I'm Back(logged)!

It's summertime in these parts and that means I'm back to sewing more regularly. For whatever reason! Oh, and winery-hopping.

I've finished a few projects and even wore my Sailor Top out in the wild.

Up first, my Grainline Archer that I started and almost finished at the Finch Makers' Retreat, where, yes--I met April Rhodes!

I struggled some with attaching the collar to the ...shirt (my sewing vocab is waning, I need to get back in the game!), and struggled much, much more making the very top buttonhole at the neckline. So much so, in fact, that I just ended up omitting it. I never button my shirts all the way up anyway.
Everything else was pretty much a breeze!

The next thing I finished was another wedding guest dress. I used the in-your-face cheerful fabric Kathy sent me awhile back, and my good ol' standby M5845. I somehow managed to get zero photos of the back while actually wearing the dress.

I curved and slightly raised the back opening and shortened the skirt, omitting the slit in the back. The dress was fun to wear, though the cotton did get a little rumpled from all the sitting in ~90F degree weather, and vigorous dancing at the wedding.

And finally, my latest finished make: Christine Haynes' new dress pattern, Sylvie! This dress is my jam. I've already started a second version, right after completing the first. I wore the first one, made out of a blue and red cotton/poly I found at the thrift store, to an Independence Day party on the lake!

I went by the finished garment measurements listed, knowing I wouldn't want very much ease in the bodice, and didn't end up needing to make any adjustments to end up with a super wearable first draft. For my second version, I'm playing with print placement & direction, and am shortening the skirt slightly, shaving a tiny bit off of the waistband, and actually remembering to add the horizontal stitching across the folded top part of the patch pockets.

Has anyone else become obsessed with this pattern, like I have? It's perfect for summer.

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 ate Princess Cake, which was so delicious!

• 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!

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.

Season's Greetings!

 

And very happy holidays to you all!

I hope everyone has had a great month (almost) since I last checked in. Though there has not been a lot of blogging in these parts lately, there has been some sewing and thrifting. For my latest sewing project, I whipped up a dress to wear to the rehearsal + dinner for my sister's upcoming wedding. The pattern is M5845, the bodice of which Neeno loves and which I used for a previous wedding guest dress. On this latest version, I used a Navy cotton sateen from my fabric stash and dark purple/blue rayon bemberg lining from JoAnns. 

I modified the shape of the back opening by changing from the sharp, square cut-out edges to more of a scoop. I also raised the center back by about an inch, to help cover my bra, since the opening is a rather low scoop. The only other real change I made to what the pattern prescribes is to sew the darts inside of the garment, rather then having them on display on the outside of the dress. It's a more classy look this way, if you ask me.

I do love the shape of this bodice, but decided to use a sleeveless NL6000 for my upcoming floral wedding guest dress, rather than repeat the scoop back style again. This will be the dress I wear to the actual ceremony and reception. I've had luck with this pattern before as well, and since there's just one long front piece to NL6000 and two back pieces, instead of separate bodice and skirt pieces, I think it will work better with the floral sateen I've picked out -- more uninterrupted floral pattern! This fabric has a painted kind of look, which has a vintage feel to me, and is a rather bold print for my wardrobe! Here's a peek. 

That's all for now on the sewing front, though my thrifted finds the past few weeks have also had a significant sewing theme. In fact, I don't think I've found a single fashion accessory and not more than one article of clothing in my travels, but lots of notions, some bias tape, and some fun fabric. I found a teal sweater type of knit that I'm considering using for a Hazel dress (Victory patterns, not Colette), and a thin soft cotton/poly blend floral fabric. I love the color combination of the two together!

A quick peek at the fabric before I run off to wrap presents and get into the holiday spirit!

Finished Project: Floral Wedding Guest Dress

Come to My Window Box Dress - ModCloth.com

As promised, I've finally got the photos and details of my latest dress project to share. It's another wedding guest dress. This time, I was inspired by a dress from Modcloth.com that didn't fit when I ordered it, so I decided to make my own version.

I searched high and low for this floral rayon fabric, but couldn't find an exact or even a close enough match in any apparel-specific fabric. I settled for a pretty quilting cotton by Moda Fabrics in a similar pattern and color scheme and paired it with Retro Butterick 5748, a pattern I'd admired for a while and finally decided I had a good excuse to buy.

