The Birthday Gala Dress goes to a P-A-R-T-Y!

Me in the dress:

Me in my coat going out the door:

Scenes from the P-A-R-T-Y:

Me and my Mom

My daughter Adrienne, my friend Carol,

me, and my daughter Cristina

Carol and I during the cocktail hour

My sister's name begins with a "C" too

so instead of candles she had her initial on the cake

My brother, my sister and me

My sister in the center with my daughters

Me and my daughters

The dress held up well, though I did step on the hem at the end of the evening and pulled a thread.  But the DJ was pumping and my brother and I were hustling so it was fine!  A grand time was had by all and I was very happy with my dress!

I'm sleeping in tomorrow...and maybe, I'll sew on Sunday...maybe!  *LOL*

Last post before the reveal...

Well the dress is done.  It needs a hook and eye and a hem.  I need to get the shoes I plan on wearing with the dress from underneath my desk...so I will probably hem the dress tomorrow night.

So this post is about the sleeves and the lining...and primarily the sleeves because the construction of them was the most intriguing.  First I used the new sleeve pattern that I altered from the Vogue 8666 dress.  I think I'm going to have to make a couple of copies of this sleeve and add it to my TNT dress pattern because it works so well!

Then the pattern was placed on the lace and cut with the hemline on the selvedge edge.  Even though I originally wanted an embroidered edge, I realized that the selvedge was a nice clean finish and would work just fine for my purposes.

To sew the sleeve seams together I used french seams.  Now to be honest this is a technique that I haven't used much lately, so I was thrilled when they came out right the first time.  I really didn't want serged seams in the sleeves after all of the hand basting and other time consuming techniques that I had used in making the dress. 

The sleeves were basted into the dress to make sure they worked.  Now I basted the sleeves in for two reasons:  1.  To prevent the pins from catching the lace and 2. because I felt I would have more control.  The insertions went smoothly for both sleeves which was good since I was doing this after a day at work!  My last step was to fold the seam over and stitch it flat.

The Lining

It was constructed from the last of a navy blue rayon bemberg lining that I had in the collection.  Because it was the last of it, the dress does not have a full length lining - it ends just below my knees.  However, the main body of the dress is lined and the 4ply silk crepe has some weight to it so it works.  I didn't add lace to the hemline of the lining, I just turned it up and stitched it down.

I've tried it on a couple of times during the construction process and every time my daughters encourage me that it looks swell.  It feels swell!  *LOL*  And I think I accomplished what I set out to do...make a comfortable, elegant dress with a casualsexyfunky vibe. 

I'm also glad to be done with this dress.  I've lived with it for almost three weeks now and in my sewing restlessness, I'm already thinking about my next project...well my sewing palate cleansing project...because after that quickie (yes, I know what it is...no, I'm not sharing! *LOL*), I will buckle down and work on my fall/winter plan that I discussed here.

The Big Reveal will be next...hair, make-up, jewelry...dress...

...as always, more later!

Birthday Gala Dress - Constructing the Dress

There were two things that were invaluable to me in getting the dress shell constructed.

1.  Lulu - even without legs and just sitting on a chair, she was invaluable to seeing how to put the top of the dress together because I couldn't work out the order on myself. 

2.  My silk organza pressing cloth - even with the sequins on the lace, I was able to use quite a bit of steam because of my silk organza pressing cloth.

First some stats:

Pattern:
My TNT dress pattern.  I used the pattern pieces from this dress but use the v-neckline in the back of the dress from V8666.

Fabric:
4 yards of 4 ply navy silk crepe
2 yards of poly lace with clear sequins

Notions:
14" invisible navy zipper
1 hook and eye
5 yards of navy piping
3 yards of navy rayon bemberg lining

Construction Info:
After spreading the fabric out, I realized that I was describing my TNT dress just lengthened.  So I choose the empire waist version with the banded middle to use to make the dress.

After cutting out the front and back pieces from both the lace and the silk crepe, I hand basted the lace to the silk crepe.

A back view of the top basted on Lulu...

Then I basted the piping around the neckline.

The band was cut from the silk crepe and stitched together.  However, the lace was cut as one long piece, then hand basted to the band.  The piping was then machine basted to both sides of the band.

I pinned the band to the top and carefully stitched the two pieces together.  Then the seam was pressed to the center of the band and I stitched the piping flat by stitching in the ditch.

This was the most complicated and time consuming portion of making the dress.  To make sure that everything worked...I took my time, measured twice and sewed slowly.  I really wanted this to look as good as I could possibly make it. 

