Sidetracked Sewing

After making 4 muslins to work out the fit on my Mad Men dress (yes, 4!!) I really needed to just step away from that project. I'm still not totally happy with the fit and I'm going to start from scratch with tissue fitting. I've recently gotten the book Fit for Real People and I now have a sewing bible! I'm going to incorporate the techniques from that book in my restart. In the meantime I've been impatiently waiting for a sunny day that doesn't feel like winter to photograph my Sew for Victory dress outside. So far one of those hasn't really happened. I realized when I completed the dress that I really need to wear a full slip with it as it is made of slightly sheer fabric. I came across this pattern on eBay and I won it. It's perfect for the dress!

It's in mint condition! I got it for $12. I feel like I got a great deal! I'm making it in a sky blue cotton poplin that has 2% spandex for a little stretch. I got like 10 yards of it on sale a couple years ago and I use it as muslin for slightly stretchy projects.
 

I'm really not the size of the pattern, so I'm going to be making some adjustments. So far I have almost finished the bust. I ended up cutting the piece as is, then cut it into quarters and spread it over me. I filled in the gaps with scraps of the fabric and then cut a new, re-sized piece. I'm so proud of myself for not sticking my breast with a pin when I was doing that! I need to add about a half inch of length from the side seam tapered to the center of the bust. Here's Mathilda modeling what I've done so far:

 

When I finish the bust I'll be tweaking the back just a bit. It almost fits perfectly as is. I think it will need a little shifting of the center, so it will need to be a little narrower. I hope to get the fit worked out of the entire slip later today.  The skirt is all princess seamed panels. Super easy to fix! It will be an easy sew once the fit is taken care of. Crossing fingers that I can get it done and the Victory dress photographed this week. The deadline for that sew along is April 1, 2013. I'm technically done, but I want a modeled photo for the deadline.

So, that's how I'm distracting myself from the little mess the Mad Men dress is.

Mad Men Challenge 2 - I'm In!

I've been bit by the sew along bug in the best sort of way. I've just finished a 1940s style dress for the Sew for Victory sew along (post to come as soon as there is a sunny day for photos). Now that is out of the way I'm on to my dress for the Mad Men Challenge 2 hosted by Julia Bobbin. I hated that I missed out on the first one. I was thrilled that she decided to do it again!  For my dress I'm going to recreate this amazing number that Joan (Christina Hendricks) is modelling in this Season 5 cast photo:

Image belongs to AMC.

The actual dress she is wearing is emerald green and it looks like a jacquard fabric.I hunted and hunted at my local Hancock's but couldn't find an emerald or even an olive green fabric that I felt would justify a cocktail dress. However, I did come across some really pretty chocolate poly shantung.

I wish it were silk, but my local store had no silk at all. I was not impressed. Next time I'll go to JoAnn's that's further down the road. I picked a cotton broadcloth in orange for lining. I prefer to have natural fibers against my skin.

I'm using McCall's 2401, View C with longer (3/4 length) sleeves. I got it on sale for $0.99 when I got my fabric.

 

I cut it to a sort of size 18 but I've had to alter it to death to fit me. It has 3 pattern pieces since I'm not using the facings the pattern comes with due to lining it and I've had to make adjustments for being shortwaisted, and having a very full bust, narrow shoulders, and a swayback.  I have to say, though, that the neckline is laying perfectly on me. I'm so happy about that. I tend to shy away from square necks because they gap with my narrow shoulders and full bust. I'm working on my 3rd muslin now, but here's the second one on Mathilda:

 

It looks a whole lot better on me than it does on Mathilda. She's too rigid to really pull off a wiggle dress. I'm hoping to be done with tweaking after the 3rd one, but I might need a 4th for fine tuning. Then I'll have to work on the sleeves. Luckily I have just over a month before the deadline. It's going to be, hopefully, an amazing cocktail dress when I'm done. I want the fit to be impeccable.