When I started to get the dress cut out and put the project together, I realized I didn't have quite enough fabric to do the circle skirt in the pattern, so I created a gathered skirt instead, using Gertie's tutorial. I lined the entire dress in rayon bemberg, which feels great and makes the gathered skirt nice and swishy. It was my first time using the stuff and I'm pretty much hooked. I'll definitely be using it in future projects - it's so soft!

The alterations I made to the dress to improve the fit, since I didn't make a muslin, are the only part of the project I'm not 100% pleased with. I ended up needing to shorten the bodice, but chose to reduce at the already sewn shoulder seams to do so. This makes the armholes a bit tight and still leaves the fit a little off. It's still a fun, wearable dress, though. Here are some shots of the final product as worn to the wedding.

Belt - Target

Wedges - Jeffrey Campbell c/o ModCloth

One thing I'm really enjoying about this dress is how wearable it is. Since it's made from regular quilting cotton, it is easily dressed up or down. I felt fancy enough at the wedding wearing wedges, and then paired it with flats and a cardigan for work the following week. I'm looking forward to wearing it again soon!

Finished Project: Milly Wedding Guest Dress

If you'll recall, I left off with this dress having completed it but not being 100% pleased with the final product. The skirt is made from a piece of Milly silk that I snapped up from the remnants bin a little while back and this dress was my first time working with silk. The main part I wasn't pleased about on the final dress was the hem.

hem results

Here's what went down, as I'd previously reported:

This silk is so freakin' bouncy and buoyant and light and perky that it will not make a nice crease to save its life. I'm not used to working with silk but that perkiness was not an issue until I decided to hand-stitch a 3-inch hem. Also, though you can't see the actual thread on the right side of the hem from my stitching, you can see little dents from it. Damned shiny, sensitive silk. :( It doesn't look horrible IRL, but it makes me feel like foolish riff-raff who neither understands how nor deserves to work with nice material.

Well, after reaching out for suggestions (thank you all for your responses!), I was reluctant to un-do the hem I'd already sewn and was considering either continuing to press the hem to death to make it stop being poofy, or suck it up and re-do a much smaller hem.

What actually ended up happening?

I tucked the dress away in the closet, planning to revisit it before the wedding, and then promptly forgot about it.

the finished dress

That's right, I didn't end up making any changes to the completed dress after all.  However, if I were to sew the same thing again, I'd definitely do the smallest hem possible, as well as probably cut the bodice a size smaller (since it's cotton sateen with stretch to it), line at least the bodice, and cut the pink collar strips shorter and on the bias so that they fold over the curved neckline better and the tie isn't as long and floppy.

Changes I made to the pattern - New Look 6910:

1. Gathered skirt (via Gertie's tutorial), not pleated
2. Made gatheres at the top and little pleats in the bottom of the cap sleeves - they looked like little wings, IRL before. This little trick was inspired by Gillian's sleeves on her Peony.
3. Drafted a pink collar inspired by the Beverly dress.
4. Didn't add pockets like the above photo makes it look, but should have!

All in all, I'd say the dress was a success! I got some nice compliments at the wedding and the (...interesting) DJ even dedicated a song to me out of the blue, while mentioning my dress - hah! The song was the American Bandstand theme song, which I had no idea how to dance to, but oh well. Tom and I gave it our best fake 30 second swing dance and then discreetly left the dance floor.

Tom and I dancing to another song

There is a definite sock-hop-ish feel to the dress, which isn't a bad thing, but it's definitely... a thing! I'd originally styled it with a wide black belt at the waist and some retro heels, but ended up opting more for comfort and lost the belt before the end of the evening and didn't even make it out of the hotel room without switching to flats.

Styled with heels and a belt

Now that I've finished my wedding guest dress sewing, I almost don't know what to do with myself! "Almost" being the key word there. I'm making slow, lazy progress on my Simplicity 2154 blouse and may or may not be planning a (already anticipated to be belated) birthday shirt for Tom's birthday later this month. Luckily, Tom's brother is getting married in June 2013, so I'm not without future dress planning to do...even if it is a way into the future.

Finished Project: The Wedding Guest Dress

Annnd, we're back!

I've returned from my time off vacationing and participating in friends' wedding festivities. The past week or two has been a bit of a whirlwind  - and now it's AUGUST! What? Where did half of summer go?!

Anyway, as promised, I've got all the juicy details on my latest finished project. Just for the record, I did complete this dress in July, so it still counts toward my one-finished-project-a-month goal - yay!

On the pretty patio at the wedding with Tom.