The skirt was very easy compared to the top of the dress...just had to make sure it was long enough!  After it was sewn to the top of the dress, the piping on the bottom of the band was stitched down using the same application as I used for the top of the band.

Next was the invisible insertion and let me tell you I was holding my breathe because even though I have managed to get the invisible zipper in on a band without making a horrible mistake lately, I really didn't want this one to end badly.  So I made sure to mark the zipper per Summerset's instructions and basted it in.  It's not perfect, the bottom piping is off just a smidge but it works and I'm going with it as is...

The lining and sleeves were next and I will discuss them in my next post! 

...as always, more later!

Birthday Gala Dress - Overcoming My Fears

Making this dress has been a long and arduous journey for me.  Probably because the construction of this dress is so outside my comfort zone.  I primarily sew careerwear.  I'm always in awe of people who sew garments for all aspects of their lives...me, not so much.  I purchase the few things that don't fall within my parameters to sew.

So while visions of jackets, dresses and sweaters dance through my head, I have attempted to come up with a dress that would fulfill my needs...which are:

1.  An eveningwear dress that is not party dress-ish.

2.  Comfortable, yet still funkysexykewl.

3.  Not too flashy, but with a touch of glamour.  Because how many opportunities do I get to wear real dress-up evening clothes.

4.  A one-piece long dress.  I definitely didn't want a two-piece dress.

Mostly though, I really wanted the dress to reflect me...my style and my personality.  I thought Vogue 8666 would work but after making the shorter version of the dress and thinking about it for a minute, I realized that it really wasn't me.  Too fidgety, too funny looking, too awkward...just too!

I finally decided to just start all over again...using the navy silk crepe and lace I just purchased and seeing where the fabric would take me.  Of course once my hands laid the fabric on the table, all of my doubts were erased and I could see the dress that I wanted to make clearly.  I found myself excited and invigorated by the journey...gone were my fears.

So I've begun the process...I've made the first cuts...sewn the first seams...and am on my way to what will be a great Birthday Gala Dress.  I know, I know...you want to see something right?  *LOL*  Okay here's a peek of where I've been...

I'm much further along in the process than this and the next post will be about construction details...

...as always, more later!

I'm unsure...

I don't know if my ideas for the V8666 dress will work.  I don't know if I actually like the muslin dress that much.  Everytime I look at the pictures I don't see sleek, carefree and casualsexykewl.  I see, fidgety, stuffy and weird looking.  I'm not sure that changing the fabric will make a difference...but I don't know what to do next.

I could wear my navy blue dress from the SWAP collection:

or I have a lacy ankle length skirt that I could pair with a new top:

or I could try starting all over again with new fabric:

I bought this navy blue silk crepe and coordinating lace with sequins today in the garment district.  I'm thinking I might go in an entirely different direction because I do still have this weekend and a few evenings next week...but I don't want to rush...and I'm not feeling very inspired...*sigh*  I'm just not sure...

...more later!

Vogue 8666 - Wearable Muslin Finished

...and I learned alot from making this dress...

1.  Undergarments are my friend.  The proper ones really make this dress work...using my regular old work undergarments...ummm, not so much!

2.  I know why no one else has reviewed this pattern because there is no way that this dress would stay up on your shoulders without some assistance.  It's working poorly in this dress and I have figured out a fix for my Birthday Gala Dress.

3.  That I can't wear this 'wearable muslin' to work - I need a date to wear this puppy!  It's showing some serious cleavage!  And everything I put under it to make it work wearable...ain't working! *LOL*

Seriously tho' here is a pic of the dress and me in full hair and make-up:

Now some stats:

Fabric:
Black doubleknit from Metro Textiles

Notions:
9" zipper
black knit binding

Construction:
After the extensive pattern alterations, the actual sewing of the dress was a let down.  I guess there is a lesson there but I did take a few liberties. 

*First I omitted the waistline fisheye darts.  I don't do abdomen darts...so there was never any chance of them being in the dress. 

*I also omitted the darts in the back...again I don't do darts that point to the fact that my behind is so well endowed. 

*I also omitted the lining.  I know that I should put a stretch lining with a stretch fabric and didn't have any that I thought was up to par with the dress.  Instead I used more of the knit binding to finish the neckline edge, as well as, stay tape to insure that it didn't stretch out of shape.

*I was concerned about the apex of the hip seam somehow reinforcing the width of my hips but with a lot of steam and several good whacks with my clapper, I slapped those seams into submission!

*The alterations to the sleeve totally worked!  I have to admit that I'm a little proud of that fact...

Now a few things I will do differently. 

