In Progress: Clouds and swirls A-line dress

It’s been a bit since I’ve had a blog post so I thought I’d make an update of what I’ve been working on.

I’m almost done with this dress. The pattern for the fitted part is based off of a dress that I cut up – I never wore it because of various fit issues so I took what I liked to make my own pattern. In order to finish this dress I need to 1) hem it, 2) take it in at the waist, and 3) fix the zipper/back hem. But isn’t this fabric dreamy? Stole it (with permission) from Grandma’s stash.

Originally I was going to just do a plain rolled hem, but now I’m kind of wanting to do something different. I’m a little tired of hi-lo hems so I’m not sure what else to do. I dunno…maybe I should keep it simple so it doesn’t distract from the top part or look odd with the two pleats. The reason I need to take in the waist is because I made the pattern for an invisible zipper but used a lapped zipper instead. This should be relatively easy to fix – just rip out the zipper and increase the seam allowances on each side. When I redo the zipper, I also need to figure out how to fix the back seam where the two meet.  Right now it looks AWFUL. I think I will look up some online tutorials before I attempt fixing it.

I also made two pairs of sleep shorts recently.

The first pair are a bit poofy at the hips, which is fine for sleep shorts. Elastic was sewn directly into the wrong side of fabric. I like this print a lot ❤

The second pair has encased elastic and the side seams are overlapped and topstitched.

And isn’t this wallet adorable?! I thought so!

Have a great day! And if you have advice on inserting zippers, let me know or comment with a link!

Laurel Dress #2: Blue paisley linen with front pockets

This Laurel dress went twice as fast as the first one for several reasons. First, this is linen instead of slippery rayon. Second, I didn’t make an underlining so there was less cutting and basting. Third, because I’ve made this before!

P.S. I made the headband too. Yay DAISIESSSSS!

Now let’s talk about the good and the bad.

Good: I wasn’t super crazy about this print when it was on the bolt, but I am crazy in love with it now. It’s really bright and I love the contrast in it. Because this fabric is easy to work with, I got the hem exactly like I wanted it

Bad: The neckline is too big because I adjusted it a little too much and forgot to staystitch. If I’m not careful, the top gets all lopsided and tries to hang off one shoulder.

These pockets are awesome! They’re almost invisible because of the busy print. They are just big enough for my iPhone. I think the dress would look good with a belt, but I didn’t pack one (I’m only home for 3 weeks). Or maybe I could make one with some leftover fabric? We’ll see.

The sleeves seem longer in this version…What is going on around here?! The dress feels bigger all around actually, probably because the linen isn’t drapey like rayon. I took in each side of the skirt 3/4″ and it’s still a bit loose I think. Not sure what I’ll do on the next version of this dress. I think I’ll make a shirt version next. I want to do something drastic to change it up though…hmmm.In this view you can see the gap at the neck. I hand sewed a hook and eye at the top but it came undone after literally running around the grandparents’ house in the wind, looking for a place to snap pictures.

I’ve been super busy at the sewing machine– I can’t wait to share them all. I might share a few sneak peeks on Instagram, so watch out!

Scout Tee #2: palm trees

The scout tee returns! This time with a fun palm tree print. It would be more complete with matching shorts, but that will have to wait for a bit. What? Too many palm trees in one outfit you say? NEVER!

This was made from shirting material, so it’s a lot lighter and breathable for summer than my last scout tee. And if my frizzy hair didn’t give you a clue, it is incredibly humid outside. Yay, Kentucky summers!

This would have been completed days ago but I got stuck on the neckline. I redid it several times trying to get it to lay flat against my neck. Eventually I took it to Grandma who pressed the bias tape to make it thinner and told me to stitch in the ditch (i.e. stitch directly on the seam). It worked! Thanks, Grandma ❤

I feel like the sleeves are a little poofy. One day I will have perfect sleeves, but not today. It’s always the easing of the cap of the sleeve that gets me.

Notice something odd about the back?…….The print is upside down! I think this is actually the first time I’ve sewed something with an upside downside print. I have a hard time finding prints I like, so I tend to steer towards solids. Having the back upside down doesn’t really bother me. I think it’s kind of funky to have the front going up and the back going down!

Like my new sunnies? They are literally the only circle glasses for sale in KY I think. $5 st Claire’s if you want a pair haha.

