It's a Wrap!

 There really is nothing more to say about this dress.

I can buy fabric, pretreat, cut, sew and wear in close to the same day.   With the exception of my tendency to thrust my stomach forward, the dress is flattering. 

As I was cutting this version - I decided I wanted long sleeves and thought I had enough fabric to make LONG sleeves, but I didn't.  So I cut them as long as I could and make a pleat at the bottom of the sleeve to mimic the pleats going on elsewhere in the dress - at the shoulders, and the waist. 

Even though this is a very thin knit (bought at Hobby Lobby) I was plenty warm all day and never put on the cardigan I brought with me just in case.

I also finally remembered to shorten the ties and while I could wrap them around to the front and tie them, I just tied them in the back in a bow.  Maybe a bit too twee - but I got a ton of compliments on the dress and hubby thought it came from Nordstroms - even though he got the straight from the sewing room preview when I finished it last Thursday - Men! 

Anyway - as the title says - I think it's time to put this pattern aside for awhile.  This is the 4th make from this pattern and while they all look different, I think I'm ready to try another pattern for a minute. 

Plaid Pencil Skirt

 

It took me 3 weeks to make this simple, simple skirt. 

The fabric was bought at JoAnn's and most likely won't last long, but it's okay.

It's lined and the lining has a bit of lace on the edge.

I didn't have Jay take photos of the lining, but you can sorta see the lace

peeking out from the bottom of the skirt - so frustrating. 

 

The pattern is simplicity 2154 and I really want to try the cardigan from this pattern.

I added 2" to the length of the skirt and pegged the hem a bit more.

But then I hemmed it 2", so.

 

The dog had to be in the picture.

I have a pink sweater the same color as the pink in the plaid.

Maybe next time, pink would be better than white.

 

Zig Zag Wrap Dress

It was a long day and honestly, I was ready to change and eat.

I was tired of waiting for JB and he decided that's when he'd start taking photos.

But this is how I wore the dress all day - with a red cardi.

I wore a black slip under the dress and grey tights and pumps.  Can you believe I don't own a pair of black pumps?  I know - me either.  Must be time to go shopping. 

Looking at the photos - I can see that the cheater step I took to hem this dress isn't holding and I need to add some stitches. 

This is the 3rd version of B5454 and with the exception of the ties - they are way too long, I love this dress.  It's comfortable,
easy to wear, and I feel cute and stylish.  There will definitely be more versions of this dress.

While I did an okay job matching the print across the waist seam and shoulders - I did a really crappy job matching the print at the side seams.  Don't believe me?  See below.

The Border Print Wrap

There's not a lot to say about this dress. It's another version of B5454. .

The fabric came from Girl Charlee and it's thinner than I expected,

but still worked great for this dress

 

Photos taken in our hotel room while we were in Vegas.

 

JB is getting better - but um, hon?  Could you tell me when I'm all wrinkled across the back?

I'm sure he didn't even notice.

 

Border matching at the side seam.  This side is better than the other.

The border print is a wave - so matching was difficult.

But I didn't too horrible of a job.

In Vegas I threw on sandals and went out with bare legs.

At home, tights, boots, and a cardi.

 

I love this dress and am wondering how many wrap dresses is too many.

Birthday Dress

This is the second version of McCalls 6503 and there will be more!  I love this dress.  It was fun and easy to wear and got lots of compliments from strangers. 

Why the birthday dress?  Well because Monday was my birthday and it was the first day I wore it.  This time, I faced the collar with the solid contrasting fabric so it stood out.   I also added tiny, tiny (barely visible) yellow piping to the bottom of the sleeves and the yellow bow belt. 

I took out the extra length from the front bodice at the side seams only and it worked great! 

I added as much length to the skirt as my fabric would allow - which was only 2.5" and still wasn't quite enough.    With wider fabric I think I can get a skirt that long enough I don't have to do something funny to get it hemmed.