1.  The Birthday Gala dress will be lined.

2.  The lace in the back will have a button closure and some kind of tie to hold the shoulders together.  I don't want to fidget with the shoulders all night.

3.  I am going to add a little more flare to the skirt bottom so it will have a little swirl factor.

4.  I am looking for a lace with an embroidered edge so that I won't have to hem the sleeves.

5.  I will need a new extra hold all-in-one, as well as a higher pair of strappy black sandals. I think I'm going to need a little more height to carry this dress off successfully.

The great thing about making the wearable muslin is that I got a great idea of how I actually look in this dress and how I want to proceed.  It will hang in the closet waiting for an opportunity to come out and shine...so here's one last look at it.

...as always, more later!

Vogue 8666 - Pattern Alterations

I'm making this version of the dress to see if I want to use this pattern for my Birthday Gala Dress.  It is a slim fitting dress and the pattern only goes up to a size 20 so alot of pattern alterations were needed to get this to fit my body.

Of course I started these pattern alterations with my TNT dress pattern.  I know this fits so why reinvent the wheel!  However, I usually slice my sleeve pattern pieces down the center and add a seam to add width at the bicep area of the sleeve.  But since I want lace sleeves on the Birthday Gala Dress, I really wanted a one piece sleeve so that I don't have to piece the lace.

Sleeve Alterations:
So the sleeve alterations were the most involved in this project.  The first thing that I did was to lay the sleeve from my TNT dress pattern down on the cutting table.  Then I placed the sleeve from the V8666 dress on top of the TNT sleeve.  On top of that I placed a piece of pattern paper ~ making a pattern sandwich.  I traced the sleeve cap of the V8666 sleeve and the sides of the TNT sleeve (for the bicep width) onto the pattern paper.

After I had the new sleeve pattern, I did a tissue fit and realized that it was still a little tight.  So I sliced the sleeve pattern from the hem to 1/2" below the top of the sleeve cap and spread the sleeve to add another inch.  I added paper and taped it down.  Then I put another piece of pattern paper over this sleeve because even though the bicep width was now perfect the sleeve hem was way too large!

For the third version, I traced the sleeve cap and the sides of the sleeve down an inch past my fullest bicep measurement.  Then I started to remove some of the excess width from the forearm and sleeve hem. 

I did a few tissue fittings with the pattern until I had the correct width at the bicep, the forearm and the sleeve hem.  Pictured below is the final sleeve pattern piece that I will use for the wearable muslin version of the dress. I believe this piece will work with the lace for the Birthday Gala Dress, too.

Now a disclaimer ~ my sleeve pattern is a little skewed looking.  It does not look like the perfect pattern pieces that come out of the envelope...BUT it is perfect for my arms.  So if it looks a little funny, that's because it's fitted to me!

Front & Back Pattern Pieces:

The Front and Back pieces were less involved.  The main front piece was easy to copy.  Making the pattern copying sandwich, I placed the center front lines of both the TNT dress pattern and the V8666 pattern pieces together, laid a blank piece of pattern paper on top and traced a new front pattern piece out.  The same procedure was done for the main back piece, too.

The side front and back were a little more challenging to enlarge.  But basically I just added two inches to the sides of each piece to make them work. 

Normally, I would lay the two pattern pieces (main front & side front) together to insure that they will work together.  But this time the front side is so curved that I couldn't tell by laying them next to each other...the same with the back and side back pieces.  I was just hoping that they would work...though that is what muslins are for, right?!

So the pattern pieces were all cut out and serged to clean finish them...I will have more on the construction process later.

As a parting shot, here are two shots of me wearing the vest with the black turtleneck, as well as, the black ltwt stretch wool pants from my SWAP collection.

side view

and front view

...as always, more later!

It's been a minute...

I didn't mean to go an entire week before I posted again but work has really been intense and I've gotten home later and later every evening.  So there hasn't been much going on sewing-wise around here!

First, some thanks!  Thanks to everyone who left a comment on the Flower Power Twinset post!  It was a really fun garment to wear and I garnered quite a few compliments at work also.  Second - thanks to everyone who left an opinion about the Birthday Gala Dress.  Y'all had some very interesting opinions too...so let me address some of them.

1.  Even though I look great in colors I really do want to wear a black dress.

2.  There is no way if I want peace to reign in my relationship with my sister that I would ever, evah make a dress that looked better than hers will.  It's her birthday and her day and I will honor that by wearing a really comfortable, classy black dress that does not stand out or take anything away from her.

