Ruffles

In the middle of September Lori interviewed Lynne for National Sewing Month as a podcast through Sew Forth Now.  The theme was returning to sewing and one of the links Lori included was to Ruffle Fabric and a tutorial for making a ruffle skirt.   I immediately ordered both the silvery grey and a rich brown ruffle fabric. 

I thought the ruffles would run parallel to the selvedge, so I ordered 2 yards (needing enough to round my hips).  However, the ruffles run perpedicular to the selvedge so my 2 yards of each color was enough to make 4 knee length skirts - for adult women!  Of course it helps that one of the friends I made a ruffle skirt for is short - seriously - her skirt is 18" long verses mine at 26".

These are super easy to make, althought I'm not sure how to wear it.  (and honestly - posture?)  I'm not positive the sweater was the best choice, I think a belted button down might have been better.

While JB said it was just "Meh" it was fun to wear and I felt girly all day long.  So - do you have any styling tips?  How would you wear a ruffly skirt? 

Quick, Simple Sewing

I saw the ruffled fabric on Lori's podcast blog - Sew Forth Now.   More specifically, the Episode 71 where she interviews Lynne.

In the links from that episode, Lori lists a link for ruffled fabric from - get this - Ruffle Fabric dot com.  As well as a tutorial for making your own ruffle skirt.  Of course I was smitten - and it didn't hurt that Carolyn made a ruffle skirt   (scroll down).

Ruffle Fabric was lovely to deal with and a joy.  I will order from them again.

The one thing I didn't know when I ordered the fabric was that the ruffles run perpendicular to the selvedge edge - I thought they would run parrallel - so I ordered 2 yards of each color - but really only needed one yard of each to reach my knees. 

I bought a fun polka dot ruffle for the brown ruffle fabric and I bought a lovely lavendar for the grey.  But as I still had far more fabric than I needed but only bought enough elastic for 2 skirts - I bought wider black elastic at J's for more skirts. 

The two skirts shown here will be boxed up this weekend and shipped off to non-sewing friends who need a little ruffle in their life.

The Last Thing to Come Out of the Studio

Last weekend I made Vogue 1179.   Once again, I took my inspiration from Carolyn. 

This pink knit was a heavy and it really is too heavy for this dress.  But I made it anyway. 

Without the cardigan it has a maternity look, but with it - I think it's okay - not that you call tell from the only photo that JB was willing to take. 

Due to yardage limitations - the dress is just a smidge on the short side - and I put just the tiniest, narrow hem I could into it. 

I cut the dress essencially with no alternation to the pattern - with the exception of the usual - I cut a 14 though the shoulders and chest,  used my french curve to grade the lines to a 16 at the waist and then out to a 20+ at the hips.  Honestly - that was too much.  Given the ease in this dress, I could have stayed at either a 16 all the way from the underarms down or possibly an 18.

I wore the dress all day with grey tights and boots and my grey alpaca cardigan.  I was comfortable all day long.

The rest of the weekend I sat on the couch alternating reading and knitting.  I didn't feel  well and ended up staying home on Monday and unfortunately, I'm still playing catch up at work and Friday morning it's time for the Fall Sewing Retreat again. 

Starting Tuesday evening, i've been cutting and preping patterns to sew up.  I'm looking forward to a weekend away with like minded people, sewing, laughing, relaxing and generally having a good time.  How about you?

Small Sewing

Last Sunday I finally made it back down to the studio and re-traced Vogue 1250 without the full bust adjustment - but with the added room through the hips.  I had 3 yards of a slippery knit that I picked up at Joanns to trial the changes. 

3 yards is enough to cut out the blouse with it's very funny pattern pieces and just enough to cut the free Fringe Festival Knit Top from Fabric dot com.  But only because both the front and back have seams. 

I cut a 14 through the shoulders and bust, graded out to a 18 at the waist and bigger through the hips.  I put in an inch and half hem and the length is just perfect. 

The print is brown with orange, pink, yellow and white butterflies all over it.  If I make this again - I would do something different with the sleeves - they end at a funky length and make the tie longer and possibly wider so it could be doubled.  However - it was comfortable and easy to wear.  I wore it with my denim pencil skirt and a white cardigan, tights and brown pumps.  Unfortunately - I was home before JB - guess I need to learn to take mirror shots - or figure out the tripod, eh?

Too Much For Work?

This is actually my first version of Vogue 1250.  It's a lovely heathered brown that I picked up at Hancocks Fabrics.  It has a ton of extra fabric across the back width - you notice I haven't show you a photo of my backside in this dress.

Because I have seen so many of you belt this dress, I decided to try that to help suck in some of the excess fabric across the back.

I actually started out the door this morning without the cardigan.  Which, if I had known I was going to end up wearing a cardigan all day I would have grabbed blue since I wore blue pumps and blue earings and there is a little bit of blue in the cream belt I added.

