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Tag Archives: dress

ceylon progress

i’ve been lurking the ceylon pattern for months now… finally gave in a couple weeks ago and bought a copy. i initially planned on making it up in some navy polka dot voile or lawn, but searching has turned to be fruitless so i settled on blue pin dot shirting fabric from fabric.com (you just wait… my first choice will suddenly be fruitful and multiply. gah.). i’ve already made a bit of progress on the dress so i thought i would share with y’all!

first off, i will point out that i didn’t bother to make a muslin and just started cutting directly into the fabric. i like to live dangerously sometimes.
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Tags: ceylon, dress, piping, western shirt, work in progress

Comments 2 Comments
Categories work in progress

lladybird for spring 2011: a sneak peek

11 Mar

life got majorly busy and i haven’t been sewing much as of lately. and by “sewing,” i mean “sewing for myself” – i’ve been working up a frenzy in preparation for nashville fashion week. not because i have anything to do with *that* event, but local honey is throwing their annual spring premier the same weekend. so yay, spring clothes!!

i’ve been working on some new designs & some new color scenes… playing around with more details this time around, especially ruffles & pintucking & bias stripes. i’m still working the colorblocks… i tried to pull away from it, but i can’t help it, i love colorblocking too much! there are a few “classic” lladybird dresses in the mix, but i’ll also be introducing some half-circle skirts dresses. fun!

here is a sneak peek at what i’ve been cooking up:
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Tags: dress, lladybird, work in progress

Comments 3 Comments
Categories work in progress

vogue 9668: a labor of love

1 Mar

i am calling this dress a labor of love because i don’t think i’ve ever put so much time & patience into a casual sundress. what started out as a simple v2.0 pattern turned into an episode of how-difficult-can-i-make-this-project. i am, however, extremely happy with the end result!

so here’s where we left off:

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Tags: completed, dress, piping, vogue

Comments 13 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

vogue 9668 v2.0 – progress

22 Feb

i’ve been working on my second v9668, aka the summer version. what should have been a fairly straight-forward project (i mean, i JUST finished the first one pretty recently, so the construction is very fresh in my mind) has turned into a huge headache and a lot of wow-i-sure-made-this-as-difficult-as-possible-huh.

this is the fabric i’m using.

it’s a lovely stretch cotton with a touch of sateen. GORGEOUS.

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Tags: crochet, dress, piping, roses afgan, vogue, work in progress

Comments 6 Comments
Categories work in progress

completed: vogue 1086 v2.0

15 Feb

i love this dress so much, i now have two of them!!

here’s a fabric refresher, in case you forgot!

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Tags: completed, crochet, dress, vogue

Comments 13 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

mini-tutorial: bound seams

9 Feb

i just love bound seams – i think they are so pretty and neat and add a really nice touch to an otherwise simple garment.

i am currently slogging away at simplicity 2412 and, god, has this pattern been a lesson in patience. from the initial tracing, to decoding all the weird pinholes and perforations (verdict: unprinted patterns really aren’t that scary, but i wouldn’t recommend them to a total beginner), to the multiple pattern adjustments (taking 9″ off the bottom and the dang thing is STILL too long! and omggg so much unnecessary ease!)… at least the actual construction is going together fairly smoothly!

i decided to bind my seams for a few reasons:
– this dress is seersucker. who wants to line a seersucker anything? talk about defeating the purpose!
– out of all the garments i’ll be working on this spring, this one has very few seams and they are all straight – perfect for this kind of finish
– i have the most gorgeous lipstick red rayon seam binding. GORGEOUS. it was crying to be used!

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Tags: dress, seam binding, tutorial

Comments 11 Comments
Categories tutorial

completed: vogue 9668 – the cranberry wool dress

19 Jan

i’m done with the cranberry wool dress! i would like to declare this dress responsible for both killing and reviving my sewing mojo. as i stated before, i am really really pleased with how this dress turned out. so pleased, in fact, that i already bought fabric to make a spring/summer verison 🙂

review, pictures & the fabric in question after the jump!

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Tags: completed, dress, vogue

Comments 9 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

refashioning a vintage dress

6 Dec

this isn’t really much a sewing-related update… i mean, there was sewing involved, but i did not get any pictures of the innards, or a before shot for that matter.

anyway, i got this great 40s navy wool(blend?) dress from my friend carmen of closet case vintage (and, uhm, if you are in the market for vintage goodies, def check her store out bc this girl has got some seriously good taste). the dress is lovely on it’s own, but it needed a little bit of work before i was ready to re-debut it.

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Tags: dress, FUR, reconstructions, vintage

Comments 1 Comment
Categories misc

cranberry wool dress – muslin stage

30 Nov

hi everyone, i finished my coat over the long weekend!

then i discovered my camera is jacked up, the flash doesn’t work, and it’s been gross and rainy and gray. soo no pictures, sry sux 2 b u, etc etc.
i’ll get some up as soon as i can!

in the meantime, i’m working on my newest dress – vogue 9668.

i cut a 6 for the bust size and an 8 for the waist and hip. spent most of my saturday chopping the tissue up to allow for a full bust adjustment. i would link y’all to an online tutorial, since FBAs really are a lifesaver (and they are kinda fun, if you are into chopping up pattern tissue and retaping it a zillion times), but it looks like my favorite one was deleted 😦 i consulted my copies of fit for real people (aka the book my roommate saw laying on the counter and laughed at me for buying it, bc the clothes on the front are so awful) and the perfect fit (bc… idk, i guess i like having multiple fitting books or something).

this is what my pattern piece looks like now:

i need to shorten that side dart just a pinch, but i wasn’t in the mood.

my muslin is finished and it fits perfectly!

i only made a muslin of the bodice bc, honestly, the bottom is a bias circle skirt and that doesn’t really require fitting.
oh, and that’s not really muslin, it’s some horrible 60s green and white polyester monstrosity. and it is wrong-side-out, bc i drew my pattern markings (IN SHARPIE HEH HEH goddd i’m such a rule breaker) on the right side and just flipped the pieces over and ughh whatever have another picture:

looks good, y/y?

i’m waiting to cut out my fabric pieces. i need to stay the neckline with silk organza, but the tutorial i am following says it needs to be done before i actually cut out the bodice.

in the meantime, i went to the store on my lunch break and bought a bunch of skinny headbands, so i’m gonna spend my (possibly snowy? ew)evening making some cute little bow headbands a la casey brown.

Tags: dress, muslin, vogue, work in progress