Lessons in Dressmaking

So, I here is what I have learned from my most recent fashion sewing project:

1. DO NOT CUT THE PATTERN TO THE SIZE YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE!
2. EXPERIMENT ON SCRAP FABRIC WHEN MAKING BUTTON HOLES!
3. DO NOT CUT THE PATTERN TO THE SIZE YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE!
4. SEW THE GARMENT USING CHEAP FABRIC; IF IT TURNS OUT, USE YOUR FASHION FABRIC!
5. DO NOT CUT THE PATTERN TO THE SIZE YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE!

Did I mention NOT TO CUT THE PATTERN?  I made this mistake when I began cutting out the pattern pieces for See and Sew B5634.  I decided cutting the pattern to the size I thought would fit my oldest daughter would be easier than trying to fold the pieces along the appropriate lines.  Well, it was easier, but in the end, the dress did not fit her!  Too small!  Fortunately, it fit my friend and she modeled it for the photos.

 

You can see in the photo where I violated lesson #2.  The second button is clearly misaligned.  Oops.  What's also obvious is that I paid no heed to lesson #4.  I should have made the dress using cheap fabric first! 

   

I actually learned a lot from this project that helped me make the next dress.  I had never made a collar before!  It was much easier than I expected!  Setting in the sleeves was a bit tricky, but I managed, and I carried this experience into the next dress project.

My daughter's favorite kinds of dresses are shirt dresses and wrap dresses.  I messed up the shirt dress, but I scored with this blue wrap dress.  Actually, I did not intend to use this blue fabric for the actual dress.  This is cheap fabric I used to "practice" the pattern.  My daughter saw the dress, tried it on, and decided she liked the fabric!  Hit!  She wore the dress to work!  If you are interested, this wrap dress pattern is from Sew Simple.  I picked it up at Walmart.  Easy!

So, with all these lessons learned, I'm now ready to attempt the shirt dress again.  This time, I'm going to use McCall's M4769.  I think the fuller skirt will fit my daughter better than the See and Sew pattern.    

I'm using this retro looking fabric for this dress.  I bought this at Quilts and Quilts, my favorite quilt shop  in  Branson, MO.

  

I also bought some "self-ruffling" yarn called, Flounce.  I had never knitted with this sort of yarn before so it was a little weird to get used to, but I managed to follow the directions and make this adorable little scarf!

I'm thinking these little scarves would make great teacher gifts this year!  They are very fast and the stitches are very forgiving!  If anyone is interested in a quick knitting lesson, let me know!  I'll post an easy tutorial!

I also bought a few Jelly Rolls at the quilt shop!  I've already begun work on a quilt using one of them!  I can't wait to show you!  Stay tuned!

Tootles!

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Flea Market Friday! I'm Pooped!

Well, I returned to the land of the living today.  With the kidney stone far behind (hopefully never to return), I succeeded in Flea Market Friday!  I spent the day shopping "vintage" style and also managed to sneak into my favorite fabric shop, where I picked up some fabulous yardage as well as a few fat quarters.  During my retro shopping, I focused on purses; so many variations.  While I did not buy any, I photographed a lot of them and will post these tomorrow.  I did purchase a vintage sewing pattern, a few books, and a 1937 McCall's catalogue.  This was my most expensive purchase.

This magazine style catalogue is so cool!  I wish you could see it in person! 

Check out this 1971 Simplicity pattern for bags and spats!  "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"

Alright, I have got to hit the hay.  I am wiped out!  I will post pictures of the great bags I saw today, as well as some of the other great stuff I found!

Toodles for now.

New Look 6984

I wish you could see this fabric in person! It is so thin and soft. I finished this dress/tunic yesterday. I actually started it as a dress, but I ended up making it shorter. Sew, my daughter can either wear it as a long tunic-like top or a minidress. As her mother, I'm hoping she opts for the tunic. I made a few other than the length as well. I used bias tape to finish the bottom hem. Since the fabric is so light, this tape helped to add some weight to it; this helped it hang nicer.

When I started this project, I bought matching pink fabric to sew a lining. I have never lined anything other than a purse before, but I thought I could manage. Halfway through, however, I decided not to sew a lining, but just buy a light pink or white tank top for my daughter to wear underneath. I changed my mind for two basic reasons:

1. Explicit instructions were not available
2. Time: short on.

I wanted to get this project, along with the black and white skirt I made in the mail ASAP, so I decided to buy an undershirt. I'm still having camera issues. I hope to have this resoved before my next project, which, by the way, is a purse. I have been doing so many clothes items recently! I sew need to make a purse! Stay tuned, I may just do another tutorial as well!

