Prom Dress Making 2013

Several of my nieces follow me on Instagram.  When I was making my Mood Lace Project Dress, one of my nieces took particular interest because she wanted to have her prom dress made instead of buying one at retail.  So after contacting me earlier this month, we met to discuss what she was looking for in a prom dress. This is a quick sketch of what we decided upon...

My niece's parents are Pastors and I was struck by how she repeatedly said that she wanted an elegant dress that wouldn't disrespect her parents' ministry or the congregants.  Wow!  How many 17 year olds do you find that have that kind of thought process?!  After looking at the pattern companies online together, she chose this dress pattern (Butterick 4343) as a starting point...

I found some swatches at Mood's NYC store. Then after some back and forth she finally settled on a fabric. I made a quick trip to Mood Friday evening to pick up the fabric and a coordinating trim. This is what came home with me...

A med wt silk crepe back satin & an embellished mint lace

Sunday was the first fitting of the dress.  The base of the dress is a beautiful medium weight silk crepe back satin.  I picked the embellished lace based upon my conversations with my niece.  So I was a little nervous about her seeing the dress and it's components since she'd only seen a fabric swatch.  I was also concerned about stitching the dress together for the fitting.  Silk can be a little temperamental to work with and I didn't want to leave stitching holes in the fabric.

After routing through the stash, I found a spool of silk thread (gotta remember to buy more!) which I used to make a sample seam.  I stitched it.  I pressed it and then I removed the stitches and pressed it again.  No noticeable damage.  So I proceeded with machine basting the pieces together after cutting them out.

Here are pictures from the fitting...

We (my niece, my SIL and my DD) were all thrilled with what I have so far.  She has asked for one sleeve.  So I will find a sleeve pattern to pair with the dress. Everyone loved the embellished lace - big sigh of relief!  So this is what I will be working on during my five day Memorial Day weekend.  

...as always more later!

Is Five Black Suits Enough?

My latest make is another black suit.  Hey I work in a conservative banking environment and these work.  As I said in my previous post, I have a month of meetings ahead and I wanted a new black suit to wear.  There is nothing new about the patterns or construction.  I went with TNT patterns and some ponte knit fabric to make one more black suit...

Some stats ~

Fabric:
Black ponte knit from Mood Fabrics
Polka dot cotton/silk from the collection

Patterns:
*Butterick 5760 for the cardigan
*TNT pattern for the straight skirt. 
*I would recommend McCalls 3830 if you don't already have a straight skirt pattern.

Notions:
*Buttons from Sawyer Brook Fabrics
*Loose small gray plastic pearls from Daytona Trimmings
*Black Rayon Seam Binding
*Strips of black ltwt. fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply

All of these items came from the workroom (what I'm now calling my sewing cave) except for the black ponte which was a recent purchase from Mood's NYC store.

Cardigan Jacket details...

• The Jacket is unlined.
• The seams are serged finished.  I was going for complete not couture.
• I topstitched the center back seam and the shoulder seams.  The jacket front and sleeve hems are top stitched using a twin needle.
• I thought about adding pockets to the jacket front and decided against it.

Buttons ~
I consider buttons to be like jewelry on the front of a garment. I wanted a plain black button for the front with a little pizzazz.  The button needed to not only work with the jacket but to also work with anything I chose to wear under it.

I started with these buttons...

...and added some gray plastic pearls that were in the notion stash.

I love how the finished buttons look.

Skirt details...

The skirt is a lined straight skirt with a back vent instead of a slit.

Silk cotton polka dot lining

Vent flipped back to show lining

Back view with vent closed

I started a Sewing Workshop Mission Top made with the lining fabric to go with the suit. I've used this idea before with another black suit and it worked so well that I thought I would give it another go. The top is not done so I will finish it during my short vacay later this week to wear with the suit at another time.  

However, when I wear this to work tomorrow, I will wear it with the white t-shirt that I used for the pictures...

It was a simple sew.  Hey, it always is when I use TNT patterns...just a little time consuming.  Another black suit that will work for several seasons has been added to my work wardrobe, just what I needed.  

Next up is the prom dress that I'm making for my niece.  It's my Mood project for June and I've already started construction on the dress using Butterick 4343.

...as always more later!

I've Been Thinking...

Periodically I go over my wardrobe for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes I want to cull garments that no longer fit, or that I no longer wear...sometimes it's to figure out what I want to sew for the upcoming season. It was a little of both this time...but I did get a few revelations from this exercise.

1.  I don't really wear tops.
There are very few blouses and tops in my wardrobe.  Lots of tank tops and twinsets, a few t-shirts but very few tops.  I don't even sew a lot of tops...and not because I can't...I just don't like them much.  Maybe it's because to me, tops look best tucked in and well I haven't tucked in anything since I was in my early 30's.