I'm loving the process of working out my fitting issues with this pattern. I think it will be a TNT by the time I'm done. Are you doing this challenge? Leave me a comment with a link to your posts about it.

Correcting False Starts

This is a slightly personal (and long) post. I won't be doing these often but I wanted to actually share something I had sewn that I wore today for a special reason. I had a meeting (kind of an informal interview) for a job today! I wore a skirt I had drafted a pattern for myself:

Outfit Details: Top - Talbots, Skirt - Made by Me, Shoes - Dansko Harlow, Tights/Belt/Scarf/Earrings - Target

On top of being a domestic goddess I am also a registered nurse. I am a kind of new nurse, too. How I became a nurse is one heck of a story. I had wanted to be a nurse since I was 3 years old. See:

Yep, that's me on my 3rd birthday taking good care of my doll. Three years later I ended up being hospitalized overnight for croup. Basically it's a respiratory issue that creates a barking cough due to swelling around the vocal chords. It caused me to cough so much I could barely breathe. Scary stuff for a little kid. The nurse that took care of me that night was one of the kindest, friendliest people I have ever met in my life. She made me feel less afraid of what was going on with me. I knew for sure, then and there, that I wanted to be able to do that for others when I grew up. Over the years I sometimes thought maybe I would rather be a doctor, but I kept coming back to nursing.

After high school I started nursing school but ended up dropping out. False start #1. Due to personal reasons I was not ready for college right out of high school. I worked for a year, moved, and went back to school for business to get myself from waiting tables into secretarial work. I temped for years and ended up in a great engineering firm. I'd pretty much given up on becoming a nurse by then. As luck would have it I became a mom and after I was home with my babies for a couple years I had the opportunity to go back to college. I jumped on it! Thirty years after the picture above I actually became a nurse!

That's me hugging my mom at my college graduation and we are both crying tears of joy. It had been a LONG time coming! Well, graduating was just the first hurdle to being what I am today. I also had to pass a license exam called the NCLEX. I was so nervous the first time that I failed. Yep. I failed it. Just barely. Literally if I had gotten one or two more questions right I would have passed and I had maxed out the number of questions on the exam. Just barely failing really sucked. I kicked myself for being so scared because I knew that is what made me fail. I threw myself a pity party for a few months while I waited to be able to take it again. When I took it again I only got the minimum number of questions and I passed it with flying colors. So 6 months after graduation I was finally a licensed registered nurse! Then I had to go about getting a job...

Sew Disorganized!

Oh my goodness... I can't believe I'm going to do this, but here is what a mess my sewing space was:

The boxes are from when we moved in back in July. They never got unpacked, just rifled through. Piles of stuff are because I haven't worked out storage of scraps and such yet. Ridiculous, right?! Well, for the past few days I've been brainstorming, planning and trying to motivate myself to get this mess under control.

I have to take baby steps to get anything done, otherwise I get deer in the headlights stunned by the overwhelming job ahead of me and freeze. I basically procrastinate and do nothing. So, on Wednesday night I gathered my equipment, which was 2 laundry baskets (I should have brought 4) and a trash bag (I should have brought 2), and went to work. 

My first step in tackling this mess was to take care of the first thing in my way. The HUGE box on the left. Well, it took me an hour and 40 minutes, but I got it emptied and basically sorted based on keep and toss criteria. I called it a night after taking care of that HUGE box. I felt a great sense of triumph. It had been a thorn in my side since BEFORE we moved in July. Yep. It's been full of stuff for probably a year. I'll do my walk of shame for that when I'm not too busy reveling in beating that sucker.

Over the next three days I really got down to business with this mess. I finished sorting the rest based on keep/toss criteria and then I sorted the keep stuff into fabric, patterns, and other. The fabric yardage and scraps are mostly put away, patterns are in boxes waiting to be put in their permanent homes, and the other stuff is all put away in bins that I need to label. My big accomplishment from this: I can get to my machine again! Yay! See for yourself:

I am so proud of myself! I was overwhelmed by the space and all my stuff for a long, long time. It feels so good to get that handled.

