Bling, Baby!

I've been doing a bit more sewing for pay recently.  Mostly just repairs, but a couple of months ago I was asked to make a blessing dress for a baby.   A blessing dress is for an LDS baby.  LDS baptize children at eight, but we still have a small tradition of introducing our child to our fellow church members by having the father give the child a blessing during our church service.  It's usually the baby's first blessing from the father.    A blessing is when the father places his hands on the child's head and prays for them.  The prayer gives the baby's full name, and then asks for the blessings the parents want for the child in their future life, things like having God's spirit with them, finding a good person to marry, blessing the child to make good choices and have happiness in their life. It's very special and sweet.  Traditionally in the US, babies are blessed in a special white outfit purchased or made for the occasion.

This little dress was made from her mother's wedding dress.  I took apart the skirt and had plenty of fabric and lining to make this lovely little number.  The rhinestone accent is straight off the wedding dress.  Luckily they were originally sewn to a small piece of sheer fabric, so I was able to reuse them in the exact same design.    They are even in the same place they were on Mommy's dress.

I'm very happy with the final outcome and it's even prettier in person.  The mom is thrilled and honestly, that's the best you can hope for when sewing for someone else.

Christmas Jammies

Thanks to our new son in law and his vowel initial our Christmas Jammy Weasley shirts (my kids names for them) spell the most appropriate word ever:  Jammers.    Pretend that we have a second M in there ok?  I have about five years before we can add another initial in there.

The shirts were super easy.  I cut the letters using the Cameo.  They are all done in the HP font available at dafont.com. I did have the adjust the settings on the machine to the heavy fabric setting.  The flannel did not want to cut nicely.   I don't use Silhouette's special fabric medium.  I just use standard Heat n' Bond.   I left the paper on the back to cut and then "R" did the ironing for me.  I did a super close zig zag applique with my sewing machine.  The whole project took me two days.  One day to cut out and one day to do all the sewing.  I did get some help from the kids on the shirts and cutting project.   "M" tried to help with the sewing.  He did two seams on "A"'s pants before he decided it was too big of a project for him.

The fabric is all JoAnn black Friday flannel.  It's not the greatest quality, but it wears well for pjs.   I am having a harder and harder time every year finding more grown up prints for my kids.   The boys prints are the hardest.  There are always a few that work for my girls, but the boys prints all seem to be for boys ages 1-5 or boys into sports.  Neither works for me.   Some nice neutral plaids, fantasy themes (swords, armor, magic etc.), music, books, etc.  would work for all my kids and it would be great to see them.

Sarah's Hat

As I said in the previous post, Sarah's wedding hat was also mine.  I had kept it in the top of the closet for twenty years.  I loved it the day I got married, but I had no fantasies that my daughters would want it.  Hats had gone out of fashion for weddings almost immediately after I got married.  I think I was riding the last little wave or may have even missed the trend altogether.  To be honest, hats still haven't come back, but when your girl decides on a steampunk wedding theme, you get to ignore current fashion trends with great abandon.

My hat had a veil that went past my knees in the back and a huge, leftover from the 80's bow on back.  The lace trim on the edge is the same lace that was on my dress.  It's easy to do things like that when your mother makes your dress and you trim your own hat.  I started with a blank white hat.  My sister and a family friend helped me wind on all that ribbon and tulle.  We hot glued on the fake flowers including a little bunch on the underside of the brim.  I loved my hat even if the weight of that monstrous bow and veiling tried to pull it off my head all day.

It's obviously dated now and it most definitely wasn't very steampunk, but the basic shape worked beautifully for a Victorian-ish wedding.  It's not perfectly time period appropriate, but steampunk is all about taking that aesthetic and tweaking it to your taste.

Since my daughter spent the summer working full time, I had the fun of retrimming the hat.  I removed the massive mess off the back and the ribbon twist from around the crown. The fake flowers  and lace stayed.

I made an eyebrow veil that covered the whole hat with tails that reached about shoulder blade length.  Over that I added a 20" ostrich plume.  That was interesting.  I had never worked with feathers before so I had to do some research to know how to form the plume so it bent the way I needed it to on the hat and how to attach it to the hat so it wouldn't fall off.  (Steam!)

