well that’s done and completed now. i actually started this pattern over a month ago, got frustrated when it was 3/4 done and threw it in a drawer to stew and think about how bad it had been. i’m still not happy with the outcome, but i am happy with the fact that it is finally finished and i don’t have to look at it anymore.
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Tag Archives: dress
completed: vogue 1192
14 Sepcompleted: vogue 1086
22 Jul
vogue 1086, a tracey reese design
it only took 2+ weeks (i had a lot of distractions, k), but i’m finally done! yay!
vogue 1161 – work in progress – + flea market finds
28 Junso i started trying to hammer out this vogue pattern over the weekend:
vogue 1161
i know it doesn’t really look like much, but there are a lot of neat design lines (WHY would you style the dress with leopard print fabric that hides the seaming and details? WHY?) that i thought would make a hot little cocktail dress. you know, for all those cocktail parties i don’t go to.
anyway, the fabric calls for something slinky and silky, so i went with this rich orange silk:
also, btw y’all, i hate sewing silk and i really am going to swear it off soon.
reasons why i hate silk:
– it unravels worse than anything i’ve ever seen before. just during the process of cutting and marking my fabric pieces, i have probably lost over 1/2″ on all seam allowances due to the silk unraveling and being a bitch. this dress prob won’t even freakin’ fit by the time i am done with it AUGHHH!!
– it is a bitch to cut – it shifts and slides and hates on me. i tried cutting on paper, i tried cutting one layer, i tried pinning the everloving hell out of it… it must be some kind of shape-shifter because it would NOT stay in place. the only thing i didn’t try was my rotary cutter – because, 1. i hate my rotary cutter; 2. the blades are dull; and 3. i hate my rotary cutter bc i don’t actually know how to use it – but my scissors are pretty freakin’ sharp soo i don’t know. anyway. cutting sux, y’all.
– ironing makes me sad. i learned very quickly that, even though my rowenta has a “silk” setting, it wrinkles and puckers the crap out of my silk and apparently i need to use a press cloth. whoops! the iron isn’t hot enough to totally flatten those dang seams, which is a bummer because i am an seam-pressing fiend every other day of the week.
– i had to buy a marking pen because my wax ~tailor’s pencil~ was too hard and bore a tiny hole in the fabric, crap.
but you know what? at least it is a pretty silk.
vogue 1174 – complete!
22 Junwell, i finished vogue 1174 aka the ~cynthia steffe~ strapless dress, just in time to wear it for a wedding over the weekend! boy am i glad to be DONE with it!
pattern review and many many (don’t say i didn’t warn you!) pictures under the cut!
work in progress: vogue 1174
17 Junsooo 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 😦
pattern review: vogue 1117 (michael kors)
17 Juni 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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mccall’s 5971 – navy wool crepe dress
10 Deci 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
LLADYBIRD 