McCalls 6713

Here is the result of McCalls 6713.  Blech.  :-(  Too short-waisted for me.  Or, maybe that's a design feature, but it's not a flattering one for me.  It isn't high enough to be empire-waist, but it's several inches above my natural waist.  Plus, it's too short.  Just not a hit. 

Anyway, I've been working on some other things, knitting and sewing, so I'm going to get back to them. :-)  That's all for now.

Vogue 1382 and Me Made May 4

I employed the services of my 7-year-old photographer today.  I think he did pretty well.  :-)

Yesterday was rainy... all... day... long.  Of course, this filled me with glee since it meant a day of sewing!  I had a new dress for church today to show for it.

Vogue 1382 was very straightforward to make out of some crisp linen from JoAnn's.  I've had the blue in my stash for years, and I picked up the white recently when I decided to make this dress.  I think I quite like the combo.

 I like the easy shift shape.  It's a nice change of pace from my usual body-conscious silhouette.  I blended a size 10 in the bust and waist to a 12 in the hips and the fit is perfect - skims over the hips with a little extra room in the middle.  The pockets are a nice detail on this simple dress.

 Crazy photographer making me laugh...

 Of course, I had to show off the invisible zipper insertion across the colors. Not too shabby.

Princess Seam Dress

I'm not sure what to call this dress.  I can't find the pattern on any of the websites, so I assume it's out of print, and I've misplaced it here at home, so no pattern number.  It's just a princess-seam dress.  The pattern was for a strapless dress that was straight across the front.  I added straps, omitted the boning, and made a sweetheart neckline for some pizzazz.  The fabric is a linen/cotton from JoAnn's.  I can't find it at the online store, but I did see a bolt my local store the other day.    This is the dress I wore as a skirt with my new green top.

I didn't take a closeup pic, but I added a detail at the hem.  I hemmed as usual and then pleated a narrow bias strip and hand-sewed it peeking out the bottom.  It is a cute detail and gives the skirt some body.  

I'm just realizing these photos are quite old.  My hair is about 3 inches longer now!

Colette Patterns Macaron

Here it is!  My finished Colette Patterns Macaron.

 I feel like I've said so much about this already; there isn't a whole lot left to say.  :-)  The fabric is from Sawyer Brook - Tennis White and Spaqua.  The only change I made was to make the waistband the main color instead of the contrasting white.

 I cut a size 4 at the bust and tapered out to a 6 for the waist and hips.  The fit is perfect!  If you want to make this, definitely go with the suggested size for your mesurements.

 I got a ton of compliments at church on Sunday, and I really like it, so it's a win!

McCalls 6696, kind of

I was so anxious to finish my altered shirtdress that I pawed through my mom's button stash last night (I'm visiting her, obviously) and found 9 silver shank buttons that fit my buttonholes. 

So, here is my kind-of-shirtdress, made from Sawyer Brook's beautiful Vieux Carre and McCalls 6696.

 I admit I removed most of the shirtdress details - most obviously the collar, but I think this makes for a more casual summer dress.  I wore it out to the grocery store and lunch today and didn't feel too fancy or retro.  I even got a few compliments!

 I kept the yoke and gathers in the back, which gives it a little bit of shirtdress feel and makes it so airy and comfortable to wear for summer.

 I didn't use the skirt pattern pieces at all since I simply didn't have enough fabric for the full-skirt option.  What I did do is cut my whole piece of fabric (2 yards, I think) to length for the skirt and then cut out my bodice pieces from the remaining white portion.  The skirt is all one piece, buttonband to buttonband.  I just did some simple math to figure how many and how big pleats to make to attatch it to the waistband.

I explained how I did the hem here.

I am really enjoying wearing my new dress today.  I think I have been successful in my attempt to make an everyday dress that is comfortable and cool for summer!

Butterick 6739 (OOP)

Good morning!  First off, an annonymous commenter asked if I dry clean these new pants.  Actually, I hardly dry clean anything.  These pants (and most of my dry cleanables) go in my washing machine on the hand wash cycle and I hang them to dry.  No problems so far.

I have my Me-Made update from yesterday, including a dress pattern review.  I actually made this dress almost 9 months ago, last fall.  I was fawning over the fabric but couldn't decide on a pattern, so I asked my hubs to pick from a few.  He chose this well-aged pattern, and I think the result is fun and youthful, but hopefully not tooooo youthful.  :-)

 The patterin is Butterick 6739, which is long out of print, but here's a pic of the envelope.

I think I swiped this pattern from my mom since I distinctly remember my little sister having a cute party dress made from it in high school.

 This pattern takes a little while to put together since you have an overlay to deal with and a full underlining, but it's really cute.  I didn't add boning since hubs specified straps, but it is stiff enough with the interfacing and underlining that I could tuck in the straps and wear it strapless anyway.  I did cut the skirt a little fuller and gathered it to balance out the volume on top.  The straps are about 1/2 inch too long and want to slide off my shoulders - an easy fix.

 The fabric is a nice cotton voile that I think I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics a few years ago.

Here it is as I wore it to a church event yesterday with a little sweater.  It turns out to be a versatile dress as it looks like a  party with no sweater or if I tuck in the straps, but with a little sweater, it's demure enough for church.

