Inspiration Strikes Again - Burda Style 6322 Dress

Good evening everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely weekend.  It has been sunny and the air is crisp.  I love this time of year.  

Yesterday afternoon I was finally able to get some photos of me wearing my first dress of the fall season.  It's becoming more and more difficult these days to get photos of me wearing my newly sewn garments.  My daughter is my photographer, and our schedules don't always allow for photo shoots.  I'm lucky when our schedules do.

I love my new pony print dress.  Early summer, I saw this photo of Vivica A. Fox on Instagram wearing a cute little dress.   Her outfit inspired me to make this dress.  Of course, Ms. Fox's dress is a whole lot sexier than my version.  Lol.  So, let me start with my review of the process of constructing my inspiration dress.

Pattern Description:  Burda's description is just as poor as their instructions at times. Lol.  So, I'll give my little two cents of a description.  A shift dress with cut-on sleeves (long or short).  It has a high scoop neck.  The dress has a center back seam with invisible zipper.  View A has a slit and belt.  This pattern is rated super easy. 

Pattern Sizing:  8 to 18.  I used 16 with modifications.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? The silhouette looked like the dress.  I did make several changes so that it looked more like the inspiration dress.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  This pattern is exactly as stated, "super easy."  And the instructions were easy to follow.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I have several likes and only one dislike.  First the likes.

 Likes -

• The silhouette was perfect for the inspiration dress.  
• The dress pattern was only five pattern pieces and a quick sew.
• The pattern is versatile.  Once I finished my dress, I started dreaming about other projects and uses for the patter.  I plan to make a tunic and top.  
• All the design changes that I added to make this dress special.

Dislikes -

• The scoop neck is a little too wide for me.  I will adjust it for the next project.

Fabric Used:  This year I purchased a lot of fabric from Hobby Lobby.  They have a 40% off sale nearly every other week.  Anyway, My fabric is a polyester pony print fabric that has the hand of faux suede.  I pre-washed and dried it before I cut out my dress.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:  Here's is where the review gets lengthy.  I made several changes.  But here again, I didn't make a FBA, swayback, or broad shoulder adjustment.  Below is what I did change:

 

• Center Front Seam - The easiest change was to add the center front seam.  All was needed was to add seam allowance instead of cutting on the fold.

• Re-Draft Front Facing - The front facing was extended and also has a center front seam.  After I tried the dress on with the belt, I realized that the front facing was just a little too long.  This is easily corrected.
• Eyelets were added to the front of the dress to copy the design of the inspiration dress.
• Drawstring was added to the front of the dress.

Application Process - Eyelets

Every time I add buttonholes, eyelets, snaps, etc., to any finished garment, my hands get a little sweaty. Lol  I get nervous.  I’m scared of ruining the entire project.  So I must do a test before I do anything.

1.     Test applying an eyelet on a piece of scrap fabric.

2.     Measure the length of the area where the eyelets will be applied.  Determine the distance between each eyelet based on the length and number of eyelets to be applied.

3.     Mark the placement for each on both sides.

4.     Punch the holes.

5.     Carefully, install each eyelet as directed.

6.     All done.

 

Dress Belted

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  Yes and yes.  I will sew this pattern again.  This is a good pattern for beginners as well as other level sewists.

Conclusion: I'm really happy with how my dress turned out.  Though it isn't exactly like the inspiration dress, it is how I envisioned it for my life style.  The dress was very easy to sew and I got exactly what I wanted out of this project.

 

Happy Sewing!

C

 

Paris and London Birthday Trip - La Galerie Dior

Day 2 - Minutes after we arrived at our hotel, we set out to see the spectacular Christian Dior collection at La Galerie Dior. The exhibit was massive. There are so many beautiful things to see. These are only a few things that I was able to remember to take a picture of. It included everything from hats, shoes, perfume, gowns, and much, much more. It was all inspiring and captivating.

I loved every moment of it. It would have been very easy for me to "linger" well beyond my welcome. Lol 

If you plan to visit La Galerie Dior, make your reservation before coming to Paris. The tickets are by appointment. There is a steady stream of guests waiting to get in. We arrived early but still had to wait until our appointed time. Tickets are under 16 Euros. Go to their website to reserve your visit.