Now that I can actually do some sewing in the space again I have some goals to accomplish:

1. Finish the dress I was commissioned to make. (Top priority)
2. Get new shelves and put my fabric on them in some semblance of order.
3. Organize my patterns.
4. Sew some AG things for the girls to use up scraps.
5. Schedule regular mending time.
6. Assess the basket of WIPs under my sewing table to see what needs to be finished and what needs to be scrapped.
7. Sew some awesome clothes for my family and me.

Those goals will probably be a general outline of upcoming sewing posts. In two weeks I should have something sewn to show off and discuss. I'll see you again this Wednesday with a recipe review post and next Sunday I'll have a craft to show you. For now I'm going to enjoy a glass of wine in celebration of taking this step towards getting my sewing area as good as it can get.

Kayla Turns 8

Today is my niece's birthday and tomorrow is her party. She really wanted a sleeping bag for her AG doll. I decided I would make one for her from scratch.

I used my daughter's AG doll to make two squares long enough to fit and wide enough to fit, doubled (just the width). I sewed them right sides together with the bottom left open. Then folded it in half and stitched the bottom and sides together leaving it open for a few inches at the top (maybe 5 or so... I eyeballed it.) I then took some matching cotton scraps and made a small pillow that I velcroed to the sleeping bag.

The bag is made from 1970's vintage pre-quilted fabric that I bought from Selvedge Shop. Sandra is one of my favorite sources on Etsy for vintage fabric. Go check her out if you love vintage fabric and patterns. The cotton was scraps I had left over from lining the jacket below:

My first commissioned garment made for Hyde Von Hitchcock, lead singer of Absinthe.

Sewing: Gypsy Costume

Today I'm working on a commissioned jacket for a client so I'm going to post up a costume I made last month for a fairy/gypsy party at a friend's house.

The underskirt and overskirt were made with no patterns. Just winged it. The peasant blouse I self drafted a pattern for. The turban was made from 2 shirts I never wear (brown t-shirt for the turban, and the roses came from a halter I never wear). I added a vintage button to the center of the roses on the turban for a little glitz. The shawl is one I knit in January.  Altogether the costume cost me $7 for the bangle bracelets on my right hand. The red fabric is from a window scarf that I no longer use (lots of yardage there!) and the green fabric was some I had purchased at least 15 years ago with intentions of making a dress that never happened. Still have a couple yards left over of it.

Sewing: Vintage Strawberry Sorbetto

I've been very busy with the sewing machine lately. Here's the most recent thing to get finished:

Another item for my fall wardrobe. I used Colette Patterns' free Sorbetto tank to make a shell I could layer all fall and then again in spring. I cut the pattern in a size 12, based on my high bust measurement and then FBA'd it to death (2.5 inches to each side). I used Queen of the Flies' post to help me with my pattern adjustments.

The fabric is a vintage 1950's cotton that I purchased from Selvedge Shop and the trim is purchased single fold bias tape in dark brown. I'm so happy with how it turned out! Off my body it kind of has odd shaping, but on me it is PERFECT!

 

It was a little chilly out, so this is as much as I'm going to expose to show the detail on the tank. It's hard to see, but I didn't hem the bottom as instructed as I wanted it a little longer, so I just used the bias tape to finish the bottom like the neckline and armholes.

Circle Skirt and Wrap Blouse

I had a lot of fun making this outfit for the Colette Patterns Fall 2011 Palette Challenge. It was my first time sewing knits, my first time completely resizing a pattern, my second full bust adjustment, and I'm so happy with how it all turned out!

May I present you with New Look 6149:

I styled it today with my Naturalizer Barstowe Wide Calf Boots, vintage frame purse from LadyListen, pearl and smoky quartz necklace from Orion Designs, and prescription sunglasses in Anne Klein frames.

I love how retro this outfit appears without looking old and dated. I also love the little bit of glitz in the skirt to give it a touch of glamor.

