Fabric Splurge and Sewing Plans

So today is my 29th birthday and yesterday I went to the fabric store with birthday cash and gift certificates in hand. Boy oh boy, do I have some very generous loved ones. I feel very blessed and happy with my life so far. I’ve got everything in the wash right now and I’m plotting all of my spring/ summer sewing. It’s kind of funny, because before we set out I had in my head to look for soft pastels, laces and eyelets. That is not what caught my eye. Everything is bold, muy caliente!

I went to the Mill End which is the most AHHH-MAZING fabric store I’ve been to. if you’re in the Portland area I highly recommend going there. The selection of apparel fabric is much nicer than at Fabric Depot, which is more quilting oriented.

I picked up this beautiful sheer silk chiffon, and magenta rayon to make the Colette patterns Macaron dress. The store said the silk is Anna Sui and it is to die for. This photo does not do it justice. I’ve been picturing in my mind sheer fabric for the t-shirt portion to make this into an elegant and easy dress that can be worn day and night.

 

 

 

 

 

Ialso grabbed 4 yards of this bright and playful stripe print fabric. I’m undecided on what pattern to make it with but I want to play with the grainlines. I’m thinking a chevron effect on the bodice, sleeve and skirt oriented different ways.

I also got 3 yards of this adorable bow-print cotton lawn (end of the bolt too). I think this is Marc by Marc Jacobs. I want to make Simplicity 2444. Short sleeves, scoop neck, fitted bodice and a full above-the-knee skirt. I think it will look like something Zooey Deschanel would wear if it comes out the way I envision.

Last but not least, this black and white geometric cotton lawn. I also purchased some hot pink piping to make the design lines pop. My original plan was to use this for the Colette Pattern’s Ceylon, but I’m also thinking Vogue 1174 would be lovely too. This fabric might be too busy for Ceylon. I’m a wee bit apprehensive about making Ceylon because it was the first sewing pattern that I wanted to make. Psychologically, I still feel like I’m not good enough,

I think I’m going to make the bow dress first, since that seems like it will be the least complicated. I want easy after my birthday dress. I am so excited, and now I have to go be a creep and stroke and pet my new fabric.

Thank You Tilly!

Thank you so much Tilly. You’re a doll! I won a blog giveaway of her’s as a part of Sew Grateful week. My package came this week and was wrapped so sweetly. I am so excited to make this cute little vintage button back top. Thank you kindly.

Vogue 1227: My Birthday Dress is Done

Well, she’s done. I finally finished Vogue 1227, and while it didn’t go as smoothly as I would have liked, I don’t feel totally defeated. My plan was for this to be a cute country-girl wearable muslin, and then to make this dress out of some pretty green silk I have. Now I know I don’t want to touch this pattern for a long time. But I do enjoy this version, So I’ll wear it gladly at my 90’s party this weekend.

The bra cups gape some, or just don’t fit right. Also, they were sitting weird when my husband took these photos. I think they’re too small for my bust. This dress is also drafted way to large! I had to take out 2 inches of ease in the size 12 (which is already going down a size). I think a good starting point if you want to make this dress is to start 2 sizes smaller than you measure. I should have made a 10, but unfortunately my size is on the border of the sizing of the two pattern envelopes and the 12 was the smallest in the pattern I purchased. Therefore, I had to increase all of my seam allowances to 7/8″.

When I sewed the cups into the bodice, they didn’t fit all of the way. Instead of doing something very precise, I just cut them down at the edges to match up with the bodice. That makes them slightly differ from each other.

And then there was the zipper. If you want to make this pattern I recommend you forgo trying to install an invisible zipper. This dress is just too fitted for an invisible zipper to support it. I noticed that Lauren also had a problem with her zipper. My first zipper broke, then I put in a second invisible zipper after I had added a waist stay (and that broke), and then I just added a normal zipper. I recommend that if you want to make this dress to plan ahead and insert a lapped zipper, so that it is hidden.

 

Zipper… WTF?!?!?

So, I just destroyed invisible zipper number 2 on my birthday dress. I put in a waist stay (thanks for the idea Ginger!!!). I’m pretty sure that would have worked in normal circumstances, but I took out all of the ease. My bad! I’m glad I learned this now before cutting into my expensive silk. I don’t think I’m going to use my silk for this design. It wasn’t overly difficult, but I’m *over* making this design. I made two bodice muslins and this version. I’m looking forward to new projects.

This time the zipper pull came completely off of one side of the track. I’m just going to get a sturdier non-invisible zipper. Majuhh bummah.

