Summer dress 1

    I'm very proud of my self, because this is the first time that I've been sewing summer garments ahead of summer! Usually I start sewing the season's look while deep into the season and as you can imagine I'm rushing into things and never meet my goals. So right after finishing my wool cape I picked up this half finished dress from last year. It was left half finished because I started it in late September and since the weather got all chilly I left it half done. 

   It is made of linen with embroidered hem. I didn't want to mess with the hem so I eliminated the side seams and made them as darts! In order to achieve that, I placed all 3 pattern pieces (one front and two sides) right next to each other and created a continuous hem line. So that way I managed to have only one back seam.

(the back zip is not twisted all the time...bad moment I just found out, sorry)

I used the pattern I had used for my blue lace dress last year, lowering the back a little.

     I can't understand why, but when I added the lining, a light beige loosely woven cotton, the fitting kind of changed. I don't mind any way, but I'm still wondering why!

    I didn't really want to use lining, but I had too, because do these little windows over here. And who cares when I'm standing, but when sitting down... not a good point of view... not at all!

    The embroidered hem of course is that made me buy this fabric. Firstly I thought about making a circle skirt, but then I came to be very fond of this look, a simple dress with a little something.

This is the back seam. I tried to have the motif continuous, but I didn't have enough fabric and that was my best choice.

This is the darted side seam.

and these are all vertical seams

front in details

 (those american shoulders make my arms look muscular haha)

back in details

I used my favourite bias finishing method.

See you around

Maria 

P.S. This is summer dress one, because I have planned 2 more. This is the basic plan and I'll very happy if I get to stick to it!

I just fell in love

... with this dress from the new Summer 2012 collection over at Simplicity.

Isn't it lovely?
Of course Cynthia Rowley. Oh I love her perspective.
Light, summery, flowy, classy but shashy at the same moment. Would look great with a cropped jacket or cardigan. For a simple walk, but also for work and why not a special occasion. The right fabric will get the best out of this pattern.
I mostly like the sleeveless version the model is wearing.
Look at the contrasting lines. Back and front has the same shape.
Combination of curves and geometric shapes.
Lovely, just lovely.
I'm going to spent the rest of the day daydreaming about it!

See you around

Maria

Wilma Flintstone costume

    I just love carnival! Not only for the parties, happy atmosphere and the fact that you can go out on the street looking like crazy and no one will stare at you, but also for the crafting possibilities. It's limitless!

   This year I decided to be Wilma Flintstone! I came up with the idea just a day before the party I would go to. It was a speed race and I was lucky enough to remember that Burda had a pattern about this exact costume a couple of months ago. I'm saying lucky because memory and me are two very separate ideas! 

   I had so much fun making this dress and it was really quick. Of course I didn't really care about couture details and a spotless inside of the clothe. As long as it fitted me right and I looked like Wilma I was happy.

Sorry about the wrinkles.

When I came from the party I just throw it on a chair and then I got too lazy...

I had a hard time styling the wig.

I couldn't find anything better in orange than a long hair wig.

I made the updos my self and it took too long and too many bobby pins!

See you around

Maria

PS. I also made Fred Flintstone, but I'm afraid I can't show that costume for the moment. I need to get it back in my hands first or get some proper pictures.

Chasing my tail

   Hello all! I know I have not been around much. I'm sorry for that. But in the following days I'll make it up to you! I have been sewing like crazy. While I was in the middle of a major project, involving a lot of hand sewing and all of my attention, I had to get into another great project for this event I have to attend. My graduation ceremony! I've been waiting for that for so long. I made the cover dress for BWF 2-2012!

    It's so weird seeing the same dress hanging in my sewing room and on the cover of the magazine! I used the same colours and I found a belt in the pretty pink, a bit darker though. I'm not sure if I'll wear the belt though, cause it doesn't match my shoes. I'll try to take good pictures from the ceremony to show you.

   Now I have to get back to chasing my tail, cause that's how it feels when you are constantly on the run, between work, family, friends, carnival parties and costume making (I'll show you these too) and all these sewing projects and alterations in my mind, I can't get to set a priority among them, because I want them all and I want them now! It still feels nice sewing for special occasions, even with limited time!

See you around

Maria

Sew me to look like her!

 I'm so happy when this happens!

Remember that McCall's lace dress pattern by Phoebe Couture (6505) I told you about the other day and then I ordered on sale?

  

This pattern is ideal for lace, because it has minimal seams.

Look what I found

Source

   

This is Lauren Conrad in her Note by Marchesa dress.