She adored the hat.  It worked beautifully with her dress and looked very steampunk even if it wasn't a top hat.  The plume was just fantastic.  I ordered it off Amazon and it came pretty quickly and well packaged.  (Well, the packaging was ridiculously over sized, but the plume arrived in perfect condition.)   It's attached to the hat with both thread (at the front) and hot glue (at the back.)

My Daughter's Wedding Dress

Like I said, my girl got married this month.   She and her husband have been good friends since seventh grade.  Last summer they started dating. They were engaged in March.   It was a quick time to put together a wedding, but it worked best with their schedule to do it this summer.  So we hit the ground running and I spent the summer up to my eyeballs in wedding prep. 

Sarah wanted a steampunk wedding.   Ashton didn't want anything too over the top or costumey.   We decided on a steampunk lite or, as I would explain it to friends, steampunk meets English garden party.   The steampunk aspect did get her this dress:

And from the back:

 We used a Butterick pattern for the bodice but heavily altered the fit and cut the neckline up so it looked better with the corset.  The patterns for the Victorian apron drapey parts, the skirt, and the awesome bustled petticoat are all from Truly Victorian.  I loved working with those patterns.  They were easy to follow for the most part.  We did make some alterations.  I did not sew the aprons into the dress.  They were made as separate pieces like the corset.  It made it much easier to sew the bodice and skirt together and install the back zipper.  With the corset over the top, you can't even tell it's not all one piece.   This way she can also take the apron and corset and use them with another dress for a steampunk costume of her own.  

The aprons were slightly modified from the original pattern.  I did two aprons with the top apron cut 6" shorter than the bottom.  We used Skirt A that already had the double sash.   I used a ribbon to finish the top edge and added a hook and eye to fasten them together.  And then since I ran out of time, we had to safety pin the back edges so they came together properly.  Ah well.  She can sew so she can add a hook and eye there too when she gets time.

The dress was made from a lovely ivory duchess satin.  It draped beautifully and was the perfect weight for the dress.  The corset and aprons are a shantung (Joann calls them blackberry and taupe.)
I'm sad to say we had to do the whole wedding on a very tight budget ($2500) so the fabric was purchased at Joann with a coupon or on sale and it's all polyester.   The fiber made it harder to work with, but it fit the budget.  Her ensemble cost around $300 including boots, hat trimming, fabric and patterns.  

She wore my wedding hat that I retrimmed (like a good Victorian woman.  Redo it to fit the new fashions.)  I'll do a post soon on the hat.  I've got before and afters.  Shaping the ostrich plume was an interesting experience.    

One of my favorite things we did for them on their wedding day was send them off on a picnic.   After the ceremony we did family pictures and then sent them off by themselves while the rest of us had a light dinner.  Sarah's grandma bought them the adorable hamper as a wedding gift and one of the bridesmaids packed it with a delicious meal.  I had the lemonade bottle already in my cupboard (yea for hoarding!) We just had to remove the labels.  Crisco worked beautifully for that.

The photographer followed them to the park for some private couple photos and then left them alone.  They had 45 minutes of together time before they came back to the party.  It was a good break from the crowd and the hectic schedule.  The guests were so busy eating and mingling that the bride and groom weren't even missed until 15 minutes before they were due to come back.  

It was a lovely day and Sarah and I were both very happy with her dress.  

*the photos were taken by the incomparable Jyl Read of Jyl Read Photography.  It's a lot to ask a photographer to drive 6 hours to shoot your daughter's wedding, but in this case, it was worth it.  She was amazing.  

Tailor Tacking: What is it? and why should you use it?

There are several different ways to mark the tailoring marks on a garment when cutting out.  The one I always go back to is the one I learned first:  tailor tacking.  It's simple.  It's quick. It uses items I always have on hand.  And frankly, you tend to go back to the things you know.

