Sewing days and cutting days

1.17.2011

Sewing days and cutting days

Yesterday and the day before I bought like a million patterns at JoAnn's, including a bunch of Simplicity that are all $0.99 this week and some $1.99 McCall's.  Wahoo!!

I was so excited and inspired yesterday, and had the day free, that I cut out a bunch of dresses and skirts for work.  A bunch!

Sometimes you're in a cutting mood and sometimes you're in a sewing mood, and yesterday I was all about the cutting.  Which is good, since it's the hard part, anyway.  So today I plan to get lots of sewing done!!

Hope you are enjoying the long weekend.  I have today off!  Are any of you finding time for creative pursuits this weekend?

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Homemade party dress re-do

1.15.2011

Homemade party dress re-do

Early in my blog career I made a party dress out of some changeable silk dupioni my mom had leftover from a cousin's bridesmaid dresses.  I only had about a yard, I think, but it was enough to use McCall's M5806 with a contrast (elastic) waistband.

I never really like it that much once it was done, and never wore it.  Now, more than a year later, I pulled it out of the closet and remade it.

I guess I was kind of loosely inspired by these...
ModCloth:

Anthro:

Valentino:

Lulu's:

Shoshanna:

I wanted it to have a natural waistline, so I added a 4" or so wide midriff band.  I also made the skirt pleated instead of gathered, and I tapered it so it's sort of a bubble shape instead of flaring out from the fullness at the top.  I took the lace off the bottom of the skirt, too, and instead added fabric lace on top of the black satin at the midriff panel.  Don't know if you can tell in the pics...

I think it's much better now.  I still wonder about the contrast of the purple/orange silk and the black, but it would be fun with some black accents worn with it.  What do you think it would pair well with?

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My first work dress!

1.14.2011

My first work dress!

Let's do this backwards this time:
This is what I wore to work today:

Here's the dress without the cardigan (I did the winter look, plus I get cold all the time):

Here's the dress by itself, pretty much one of the basic options from Simplicity 2724:

Ta-da!
It was fun to wear something I made today.  I bought some solid color fabrics at JoAnn's on the sale table when it was 50% off the sale price, so I think I paid about $1.50/yard for this navy-ish blue poly textured suiting.  I did the black cardi look with it today, but I will wear it with a different style some other day soon!  I am still having a lot of fun dressing up every day and looking professional and cute, and always wearing great shoes.  ;)

P.S. Don't I look totally different with my hair straight?  I haven't straightened it in like a year, but I did it the other day for work and it was fun!

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A late Christmas present

1.13.2011

A late Christmas present

Remember when I made that awesome infinity scarf out of a 100% angora sweater?  I felt so cool and crafty and eco-friendly!  And I love that scarf.  Anyway I made another one for my sister-in-law who visited shortly after Christmas.  She reads my blog and gives me nice compliments about the things I make =).  Thanks, Darcy!

Here's the before of the sweater I made it out of:

And I used the technique I explained in the tutorial here, and turned it into this:

She wears it well!  Trust me, these "infinity" scarves rock--so comfy and cozy and easy to wear.  Try it!

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Ruffled tank and pleated skirt DIY outfit! Guest project

1.11.2011

Ruffled tank and pleated skirt DIY outfit! Guest project

Here's another super fun tutorial from Jessi of Sweetie Pie Bakery!  Thanks for sharing, Jessi!

My husband has a birthday coming up, a big one in fact-The big 3-0! Since he has been traveling a lot for work lately he wanted to do something low key, yet I still wanted to dress up. I thought this outfit was the perfect compromise! (As well as a compromise to our budget!)


I had the Anna Maria Horner Study Hall Skirt pattern in my stash and really wanted to give it another go. I wanted to make it less juvenile and more dressy. I thought that doing something monochromatic but playing on textures would do just that. For the main skirt I used a black Kona cotton and a satin for the pleats. I think I'll get a lot of use out of this skirt. The only negative I have against the pattern is that it was a tad big. I even made the smallest size but it still feels a bit too loose...in the way that it might just spin all the way around while I'm walking.

*images from Clairelafaye

For the top, I needed something super fast. I was inspired by these tanks in this etsy shop by designer Clairelafaye. They are so girly and fun. In the end, I chose to just cinch up some chiffon and sorta snake it around the neckline, giving it a bit of an asymmetric look. I hand stitched the chiffon onto an $8 tank top from Target right on the dress form-so simple!

So cute, fun and fast!!

Be sure to check out Jessi's blog Sweetie Pie Bakery and look for more Adventures with Sweetie Pie Bakery here on Adventures in Dressmaking!

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Before & After: A (sort of) productive weekend

1.10.2011

Before & After: A (sort of) productive weekend

Wa-hoo!
I've successfully completed my first weekend as a 40+-hour-a-week employee, and I'm happy to say it was fun and refreshing, and I'm looking forward to getting back into things at work today.  Friday night I went to some friends' new house and had sort of a girls' night while our husbands and boyfriends talked, then Saturday I did some things around the house before I met my friend for shopping, dinner, then karaoke with more friends.  Sunday I saw a townhouse and looked for other rentals nearer to work... we are moving again.  Then I got some sewing and projects done, then hot-tubbed at my parents' house.

I also cut out and finished a cute work-ey dress with some fabric I got at JoAnn's on Saturday for 50% off the clearance price.  Sweet.  I also did a quick project on a stool I bought at Goodwill Outlet recently--we needed a more piano bench-height piano bench, and this one was funky and vintage but not covered well.  Turned out to be stapled with an old flannel pillowcase.
Before:

When is that wood leg trim style from, do you think?  '40's?  '60's?