And because you just can't have a circle skirt without wanting to twirl:

The top is made in poly ITY knit fabric and the skirt is in cotton with a lovely metallic gold detail to the print that really didn't show up in the photos. I purchased the pattern from the Simplicity patterns site when they had their HUGE sale on OOP patterns. The largest size is an 18 and I would have been more like a 20/22 in the skirt, so I had to add 2 inches to the pattern. I did my first lapped zipper and LOVE the results. I'm only doing lapped zippers on my clothes from now on, if at all possible. I left the back piece of the top pattern alone at an 18 and massively adjusted the front. It really does fit perfectly. It's very, very comfortable.

Instant Gratification

I needed to make a couple of gifts today. My mother in law is going on her first cruise this weekend with her sister. So I whipped up two of these satin sleep masks for them to take with them.

I used this pattern and some  scraps of crepe back satin from Hancock Fabrics, and scrap fabric that I had leftover from Evie's blue dress to put inside to block light. Super fast gift!

The rest of that satin is reserved for a blouse that's soon to be made. Along with that satin I got from the remnant bin at Hancock, I also got some GORGEOUS chiffon that wasn't much fabric at all, but just enough for me to give a finish to the edges and make a scarf. See...

It's the perfect length, and actually it's big enough to use as a summer wrap, also. I am completely in love with that print. It's stunning!

So, that's what I have been up to today.

Tie Neck Blouse and Pencil Skirt

In July I had a LOT going on. My stepchildren were visiting for the month, we did a bunch of fun things, and I had an interview with the local hospice that went really well. I wore this to my interview:

A dress I made from New Look 6643 in red stretch cotton sateen from Fabric.com. It fit me the best of all the dresses I owned that would be interview appropriate. I was told at the interview that I would have a second interview soon and a half-day shadowing a nurse to make sure hospice is what I want to do. Well, I got home and immediately started to plan out my second interview outfit, because I was going to HAVE to make one since my handmade dress fit me so well.

Here's what I came up with:

Tie Neck Blouse from New Look 6831, View D *OOP

Fabric:  Polyester Shirting from Hancock Fabrics

Size Made: 18 with adjustments

Pattern Notes:

I modified the pattern with a Full Bust Adjustment and that required one additional button, which I did not have, so I put a snap at the top button place, since it is totally hidden by the bow anyways. I also had to increase the darts, and lengthen them (I'm short waisted as well as a busty hourglass).  I used this tutorial for the sleeves.  Also, I forgot to hem the first sleeve before sewing it together (doh!) so I just hemmed both after attaching. Worked just fine. I bound the shoulder seams for additional support without bulk. This was a great blouse pattern and I made a wearable muslin that I intend to stitch securely (it's all basted) and put longer sleeves on for fall. I love how this blouse fits me!

Wrap Front Pencil Skirt from Vogue 8154, View C *OOP

Fabric: Vintage Cotton from 2nd Hand Sews

Size Made:  20

Pattern Notes:

This pattern was a perfect fit for me without any changes! That's a shock! Getting the buttons lined up was a little tricky for me, but once I got it done I realized how to make it easier for myself. Mark through the button holes. Duh! lol Oh well. Yeah, I'm really a beginner but I'm trying to reach for intermediate. I bound all my unfinished edges on this skirt. The inside is really as beautiful as the outside. I love, love, love it! And... I can wear it with nearly every top in my wardrobe due to all the colors in the tiny dot print on the brown fabric. I used a large 1" snap at the waistline where the pattern specified, and sewed it very securely. I wanted a nice, secure closure. I normally avoid pleats on bottoms, but the inverted pleat on this skirt really works well for my figure. I will certainly be using this pattern again. And the other views are great, too.