Tailor tacking uses items that every single seamstress has.   No matter how simply stocked your sewing stash, you always, always have a needle and thread.   That's all you need.  I prefer to use bobbins that were wound for other sewing projects.  It gets those bobbins emptied off and ready for a new project and I didn't have to throw out the thread or take the time to unwind it just to empty the bobbin.  Your needle choice depends on what you have on hand and your fabric choice.

A tailor tack is just a single stitch in the fabric.  You leave several inches of thread on either side of the stitch.  Leave it longer if you are going through several thicknesses of fabric (I like to leave four inches for two layers.)  If you are marking an area you will handle a lot during sewing, it's best to leave a little extra as insurance against pulling out the thread.

  After marking all the spots needed on the piece, remove the pattern and gently pull the fabric pieces apart.  When you have about 2-3" of thread between the fabric pieces, clip the threads.   Now it's ready to sew with.  You can remove the thread as soon as you are done sewing that piece (just be sure you won't need that mark again before you pull) or just pull all the tacks out when completely done with the garment.

Tailor tacking works for most tailoring marks.  All those little circles your supposed to match up, center line, fold lines, pleats, etc. are all great uses of tailor tacking.   This technique does not work as well, however, with things like stitching lines, i.e. zipper flies and scalloped necklines.  It's best to use transfer paper to mark those.  You also need to keep your fabric in mind.  If you are sewing with fabric that is easily snagged, it might be best to not be putting an extra needle near it.  Heavyweight fabric like extra thick canvas or leather isn't great for this either.  Leather just doesn't need the extra holes and you can hurt yourself trying to run a needle through thick fabrics.  Transfer paper or pens are useful with these fabrics as well.

If you are new to tailor tacking, you might want to leave your pattern pieces around so you can double check which marks are which.  The thread is just thread so it's up to you to keep track.  It may seem confusing at first, but you catch on pretty quickly and the marks are seldom complicated anyway.  I almost never have to refer to my pattern piece to interpret a mark.  If I do, 99% of the time it's because I'm working on a UFO without the factory instructions and I've forgotten what the mark was for.

I hope you learned a new technique and you find it helpful in your future sewing.

Leather trim houndstooth skirt

I took these pictures back in November, but I wasn't happy with them, so I delayed posting.  I have now admitted to myself that I will not be getting great pictures of this skirt.  This is it.  Sorry.  It is a great skirt though.

 It features a faux leather yoke and wool houndstooth skirt.  The skirt has five deep box pleats across the back.  And it's very fitted.  I finished it up after she left for college so I didn't have her to test the size for me.  If she were home when I sewed it, I would have let out the pleats a bit so it wasn't quite so tight.  But then that's how a lot of women's pencil skirts are being made these days, so whatever.  (by the way, the boots do look great with the skirt in real life.  The black and tan of the houndtooth blend more in photos than they do in person so the undertones in the colors are different.)

We used the same basic technique to build this skirt as I did for her wild print deep yoke skirt.   I did use a light fabric for the facing on the faux leather and I sewed down the facing at the top of the waist.  I also sewed down the seam allowance on either side of the seam as well as the darts at the waist.  

For the skirt, we decided on length, subtracted the length of the yoke and added in hem and seam allowance to get the fabric length.  Two pieces were cut.  One the width of the front yoke piece (including seam allowance) and one the width of the back yoke plus ten inches.    

The back skirt has five box pleats.  One in the center and two on either side spaced two inches away.  You could easily do fewer pleats or no pleats altogether.  Just adjust the width of the back skirt piece accordingly.  

It's the details that count

I may have mentioned before that I tend to be lazy.  If there is an easy way to do something, that's the way I'm going to do it.  This means that I do shortcuts. In my sewing this translates into me skipping the details all too often.   I have learned over the last couple of years, though, that those extra steps make a huge difference in the finished project.

For example, can you imagine how boring the peplum top would have been without the piping, bound sleeve, and Peter Pan collar?  

That white contrast makes the polka dots look even better.   The three things added more than an hour to the construction time of the top.  The old me would not have taken the time and I would have hated the final product.  

And how about the pink dress redo?  Remember that ruffle?

