LLADYBIRD

work in progress: vogue 1174

sooo i have no idea who cynthia steffe is, but apparently she is a big-shot designer who sells her digs @ nordstrom’s for like $345:

and then sells the rights to vogue for pattern-making!

vogue 1174- fortunately, the took a hint with that michael kors styling disaster and this one actually looks really nice.

i have been working on this pattern since monday and i’m pretty close to being finished. i don’t even know why i have been making this pattern – i look awful in strapless dresses. at any rate, there are several techniques here that i wanted to try out – boning, inner foundation (like, a lightweight corset), piping, etc – so here i am. the pattern is not nearly as advanced as i expected it to be, although i am about to start working on the inner guts (aka the foundation and boning) tonight, so i may end up changing my mind 😉 at any rate, the instructions are fairly straight-forward. the only problem i’ve been having is with the fitting. even with a muslin, the fitting has been a total bear 😦

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Tags: dress, vogue, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

pattern review: vogue 1117 (michael kors)

17 Jun

i haven’t seen a lot of online reviews for this pattern, which is a shame because i think it is a really great design/pattern and it is drafted beautifully.

i made this to wear to various weddings i will be attending this year. i fell in love with the original michael kors dress, aka my ~inspiration~, but at $2500 that wasn’t going to fly with my bank account:

but it is lovely, no?

fortunately, michael kors released the rights of the design to vogue, who made a pattern for it!
unfortunately, the envelope and styling is ugly as hell:

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Tags: dress, patterns, ripping off your shit, vogue

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Categories completed projects - new

vogue 8603- purple skirt

10 Feb

… and i’m back from another hiatus! this time it was due to apartment troubles and subsequent moving (i really love sewing, but my apartment was literally 30*F! too cold to do anything except huddle under the covers!). i finished moving and unpacking last week, so hopefully i am back in action 😀

this skirt is the first thing i have made in well over a month… i was a little apprehensive at first (not gonna lie – i was afraid i had ~lost my touch~ since i was out of practice haha) but it went together beautifully and i am very pleased with the final result! especially the fit!

i used vogue 8603 as my pattern. the only adjustment i made to the pattern was i used an invisible zipper instead of a regular zipper.
my fabric is some lovely grape linen-look cotton that i bought on sale at hancock’s… i lined the skirt with this crazy periwinkle blue rayon that i found in my stash.

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Tags: patterns, skirt, vogue

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Categories completed projects - new

vintage sewing patterns

7 Jan

i admit – i love me some vintage sewing patterns. i collect them in small spurts, always with the intention of eventually creating something with them (but always being distracted by some new shiny whatever at the local joann’s $1 pattern sale). most of my vintage patterns come from the thrift store… i have purchased a few off etsy, and i’ve had a few given to me by (awesome!!!)friends.

i just recently discovered the vintage pattern wiki and holy hell, that site is like some damn crack for me. i also realized that a few of my patterns were not listed on the wiki… so i took pictures of them with the intention of uploading them to share. i’m also going to share them here because WHEEEE PATTERNS!!

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Categories misc

mccall’s 5971 – navy wool crepe dress

10 Dec

i actually started this dress a little over a week ago… it took so long to complete for several reasons:
1. i fell on friday night and didn’t have much use of my left arm until monday or so. it’s still in a sling – i went to the doctor yesterday and apparently my elbow is cracked 😦
2. i had a friend visit over the weekend and we were too busy being awesome (you know, like hanging out in the emergency room. whoops! he was a good sport about it, though 🙂 for me to do any sewing
3. i was trying really hard to make this dress ~perfect~, since i spent quite a bit of money on the fabric.

so, here we go! i used mccall’s 5971:

view A, obvs

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Tags: dress, mccalls, patterns

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Categories completed projects - new

new recon!

8 Dec

sorry about this little hiatus! in my defense, i haven’t sewn a thing since friday – i slipped on a puddle of water at the bar (no, i was NOT drunk!) and severely strained a bunch of muscles and built up a mess of fluid in my elbow. i just was able to retire the sling this morning, but it still hurts. having one hand sucks, man.

here is a little recon i did last week for a livejournal friend. she sent me this vintage dress and asked me to redesign it into something similar to what i’ve made before – it was a lot of fun to cut up and sew back together!

before
the main issues with the dress was that it was too long, too big, and she hated the necktie. we decided to remove the zipper, add in a waistband and bottom band, sleeve cuffs, and turn the neckline into a nice scoop neck.

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Tags: reconstructions, vintage

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Categories completed projects - reconstructed

simplicity 3673

24 Nov

this is simplicity 3673. normally, i’m not a big fan of simplicity patterns (their sizing is always a little off – more on that later), but i like this vintage reissue from the 50s. i also had this fabric:

that i bought at a yard sale for $1. paired up with a vintage zipper from my stash (i always buy them for pennies at the thrift store, and i actually had one on hand that was the correct length AND color… pretty convenient!), this dress was super cheap/easy to make.

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Tags: patterns, simplicity

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Categories completed projects - new

18 Nov

omggg i want to go pattern shopping. like, for realsies, not fake-online-pattern-shopping. there are SO MANY good patterns this season.
since i’m finally done with the expo and i have a metric ton of dresses to unload, i think it’s time to get reunited with my sewing machine (i mainly use my serger when i’m sewing jersey) and make some LT clothes 😀

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Tags: butterick, jacket, mccalls, patterns, vogue, wishlist

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Categories here are some things i would like to have

recently completed: reconstructions

16 Nov

reconstructions are some of my favorite things to make! i love finding really awful stuff and turning it into something that will be loved and worn. the best part is showing people a “before” photo after they start gushing and watch their double-take 😀

people ask me where i get these clothes… i don’t really have a single answer, they come from all over the place. antique stores, consignment shops, thrift stores, bargin bins (i really love the goodwill outlet; they have some of the worst picked-over stuff), donations from friends… i’ve even found a few pieces in the dumpster (don’t worry, i washed ’em!).

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Tags: reconstructions

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Categories completed projects - reconstructed

recently completed: original designs

16 Nov

time to kick this off – and what better way than with PICTURES? 😀

i have been working nearly nonstop for the past couple of weeks on all kinds of crazy looking ensembles… these are pretty straightforward, so i don’t think they need a lot of explanation. i love dresses like this, because you can pair them with some fun tights + colors flats (or boots!) and it looks awesome!

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