For this version I cut 2.5" wide slightly bias (cut on the 60 - because that's what I had room on my scraps for), seamed them together and then sewed it to the dress with the tiniest seam allowance I could.  I finished those inside edges, folded a tiny little bit at the top down and then hemmed the dress with a blind hem. 

It's a bit short - but it's fine.  With tights nobody can really tell anyway. 

I had company for dinner on Monday and they had just arrived as I was corralling JB to take photos.  The good doctor was playing 'model photograher' and whooping and hollering.  Yelling - "yea baby!  Work it!  That's what I want to see."  I was laughing so hard - there wasn't a decent photo in the shot!  But it was very fun!

Next up - what we did for JB's birthday.  Don't forget to enter the drawing to win the extra copy of Pamela's Perfect Pencil Skirt pattern. 

Guess What?

I made a dress!  Taking a page from Carolyn's book - I made the retired Simplicity 3744.  This is now the 3rd version of this dress. 

This version is unlined and made from a fabulous cotton print that screamed at me last weekend when I was sick and finally stir crazy by Saturday.  I decided to run out quickly and get some supplies needed for the polka dot dress (you've seen it on Instagram) and this spoke to me. 

Originally it told me it wanted to be a different dress and while I was pretreating the fabric, I heard the call of this Simplicity pattern.  Saturday night I slept on it and went back and forth between the two pattern, but I think (hope) this one was the right choice. 

This is the first time I've put sleeves on this pattern.  And honestly - I have share that while I was showering yesterday I was totally wondering how I finished the armholes because I didn't remember doing it.  Crazy!

The only changes I made to the pattern was to open the neckline up a little bit.  Apparently I'm quite narrow though my upper chest.  The first version gaps at bit at the neckline - which I fixed with 2 strategically placed tucks.  For the second version, I moved the top of the center front slightly off the fold and it still doesn't lay right.  This time, I moved it 1/4" off the fold - just the very top, getting back to the fold within 5" of the top of the pattern piece.  Then I also widened the opening using my french curve for a graceful curved opening.

Carolyn - I told JB you said he had to take more than 3 photos and it was his job to get me to relax and not be so self conscious while he was taking the photos, to talk to me and make me laugh and get cute, flattering photos.  He said - why is that my job?  Because you are behind the camera dear!

This dress was easy to wear and while we were yarn shopping the girl at the counter said "That's a cute dress.  Did you make it?"  Why does that follow up question always make me freeze?

Happy Monday!  I have 4 more dresses waiting to be worn and shown - including the border print (that still isn't hemmed) from retreat!

Butterick 5454 - Thanks Elizabeth!

Butterick 5454 is another dress that I saw on a blogger (Elizabeth of Sewn!)  And thought - Oh, I love that dress and I have a ton of dress lengths of knits - wonder if I can wear that. 

The weekend before retreat I had run to Hancocks to looks for some ponte knits and came home with 2 knits.  They both took a trip through the washer and dryer and then one of them got cut out as 'fake fabric' for the Butterick dress.

Just like the other dress - I worked on faith.  I made very few adjustments  mostly to the back .  I adjusted the sleeves to be short.  These days I prefer short sleeves or sleeveless - because honestly - long sleeves are just too hot.  I raised the front by half and inch.  And I cut the skirt at the biggest size on the pattern - trusting the finished garment measurements printed on it that it would in fact fit my hips without adding more room.   Oh - but I did add length - 6 inches!

This is such a quick dress to make and I sewed it completely on my sewing machine!  Yes - it would have been much, much quicker with the serger and maybe on the 3rd version I'll use the serger. 

After sewing it up - the only changes I had to make were to unpick the back pleats in the skirt by an inch and half - they weren't falling nicely and needed to be shortened.

I think because of how I raised the front neckline, the hem didn't fall evenly at the bottom and I had to have a friend mark the hem - which is why the border print isn't hemmed yet.  I'm going to attempt to figure that out on version #3 - because there will be many, many more.

