Alright, it’s done! I’m happy with it, I just hope someone else will be equally happy to wear it and love it!
Yellow sundress front
Finished Yellow Sundress
Tag Archives: Dress
Figure Flattery IS Important
Vogue Patterns has a handy feature one their patterns called Figure Flattery. It’s a simple chart that lists if that pattern would look good on your figure. I fall into the “triangle” body shape (also known as “pear”).
Can you guess which figure is missing from this list?
I noticed that before I bought the pattern, but figured, “It will be alright! I should be able to fit into it just fine!”
PFFT!
Lesson learned: my body type is not listed for a very good reason. No pics yet, because I’m not quite finished, but I had an opportunity to try it on last night and discovered that true to the word of Figure Flattery, my upper body kind of got lost in all the fabric of the bodice. And here I was, worried about how the fabric would look against my skin tone all this time. Ha!
The only work I have left is to insert the zipper and hem the skirt, and after that, I’ll be posting the measurements of the completed project so it will be up-for-grabs for some of my “bustier” girl friends.
Aside from the disappointment of it not looking amazing on me, I’m happy with the way it’s turning out. It’s cute, and now I know I can wear yellow, even something this YELLOW.
Share on Facebook“Last” Summer Dress of the Summer
While the weather report for next week in the Seattle area is predicting rain (however, the weekend following is suppose to be sunny), I’m having a feeling this will be my last dress for the summer and then I will have to start planning my fall wardrobe of wool crepe dresses, suits (i.e. tailoring!), and long sleeve shirts.
Vogue 8380, style B
Flowery Pink Dress
Last night, some baseball game was playing instead of the shows I would have been watching, so I wasn’t allowed to slack off on finishing my dress. All I had left was attaching the embellishments and hemming the skirt, so it wasn’t a lot of work, just took a few episodes of Law and Order to complete.
Spent about $10 at JoAnn’s for more thread, twin needle (that I proceeded to break), and pearls, so in all, I spent $35 on this dress (including shipping and handling for the fabric). Not bad!
Ta-da!
Bare Bones Dress
This is my first replication project, and I think it might be successful! I like looking at the dresses on ModCloth for inspiration on what to make, and recently found a dress on there that I decided to attempt to replicate:
ModCloth’s “Right Mauve Dress”
Sunny in Seattle!
Should’ve Been a Dress for Vegas
Spring in Seattle is a mixed-bag of nuts, so I never assume it will be sunny, even when the weather report claims it will be, so who knows when I’ll be able to wear this. Maybe if it’s nice enough this weekend, I’ll wear it to the Bootlegger’s Ball on Saturday. Regardless of when I do, I’ll post a picture of me in it when that does occur.
Simplicity 2250, Style A, Front View
Almost Done!
For most of you, this progress photo won’t look much different from the finished garment (except, I’m not showing the unfinished back, so at least you have that to look forward to!)
I really need to clean up my staging area
All that I have left is to press the skirt, make sure I have all my pink tailor-tack threads cleared out before I slip-stitch the bodice lining down, attach the zipper, sew up the back, neaten those seams, hem, and lastly, attach the straps!
Since I’m almost done with it, and the work left is pretty trivial, I don’t know why I was so apprehensive about this project. Maybe just reading all the reviews about the possible complications got to me, and I just lost my confidence.
Share on FacebookPleated, Darted, Folded Bodice Done
Last night, after a couple glasses of wine and a few episodes of original series Star Trek, I completed the bodice portion of the Cynthia Rowley dress I’m working on.
I have to say, it was pretty fun, despite my original apprehension. The instructions are pretty clear on the order of creating the pleating and darting on the bodice, and thank goodness for Wonder Clips that helped me “pin” the thick piece of elastic (that really doesn’t do anything except give some stability to the gathered band on the back of the bodice) to the rest of the fabric.
At this point, I wonder if I should have made a muslin first. Too late!
I Haven’t Been Slacking… Really
Has it really been over a month since I completed a sewing project, let alone made a blog post at all? I assure you, I haven’t been slacking! In fact, once I put some of the security touches on my personal programming project, I’ll announce it here so that you may Beta test it. Trust me, it’s very relevant to sewing and crafting in general.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on Simplicity 2250. I picked up the fabric for this dress at the Vouge booth at the Sewing Expo a couple months ago, and I’ve just now gotten around to cut out all the pieces (which are many) and started sewing.
I admit, I have been procrastinating on sewing this garment (but at least the time has been spent working on my programming project) only because many of the reviews of the pattern have me a little discouraged. One mentioned that the lining for the bodice isn’t quite long enough, and I see what they mean, but maybe there’s a trick to it that will make everything work out after the skirt and the bodice are attached.
Also, my husband has gotten better at navigating JoAnn’s for me (since he works nearby one) such that he’s been able to get me more thread and the zipper I need for the dress. Unfortunately, he didn’t feel comfortable trying to get the elastic I need, so I’ll have to pick that up on my own. And since I’m missing the elastic, I’m at a bit of a stopping point.
Well, kind of.
I started working on the skirt a little bit, and since it’s a pretty lightweight cotton, I got some broadcloth to line the skirt, which made me think of how was I going to work the lining and the pockets? I decided to ignore the fact that there was lining, and sew the pockets in as normal. It’ll work out fine, I’m sure.
So here’s a progress picture of the bodice of the dress:
No, those aren't wrinkles
The top band that has the straps sewn to it isn’t yet connected to the bodice. The bodice is pretty intricate: there are two parts to the bodice and both include a variety of pleats, folds, and precisely placed darts to create a pretty neat looking design across the bodice.
I guess Cynthia Rowley original design of this dress included a bit of color blocking/contrast pieces, which looked pretty neat in some of the reviews I looked at. If I ever get around to making this dress again, I think contrast colors would be pretty fun.
In the meantime, I need to get the elastic and then I can continue on… or work on the skirt until I get the elastic.
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