It's the ruffle that really makes the shaped hem stand out.  It also pops the contrast stitching.   The ruffle is made up of about 3 yards of muslin that all had to be hemmed and gathered.   Yeah, time consuming but worth it.  (And yes, I've got a thing for contrast bound sleeves. Talk about details that really count.) 

There was also the Burda Jumpsuit with the contrast fabric for the pocket facing and the piping.  Those details took the jumpsuit from cute to fabulous.   The red ric rac and deep contrast band on the yoked skirt I made for my oldest toned down a very busy fabric and made it perfect for a teen girl.   I had to redo the stitching on the pockets on my middle girl's python jeans because I started out with white thread.  It matched too well.  Bright pink top stitching thread made all the difference.  

For your next project, take time to look at the design details.  Is there a place where you can add a trim?  Would contrast fabric make a design detail stand out in a great way?  How about something so simple as contrast buttons?  Piping?   Contrast stitching?  What can you do to make your next project unique and fabulous?

Peplum Top Pattern Hack

With peplums being so hot I couldn't help but make a peplum top for one of my girls.  And if you knew the project would come out looking like this, wouldn't you make one too?

This is my favorite pattern hack to date. Yes, that's a pattern hack, because I couldn't find a peplum top pattern for little girls. There's some great ones for women, but nothing smaller.   It was super easy though.  I attached a flared skirt to a little girls' dress bodice.   the back seam has a gap at the neck rather than the zipper and the zipper was moved to the side seam.  If I do it again I'll go ahead and leave the zipper in the back seam.  I like how it is now, but my girl finds it a little more difficult to put the top on.  

Don't you adore that peter pan collar?  None of my little girl dress patterns came with a peter pan collar, so I drafted this one myself.  My first attempt wasn't quite right, but the second collar fit perfectly.  It's exactly what the top needed.  (This tutorial from Burda Style is pretty similar to the technique I used, just in case your little girl dress patterns don't  have collars either.)  I finished the neck edge with single fold bias tape rather than drafting a facing.  It makes it more comfortable for her to wear.

There is something just so retro about this top and I love that.  I love the white piping at the waist.  That was a last minute addition and I'm glad I did it.  I didn't have any white piping on hand, but I did have piping cord (left overs from a project from many years ago) so i made some piping for it.  I had just enough white fabric to do it.

The fabric is  polished cotton with a nice stiff hand.  the skirt stands away from the bodice all on it's own.  I think that's the secret to a great peplum.  It should have some body to it so you get the full effect.  Something with a soft drape wouldn't quite work here.   Poplin, linen, polished cotton all are good fabric choices.  When choosing the bodice pattern, choose one with a bodice that reaches the true waist and fits somewhat close to the body.  You want around 1 1/2 to 2" of ease.

So how does one go about making a peplum top for a little girl?  It takes some math, so grab your scientific calculator, pencil, and pattern drafting fabric and let's get to work.

We'll be drafting a flared skirt, so we'll need to figure radius from circumference and circumference from radius.  If you don't remember from your high school days, the radius is the distance from the center of the circle to the edge.  Circumference is the distance around the edge of the circle.   The formula you need to know is C=p2r.  Circumference is C and r is radius.   You should know how to find and use the pi button on your calculator.  (You could also use an online calculator like this one.)

1.  First you need to know the exact dimension of the bodice waist.  So get to work and cut out your bodice.  Measure around the waist right at the seam line on both the bodice front and back.  If the bodice front and bodice back are two different lengths, you will need to make two different pattern pieces.  Start with the bodice front waist length. Subtract the seam allowance.  Multiply the result by 2.  This is the circumference of the first circle you will draw.  Plug this number into your calculator.  Divide by pi.  Now divide the result by 2.  This is Radius #1.

2.  Using this radius measurement, draw a half-circle on your pattern drafting paper.  I like to use a string tied around a pencil.  Just tie a non-stretchy string to a pencil.  Measure the string and hold at the radius measurement.  Mark your center point.  Hold the string down with one hand on the center point, and hold the pencil out with the string tight.  Now draw a half-circle with your makeshift compass.   This is the seam line for your peplum skirt.