This dress was comfortable and easy to wear.  It stays overlapped with no fear of anything horrible happening - even when the wind blows. 

One of the best parts of sew camp?  Besides coming home with 2 patterns I feel comfortable sewing over and over?  I gained confidence in my skills and came home feeling pretty and not nearly as big as I thought I was!  Win / Win / Win! 

McCalls 6503

 First - I have no idea who the average is for dresses these days.  I added 2" to the skirt when I cut this out, but it still wasn't enough. 

The first version of this dress is what I think Karen of Did You Make That? would call an 'ickle' print - or rather childish.  But I wanted what I've started calling 'fake fabric*' in case my alterations didn't work out. 

The only alterations I made to the pattern tissue was to shorten the back for both my sway back and my very short back waist.  What I didn't do was shorten the front so the side seams matched.  I thought I could create a fake full bust adjustment by just gathering the extra front into the side seams.  It worked ok - but it's not perfect, there is a bunch of extra fabric under my arms at the side seams.  I have adjusted that and have the next fabric ready to roll (or be cut).

I like this version - but I think it's a bit boring.   I've dubbed it the prison matron dress - but seeing the photos -  it's not nearly that bad.  I've bought some lovely, tiny white tatted trim to put around the collar and will add it to the hem - maybe.  Will have to take a look at it.

As I said earlier - I added 2 inches to the skirt when I cut it out.  but that wasn't enough. To hem this version, I cut a 3 1/2" band, folded it in half and added it to the bottom.  It's just about the perfect length.

I wore this most of the day with a white cardigan.  The sleeves look tight, but they are not and there was plenty of room to move.   I was quite surprised by how well the pleated skirt laid over both my belly and my rear. 

The best part of sew camp?  Coming home feeling cute and not nearly as fat as I thought I was!

*Fake fabric - something old from the cupboard that would be alright to wear, but if it didn't work out wouldn't hurt my feelings at all.  This time it worked out!

Before the Reveal

Before showing you the dresses I finished at retreat 2012, I thought I'd finally show you the dress that I mostly made at retreat 2011.  Most of the completed garments from 2011 have been made and worn and gifted already.  But this red version of Vogue 1250 sat on the cutting table from October through August - when I finally asked a friend to mark the hem for me.  Yes - it waited a year for a hem.

I was finally inspired to get it hemmed to wear to a friend's wedding over Labor Day weekend.

I would have to say it's a bit more close fitting than I'm comfortable wearing, but I felt okay until I saw the photos.  I'm working on getting JB to take more photos - he shoots digital for goodness sake - it's not like we're burning film to take more than 3 pictures.  But whatevs.

 I'm glad this dress is hemmed and living in the closet now.  I'm guessing it will get a little vacation trip and taken out to dinner and show for the upcoming birthday vacation. 

On A Stick?

Nope - on a person.  Sorry - bad joke. 

So this is the Dianne made maxi.  JB still says it looks like a muu muu.  Come to find out - it's the fabric he doesn't like.  The fabric is a paisley silky from the fake fabric store.  But I saw it and fell in love and I knew it wanted to be a maxi.

I lined the entire dress in a very soft cotton.  To do this - I just cute the dress twice.  In the bodice, I used the 'lining' as facings and changed the construction order so that all the edges are finished and inside the dress.  The two skirts hang free of each other.

You can't really see it here - but I changed the ribbon to 2 small green ribbons.  They matched better than the huge bring pink ribbon - which was a dead match for the pink in the fabric, but really stood out and yelled - hey!  Look at me. 

In the top photo, I am leaning back and thrusting my stomach forward.  I got 7 chances to get a decent photo.  JB is not very patient while taking photos.  He doesn't understand.  Oh well.  Would be nice if I could get him to take some time so maybe I could forget he's snapping. 

This dress was comfortable and easy to wear.  It wasn't too hot (which I was afraid of with the silky fabric and full lining).  And surprisingly, while I was concerned with the muu muu comment - I felt pretty all day. 

