Scandal and Sewing!

That's right Gladiators - Scandal is on BET all day today!  And guess who will be tuned into it, in her sewing room...yeap Sewing and Scandal the 2Ssssss!

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The Burda Adventure pattern is all altered and cut out.  Next up is fabric (cutting and tracing), I will be working on that today!

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My August Mood Project will be fall related! I picked this fabric up from the Mood NYC store earlier this week...

Wool menswear suiting & a lightweight wool crepe

I want to make this...

Emanuel Ungaro - Resort 2014 on Style.com

...just have to pick up a RiRi zipper from Pacific Trimmings and I will be all set! Now I know that this isn't an exact copy but when I was in the store looking at suiting the steel and blue large box plaid jumped out at me and screamed take me home! *LOL*  Actually I've adjusted the look so it's a little less advant garde and more conservative work space friendly.  It will have the "vibe" of the inspiration piece yet not be a "direct copy" of it...and I won't be wearing blue shoes because Gay I don't own a pair of them! *smile*

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Some thanks are due!  First to everyone who've left such awesome comments on my last couple of garments.  Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoying them as much as I do!  It is appreciated!

Second, to everyone who left a comment on the "Tell Me" post.  Again thank you for joining in the conversation.  I love when y'all talk back to me, tell me what you think and that I'm not crazy! *LOL*  Also it was nice to see some commentors that I haven't seen in awhile!  I'm not going to name names, but know that if you've recently gone back to commenting, or are a new commentor, I've noticed! Personally I love Question of the Day posts because I love reading what you think about this passion we share!

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One more and I'm done!  Every time I think that we have too many things in our sewing rooms, I'll catch sight of one of the craft rooms on Pinterest (my new time suck - gawd I check on the bus in the morning, in the evening, at lunch!  Save me! *LOL*) and realize that I'll never have that much stuff to organize...

Olabelhe Studio

Christi Hind's craft room

I'll resurface tomorrow when I've hung my Gladiator suit back in the closet to wait for the start of Season Three in October *sigh*  But today I will enjoy...no, wallow, in the wonderousness of Scandal as I spend quality time in my sewing room!

...as always more later!

The Burda Adventure Continues...

Let's call this part of the journey, the taping, tracing and upgrading of the Burda 08-2012-142 dress.

It took me several evenings after work to tape the entire pattern together...

There were 37 pages of 8.5" x 11" pages to be taped together.  I'll admit that by the end I was fading and definitely losing interest but I pushed through. After it was all taped, I had to decide how to proceed. Trace from the large pattern piece or cut it apart, trace, then add 5/8" seam allowances. Since the sleeve was in the center of the pattern I started tracing that piece but quickly came to the realization that I would cut the pieces apart then trace and alter.

First I need to talk about how I see this dress' silhouette.  I really like how the darts burst in the front. Since I have no plans to wash this alot (thanks Melissa for that tip!) I'm keeping the burst.  Plus I think it really is a bust enhancing feature and when your bustline competes with your abdomen, I'm doing all I can to enhance the bustline!  Next, I need to remind you that I don't like form fitting or tight clothing. Oh gawd but I hate being able to see my rolls through my clothes, so I'm choosing to make this dress a little looser fitting than the picture.  Please realize that this is MY personal choice and the choice that all sewists get to make when constructing their garments. 

However, I do like close fitting clothing that skims over the more bodacious parts of my body yet give me a slim silhouette.  Princess seams assist with a slimmer silhouette, so I'm definitely keeping them.  But I will be using my TNT dress as a "sloper" to assist with getting the fit I like.

After cutting up the downloaded pattern, I made my pattern sandwich and cut out new pattern pieces.  

This was easier for the back piece than the front due to the pleated front...and I think my burst piece may be a little bigger than it's suppose to be especially since I had to figure out the pleat markings. The pattern only marked size 44 and I'm in no way a 44.  Probably will be playing around with the pleats to get the best look for my bustline. So I will be basting the dress front together to check fit.

Here's the ponte I'm using to make the dress...

It's from the collection - woo hoo!  And it's a pretty berry color that will look great for fall.  Yes, just to remind you ~ I am sewing fall now.

Next up will be cutting, tracing and construction.  I may or may not slip another project in before completing this one, of course I will keep you informed.  BTW, Debbie I'm working on this as fast as I can, cause I'd love to see your version of this dress!

...as always more later!

Tell me...

Do you ever think the good results you achieve are more luck than skill? Do you ever question whether you've actually got the goods or that you're skating on a wing and a prayer?

Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I'm really as good as the pictures look or am I just getting by?  I wonder if I'm actually skilled or if I've just walked this road so many times, that my experience pulls a rabbit out of a hat when I'm in a sticky situation?

I wonder...do you ever wonder?

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Have you ever thought about about how many items you touch during the making of a garment?  I mean besides your sewing machine and your iron?  I was finishing up the Red Cotton Eyelet Dress and while reaching for the hem to press a tricky area of the dress, realized it was the third pressing tool that I'd used.  So I stopped to count and this was what I came up with...

4 pressing tools - my clapper, my sleeve board, my medium pressing ham, silk organza pressing cloth
3 pairs of scissors - my duckbill, my 8" gingher shears, my paper cutting scissors
3 spools of thread - red for the dress shell, tan for the lining, a blue that I used for the basting
2 measuring tools - my clear 18" ruler and my 6" seam gauge
2 tracing tools - yellow carbon paper for darts and tracing wheel
2 pinning tools - needle to baste with and pins, pins and more pins

That's 16 tools to make one dress and that's not including the sewing machine, the serger, the iron & ironing board and my computer.

So have you ever counted? It's definitely eye-opening!

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Hand sewing ~ 
I used to think of it as a four letter word.  I avoided it whenever I could.  But lately I've come to think of it as a soothing exercise, something that gives me control over areas of my garment and also allows me to connect with the garment in a tactile way.

There's actually quite a bit of hand sewing in all of my garments now.  

• If an embellishment is added, it's hand basted in...giving me not only control but acccuracy in placing the embellishment on the garment. 
• All linings are hand stitched to the zipper tape.  I know there are other methods of machine stitching the lining to the garment, I just like the control and effect that hand stitching provides.
• My hems are all hand stitched. I can actually work the blind hem feature on my sewing machine.  I just like hand stitching them down.
• I've done more hand sewing/stitching this year.  It feels very "couture" to be stitching pieces of my garments using a needle and thread.

Do you add hand stitching/basting in your garments?  If so, why?  Does it calm you? Or do you avoid hand stitching like the plaque?

These are just a few of the thoughts running through my mind this past weekend as I immersed myself in my latest garments.  So these are the Questions of the Day.  Talk back to me...answer one, two, all or none of the questions above.  Because I was just wondering if others think the same thoughts that I think when I'm in the midst of a project...trying to get to the other side!


...as always more later!

The Red Cotton Eyelet Dress

Lace and eyelet garments are mainstream now. There's loads of lace everywhere.  I've made quite a few lace pieces over the last couple of years so I had no real desire to make another one this summer.  Then you know that whole tear apart and put the sewing room back together happened and I touched all of my fabric.

This red cotton eyelet fabric stuck in my mind and I decided that I wanted a simple sheath dress with short sleeves from the fabric. Nothing exciting...just a good work dress.  So that's what I made.

Materials...
Fabric ~
2 yards of red cotton eyelet from Fabric Mart via the collection




Notions ~
2 yards of tan bemberg rayon lining
22" red zipper
red rayon seam binding
red corded piping purchased from Daytona Trimmings

Construction Details...
This pattern has been made over and over again because it is my standard go-to dress pattern.  However, choosing the cotton eyelet did present some challenges. The first being whether to underline or line the dress.  For this dress I really wanted to line it. I wanted the two pieces (fashion fabric and lining) to be connected at the neckline and armholes only.

So the next thing was to decide what color to line the dress in.  Should it be a total red dress, or should I use white, black, nude or tan lining.  I finally decided to go with a darker tan which will emphasize the red fabric.

The dress has a v-neckline to make it a little different from all of the sheath dresses in my closet.  I added piping to the neckline to finish it off nicely. Since I was adding piping I decided to add it to the sleeve too.  However, I didn't just want to add it to the hemline...here is what I did...

Sleeve serge finished

The sleeve band is the length of sleeve hem by 4"

Sleeve with piping pinned on

Close up of piping pinned to the sleeve hem

Close up of the piping basted to the sleeve hem

Sleeve in original state & then pressed and folded in half

Close up of piping inserted between the sleeve and the band

Sleeve with piping and band

Pic of sleeve on my arm

The only other thing I want to address is the seams.  

• Sewing this together I used a size 80 universal needle with a 2.6 stitch length.  I wanted to make sure that the stitches were short enough to hold the seams together despite the eyelet holes.  
• I did serge finish the dress pieces prior to stitching them together.
• And except for the center back seam the seams were pressed flat and open.
• However, on the lining all of the seams were pressed to the side so that they wouldn't show through the eyelets.