3.  Now decide how long you want your skirt to be.  We went with a 6" skirt.  It was a great length for a little girl.  Hold a measuring tape up to your girl and decide where you want it to be.   Add that length+0.625 to Radius #1.  This is Radius #2.  (the 0.625 is your 5/8" hem.)

4.  Hold the string from your compass at the center point so that the string is the Length of Radius #2.  Draw another half circle.   This is the cut edge of your circle.

5.  Subtract 0.625 from Radius #1.   Draw yet one more half circle with this length radius.  It should be 5/8" inside the seam line half circle (the first one you drew.)   This is the inside cut edge.

6.  You should have a basic half circle.  Now we are going to add the side seams to your pattern.   On the flat sides.  Extend the  circumference of your circles by 5/8".  Draw a straight line connecting these.  You should end up with a pattern that looks something like this (not to scale, obviously):

7.  If your bodice back and bodice front have two different waist lengths, go back and draft the bodice back using the same steps you used for the bodice front.   

8. If you want to put the zipper in the back seam you will need to add a seam to the back center peplum piece. On the bodice back, fold the pattern in half.   Draw a new line right at the line of symmetry (the fold line.)  Extend the circle out 5/8" on each cut edge and connect them with a straight line.  You should have a pattern that looks like this:

If  you are going to do a side zipper, you do not have to put the center seam in the back peplum piece (step 8.) When sewing the bodice, follow the original pattern directions but do not sew the left side seam and leave the top 3" of the back seam unsewn.  Sew a button right at the neck and a little elastic loop on the other side.  Sew the right side seam of your peplum.  Sew the peplum to the bodice (be sure to sew piping to the bodice first if you are using it.)   Now install an invisible zipper in the left side seam.  It should be long enough to start less than an inch from the under arm and stop two to three inches into the peplum.  Finish the side seam and hem the peplum.  

If you are going to put the zipper in the center back, follow the original bodice instructions.  Then sew the peplum side seams and sew it to the bodice (adding the piping to the waist seam before sewing in the peplum if using.)  You should have an unsewn back bodice seam.  Install an invisible zipper long enough to reach from the top of the back seam to three to four inches into the peplum.  Finish the back seam and hem the peplum. 

You're done!

PS.  You can use the drafting method to make a true circle skirt any length you like.   

If you make your girl a peplum skirt, please post a link.  I'd love to see it!

Drape neck top and python jeans

I just love the stuff young teenagers can get away with.  They can walk the very edge of the trends because they have such a sense of fun.  Their energy  makes just about everything workable.   Case in point, bright nearly neon python print jeans.

That's Burda 9500 for the jeans.   It was easy to work with and fits pretty well.  It is designed for a younger figure.  My 13 year old started growing her grown up figure this summer so the seat of the pants was a little too flat for her.  We took in the waist, but if I were to make them again, I would cut the back yoke 1/2" taller in the center and grade into that from the sides.  She needed the extra coverage there.   

I asked her to do some model poses for me, which got me a duck face . . . and then a laugh.

 Love it.

 I took the time to do true flat felled seams everywhere I could.  Then I top stitched in hot pink top stitching thread.  Coats and Clark has added some great colors to their jeans threads lately and the hot pink was absolutely perfect for these pants.

I am pretty darn proud of that top.  I designed the pattern myself from scratch.  I used an old book called Debbie Moore's Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking to draft the pattern.  I worked directly from Marilla's measurements and created a basic bodice first.  (The method was similar to this one.) Then I followed the instructions in the book on how to convert it to a drape neck top and add drop sleeves.  I did about three drafts of the pattern and four muslins (good thing I had a ton of knit too small to use for anything else stashed around here) also working from the fact that we found the jersey knit fabric on the same day we bought the denim.  It was in the remnants bin and there was not enough to cut sleeves, hence the drop sleeve.  I'm really happy with how it came out.   My sister even took a tracing of the pattern for her very style conscious 15 year old girl who loved the shirt too.

I love it when my first try at something comes out so great.   

Chevron Messenger Bag

My oldest left this morning for college.  She and her daddy packed up the van, threw her bike on the back and off they went to her new adventure.  She is thrilled and excited.