Win / Win.  Right? 

Sorbetto and Straight Skirt

Many of you know, I have long wanted a straight skirt tha fits me.  This one still isn't perfect - but it's darn close. 

The skirt while more winter than summer like was perfect for yesterday - the top, not so much.  The skirt is a stretch twill with a tiny white pinstripe.  The pattern is Simplicity 2154.  This version fits much better than the first, as I managed to smooth that crazy hip curve out. 

For some reason - the brown pinstripe told me it needed a floral top to wear with it.  I should start taking pics before I leave for work - the shoes don't really work and the cardi is totally the wrong color - but such is my life apparently.

The top if my first version of Sorbetto.  It's an easy top.  It looks a bit long on me in this picture.  And I did notice that at the end of the day the hem wouldn't lay flat, so I could be just a smidge shorter.

The front fits well .  I sewed the 'pleat' down the entire lenght of the top so there is no pulling.

The back, however, is a mess.  It still needs a sway back adjustment. 

The binding is a pink ginham that I tea died to make it not so white against the floral fabric. 

The maxi still isn't hemmed, but i have been sewing.  So that feels good.  Now if only I could be as comfortable as Carolyn in front of the camera.    

 

Simplicity

 Last month I stopped into the craft store that pretends to be a fabric store and this denim literally jumped off the shelf and into my arms.  I could not leave it there. 

It is a completely reversible denim and while the other side is pretty it was the white side that I was completely drawn to.  I rarely purchase fabric and sew it up so fast.  I washed and dried it on hot prior to any cutting. 

The pattern is a Simplicity 'vintage' that I made up last summer and now appears to be out of print.  The first version has some gaping at the neckline.  I think I was able to remove it from this version with a shoulder adjustment, but honestly, with the slit in the front I'm not positive.

I had this dress mostly made up when I attended my local ASG meeting on installing invisible zippers.  I learned some really interesting tips - like using wonder tape and removing it!  No bubble at the end of the zipper.  And honestly - for some reason when I bought the special invisible zipper foot, I thought I no longer needed to press the zipper coils open.  Ummm - no.  This was the best invisible zipper I had installed in a really long time.  I moved the zipper to the side seam because it's just easier to dress yourself with a side zipper than a center back one. 
The dress was comfortable to wear.  I paired it with a red cardigan and some pinkish red wedges - and a dog!  Because what outfit is complete without a dog?

I love this dress!  I finally have the 'white lace' dress I was lusting after last summer (?) and it's in denim - so it's completely throw it in the washer and dryer when the dogs slobber on me. 

I'm so happy to be sewing again!

Look Ma! She Sews

I have long wanted a proper straight skirt.  A few summers ago now I spent a long time working with Simplicity's Amazing Fit Pencil Skirt pattern - but it has princess seams on the skirt.  I'm not complaining - really - because it fits and I've made it numerous times.  But I really wanted a 3 piece skirt - a front with no seams and the back with a kick pleat.

Last Fall before heading out for retreat, I cut the skirt out of muslin, but didn't get it sewn up.  Last weekend I pulled out the pieces and sewed up the first muslin - it was too tight and had a few other issues - like the skirt's hip curve didn't match mine.  So I went on to muslin number 2.  There were still a few issues - but enough that I felt confident making the changes to my pattern and cutting up my real fabric. 

It's not perfect.  But it works.  There are still some funny lines at the side seams - but I think that's because the hip curve is still too curved.  I smoothed that out for the next version - because I'll have to make more and more versions until it's right and then I can use the 'perfected'  pattern to make a version of the Rachael skirt.  (I'm thinking out of the red wool I bought at Expo last year.)

My thought is - if I have one pattern that fits - straight with darts and side seams - then I can do whatever I want with it.  And the blue with the mustard colored skirt?  Well they little flowers have tiny little blue accents to them.  The wrinkles are because I wore the outfit to work all day.  It was comfortable and I wasn't at all self-conscious in the skirt.