Here's a pic of the blouse untucked:

I made some mistakes along the way, but I took my time and fixed them before getting frustrated. So glad I did! I'm incredibly proud of these two garments! I feel like a million bucks when I wear them. And the shots above are without my Spanx. It is even better looking with the Spanx. I should ROCK my second interview wearing this! I'm in awe that I now have a blouse that fits me like a glove and doesn't pull across my bust. Let me repeat that... IT DOESN"T PULL ACROSS MY BUST!!!! I think that's a first, ever. I refuse to wear minimizer bras anymore. I hate them and really I don't want to hide my assets. lol

Abbie's New Purple Dress!

It wouldn't be fair for me to make Evie a dress and not make one for Abbie. So, I let Abbie pick the pattern she wanted me to use and I made this for her while she was at a family reunion for about a week with her grandparents. That was a couple weeks ago, but today she wanted to wear it so I snapped the first pic of her in it. She's so adorable in it!

Pattern - New Look 6907

Size - 5, this gives her a little room to grow as she's petite for her size

Fabric - Either linen or cotton (very linen like texture and wrinkles if you look at it funny like linen) for the dress, quilt cotton for the contrast, all was in my stash for a long time. I also used a zipper I had already, and used purple thread.

Time - I guess it took me a total of about 4 hours. I spread that out over a few days so I could take my time. I didn't get to fit it on Abbie as I went since she was out of town. I'm glad it fit her when it was done!

Lesson learned - I finally learned the value of finishing the edges on woven fabric. Evie's dress has raveled on some of the unfinished edges (need to bind them now) and I make sure to zigzag stitch all of the edges of this dress before I sewed a single piece to another. Held up to washing SO MUCH BETTER! This was my first time doing patch pockets. So incredibly easy!

Abbie loves her new dress. Especially the pockets!

Vogue 1176 Michael Kors Sundress Muslin

This dress is moving along quicker than I expected! Totally a good thing! Today I got the straps and skirt completed, and they are both attached to the bodice.

It looks so good so far! Everything is lining up perfectly and it's looking like it will fit exactly like I wanted it to. I'm going to do the fitting after I finish the lining and put it in. There is no zipper in this dress yet, but I'll be basting one in to get the real deal on fitting. That little bit will be done after dinner tonight. I'm so pumped about this dress muslin!

Oooo... A Challenge!

So, I have a birthday coming up. May 24th, to be exact. I host a party every year to celebrate, but I hold it on the first Saturday in June since at least half the people I know are out of town Memorial Day weekend (which always follows my birthday). This year I decided to start going with a theme and with the help of my friend, Heather Brooks, I chose to do a retro Tiki Party theme. I saw Vogue's V1176, a Michale Kors dress, and knew it would be PERFECT!

Isn't that bodice detail awesome?! I love it!

The bodice front is really the only somewhat complicated part of this average difficulty pattern. The dress is fully lined and has a self-fabric belt.  I started my muslin today and the bodice is complete. That's steps 1-12 of the instructions, out of 73 steps!

 

I'm making the muslin out of a plain white full-size flat sheet. I haven't pressed the seams yet, so they are a little wrinkly looking.

 

Close-up of that drape detail. It is open behind it to slip the bow into.

 

And I recently took that disaster of a little brown dress and used it to make my too-small dress form fit my measurements. It's stuffed with newspaper right now, as I have no batting on hand. I'll remedy that soon, though. The muslin is lining up, centers, bust points, waistline and sides, perfectly! Woo hoo!

Straps and skirt will be done tomorrow. After that is the lining and bow. My deadline to have a finished dress is June 1. If the rest of the dress goes as smoothly as this bodice muslin did I don't see any problem meeting that deadline.

Evie's New Dress

Pattern - Simplicity 2677

Size - 6, this gives her a little room to grow as she's petite for her size

Fabric - Unknown synthetic woven for the dress, quilt cotton for the contrast, all was in my stash for a long time. I also used a zipper I had already, and used purple thread (that matches some of the polka dots on the belt) instead of blue. It gives the dress a really nice detailed look.

