- 'nostalgia' dress: mccall's M7086 A, completely revamped, in dreamy city street print (27th nov 2018)
- this is srsly my favourite & probably best make ever! took around 6 days. it was so worth the effort! reasons:
- the print is GORegEOUSE. detailed, harmonious. and the colours are these pretty, feminine pastels against a white background. it passes easily for a genuine 50s print!
- i got a white polka dotted baby pink buckle from daiso by chance after two days of searching for buckles. it looks! so! good!
- the dress appears fitted--even tailored--from all angles, but is actually extremely relaxed, enough that i can pull the entire dress over my head, and there is then some ease. this is divine comfort and confidence--i could wear it, sit, be active, and eat whatever. i can gain or lose a fair amount of size and it would still look equally good. what's better, this is exactly what i was going for. here's how, with:
- the process:
- added a shirred panel at the back that stretches to a whopping extra 15", but is actually only 5" flat. currently, it provides me 5" of ease in the waist unstretched.
- shirred 5 rows along the rounded neck, using the edge of presser foot as a guide. this was a lightning fast process.
- cut a v-neck instead of the boat neck
- routinely lowered the darts by 2" each, and it worked like a charm. i'm getting good at this!
- converted all seams to french seams, except for gathers obvs as well as shirred panels (they puckered; thus they were instead zigzagged and sewn at 3/8". next time, if i want french seams on shirred panels, i would have to leave 1/2" seam allowance and find a better way to finish each row of shirrs)
- deleted back facings and opted for a bias binding (after realising the neckline would be far too wide and cause the entire garment to sag off my shoulders, and gape in the back)
- added pockets, ofc. very confusing to sew a french seamed pocket, tho.
- totally ignored the pattern when it came to the skirt. just ripped rectangles per a dirndl skirt at my preferred finished length (23"); now front has a 5" flat middle, and gathered sides. it looks fuller than the skirt on the envelope, despite that pattern taking FIVE METRES of fabric. speaking of which--
- another reason to love this pattern: it only takes abt 2.5 metres of fabric, even with the pockets!
- i just want to make it again, and again, and again! have some fabrics in mind already!! :)
- birthday present for kupo: twig & tale breeze shirt (10th october 2018)
- blended (three!!) sizes for a fuller tush and slimmer body
- lengthened bodice by 2", then chopped off maybe 1/2"?
- would make this again in the other options; i'd even bought another fabric for it!!! it looks very nice on kupo indeed. :3
- 'sakura' dress: mccall's 6959 in pink hokusai print (24th august 2018)
- drafted flutter sleeves i cried for like 30 mins over this thing bc the pattern was drafted incorrectly and i wanted to make it fast + had limited fabric that came to me late, so i had to cut out the front skirt pieces again, which i had also lengthened by 3"
- satin binding was hell to sew on
- the front crossover gapes enormously, will have to sew on two hooks and eyes for each side of the waist and a new snap closures
- i guess i would make it again, but i made it for the kimono-reminiscent look, not cuz it's easy...it seems much harder to get a wrap to fit and function properly! also finishing with the bias tape (esp as it was satif) is extremely time consuming, fiddly, and even expensive
- 'june' dress: mail order 2364 in pink hydrangeas (7th july 2018)
- maybe *this* is my new favourite make? original pattern was made more or less to my proportions; i added 4" all over but was way too big; took in the side seams by an 1".
- shortened skirt by 3 inches
- had to sew tucks into the neckline, which gaped; remove about 2" excess in next project.
- learned how to sew an inseam skirt in front of an invisible side zipper!
- line straps in future!
- 'chateau' birthday dress: new look 6723, option c in lecien memoire a paris basic raspberry. (20th june 2018)
- armhole too large; had to add gusset
- no lining this time. neckline bias taped & invisibly stitched. could be contributing to barely noticeable wrinkling on upper chest, but the shoulders are probably too wide.
- pieces for the skirt ditched; made own 24" dirndl skirt & added pockets--turned out great!
- probably the favourite thing i've made because it is both comfortable and functional; i made it to last, and with all the best techniques i know in mind, so it is wonderfully soft and has pockets large enough for, i think, a portable console. i actually made an effort to finish all the seams, even though they were princess seams!
- simple modern sewing 7b in cloud 9 'hamlet' (10th june 2018)
- allow for more ease and length in sleeves. (?) add shaping
- mail order 2598 (20th may 2018)
- try making some rabbit-shaped patch pockets
- simplicity 4647 blouse (25th march 2018)
- perhaps add gussets for armholes
- mail order 2296 fruity lime gingham dress
- still needs applique pockets
- b5880 valentines day dress (7th feb 2018)
- tips for next time: 3" facing for front and back, smoother installation of side zip
- floral navy rita blouse (20th nov 2017)
feb 6 2018 ∞
nov 26 2018 +