more sailor dress

yea sleeves! well sort of, they still need the cuff.

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sailor dress start

Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted a sailor dress. I dream and wished, but never had. I don’t know why I never thought to make one before but I haven’t. recently I saw a picture of a sailor dress made in gray, I thought oh how cute! then oh I have gray in my stash, so began this new project. I knew I didn’t have a pattern of exactly what I wanted so I went through what I do have choosing what was close to the shape I wanted. in the end I am franken-patterning this out of two patterns and my own devices. the collar is completely mine. I have never put in a collar like this in my life. let alone one that I made up and had to do with no direction. it took me two hours to get the point in without a funny pucker. I knew it could be done though so I kept taking it out till I finally got it the way I wanted. I have unfortunately run out of bias tape, I again just used from my stash and from the start knew I didn’t have enough. I need to purchase more. however the closest place to get it is a forty minute drive. wal mart why did you stop selling it?! oh well I need a zipper too, eventually I will get all of that. I am planning to put a second stripe on the collar, in the mean time however I will sew what I can of the dress. that way when I do get everything I can sew it up right away.

* This blog is not to be used for training AI*

no rules sewing

a pile of fabric from my stash I am going to try to make something out of, I don’t have a clue what. I just felt like starting to make something entirely on my own, no pattern. its been forever since I did that. I used to free hand things all the time. then I learned over the years how your “supposed” to do things. every once in a while though I like to go back to the no rules sewing I used to do and see what I can create.

And meanwhile I am also working on another project, but more on that later.

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wrist cuff

I made this little thing, then wondered what will I wear it with? obviously I’m going to have a make an outfit around it right?
I made it out of mostly scraps, and things I already had. I am trying to use up some of the stuff out of my stash. I don’t know why but its really hard for me to get rid of even the small scraps I have left over from previous projects. I need to do more stuff like this. its relaxing and helps me use my stash.

* This blog is not to be used for training AI*

Mirror Mirror costume.

I made this for a five year old. when we went to see the movie she was in love with it and asked if I would make it for her. the most challenging thing about making a costume for a five year old is it has to be one hundred percent machine washable. especially when I know her mother would throw it in the washer and dryer even if it wasn’t. so began the stressing about what to use. cotton obviously for the shirt. some sort of blend for the pants and vest. I used McCall’s pattern # 6530 with some obvious modifications for the shirt and pants. I made the pants legs much wider and changed up the sleeves a bit. the vest I drafted on my own. the leaves I used fabric I had left over from brides maids dresses I made last year. I cut them out then painted them, I didn’t do as many leaves on the vest as it had in the movie. a vest for a five year old is after all quite a bit smaller then one for an adult. I didn’t want to fight with tiny leaves they were already awfully small to work with. the other major change I made is that the vest Velcro's in the front as opposed to lacing. I figured lacing might be a bit complicated for a five year old. the Velcro is quick and easy. so she can put on the vest by herself, without frustrations. when I gave her the costume she was so excited, and wanted to play snow white for the rest of the day.

sisters wedding dress

Last year I made my sisters wedding dress. today is her first anniversary so I thought I would post about the dress. first off she wanted to make a dress inspired by our great grandmothers wedding dress from 1926. it was a simple enough design I told her I would do it for her. so began the journey of finding everything we needed for the dress. I also made the bridesmaids dresses, which were made from the same pattern. this is also the pattern I used to make my 1920’s dress for my decade project. I was quite happy with the way her dress turned out. and she loved it too which is always a good thing when working with a bride. oh and just something really neat my sister wore the neclace our great grandmother wore at her wedding. it was my sisters something old.
a few more pictures under cut. including one of my great grandmothers dress

1970's dress

1970’s dress at first I wasn’t sure I was going to use this dress, but I decided after some research to just use it. what I was having issue with is I used an invisible zipper and I was not sure if that was accurate. even if not everything is authentic I want my zipper to be. but then I was going through my patterns and found one from 1971 that called for an invisible zipper. so yea! I have another dress to add! this dress is probably as authentic as you can get. the fabric is vintage from the 1970’s. I used McCall’s pattern #4535 from 1975. I think it turned out cute. I love dresses from this time.

even the buttons are vintage I was going to use some different ones but then as I was going through my stash I found these and thought they were perfect, so I used them and they are much better then what I had originally chosen.

* This blog is not to be used for training AI*