Besides including a few design details to make this dress special unto itself and not looking like every other sheath dress in my closet, it was a simple sew with some special details.

Some more photos...

This is a simple dress made with an eyelet fabric.  It's more utilitarian than flashy...more need than want...just a pretty red dress for work.

...as always more later!

Vogue 2090 - An Oldie but Goodie!

I'm going way back...I mean way back in the pattern archives using this pattern.

I made this third version of the dress in May 2006.

Gawd, is that a bad picture...but anyhoo, I loved this dress and it still hangs in my closet to this day, as does version 2.  The first version was from an amazing seafoam green linen that I have no picture of since it was made pre-blogging days.  I also used it to make a black wool crepe version for my 2007 SWAP, Corporate Chic. (Interesting side note: only the SW Mission Top is still in my wardrobe - everything else has been donated.)

Since I've been moving things around due to the great sewing room redo, I've looked at some things that were stashed that I haven't seen in awhile.  When I touched this pattern it brought back such pleasant memories, and I've been wanting a summer shirtdress, so I pulled it out. I made my last version of this dress 6/7 years ago. When making it this time, I decided to use my TNT dress pattern to check the fit and to shorten the dress.

Alterations were made to the dress using my pattern sandwich method.  I shortened the pattern so that it would be knee length.  It will also be sleeveless to work with or without a cardigan. The only embellishment will be the buttons and the topstitching.

I originally chose a pretty spring green floral linen for this...

...but after pondering on it for a week I went with a marine blue linen. I really wanted a colorful dress that would fit with my corporate environment but not stick out like a sore thumb.  So I put the green floral linen back on the shelf for another time.

Some details...
Fabric ~
Marine blue linen from the collection

Notions ~
9 1/2 white plastic buttons
white bias binding
marine blue rayon seam binding

Construction details...
The pattern alterations were simple.  I used my TNT dress pattern as a basis to make the alterations to Vogue 2090, adding some width to the hips and abdomen and to shorten the dress' hemline.

Construction was easy especially since I've made the dress a few times.  I added white topstitching to the collar and the front band.  The armholes were finished with white bias binding and rayon seam binding was added to the hem.  I also made a matching belt trimmed in the white topstitching.

Here are some of the construction photos...

Two piece collar prior to topstitching

Collar and front band of dress

Topstitched front band with 

buttons and buttonholes

Armholes bound with white bias binding and top stitched

Pictures of the finished dress...

I have to tell you that there were a few things I could have done better on this version...

1.  The armhole is too large.  I was able to take some in on the sides to prevent some of the gaping but it is still to large.  It will wear best with a cardigan, not alone, but I don't want the pictures to make it seem as if it's a perfect sew.

2.  The buttonhole placement is off.  Normally I start with the buttonhole at the center of my bustline and then space the buttonholes from there.  I didn't this time and there is a gap at the bustline where the top is pulling.  So I added a safety pin for the photos but will be adding a small snap for future wearings.

3.  I made a tie to go with the dress.  I didn't use it in the photos and I'm not sure that I will wear it at all.

Although I liked this dress on the hanger, I'm not sure I like it on me.  I will need to wear it to work to see.  I wanted to make a ponte knit version of this for the fall but I'm putting it on hold now because I just don't know.

Lastly, this is a great picture of my daughter (my photographer) and my granddaughter.  

Two of my three daughters, grandchildren and significant others came by this weekend to visit.  It was nice to have them here but honestly the quiet when they left was just as sweet.

...as always more later!

A Sewing Weekend...

Some thoughts before I sew...