Dressmaking Details:

• Used McCall 5845 bodice along with the circle skirt from vintage McCall 4581 (after abandoning the bodice on that dress) and some drapey white-with-red-spots rayon shirting from Fabric.com

• On the bodice, I lowered the front neckline by 1.5" 

front

• Added 2" to the back of the bodice to help hide my bra, but then somehow ended up liking the final look better without one!
   
• I made all of the darts inside, instead of outside as the bodice design prescribes.

back

• I lined the bodice with muslin and half-assed some bias facing to finish the armholes, since I didn't construct the bodice as I should have in order to properly incorporate the lining (like this). Maybe next time I'll do it right!
  

• Ended up just making a small hem for the circle skirt without too much trouble. It isn't perfect, but looks ok to me. 

circle skirt hem and sad (but functional) armhole finish

• Tried French seams for the first time on the unlined skirt. 

• I'd wanted to do something interesting in the back since the design of the dress is fairly simple, so I created a tiny key-hole thing with a bow clasp.  

I used a sturdy clasp and some small snaps to secure the back bow. Note: photos were taken after wearing (and sweating!) in the dress all evening!

• Added a waist-stay using Tasia's advice and petersham ribbon from Sunni's shop.

• Didn't actually follow any instructions when constructing the dress, other than the waist-stay tutorial. It was fun to kind of just "make it work" as I went along - even though it didn't result in the most perfectly finished garment.

Waist stay details - sorry for the wrinkles!

Outfit Details:

• As for my hair, I just put it up in a bun and pinned back my "bangs" (they're almost too long to be called that) in a little swirl.

hair!

 

• Opted to pair the dress with a thrifted red belt, rather than making one - much easier!

• Wore with a pair of white wedges and a vintage straw/woven purse. 

vintage(?) straw purse

• I got the purse at an antique store in Napa, CA a year or two ago when Tom and I were vacationing there. I have no idea what year or decade it's from, though I did notice a tiny "Made in China" tag inside, if that's any indication of its age. I love wearing it because it's just big enough to hold my phone, camera, wallet, and sunglasses and doesn't weigh a ton.

Results of Wear:

• Let's just say that sitting in the hot sun in 90+ degree weather during the ceremony had me doing *some* sweating, which ended up causing several of the red spots on the fabric to BLEED. I should have seen this coming, since there was a little bit of slight bleeding/running of red-ish dye when I originally washed the fabric prior to starting the project. 

bleeding dots :-/

 

• Also, the skirt is now totally wrinkled and creased in a million places - oh well!

• The back bow kept coming unsnapped whenever I moved, but that wasn't a serious problem, since the clasp stayed firmly closed (keeping the dress from falling off!). It just resulted in one side of the bow flopping around a little bit while unsnapped.

slightly crooked back closeup!

 

•  The back did get a little scrunchy/slouchy at times as you can kind of see in the photos.

• The waist stay started to feel a bit constricting by the end of the night. I definitely unclasped it for the car ride home!

All in all the dress was a hit and I'm pleased with the final result. It was my first go at making a circle skirt, a waist stay, and improvising the back bodice closure the way I did. :)

Yay dress! and Congrats to Mike and Alison! (and yay, food! The salad I've clearly demolished in this photo had edible FLOWERS in it!)

Hemming & Hawing

Remember how I told you all that I'd temporarily abandoned the in-progress Milly silk wedding guest dress I'd been working on? Well, it had been living in the "ehh" pile for a little while, until this past weekend, when I was suddenly and inexplicably inspired to finish the dang thing. I went with black for the bodice, as you can see - had I already shared that?

Check it out!

I was rather smug and quite pleased with myself (look at me, I'm finishing this dress now, even though my deadline isn't for another month!) until I finished pressing the hem, that is. This silk is so freakin' bouncy and buoyant and light and perky that it will not make a nice crease to save its life (yes, its life - I'm about to go at it with shrub trimmers just so I can force it to submit - Ah-HAH! I win!). I'm not used to working with silk but that perkiness was not an issue until I decided to hand-stitch a 3-inch hem - WTH? Also, though you can't see the actual thread on the right side of the hem from my stitching, you can see little dents from it. Damned shiny, sensitive silk. :( It doesn't look horrible IRL, but it makes me feel like foolish riff-raff who neither understands how nor deserves to work with nice material. Meh. (maybe that's a little dramatic, but let's just say I feel slightly discouraged.)

blahhhhh

sad, blobby hem

I can't figure out what to do to get the hem under control. I keep debating whether I should just rip it out and make a smaller, tiny hem (which could still have a weird bubbly effect, too), try to rip it all or partially apart and add some kind of weight or horsehair braid in the hem to help keep it flat/crisp, or just keep pressing it over and over until it finally submits. Any recommendations would be appreciated, though I am quite reluctant (meaning 97% unlikely) to do anything requiring me to take out the hem I've sewn.

