Sophisticated Lavender Office Dress

Pattern: McCalls 6433 view B without sleeves.

Fabric: Lavender bedsheet from goodwill $2.49

Lining also a sheet.  White, of course.

Lavender

My new favorite color today!  I love wearing it and I imagine if I had actually used it as a bedsheets I would have loved it that way too.

[note to self: remember you were going to get into essential oils and get some Lavender?  Receipt acknowledged.]

(It looks like I'm holding a tissue, but it is just the ribbon. :-)

Pleats!  The straight lines in the pleats, darts, and neckline of this dress read sophistication to me.  It is a step closer to haute couture than I usually go and it felt like it!  I did everything right.  I took my time and ironed everything.   (who woulda thunk?  but it actually helps!  :-P ) 

Without   -   With

My only mod to this dress?  A removable lace insert.  I love the feminine look of lace but I also wanted to wear this dress with other colors beneath it and the lace just wasn't working so I made it optional!

It is attached with four sew on snaps in a trapezoidal shape

Without   -   With

Did anyone else inherit their mother's barbies that had clothes with closures like this?  I call them Barbie snaps.  So much better than "Sew on snaps" isn't it?

The Back - slightly wrinkled because I wore it to church Sunday morning

This was a rather time-consuming element.  I wanted the zipper to lay flat and line up perfectly so I hand-stitched it all.  Ugh.  Ah well, I saved time for later by stitching the lining inside down at the same time so it looks and feels neat inside.

These are the first darts I have been really happy with.  When helping a friend fix her very pointy (ugly) darts I was kinda wary but they turned out great.  DON'T backstitch at the end.  Leave tails and tie them twice or in a square knot.  It makes a big difference.

The Invisible Hem

Also hand done.  It looks spectacular.  I wouldn't do it any other way on this type of dress but definitely get something to listen to!  Multitasking is awesome.

Sewing down the lining on the inside...This is the first dress I haven't fully lined in a while.  This means I have to wear a slip but its not so bad really and I'm really happy with the light and airy feel it gives the pleats while I walk.

A very happy seamstress!

With the lace insert and this gorgeous satin ribbon I could totally wear this to a wedding!  I love the femininity of the whole thing.  However, without the insert, adding  a brown tank underneath and a neat brown belt looks great too and I think it would be a perfect office ensemble.

Sparkly Denim Circle Skirt

Pattern:McCalls 5811 view B

Fabric: Sparkly medium wight denim (Joann's red tag)

I made this skirt almost a year ago for a Barn Dance.  I wanted a fun circle skirt that would look good at the dance as well as in regular life.  I didn't buy the sparkly denim for the project but it looked fun so I gave it a whirl.  After numerous washing the glitter has come out of the denim, but that is fine.  I still has a nice dark wash skirt. :-)

I used view b of the McCalls pattern only I didn't make it quite a full circle and I drafted my own waistband.  I'm not sure why.  It was a while ago. :-)  I wanted the fun swish and petticoat compatibility so it is still very full but I've found that the full circle is just too much.

I've not yet learned to lengthen the backside of my skirts so that I get an even hem.  I never think about it till the skirt is done and hemmed. .:-)  As you can see there is a side covered zipper and the waistband connects with hooks and eyes.  I have since purchased the larger flat version of the hook-and-eye because I like their stability and look better, but I didn't have them for this so I used 2 small sets.

I usually wear a belt, so it doesn't look too bad.

I put this on for pictures straight out of the wash, so the covered zipper isn't laying flat like usual and you can see the bias tape on the hem in my twirly pictures. :-)  Bellow is a picture from the Barn Dance.  If you look in the lower right corner you can barley see my zipper.  That is the way it is supposed to be and looks when you iron it. 

I love this method of using bias tape and then doing an invisible hem.  When you iron it (which I didn't) you can't even see the hem.  That is rare on circle skirts because they are usually so hard.  I always hand stitch this latter part of the hemming process.

While fitting the skirt part to the waistband I was stretching the fabric and when I got to the straight of grain is ripped like 3 inches!  Devastation!  Not really. It just took a piece of fabric behind and 2 failed patch attempts before I found something that looks right and doesn't need any maintenance.

 Now I wear it with all sorts of things and fun belts. White above.  Black below.

Purple Travel Dress

The long awaited travel dress post!  Here tis'.

Pattern: McCalls 5752 (I test drove it on my Mom's cruise dress)

I used two knit remnants that I picked up at a fabric store in a Chicago suburb.  Sorry, but this was 9 months ago. I'm still playing catch-up. :-)

I lengthened it at least 6 inches and widened the bottom for more flexibility.

 I'm so glad I test drove it, because I am much taller than my Mom.  As the pattern is written the skirt would have been uncomfortably short on me.  I needed this dress to be comfortable because I was making it for travel.  I was going to Portland for two weeks and then catching a late Saturday flight, red-eye connection, two hour bus, and going to church immediately after I got home!  I needed to wear this dress for 36+ hours and it had to be presentable on Sunday. :-)

Some call it chaos.  I call it creativity.

This is our old living room by the way...It got completely revamped while I was away.  Post to follow?

Thanks Than for taking the pictures.  We experimented with some new poses, but I'm a terrible model and the faces he captured this day were quite varied. :-)

The pattern features a cross-over bodice with raglan cap sleeves, ruched sash/waistband area and an optional draping sash.  The sash is not tied, but sewn on.

 I wouldn't normally use such a wild print in personal clothing, in fact, I was going to use a lighter shade of purple instead, but I'm glad I didn't.  It really adds interest, even though you can't really tell that it is gathered.

 From the front you can't tell that there is a collar piece, but it looks really cool in the back. :-)

 Shoulder seam and ruching at waist.

 The bodice pieces are gathered and the waistband is rather oddly shaped in the front.  

This is the day I left Portland.  Tiff, Ashley, and Jacob were the remaining hostel dwellers. :-)

Have a nice day!

Greens and Browns Paisley Print Summer Dress

This dress is SO comfortable!  I don't know exactly what the fabric is, but it was on sale at Joann Fabrics and is SO comfortable.  To start things off, I made the dress to big and too short.  Yup.  Lovely.  Oh well!  Like I said, it is super comfortable.  I wear it around the house mostly, and always with a belt to break up the pattern and add some waist definition.

McCalls 6027 view c without the jewel embellishments

The pattern was very straight-forward and would have taken probably around 2 1/2 hours, but I raised the neckline 5 whole inches so I had to change the tops of all the pieces.  That took a lot of time.  Once everything was cut out it went very quickly.

VERY full skirt (and I didn't even choose the version with gores)  and the side.

The back is pretty low.  I'm not sure what I think about that, but I couldn't fix it without a lot of hassle.  I have three cover-ups in that beige color, so there isn't much trouble there.

The day after I made it we went to a wedding, so I was able to wear it.  I also made Emily a skirt with a plain knit waistband.  I is definitely not my best work, but she says it is her favorite, so that is good. :-)