2.  I'm the cardigan queen.
Besides the ones I've made, I own loads of them in all kinds of colors, and fabrications.  I reach for a cardigan every day.  I only wear a jacket when I have to for a work function and that fact is reflected in my wardrobe.

3.  I don't sew casual clothing.
ALL of my casual clothing is RTW.  I have no interest at this time in sewing my casual clothing.  Probably because the small and I mean very small section of my closet devoted to casual, is not worth taking away from my limited and very precious sewing time.  BTW, Melodye I've written a post to answer your question, look for it in the next couple of days.

4.  I'm a clothes horse.
I really DO like clothes.  I like making them.  I like owning and wearing them.  I guess I should be figuring out other things to do with my money but clothes make me happy.  I will be sewing and dressing up until I can no longer rise from my bed to reach my sewing machine.

5.  Ponte is my friend.
I'm presently in love with this fiber!  I've made quite a few pieces from ponte and have several more on the drawing board.  I love how this fiber wears and works for my professional wardrobe.  Now I know that some other sewists have had issues with pilling but it's taken years for my garments to have those challenges. I'm sure it's due to the fact that my garments aren't worn that frequently and also because I try to take care of them.

6. I have a lot of skirts...
...that I'm not wearing much lately.  Let me amend that, I wear them just not as much as I wear my dresses.  And I have a good variety of them...in most of the basic colors and some fun & funky prints, as well as plaids.  When I get dressed now I don't always think of a skirt first, even though there was a time that I did.  I'm going to have to try harder to wear some of the pretty spring/summer ones that are in my closet!

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Which brings me to the fact that I'm making another black suit ~ it will bring the number to five black suits in my closet.  This one will join two winter and two spring/summer ones but when we have serious meetings in the office the black suits just work so well...along with the brown, gray and navy combos to break up the monotony a little.  I have about a month of meetings ahead of me, so I will be putting all of my pretty colorful dresses away and head into suit land.

I'm almost finished making the latest version of my black suit and I've made a top to go with the suit.  A coordinated outfit that I won't have to think about just pull off the hanger and wear.  It will show up in the next day or two!

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photo credit:  www.abc.com/scandal

Are there any Gladiators out there?  I am sooooo hooked on Scandal that I've just re-watched the last episode because I can not believe the ending!!!! Can't wait for the final episode this week and so glad to hear that it's been renewed for a third season.

Wishful thinking...

photo credit: www.scandaltvshow.net

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Finally, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers 

and mothers-to-be out there!

...as always more later!

Hems

Lately as I've worn a garment, I've looked at the insides differently...trying to assess if I've done the best interior construction that I'm capable of...or if I need to step up my game.

My hems have recently come under my inspection and I've determined that I can do better. Usually the hem is the last part of the garment that I sew before it's complete.  By that time I'm ready to put the garment on, have some photos taken and wear it so I tend to rush my hems.

Now I know better.  I know that a hemline is just as important to the success of a garment as the rest of the construction.  I also know that a wacky hemline can take a dress from well made to Becky Homecky.  I don't think my hems are in Becky Homecky land but I can step it up there.

I once took a class with Cynthia Guffey who advised that a hemline should have three lines of stitching to anchor it and balance out the dress/top/pants, etc.  For a while I followed the three line of stitching philosophy but to accomplish that you need to have a deep hemline ~ at least two inches most times more.  Over time I've found that I don't like hemlines that deep in my garments.  So I stopped using that technique though it worked wonderfully and gave my hems the umph they deserved.

Generally I do make sure that my hems hang evenly around my garment and on me.  Normally I add a rayon seam binding to the hem's edge and hand stitch the hem to the dress.  Most times I add a lace binding to my lining (especially in my dresses) to finish the lining off nicely.  But sometimes I rush.  Sometimes I turn the lining hem up and press not even bothering to encase the serged hemline.

I want to do better.  I want to have amazingly finished hems that I can proudly turn up and show to another sewist.  Hey regular people don't know the difference, so I need to go with the discerning crowd. *smile*

So what about you?  How are your hemlines?  Do you take your time and add a lot of important details?  Or do you rush through so that you can wear your garment?  Also do you have any special techniques that you use to get a superior finished hem?  Do tell - because this is the Question of the Day.  So talk back to me people!

...as always more later!

A Digital Ponte Print Dress

I'm on a print run.  I wanted to get two quick spring dresses made from some trendy prints purchased for that purpose, and I didn't want them to linger in the fabric collection. This is the second of the two dresses...

This was the inspiration dress...

...which prompted this fabric purchase from Tessuti Fabrics.

