Restricting the bask to directly under the heat lamp.Filed under: Fixed it, Gifted it, Love it, Sewed it | Tags: dress, present, pattern, Christmas, tiers, twirl, tutorial
The same little girl who got these dresses for her and her mom gets a custom Christmas dress every year made by her faraway aunt. I figure if I can’t spend time with her, I’ll spend time on her. And twirly dresses are super fun. Best part of all: We’ll get to take a trip to Gaffney’s together next weekend where she’ll get to pick whatever fabric she wants.
Kiddo wants something like this, the Love To Twirl. In green. I haven’t yet seen an exact pattern, with tiers starting right under your shoulders, but I found these two Simplicity patterns on sale at the JoJo that I think could work. How don’t I already have anything close?
So 2711 is for wovens and 2943 (Project Runway for kids now?!) for knits.
I think the trick’s going to be getting the upper body to fit her, then to chop the bodice high and start adding tiers. This tutorial should come in handy.
Filed under: Help me, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it, Uncategorized | Tags: dress, Hawaiian, pattern, present, refashion, Salvy
I owe my sister-in-law a birthday present and had bought her this vintage Hawaiian dress to wear at my mom’s beach house, where us ladies like to roam the joint in muu-muus. That’s a true story. Mine’s green. Sister’s is red and white, our mom’s is leopard print.
SIL, who loves pink, didn’t have one, so I thought about hemming the original maxidress a little to fit her. It’s really good heavy fabric and has this great scoop back.
But.
What if she and her 4-year-old had the same dress? What if I hemmed the thing to the knee, a length she’s more likely to actually wear, and use the *good* foot of fabric at the bottom to make a dress for my niece?
I pulled out my little girl patterns and found a handful of possibilities for my niece.
The halter patterns on the left are very summer, but I think in the spirit of the muu-muu, I’m going with the dress on the right, the one with the ruffled skirt. I think it’ll fit the fabric I have better, too.
Thoughts while I hem the original dress? 4-year-olds still like to match their moms, right?
Filed under: Love it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: dress, gold, pattern, silk, taffeta
I never thought about weddings as a child or young woman. I guess I hoped I’d find a friend to spend my life with, but how the party went down I knew not. And from going to a whole big bunch of weddings in my 32 years, I knew I wanted the day and the occasion to fit the people involved, not the other way around. Because it’s not a dream, it’s a happy day.
The one thing I did think about was the dress. I started sewing in high school while broke at a prep school. Figured out pretty quickly I could have really amazing dresses for dances if I made them myself. So every time there was some special event, I made a dress: senior prom and college graduation ball. I sewed for my sister when she wanted something particular, too.
Of course, I must have thought, I’d make my wedding dress. Buying ready-made polyester satin made in China wasn’t going to cut it, and I wanted a simple enough shape. Even the plainest silk dress I tried on had four digits. The two I liked best would have more than doubled what I wanted to spend, with all the alterations. In fact the alterations on the last dress I considered were going to run about what I wanted to spend on fabric. Also, I live in the city home to Fishman’s Fabrics. Also, another amazing place called Vogue Fabrics.
So why not blow the budget on the silk and screw the formality? Tell the bridal shopladies to keep their dreams because I’m going to make a dress?
So here goes. Vogue pattern 2931 (sans bow and w a few other alterations). Gold silk taffeta obtained from Fishman’s, lined with the sleekest, softest gold silk from Vogue Fabrics.
Filed under: Do it, Fixed it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: burdastyle, Chicago, evil eye, Freecycle, freezer paper stencil, pattern, purple
I spotted several Anda bastardizations in Old Navy ads lately, which prompted me to finally make one already:
And so I’m spending a day with myself (while the Mister works a nightshift), mocking up an Anda in light purple poly fabric I got from a kind Chicago Freecycler, since it’s fabric I don’t love love love, but could totally live with if the pattern fits and flatters. Other beauty of the solid color is that it’ll totally cry out for freezer paper stenciling once it’s done, and I’ve been thinking about evil eye designs for only the last decade or so. Such a charming, basic dress. Here’s hoping. I don’t use Burda Style patterns enough, though I’m beginning to look at them more.
Might have to mess with the neckline a la Old Navy ads, though, since that high Anda neck doesn’t flatter a bust such as my own. Let the experiment begin!
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Ugh. Anda that matches my measurements is an awful tent.
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I’ve since pulled in the sides considerably. Instead of putting in elastic, I experimented with a purple sequined belt at different “waists”: high, natural, drop. They’re all terrible. Might have to face it.
Anda just might not work for me.
