V1247

Like pretty much everyone else, I really needed to make this top. Because I love Rachel Comey. And I love those crazy $3 Vogue sales. Originally, I had intended for this to be a wearable muslin, but I like it just fine. You might recognize the fabric from this dress (which I also still wear a lot). The fabric I had slated for the pattern probably wouldn't have suited it anyway. You really need to work with something light here.



At so many points while putting this together, I was "whyyyyy" and "there doesn't need to be a seam here" and "this is taking so long for such a simple top." But I persisted despite my reservations, and it turns out I really do like this top.





And the moral of the story is... blah blah blah we all knew Rachel Comey is amazing.

Two-Tone for Joe

When I saw the Two-Tone Shirt project posted on Burdastyle, I knew I wanted to make a version for Joe. It seemed like something he might actually wear and like nothing he already had. (I don't need to attempt a copy of a button-down he can buy at Target for $15. My menswear does not equal commercial menswear.)

And what do you know, this thing hung in his closet for about a day before he pulled it out for work. He was practically out the door before I realized he had put it on, and I was like, "Wait! I made that! Pictures!" So these are the gems from that morning:



And here are some better photos I took when he got home:





Unlike the Burdastyle version, I based my shirt of the old Jakob shirt pattern that I'd purchased way back when it first came out. But I did have to grade it down quite a bit to get the fit we wanted. And since I wasn't using a double-faced material, I cut out all of the facings in another shirting. I also eschewed their added back pleat to keep the fit pretty slim.

I really like this shirt. It might be my favorite thing I've made for him. At least until this sweater is finally done.

THAT Dress

Mine and Joe's first wedding anniversary is in two weeks, as weird as that is to say. So, in honor of that milestone, I should probably post my wedding dress. There was a lot of blogging that happened during the making of said dress (I even documented it in my M.Arch portfolio), but after the wedding, our honeymoon took us right to the start of grad school for me, which just about shut down my life outside of studio until....May? So here it is. The grand reveal, unless you were there, or saw the many, many photos uploaded to my flickr.



Honestly, this was the most frightening thing I've made in my life. And the most expensive. It was my first time working with silk charmeuse and real silk chiffon. This lady, minus the invisible zipper and spiral steel boning (but including the thread!) is 100% silk. Charmeuse for the bodice and skirt, organza interlining, chiffon overskirt, and silk crepe lining. It felt ahhhh-mazing on my body.





Which brings us to the fit. Overall, I'm quite happy with the fit of the dress. But in the last couple months before the wedding, after this monster was finally under construction after over a year of muslins and small tweaks to my-drafted pattern, I had lost a tiny bit of weight. Mostly out of my waist and my boobs (which is bullshit, btw), so there is a bit of unplanned ease in the bodice. In some of the photos, you can see it rippling. I cannot even explain the emotional experience that was the final fitting. But this is a close approximation: a) "holy shit! This is my wedding dress!" b) "omg! I made this!" b) "wah! I can see EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE and it is NOT PERFECT!" But I'm pretty sure on the day of, I didn't care. I just wanted to get my nuptials on and go the hell on vacation. Also, it was totally gratifying to see everyone's brain explode when they found out I made my dress.



Oh, P.S. I made all those bridesmaid dresses too.

Best Laid Plans

At the beginning of the summer, I inDesign'd a Make List, inspired by many of those who had committed to the Handmade Spring Wardrobe project and the Colette Spring/Summer Palette Challenge. Here are some of my remaining intentions:

(click for larger images)

Not included in this spread is a shirt dress using some of the fabric I printed for this project, and a pair of blinding chartreuse shorts based on my much-used/altered Ruby pattern.

Also, I should probably photograph and post my completed projects: a shirt for Joe based on Burdastyle's Two-Tone Shirt, the ubiquitous Vogue 1247 Rachel Comey top, and some random things I can't even remember at this point.

Right now, I'm throwing together the Burda dress for a wedding we're going to in a couple weeks. I also hope to finish the aforementioned shirt dress for an anniversary trip to follow.

Because non-studio-related making is impossible during the semester, I realize the wardrobe window is going to be closing sooner than I realize. So I best get to work!

OH HI. I made these shirts.

I've decided that I miss populating the internet with things of my own making. And I have been sewing a lot again recently, so I might as well document it here.



This shirt is unremarkable and no longer has sleeves. I put it together from a vintage pattern in an afternoon while watching Walk the Line for the first time, somehow. I sorta-love/sorta-hate the vintage cotton print. It's so grandma-y in great/horrible way. I wore it once and now I think I'm going to mail it to my sister.





This other shirt is based on the same vintage pattern, but with a few self-drafted details: (1) back yoke, (2) circular cutout, and (3) curved hem. I also opted for the curved collar option included in the pattern, which needed to be a bit bigger, as it doesn't fully meet the placket at the center front. After sewing it up, I dyed the fabric this horrible light neon yellow, which was supposed to be more of a chartreuse-y green. I can decide if I totally hate it though. The best part is the vintage buttons that pick up on the cobalt blue in the flower print.

These are the terrible photos that Joe attempted. He's kind of the worst with a camera. ("I know that's on manual and I haven't seen you adjust the focus once, you loser.")







I think I decided just now that I'm not that into it.

OKAY BYE!