New (to me) Serger!

Happy Valentine’s day to me. I spied this baby on craigslist and knew it was for me. I also got 20 cones of thread with it, Score! I spent the better part of yesterday and today trying to figure it out (and failing miserably). I think I’m going to have to sign up for an intro to serging class at Modern Domestic.

I also won a Sew Grateful giveaway on Tilly’s blog. Thank you so much! Your blog has been very inspirational to me. So soonish I will recieve a vintage pattern for a darling button back blouse. Eeek, I am super excited about it. I’m going to have to grade it down, but it’s supah cute.

I also had a free scoop of Americone Dream at Ben and Jerry’s. Thanks Stephen Colbert.

Winning!

Vogue 1227: A Sneak Peak

So I basically finished my birthday dress last night. This dress is TIGHT. I need a buddy to help me get into it. I’m pretty sure that means I overfitted, but it’s sort of a necessity. I probably could stand to have about 1 cm more ease in the bodice, but this thing is banging and I’m not ripping out any of those seams or the topstitching. I’ll just make sure to not eat a big meal when I wear this. This photo is super crappy because I took it with my cell phone to show my husband. I had no plans for it to make my blog, but I wanted to share my progress. And now the reason why I don’t have a better photo to show…

WTF?!?!?! As of last night at 10:30 I only had to finish slip stitching the bodice lining down and I would have been done. But then tragedy struck (yes, I’m being a little dramatic). I tried it on to show my husband when he got home from work, and the zipper split!!!!! I think having a dress this tight was just too much for that poor plastic invisible zipper. I’m pissed, because I had that baby in perfectly. Now I need to get another zipper before this will be finished. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make it to the zipper store.

Since the invisible zipper broke I think I need to get something more substantial. I’m toying with the idea of getting a thick metal zip and leaving it exposed in the back. My only concern is that I think the exposed zip trend is over. Stupid fracking zipper!

Vogue 1227: Bodice Version 2

I think I’ve got it in the bag friends! You just got up close and personal with my girls. I made some revisions to the bodice of my upcoming dress and I’ve got the fit dialed in. The only issue is a little bit of gaping at the top of the cups that needs to be dealt with. All in all,  I think I look pretty bodacious in this top. This reminds me of the bombshell dress by Gertie. Maybe I should take her course for guidance. Anybody taken it? I’m a cheap-o and $30 could buy more fabric 🙂

When I made this per pattern directions I had about 2 inches of excess ease in the bodice. The bra cups, however, were my size. I increased the seam allowances to 7/8″ in the bodice and yoke pieces, while leaving the bra cups as they were. This did make easing the cups into the bodice a little more tricky, since the bodice was the much smaller. I tried something to help me ease them on one side. I made a line of basting stitches just inside the seam allowance all the way around. then I clipped just shy of this line. This helped me clip *deeply* enough to aid in easing to make easing without clipping too far. I’m not sure if this is a good technique though, I sort of just winged it.

You should also check out this song. I’ve been listening to this (and the whole album) on repeat for the last month. Obsessed!

Vogue 1227: Muslin #1

So I pulled out Vogue 1227 to make a muslin for my birthday dress. I was nervous about this because the only review I found was by Lladybird (only one person has made this in the whole blogsphere?!?!?) , she made this sound like a bitch to sew up and alter. I’m a little skurred. It is supah dupah cute though, so I’m going to give it the old college try. I’m having a 90’s dance party and I want to be fly.

I have tons of this ugly batik print I purchased at the thrift store, so I decided to make the whole dress as opposed to just the bodice. Practice makes perfect ya’ll. I had some concerns that the dress would be too short. This isn’t hemmed, but it will only be about half an inch shorter when completed. I’m okay with this length, (but I did get myself some matching boy short panties to wear just in case I get too tipsy to remain a lady).

This dress calls for tons of top stitching, so I pulled out some hot pink thread to practice. I don’t want to have a wonky mess on my final dress. I was able to, more or less, sew all of those parallel lines straight, but I had a hard time matching up the top stitching at the seams. Any tips on on how to do that other than, if they don’t match, rip out and try again? I don’t want to shred my fabric.

The bra cups were a little tricky to sew; very curvy and small. I just need to remember to go sloooooooow. I think I also put the top band in upside down so I’m going to flip it and reverse it for try #2. I practiced inserting the boning under the cups, just like in a bra. The cups fit mah boobies fine. The edge of the cups, don’t match up with with fabric in between my breasts. In the picture they do (poorly drafted or user error?), so I might need to do some finagling.

