Date Night Dress and Slip

One thing I really wanted to sew this summer was a Date Night Dress and Slip. I finished it last week, but unfortuantely it's too cold to wear it. My plan was to finish it for an actual date that Charlie and I were going on last Friday. I did finish the dress and the slip, but it was way too cold to wear on our dinner/concert date. 

Both are made out of voile, my favorite fabric.  Very soft and cool, but not suitable for the recent cold temperatures. 

I like the flutter sleeves. I can't wait to wear it, but it seems like that won't be until Spring. 

Lauren 

Better Late Than Never....Closest To Project Runway I'll Ever Get

In August I went to see Arcade Fire with my brother, his girlfriend, and my mom. They bought four tickets and then invited me. After agreeing Garrett mentioned that you had to dress up in a costume and he said he was going to wear his astronaut suit with lights sewn into it. I thought to myself that it would be fun if I pretended I was on Project Runway. When we got back from our out West Trip we took the red eye and we both slept about .5 seconds for the entire 6 hour flight and we were in terrible moods and so tired; which seemed like the perfect time to buy fabric. I figured the added tiredness and general crankiness would make it more like I was on Project Runway since the designers are always tried and in bad moods. I gave myself a $30 limit, and spent $29.48. If I had been more awake I might have figured out more yardage and spent less, but I figured having more fabric would be better than not enough. 

The general pattern was the Saltsprings Dress I made earlier in the summer with a few minor changes. My favorite Arcade Fire song is called Sprawl ii, in the music video the main singer has two very cool dresses that I took inspiration from. The main one looked like it was made out of cheerleading pom poms. Anything with frills and sparkles seemed like fun to make. My main goal in this endeavor was to sew something I would never sew for myself normally. 

source.

I cut a lot of strips of different tulle and sewed them onto the bodice. It looked kind of like a piñata. Not exactly like pom poms but I liked it.  

 For the back I wanted something a little different so I sewed a layer of glittery tulle on top of the lining fabric I had then sewed random swirls on it. After I had a bunch of swirly lines I cut in between the sewn lines. It looks kind of like gills. I think I might try a technique like this another time because it was fun and I think it looks cool.

The skirt was made out of sequined fabric. Mostly because I bought a lot of it and wanted to use it all. Of course I added pockets. I had so much tulle left over that I made a train that tied around my waist. Thank goodness it was detachable because it made going to the bathroom in a porta-potty much easier. The concert was really fun. I had never been to a concert with general admission and was a bit worried I'd get trampled or sucked into a mosh pit; but I was safe. We were very close to the stage too so that was fun. People did keep stepping on my train but since the tulle cost about $2 total I didn't even care. 

When we got there I was a little worried that we'd be the only people dressed up or that Garrett had said it to pull a joke on us. There were a ton of people there in crazy outfits; a woman wearing a unicorn head/mask, people wearing outfits made of mirrors, and Batman and his whole crew. Here is Garrett's light up flight suit. 

It was an awesome concert, like nothing else I've ever been to. It took me 2-3 days to get the glitter off of my body from this dress, which is why I didn't put it back on for these photos. I think I could get away with wearing it for Halloween. I'm not sure what I'll be though. The tooth fairy maybe? Any ideas?

I am sure I would have been kicked off of Project Runway over this outfit, but it was really fun to make. 

Lauren 

Saltsprings Dress

This pattern was all the rage last summer. Well, at least all the rage in terms of bloggers I follow. In the fall the pattern went on sale, it's an indie pattern so I don't mind paying more than 99 cents for them, but less than $16 is nice too. Unfortunately the reason it was on sale was due to the fact that it's a summer dress and it was fall. I ended up buying a nice viole fabric to make the dress when I was staying with my family in Portland Maine for a conference in October. Then it all sat on a shelf until now.

The pattern was so well written. It was super easy to follow, had great graphics, and needed minimal modifications. I guess that's why I don't mind spending more than a dollar ona good pattern. The sizing was confusing, as always. My measurements ranged from a size 10 to a 0. Huh? Anyone dare to guess which measurement was a 10 and which was a 0? On second thought don't guess. I ended up cutting out a four and it fit perfectly.

The zipper was a breeze to add in, thanks to my invisible zipper foot. The only bummer is its kind of hard to put on because the zipper gets stuck on the part of the dress where the elastic is.

Next time I make this dress, which I will, since I love it, I'll add a little extra seam allowance and do French seams. Do you use French seams? You really should. It's when you seam a seam once with the right sides showing, then again on the inside to hide the raw edges. It makes everything look so much neater, and results in less frayed fabric and random strings hanging out of your garments. It takes longer to do, but the end product is worth it.

