Something...

So, that vintage Viking was such a find! I am eternally grateful to BFF for telling me about it.

I just popped on to post pics of my test piece that I threw together. I started a new job today, and wore it to work.

DS took this pic of mommy on her first day

Happy face :)

Neck-line & tie front detail

Close-up of fabric

Shirring detail over shoulder

Morning coffee! :D

The dress was basically just two rectangles that I shirred, pinned, gathered, stitched, re-stitched, re-pinned, stitched some more....

It was made entirely without a pattern, just a vague idea in mind of what I wanted. I started with a little over 2m of this stuff that was gifted to me (there are small pieces of this in my rainbow patchwork skirt, as well). It is a nice cotton - a little higher thread count than quilter's cotton, & softer, but still light & a little flowy.

I put 3 rows of machine-shirring at the top of the skirt, and 1 row on the back half of the top.
The top is a cross-over with ties made of the same fabric. Deep V-neck. I guessed with the armholes & made them too small, so I guessed again & made them too big. Some shirring on the top of the shoulder helped fix that one up!
There are pockets as well, with big cream/beige/brown buttons & loops made from the same fabric.

I used the selvage of the fabric for the bottom, so no hemming!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I now have one sundress that is work-appropriate :)
I also got some compliments :)
BFF asked where I got it, as did my Mom. Step-Dad knew I made it.

Here's his thumb's up:

Wants & To-Do's

Don't we all end up with a mile long list of things to do? Things we want to own, or make simply for the sake of making them?
Right now, my major to-do is still trying to get organized. I have never been very good at it, so it's never really happened. With over a decade of chaos and multiple moves to sort through, it really is quite the chore. But I still manage to set aside time to craft. Of course, my son always comes first, but THEN comes organizing, and THEN crafting. OK, maybe crafting before organizing... hehehe
So, I have a couple things that I have to make for this summer:

1. I have been eyeing the jumpers that have been seen everywhere. Craftster use violentjayne (who's work I adore - one of my many Craftster crushes) has posted a few truly fabulous ones. I want to make a wide-legged, shirred-top, strapped one, and try to incorporate jayne's trapdoor idea (which is really quite ingenious). I feel like something with a flowy top, cinched at the waist, and wider legs will help hide my problem areas (read: flub) and accentuate the fact that I have killer tits and a waist that is over 10" smaller than my bust or hips. For this project, I have a large amount of olive green jersey. If that one works out well, I have a super-awesome thrift store find to make my second incarnation. The fabric is a light-weight knit in the most amazing azure with a slight pattern to it. It's soft & luxurious & reminds me of something that one might find a lehenga made of. I have a smaller amount of a similar fabric in the same colour, but with a white stripe. The edge of that one is a beautiful purple. It could easily be the sari worn over top.
Which brings me to my next project:

2. Make a simple sundress out of the azure/white striped fabric. I'm not 100% sure on which style I will use, but I don't think I want to incorporate any shirring into it. Partially because I've never done any, and taking on too many projects with a new technique will be too daunting. I was considering using the purple trim and some of the striping in a horizontal across my bust, with the remainder of the stripes in a vertical from underbust to knee. Just a simple strapless dress with an empire waistline & flowy skirt.

3. Another dress. I have this old piece of fabric that was given to me. I'm not sure what exactly it was meant to be, but it was store-bought & I don't think it was ever used. It's white cotton with a large blue floral pattern all over it. One end has a huge amount of wide eyelet lace ruffled on it. I want to use that end as the bottom of my skirt with the lace still attached.
The fabric goes almost 3 times around me, and is over twice my length, so no problem at all with making a dress. I was thinking perhaps a petticoat-style dress with a simple bodice? I might incorporate some shirring into the back of this one and opt for a slightly lolita-esque feel to the piece. Knee-length again, with 3 tiers on the skirt? I don't want to attempt any puff sleeves, though.... Or something closer to this one I found over at Hong Kong Badger. Either way, AntiCraft has a great tut for pettis.

4. A patchwork skirt or dress. Preferably rainbow. I have a bunch of quilting fabric that was gifted to me (two large boxes full!) And I'm not a quilter. It would be perfect for something like this, and I have wanted one of these for so long.








5. A lace-front button-down tank top. I bought a slightly oversized white button-down dress shirt. I plan to take off the sleeves & collar & add tons of lace trims down the front. I have several bags of mismatched trims in white & some more antique-looking. Perhaps dye the shirt as well? Make it all somewhat antiqued? This shirt is about the closest I could find online in a quick search. I want it to wear with my navy pinstripe bermudas. And a wide red or navy belt. And some cute red peep-toes, either flat or kitten heel.

