Thursday, January 23, 2014

Another Floral Wedding Guest Dress



What a fun, beautiful (and exhausting) wedding! As I mentioned in my earlier post about the rehearsal, the venue at Mountain Terrace was simply amazing. The views were pretty and tranquil, the deck sparkled with white Christmas lights after sunset, and the glowing dining room inside was decorated perfectly, from the too-cute succulent plant place card holders to the pretty gold & white table runners and beautiful flower arrangements. So lovely.

It was an emotional and exciting day, and somehow that makes me even more glad I sewed my own dress to commemorate and celebrate such a fun and meaningful event. The day held a lot of firsts for me.

  • First time I had my makeup done professionally and WORE FAKE EYELASHES! Felt like I was a movie star.

  • First time I was in a wedding and did a reading as part of the ceremony. Yikes, I was nervous.


  • First time I saw my dad out on the dance floor, tearing it up and cracking me up (in the best way). He was great!

  • First time I got to really hang out with some of my (half)sister's relatives basically since I was a baby. So fun!

My sister picked the Avett Brother's song "January Wedding" to play as she walked out with my dad, and I totally started crying (somehow without ruining the multiple layers of eye-makeup). That song just gets me every time.





Once I got used to (as much as I could) my intense makeup, I found that I was rather pleased with my overall outfit for the wedding. My me-made dress ended up being pretty perfect -- certainly not made perfectly, but great to wear. Except for the fact that I was pretty cold (dramatically refusing to put on my coat) when we were outside for the ceremony, my outfit looked and felt good throughout the night. It was nice to not be wearing something the least bit uncomfortable and I just loved looking down at the pretty, painterly floral print.









For the dress, I used New Look 6000, just the plain sleeveless version. I stitched it up in a floral cotton sateen that had shades of purple, dark blue, black, teal, and white. The entire dress was lined in bemberg rayon, which was a little easier to do than on my rehearsal dress, because this dress is just one main piece, rather than being broken up with a waist seam.

Mistakes I made in sewing this dress include: not lining up the top of the zipper properly, so that it accidentally extends up past the back neckline opening and shows (oh well), and, again, not getting the length of the lining quite right, so that it bunches and shows a little in the front when I'm wearing the dress.

I don't know if this qualifies as a mistake really, but I also took two fitting shortcuts in sewing this dress. I added little darts around the neckline, which luckily don't distract the eye thanks to the busy print. This reduced the neckline and upper bust gaping that was going on. I also stitched the dress side seams including the lining along with the fashion fabric, as one - almost like underlining. This made it easy to take in the sides without needing to sew a ginormous seam keeping the lining separate from the dress. 

The dress is hemmed similarly, with a single hem including both the lining and fashion fabric. I just did a machine hem because, again, the busy print almost totally hides the stitching.





 

Cheers - to a fun wedding and a great dress! I'm glad I forced myself to finally sit down and sew the darn thing, rather than wimping out and buying something instead (I'd considered it). The fabric was somewhat of an unusual choice for me. I don't really have anything else like it in my closet, but I'm glad I chose it! The colors are pretty, the cotton sateen was easy to sew with, and the print hid all of my less-than-ideal sewing decisions. It was a win-win-win, if you ask me!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Finished Project: Rehearsal Dinner Dress





I just got back from a whirlwind weekend trip to Palo Alto, CA for my sister's wedding. It was such a fun time and I managed to finish both of the dresses I'd intended to make and wear for the weekend's events. Tom and I even did a tiny bit of thrifting and managed to find some tasty food in our small amount of down time.

The rehearsal was our first event of the weekend, and it was held at the beautiful wedding venue, Mountain Terrace. The dinner for family and friends that followed was at a delicious Italian restaurant in Redwood City, Donato Enoteca.






To the rehearsal and dinner, I wore the dark blue, cotton sateen, McCall's 5845 dress I'd previewed for you all back in December. I really love the shape of the bodice (I'm considering making it again soon with a full, gathered or circle skirt, instead. Is it springtime yet??) and only made a few minor adjustments to the dress, from what the pattern instructed. As I noted in my earlier post, I stitched the darts inside, instead of outside, and I both curved and raised the back neck opening into a scoop that just barely covers my bra (phew!).







Mistake #1: I fully lined the dress with silky bemberg rayon, but managed to make the outer and inner layers uneven. So, there is some noticeable (IRL, not so much in this photo) bunching at the edges of the skirt vent, and the lining sticks out a lot in the front when I sit down. Facts I'm willing to ignore while wearing the dress.

Mistake #2: I got a picture of the dress front before we left, while the lighting was still great, but forgot to get the back photo until we got back from dinner that night when things were much fuzzier... both the lighting and my mindset.

Looking back at the photos, I really like this dress! For the rehearsal I paired it with a pink necklace from ShopNestled and my nude Ivanka Trump pumps (so ladylike and comfortable). I'm looking forward to wearing this outfit again, for sure.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Drumroll...

And the winner of my super sweet giveaway is...



The delightful and talented Shannon, of the cute and quirky blog ShanniLoves
Congratulations, girl!



Thank you to all 31 of you who entered the giveaway (one particularly responsible commenter of the total 32 didn't want to risk adding to her stash). I'm so thankful to you all for reading the blog and just generally being awesome. Thanks again!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Archer, Schmarcher.