• This July wasn't a normal July for me.  It started out with me having to put my sewing room back together which of course messed with my sewing mojo. Then I spent a lot of time at work, so my mojo became a victim of my tiredness...okay I had NO sewing mojo.  A clean revamped sewing room, but no mojo.
• Then I thought of this great idea to give away fabric and not purchase any more for the remainder of the year. Can I tell you that I went back and forth over that post several times before I finally posted it.  Really! It's kinda scary to pledge that you won't buy any more fabric for the rest of the year AND then on top of that pledge to give 20 pieces away.  So when I finally posted this crazy idea, the reaction was almost overwhelming.  Seriously, I closed the comment section with 366 comments.  I think about 10-15 comments don't want to be included but that means people have a 1 in 350 chance to win.  Wow!
• I made four pieces this month ~ two skirts and two dresses.  The dresses are being blogged in August but they were completed in July.  I know I shouldn't be discouraged about my outcome because really I got four wonderful pieces...but you know me...always striving for more!
• For anyone interested, BMV patterns are back on sale for Club Members until Sunday, August 4th. I finally got the Timothy reference to Vogue 8919 because I watched that episode of Project Runway Thursday night. I remember now why I stopped watching this show. There's not as much designing as I would like but there's definitely drama, drama, drama which is probably why I loved The Great British Sewing Bee so much ~ no drama, just sewing.  And I miss Michael Kors...Zac Posen is nice but he's no MK!
• I just finished taping.  Yeah that got old really fast.  I do want to thank Melissa from Fehr Trade for pointing me to her blog posts regarding the dress. It's given me a lot of food for thought but Melissa can I tell you that I won't be thread tracing those pleats!  Girl I have to give you some serious props for that!
• Can't wait for the Fall fashion magazines to arrive! I mean for once I'm sewing ahead of the season. So I want to see if the things I've picked to make compare to what "the experts" are saying are in.
• Oh yeah, I made my fall sewing list...garments to sew this August and September especially since my sewcation starts on the 30th of this month!  There are a couple of designer inspired pieces, a couple of the new Vogue patterns, a vintage Vogue pattern and one from the last rotation of patterns.  Ten pieces which I think is totally doable in the next eight weeks, and all but one (my August Mood Project) from fabric for the collection.
• My patterns arrived from the last Vogue sale and this is what I bought...

Vogue 1366 - Anne Klein blouse & pants

I want this blouse bad!!!

Vogue 1367 - Rebecca Taylor design

Again, I want the top!

Vogue 8921 - I think I had new pattern fever

when I bought this one, cause I'll never sew it up!

Vogue 8923 - Love, love, love this one!

You will see it sooner rather than later!!!

Vogue 8935 - Another one that I really love!

It reminds me of a vintage Simplicity pattern I own 

This is another one on my must-sew now list!!!

Vogue 8936 - another peplum top and skirt

I like the princess seams on this one!

Finally, this is a sewing weekend and I'm so thrilled.  48 hours of just wallowing in my sewing room and spending quality time with my fabric.  I'm going to finish up my red dress and I may have pics to share...I may not cause really I just want to sew...

...as always more later!

A Designer Interpretation in Linen

I like the designer, Barbara Tfank, for her ladylike dresses.  To me they express a classic elegance that epitomizes the look of the 1960s.  Her dresses speak of Grace Kelly's and Jackie Kennedy's style and panache to me.  So even though my original idea was for a sheath dress and jacket in black linen, this style spoke to me even more.

Now there's loads of black linen in the Moods NYC store, as well as their online one, and can be found here.  I know linen is a basic and not a flashy designer fabric BUT it is a staple in my summer wardrobe.  It has been an especially busy summer meeting-wise at my job, so my black garments have seen a higher than usual wear which has caused me to become tired of them.

Because of that, I wanted a new dress for meetings at work.  For this one, it's definitely the details that were featured in the designer's line that convinced me that a similar dress had to become part of my wardrobe.  I love the neckline, the waistline detailing and the pleats in the front and back of the dress.

Some details ~

Fabric...
5 yards of mediumweight black linen

Notions...
Black rayon bemberg lining
9" black invisible zipper
Gutterman green thread
Black rayon seam binding

Construction Details ~

I started with my TNT dress pattern, Butterick 5147, which is sadly out of print now.  The dress' construction details can be found in this post.  

The most important detail is the pleat in the front of the dress.  This pleat can be a little tricky for a plus size woman but using this crisp fabric and some edge stitching to hold it flat worked for me.

Of course the topstitching detail at the neckline and waistline add to the elegance of the design and also help to give the dress waist definition...

...and I love the full skirt with all of the pleat detailing in both the front and the back.  It's not one of my typical dress silhouettes but sometimes we step out of our comfort zone, right!    

It is the perfect summer dress.  Add a short linen jacket or cardigan for work and meetings or as pictured below with a short sleeve cardigan for a dinner date or afternoon wedding.

I love linen.  It's easy to wear, sews up beautifully making the most amazing garments and I think the wrinkles give it character.  I also love that I've come up with a new variation on a trusted dress pattern.  I will have to use this altered pattern again for a winter dress!

Finally as a parting shot...

The grandkids were with me since their mother is my photographer and they always want to be included in the photo shoot.

...as always more later!