Anne Adams 4710: Where is my lint roller!?!?

Top three lessons learned while sewing this dress (Anne Adams 4710-A in vintage semi-sheer black cotton with textured stripes and a full Bemberg lining):

1) Horizontal stripes can be your friend, if used wisely, but they’re a bitch to match across seams and zippers, so plan accordingly (hence the vertical stripes on the side insets and back).
2) Black dresses are, in my opinion, a bit boring but they hide many sins – from poor diet and exercise habits to super-sloppy hand stitching.
3) Every garment, like most people, goes through an ugly phase. Keep working on it and you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised. 

Oh, and I’m going to need more lint rollers.

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Another lesson, black is tough to photograph. You can sort of see that the fabric is a bit sheer along the hemline in this pic.

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I tried matching stripes between the front and side inset pieces and had moderate success.

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Each stripe is actually a long thin fold in the fabric. I have no idea how they made it and have never seen anything like it.

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Anne Adams is a mail-order only pattern company. This dress pattern is from 1966, I think.

Butterick 7514: Belmont

I started calling this dress Belmont as soon as I pinned the pattern on the fabric. Not because I think the ladies of Belmont wear a lot of mid-fifties fashion – if they do, I must move there immediately – but because it’s made from a pair of cotton curtains from my friends, Gavin & Jane’s, past home in Belmont. (Side note: if you’re thinking that belt looks like the ties ripped off the old tie-top curtains attached to a vintage enamel and brass buckle, you’re right!)

This is a very different silhouette for me, a woman constantly trying to slim the appearance around the hips/ass. But the exaggerated pockets that stand away from the body plus the pop-up collar were too much for me to resist. 

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A unique silhouette for me.

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Close up of a pocket from the side/back.

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This stunning vintage enamel and brass buckle was a gift from Brian.

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I may not be able to get away with making this dress 5+ times since it’s quite a unique design.

Butterick 7514: Bodice from view A and skirt from view C (since I’m quite sure full petticoats at work may be frowned upon.)

Simplicity 5996: #5 in butterflies

This is Simplicity 5996 dress #5 – which I shouldn’t even call by name anymore since I’ve hacked it up so much.  It is made in a crisp cotton in navy with white butterflies all over it.    This version has a super-long skinny belt, a slightly shortened hem (though still financial services work appropriate, of course) and self-drafted sleeve cuffs. It is unlined <gasp!> so I’ll skip showing you her insides this time.

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I’ve named this dress Sue, in honor of my mother-in-law, who gave me a weekend with very few plans last week. She also loves butterflies.

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I’ve wanted to add cuffs to dress sleeves for a bit, but always opted to skip it to save time and effort. I’m pretty psyched to now have a pattern piece to use next time.

Belladone: Just in time for Mexico!

Meet Millie – the exact opposite of ready to wear, “fast” fashion. She’s a Deer and Doe Belladone dress made of navy cotton chambray with paisley poly pockets and seam bindings. I started this pattern last August. All was well until I tried her on the the fit in the back skirt was horrid. She spent the winter in my unfinished sadness bin, but I was determined to finish her for this summer. (Hence, Millie, a French name for stubborn determination.) Three+ zip installs and multiple skirt alterations later, she’s finally ready.

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Simplicity 1254: If only I was Olivia Pope

And now, an item I will quite possibly never wear despite working on it on and off for about four months.  This is Simplicity 1254 by Leanne Marshall. It is made in a stunning vintage textured cream wool and is fully lined in a flannel-backed satin.  (So if I ever do wear it, I’l be warm.) It has a lapped separating zipper in the center front.  The button is decorative and covers a large fabric-covered hook & eye that was originally white, but I dyed it cream using tea.

I liked this coat in theory instantly, but my gut told me it’d be a stretch for my “stick to the basics” wardrobe. I should’ve listened to my gut because last time I checked I am not Olivia Pope (and I’m quite sure only she can pull off a collar this big).

Did I mention that it’s 60 degrees outside right now?!?

Simplicity 1254

Simplicity 5996: An Irish psychedelic frog

I’ve been asked dozens of times why I’d want to spend 10-12 hours making a dress when I could just go out and buy one. Well, one reason – and there are many – is because I’m pretty sure I could spend hours looking at a mall and I would never find a kelly green wool dress with lining that looks like a psychedelic frog. And if by chance I did, it’d cost a whole lot more than the roughly $15 I spent on supplies to make this one. Cheers!

Pattern: Simplicity 5996, again

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Between the outer wool and the poly lining, this dress is very warm.

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Tell me this doesn’t look like a psychedelic frog?!?!

So blogging just may not be my thing

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… and looking at the very grey photos in my earlier post, photography may not be either.  But I’ve been thinking about my little space on the web a lot lately, and I want a place to keep track of what I make, so I’ll keep trying.  To get around my hatred of having my picture taken, one of the biggest hurdles to my posting updates, we’ll settle for pictures on my dressform, Violet, for now.

A very high-level view of what I’ve made since my last post:

I finished my “Winkelman”.  It isn’t perfect – in fact, all I seem to notice are the parts I wish I’d done differently – but I made my first coat and my first project that required major pattern changes.  As you can see, it looks very different than the inspiration coat, largely because I: (1) didn’t want to use real fur (duh) or fake fur (long story) so I replaced the fur collar with an oversized wool one and skipped the cuffs, and (2) chose to use a vintage brass buckle and buttons that I found in a shop in Latvia via Etsy rather than using fabric covered.   Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out.  Of course, as soon as I finished the four-month project I simultaneously thought of how I never ever want to sew a coat again and what I’ll do differently next time.  Hrm.

Winkelman.

I spent the rest of 2014 focusing on projects that take less than four months for me to make: dresses (mostly vintage, two of which are pictured below), a couple fleece items for my adorable niece (pictured below), some super-simple home decor items, a bathing suit bottom, beach hat and cover up.

Vogue 5645, View B, no pockets

Vogue 5645, View A , different belt and no pockets

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Elke Dress

My first finished project of 2015 is a modified vintage Simplicity 5996 – my very favorite dress pattern.  The modifications are mostly on the bodice:  I merged the bust and waist darts into one long princess seam in front, and merged the shoulder and waist darts into princess seams in the back.  Both of these changes give me more flexibility with fitting since I find it varies with each make.  I also, as usual, chopped at least two inches off the skirt length and graded up a size for the hips/butt.  It’s made out a cotton fabric with just a bit of stretch that had me scratching my head as to why I bought it — it’s not pretty — but I really like the way this dress turned out.

My third Simplicity 5996

Up next: maybe I’ll finish the vintage Butterick 7514 (a combination of views A & C) that I muslined, adjusted, and then tossed due to a bad fabric choice, or the Simplicity 1254 Leanne Marshall jacket that’s in progress…

More soon, I hope.