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From Yves Saint Laurent 2011 Resort collection

(Picture taken from Project Rungay)

Model, if you could just smile a bit, please. 

Vogue 8646, the Almost-Fail Dress

Well, it turned out rather well, despite fitting challenges.

The "very-easy" rating is true to its claim.  With no buttons or zippers, and just a couple of side seams, maybe some darts and pleats here and there, the Vogue 8646 is a breeze to sew.  The A-B-C-D cup sizes is a nice bonus.  These are the main reasons why I bought this pattern, by the way.  Those, and the $3.99 sale price.

Some new techniques that I used on this project are:

• Underlining.  The self fabric is cotton dotted swiss, which is rather transparent, so I underlined it with cotton batiste to add opaqueness.  I was thinking about lining it at first, but it would take longer, so I let laziness get the best of me, and it paid off!  Not only I learned a new technique, the project also finished faster. 
• French seam:  Ah... The French sure know how to make things pretty!  The lack of zipper makes it possible to "French the seams".  I've been meaning to use this technique for a while, but zippers have been getting in the way.
• Bias tape finishing:  The pattern calls for finishing the armscye and neckline with bias tape.  My execution wasn't the greatest... there's puckering and pulling especially at the armscye area, probably because I shaped the tape half-heartedly before sewing it on.  Luckily the texture of the fabric hides the imperfection and makes it less obvious.
• Hemming a full skirt:  Thank goodness there's no blind-stitching here, I would have poked my eyes!  (Then I would be blind-stitching, literally).   By ease-stitching and gathering the extra fullness at the edge, hemming was quite easy.

Here's worn: 

It's rather decollete... might have to make a detachable modesty panel so can wear it without worrying about accidental exposure.  The not-centered front shoulder pleats are not as bothersome as expected, so I'm pretty happy about it.

And here's twirled:

Ready for summer! 

(PR review here)

No Pink & Red

BurdaStyle is having the Pink & Red challenge.  I thought about entering when it was first announced, but the 20-day notice is too short for me, since I sew only on the weekends.  This is what I was going to make...

... which is inspired by this gorgeous Trina Turk Algonquin dress (looooove the design but not so much the price):

I will still make this dress in different colors (not too crazy about pink-and-red combo anyway), and most likely without the big lace. Any suggestions on color combo, anybody?  What should I put on that curvy style line... Top-stitch?  Bias strip?  Some kind of small lace? 

Purple knit dress

Good thing I used the cheap polyester knit for this one. 

As predicted, I did some wrong math on the pattern drafting effort.  The armholes ended up very tight.  The book says to up the armsyce by .75 inches, so I did my usual .5, which in retrospect wasn't necessary (might actually need to lower it instead).  Also, the pattern calls for a straight silhouette, but I cut mine on the curvy side.  So the resulting drape looks a bit funny.

Construction-wise, it's a mixed result.  I didn't have any idea how to attach the roll collar, so it was pure improvisation, full of turning inside out and stretching here and there.  At one point I actually heard "rrrip!"  Thankfully I saw no sign of broken stitches, just a very stretched collar.

I used French seams for the sides.  It's my first time using French seam and I love the finished look, so I think I'll be using it a lot from now on.

Some pictures:

Full length (the stripe effect is from the window blinds):

I lightened up the picture a bit so the draping would show better:

I think I will make this dress again in the future, with a straighter silhouette, corrected armsyce, better construction know-how for the roll collar, and of course, nicer fabric, because apparently polyester melts when pressed.

First project of 2010...

... will be something from the book Pattern Drafting by Dressmaking, volume 1. It's a Japanese pattern drafting book that is written in English and filled late 1960's fashion. If you like late 60's design and/or pattern drafting and/or Japanese craft books, definitely look for this one on ebay or etsy, but be prepared to spend quite a bit.

This particular dress caught my attention because of the halter-ish neckline and the roll collar. The style is a bit on the girly side, which is not my style at all. Or maybe it's just the illustration? Doesn't matter, I like it.

The book gives instructions on how to draft the pattern pieces from the existing sloper.

It took me a good hour to figure out the measurements on the neckline and collar area. Quite stimulating, actually, the process of adding the numbers and mentally visualizing what goes where and is connected to what. My results are probably all wrong, but the fabric is already cut, so there's no turning back.

Speaking of fabric, I'm using a purple knit fabric. It's *gasp* polyester! Feels like it too - yuck. But the price ($1.50/yd) and the purpose (practice on knit-fabric) justify it!

And now, we shall wait and see how it will turn out. Well... you get to sit and wait. I have to sew it.

Spring colorblock dress in the middle of winter

For once, I'm ahead of the game! Well, really I'm very late, since this dress started in - wow-has-it-been-that-long - three months ago.

Without further ado:

A close-up of the mock buckle, inspired by a J. Crew dress, and also to cover up the seam because I didn't cut the band on fold:

Here's me modeling it:

The end of the zipper is usually a struggle. As you can see here, it's all wonky. (Anybody have any tips on how to solve this? I use the regular zipper foot to connect the back seam and the zipper-end, and it usually ends up bunchy.)
Also, the sloper calls for a back shoulder dart, which I did not transfer to the pattern, thinking it wouldn't make a difference. Apparently it does: the back neck band is too big and now it gaps away from the body. Lesson learned.