Thanks,

C

Copy That - Inspiration from Coachtopia Part III

Hi everyone,

Today, I'm posting my part III of my “Copy That” inspired by Coachtopia Cloud Tote.  First, let me say it has been so much fun making these tote bags.  There is so much you can do with a simple pattern.  You can elevate the look using fabric or by adding design elements to make it stand out.  And then sometimes it can be about making it more functional for your personal use.

Warning - This post is long.  I want to provide details on how I made the second and third tote. So here goes.

Tote #2 - Faux Fur with non-stretch knit "looking" wrong side.  The lining is a polyester taffeta that I purchased at Joann's Fabrics.  It is tightly woven and feels like a waterproof textile.  Very sturdy and perfect for the lining.

I purchased the faux fur from the Textile Warehouse in Chicago (West 21st near Damen Avenue).  It is a fun, funky animal print in hot pink and black.  Upon examining the back of the fabric, I thought it might need an additional layer of support.  So I used a double sided fusible web to adhere a cotton broadcloth to the wrong side of it.  This process added durability to the tote.

After I cut out the tote, I fused the web to the wrong side of the fabric following the manufacturer's instructions.  Below are a few photos that I managed to take during the process.

 

I wanted my tote bag to have some pockets.  Using the lining fabric, I cut two pieces of fabric, the same size, to make a doubled layered pocket strip.  After sewing the pocket strip to the bag lining, I then sewed four more vertical lines to make two large pockets and two small ones to hold pencils and pens.  For the smaller pockets, I also sewed a horizontal line across them to prevent the pencils/pens from falling too far into the slot.   

(PLEASE NOTE:  POCKET CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS ARE OF THE THIRD TOTE. DIFFERENT COLOR.  I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE PROCESS USING THE BLACK LINING. LAST PHOTO SHOWS BLACK LINING POCKET FOR THE FAUX FUR TOTE.)

Once the broadcloth was secured to the back and the pockets/label were sewn on, I was ready to put the tote together.  

First, I sewed the body of the bag and lining together using a 3/8" seam allowance.  At the top of each side of the tote bag and lining, start sewing 3/8" from the top.  At the bottom curve of both, I sewed a second row of stitches to help prevent break through.  

I also sewed the straps together.  Next, I pressed both and turned the bag to the right side leaving the lining with the wrong side on the outside.  Then I slipped the lining inside the bag matching the straps and the front and back curve of the upper body.  Next, I pinned the two together; then sewed along the straps and upper part of the bag together.

The last step made it easy to add the bias tape to all of the raw edges of the tote bag.  To make my bias tape, follow the instructions in this link.  I cut my tape about 1.5" wide.  For the bias tape, I used a remnant of black silky polyester lining.  It was easier to work with than the taffeta.  The taffeta has almost  no stretch or give on the bias.   So once I had made the strip of bias tape, I folded it in half and pressed it.  Next, I sewed it to the wrong side of the bag along all raw edges keeping them even and slightly stretching the bias tape along the curve areas of the bag.  At each end I left about 1" (loose bias tape) as the ends needed to be sewn together to complete the circle.  There will be three separate sections along the opening and the straps of the bag that require this finishing.  Completing the circle of the bias tape edge was a little tricky; I ended up slightly overlapping them tucking the raw edge of the outer tape under to finish with a folded edge (if that makes sense).  Before rolling the bias tape folded edge to cover the raw edge, I trimmed away about half of the seam allowance to help make it easier. The folded edge of the bias tape should at least cover the seam line. 

Once that is done, Press using a pressing cloth.  Make sure not to flatten the pile of the faux fur.  That's it for this version.

 

Tote #3.  I used a slightly different method of constructing this tote.  First, the fabric I used is a quilted nylon with a fleece like backing also from the Textile Warehouse.  I added a broadcloth to the wrong side for this version.  Same process as the faux fur version.  The lining was also a taffeta that I purchased at Joann’s. 

I used the same construction process to make the pockets and to sew the lining and bag together.  But instead of sewing the wrong sides together to add a bias tape.  I followed the instructions given by Made Everyday.com Here is the link.  It was pretty easy.  I finished it with top stitching along all edges. 

I hope this was helpful.  Happy Sewing!

C