that are lined, anyway (though I'm gonna get some of those soon!) My favorite way to finish a seam is to use a French seam, which does take a little longer, but is really an economical use of your time and energy, and works really well on straight seams and fine fabrics.


Most patterns have a seam allowance of 5/8 inch.. this means that if you're using a french Seam on your garment, you first pin your garment WRONG sides together, and stitch 1/4 inch from your edge.

Then you trim your seam to 1/8 inch, you don't want little bits of your fabric getting caught in your next seam, and you don't want it to be bulky, so trim it, carefully... I usually put the seam on the left and trim from the right of it... I'm much more precise like that.

Then you press, first one way...

Then the other...

Then you turn the garment inside out and press the seam from that direction...

And then you press it folded at the seamline and pin it for sewing that same seam again...

Yes, you just pressed it four times. Pressing is sooooo important to sewing and one of the first mistakes novices make... press and press and press... your garment will look good longer, will look more professional, and will lie better on your body if you can manage to take the time to press it, correctly. Now... to do it properly you need a couple of tools I do not yet have... a tailor's ham and a sleeve roll, for curved seams and sleeves... I'll get to those eventually... So for now I just do the VERY best I can with the tools I have.


Aaaaaaaaanyway, now you make another 1/4 inch seam, with fabric pinned RIGHT sides together, and enclose your edges inside that tube you're making, as you sew.... 

Here's the crotch of the tap pants, with my two french seams meeting in a third french seam... see how I pressed them in opposite directions before I sewed them together? That helps take a bit of the bulk out of the seam, making it smoother... 

Now, why go to all that trouble? First, it'll help the garment last longer... an exposed seam will unravel a bit every time you wash it, ESPECIALLY on fine fabrics and silks, they're slippery fibers... and you're gonna wash undies a LOT. Second, it feels smoother against your skin, and this garment is worn right next to your skin! Third, it's so pretty!!!

Plaid Dress

Hello all you readers... the two of you! I've finally got pictures of my new plaid dress!!! Even after a pattern change and fitting woes, it turned out to be a very successful print and has gotten tons of compliments already. I've worn it twice so far, out dancing with my hubs the day I finished it... with a white collared, button up blouse (with a little white embroidery on the collar, so ladylike!), with black fishnets and black boots... sort of a good girl gone bad look... And shopping yesterday! I got hubs to take some pics right before I left... I tried the dark tight, colored shoe look that's so in... I'm.... ambivalent about it. Should I have gone with black lace or fishnet or something???

Here you see the blue flower I knew would look so well, and I have to say I'm VERY satisfied with the fitting of the dress, especially through the bustline, though I didn't make a muslin first... the only thing I somethimes think I maybe should have done is either narrow the strap or widen the scoop?? I did alter the neckline by a good three inches, and I think it turned out wonderfully. I didn't quite get the plaid to line up on the back... I should have cut the back pieces out one at a time and made sure it matched perfectly... ah, well... it sure does take a lot of time and patience to get things just exactly how I want them!

Black Lace and Cream

Here is my lovely new skirt! I think it turned out to be a very pretty skirt! Here modeled by me and my Red Poppy Blouse. 

Pattern: M5523

Project Cost: $18

Note to Self: Hand wash, and wear a waist cincher!

Chicago Yarn

When I travel, I buy yarn as a souvenir... usually sock yarn. This yarn I bought on a trip to Chicago to visit my sister... I also taught her to knit on that trip! I'd put off making socks for awhile with this yarn. I think because I wasn't sure how the colors would work up and I was nervous to pick a pattern. I finally decided to just make a toe up vanilla sock with a short row heel and just enjoy the colors, and I do!

Notice my peacock blue velour jogging suit! I'm a real suburban housewife, I promise!

Here are a few reasons to buy sock, or lace, yarn as a souvenir (or just as a gift for ME):


1. Easy to pack in a corner of your suitcase or stuff into your purse, or if push comes to shove, into your bra to carry home.


2. The more local the yarn the more memorable and evocative of the area it will be, so choosing a yarn that reminds you of the locale is a fun exercise in creativity. Combine that with the thousands of sock patterns available, you can pick something that evokes the feeling of your trip, perfectly, even if it was full of detours!


3. It's relatively inexpensive. Yes, a ball of sock yarn can be pricey, but it's just one or two small balls.


4. Finally, you'll get to think of the trip the whole time you knit the socks AND every time you wear them, much more useful than a knic-knack you stick on a shelf.

Blue Silk Flower

You know what? These are addicting... just as fun as knitting socks, only almost instant gratification... I used the scraps from the skirt lining and a vintage button, soooo pretty. This one I singed the edges of the petals using a candle, while I watched a kind of disappointing movie with hubs Sunday night...


Won't it look smashing with my pin dot blouse? When I finally make it???

Project cost: $0.25

Time: 30 min 

Big Plans

Next Project is a skirt. I bought this MAGnificent black on cream brocade woven at JoAnne's. Lots of drape and it just happens to look amazing with my new Poppy flowers... I think it's gonna be smashing, but should I put in some black piping or bias tape on some of the seams to really make it pop?


Here is the same lining I used on the first legacy skirt: a beautiful bright blue synthetic... china silk isn't cheap... sigh... BUT, I think I'm gonna need a turquoise blouse to wear with this skirt. And probably a cream wool skirt to go with that. Sorry, rabbit trail.... 


And beside that is a lovely chiffon, black with a tiny pin dot... which will look amazing with the copper skirt and the black lace brocade skirt as a blouse... OH, now I'm gonna need a black camisole (add it to the list! Fortunately I already have the pattern for THAT, mmmmmm black charmeuse, REAL silk this time...)