I must say, I have learned a lot doing these last few projects. Besides sewing a zipper into a skirt, and creating pleats, I feel like I've had a better understanding of these patterns, especially the McCall's Crafty skirt. It's really kind of neat when things actually turn out like they are supposed to!

Angela

PS. I refuse to acknowledge Sean and David (yeah I watched the Patridge Family) Cassidy are "vintage."

Sew, What Do You Think?

So you are probably thinking...is Angela going through an identity crisis?  The answer is, "no."  Well, not really.  I have been doing some rearranging and tweaking of my blog design.  When I started this blog journey a few months ago, I hadn't really read that many blogs and I certainly didn't think that if I began my own blog, I would be able to design it and or customize it.  But, I have been doing a lot of blog surfing and I have found that so many sites have great and unique designs.  I just want to tweak until I feel like I have really made a home here.  I am pretty happy with this current design.  I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to figure out the header composite, but there you go.  I like it's current look and I will probably keep this...for awhile anyway. 

You have probably also noticed that I have changed my avatar.  Avatar.  That's a cool word isn't it?  I have changed my profile image from my favorite superhero, Wonder Woman, to kind of a retro lady with Annette Funicello (sp?) hair.  While I still love Wonder Woman, and what she stands for,  I am actually probably more akin to Annette, so I'll keep her as my avatar.  I hope you like her, too.

With Annette by my side, I have been working on a skirt for my oldest daughter.  I so hoped I would have finished it before she left for a summer internship in Washington DC, but, duty called and I didn't even get it started before she went away.  I will mail it and pray it fits and she likes it..she's pretty picky.

The McCall's Crafty pattern was fairly easy.  I accomplished two firsts with this project:  Pleats (never done before) and a Zipper (first time inserting in clothes).  I had a little trouble figuring out whether I was supposed to sew the yoke facing to the skirt in order to keep it from flipping up, but I decided to sew it down with invisible thread.  Threading my machine with this sort of thread is another story!

I hope you like my ever changing blog design and I hope you keep coming back to see what I am up to!

Bye for now,

Angela

Sew and Sew Sunday

Sew I have been a busy bee this weekend! I made this super easy (when I say "easy" it is EASY) dress as well as a pair of Capri's for my daughter. I scored this fabric and McCall's pattern at Joann's Super Saturday sale. I also bought the fabric for the Capri's as well as for a pair of shorts there. It looks sort of "retro" doesn't it?

I must admit that the Capri's were a bit tricky. I sorted it out in the end by not following the pattern, but by following the directions from a shorts pattern instead. I altered the design as well by adding the trim at the bottoms of each leg. I thought this "diva-fied" them. What do you think?

Okay, two dresses, Capri's, one pair of shorts (done), one more to go...haven't even made a dent in my to do list have I? There is always tomorrow!

Angela

Sew Divalicious!

McCall's MP336

As you can see, I've been working on the dress at right. I picked up the McCall's pattern and fabric last weekend at Walmart. Yes, Walmart! The fabric is brill. The pattern directions were fairly simple...I didn't have really any trouble...can you believe it? The gathers were a bit tricky and time consuming, but not too hard to handle. The only difference I made to the pattern is that I added another strip to the bottom in order to make the dress longer. I did not gather this part. What do you think? Oh, the model is my five year old daughter...she's a diva.

Today, of course, was Flea Market Friday. That in mind, I scored big time! I got a hodge podge of fabrics, including at least 2 yards of white eyelet and two "grab bags" of trims and lace! I also found a bag within one of the grab bags full of "old school" pearl-like snaps and snap setter. This has to be really old. I have no idea how to use this, but I do know it involves a hammer. What could go wrong?

Old School Snaps and Setter

I'm officially a Twitterer or is it Tweeterer? Click the button to follow!!!

Angela

Sew Excited!

I'm sew excited!  I won the grand prize from Bluebird Swing!  Cyndi emailed me this morning and told me I was the lucky winner of her Abby Bag!  She gave me the option to take the bag as shown or choose different fabric for a custom bag!  I opted for the great fabric shown in the picture 'cause it is sew pretty!Cyndi designs and makes great looking bags and her blog is beautiful.  Check it out and see!

This prize tops off a great weekend already.  Last night we got "gussied" up and went out for fantastic meal with an awesome view of the big city.  Today I went shopping and scored two great McCall's patterns for $1.99 price match at Walmart.  And tonight....a high school play!  Pretty great birthday weekend huh?  Oh yeah, this superhero turns 40 (eek) tomorrow!

Until next time,

Angela