Time - I guess it took me a total of about 5 hours. I spread that out over a few days so I could take my time, fit it on Evie as I went, and make sure I did it correctly.

Lesson learned - I'm no longer afraid of sewing in zippers! I literally tackled the zipper in this without a single intimidating thought. Yay! And I tried a new technique for gathering on the sleeves. So much faster and just as effective! I also added fusible interfacing to my pattern pieces as I'm sure this will be a dress made many times over as my girls get older.

Sew Disasterous!

So, I was plugging right along on my little brown dress using brown stretch sateen and this pattern:

I'm making it plain front like the first dress, short sleeved like the second dress, and v-neck like the third dress. Well, I didn't read the directions fully before starting (MAJOR mistake that lead to subsequent mistakes) and ended up with really messed up things going on with the dress by the time I realized it. This dress is more challenging than anything I've sewn before, so it's been a real learning experience. I'm not even going to attempt to rip the seams out at this point. That would be more than it's worth. I just placed an order last night with Denver Fabrics for more fabric to make this dress over again. With my newly gained knowledge it should go off without too many problems the second time around. Luckily I got the fabric on clearance both times now so I'm not out much financially. And yes, I did make a muslin. The fit is fine, it's the seams that are wonky all over the place. Oops.. Totally my fault. The pattern and instructions are pretty well flawless, if you read before you start. Instructions are what I look at after my attempt without them fails. lol

So, while I'm waiting for my new fabric to arrive I am going to make a dress for each of my little girls. First I'm making one for Evie with some solid cornflower blue fabric as the main dress fabric, and sky blue with multicolored polka dots fabric as the contrast fabric. I'm using this pattern:

It should be adorable when finished. I read a tip online somewhere about ironing patterns to fusible interfacing to increase the pattern's durability. I did that just a few moments ago because I'm sure this will be a dress I make a few times as my girls get bigger.

For Abbie I'm not yet sure what fabric I'll be using and I'll be making this pattern:

Now Abbie and I are going to have some lunch and I'll work on her big sister's dress during nap time.

No Pattern Knit Skirt

Yesterday I had plans. At the last minute those plans changed. So, I decided I would make myself a new skirt. Without a pattern. Just start cutting and sewing and figure it out as I went. Here's the result:

It's a simple straight skirt made from some vintage jersey fabric. LOVE the print! I made a high waistband out of the fabric, also. I need to take it in just a bit, though, so I did not photograph it.

Here's the side profile:

Slightly closer shot. Isn't that print just AWESOME?!

All together it probably took me about an hour and a half to make it. Even including my time fixing my mistakes along the way. I am so pleased with this. And my wardrobe just got much prettier!

Fabric: Late 1960s or Early 1970s Synthetic Jersey

Source: Selvedge Shop

Lots of energy today!

It's a rare occasion, especially here lately, that I actually have an abundance of energy and inspiration.  Today is one of those days.  So, my motto for the day is:

You can get that awesome print for free here.

I was browsing around Boutiques.com while Abbie was eating lunch and saw a high end designer dress that looked mighty familiar to me.

Oscar De La Renta Black Wool Dress

It looked like this dress I made on October 29, 2010 from stretch cotton sateen purchased at fabric.com with New Look 6643 as a pattern, which was pretty heavily modified for what I wanted.

I went out to the mail as Abbie was cleaning up her toys in preparation for her afternoon nap.  I was hoping that a package containing my winnings from Moi Minerals would be in the mailbox, but instead I found my order from Sidney @ Limmer Lane Antiques!

And it contained these:

1940's Rayon (L) and Cotton (R)

I should also be expecting the fabric and notions today, via UPS, to make this dress:

I'm just giddy!  So many things that I can pick to work on! I'm test knitting a hat for a friend, and I will start working on a sewing project as soon as I'm done with that.  I'm excited!

Now that Abbie is napping I will be reviewing for my NCLEX-RN exam (boards for nurses) since I have peace and quiet to focus. I hope everyone is having a lovely day!