Dainties

I, like much of the sewing blogosphere it seems, have been very much preoccupied with the thought of hand-sewn lingerie. I've been dwelling on the idea a bit because, hello, honeymoon. But what really did it for me was the tutorial series on the Colette blog (along with the lovely Valentines shoot). And so, I came up with this little number: a vintage lace bralette.



Normally, the prospect of a bralette, a garment with little to no support structure, would not have crossed my mind (holla, sizeably-chested ladies). But since I've been working a lot on bust fit with my wedding dress and its many mockups, I decided to go for it.

The pattern didn't take long to draft. Just using measurements for bust, underbust, and bp to bp, plus a some well-placed curved seams and darts, I came up with a pretty fantastic fit.

I'm pretty happy with it (and I'm not the only one). I just wish I had enough fabric to make some bottoms. Some cute little tap pants, perhaps. I pretty much just threw this together with scraps of vintage rayon, with just that tiny piece of old lace.

I'm also pretty happy with the back closure. The loops came out nicely, I just wish I hadn't made the prick-stitching on the placket so tight.

I wish I could say that there is more lingerie-sewing in my immediate future, but sadly, there is not. For now, I'll be working on finishing bridesmaid dresses and hopefully starting THE Dress. Wish me luck!

Celebration Blouse

Last Friday I handed in the first draft of my thesis. Sixty pages on early Soviet Constructivist architecture, communal housing and socialist utopianism, in case you were wondering.

To celebrate my freedom from the prison that is MS Word, I started flipping through the Stylish Dress Book to service my need for some decompression sewing. Using style J as a guide, this baby sort of just came together. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon, if you ask me.

Not much to say, so I'll just show you:

The fabric was not especially fun to work with. A synthetic chiffon I used for my (vegan) sister's performance dress, it was quite prone to fraying, and difficult to mark and press for pintucks. Let's just stay there was much basting and stay-stitching involved.

But, man, was all that extra prep worth it. I am in love with this top.

Wool Winter Coat

Despite what a hefty project this is, and how busy I've been, I'm surprised this came together so quickly. And it did so mostly out of necessity. I got rid of a lot of stuff this Fall, including some old jackets and coats. Now that the temperatures have started to dip below freezing, it occurred to me that I should probably procure some kind of replacement. So this coat was born.



First of all, I should say that, with the exception of restocking my interfacing supply, I did not buy any new materials to make this. I've had the wool for a while with the intention of making a coat. But the rest of the notions, including the heavy-duty zipper were already stashed. So in that regard, I'm pretty proud of myself.



About the pattern: I heavily modified BurdaStyle's Talea coat pattern (free!). I left out a lot of the design details, like the tabs at the shoulders, sleeve hems, and back waist. I drafted my own collar for something a little less dramatic, and I completely redrafted the center front facing to accommodate a zip-closure. There were some fit issues to compensate for as well, some of which weren't resolved as well I had hoped.



This project also marks my first foray into hardcore tailoring. I took a lot of inspiration from Gertie's Lady Grey Sew-Along which was winding up as I was making my coat. The collar is fully pad-stitched, and I paid special attention to setting in the sleeves (sidenote: do NOT underestimate the power of shoulder pads. Amazing.).



Regrets: This is always an issue for me, but I probably should have given myself a little more room in the bust. I think I didn't take enough out of the waist, and I drafted out too much ease through the hips.
In all likeliness, I will probably redo the placket covering the zipper (it could use some sturdier interfacing) and I may add some loop and toggle closures to help it lay flatter across the bust.

Overall, I am incredibly happy with the final product. I probably would not use the pattern again for how much I changed it. But now I have a nice, comfy, cute coat to keep me warm, which was the objective.

The Tie-Collar Shift

After packing away my summer dresses a few weekends ago, I felt like I needed to fill a small void in my closet. I have SO MUCH fabric laying around from various thrifting adventures and a recent haul, and this particular print has been calling out to me, practically begging to be turned into some sort of fall garment.

I used up most of a Sunday putting this together, but it was worth it, I think.
The pattern was kind of a fluke. I just cut a basic shift silhouette, and when it ended up being too wide, I pinched in about an inch and a half down the center front, sewed it up, pressed it flat and topstiched it down. Voila, faux placket. Then I took some gape out of the back neckline with two small pleats.



The collar was draped right on my dressform and I drafted some long-ish ties.
The arm opening is one of my favorite treatments; it comes from Colette Patterns' Sencha blouse. Finished it up with some small black buttons and a shirt-dress style rounded hem.

I have to say, I'm pretty into it.

The Mockup Saga: Completion?

So I've been working on and off with this beast (mostly on), and I am happy to say, we have a dress. And not only that, and incredibly well-fitted dress. For reals, I am so excited about how this dress looks and feels on my body. It's like buttah.

Without further ado, my wearable mockup:







I have yet to hem it and add a hook and eye at the back zip, but she's "done" for now.
I'm thinking I might toss it in a dye bath, too. The print is a little too much for me. I'm a grays and blacks sort of lady, so I might have to gloom up the red and yellow floral with a more muted wash. I just need to test out some swatches because the sheer self fabric is some kind of synthetic blend and the lining is cotton. Hmm.

Also, here's a bonus "insides" shot just because I am so pleased with my work:



Final thoughts before the actual dress?
- I'm toying with the idea of an underwire.
- I need to figure out a plan of attack for a lapped zipper or loop/button placket.

That's all for now. I'll probably post on the outcome of possible dye adventures.