It looks identical to me! 

Ok it's not, but it's very close and with the right lace choice you can make it.

          Source

The basic difference is the back.

The McCalls pattern has a deeper back, while the Marchesa dress doesn't.

                     Source

Source

Now I love it even more!

Without being certain about that,

I also think the Marchesa dress has an under-dress with spaghetti straps,

while the McCalls dress is one piece.

Happy sewing everyone

See you around

Maria

I have a cursed dress

    Let's take things from the beginning. About a month and a half ago I had to go to this wedding. I had one week time (excluding work and sleep hours) to sew a new dress, because, as every woman, I have an empty closet!

   I looked through my patterns and I found the perfect one. Simple but elegant. Long, black, made of satin crepe, while using both sides of the fabric, front slit. Just perfect. It is pattern 110 from BWF 12/2006.

   So I went fabric shopping and I found the exact same black satin crepe! Can you  imagine my joy? On a very good price too. I got all my notions and I headed home with a big smile on my face.

   I cut the pattern pieces, sewed up a muslin, tried it on and ohhh so perfect. A few dart adjustments, as always, a little bit on the shoulder and let's make that decolte a little wider... perfect! I transfered the alterations on the paper pattern and I was on fire and on schedule! It was Saturday night.

    In the following days I cut the fashion fabric and I begun to sew. Everything was going smoothly. I decided not to line the dress. I was calm, concentraded and I was progressing fast. ...until I realised that for a while I was sewing with long stitches. I check and recheck my sewing machine's setting and what I had chosen was not what my machine was doing. While trying to adjust everything from scratch, I heard a snap. Something broke...

   So I'm standing still, not breathing, having a half finished dress on my lap, while the clock was ticking, staring at a broken machine. Come on sewing machines don't just break. What on earth happened? I pulled my self together and I tried making a couple of stitches on a scrap piece of fabric. My machine was still sewing in big basting stiches, as before. And that was the only thing "she" could do. No adjustings and settings allowed, not even zic zac in big basting stitches. Only straight basting stitch. Just 4 days (working days for me) before the wedding. Crap...

  No time to take the machine for a repair, no alternative choice for what to wear that day. So I settled down with my options and decided to keep sewing, even with basting stitch. After all the dress is black, my fabric is good quality and I know how to make things work. And I did. I had mittered corners, self faced seam allowances (no zic zac stitch remember?), hong kong finished hem, hand sewn front slip. I had everything a night gown calls for. And I looked stunning in it!

    I went to the wedding and a couple of days later my machine went to the "doctor". Now she's back and all healthy. The "doctor" said what happened to her was very weird!

    For the next weeks the dress had been sitting on a chair waiting to be hand hemmed again, because my heel ripped of the old hemming while dancing. By the way I haven't still done that and I'm not sure if I will!!!

   Last Saturday I decided to photo shoot me, with the dress on. I hadn't done it so long, because I was hopping I would get the chance to take some pics in the sunshine, but since that never happened...

   So I got all dressed up, cleaned the room, made my setting, fixed the tripod, took my camera off it's case and it slipped right of my hands, fell on the floor, not on the carpet, on the floor and it broke. Now it's totally dead. I can't turn it on, the lens won't move a bit. Took a big breath, took the memory card out. I had taken a test shoot with the dress. My PC won't read the memory card.

   So let's think about this again :

   - while I was sewing the dress my sewing machine broke down

   - while I was photo shooting the dress my camera broke

   if that's not a curse what is??? I swear to you, I wanted to scream so hard and rip that dress off.

   To be honest with you, I didn't try hard enough to "read" that memory card. I'm afraid that the moment that picture will be on my PC's screen, my PC will shut off and never turn on again! I'm afraid that if I manage to upload that single photo on my blog, my blog will be forever erased! I'm afraid you'll have to settle with this story and no photos. The cursed dress is folded in the bottom of my closet and will remain in the dark for a long long time!

   The bad news is that, I'm afraid, I can't blog without a camera. How will I show you my finished wrap? How will I show you my new scarf? How will I show you my Christmas crafting? Until I'll be able to fix that camera or buy a new one please be patient with me.

   That's all folks. Now I have to go write Santa a letter, asking for a new camera.

 See you around

Maria

  

Another back slit problem solved

     If you've read or tried out my tutorial of How to fix a torn back slit of a dress/skirt, this is another version of it, based on the same idea. 

    So I bought this beautiful linen dress, that had a huge back slit, rising way to high up. So I had to take it down a bit. But as you can see the linen is so delicate, I would definitely have to strengthen that seam, or it would get badly torn. 

