Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Tale of Three Dresses




I probably didn't need another black dress in my wardrobe but when I came across this ponte...well I couldn't resist. I initially thought I would make a skirt with my trusted M6706 but I knew that it would be great it if I could place the cutouts on the bodice of a dress as well as the skirt. 


For the skirt portion, I used V1353 because it is great for a border print and it uses fabric so efficiently. For the bodice, I was looking for a boat neck style and I used  Butterick 4443. I didn't like the sleeves of this pattern so I used Newlook 6000. Yup...that's a total of three patterns!

 I would have liked if I could have matched up the seams of the bodice to the pleats of the skirt but by the time I realized that this wasn't going to happen I had everything cut out. Yet again, I got excited about a project and jumped right in without checking the water first.
Oh well....wearing a belt helps to hide it.



 I didn't face the neckline because I really couldn't due to the cutouts so I ran a line of very short stitches along the edge to reinforce it. I have worn this dress many times...and washed it without any problems. It held up very well.




Some makes become instant favorites and this is one of them. It was fun to throw caution to the wind and combine three patterns to make a dress. But to have it turn out as well as I hoped is such a bonus!


Friday, September 18, 2015

Late Summer Maxi


I am really late in sharing this dress...late as in I made it two years ago and now late in the summer.  I made this dress for a trip south and had the best intentions to photograph on a beautiful beach but...it didn't happen. Guess you will have to settle for my driveway catwalk again.




I used two patterns to make this dress. The bodice is B4443 and the skirt is Simplicity 1590. The fit isn't the best on this one and some boning should probably have been added to the bodice. Despite this, it stays put and is fine for a comfy summer maxi.

The fabric is a chiffon in the prettiest watercolor floral print, lined with a textured cotton voile that makes this dress feel so nice to wear. 





Since I am posting a maxi dress, I thought that I would give you an update on the V8870 dress that I changed from a high low to a maxi. I had a bit of trouble getting some more of this fabric but found some on a visit to another city three hours away. Husband wanted to go to a new hunting fishing store that opened and of course he suggested we make a fabric stop as well. Smart man! I spotted the fabric and was in and out if the store in under ten minutes. Smart man is now shocked! I didn't need or want to look at anything else...I had my fabric!


The after pictures are certainly not as good as the before but the dress is much better! I have worn this dress so much!! 



Saturday, September 5, 2015

Jumping the Queue.....McCalls 6083





I made pants....remember back when I said that I wanted to make more pants...well I kept good on that resolution. Albeit...they are more like pajama pants...but they are pants nonetheless. 

I feel kinda chic in this pajama pant jumpsuit. This is the second jumpsuit I have made lately...the other was  McCalls 7099 (unblogged...I'll get to it eventually) and I have concluded that I like a fuller leg rather than tapered when it comes to jumpsuits.



Fabric used: A black and white abstract dot polyester crepe.

Instructions:  This is a fairly simple make... 

Changes I made: I may have mentioned here before that I am fairly long waisted...but somehow I forgot this... again... After attaching the bodice to the pants, I proceeded to try it on...that sucker wasn't going over my shoulders no matter how much I tried to wiggled myself in! Off it came...I recovered from an awful wedgie.... and out came the seam ripper. Ughh. I didn't have enough fabric left to cut a new bodice so I made an 1 1/2 " waist band/casing for the elastic which gave me the perfect amount of extra length I needed in the bodice. The print of this fabric hides the waistband really well...

Repeat worthy? Fer sure!!! I really want the shorts version in a printed challis or rayon. I know that I should be sewing more for fall now..and I am..but with the warm weather continuing, I'm tempted to let this baby jump the sewing queue in the shorts version.




Jumpsuit:self made Clutch:Ann Taylor Shoes:Kenneth Cole Reaction