This summer she requested a new book bag for college.  I made her last book bag, not only did she love it, it lasted five years of hard use. Naturally she wanted another one just like it.  This time instead of solid color (olive green canvas) she wanted a fun print.  

I love this chevron print.  It's youthful and current.  Perfect for a freshman on her own for the first time.  The fabric is also perfect because it's outdoor fabric with an easy care coating so she should just be able to clean it up with a damp cloth.

I even made a special water bottle pocket to fit her water bottle, which she left behind at home, of course.  Good thing it will fit just about any water bottle. 

Construction details:  It's 16x12 with pockets all over the place and a padded pocket inside for her computer.  The base has six large purse feet to keep it off the classroom floor.  It also has a plastic piece in the bottom so the bottom won't sag when it's fully loaded.

You can see the strap construction here and in the previous photo.  I found these awesome swivel clips and matching D rings and a slide so she could have an easily adjustable strap.  Who knows how she'll need to carry it?  Easy versatility is always best.

Here's a close up of the front 6" pocket.  It's got a zipper right at the upper edge to help keep things inside and still be easy access.  The back of the bag has a similar pocket that's 16"x10" with a zipper all the way across. There are also about eight pen pockets on this bag in various places.

The inside of the bag has even more pockets with some big enough for paperwork and a few smaller ones as well.  There at the bottom of the photo is the computer pocket.  We had a padded computer envelope that didn't quite fit her computer.  I cut it apart and used it to pad the front and back of the pocket.  for the sides and bottom I used a thin, dense upholstery foam doubled up.  It's closed with a simple Velcro tab.

She loves the bag and I am glad I got it done just in time for her to take it with her.  Now I just have to get the rest of the sewing she left for me done.  Between the three girls, I have a huge stack of sewing projects to do.  Some are done and I'll show off those soon (middle girl's first day of school outfit is completely home sewn!)  There's still a huge pile to get to, though.  I told my oldest I would have to send monthly care packages with her other projects in them.  The first one will also have all the stuff she forgot to take with her.  Since one of those things is her jacket, I think I had better get something done for a box soon.

PS:  My son wants a bag just like it (minus the cute, girly chevrons), so I'll be posting a detailed tutorial on how to make one yourself in a month or so.  It's got a lot a steps, but is pretty doable.  Since everything is rectangles, you don't even need a pattern to make it.

Gathering Fabric the Easy Way

I know I just posted yesterday and here I am with another post.  Crazy, huh?  I just wanted to share the absolute easiest method ever for gathering fabric.  Remember yesterday's dress?  There is four yards of fabric in the ruffle.   It's way too much to handle with the traditional basting stitch.   That's where the couching method comes in.

Instead of sewing a basting stitch (or a pair of basting stitches) you adjust your machine to a wide zig zag stitch.   Grab a roll of lightweight fishing line and tie a big honking knot in the end.  I mean big knot.  If that pulls out, you basically have to start over. Lay your fabric out on the machine getting ready to sew.  Now slip the fishing line under the machine foot, lining it up along the seam line and letting the knot lay several inches off the back of the fabric.    Now keep the fishing line centered in the foot so the line is centered under the zig zag stitch.   (As shown in the above photo.) Sew the full length of the fabric.   Cut the fishing line so you have about 6-12" of excess line at the end.

Here's what it looks like sewn.    Now pull the knot end out a few inches, just a few though.   Go back to the other end and pull on the fishing line while sliding the fabric the opposite way.   Your fabric will gather faster and easier than it ever has before.   It's awesome and you will always keep fishing line around your sewing machine from here on out.  

If you are planning on making the ruffle bag or the  fat quarter ruffle bag couching over fishing line will save your sanity.  If you are sewing tulle skirts for little girl dresses, this will save you from swearing like a sailor (also, when sewing tulle use a round nose needle intended for knits.  I swear it makes a huge difference.)

And now you can actually have fun gathering fabric.  Good luck with your sewing.   