The only adjustment that needs to be made is to take ease out of the bodice. I cut a size 12, even though I measure at a size 14, but it was still huge. The top of this dress was so big that it gaped and showed all of my bust (not ladylike at all). My husband helped me out by pinching out the excess and marking it with a chalk pen. I need to take 2 inches out of the bodice. There are 8 seams in the bodice and yoke, so if increase all of my seam allowances by a quarter of an inch, that should take out all of the excess. Is that an acceptable alteration or should I change the pattern pieces? That sounds scary to me.

I have midterms this week and it’s been dumping snow on the mountain (I love love love skiing), so it might be a little while until I can mock up the bodice a second time. If that works out, I have some calico in my stash to make a wearable muslin that is fully lined, interfaced, and boned. I think it will make a cute country-girl summer dress. I want to try out all of the techniques required in this dress, before I cut into my expensive silk. I have a month and 2 days until my birthday, so I should be fine.

Yeah, I still went back there. What?

A New Hope

Soooo… I decided the cure for a blah project made with blah fabric, was to buy the most beautiful fabric I could find. My gorgeous and talented Aunt Carter sent me a gift card to Fabric Depot for Christmas. I went “over-budget” by $25, but I got all of the supplies (except for interfacing) for my birthday party dress. Nerd alert: Make a pretty dress, I will (Yoda speak).

I bought 3 yards of the loveliest emerald green silk dupioni I’ve ever seen. I think this is the most money I will ever spend on fabric, but I’ve been feeling low recently and indulged in a little retail therapy. I also bought some celery green rayon bemberg lining. It looks yellow in this photo, but it’s almost lime green. I think the bright celery green, peaking out under the folds of the skirt will be a nice and fun contrast. In addition to the fabric, I also bought a matching zipper, thread, and boning.

I’m excited about working with the boning. While I never wrote a post detailing sewing goals for the new year, they include trying new skills such as using boning, making bound buttonholes, and drafting my own personal sloper.

What, dear readers, you may ask am I making with this special fabric? I’m going to try my hand at Vogue 1227, a Rebecca Taylor design. My 29th birthday is a little over a month away so hopefully this will give me enough time to make a muslin (or two) and get the fit perfect. I want to look bangin’, in a sexy mini dress before I leave my twenties.

Back to my talented Aunt Carter, she has an album available for download on Amazon you should check out. She sings jazz and Broadway standards and has the raddest singing voice. She’s playing Patsy Cline right now in “Always Patsy Cline”, she’s awesome! Carter Calvert & the Roger Cohen Trio 

Mehhhh, my first UFO…

Grody to the Max

I’m pretty sure I have my first UFO (unfinished object). My motivation and desire to finish my cape is completely gone! Ughhh, I hate even looking at it. I don’t care that capes are “in” right now. I’ll just wait and *maybe* try again later. I started out super stoked and life got in the way. This has got me feeling blah.

Simplicity 1942 is a Project Runway pattern, and a relatively easy one at that. I think my issues with it are more personal and less to do with how it was drafted. The instructions were clear and easy. The only thing I didn’t care for pattern wise is that it is unlined. I was planning on using some pink poly lining material using the main body pattern pieces to draft my own. I never got that far.

My first issue is the fabric. I don’t really like it that much. It’s some sort of polyester upholstery fabric I got for crazy cheap at my secret thrift store. I got 4 yards of 60″ wide fabric for $2.50. It has okay drape, and is a neutral camel color. I thought I could “Make it work” (Tim Gunn voice).

This fabric smells DISGUSTING though. I washed it twice, and it still has this musty-smokey-mothballs-grandpa’s-basement smell. Yucko. It doesn’t smell that horrible when you just sniff it, but when the steam from my iron hits it, forgettahboudit. Nasty! I was cringing while pressing every seam. Dear readers, do you have any tips on getting rid of the skank?

My second issue, is that I snipped the outer fabric with my pinking shears by accident. I really need to go more slowly and carefully, when I’m finishing my seams.  I already wasn’t feeling great about it; this was it’s death knell.

I have some personal things happening right now. I think I’m associating those negative emotions, with this sad pile of thrift store fabric. I’m putting it away for now, because I find looking at it to be an irritation.

I already have some new ideas cooking up in my brain. So I’ll be back with a more positive post soon. The lesson I’m taking from this is: If I don’t love the fabric, I’m not going to love sewing with it.