One kind-of-positive thing about this hem situation is that the bouncy bulk down there kind of helps to keep the skirt a little fuller and swishier almost like a weak horsehair braid, which is nice.

Also, a full post on this dress will be done after I wear it to the wedding in early August so I can include pictures of me actually wearing it and looking halfway decent. Despite my complaining, I do like this dress (though it has more flaws than just the hem and Tom says it makes me look a little sock-hop-ish, haha) and I am looking forward to wearing it, even if I can't get the dumb hem fixed. I opted to use a thrifted black belt at the waist, instead of  making a pink belt/band, so it'll look something like this. Yay!

belted

Altered plans

So, I had 100% planned to alter the aqua sheath dress I'd picked up at Goodwill in time to wear it to a wedding over the weekend. Things got off to a fine start. I took a 1" chunk out of the back bodice, which improved the fit a bit. But, the front of the bodice was still pretty gapey in the chest and the overall fit remained oddly baggy. I tried a few things but nothing quite did the trick and I was still struggling with the chest being simultaneously too tight and too gapey, so I eventually just threw the dang thing on the floor -- SO over it. Perhaps I'll try again some other time.

I ended up wearing another Goodwill find from a while back, a black twirly dress with a bateau neckline, a little scoop back, and a full skirt. I paired it with a black and white polka-dotted belt, yet another Goodwill find. It was a fun party outfit and the wedding was lovely. Unfortunately we only got a couple of pictures (and only one of me, in which you can just see the neckline of the dress). Sometimes when you're having a super time, it's not easy to get photographic evidence. ;-)

with Tom at the wedding

Oh, and I got a haircut! I'd hoped to redefine my bangs that had been seriously growing out of control... but they kind of fade off to the side now. Eh, well... it works for now.


Anyway, in case you're wondering, the wedding really was great. The reception was in the bride's parents' backyard with a big tent where we all sat at tables below strings of pink and green lanterns and white lights. The bride and groom's first dance was to Walk the Line, and was pure adorable.

first dance

Oh, and I don't have a picture, but did I mention the FOOD?! Well, it was amazing. We had pulled pork bbq sandwiches, cole slaw, mac and cheese, cornbread muffins, green beans, potato salad, and the cake was lemon with coconut frosting - SO DELICIOUS.  It was really an awesome wedding to be a guest at - we were having so much fun, I was even able to drag Tom out on to the dance floor! Good times.

I'm definitely looking forward to attending two more weddings this summer. I've been thinking a lot about my wedding guest dress plans I posted about last week, and was really fixated on how I could use the Milly spotted silk with the New Look pattern. (I'd love to sew this up in the green/blue rayon, also - if you can't decide, just pick both, I always say!) I pinned some fabric to good ol' Ruby to get a better idea of what it might look like to use the spotted silk as part of a dress.

pink bodice with spotted skirt

I'd planned to use the pink sateen for the bodice and the spotted silk for the skirt (the actual skirt will be fuller than this). When I combined the two, it really seemed like something was missing, so I added a black ribbon (left over from some Victoria's Secret "gift wrapped" something...circa 2003?) I happened to have in the sewing stash to give some contrast and definition at the waistline. This was a definite improvement, but I kept gravitating toward more black to pair with the spotted silk. I dug a random piece of black corduroy - literally the only piece of black cloth in my stash - out of the closet and threw it over the bodice. I really think it's an improvement, but I'd love to also add a pink bit at the waist, probably with a bow, to break up all the black. You can kind of get the idea here - just imagine a pink belt.

black bodice with spotted skirt

Obviously, I would not actually use the corduroy for the bodice - it's just acting as a visual aid now. I've ordered some black fabric from fabric.com, as it appears to be a color lacking in my stash - if I don't end up using it for this project, I know it'll get used in something else.

Do you guys think the black is better than the pink, or am I losing it?

I think it'd help soften the look, if I do end up going with a black bodice, to add some kind of collar detail. I own the Heartbreaker Beverly dress (in peacock blue, no longer available?) and really love the neckline on it...perhaps I could do something similar here.

Heartbreaker fashion Beverly dress

Thoughts?