3.  Even after reading my blog, some of y'all think of my style totally differently than I do.  I really am a classic personality with a lot of color and print thrown in.  I don't do shiny fabrics.  I don't do a lot of cleavage.  I don't really do 'party' dresses either! *smile*

So what look won the day from the blogging votes?  Hands down Vogue 1970.  Even though it's an amazing pattern and purchased for this event in mind, I'm not using it for my dress.  Originally I was going to make a longer version of the Dillards dress but after reading Vicki's comment:

"So go for one of the dresses with a lace insert. Sleeves if you want sleeves, none if you don’t. I can see a new version of your TNT here. Just look in the collection to see what you have and how much you have and then decide. How about a lace insert in the back too…."

It was the lace insert in the back comment that really got my creative juices stirred up.  So I've decided to use Vogue 8666, a pattern that wasn't even in the running!

Vogue 8666

and the back view:

I chose this dress because if I deepen the front and back v's just a smidge, I can add black lace to them...because I loved the idea of lace in the front and the back of the dress - so thanks Vicki!  I will use View C with the 3/4 sleeves in black lace.  Already on hand, I have a black 4ply silk crepe for the body of the dress, black bemberg lining and the pattern. 

All I need now is some black lace so I will head to the garment district this week (which will thankfully be quiet at work as most of the firm is traveling!) to search for the "perfect" black lace.  I think I will end up with a casualfunkysexykewl but classic evening dress that will make me look pretty & curvy but won't upset my sister or my daughters!  *LOL*

The dress will be comfortable to wear through the cocktail hour, the sitdown dinner and for dancing afterwards.  And I'm going to do something I rarely do these days...I'm going to make a "wearable" muslin from the pattern...the dress in a short version to check and make sure that it's really the look I'm going for!

So besides the cape and "zorro-like" eye piece that I need to make for the Little Prince to wear to hand out candy on Sunday, these are my sewing plans for the rest of the weekend!

Thank you again for all of your suggestions...

...and as always, more later!

The Birthday Gala Dress

So I've known about my sister's 40th Birthday Bash for about a year.  She's been planning it that long!  *smile*  But only lately have I thought about what I want to wear for the event.  I've been saving pics and here's what I've come up with:

Julia Roberts in black lace

Neiman Marcus one shouldered gown

Black Lace short dress from Bergdorf's

Vogue 1970

Dress from Dillards

So tell me, which one do you like?  And why?  Weigh in and let me know your thoughts.  The dress with the highest votes will be considered by me as the one I should make and wear!

You have until Friday evening to let me know what you think.  I will tally the votes up on Saturday morning and announce what you think I should wear as my Birthday Gala Dress!

...more later!

Friday Afternoon Musings...

It's Friday and as usual my mind turns to what I want to work on this weekend...

I really want to work on my version of the JJill sweater vest. 

I've purchased a pattern and a tweedy black/white & grey knit for my trial version.  For my final version, I have a chunkier brown knit from the collection, that I want to use alongwith some funky buttons. This will be my main project for the weekend. 

Simplicity 2958 - Jacket Update...well I've put the collar onto the jacket and I'm just not sure about it.  I'm actually thinking of ripping it off and putting it on again.  I know I did something squirrelly and it needs to be redone...so I will rip it apart this weekend too!  I also need to find an interesting closure...of course the first one I found needs to be mail-ordered...I'm thinking I may need to journey into the garment district...so much angst for such a simple little jacket!   

Have you noticed that this month my projects seem to be more tops?  I think I'm easing myself into the heavy duty sewing by finishing off some quicker projects before starting the more complicated ones that are sure to start next month, as the temperatures continue to fall.  

Did you see the new Holiday listings from McCalls Patterns?  The only reason I ask is that this is one of the featured patterns:

McCalls  6243

Now this is a definite knock-off of a Michael Kors dress from his Spring 2010 collection that was featured in his spring/summer ads.

This dress has been in the back of my mind as one to duplicate and now I definitely will...even if the pattern does only go up to a size 20.  Some of that double knit fabric I've been collecting and a couple of RiRi Zippers will make this one interesting dress to wear to the office.

BTW, there was nuthin' else that I liked from this collection...and I mean nuthin'!!!

Continuing on in the holiday theme...my sister is throwing herself a 40th Birthday Gala next month with evening wear required...so I'm working on an idea for my dress for the party.  I know I should be thinking color but I want something elegant, sleek and black.  I have this picture hanging on my bulletin board of a simple dress from Dillards that I'm thinking of making floor length...but more on that later!

Just a few things I'm thinking about this friday afternoon...so how about you?  Do you have plans to sew this weekend?  If so, what?  If not, why not? 

...more later!