Back to the dress, oh yeah I love it. I might sew a maxi version next, maybe. Probably as soon as I do maxi dresses won't be popular anymore.

Hope you're enjoying the summer weather!

Lauren

Romp? On Second Thought, Let's Not

A few weeks ago I saw a pattern for a romper made by someone I follow on Instagram. I've never had a romper, I've never even tried one on before. But I just had to have that pattern and sew one for myself. It just so happened that Simplicity patterns were on sale that week so I picked up a copy of Simplicity 1355, I also found a great summery print from Denise Schmidt (in case you haven't noticed she's pretty much the only designer I buy fabric from at Joann's), and the necessary notions (bias tape and thread).  Then all of it sat on my desk for 3 weeks. Mostly because I hate cutting out patterns, but also because I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to sew a romper. How does one go pee while wearing a romper? That was my main concern, as well as, what if my legs look stumpy?

I figured my hesitation was due to the romper-ness, but I still really liked the fabric and wanted something summery. Not to waste a perfectly good 99 cent pattern, I modified it and cut out the skirt pieces (much shorter than the maxi length of the pattern due to yardage restraints) and the romper top. It resulted in some major fudging, but I think the end product is okay considering.

The pattern said to use the seam allowance as the casing for the elastic, but I used bias tape instead. If I made this pattern again I would shorten the top length by an inch or two so it sits more on the smallest part of my waist, not the widest. That's a bit unflattering if I do say so myself. 

The upside is it has pockets! I stinkin love dresses with pockets. I didn't have enough fabric to cut the pockets out of the same fabric so I just used yellow fabric I had. I actually really like the pop of color.  My one downfall is that I am not good at matching the obvious pattern of the fabric. The front of the top is made of two pieces and they do not match, which bothers me because I know my grandmother would comment on it if she saw it in a store. Luckily I don't think anyone will notice but me. 

The non-romper took me about four hours, but will take less next time since I'll know what I'm doing. It's actually very comfortable to wear, and quite cool in the summer heat. 

Stay tuned for more sewing! I've taken a(n unintentional) blog break, but have been sewing a lot. 

Lauren 

Wishful Thinking Spring Dress

This dress (Cynthia Rowley 2215) had been cut out and in my sewing room for almost a year. Over my rainy vacation last week I finally got the guts to just do it. It's definitely the most complex pattern I've taken on thus far. Honestly, I knew that my Mom was coming to visit for Mother's Day and figured if worse came to worse she could help me with it while she was here. Luckily, I didn't need any help, just a streak of confidence. The invisible side zipper was not super hard, due to my special invisible zipper foot (thanks  John and Claire!).

The second to last step was the button holes which seems silly given that you've already invested several hours into a garment and that is a pretty easy things to mess up. I practiced on a scrap piece of fabric at least 6 times to make sure I was doing it right, then just jumped in. Luck was once again on my side and all 4 button holes turned out alright. I would not say they are excellent, but they do their job. I followed the pattern 100 percent; which is nearly unheard of for me. If I made the pattern again I would lower the neckline, like Andrea recommended because my neck claustrophobia kicked in after about 5 minutes of wearing the dress so I had to undo the top button in order to not have a freak out.

When I put the dress on to make sure it fit I showed Charlie and he said "Wow! You won't need a belt!" I guess to him a successful garment is when it's fitted enough to not need a belt. I do think it would look cute with a belt.

The pattern even has pockets! I would have added them anyways, because I love pockets. 

 I am going to attempt to do "Me Made May 2014" by wearing something I've made every (work day) in May. I think I'll post a roundup either halfway through or just at the end. This is my first brand new garment, I have a few more in the works or in the old noggin.

Lauren

Washi Dress; V 3.0

This past weekend my aunts got married. It was so much fun and I think everyone there cried and had a blast. My mom told me a few months ago that she would buy me a dress to wear to the wedding. Then when we were at Alewives Fabric I mentioned making my dress so she bought me the fabric and I got to work. It's the Washi pattern that I have used before. I changed the neckline, and lined most of it. I didn't have enough fabric to line the whole thing, bummer, but the entire top is lined. To do the lining I used all of Rae's videos posted here. The videos are very helpful. My one fail was trying to do a French Seam, big mistake. I should practice more (a lot more) on scrap fabric before trying it again on a garment.