    In my previous tutorial I used interfacing, but this fabric is so transparent it would look ridiculous. Interfacing only comes in white and black, so no luck with that. I didn't have any seam tape around and a piece of twill tape I found, was in white.

     Luckily I found in my stash (which is always great to have) a piece of matching colour ribbon!

    So here's what I did. I ripped the seams, placed the two pieces together and pinned them. On the seam line to be, I pinned half the ribbon and I pinned the other half on the other side. So my needle would meet ribbon - fabric - fabric - ribbon. Got it?

I stitched over it, for as long as I wanted to shorted that huge back slit.

Pressed open really good and if I use my strong camera flash you can see the ribbon shinning there

but it doesn't show with bare eye!

I didn't touch the slit on the lining, for more walking ease.

See you around

Maria

Back for good :-(

     I'm back from vacations :-(

    I don't feel like sewing though... that's weird, but it's probably because I'm still mentally swimming in blue seas and taking long walks in sandy beaches. 

    Just before I left for my last trip to Crete, I couldn't help it and I made one more shirred dress. These are the best. Easy to make, easy to fit for almost anyone and with a few accessories you can look stunning. This last one was made for my friend Popi.

    Here is my little model at Knossos Palace. 

and then for shopping

    I used this beautiful white cotton eyelet. I lined the dress with white cotton and for it's one back seam I used a French seam. I was too excited and in such a hurry, cause I was travelling the next day and I didn't take photos of the finished dress... 

See you around

Maria

Mom's new dress

This is Burda 5/2008, model 117.

Quite easy pattern,with grossgrain ribbon details.

Flatters a woman with a tummy, like my mother.

This is the back.

Simple with no gatherings, just two waist darts.

I used this method to sew the lining to the zip and I loooooooved it so much.

No more boring hand sewing and annoying tape scratching my skin!

Perfectly aligned edges too.

An internal view of the front.

I did this little trick with this dress. I know how to fit me, but with mother is not as easy.

So, since I was bored to cut a muslin and then the dress and then the lining, I used the lining as a muslin!

If something went wrong I would cut a new lining. 

So after fitting adjustments and all, I had perfectly made the lining and all there was left to do is make the rest of the dress.

So much easier. I'm going to do this again.

I also added the seam allowances on the paper pattern.

I don't know why I had never done this before.

I started sewing Burda patterns and I got used to the process of adding the seam allowances, but it gets so boring and mistakes are easy to happen.

I remember my enthusiasm the first time I used a pattern with included seam allowances!!!

You go through the process once and that's all!

The pattern pieces align so much better too.

My only complain is that after all the pressing I did, the fabric still won't lie flat at the edges...

Hopefully I doesn't look like that on her.

See you around

Maria

Beach dress!

    

    Have you seen all these bags and dresses with a draping made by big wooden beads? Well I did and I thought it would be easy to make one of my own. 

    Ι made this beach dress. To be honest with you, I was going for a sun dress, but wrong choice of fabric led to a beach dress. It's ok I guess. I should have used a lighter fabric... next time!

And this is the back

It goes beyond the bra line.

I tried my wing needle, that I got from gonesewing.com, at the hem. 

What do you think?

If the fabric was lighter, considering the tread tension, the design would have been more obvious...

(Sorry I'm not modelling the dress my self, I need to make some arrangements for a shooting space.) 

For the beads

I bought two of these bracelets with wooden beads, a euro each.

I tested that their colour won't end up on the fabric, by wrapping one of them in a piece of fabric and washing it.

Their actual size is this

I have a bit less than a bracelet left, I should find some use for it.

See you around

Maria

The summer style you can sew

    Ok ok I know, to much talk and no sewing. I don't have time these days, please be patient with me. I am working on a straw clutch, I've made a muslin of a dress that won't fit no matter what (urg) and a dozen of projects on my mind.

  I read this article that Cameron Diaz pulled out the coolest summer look. Actually her stylist Rachel Zoe. It's a shirt dress.

Source

       Nothing too special or fancy right? Isn't that what summer is all about? I love the look and her sandals. Maybe her sandals more! If you want to make it yours, it's easy. Choose your favorite shirt pattern and lenghten it or use one of BurdaStyle's patterns. For example pattern 117 from Burda 5/2011.

Or pattern 108 from Burda 1/2011. You can also download this one from here.

                                 

I prefer this one more. I think that pleat in the back will be a great feature with a belt. How about you?

   See you around

Maria