Sunday, September 13, 2009

A Dress or Two

...or pieces 7 and 8.

Both dresses are made from my TNT dress pattern...but there are several differences besides one has short sleeves and the other is sleeveless.

First lets start with the Fall Greenery Dress

Stats:

Fabric: 
cotton/linen twill from fabric.com

Notions: 
22" invisible zipper
3 yards rayon seam tape
1/2 yard embroidered ribbon from M&J Trimmings
2 yards of lace for the lining hem
2 yards of ambiance lining

At first I was just going to make a sheath dress to go with the "Missoni-like" green cardigan.  The skirt, dress and cardigan would have worked together to make mix and match pieces.  Somewhere in the cutting out process, I changed my mind.  I decided that I wanted a stand alone dress.  Something distinctive and with a little voom especially since I'm planning on making quite a few sheath dresses this fall/winter season.  That's when the sleeves got added back onto the dress.  Then I started playing around with a ruffle on the front of the dress.  After a few options were tried and discarded, I realized that I really liked the selvedge edge of the fabric.  So two strips were cut, sewn together, gathered and then basted to the front of the dress. 

I left the dress in flat form on my cutting table Friday morning when I went to meet friends.  While I was wandering around M&J, I found a piece of trim that I thought would bring a wonderful accent to the ruffled trim.  After some discussion with the group, I bought it and a second piece, just in case the first piece did not work.  Here is what the ruffle looked like flat with the embellished ribbon added:



My original thought was to add some pearls that I had on hand.  I'm glad I took a chance with this piece of embellished ribbon because to me it just makes the dress and takes it in a totally different direction.  This is how I will wear it now:


And that is piece 7 or another day at work...

Piece 8 is part of a jacket/dress combination...but after working on one jacket this week, I knew I didn't have the wherewithal to sew another one!  I totally understand that two days to make a jacket is a very short time...however, I was going for number of pieces this sewing vacay not involved garments.  And the jacket for this dress has a lining...so since I didn't want to rush it...I decided that the jacket should wait for a weekend...where all I will do is work on that piece...  I was happy with that decision...so piece number 8 is the pumpkin linen lined sheath dress.

There is nothing spectacular about this dress except for the color!  It is my normal TNT lined sheath dress.  But finally a piece is done for the Pumpkin Wardrobe...*sigh*  It will work with several jackets/toppers already in my closet and can be worn before the jacket is completed...if I desire.

Here it is alone with a great piece of jewelry from a coworker:



Here it is with a cardigan from fabric from Emmaonesock that I made several years ago:


I finished sewing ahead of time...about 4:30pm and I'm very happy with my total of 8 finished garments.  It is a full week's worth of clothing.  So I even though I didn't sew 9 garments, I do feel as if I fulfilled my goal!

I will do a sewing recap tomorrow...I have to go and clean my bedroom which is a total disaster area!  But suffice it to say that my sewing vacation has been very relaxing!  I've slept late...listened to my creative voice...watched Oprah...and sewed.  I spent a day out with friends fabric shopping.  I saw a movie and had dinner with the same friends.  I'm now ready to rejoin the workforce tomorrow!

You can see all the pictures of the garments, including construction pics that were not included in the blog posts in my Flickr album - Sewcation Garments! 

...more later!

37 comments:

  1. Love it! Love it! Love it! The pumpkin color is so warm and wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing your sewing vacation with all your blog fans.

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  2. I love them both. I love the ribbon trim on the green. I really like the pumkin color, it's so rich. That necklace is perfect~

    I attended a seminar with Nancy Nix-Rice yesterday and I think I've been doing everything wrong. UGH - g

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  3. I can't say enough about the importance of a good TNT pattern. You've done amazing things this week. How does the green cardi look with the ruffle front dress? My absolute fav outfit from this week is the green skirt, white tank (I know it was already in the wardrobe) and the green cardi. If I had the $$$ for the fabric I would totally be making me that cardi. Living on opposite coasts, we'd never be caught wearing them at the same time. ;D

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  4. I love the pumpkin dress and the ruffle with trim on the sage green dress is TDF!

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  5. Definitely can't wait to see more of the pumpkin collection. That colour is gorgeous on you.

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  6. Sounds like the perfect vacation to me...and it did just what it was supposed to do. I too love that pumpkin color the whole outfit is really pretty!

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  7. Thanks for taking us along on your sewing vacay! I think everything you've sewn looks absolutely fabulous on you! The best looking thing, however, is that wonderful smile.

    I so enjoy reading your posts, you are such an inspiration to me.

    Sewsy

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  8. I absolutely love that green dress. The style is gorgeous and I love the colour. Sadly, that colour is dreadful on me, but on you it is fantastic. The orange, of course, is stunning and I would steal that dress from you in a heartbeat if you weren't on the other side of the world. It would fit perfectly in my vanilla choc orange collection! Congrats on a great wardrobe!

