Easter Dress: Quilt Inspired

 Every Easter I get a little giddy at the prospect of making a dress for my daughter. It's not that I do something fancy every year, but sewing for her is just fun! I have had the concept of this dress in my head for a while.

I love this style of quilt block, called a Dresden Plate, and I thought it would make a nice skirt. I also had these 30's prints to make a quilt for my girl and I figured it would be OK to 'borrow' a bit for this dress.

The skirt is roughly a half circle. I realized my math skills haven't improved much since high school, but I somehow calculated everything and it worked!

The skirt is fully lined, which looks pretty and makes sewing the scallops a bit easier. Each one still had to be clipped and carefully pressed, but it was manageable.

The bodice is sort of a highly evolved pattern I keep tracing off. This time I enlarged the heart opening in the back, and gave it a sweet heart neckline. I also widened it a bit since this girl is growing!

To finish it off, I added a fabric flower. Not sure if I'm sold on it yet, but twas the night before Easter and I ran out of inspiration. If I decide I can't live with it the way it is, I can always change it.

I really like the larger heart on this one. I keep tweaking it every time I make it.

Here's an up-close of  the flower.

This dress was definitely one of the more time consuming dresses I have made, but it was worth it! I have several ideas for more!

P.S. You will get 100 bonus points, redeemable for a big cyber high-five, if you noticed what I didn't add to this dress....so out of character for me!

Colette Patterns: My Second Hazel Dress

I have quite a stash of Colette Patterns and I'm happy to say that I now have two successful, completed projects under my belt. For this particular version I used a busy but really beautiful Amy Butler print (If I remember correctly it's from the Lark line?) It's a blue print that's on egg shell with hints of red, orange, turquoise and yellow. I love it. I do. I really do. It's from the Hazel pattern again which sews up quickly and is actually really fun to sew. The first time I wore this dress my sweet husband actually though it was from Anthropologie which is a huge compliment considering that it is my favorite non-workout clothes store!

The entire dress features serged seams.

I used an invisible zipper of course:) 

The dress is NOT lined...which for me is a big deal. 

However, no lining = nice and light for Texas!

I took extra time to work on lining up the fabric pattern for this dress.

This pattern turns into a comfortable, versatile, warm weather friendly dress. It's a wonderful and easy pattern for everyone. If you haven't bought it yet, do so. It's flattering and fun!!!! Just do it :)

Closet Flashback: Simplicity 2587 Upcycled Version

I made this dress about 2 1/2 years ago to wear to the pool in the muggy heat in Virginia. It's made out of an old tablecloth and is fully lined with a sheet. It was kind of an experiment dress so the fabric wasn't my primary focus. The dress has (of course) an invisible zipper and hidden side pockets. You can see the original post here which has additional pictures of the back and inside of the dress. I decided go a different route today and instead of posting a picture of my silly mug, I shot the dress with what I'd actually wear it with. Some funky jewelry from Etsy and my fav cardi and wedges!

Christmas Dress

Here I am, finally posting a few pictures of my daughter's Christmas dress. She had seen a doll dress in the American Girl catalog that she really liked, and asked me to make her a dress like that, and one to match her doll. The dress had a square neck and a ruffle. It also had some sort of fancy ruched belt which I left off. I went back and forth with my fabric choice, because hello....this fabric is BOLD! I found it at a yard sale last fall: 6 yards of heavy upholstery fabric for $10. Can't beat that! I knew I had plenty of fabric to play around with pattern matching. I must say, matching the pattern on this dress made me giddy. I found a simple Simplicity pattern from their Project Runway collection and used it as a base. I added a lining so the ruffle would stand properly and so it would cover the fraying edges of the upholstery fabric.

Because of the construction (I added a side zip) I ended up having to hand stitch about 2/3 of the lining. For the ruffle, I lucked out and used the already-hemmed tie from a dress Mom made a while back. I just cut narrow strips and gathered them along the raw edge.

 For the hem, I used horsehair braid which despite being a misnomer is really nifty stuff. Although it used to be made of horsehair long ago, it is now made from nylon/polyester. It is a tape that you can sew into hems to give them a little extra body. I have used it a few times, namely in the 1880's ballgown I made, and in my wedding dress. I wanted this dress to have a flouncy hem without having to bother with a crinoline, because after all, that would be a pain in the arse. I also added a bejeweled zipper pull, which I forgot to photograph. A few months ago I had made my daughter a skirt with a dressy zipper and she thought the zipper pull was so fancy. For this zipper, I used a jewelry pin and a few pretty beads and bent the end into a loop to hang from the zipper pull. She was thrilled!

I also made a coordinating outfit for her doll. Whoever says that sewing doll clothes is fun needs to have their head examined. I hate sewing doll clothes, namely because everything is so small and finicky and bla, bla, bla. This fabric was way too heavy to make anything with detail, so I made a simple circle skirt with elastic waist. I finished the hem with black bias tape. The shirt was from a pattern, but I left off the closures and made it a wrap, since this doll is smaller anyway. The girl is very pleased with her new dress, although I really need to find a black cardigan to go with it since the weather here has been less than tropical.