 And for the rest of Me-Made-May day 11, I wore this tee and purchased shorts.

 

Vogue 8766

First off, thanks so much for the nice comments on my recent skirt and sweater.  They really make my day.  :-)  I also appreciate the compliments on my short hair.  It's a cut I've been wanting to try for about a decade but always chickened out.  Now that I did it, I LOVE it, but I do know I'll get bored with it very quickly and will grow it out again.  It is so fun and easy for the summer, though.

So it has been what? about three weeks since I've posted a sewing project?  I hang my head in shame.  Well, I finally got around to hemming this dress for church yesterday.

Pretty sure this is NOT a fair depiction of my hair color.

The pattern is Vogue 8766, kind of a combination of views plus some changes made by me.

The inspiration was a cotton boatneck dress my sister wore during our vacation.  I think this pattern is a pretty close match to the style. 

I started by making the neckline wider/straps narrower.  After assembling the bodice, I found it was a little short waisted for my taste, so I added a band.  I also had to let out the side seams quite a bit toward my waist, but lets not discuss that.  The final adjustment was hiking up the shoulder seams about an inch.  Sheesh.  Next time, I'll know what changes to make when cutting.  Of course, all these little nips and tucks would have been avoided by making a muslin...

The fabric is (don't roll your eyes too much) a decorator cotton from a local fabric store by my parents' house.  I can't help myself.  I fell in LOVE with the print.  It behaved a lot like a bottomweight cotton, I think.  Quite suitable for this style.

Thanks for checking out my newest dress.  :-)  I'll be back soon with progress on a baby quilt (not for me, I assure you).

Wrap Dress Progress

Here is the progress on my gray wrap dress.  I decided to add a hand-stitched detail to the edges to help keep the facings in place and add a little pizzazz. 

 I used red thread in the sewing machine to make a guide row of long stitches.  This is working out great.  I plan to remove the red stitches when I'm done with my running stitches.

Sweater Knit Wrap Dress in progress

Two photos from my most recent project, a wrap dress from Sawyer Brook's Carboncino.

This fabric is a light sweater knit, but it's behaving just like a beef jersey.  It's quite stable and doesn't ravel much.  It does roll a lot, though (check out that neckline facing), but I have an idea to fix that.  We'll see if it works...

One of the ties for the wrap.  This dress is on hold until I get better matching thread to do the hem and sleeve hems.

Vogue 1271

Here is my Vogue 1271, with LOTS of photos.

 Voila!  First, let me say it is a smidge snug in the midsection.  Noticing a pattern after my last post?  Maybe it's time to up my cutting size.  That or I could go put on my running shoes.  Anyway, it's no fault of the pattern, just mine for not making a muslin.

 I really like this design.  It's a bit more interesting than my usual with these sleeves, but it's pretty mellow as far as trends go.

 You even get to see the kick pleat in action thanks to the wind.

 I was planning to wear this to church, but it's a bit too short for me to feel comfortable there, so it will probably just be a going-out dress.  I've already informed hubs he needs to take me out for dinner.

 I didn't have a buckle to sew on the belt (it's just decorative anyway), so I pinned my favorite pin from Scotland on there and I think it looks quite nice.

 My dress looks lower cut than the model's.  i dont' think it's because it's too tight.  There's definitely room for ease in the bodice.

 I also carried the belt detail around on the back, which the pattern didn't do.  They just have the midriff on back.

 Close up of the sleeves.  The fabric is Ruby Flannel from Sawyer Brook.  It's a bit too soft to hold the sleeve folds, so I stitched them on the inside of the pleats.  They still open a bit, as you can see.  I guess I could use some hand tacks to keep everything in place.

There you have it!  My newest dress I wll only wear a couple times a year. :-)  Time to get back to sewing sportswear and home dec.

Marfy 1776, complete!

Hubs, Kiddos, and I leave bright and early in the morning for a South American adventure (primarily to go to my brother-in-law's wedding).  So... here is the formal wedding guest dress.

I am quite proud, having made a formal gown and two cocktail dresses in the past month. 

 The top is Marfy 1776, unaltered.  I explained a bit about it in this post, and I showed what a Marfy pattern looks like here.  The lace-looking fabric is a novelty, open-weave silk.  The solid portions of the top are a drapey crepe (can't remember if it is silk or poly) that I got at Marisu Miranda Moda/Queen's Fabrics in Tampa.  The lining is ambiance. 

 The skirt and top are separate pieces.  I originally tried to connect them and keep the two-piece look, but I couldn't get the skirt un-poofy enough.  This skirt has an A-line shape that I think is more sophisticated than my first, gathered attempt.  The skirt is a bit long in these photos.  I have since gotten some higher heels to wear.

 Another challenge I am glad I attempted.  I'm very happy with how it came out, and my husband seems thrilled.  I'm not convinced the halter-style top is a friend to my broad shoulders, but he likes it, and that makes me happy.  :-)

 I couldn't find a nice, red separating zipper in the right length for the top (if such a thing even exists), but luckily (in this instance, anyway), my bust is a bit smaller than my hips, so I used a regualar invisible zipper and just sewed the bottom two inches closed.  I slip it over my head and zip it up.  I now consider myself quite skilled at making boned foundations.  :-)