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  9. The ruffle on your green dress is so inspired. What a great idea. My favorite, though, is the simple sheath in that fabulous orange. What a great shape. You may have to get that necklace from your friend on permanent loan. Have a good day back at work tomorrow!

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  10. Wow that pumpkin dress is fab! It looks dynamite with the cardigan. What a great color for you.

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  11. Needless to say, BUT girl, those are some smoking outfits! Love them both but the pumpkin is really, really nice! I just love your blog.

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  12. Great job on the 8 garments, very impressive and what a fun week. I agree with the other commenters, the pumpkins is very nice.

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  13. Both are wonderful, the pumpkin with the cardigan is my fave!

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  14. Great dresses. The green is very pretty with the clever trim and the pumpkin one is such a great colour. Well done :)

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  15. Thanks so much for letting us stow away with you on your sewcation! Great garments, love the ruffle! Now I can't wait to see the rest of your pumpkin wardrobe because that colour is amazing on you! Stunning, you look fabulous!

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  16. You've had such a successful week of sewing! Such a lovely wardrobe. I am always a fan of orange, so adore the pumpkin dress, but then again, I love the green one too! My mother is constantly asking me whether I have developed my own TnT patterns now - she definitely sees you as the doyenne of home sewing! I have a lot to aspire to.

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  17. I think you'll have to "forget" to give that necklace back, it goes so well with the pumpkin dress! and wow, what a colour, it looks so gorgeous on you. I can't believe how a simple addition of the ruffle detail makes such a great looking dress, you truly are the queen of embellishment

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  18. beautiful fall colors, they look great next to your skin tone. I love the ruffle detail, very very on trend.

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  19. What a productive sewcation! Love the two new dresses - especially the ruffly one!

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  20. Bravo . . . a week well spent! Love the added ruffle on the green sheath dress!

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  21. Wow, eight pieces in one week. That is really good. And you had time to spend with your friends. What a great week. I like the idea with the braided trim. It gives the dress a very unique touch. And I really love the color of the orange dress. Great job!

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  22. Lovely dresses and like the ruffle detail on the green one.

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  23. Very creative. I love both pieces.

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  24. Inspiring accomplishment! I like the trim on the front of the green dress, and the orange is a stunning color on you.

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  25. You are amazing. You set objectives, you met them and you now have a great group of pieces for your fall wardrobe. I love the pumpkin dress on you. Great color and it should show off a unique piece of jewelry nicely as well. Good show!

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  26. I just love that trim on the front of the green dress, what a perfect touch! And your orange dress makes me want to go buy orange fabric, it looks just fantastic and is a PERFECT color for you!

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  27. The orange is my favorite of this grouping. Nice job with the sewcation stuff! Bet you're thrilled to be back at work.

    I left you a comment on your post about The September Issue.

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  28. What a fabulous idea to use the selvage on the green. And I love your M&J trim - it really adds an extra something.

    Congrats on the first piece of the Pumpkin wardrobe. It's a great start, and now that you have one down, the rest of the pieces will start clamoring to be made.

    Very productive vacation, I seriously envy how much time you got to spend with your machines, and all the wonderful things you made.

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  29. What a great way to end your vacay, with two great dresses. While the green trim is clever and takes the dress to another level, that pumpkin one is my fav. The color is wonderful!

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  30. What a productive sewcation. All the garments look great on you. I enjoyed watching a slideshow of your Flickr photos. All it needed was some upbeat music to be a fashion runway show. My favorites were the green Missoni cardi and skirt. Love that color! And the classy black suit. It inspired me to think about using some of my stash of wool double-knit. I had a couple of RTW wool double knit suits in the 80's. They always looked great and were super comfortable. And I was looking at my new Vogue patterns yesterday and one of the coat patterns (a Miyake, I think) recommended wool double-knit. It really is a great fabric.

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  31. That persimmon color really works for you. Love what you did with the trim.

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  32. Oh I'm so happy that the trim worked so well on that dress! It looks lovely. And the pumpkin is stunning on you.

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  33. Simply beautiful. Well done on getting eight fabulous garments done during your vacation. My personal favourite is the black & white combo. Wonderful!

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  34. Love the pumpkin dress! Where did you get that fabric?

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  35. Beautiful dresses, Carolyn! That pumpkin color is stunning on you and I love the ruffled trim on the green dress. Really lovely!

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  36. You have created a wonderful wardrobe--love the green and orange too. Enjoy wearing them--doesn't it just make a better day when you know your clothes look GOOD?

    Lynda in LV

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  37. Love the pumpkin dress...and the green...and the trim! Thanks for sharing your sewing vacation with us.

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