As far as my organization goes, you can see my earlier post on my craft area. I have since opened all of the boxes & bins of fabric & separated lengths of fabric, folded them up nice & neat, and taken a sample of each stapled to a card with the width & length of each fabric. That way, I never have any guessing errors again.
I also pulled out all of my sheets, curtains & other miscellaneous household linens that I had set aside to use as fabric. They are neatly folded & patiently waiting for me to catalogue them all.
What's left to sort? I still have a couple of boxes of scrap to sort through, and a big rubbermaid bin of mismatched scraps & old clothes for reconning. I want to separate my scraps into quilting scraps, larger fabric scraps & smaller non-quilting fabric scraps. Anything I find not useful will be sent on it's merry way.
My yarn is still out of control, and I think I just have to use a lot of it up to get it under control. I have a 5-drawer organizer for it, and it's full, as well as a couple more bins & some random bags. Some of it was gifted, some of it was bought on a whim, some was bought with a project in mind, but never occurred (or never got finished - my unfinished projects are absolutely shameful)
I also found a multi-drawer organizer for $1 at a yard sale! I used it for all of my buttons, embroidery floss, beads & supplies. It was a bit rusty, but I gave it a quick coat of gold spray paint (I have a can from an old RHPS Columbia costume) Which means I have 3 smaller organizer boxes with nothing in them. I am going to either give them away or sell them.
I still have my under-bed storage system sitting empty (since there is no under my bed, just a mattress & boxspring on the floor). I think I will pull everything down from the space above my closets and fit it into those boxes, then put them up top. It should help keep everything a little neater and more organized.
Well, the organization part of this post is getting long-winded and depressing, so I'm going to cut myself short before I realize just how behind I am...

Whirl Away Dress - In Progress

My boyfriend watched me put together this dress on his machine. He had no choice, really, since I am asking him to make me another in different fabrics for my graduation ceremony.

While I was busy sewing away (the hem, I think) he snapped this candid of me working in my "sewing space" (aka tiny kitchen table)

Whirl Away Dress

About 7 or so years ago, I bought myself some nice red and white gingham fabric that had a slight stretch to it. ("Shut up, Mom! It's not a tablecloth!")

I held it a few years looking for the right pattern, then on Craftster I saw the 'Whirl Away Dress' for the first time. And fell in love. I knew that was the dress that my fabric was destined for.

Try as I might, I couldn't get my hands on the pattern in stores, though.

I eventually turned to eBay and managed to find one for a reasonable price (about $5, I think?)

I bought that sucker all excited.... A year ago...

Last week, I finally sat down with all my fabric, my bias tape, buttons, snaps, thread and my awesome boyfriend's trusty Pfaff machine.

So, here is my version of a classic:

So, what do you think?

The Seven Year Itch

Quite some time ago, it was asked of a broad audience how one might go about achieving Marilyn Monroe's famous dress from "The Seven Year Itch." You know the one...

Several years before that, I had made a dress based off of Marilyn's famous dress for Halloween. Because this question came up, I put together a really quick MS Pain tutorial for the woman who asked, and have had a couple others say they used the exact tute for their own creations. I aim to please!

So, I'm just going to add it to this lovely little blog of mine for anyone else who might like to try their hand at it...

First, get your measurements down on paper (and be honest!)

You will need to cut out pieces resembling the following:

The last piece - you need to cut out two of.
For the cups, cut them out to about twice the width of your underbust per breast (as long as you're busty, I'm sure you can alter this to what you may need) Make them (at the longest point) appx the measurement from collarbone to underbust, over fullest area.
The next pieces are the waist panels. Cut out 2 pieces that are 1/2 your widest midsection measurement + seam allowance. Cut one of them in half as shown.
The piece on the far right is the neck-band.
For the skirt (last piece) make it like a standard circle skirt, but appx. 1 1/2 times your waist measurement (for pleats and fullness)

Take the bust pieces and gather or pleat along the bottom until they are the desired width. Baste.

Take waist panels and trim inwards slightly at the waist, if necessary. Sew the two smaller pieces to the larger one on either side as shown.

Fold neck-band in half length-wise and stitch. Cut in half and turn right way round (Inside out) Finish one end.

Sew bust cups to waist (closer together than they are in the image, since my paint skills are just THAT grand - for coverage)

Sew neckband to ends of bust cups.
Finish all edges as necessary.

Sew sides of skirt together (leaving zipper allowance on one seam)
Add pleats around waist to bring to your waist measurements.

Now, sew down the pleats part way and iron nice and flat.
Sew the skirt onto the waist band, lining up the zipper location in the back of the skirt to two ends of the top.
Hem skirt, finish any unfinished edges, and install zipper.
Voila! Put it on, zip her up, tie her up, and you have a fabulous dress!