I bought two digital pontes from Tessuti because I hadn't seen them anywhere else.  I was thrilled with how fast they appeared at my home since they were coming from Australia.

A simple straight dress to highlight the fabric's print was what I wanted so of course I started with my TNT dress pattern. I guess I could have started with another dress pattern but honestly I want the dress more than I want the fitting challenge of a new pattern.

After pre-washing the fabric, there was quite a bit of shrinkage and my two yards went from a full two yards to 1 3/4 yards...not enough for a dress...at least for my body. I had to come up with a new plan.  

There is a lot of ponte in all colors and weights in my fabric collection.  Hey, I like ponte! *smile*  You all know that I'm a huge fan of print-blocking so I thought why not have a solid red ponte back?  But after combing through my fabric collection, the only red I found was a wool ponte that just didn't work with the Tessuti one.  After fishing through the collection again, I found a blue ponte that did coordinate with the print...

...adding the blue back takes the dress from normal or expected to unexpected and isn't that what the Cavelli inspiration dress is all about?!

Some stats ~

Fabric:
Digitally printed ponte knit from Tessuti Fabrics
Blue ponte from Fabric Mart

Notions:
22" blue invisible zipper
a little stay tape
strips of ltwt. fusible interfacing

Construction ~

• The dress is unlined.
• I cut 2" off the sleeve at the hemline.
• Then I cut a 3" band from the blue ponte and added it to the bottom of the sleeve.
• Lightweight fusible interfacing strips were added to the center back seams before inserting the invisible zipper to prevent the zipper from rippling.
• Turned down a half inch on the neckline, pressed flat and stitched it down.
• All hems were pressed flat and stitched down.
• I stitched the back seam closed.  It's a knit dress and there is enough width at the hemline for walking ease.

It was a simple sew.  What makes the dress distinctive is the fabric choices I made and making sure that I cut the fabric to best highlight the print.  Also choosing the right solid ponte to back the dress with was just as important to me.

Some more pics of the dress...

I wasn't sure if the dress would work but after completing it, I'm thrilled with the finished dress because it makes me feel happy wearing it.  This has already been worn to work and it passed the wearability test with flying colors. Not only did it garner quite a few compliments for its color but it also felt like I was wearing an upscale t-shirt dress.  T-H-E perfect work dress for me!

Next up is a simple black ponte suit.  I need another one to add to my serious work wardrobe especially after making all of these fun, colorfully printed dresses.  I've already started construction on it, so look for it soon.

...as always more later!



  

A Print and Lace Dress

This dress is all about the fabric!  Seriously I bought this fabric because of the lace and floral print ~ it encompasses two of this spring's trends.  Florals and lace...then combine it with the inspiration picture...

I'm so trendy that I'm setting off the trendy-ness alarm! *LOL*  Both this print and the lace were on hand, so I'm making good use of that enormous fabric collection I own.

It's a pretty dress to usher in spring. I will wear it with either my purple Butterick 5760 cardigan or any of the black cardis that are already in my closet.  Love when sewn pieces from the collection work with newly created pieces.

Some stats ~
Pattern:
TNT sheath dress pattern

Fabric:
Rayon challis print from Fabric Mart
Black lace from Fabric.com

Notions:
Black Rayon bemberg lining
22" black invisible zipper
1" black lace for lining hem
Black rayon seam binding for dress hem

Construction ~
There are a few details that I added to my TNT dress to get this new version of my TNT dress.

Lace at the neckline...
This fabric has a very busy pattern so I wanted something to "fence in" the print and give it definition.  So I made a lace flat binding to add to the neckline. The strip is made from the black lace layered over a piece of black cotton bias binding, pressed in half and sewn into the neckline between the fashion fabric and the lining.

I think it adds a nice touch to the neckline.

The Sleeves...
I cut the sleeve on the crosswise grain using my 3/4 length sleeve pattern.  The selvage edge of the lace made a great finish to the sleeve hem instead of adding one. 

A little gathering at the sleeve cap helped to ease the cap into the dress perfectly.

The lace sleeve is what drew me to the dress and I love how it gives that unexpected lift to the dress.

Lining...
Originally I was going to use a white lining in the dress.  I liked how the white made the fabric's print look lighter.  But after holding the lace up to the dress, I realized that the white lining would work against the black lace sleeves.  So I went with a black bemberg rayon lining which, of course, made the fashion fabric shade a little darker.  I'm okay with that because I want everything to play nice on the inside of the dress. 

Naturally I added a 1" black lace to the hemline of the lining...why not finish the dress innards as nicely as I finish the exterior of the dress.

A few more photos ~

Conclusion ~
I make a lot of dresses. If you've noticed, lately they have been a little more fashionable and fashion forward, because really how many solid black, gray and navy dresses can you own?  Even in the conservative environment that I work in.