Perfect Pink Dress Redo

Two years ago I found an absolutely gorgeous raspberry eyelet in the clearance section of the fabric store.  So dramatic, so perfect for my girls.  I bought what I thought would be enough for one dress.  When I came home I decided that I could make two with the amount I had.   This is what I ended up with:

The bodice is great.  I love how the border design covers nearly the whole bodice front.  I also love the bound sleeve.  It's cute and perfect.  What wasn't perfect was that skimpy skirt.  It just isn't big enough.  The girls didn't like the skirt either and told me the dresses were hard to walk in.  Naturally, since they didn't like the skirt, they didn't wear the dress.  So I had two dresses made from expensive eyelet just sitting around never getting used.  

Well, my cousin is getting married and she asked my two youngest girls if they would like to help out at the reception.  Since one of the colors is raspberry pink, I thought it was time to get those dresses out and put them through a redo.  

 I took the skirts off both dresses and opened them up.  I cut the longer skirt  to the length of the shorter.   I sewed the two linings together so the skirt was double the fullness of the original dress.  Then I took the lining and sewed a really full ruffle to the bottom.  It's 5 1/2" wide.  Luckily the lining is basic bleached muslin so it was easy to match the fabric.

 Look at that ruffle!  It's perfect.

Next I cut one skirt half up the center so I had a seam to put the zipper in up the back.    Then I sewed all the skirt pieces together.   I layered the the lining to the skirt and basted them together.  I used a couching stitch over lightweight fishing line to gather the skirt.   I sewed the skirt to the bodice and then sewed the zipper back in.

 It's done!  And I'm very, very happy with this redo.  This is the dress I should have sewn the first time!

She's very happy with it.  She's been super picky about her dresses lately and won't wear anything with tulle in it because "it's itchy."  This dress gives her another option.  It's comfy cotton and there are no itchy spots anywhere.   Of course, now I only have one dress when I used to have two, but it was worth it.  Now I just need to figure out what to do with the other bodice.  ;)

Sewing for Me

I really have a hard time sewing for myself.  Even though I've been sewing for over 25 years, I've never taken a class or really learned how to alter patterns.  Since I'm not shaped like a pattern model, that means that my stuff comes out not quite right most of the time.  This, of course, drives me crazy.  I find that skirts are the easiest to work with but I still have the issue with my bum being rounder than pattern companies design for so I have to make adjustments to get the length the same all the way around the skirt.  

Recently I sewed two projects for myself.  One was  a smashing success:

It would look better if I stood up straight, I'm sure.  Anyway, that's Simplicity 1716 View F with slightly shorter sleeves.  I wanted a true 3/4 and not the bracelet the pattern is designed for.  I also left off the silly ruching on the bottom sides.  That's what's giving the model in the picture the weird square hips.  It's not needed and it obviously doesn't lay right when it's done.   I love the shirt.  It came out great even though I made no FBA.  I used a super cheap cut of fabric I found at Walmart of all places.  It's lightweight with a great drape to it.  This was supposed to be my muslin.  I love it when the muslin ends up being good enough to wear for real.

My other project didn't turn out near so well.  This is Butterick B5849.   It looks great in the photo, but the fit on me is atrocious.  For your viewing horror:

So bad.  Obviously I should have done a FBA, but I didn't for many reasons that sound pretty stupid now.  1.  I've never done an FBA (which could explain why so many of the project I make for myself turn out like crap.) 2.  I have a high chest so my high bust measurement is only 2" larger than my full bust.  This result says I shouldn't have to do an FBA but obviously from this photo an FBA is beyond necessary.  (Especially since I in no way whatsoever even come close to wearing a B cup.  Really.  Not happening.)  So basically, what the crap do I do?  How much do I add and where do I add it?   My body is weird.  3.  This pattern does not easily lend itself to FBA for newbies.  

The back wasn't much better.  Because of the fit of the dress, I also should have done a sway back adjustment which I didn't do.  so the back looks like this:

This is after I already tried to fix that and it does look better, just not good enough.

My other issue with the dress is the neckline.  It's so close to the neck that it's uncomfortable.  I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be that close, but that's where it rides on me.  The shoulders don't want to stay where they belong and they ride up about 1/2" which doesn't help the neck line.   Also, it sticks out from the back of my neck like crazy.  It's way too big back there.  It's stupid looking and uncomfortable.  Obviously some change would have to be made, but I'm not sure what happened with it.

