Another View - New Look 6749-C

Well, This is the second time around for this pattern and is probably the last summer dress that I'll make this year. Here's my view:

Pattern Description: Four dresses with sleeve and neckline variations. Empire waist. The skirt is A line mid knee in length.
Pattern Sizing: 6 - 16.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes it did. Simple and cute.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were easy to follow-- no confusing steps.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the empire waist and the bodice variations. This pattern is a simple summer dress that can be dressed up or down. Nothing to dislike.

Fabric Used: The fabric is from my stash. It's a polyester/rayon twill that I purchased in 1994 from a mail order fabric store. Sorry I can't remember the name.



Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I only made minor alterations to the front bodice, added a few inches to the length and increased the depth of the skirt back darts.




Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, but not until next summer. I'm planning my fall wardrobe now.

Conclusion: I like this cute little dress. It easy to sew, easy to wear, and can be dressed up or down. I would recommend it to beginners.

I've seen so many inspirational garments for the fall. It's time to sew my fall wardrobe. This weekend I'll look through my stash for some rich fall hues. And you know I will end up at Vogue Fabrics to supplement what I already have.

Anywho.., My DD received her awards for her entry in the poetry writing contest. She didn't win first prize ($10,000), but her poem was cited at the convention held in Vegas during the summer. She is the proud poet and I'm very happy that she is passionate about writing.

Pencil Skirts for Ms. PB

Ms. PB has commissioned me again..., This time the order is for pencil skirts. Ms. PB sings in the choir at church. The choir (sometime) wears white blouse/shirt and black skirt/pants, instead of robes. She wants two skirts: black and heather gray. I picked up swatches from Vogue of some lovely menswear and wool crepe. Ms. PB also allowed me to select a pattern. I chose Butterick 5249, with a slight modification (taper from the lower hip to the hem) it is perfect. This is not a urgent commission so I have time to finish my coat and start some things for DD.








BTW- I finished hemming the five pants for Ms. DD last night. She on vacation this week. So no pictures until she returns.

Gearing Up for Fall Sewing

Three day weekends are the best! Pattern sales at JoAnn's and Hancock's make it even better. No ranting and raving about too many patterns in my collection. I'm just going with the flow of "this is what I love to do". I collect patterns; I collect fabric; and I sew. First, Miss DD liked two dress patterns that I picked. Wow! What a moment. I'm getting misty. lol She also allowed me to pay for some fabric that she selected. She hasn't completely decided on the fabric yet but is thinking one will be in a pin wale corduroy.



















I also picked up this "great pant" pattern. It's makes a lot of promises on the envelope. These pants would be a compliment to all kinds of tops and blouses worn inside or out. Definitely a wardrobe builder. If it makes good it's promises, It may become a TNT pattern for me. We'll see.

I also grabbed these:







Last but not least, I picked up the patterns shown in the previous post.

Happy Sewing!
C

5 Must Haves for Fall 2008

I received a free fashion mag that had tons of advertisements and several articles on Fall fashion. One that caught my eye was the "Five Must Haves for Fall 2008".

What's hot Fall 2008!

Relaxed Jacket




Tailored Dress







Romantic Top




Big and Bold Necklace



Boots

Still Here

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mines was quite busy filled with various activities and family engagements. But I was able to complete another dress from New Look 6749 which I will post later. This pattern is simple and cute. I will probably use it again next summer.

I'm almost done with five pairs of pants (Out of print NM) for my girlfriend/client. These pants are simple and take no time to make. She loves this pattern. I've made it at least 10 times adding a pocket here or there with or without a waistband.

I haven't worked on my coat (grrrr), but plan to spend sometime on it this weekend. I'm picking up my fabric from the cleaners today. I featured I'd save sometime by letting them pre shrink it.

Hopefully this week I can catch up on my blog reading. I miss the enriching tutorials and inspirational creativity of my fellow sewists. I myself have several fall posts to publish, but haven't had time to work on them.

That's all for now.
Happy Sewing!
C

Fall 2008 - Coat for DD

DD's coat pick for this fall is McCalls 5717. She hasn't selected the fabric yet. But she wants view A.

Vogue 1015 - Final Bits and Pieces

Well I have waited about a month since Ms. CB event for a photo of her in the dress. The only photo sent to me is very grainy and does really show the dress. So I decided to post the photo that I took at the final fitting and pick up.

(Ms. CB was having a bad hair day on the pick up day.)

I also wanted to include some final thoughts on the project.

Sewing:
- Ms. CB wanted to wear the shoulder straps directly on top of the shoulder as the photographed model. But the dress is designed to wear just above the ball of the shoulder. This changes the way the dress falls and/or drapes across the neckline.

- I added small bra strap holders to the straps to hold them in place.



- There is a lot of hand sewing involved. The attachment and closure of the armholes, straps, and foundation were all sewn by hand. The flowers were almost completely sewn by hand except for the streams and gathering of the flowers pedals. Before joining the lining to the foundation, I sew one of my labels to the inside.



- As requested I cut off about 3 1/2 inches from the length of the skirt. Note: the hem of the dress is longer in the back, which creates a small train. This I liked, Ms. CB was very conscientious about ease of movement in the dress. She was the coordinator for her family reunion. Her role, of course, required a lot of movement. And hence, she wanted to remove any opportunity of tripping over the train of the dress. She reported that the dress was still a little too long, but workable.

Word on Ms. CB:
Ms. CB asked me to make this dress around the time that Ms. PB asked me to make the white suit from Vogue 8355. I was skeptical about doing it for several reasons:

- Ms. CB has been sewing prom and formal attire for as long as I've been trying to sew. I asked, "Why me." She knows several other seamstress and she sews! Well her response was, "I'm tired of sewing 'like that'. All I want to make is blankets. I'm confident that you'll be able to make the dress." That being said I cautiously agreed to do it.

- The first fitting was, of course, the muslin. It revealed some sticky points with attaching the skirt to the bodice, completing the skirt front closure, and fitting the neckline. At the fitting she asked, "Why bother? You've taken my measurements." I was surprised and answered, "I have to do this step. It helps me know what changes to make and helps identify sticky points." Good thing I did. The straight size 14 needed several changes. I will always make a muslin when sewing for other people and will make one (or paper pattern fit) 95 percent of the time for myself or DD.




- Very detailed and time consuming process. I promised myself to limit the number of challenging projects for other people. Practice on me. I'd seen this pattern online and in the catalogue at the fabric store. My thought was hmmmm.., pretty..., interesting..., Who will make this?..., But in everything, I tried to find the positive. It was a challenge that I could also benefit from giving me an opportunity to give life to my new year's resolution.

Lessons Learned:
"Practice on me"-- I'd feel more comfortable practicing new techniques on me or DD. This was the first for: hand picked zipper with beading and attaching the foundation to the dress. Both are interesting processes that I enjoyed trying. They are also very time consuming. My favorite of the two was the hand picked zipper. I really like the affect of the added beads. This is a process that I will definitely do again in the near future.

Still more to grow on fitting. Continue refinement of my fitting skills. After doing the muslin, I still struggled with the bias neckline fitting.

Have complete clarity on positioning of straps, waistlines, and hemlines before cutting into the fashion fabric.

And finally,

Make sure I take an adequate number of pictures at the final fitting. ;-)


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