Vogue 1117 - a dress for Mike's Wedding

 

So one of my very best friends from college got married the last weekend in August.  He married a girl who, although I only met her once, I can tell is absolutely perfect for him. They were married in a beautiful and perfectly quirky ceremony at the Housingworks Bookstore in New York.  (Seriously, if you are in New York, check them out... it is not only a great bookstore with friendly staff which also can be used as a gorgeous event space, but your patronage supports an excellent cause.)

Well clearly, such a lovely wedding justified a lovely dress and the opportunity to make good use of the beautiful watercolor floral I purchased abroad!  (Doesn't that sound glamourous in a weirdly 1880's sort of way?)  Given the fabric, I was picturing something like this, from Michael Kors...

 

Fortunately for me, Vogue released this very pattern a few years back which I had waiting in my stash for just the right occasion!

 

Isn't it odd how dowdy this dress looks in the pattern envelope picture... I mean, this is a sexy dress and somehow it looks like a burlap sack here? 

Now I knew from reading other reviews that this dress could be a bit fiddley when it came to inserting the side panels.  But it is generally a beautiful dress with a lovely fit.  And no need to to a FBA, I cut an 18 all around and other than adding about an inch of extra room to the back in the hip it fit beautifully. 

 

To create the side panels you first cut out a 2" bias square (I used the lining fabric) to add some extra heft to that tricksy inner corner (and to have something to stitch to!)

 



 Then you cut up to the point and flip the bias square to the inside.  This seems to be the bit that is confusing in the directions...

 

Here is the view from the right side...

 

Then you stich the side panel in, attaching it to the bias square in the corners.  



 

And again, from the right side...

 

Other than that, it's generally a pretty simple dress with some upscale details.  It has both a facing and a lining.

 

 

I have to admit that this does make for a prettier interior of the dress, but if I make it again for work or in a more casual fabric I would probably omit this extra step and do a normal (understiched) lining...

 

The front pleating on the skirt is also a pretty and flattering detail, especially if you wanted to hide a bit of extra "padding" in that region.

 

And while hand-stitching is generally my least favorite task, it really is worth it for a nice clean finish on the zipper and the hem.

 

In the end, I'm very pleased with my finished product.  Sadly, I did not get any pictures of me actually wearing the dress and my neglect in completing some details meant that a bit of over-exertion on the dance floor resulted in a "wardrobe malfunction."  The back slit split up to a level that was a bit more risque than is strictly appropriate.  (Guys, my spanks were totally showing... although on the other hand, thank goodness for spanks because without those dreadful bicycle shorts looking things it would have been really unfortunate.)

 

 

 

 







 



Dorset Buttons

First of all, I apologize for the long delay.  I unfortunately hit a bit of a snag in my employment situation shortly after returning from vacation which led to a less than productive summer... at least on the blogging front.  You would think that not having to spend eight hours a day lawyering would be beneficial to my sewing/blogging interests but oddly you would be wrong.  I apparently am much more productive when my time is restricted by a structured life environment... who knew?  (Happily though, I did catch up on my watching tv and surfing blogs in my pajamas with the cat duties...)

Second of all, DORSET BUTTONS!  So you have no idea how excited I was to visit a lovely part of a foreign country and learn a craft with a long history in that region.  So to begin... here is Dorset:

 

Pretty, yes?  This is actually my gentleman friend's parents' back garden.  Oddly it is also the background photo on my mother's iPhone.  She has neither been to England nor met these people, yet she is enamoured with thier yard.  That is how pretty this countryside is...

 

So to begin a Dorset button you start with a curtain ring.  (Apparently they originally made the rings out of the sheep's horns? There are a lot of sheep in England.)  You cover said ring with yarn using a basic blanket stitch.

 



 Then you create spokes with your yarn and begin weaving in and out.  There a many possible patterns but I am a mere beginner and not overly creative, so I kept to the basics...

 

For this version I did a knot around each of the spokes as I wove.  I made a few more in a smaller size as well to use on a sweater that I intend to finish someday...

 

 

Now, those who know what they are doing, can make any number of beautiful patterns.  I however, have not reached that degree of talent...yet!