I used my dad’s tripod and camera to take these pictures outside my sister’s new apartment. After realizing how awesome tripods are, I ordered my own last night using some Amazon credit I had leftover from selling back textbooks. It’ll be here in two days! Thanks, Amazon Prime.

In case you didn’t know– If you are a student, you can get free Amazon Prime membership for 6 months. This means free two-day shipping on lots of items, but it the free trial DOESN’T include prime instant video. After your free trial is over, you can purchase prime membership at half price. If you’re interested, use this link to sign up (I get $5 of Amazon credit for anyone I refer):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info?ie=UTF8&refcust=P55ENRTZPMTSMPFDSX65Y2IM7Q&ref_type=generic 

The Laurel dress in blush pink rayon challis

It’s done, it’s done, it’s finally done! I present my Laurel dress in blush pink rayon challis (with light gray polyester/cotton underlining). This was my first Colette Pattern, and my first time sewing with rayon. I feel like I spent hours cutting out and basting the pattern pieces because I didn’t want to mess up with this slippery fabric. My dress feels great, and I’m happy with how it turned out.
These pictures were taken after going to the movies– I promised I ironed it before I went out!

I love the pattern, and I definitely want to make more of this dress. The only intentional change I made was to lower the neckline because it was choking me. Unintentionally, the hem ended up a little short because I had to make up for the uneven fabric at the bottom of the back seam. Darn you, slippery fabric!

OHMIGOD THERE’S A TREE COMING OUT OF MY HEAD. My brother took these pictures haha.

I can’t decide whether I should make the bottom half a size smaller or not. There’s plenty of extra space down there, but I want it to stay loose enough that sitting down is still easy and comfortable since this fabric has no stretch.

I really like the bright, coral-ish pink I chose for the bias binding ❤

And here are a couple shots of me and my sister, Natasha. Aww, sisterssss ❤

After this we went and petted the dwarf bunnies at Orschelyn’s. I want a pet bunny one day!

                   

P.S. You’re not crazy; the blog DOES look different. Hope you like the changes. I’ve added a blogroll to the sidebar with some of my favorite blogs. Check ’em out!

Vertical striped seersucker skirt with hi-low hem

You know when you have those spur of the moment urges to just make something but have no specific plan? Well this skirt is a result of one of those times. Usually things like this end up wonky, but I’m quite happy with how my skirt turned out!

The fabric is cotton seersucker– white with blue stripes. A comfy and cool alternative to shorts for summertime. The waist is encased elastic, and there is a light gray polyester/cotton underlining that is a bit shorter than the hem.

It’s hard to tell in most of these pictures, but the hem is actually raised in the front and lowered in the back. I simply traced a curve for the front and flipped it upside down for the back.

Originally, there was going to be a matching sleeveless top with red bias binding and horizontal stripes…I made a few too many mistakes, so I’ve thrown it into  my “I’m-tired-of-messing-with-you pile” to take another look at in the future. 

Instead I’ve thrown on this super comfy and so flattering t-shirt. I’m seriously in love with this shirt. It was on clearance + my boyfriend’s employee discount, so it was a super deal! I want to trace a pattern off of it sometime so I can make more.

I love how poofy it is! So girly and fun ❤

And here’s a funny picture when I was pushing the hair off my face and look kind of like a ballerina.

Knit Scout Tee with contrasting pocket and sleeves

I’ve been on a roll since I got my sewing machine last December. I’ve only been sewing for about 6 months and look at all the things I’ve made! I would love love love to participate in Me-Made May next year, which is when you’re supposed to wear only clothes you’ve made yourself for the entire month. I’m still a looong way away from being able to do that, but I think it’s possible. Being able to make my own clothes is so empowering, and refashioning thrift clothes is a great way to save money and reuse what might otherwise be thrown away. Now, onto the post!

This is the Scout Woven Tee pattern from grainline studio. It is a beginner level pattern, and costs $6.50 to download. I used this navy ponte knit from JoAnn’s  that I already had on hand, but I’m looking forward to making this in other types of materials and different colors.

I drew up the pocket pattern from scratch, and cut up an old Billabong tube dress for the contrasting fabric. I love the pattern and color scheme of the fabric, but I just never wore the dress much.

I was in between sizes, so I just went with the larger one. It’s meant to be loose fitting, but I think I will go with the smaller size next time.