The dress itself is fully lined in self fabric. I pretty much winged the construction part of it, with the help of my new best friend, the seam ripper. It's not completely finished yet, actually. Hemming needs to be done (still can't figure out how to use blind-stitch foot and am dreading hand-sewing), and hook-and-eye fastener needs to be attached.

Generally it fits a little loose on me now, because I've shrunken a bit because of a little diet and exercise. It's good news, actually. I feel physically better, am sleeping better (didn't really need help on that department), and theoretically should be looking better in clothes because the boobs are now correctly positioned "above" and not "at" the waist. Although, it also means I have to draft a new sloper.

No new fabric for the colorblock dress...

... even though I'm drooling for Robert Kaufman Radiance silk/cotton blend. Still nervous about dropping double-digit-dollar per yard of fabric.

So I dug around my cheap-o stash and found just enough miscellaneous cotton to make this dress:

• White Ikea bedsheet that I was using for amateurish photo backdrop, and later for muslin, and now it will be the skirt of the dress. It may be enough for a bias layout plus lining.
  
• mjb likes the chocolate-chartreuse combo (so do I!), but there's no existing chocolate cotton, and the closest I have to chartreuse is olive, which looks awfully drab. I do have a piece of red, which is enough for the bands.
  
• No gray cotton laying around either, so the bodice will be black Kona cotton that was meant for another project, and now it will be the bodice plus lining.

White skirt + black bodice + red band = looks like:

... which I think is the same dress as this:

... and this:

... which is a Spring 2008 Gucci.

Hm... I probably need to start making winter dresses after this one.

Two designs in one

All work and no play makes me extra fidgety. So, I took a break from studying, browsed some fashion mags, and saw this Rachel Roy dress worn by Lucy Liu:

Gorgeous! I've been wanting to make a color-block dress and this one just knocked my socks off. The colors are nice fabulous, and obviously the fabric some kind of fancy expensive designer silk. On Lucy Liu it looks elegant, on me unfortunately it would look matronly. I thought changing the skirt to bias a-line would make it less "proper".

So, that's the first design that inspires my next project.

The second one is AnaJan's Bordeaux dress that is also on my long to-do list:

Just the neckline, really, is what I like. So I'm adapting that neckline into my dress:

I choose red for the bodice, because orange is too "spring" and I want to be able to wear it in colder weather.

These are some neckline and color variations:

Next post will be about drafting the pattern for this dress from the sloper.

The Burda-inspired dress is done...

... and it looks like a sofa:

With me wearing it, it IS a sofa.

Hee... hee... Just kidding, I don't have body-image issues. I like the dress. I've worn worse things.

Anyway, a couple of technical highlights following.

Instead of sewing the v-neck in one continuous stitch, I did it shoulder-to-front on one side, then repeat on the other. No puckers or bunches like I used to get! Although, still have that pointy dart issue.

The fabric probably wasn't the best choice. It leaves needle holes, as you can see here (the white dots are the holes from the stitches):

I hemmed it with straight stitch because the fabric is not blind-stitch friendly. (Well, okay, fine... I didn't feel like blind stitching by hand and haven't figured out how to use the machine's blind stitch correctly.)

Okay... probably need to study now.

For the next project...

... I'm thinking another little cotton dress. How creative!

I've been eyeing this Burda dress (02-2008-124). The basic, simple design is right up my alley:

During a trip to LA weeks ago, I bought this fabric from Michael Levine that I think is destined for this dress. It's a heavier-weight cotton which makes it suitable for all season with the appropriate accessories.

A few adjustments to make:

• eliminate the under-the-bust seam, as it is not a flattering look on me.
• make it a v-neck both front and back (Burda has a scoop front and a v back)
• maybe make it sleeveless... or keep the capsleeves?
• might go with a slight a-line if there's enough fabric (only have 2+ yards)
  

And here's the sketch:

The time I spent making the basic sloper was definitely a worthy investment! Drafting and cutting the pattern pieces for this dress took only half an hour and I can be sure that it will fit. Burda's way of patterning would take at least twice as long for me, what with the multiple rounds of fitting and altering and all that fun stuff. I bowed to my sloper a few times after realizing how much time I'm saving. (Don't worry, JoanneM; I heed your advice and will still make a muslin.)

I recommend everybody to make their own sloper!

Oh, a side note... This fall is my last semester in graduate school (yay!) so I will be prioritizing school and finishing up the master's thesis (boo!). So, sewing will be intermittent in the next four months (boo again!). Come December, I will have my MsBA in Finance and get back to sewing (double yay - epic win! - even though this degree probably won't mean much nowadays).

May I present...

... the completed purple dress with pleats:

Details at the sleeve:

... and at the hem:

I decided to use scrap cotton for the lining, which turns out rather nice (it actually looks better than the outside):

Here's me wearing it:

The fit could be improved around the bust, but it fits pretty well otherwise. The cotton makes it look home made, although I can get away with wearing it to work during a casual day.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the result. Yay!