 



 

UK Edition - Fabric Shopping in London

So while in merry old England, I of course had to avail myself of the fabric shopping options... On June 1, 2012 I had a wonderful several hours alone in London to explore the fabric and haberdashery options. 

I started on Berwick Street where I visited Cloth House and Misan Textiles.



 Cloth House is, quite frankly, the most adorable fabric store I have ever visited.  I had a beautiful variety of fabrics and the atmosphere was amazing.



Misan Textiles was a bit more polished, but less charming.  However, I have a sneaky suspicion that if I lived in London, Misan's discount tables would be my regular fabric haunt.



 All of this fabric was on sale and they seemed to offer the best prices for basics and solid colors. 

I also stopped by the haberdashery department of John Lewis... The fabric selection is overpriced and nothing to write home about but they had a fantastic selection of yarn and I had to restrain myself from going on a bit of wool bender.  Ultimately I had to acknowledge how rarely I finish a knitting project and content myself with buying fabric from...

Liberty! Seriously, I didn't really buy the hype until I showed up in person.  Yes it is expensive.  Yes it is old fashioned.  But Liberty really does sell some beautiful one-of-a-kind prints and even their cheapest options are demonstrably high quality.  I was initially concerned about buying cotton instead of spending more to pick up silk, but this is cotton with the drape and softness of silk... worth it.  I've already turned my Liberty purchase into a breezy sundress...  Tune in tomorrow to see!

Sewing in Style... UK Edition (part 1)

So we got back from Englad about two weeks ago and the most important news about that?  The dress for the wedding was finished in time to wear it.

I hemmed the darn thing on the train.  Given that I am fatter than my dress form, it wound up a few inches shorter than I would have liked and the right side seam was still slightly wonky, but I felt pretty, recieved compliments, and nobody said those dreaded words: "oh, did you make that yourself?"

Next up: Fabric Shopping in London and Dorset Buttons!

Endless Frustration...

The pink dress is just about done.  There is a little puckering in the back raglan shoulder seams which I'm not thrilled with but that doesn't bother me too terribly.  My real problem is the zipper... I inserted the zipper, put on the dress, was thrilled with the view from the front and then turned around to a wavy, bumpy mess.

Dear reader, I forgot to interface the seam allowance!  I am most ashamed at this ridiculous oversight and now I will have the great joy of picking out all those stitches so that I can reinsert the zipper properly. 

I also am a teensy bit concerned about the fit in the shoulder because I am having trouble getting the zipper all the way up.  However, my muslin had soooo much extra fabric in the back and shoulder and I reduced the size soooo nominally that for now I am going to chalk it up to the wonky zipper and hope this issue remedies itself without my having to take half the dress apart. 

Wish me luck...

Beginning Work on the Pink Dress

So yesterday after work I installed the zipper and sewed up the side seams on the blue version of B5710.

(As an aside, I sort of hate calling it the "Pippa" dress even though it would be easier.  Firstly because it's sort of embarrassing for a grown woman to want to dress up as someone from the royal wedding and secondly because the back style lines were really what defined the "Pippa" and this version doesn't have that and the changes in color and so forth make them further dissimilar...) 



While I still need to do all the hand stitching (finish the lining and attach to the zipper, hemming, etc) and the side seams could use some tweaking to improve fit through the hips this was sufficient to allow me to make the necessary alterations to the pattern. 

The fit on the bottom was actually surprisingly good but the bodice was way too big.  I had already deepened the bust darts (accidentally because I mis-cut) and that fortuitous accident resulted in an almost perfect fit through the bust but I had several inches extra in the side seams and literally handfuls of extra materials in the back.  This is actually a pretty common problem for me in that my measurements are really close to the those listed on pattern envelopes but as I tend to be busty and have a little bit of excess in the caboose I seem to be significantly narrower than the pattern companies expect given my size. 

I had originally cut a size 20 in the entire dress.  I kept the size 20 in the bottom half of the dress and graded down to a 16 from the waist up but continued to use my accidentally modified size 20 bust darts.  I still suspect that I will have excess fabric in the back but I think I'll be able to remedy that when I install the zipper and I can always add some darts in the back to remove any extra material.