December was unofficially Archer Faux-preciation Month over here at Sewin' Steady. Ha. Okay, there was no sewalong nor cute blogger button. There weren't even any actual Archers... or much sewing to speak of, really.



There was, however, a lot of purchasing of RTW button-down Archer wanna-be's. I really do appreciate the Archer. But, 99% of my Christmas shopping this year was done from my computer and, with every few clicks of my mouse to purchase gifts for family and friends, there was a click or two to purchase something for myself. Because, SALES. Oh, and plaid. There was lot of plaid to choose from, which I now realize is like drugs for someone like me.

But, come on. Sometimes you just can't sew everything you want to wear, even if, well, yes... you totally could, in this case, but there's just something inexplicably holding you back. That was me during the entire month dedicated to stitching up the only pattern I actually wanted to sew and wear. Le sigh. I will be sewing an Archer eventually, don't you worry.

As for the root (or one of the roots) of the problem, though. I've noticed this late fall and early winter that it seems the colder the temps get, the fewer vintage and vintage-inspired, girly outfits I find myself wearing and reaching for in my closet, and the more modern, even tom-boy-ish pieces I end up wearing over and over, like a uniform. 

Lately, my daily outfits have consisted of essentially a combination of the following (with the occasional cardigan or non-plaid button-down, or boat-neck 3/4 sleeve shirt from Target swapped in).





heeled brown boots: by Fossil, can't find exact link -- mine are similar to pictured, but are like this, only red-ish brown
riding boots: by Bandolino
red plaid shirt: Red Tartan Popover, by j. crew 


What about you all? Do you find yourself drifting away from the girly side of your style during colder months? Did button-downs and boots (with warm socks!) take over your life like they have mine?


P.S. Don't forget to enter my vintage sewing jackpot giveaway (because, I'll always love vintage even if the weather prevents me from wearing it as much) by the end of the day tomorrow!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

2 Years & 3 Big Announcements

I have three exciting bits of news to share with you today, friends!

#1: The little ol' blog turns 2 years old today. 

Over the past 24 months, I've sewn and blogged (to some extent) approximately 35 finished projects. I've tried new techniques, participated in a few sewing blogger challenges, completed my own Seamless Pledge, found a couple of tried and true patterns that I love, finally sewed something with a crotch, made projects from vintage, modern big-4, and indie patterns, re-vamped the blog, and made it to well over 150 posts. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, too -- there's been a lot!


 

 
Thank you all (really) for sticking with me along the way! I've loved reading your comments and advice and encouragement, sharing my thoughts and projects with you, and just being part of sewing blogland. Ooh, I'm also on instagram now, too!



#2: I'm throwing a giveaway to celebrate. 

Get excited, because one of you is going to be hitting the jackpot of Sewin' Steady favorites. I've got 2 cuts of vintage fabric, 2 vintage sewing patterns, and a handful of bright, vintage buttons up for grabs to one lucky reader.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Sunday, January 12, 11:59pm EST. Anyone can enter and I'll ship anywhere, because I love you.




There you have it! That's 4ish yards of black & white medium weight mini-hounds-tooth check fabric. I think this one's a blend of sorts, perhaps some wool in there -- I didn't do an official test. This would make a perfect suit, pencil skirt, shift dress... anything.

Also included is about 1 & 1/8 yard of the sheer, spotted, floral poly I used to make my floral pendrell. I adore this cute print, but there's really only room for one garment made from it in my closet.

Lucky you! You'll also win 4 cards of vintage buttons along with DuBarry 5172 in size 16 (bust 34") from 1941 plus Simplicity 6104 size 16T (bust 36") from the 1960s.

Hurry up and leave a comment before my last announcement blows your mind and you forget what you were doing! It's ok, I'll wait...







Ready? Ok.

#3: And, I've opened a vintage shop on Etsy!!!!!!!

Surprise! Do not fret if you don't end up the lucky giveaway winner. You can still snap up some hand-picked, Sewin'Steady-approved vintage sewing patterns AND clothes in my newly opened vintage shop. You're welcome!

 
***For now, the shop is offering FREE SHIPPING but is only taking US orders. Once I get the hang of this Etsy-shop-running-thing, I'll re-assess.
 

Some of you readers who have been with me for a while will recall I used to have a "Vintage Finds" page on the blog where I shared my latest thrifted pieces and estate sale finds. Though the page was taken down during some general blog sprucing over the past year or so, I've kept (and still keep) up the vintage collecting. 

At this point, I have managed to amass more old sewing patterns and articles of clothing than a single human could possibly use or wear in a lifetime (or so it seems). So, I've decided this is the perfect time for me to start sharing them all. I've always dreamed of opening a shop full of my favorite things and now I've finally got my chance!

There are still loads of items (clothing and sewing patterns) that I've not yet had the chance to list, so check back frequently because I'll be adding more and more (and more). 

Now, I'm just wondering. Did any of you have any inkling I'd at least be mailing something with that Sewin' Steady custom stamp I sneak peeked for you earlier? I know, it was pretty vague. :)

Anyway, it's high fives all around in these parts. Thank you for being awesome readers and hooray for exciting new vintage-y, sew-y things!


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Year, New Look

Yes, you're in the right place!

I've updated my blog template with the help of 17th Avenue Designs and my trusty photographer/photo editor/graphic design consultant Tom.

Sewin' Steady is still under construction, so bear with me for the next day or so. We should be fully up and running very soon.

Here's to a fresh new look, and some more exciting news to be announced shortly!