Let me ask the garment people - see all the wrinkles above the belt and how much drape there is in the top?  Did I add too much with my full bust adjustment?  From the waist down the fit is perfect - seriously.  It skims my lumps, bumps and curves and while this fabric is a bit too revealing - well I didn't mind too much.  But both versions I have made so far (and yes, I think there will be more) have tons of fabric in the top and I'm wondering if I should readjust the top to take some of the extra I added out.  I added an 1" full bust adjustment.


As for the post title - when I first put this dress on, I thought it was just too much for work but I ended up wearing it to work anyway.

You've Heard it Existed

My white pencil skirt that is.  Now you can see proof. 

Almost immediately after getting the Simplicity skirt to fit one of the first variations I made was to make it a button front skirt.  It took nearly the entire month of July to make this skirt and it was honestly months in the planning.  I found the blue buttons at Sew Expo at the end of February, then bought the white denim in Portland when I meet Mary.

I cut the skirt out on July 4th, but then realized the fabric has more stretch then I anticipated and it was a bit sheer.  So - I prewashed some white muslin I had in the cupboards and slowly starting hand stitching each denim piece to the muslin and then used the denim as the pattern piece.

I had also made a red and white knit tee to wear with this, but the neckline stretched out too much while I was sewing it - even though I stabilized it.  When it didn't recover in the wash it immediately went into the round file.

Instead I wore a black, white and red tee that I made a couple years ago from a Vogue pattern.

Combining 2 Things I Love

Dresses and Dogs

This is my second version of Vogue 1250.

It feels almost "too sexy to wear to work"

but wear it to work I did.

and I was comfortable all day and only a little self conscious.

the dogs are Beau and Lucy.

I was holding a squeaker that Lucy liberated

and teasing her with it.

You can't see it - but the back has a bit too much extra fabric.

I think I've figure out how to eliminate that - with the next version.

I spent about 2.5 hours last Friday altering the pattern.

I used Debbie's technique for a full bust adjustment and added another 3" to the skirt.

I used The Sewing Lawyer's info to add to the cowl

and now I'm busy looking for more knits to make into this dress.

Last of the Summer Dresses?

Taking a page from Carolyn's book - I've been on a dress kick.  I've also seen this particular pattern on Snug Bug's Blog a couple of different times. 

After making a couple of Vogue 1250s this weekend, I cut out Kwik Sew 3758.  I made no alterations to this pattern, other than to compare the bodice to my favorite KS tee shirt pattern.  I used some white double knit from the cupboard and a very old, but lightweight quilting cotton.  I had some sparkly lavender cotton that I used for the belt. 

There is a piece of clear elastic sewn to the seam that joins the skirt to the bodice. 

I wore the dress Monday night to go out to dinner and then to see The Help. It was cool and comfortable and I could maybe see a few 'grown up' versions for the Fall, but the problem is - the fabrics I see for the skirt for Fall versions (wool, plaids, velvet) are too heavy to gather gracefully into that full skirt.

Pictures before the end of the week of the second V1250 - Promise - I'm wearing it to work today.

Dress #2

Last weekend, I managed to finish not 1, but 2 dresses.  It honestly takes me for-freakin-ever to get anything finished.  The last dress took me almost the entire month of June.  This one took 2 weekends.  I don't sew during the week - I work, cook dinner, walk dogs and knit.


This is the second version of the Monique Dress.  This version is fully lined and made from a much, much softer cotton than the first version.


I lengthened the front bodice this time so the waist band is level all around.  The lining has an a-line skirt rather than the full, gathered skirt.


Again - I used just one fabric but I do have several 2 fabric versions all ready to go on the cutting table.  However, to "spice" it up a bit I added rick rack to the waist band seams. 

I can see from the photos that this still isn't perfect. There are some strange wrinkles above the bust, but you know what? It's good enough.  Does that make me a horrible garment maker?  I don't think so.  It's much, much better than anything I could buy in ready to wear.  The waistband fits snugly and the skirt floats and skims my belly and hips.  It doesn't catch on my rear. 

Even lined - it was light and comfortable to wear on one of the first hot days we've had in Seattle.  Next up:  I have the white denim button front skirt cut - but that's as far as I managed to get this weekend.  I was completely unmotivated to do anything.  Actually, I think I was fighting off a Summer cold.  Now it's back to the work week. 

Dress #1

I have been sewing - honest!

Last September I made a muslin of this dress, but labeled it as the wrong pattern and then set it aside waiting to get help from my ASG group. 

In June, I drug the un-ironed muslin to the meeting and slipped it on.  For the life of me, I couldn't remember what I thought the issues were - the muslin fit great!  So I came home and cut it out of a bright crazy cotton print. 

The pattern is Simplicity 3744 - it's a slimmer silhouette than I usually wear, but it was comfortable.  It's not perfect, but it's very, very good and wearable. 

Again, I moved the zipper from the center back to the side seam - that was pretty tricky to put in with the curves along my side.

Looking at the side view here - I can see I really need to get back to super hoola hoop on the Wii! I wore the dress out to dinner on Friday night and it was comfortable.  I was very aware of standing and sitting straight and keeping my tummy in.  The dress isn't perfect, the neckline is a bit too wide - and I'll think about how to fix that in the next version. 

Happy July everyone!