Throwback Thursday - A Dress from 2009

I've been pulling garments out of my closet trying to find pieces that aren't loose wearing on me.  I touched this one a couple of weeks ago. I made it in 2009 but just didn't want to donate it because of the amount of work that went into making it.  So it sat in the closet.

After trying it on, I decided it needed to be added back into rotation.  Here I am wearing it now:

 ...and here it is from 2009.

I think it fits looser now than when I made it. *sigh*  At least it will get a wearing this winter and may just hit the donation bag during the spring. I'm starting to think that it's time to stop holding onto things and let them go. Realizing that I'm going to have to sew a whole new wardrobe!

All the construction details are in these posts on the blog. A few more pics of the dress on me now...

Finally a picture of the shoes - these are by AK Ann Klein and are three years old.  I bought them in beige, black and this raspberry color. The beige and black pairs are too large now because I stretched them out wearing them with my heavier feet. Isn't that a nicer way to say fat!?! *LOL* I never wore this pair so another new pair of shoes! Yes!

Next up is Butterick 6142 - a shaped tunic and pants outfit!

VOT Dress - Fashion Shoot

It took way too long to hem this dress.  Several evenings this week after work, I thought that I would just sit down and do the hems:

But it never happened!  So this afternoon, I bite the bullet turned on my television, cued up CSI Miami on OnDemand and added the hem tape and stitched the hems down.

I also decided that I didn't need the covered button for the collar.  I have a really kewl pin collection and leaving the embellishment off would give me opportunities to showcase them:

Now in the case of full disclosure...I must admit that I am wearing a super duper heavy all-in-one bodyshaper.  Adding the embellished waistline to the dress brings attention to an area that is not my most attractive feature...*LOL*  But I really wanted to try something different and I think it works:

Dress Alone

Dress with the cardigan ~ and how I will most likely wear it!

An interior shot of the lining and armhole & neckline bindings:

I really like this dress.  It is a different take on my TNT dress with a little retro vibe.  And even though it was a little labor intensive, it was worth the effort!  All of the construction information is included in these posts.  

Since it's dress weather...in the low fifties here on the East Coast...I plan on making a few more but next up is a simple lined skirt...

...as always, more later!

Almost Done

It was a good sewing weekend...

I made both the jacket (V1127) and the matching dress (TNT pattern) from the gray cotton blend...although both need hand work to be completely finished and wearable.  The jacket just needs a button sewn on.  The dress needs to be hemmed.

The VOT dress still needs a hem and the covered button added to the collar.  I guess I could have finished the Vogue jacket and the VOT dress but when I realized it was just 4pm in the afternoon, I went for it and cut and sewed the matching lined dress.

I know I promised pictures of me in the VOT dress this weekend but faced with the choice to keep sewing or stop and take pictures...well I went with "just keep sewing!"  *LOL*

So as soon as I've finished up the hand sewing on both outfits, I will post "fashion shot" pictures and detailed construction information on the jacket.  It was an interesting piece to sew and a little different from my norm.

...as always more later!

The Collar on the VOT Dress

I had a question in my email asking about the collar's construction...so here goes...

As you know this dress was suppose to be a simple sheath dress.  I liked the fabric, I thought it would make a great layering piece...dress/cardigan combination...but somewhere between the thinking and the cutting out something else occurred.

I've been seeing a lot of those retro collars and I thought this would be the perfect time to add one to the dress.  I thought it would play off well against the embellished band.  So I went looking for a collar pattern and since so many of my vintage patterns have collars, I started with one of them.  This one to be exact:

Simplicity 6985

I measured the pattern against my neckline and it was way too short.  So I added some to the pattern piece to get this:

Then I cut 4 pieces from the fashion fabric.  Sewed 2 together without adding interfacing.  I didn't want a stiff collar ~ so no interfacing.  Then I played with the collars by pinning them down starting at the center back of the dress.  I was trying to get an offset affect.  I finally achieved that by pinning one collar flat and then pinning the other on top.  Flipping a piece of the collar back onto itself and gathering it up.  All of this was then basted down.

The original vintage pattern had facing pieces.  I did not want facing pieces in a dress with a lining.  So I went digging through the bias tape drawer and pulled out the brown/tan striped bias binding.  It was applied to the top of the collar with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Then I trimmed the seam down and wrapped the bias binding under the seam.  All of this was pressed into place.  Press a section of the collar, use a lot of steam and a clapper...let it set...and then move to the next section of the collar.

After the pressing, it was pinned in place and the binding was handstitched down.  It made a much nicer and cleaner finish for the neckline, imho, than the facing pieces from the pattern.  The final step to give the collar a little va-va-voom will be the large covered button made from a piece of the embellished band.

Finally, there was another question about how I buy patterns.  If I purchase them just for the details? 

Definitely!  *LOL*  I purchase them for details, for inspiration, for the instructions (especially the vintage ones!).  And quite a few of them I purchase believing that some day I will make a garment from them!  I guess that would be true if I stopped fiddling around with my TNT patterns!

I get home so late in the evening that I won't be working on this dress again until the weekend.  So pics of me in the dress this weekend after all of the finishing details are completed...I promise!

...as always, more later!

VOT Dress - Almost Finished

For someone who was sewing easy-breezy separates during this 3-day weekend...well that just didn't happen!

I did continue to work on the VOT (Variation on a Theme dress) and I wanted to give you an update on the progress of the dress.  Here it is so far:

I still need to:
*add lace to the lining hem and finish it.
*add rayon seam binding to the hem of the dress
*hem the dress
*make a covered button from the trim and add to the collar of the dress

I will not be wearing this dress to work tomorrow.  However, I did sleep alot.  I watched a few movies...loved "The Proposal" btw!  And will finish this up next weekend.

A Parting Shot ~ a close-up of the collar...

Construction details will follow when I've finished the dress!  And as always...more later!

Variation on a theme

I've decided that I only make one thing...dresses...and I typically make a dress using my TNT pattern.  Even though I'm beginning to think that Summerset is correct when she calls my TNT pattern a sloper because I'm forever making it do tricks.

So this weekend's trick is a variation on a theme.  It is similar to my "Dreaming of Spring Dress."  In that it has that middle waistband piece.  This version, however, has the bodice lengthened by 2 inches.  I'm a little tired of the empire waist look and wanted a band that hit more at my "natural" waistline.

There are presently quite a few dresses being shown in RTW with this waist interest. 

Close-up of Banana Republic Dress

Banana Republic Dress

Coldwater Creek Brocade Dress

There is even a new Simplicity pattern that has this very waistline detail - although it doesn't come in true plus sizes...which *sigh* I just don't get.  I mean if I can alter a pattern to fit me using this design, why can't true patternmakers! *sigh*

I've spent the afternoon working on my latest dress from this boucle fabric:

...which I purchased from Fabric Mart at least 5 or 6 years ago.  Wendy took a piece of this home with her to make a skirt, leaving the rest for me and bringing it back to my attention.

Here is a pic of the band being made.  I knew that I wanted it to be embellished so after digging around in the trim drawer, I found two pieces that I thought would work.

Finally a pic of the embellished band attached to the bodice:

I stopped for a dinner break and decided to post an update before heading back to my sewing area to finish constructing the dress.

More later...