Closet Flashback: The Muse Dress

I made this dress over two years ago (original post here) and it would seem that I can't get a decent picture of it no matter what I try. It's a very classic style with princess seams, fitted waist and little pleat details on the skirt. It's fully lined with an invisible zip (my favorite!) and it's made out of some sort of rich chocolate colored, cotton blend with a little stretch. There are some tweaks that I'd like to revisit to clean a few quirks up but overall I'm still happy with the end result. 

The skirt is about knee length.

Stitched details are on the waistband and neckband.

I learned a lot about garment construction while making this dress. It's how I learned to install an invisible zipper AND fully line with hand stitching for a more polished look.

Closet Flashback: Easy Vogue 8469 - Version 3

This is by far my favorite version of this dress (you can see the pink one here and the black polka dot one here). It's actually made out of a curtain panel that I got from Target on a crazy discount. It's a lightweight cotton and is fully lined. 

I redrafted the back of the dress to make a deep V and I love how that detail worked out.

I also lowered the neckline a little.

I like that this dress has a fitted, high waist.

Cowboy boots go with everything.

The fabric was very, very thin. It's lined with a lightweight muslin.

My obsession with the invisible zipper can be seen here! 

I had forgotten that I had done all princess seams for this dress. It made me very thankful for my serger.

Colette Patterns: My First Hazel Dress

I had so much fun making this dress. It was just one of those projects that came together beautifully and didn't require any adjustments, fussing or seam ripping! I cut my regular size for the bodice but used the size 18 for the skirt to give it extra fullness. I've seen other people around the internet use the same technique and I definitely prefer the way the skirt hangs with the extra fabric vs. cutting your regular size. 

The skirt has pockets too! 

This was an interesting project for me because I think it might be the first dress that I've ever made that has been totally unlined…gasp…even if a project doesn't call for lining I usually neurotically do it anyway. 

I had fun sewing in my "Straight from my Stash" label that I got from Etsy.

I got my money's worth outta my serger on this project…this dress has officially almost been serged to death!

I learned a new technique for finishing off an invisible zipper using a facing. Very cool. The folks over at Colette Patterns really put some nice touches on this design.

Narrow hem…and serged seams...YAY!

This is just a shot of the skirt and bodice detail. I bought the pattern just for the V design in the front. 

I already have the material for two more versions on the way from fabric.com. I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out and it's a fun bonus that this fabric matches my fedora. I actually bought the fabric from G-Street before I moved to Texas. It was on the clearance table for $2 a yard. I love when things come together like that!

My one qualm with this pattern is the darts…I may just need to get my ham out again and take them to task.   As of now though, they kind of, sort of make things look a bit like an 80s Madonna flashback if you catch my drift. 

Closet Flashback: Pink Easy Vogue 8469

If I remember correctly, this was the second dress I ever made. It's made out of a cotton shirting fabric with pink, purple and white stripes. I've worn it a lot over the last few years and it fits me perfectly. There are simple gathered details along the waist and bust line which give it shape. 

 The shoes are a light pink pump from Aldo and go perfectly with the dress.

Check out the side lapped zipper. That was probably one of the last ones I ever installed before becoming an invisible zipper convert.

I like looking inside old garments that I've made to see how far my skills have come as a seamstress. This one has some unfinished seams and some that are finished with a zigzag. 

 I've made this dress 3 times because it fits me so perfectly straight off the pattern.  I posted about a different version here and you'll be seeing my favorite version in a few weeks!   

The Yellow Rose of Texas Dress - Butterick Retro Pattern 5748

Way back in October I posted about attempting a hand picked zipper for this dress (original post here). The sad part is that I finished this project in August or September and never got around to writing about it. Oops! So to remedy that, I put on my boots this morning and finally took some pictures.                                             

The dress itself is pretty straight forward to sew. It had some finicky details that if unlike me, you use sturdy fabric, won't actually be a problem (e.g. the notched detail along the front and back neckline and the inset side zipper). In my case, I used a light weight quilting cotton and had to reinforce the neckline details and waist to keep things from falling apart. 

Here is the invisible side zip instead of an inset lapped zip.

Bust darts on the bodice.

Be warned: this dress takes 8 yards of fabric if you fully line it. That also means hemming 2 almost full circle skirts for what will feel like days.

Here is the neckline detail. I'm not happy with how it flops over all the time but it's my fault for picking a thin fabric and not thinking through how that would impact the final structure. Another lesson learned.

Despite the little quirks that this dress has, I do love it!

This dress is so girlie and twirls like a dream (although, I'm getting to old for spinning apparently. I spun a couple of times for this picture and almost fell over…lol). When I wear it I feel like I should be doing the Texas two step or line dancing with my fella.

I never know where to look for these types of shots. I always end up looking kind of silly. Oh well, you get the idea.

This is definitely the fullest skirt I've ever had. It's so fun to wear and someday it would be fun to get a crinoline to push it over the edge!

I think I would make this again but I wouldn't add the neckline details OR line the skirt. That would save me a lot of time and potential aggravation :)

Itty Bitty Baby Dress - The Stars at Night Edition

 

I posted last week about the first version of this dress that I made for my cousin (see here). This is the other Texas themed one that completes the set!

The stars at night are big and bright

Deep in the heart of Texas!