 I have worn this dress in public and actually got compliments on it but the fit is so off it's just uncomfortable to wear.  My husband says it's his favorite dress of mine, crazy man.   Luckily the fabrics were both super cheap.  This was my muslin, but the process was such a pain (tears on more than one occasion) that I doubt I will try again with this dress, which is sad, because the style is something that would usually be flattering on me.  The pattern is complicated and not something I would recommend to a beginner.

If anyone has any tips on pattern alternations, I'd be very thankful.  I need to do more to learn how to fit things to my figure.  I love sewing for my girls, but sewing for myself has not been fulfilling and that's just sad.

Shirtdress for my girl

So I've been sewing.  And teaching.  And getting a girl graduated from high school.  (What's that?  I don't look old enough to have a kid in college?  thank you.  That's very sweet and my profile picture is eight years old.)

The girl and I sewed this together to be her graduation dress: 

That's the recently out of print Simplicity 2403.  A Project Runway pattern, a line we've had very good luck with. (I don't know how long that link will be good.)  It's still available on line.  Yes, it's another Simplicity, and I do know how much I complain about their sizing.  They are super cheap though.  Every other month JoAnn puts them on sale for $1 a piece, so it's worth it to stock up and deal with the sizing issues.  Once we figure out the correct sizing, they fit my girl beautifully with very little alteration.  Their fit model must be an hourglass figure like my girl.

(I also would like to be clear that although this picture has been put through a few filters, she has not been photoshopped.  Girl is that skinny.  It helps that she's 5'2". I teased her and told her that she can't gain the freshman 15 and still wear that dress.  She laughed.   )

Sarah sewed most of the bodice including the ruffles on the bodice and the button placket.  She's not an experienced seamstress, so I'm impressed.  I couldn't have done a better job with it myself.  Then she ran out of time and had too much school and work to finish before graduation.   I did the skirt, which has pockets you can't see in the pic because we were that good matching the plaid.

I've been doing a lot more sewing lately.  I've made a t-shirt for myself I love, a dress I hate, another Burda jumpsuit for my youngest, and even helped youngest with her first sewing project.   It's been a big sewing month and there are more projects on the list.  I guess I'm just in a sewing frame of  mind lately.

The Prom Dress!

Sorry for the exclamation point.  I'm just excited to have it done and worn.  We had some drama Friday night where it looked like the dress wouldn't even make an appearance.  But here it is, right before she headed out to the dance.

The fabric is a champagne colored brocade, but it looks a little on the pink side when a flash is used.  Sadly it was after dark, so flash is all I had.

You can see the bustle on the side in this shot. It's a full circle of fabric, folded in half and pleated on at low hip height.  The center of the circle hangs lower than the skirt so she could have that high/low look that's so popular these days.   It looks a little dead here in the pictures, but the fullness of the bustle gave it a lot of movement and life, really adding so much to such a simple dress.

See what I mean?  She twirled for me.  She loved how it had so much drama when she moved.

And here it is from the back.  There is just a teeny little bit of netting under the bustle right at the top to give it some fullness and make a prettier drape.

And a detail shot.  I do a lot of hand sewing with these formal dresses. The bustle was hand sewn on so I could make the stitching as invisible as possible and have more control of the pleats.  You might notice there's no zipper on the back of the dress.   We moved it to the side so it wouldn't interfere with the bustle.  It made getting into the dress slightly tricky, but it worked.

 And a last shot straight on from the front.  There's a couple of changes I would like to make here.  We have a rhinestone accent that I didn't put on before her dance and looking at the pictures I would say the dress needs it.  I will probably do it before she wears it for her friend's prom . . . if he gets himself ungrounded by then that is.

You can see my daughter loved it.  She's a lucky girl getting these custom dresses for Prom. This one wasn't quite as elaborate as last year's dress, which from the seamstress's perspective was great.   She still looked lovely and had a wonderful time and that's all you can ask for from Prom.