Charlie was a good sport and measured the hem for me. Good thing he doesn't read my blog, he'd be embarrassed I told you that. The dress is made out of viole (pronounced vwall; I just learned that), by Anna Maria Horner, it's so unbelievably soft. The temperature was pretty hot at the wedding but I was cool in the dress, until I started dancing at least. The best part was people didn't know I had made the dress and kept asking me where I got it. Biggest compliment a seamstress can get is asking where their homemade clothes were purchased.

We all had a fabulous time.

Lauren

Purple Jersey Dress

One day about a week ago I was cutting out a pattern and Charlie was laying on the guest bed while I worked. He apparently never knew about the hidden compartment above where your pillow goes. He began exploring, and dug out a whole bunch of fabric and unfinished projects I was trying to forget about. One project was this dress. All that was left unfinished was the hem. Seriously Lauren, the hem?

I looked back at some facebook photos and realized that I last worked on this dress February 22, 2011. Fo almost two years this poor hemless dress was hidden away. I felt so bad I decided to finish it that night. I didn't even have to change the thread color I was using. I can't tell if that's a testament to my love of purple, or my unwillingness to typically change thread colors. 

This was meant to show how many times I had to shorten the front due to Sergical mistakes. Get it, serger-mistakes. 

I honestly don't remember much about the process of making this dress, since it was 2 years ago. The idea/ measurements came from "Sew U Home Stretch". It was from my own measurements and drafted pattern. The fabric is obviously jersey, which we all know I am scared of. I got it at Marden's for super cheep. It's very soft. I am still not 100% sure about the dress though. The styling needs some help. Black ribbon belt? Silver belt? No belt? Sweater? I need Tim Gun. I figure if this dress doesn't work out for wearing in public it could just be a night gown-ish thing since it is super comfortable. Either way it will to warm up to wear it since I've been wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt to bed lately.

Any ideas on styling?

What do you do with sort-of failed projects?

Lauren

Tova Jumper

For Christmas my Brother and Sister In Law bought me four yards of two plaid fabrics. After practicing my skills on the Tova top I jumped right into this project. I probably should have researched more about sewing with plaid. It's pretty crooked. I even tried to match the plaids on the sides. That did not work. Not at all, just don't look too closely.

Don't look at the crooked plaids, look at the ceiling, a common
trend when I take pictures of myself apparently. 

I made a lot of changes to this pattern. Some intentionally, some just as a whim. I can never making anything easy on myself. As with the top, I added an extra placket piece of fabric so the wrong side of the fabric wouldn't show. It turned out to be quite bulky, since it's made of wool. In order to reduce some of the bulk I took out one of the placket strips so the inside one doesn't have an extra piece, I just sewed the line so it looks like it does. I saw a corduroy Tova dress that had the little hanging loop here, so I copied it. I think it's cute.  I also changed the neck. It was supposed to be taller but I shortened it by just sewing it onto the edge right sides together, turning it and pressing it up then folding it over and hand stitching it on the inside. 

I also added pockets using the Washi dress pattern piece. I love pockets. They kept my hands super warm today while I was in a conference room that was about 53 degrees. Speaking of cold weather. I was worried I wouldn't be able to wear this until the temperature warmed up a bit since it's been about 10 degrees here in New Hampshire lately with negative temps if you count the wind chill. My solution was to wear my new long johns as if there were leggings. No one even knew. Aside from walking to school, and the freezing meeting, I was warm all day.

Lastly, I had planned to add sleeves. I called my Mom via Facetime and she reassured me that the dress should be a jumper (ie sleeveless). I was worried I would look like a 12 year old, but my Mum said I should be happy I look young. She also said the sleeves would be even harder to match the plaids. I figured I had done a crap job of matching the plaids to begin with so I should quit before it got worse. It also seems a lot less bulky without sleeves made of wool. 

My new jumper even goes with my infinity scarf. Success.

Did you know what a jumper was?

Do you think jumpers made of plaid make you look like you escaped from private boarding school?

Lauren 

Spring Dress; Just in time for Fall

I loved my Washi dress so much that I decided to make another. My brother and sister-in-law gave me a gift certificate to Fabric Worm for Christmas and I saved it for a long time for the perfect project. Once I found the Naomi Ito double gauze dot fabric I hit "buy" before anymore could be purchased by anyone but me.

Once it came I knew the dress would have to be lined, since it was lighter weight than coton. Luckily I had a few yards of solid pink viole left over from this quilt. I tried to figure it out on my own, but then, also luckily, Rae posted videos on how to line the dress. Hurray for someone else figuring it out. 

Unlike the first one, I added little cap sleeves. I really like them.