This is the second time I’ve had to use easing to sew on a short sleeve. I simply cannot get it to look right! As a result, these sleeves have a bit of a gather, but not so much that I can’t deal with it.
And here’s this picture, because it’s funny 😛

 

In other news, I got an A in my intro to financial accounting class today!

Sewing Projects Catch-up: pencil skirt, maxi skirt, and thrifted dress

It’s taken so long for me to get pictures of some of these projects that I’ve resorted to self-taken iPhone pictures Sorry about the quality

This first one was one of those huge, old-lady maxi dresses you see a ton of in thrift shops.

The dress has two side seams and one seam running down the back. I took in the side seams and shortened it, not bothering with bust darts because I was fine with having a loose fitting top. In order to make the neck and shoulder area to fit, I also had to take in the top of the back seam.

I really like the neutral palette. This pattern is similar to the one on my favorite romper that is too big for me now, so I’ll think of it as a replacement 🙂This pencil skirt is made from some charcoal gray ponte knit I got at JoAnn’s. I absolutely love it! I have some in light gray and navy as well, but haven’t decided what to do with it yet.

I based the pattern off of another pencil skirt, but made this one a tad bit longer. I wore this skirt to an interview yesterday.

I love this outfit! I picked this adorable pink crop top up in the mall on clearance. It’s pretty cheap, but I figure I can cut it up and make my own replicas whenever I’m done with this one. This skirt started out with an elastic waistband (in February), but I didn’t like how it looked. I ripped out all the old stitches and made a new waistband and inserted a zipper. This was the first time I’ve done any gathering before. It’s not very even, so I’m thinking about ripping out the stitches and redoing it. I have leftovers from this fabric so I might experiment with different lengths in the future.

I swear I measured everything, but the waistband ended up being a little tighter than I would have preferred. It’s very high waisted now, but it’s still a good length.

 

 

Thought I’d throw in a little extra here! I dyed this white t-shirt purple ombre last summer. My brother dyed one for himself too.

Big plans coming soon! And I’m still working on my Laurel dress 😀 Stay tuned.

Quick practice version of the Laurel dress

I couldn’t resist; I finally ordered PDF version of the Laurel Dress pattern from Colette Patterns.

Here is the quick version I made yesterday. This is a size 2, and it looks like it will fit fine.

I’m so excited to make this dress! I will have to go fabric shopping soon. I have no clue what kind of color scheme/pattern I want. Hopefully I will find something cool in the limited selection offered in Richmond.

 

I’ve got several projects I STILLL haven’t been able to get pictures of, so keep an eye out! Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow, and I can get some of that done.

Some of my favorite Etsy clothing shops

Until I get around to taking some decent photos of recent projects, here are links to some of my favorite Etsy clothing shops. My ABSOLUTE favorites right now would be the last two.

lapetitanina owned by Marina Palovaara

Simple and gorgeous

 

 

mrspomeranz owned by Dasha Pomeranzev

So ladylike!

leahgoren

Cat prints + boxy and cute? Yes, please.

Isabel Knowles

Love the retro feel. The red dress makes me think Joan Holloway a little.

Babooshka

All the comfy knits in one place, with attitude. Reminds me a little of NastyGal

 

camilliatune owned by Tracy

I always see Chinese and Japanese women pulling off these simple, really loose-fitting styles. HOW DO THEY DO IT? I tend to look like a big ugly tent.

 

OurLittleDaisy owned by Mia Green

SO in love with that romper.

ApartmentOfMeAPOM owned by Kate Brook

<3<3<3 Obsessed with this adorable house print. And those dresses are just perfect<3<3<3 I also think the model is absolutely gorgeous. I want my hair to look like hers every day.

Norwegian Wood owned by Angie Johnson

Plenty of graphics and prints. They have amazing necklaces and earrings too with lots of fringies and stuff. AND super sweet lingerie.

 

 

Old dress, new hem

Here’s another thrifted dress I bought this spring. This dress fit me perfectly, but it was originally floor length. I love long dresses and skirts, but this one just looked like a dowdy gardener’s dress on me. So the only alteration I did on this was to hem it 🙂 Easy peasy!

This little silk bag is at least five years old. I ordered it from Baba Studio via Etsy. Since then, the store has grown and they offer lots of gorgeous bags and clutches as well as tarot cards and perfume. Check it out here.