I knew I wanted it white, and then I had some awesome bright yellow chenille, also vintage, that I used some of for the cover:
After:

Just an easy staple-and-screw-back-on project!  After letting all the coats of high-gloss paint dry, that is.

I will wear the cute navy work dress that I started soon, and am building my work wardrobe from the after-Christmas season sales as well.  I got three cute pairs of shoes at the mall Saturday at great prices!!  I love having great shoes.

How was your weekend?

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Inspiration: rooms with black

1.08.2011

Inspiration: rooms with black

The other day online in The Oregonian, the Portland paper, in the home dec section (which is usually kind of a laugh) they had a link to some great pictures of black accents in decor.  Lots of lovely pictures featuring black casework, doors, and cabinetry.  I have stopped wearing a lot of black in the past year and a half, favoring grey, greige, tan and other neutrals, but I'm really liking the fresh, modern look of this black in decor.  See:

All photos from Houzz.com.

I love it!  Would you ever paint your banister or door frames black or use black accents in a white room?  It looks so fresh to me, and makes the colors pop!

Unfortunately/fortunately, I think we'll be moving again, and a lot of times in a bland new rental house you need small things you can do to make it look fun and unique.  Maybe some spots of black could do the trick!

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My new office needs some decor!

1.05.2011

My new office needs some decor!

Today will be my third day of work, and I'm so happy and excited to be here.  One sad thing is my nearly-empty office...

It's awesome to have my own space, and I feel so much more productive than when I've worked in cubicles before, but it is kind of dreary in there with the fluorescent lamps, white walls, and nothing pretty to look at.  Want to see?

I will need art on the walls, I suspect, although that alone won't do it.  I would like plants, but there's almost no sunlight that gets to my office (maybe just a little through another office's door across the hall when it's open, but not much at all).  I am not used to the black/white color scheme, either!

I would love suggestions on office decor.  My favorite things in other people's offices are their kids' artwork and cool photos of their families, but I don't have any kids, so no artwork, and I feel kind of on-display putting up pictures of me and my fiancé for all my professional colleagues to see... I guess I'm just insecure about it for some reason.

What plants, art, or other things do you thinkg would work in here? What do you think??

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A new blogger to introduce and a tutorial

1.04.2011

A new blogger to introduce and a tutorial

As you many know, I've recently started a very cool new job and am working full-time.  So, I have less time to blog.  Lucky me, the lovely Jessi Peck of Sweetie Pie Bakery will be joining us here on Adventures in Dressmaking regularly to share her sewing and clothing projects!

Some of my faves of her previous projects include this cool Anthrocopy ruffled shower curtain:

This amazing brown party dress:

And this super cool embroidery technique:

Here's a little bit about Jessi!

My name is Jessica Peck.  I currently live outside of Chicago with my three redheads (my husband and both of my children have red hair and people generally think that's nifty)

I am a temporarily retired interior designer with a love for all things sweet, be it voille or vanilla.  Taking a break from work to stay home with my kids while they're young has been really important to me and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity.  However, not long after making that decision I needed a creative outlet and a need to design more than the stack of receiving blankets in the nursery.

My love for architecture and sweets led to my first pattern line, Sweetie Pie Bakery.  These felt patterns are inspired by my children and developed from hours on the playroom floor.

Now that my kids are getting lives of their own with preschool and play dates, I decided it was high time I ditch the yoga pants.  I hope you enjoy following along as I join Suzannah in her Adventures of Dressmaking!

Thanks,
Jessi

Jessi has prepared a tutorial of a super fun sweater refashion/embellishment for us.  Here it is!

I've had this sweater for years. My husband actually got it for me for Christmas one year, before he was even my husband. Now two kids later it was still hanging in my closet. The sweater was soft but just didn't have the same allure it seemed to have when I first lifted it from the gift box.

The sweater was a bit too short so I thought a peplum would give it some length, and a bit more color. To give it even more panache, I decided to add elbow pads and pom poms! This sweater is super fun to wear and comfy with a pair of yoga pants at home. I love that scraps can make an old sweater beautiful-and as a bonus, get me out of pjs!


The first thing I did was cut a 3" strip from some shirting fabric. I measured the perimeter of the bottom of the sweater and a little less than doubled that. I serged the ends of the shirting fabric and then sewed the ends together to form a loop. Then I ran a basting stitch to gather the top of the peplum.

I Measured 3/4" up from the bottom of the sweater and drew a line so that it was an easy guide to pin the sweater to. After adjusting the gather I sewed the peplum to the bottom of the sweater.

For the elbow patches, I cut ovals of wool felt and hand stitched them into place. I suggest pinning them on and trying the sweater on first to check the placement. I did make sure to measure up from the cuff to the bottom of the patch on each sleeve to make sure they were even.

For the hood, I ran my chunky yarn through the old casing with the aid of a safety pin. I left the ends extra long so that I had plenty to tie onto the pom poms. I thought big pom poms would be super fun so I wrapped the yarn around 4 fingers and probably went around 50 times. (here is a tutorial on making pom poms) That's it!

Can't not have a jumping photo with bouncy pom poms!


Super cute, right?  I love the bright elbow patches!

Thanks, Jessi, for sharing with us!  Readers, be sure to check out Jessi's blog as well.  Have you done any sweater refashions lately?

Look for more Adventures with Sweetie Pie Bakery later!

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