This is the first of the easy summer dresses I plan to make this spring & summer. It's part of my "Fun in the Sun Summertime Dressing" collection.

...as always more later!

New Patterns

I haven't bought new patterns in a minute. There hasn't been anything in the pattern books that caught my eye and quite frankly I already own quite a few. Patterns that are just sitting waiting their turn to be used, it's so sad.

However, last week a convergence of events happened where the sewing heavens opened up and offered two great pattern sales.  First Simplicity who rarely runs online pattern sales and who in my book could take a lesson from BMV and run more, ran a 48 hour $3.99 pattern sale.  Talk about making sure you use it or lose it!  Thankfully I opened that email in time to partake.

This is what arrived from Simplicity...

Simplicity 2054 - Cynthia Rowley Dress

Simplicity 2250 - Cynthia Rowley

(want to make the jacket)

Simplicity 1885 - Wardrobe Pattern

Then BMV, offered up their new selection of Vogue Patterns and can I say that it must have been a fantastic offering because not only did we slow down the website to an absolute crawl but we also caused sold out signs to appear on the website...something I've never seen on the BMV website on NEW patterns before!

For some reason I was determined to survive the crawl last Friday night and waited through slow loading, some refreshing to emerge victorious with these goodies...

Vogue 1348 - Tom & Linda Platt Design

Vogue 1349 - DKNY Dress

Vogue 1353 - Kay Unger NY

Vogue 8897 - Very Easy Vogue Tunic Dress

Vogue 8911 - Love the lightweight top

Vogue 8916 - Wardrobe Pattern

Butterick 5678 - Blouse

As always when new patterns show up, I want to cut them out and use them right away!  Although realistically that day job gets in the way. Although I'm a little sad because when the patterns arrived, the package was missing this pattern...

Vogue 8902 - Seamed Dress

Now I could have sworn that I put that pattern in my cart!  Guess I mistakenly took it out when I realized that the shipping charge was getting a little too high! Luckily for me, BMV offered another sale that ends today.  So the pattern I was dreaming about using the most is now winging it's way to me!

So did you partake of any of the sales?  Did you get any of the new Vogue patterns?  Or was this just not a great selection of patterns to you?

BTW, I've finished a few garments...pictures need to be taken, blog posts written, so they will show up in the next couple of days.

...as always more later!

Sewing with Ponte

Okay I really wanted to link to the comment that was left about sewing with ponte but I can't find it now.  So whoever asked the question this is for you.

First I think we should start with a definition of what Ponte Fabric is...

Textile.com has this definition for "ponte di roma": 
"A fabric made in a double knit construction, usually produced in one color rather than color patterns. This plain fabric has an elastic quality with a slight horizontal line. The fabric looks the same on both sides. Weft knitted, interlock based, double jersey structure. Means 'roman bridge' which is suggested by the arrangement of loops. The fabric looks the same on both sides."

How about a few pics of ponte fabric...these are all from my collection:

Solid color pontes

Interesting prints in ponte

Prints and solid colored ponte

Where do I purchase ponte from~

Everywhere!  Seriously I own quite a few pieces from Mood Fabrics in NYC ~

Cardigan from a tweed ponte

A Laminated Ponte

These dresses have ponte from Fabric Mart, fabric.com and Vogue Fabrics

...these pieces were all sewn in the last 12 months...

My flat fold fabric collection has ponte from Gorgeous Fabrics, Sawyer Brook and EOS.  See I told you everywhere...and I have it in every color that I like, as well as, a variety of prints and plaids.

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Now lets start at the top.  You've brought or gotten your fabric home and you know what you want to make from it.  

Pre-treating ~

• Pre-treating it is next.  So how do I pre-treat this fabric?
• Into the washer it goes.  
• Next the dryer on medium heat.  
• I'm not trying to bake it, just take the shrinkage out of it and any finishing that may have been applied.  
• A quick press and it's ready for the cutting table.

Here are a few of my sewing tips ~

• I treat ponte like it's a woven fabric with a little stretch and not a knit fabric.
• I use a size 80 needle on midweight ponte
• My stitch length is 2.9/3.0
• I don't pull or stretch the fabric as I feed it through my sewing machine
• Otherwise stitch like I would a woven fabric
• I use a pressing cloth when pressing the seams open and flat.

...and that's it.  Sew up your garment and wear it with pride.  Someone told me that ponte is passe.  I think of ponte like maxi dresses.  At first it was a trend and then the comfort factor kicked in. I think garments made from ponte will be around for a minute just like maxi dresses because for real women comfort is so much more important than trends.  

As previously mentioned, I have a few more ponte dresses planned for this spring/summer.  I hope that you will use ponte in some of your own garments this summer!

...as always more later!