Easter Dress Makeover, plus DOLL DRESS!!

Wow so it's been a little while since I've blogged! Well I'm back and I wanted to share my latest make and talk about some future plans.

First, I'm gonna go backwards a bit in time. Last year, after the rush of Christmas was done and I had a little space to breathe, I started dreaming of making a bunch of girls' dresses for Easter. I made a plan and hoped that over the 6 weeks of Lent I'd be able to crank out 6 dresses.

I did the first, S8306, with an adorable cropped jacket.

I did the second, B6046, with a sweet bow.

I did the third (bodice NL6205) with some gorgeous floral fabric and a lovely large self drafted pleated circle skirt.

I started the fourth, S1508,  and got most of the way....and then ran out of time.

So that fourth Easter dress has been sitting for a year waiting to be finished, but I kept looking at it and thinking it was just too much skirt. So, I decided to pull it out and hack off some length!



I also felt like it needed something to make it pop and decided to create a bolero to go with it, so I used S8103 and left off the collar.  I just love a cropped jacket!!





But it gets even better. With the length I chopped off of the skirt, I decided to indulge my latest obsession...MATCHING DOLL DRESSES!!! And a matching bolero of course, both courtesy of B6265.

I can't tell you how excited this makes my inner child. Why is everything tiny so irresistible? I don't know but I can tell you I want to make every human sized dress I ever make in doll size too now. I won't don't worry...I mean I probably won't.

Anyway, so I got the Fourth Easter Dress FINALLY finished with a little bit of a refashion, and a matching doll dress for 18" dolls (American Girl size or any of the equivalent store brands.) They're both available in my Etsy shop now! Girls Dress and Doll Dress



I hope to be making a lot more doll clothes in the future, whether with matching girl clothes or not, as it's the perfect scrap-buster for me and they are so quick and satisfying to make. Hopefully this is just the beginning of many more to come!

Chinese Tea Party Dress - Simplicity 8244

I've had Simplicity 8244 on my short list to sew for a while, so when I was invited to a friends tea party with a Chinese theme, I figured it was the perfect excuse! I dug through my stash and decided on a lovely berry pink floral print cotton.

Since I tend to sew garments with full skirts mostly, I'm always a little bit nervous when tackling a skirt or dress with a slimmer fit. I went with the size 22, no FBA, but after measuring the pattern pieces at the hips (I couldn't find garment measurements for them on the pattern) I decided to add a few inches just to be safe. I'm always worried about busting a seam when I sit down, lol!

The dress went together fairly easily! My one big mistake, a common one for me when I'm cutting out anything that isn't just on the fold or doubled, is I cut the front piece backwards, oops! I realized it when I was checking to make sure I didn't cut out the shoulder piece wrong, lol. Ah well, I figure most people won't know it attaches the wrong way at the shoulder.

It was my first time using frogs, I just love what a statement they make, and I was impressed with how well they worked (I'm always worried things will just pop out!)

Though I don't like facings, I went ahead and followed the pattern using them since I didn't want to fully line it (it's SO hot outside, we've had a 100+ streak lately that I'm ready to leave behind). I did, however, make a slip using Gertie's Butterick 6031. It was very simple to make and was exactly what I needed, I'll likely make more soon.

I was very happy with the final result, it was comfortable, and not too hot (even with the high neck, I was a little worried it would suffocate me but I was fine), and bonus I got a couple compliments from strangers when I stopped at the store on the way home, always a boost!

Vintage Mashup Maternity Dress

This was such a fun project!! My friend Theresa (who I made the minty tulle bridesmaids dresses for!) is a fellow vintage enthusiast, and also happens to love classic movies. Every year she attends the TCM movie festival, and usually wears an amazing true vintage gown on the red carpet. This year, she is expecting (yay!) and since there aren't a lot of formal vintage maternity gowns around, she asked if I could help her keep the vintage theme going by making a maternity dress using vintage patterns.

 We started looking at patterns from the 60s mostly, going for that popular empire waist of the time. We settled on vintage Vogue 5942 for the top, an empire bodice with a lovely low back, and vintage Simplicity 8497 for the bottom, a gorgeous flowing floor length full skirt. Neither of these are maternity patterns, but the empire lines just lend themselves perfectly to it! Then we found the most amazing silk that was just screaming to be used for this dress, a radiant teal silk with metallic copper/gold giant polka dots. This stuff just shimmers like you wouldn't believe, I think it looks like coins falling from the sky, lol.

It was really pretty quick to put together, it fit her great right off the bat. I didn't even have to alter the skirt much at all, it was full enough to accommodate the baby bump! I just left some length in front so I had plenty to work with when hemming.

I added a ribbon around the empire waist to break up the print a bit (was just testing the color here, didn't plan to keep that bow!)

And bra loops to keep the bra straps hidden.

I also added a pocket, of course. ;-) Then, probably my favorite part, we snuck a sweet little bow on the back!

I was able to snap a few pics of the final dress on her when she picked it up. I think she looked just stunning, as always.

And here she is shimmering on the red carpet at the festival!

Flight of Fancy Feather Dresses

Here's another fun and whimsical order from Sally of Sallykate Photography for a shoot-out called Flight of Fancy! I made 3 dresses, the first of which was a very full skirted dress complete with overskirt and lace bustle.

I used Simplicity 1508 for the bodice (to which I added sleeves) and the basis for the overskirt.

I started with one row of feathers and ended up adding two more to get it as fluffy as I wanted.

 I thought it would be fun to line with a striped fabric!

Next was a dress with a skirt completely covered in feathers! This one obviously took the most amount of feathers, and I had a bit of a learning curve sewing them on! I ended up with a combination of machine and hand stitching. I also ended up with feathers EVERYWHERE, lol.

I used New Look 6388 for the bodice, and just extended the sleeve length a bit.

I decided to do buttons up the back, with elastic loops for the closure. It was finished off with a green sash.

The aftermath, lol...

I added a little bow to the front at the last minute!

And finally, the last dress had a green top (also using New Look 6388) with lace trim, lovely white skirt with tulle overlay and feather trim, and a black sash. I love the contrast of the white skirt with black feathers!

I got them shipped off way too last minute, but fortunately they arrived in time. And then my favorite part, here are some of the amazing pics from the shoot (which you wouldn't know by looking at the stunning models, but it was a very cold and very windy day)!

So much gorgeousness from Sallykate Photography!

Stunning image from Julie Peveto Photography!

Julie Peveto Photography

As luck would have it, as soon as I was done and able to start vacuuming, we realized we'd accidentally just thrown the bottom of the vacuum's canister away (and the trash had just been picked up)!! Lol! So I was stuck with feathers on the ground for a few days until we were able to order a replacement, but it was all worth it. ;-)