I also raised the neckline of the bodice by an inch and a half.  Seriously, the neckline on this thing is LOW.  And I am not usually one to shy away from a low neckline but this was low and quickly veering toward inappropriate in that the top of my bra was fully visible.  Additionally, since I am adding a lace overlay to the bodice I wanted it a little higher so more of the lace was visible under the cowl.

I also added some extra length.  When I cut the blue version I added three inches of length to the skirt and that resulted in a skirt that hit just under the knee before hemming so it will likely wind up just at or just above the knee.  As a longer skirt will help create a longer leaner line, for my final version I added 5 inches to the length suggested by Butterick for view A.

Then I cut into my incredibly slippery, expensive, and difficult to handle fabric.  I used weights rather than pins because I didn't want to mar the fabric too much.  In the end I came up a bit short (probably because I purchased the amount specified on the envelope and forgot to get excess to accommodate my alterations).  In the end I had to cut the bodice in two pieces and create a center seam but since it's fully covered by the lace, I'm not overly concerned. 

Assembling the bodice (especially said lace overly) is far an away the most challenging part of this dress so I'm glad I got that portion completed.  The lace didn't wind up completely symmetrical in the shoulder but I think I can fudge it a bit and get it to lie properly once the sleeve fronts and backs get attached. 



The lace actually isn't quite as uneven as it appears in this picture... I'm just not very good at pinning properly. 

Once the bodice was fully assembled I attached the skirt and the sleeves so the front is now fully assembled.  On the blue dress there was some odd puckering happening around the sleeves (not enough to make it unwearable just enough to bother me) so this time I completely skipped the stay stitching and the results were much smoother.  I started preparing the backs but decided that at two a.m. I had done enough for one day. 
So far I am really pleased.  The curved front seam is incredibly flattering and while this silk is an giant pain to work with, it drapes gorgeously.  I love the vintage effect of the beaded lace.  My only concern right now is that the beading sticks up enough to give a weird pebbly texture to the the drape in certain areas.  I may have to go in once the dress is completed and snip some of the beads that are not visible under the drape to create a more fluid look.   We'll see...



Here's the front, fully assembled and pinned to the dress form.  I think I'm right in adding the additional length as it creates a better proportion.  Nobody wants to look stumpy in bias cut silk!





Progress on the Blue Dress and Other Weekend Projects

So the blue silk "wearable muslin" of Butterick 5710 is coming along.  The fronts and backs of both the lining and the fashion fabrics are assembled.  Really all that's left to do is tweak some fitting issues, install the back zip, sew up the side seams and hem.

Here is a close up of the bodice, not yet fully pressed and understiched, but you get the idea.  This fabric also has a little more heft than the pink silk I'm using for the "real" version so I think that the cowl will be a little drapier on that one.  And I'm glad I did a practice version because the sleeves may have to be altered someone (and as other bloggers have previously pointed out, the directions on the sleeves are wrong.)  I'm starting to wonder whether I should have bought the StyleArc version of this pattern, but the Butterick only cost $1.99 at a JoAnns sale and I tend to want to spend my money on beautiful fabrics rather than patterns.

Here's the dress so far draped over my poor dress form and hanging limply due to lack of proper pinning.  But you can see the lining I'm using peeking out which makes me happy.  I picked up a poly charmeuse a while back in an online sale (don't remember where) because I liked the print but in person it was just way too loud and shiny to actually use in my wardrobe.  However, I do love me some loud and shiny linings... it's a little bit of secret happy when you get dressed in the morning!

In any case, progress on the dress stalled when I picked up some bright fabrics to make a Mother's Day gift...

My Mom is going to Hawaii this summer, so I decided to make her a colorful beach bag for her trip.  I busted out old faithful B5475 (of which I've made several versions at this point, versions you don't know about because I'm a bad bad blogger...) and constructed this colorful tote using outdoor canvas from the home decor section of JoAnns.  For some added luxury, I lined the bag in the leftover silk from my blue dress.  It was the perfect color and there wasn't enough of the fabric left to use for anything else so I decided that lining a canvas tote bag in silk is totally normal and appropriate.  



Not the greatest picture, I've had to take all these on my phone...

 And of course I made a little matching change purse with the remnants (also lined in silk).

I'm pretty sure my Mom liked it and it will be a fantastic and colorful accessory to carry with her to tropical paradise!