As the title implies, I finished the dress just in time for Fall. I've been waiting over a month to post about it because I was hoping I'd be able to wear it and get some pictures of me in it. That didn't exactly happen. And since we're going to Canada for February vacation, not a tropical paradise, you'll just have to wait until Spring to see any pictures of me wearing it. The dress will be waiting in the closet until then. 

Lauren 

New Dress

In case you fell of the planet recently I'll fill you in on what you missed. Rae, of Made By Rae,  released her Washi Dress pattern last week! Waahoo! Once we returned from vacation I purchased the pattern online, printed the pieces and got to work. I bought very expensive fabric (with a gift certificate) to make a Washi dress, but was nervous about cutting into it before trying the pattern first. Enter "Teacher Appreciation Day" at Joann's and 30% off of Denyse Schmidt fabrics. 

I love it. I planned on making the tunic so I only bought 2 yards for $12. After realizing I could be sneaky and make a dress with only 2 yards I went for it. 

There were only 5 pattern pieces and it was super easy to follow the directions.  One key is to make a muslin, which is great so you don't cut into expensive fabric and then realizing you're a different size than you thought.  Wouldn't that stink. It's also good to practice the darts. 

The dress even has pockets. I think on my next one I will make the pockets a bit lower down. I guess I have long arms.

The neckline is the key reason I liked this pattern. It was quite easy to make. Next time I make one I am going to do the neckline with a full lining not just a half one. The only thing I don't love is that you can see the underlining seams even thought I hand stitched them. 

 I always have had a fear of smocking, but it was so easy I think I'll be smocking everything. The key is to use good elastic thread not the cheap stuff.

All and all I love this pattern and am excited to finish the other one I've been working on.

Lauren 

Handmade Belt

Here are two pictures of a ribbon belt I made last night. I made two, one for me (the lopsided one) and one for Lorelei (the 2nd try and therefore better one seen below). 

My one mistake was putting the flower too much in the middle of the dark pink ribbon, so the belts might have to be worn kind of funny, when my original intention was for the flower to be worn on the side ....this made sense in my head but is hard to explain. Anyways I think they are pretty. Maybe I will experiment with more ribbon colors, or maybe I will save my money.....
I spent the last few days in Maine cleaning my mom's house (getting paid the big bucks). On my way home to NH I stopped at my new favorite fabric store, Mardens! I bought 4 new fabrics for less than $10. The first two, yellow and redish ones are for an apron. Lorelei made me one for my birthday and I wear it quite often, especially considering my hatred for cooking.  So I want to make one just to wear around, plus I was reading this week that aprons are making a comeback, I hope to lead the revolution in the Seacoast area. The third one I think I will use to make a lunch sack. Once I get around to fusing plastic like I have been talking about for the last 3 weeks I think I will line the inside with fused plastic, which will mean I can wash the inside with a sponge. And the last fabric is for me to make a purse for Lorelei, her birthday is coming soon and I want to make another purse like my Hobo bag, but do a better job. I hope I learn from my mistakes and make this purse GREAT! Now that I know I can sew in a zipper I might even put a zipper on the inside.We shall see..... 
 Lastly, here is a picture of the finished dress. I don't think this picture really does it justice, and I also don't think my hair is really that brown, but I could very well be delusional. 

Off to sew some more squares for my quilt, 22 done, 13 more to go. 

Enjoy the heat!

Lauren

Third Time's the Charm

Well....sewing the invisible zipper into my dress took me three times, for each side, to get it right. But here is a picture of the final product. I even got the waistbands to match at the zipper, and the zipper is nearly invisible inalmost every spot. And I also did it all by myself, with only spiritual support from my mum (thanks mumma!)

Oh and here is a picture of the lace pinned in to the front to make it less revealing/appropriate to wear in public. 

Here is the mothers day card I made for my mom on the rainy day. I liked the way it turned out so much that I made one like it for my friend Kirsten, but her birthday has not yet come so I will wait until afterwards to post, although she sort of rejects modern technology and would probably never see the pictures anyways. Mum said she really liked the card, I don't know if she meant the inside or the outside though. 
This is another card I made for Charlie. He just ran a 21 mile race on the Wapac trail that goes from NH into MA. I liked the card because it was like a trail. Although Charles criticized me because I put a river/lake in the wrong spot. My talents are wasted on him, that's for sure. 

 Lastly, here is a picture of the budding herbs we planted and are growing on our tiny porch. Luckily, our neighbors blasting bad music from the early 90's hasn't stunted the herbs growth (yet). 
Off to hand sew the hem of my dress. 

Goodnight!

Lauren