Friday, April 10, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Pattern Weights from Fabric Scraps
After my sewing room redesign, I was reminded how many fabric scraps I have! In an effort to use up some of them, I decided to make some pattern weights. (Also because I feel like it takes me forever to pin and cut patterns, so I thought this might help me cut down a bit on time!)
I didn't do anything fancy, just picked some pretty fabrics out of my scraps and cut them into different sized squares.
Then I stitched around them, leaving a hole for filling.
Some of the larger ones I added a button in the middle, just so I wouldn't have to use as much rice and it would help distribute the weight around the edges.
I filled them up with rice...
...and did a quick whipstitch around the opening. Et voila, done!
I got to use them for my current project, and they worked great! I love how quickly I can throw them down compared to pinning.
I also love to see all the pretty colors together! I found a little pink bucket to keep them in, which works great as one big weight in the center.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Pinspiration Monday - Cinderella
I finally got around to seeing the new Cinderella movie last week! And WOW I was not disappointed, the movie itself is charming and magical, and the costuming...absolutely breathtaking. The movement of Cinderella's ball gown was just mesmerizing. I pinned lots of shots of dresses from the movie, here are some of my favorites.
I wish her wedding dress had had a bit more screen time, it was also stunning!
Finally, I adored Cate Blanchett's wardrobe as the wicked stepmother, it was fabulous!
I actually have a Cinderella related project coming up that I'll be blogging about, though it's not this Cinderella, but I'm looking forward to sharing it!
Friday, April 3, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Purple Vintage Vogue 1044
I think I've mentioned before that last year I made 5 retro bridesmaid dresses with dozens of yards of mint green tulle per dress! They were so much fun, and one day I'll get around to blogging about them. But today I wanted to blog about the Mother of the Bride Dress That Wasn't! Since I was pretty much done with the bridesmaid dresses, and the mother of the bride still hadn't found the right dress, I happily agreed to squeeze in one more dress. (I'll work slowly and methodically for weeks on a dress when my deadline is far out, but ask me to fit something in last minute and a crazy part of my brain says, "YES!!! DO IT!!" because I'm suddenly quick and efficient when there's a tight deadline, and so much more productive. In other words, I'm nuts, lol.)
She decided on the lovely Vintage Vogue 1044.
She decided on the lovely Vintage Vogue 1044.
LOVED it, I even had a personal copy in my own pattern stash. The fabric chosen was a really cool, almost iridescent blue/purple cotton with a lovely drape. The only alteration was to make it floor length to try to make it a little more formal.
So I got to work! I whipped it up as fast as I could, and we tried it on...and suddenly it read like something from Little House on the Prairie. Not the period we were going for, oops! I think it was a combination of the lovely cotton being a bit on the casual side and the added length. It was still a nice dress, but clearly wasn't going to work for the Mother of the Bride. I promised to whip up another dress, based on one I'd made for myself (we did a quick try on with that and liked it) and that one ended up working well, she looked lovely at the wedding!
So that was back in October, and the Mother of the Bride Dress That Wasn't still hung in my closet waiting for a little makeover. I pulled her out this past week, gave her a very deep hem (love the weight this creates at the bottom), shortened the sleeves just a tad, and shortened the separate petticoat I'd made to go with it. SUCH a difference, I love the end result! Here she is back in the period she belongs. ;-)
 |
| There are, of course, two nice deep pockets hidden in there. What else is a full skirt for? |
 |
| A little peek of the petticoat! |
Aahh, so much better. :-) It feels great to finally have it finished and ready to be worn.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Pinspiration Monday - Shoes
I have a plan to tidy up my shoe stash soon. When my usually organized collection of shoes ends up as a growing pile in my closet, I know it's time to go through them and get rid of the ones I'm not using. Most of my shoes are flats, as I never mastered the art of wearing high heels, I'm in awe when I see women wearing huge heels! But I still love adorable shoes, especially peep toes and mary-janes. Making room in my shoe stash means dreaming about new shoes to fill it up again, right? ;-) Here are some that have me pining.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)