The dress that almost made it to Baltimore

Well, we completed our trip to Baltimore. I got a chance to go to G-Street; all I can say is I think they need to open a store in Denver! I got plenty of bounty from there, which I'll talk about later.

Prior to leaving though I was working on a dress that I was hoping to take with me but didn't get done in time, so I finished it up when I got back. (I only had the facings on the neckline and arms to complete).

There are quite a few things I learned but the most important is to ALWAYS DO A MUSLIN, no matter how simple the dress may seem. Just luckily I had enough fabric to make the dress twice!

I made the dress view starting with a size 14. The changes that I did to the pattern were:

1. Took in at the waistline
2. Added an additional 2 inches at the hip line.
3. Changed the hemline so that it was straight rather than asymmetrical
4. Used a serged rolled edge hem on the ruffle on the dress hemline
5. Removed the zipper all together and just had a slit opening, since the dress ties at the neckline. (The dress had a tie opening for the first 8 inches then a zipper which extended to the hip)

I used a fabric from my stash that was a Georgette, and a solid red Georgette for the lining. This was probably the most difficult and time consuming portion of making the dress. Since it was sliding I ended up cutting it on top of a layer tissue paper. (Another reason why I didn't want to deal with a zipper in this dress).
The pattern was only 5 pieces: front, back, bias trim for neck & armhole, ties for dress back, and ruffle on hem. At first I figured that this shouldn't be that big a deal as far as the fit so why do a muslin (famous last words as always!). Well I forgot that I am a woman with some stuff in my trunk so the first version was too snug through the hip line. Thank GOD I had bought 6 yards of this fabric when I originally purchased it. So now I got to do it over, but this time I did up a quick muslin.
Dress on my old dress form (time for an updated form, but that's a different posting at a later time):
The completed dress on me (Sorry, my official photographer is off to college, and my replacement photographer is watching a football game - SMILE - so in the meantime I'm doing my photos.)
So here is the fabric that I will make the 2nd go around of the dress in:

Guinan's in the house

A co-worker of mine retired, and is a very BIG Star Trek fan. So for his retirement celebration, we did a "Star Trek" skit written by my manager. I got to be Guinan. Needless to say I couldn't find a pattern so I had to make my outfit. The dress was McCall's 5512:

To make the dress I lengthened it to just past the knee. Also I didn't put lining in it, since this was one of those "only to be worn once" type outfits.

The hat is from Butterick pattern 3664 (OOP). Its View E without the Brim, and a large circular piece added to the top (A popcorn can tin was used as the pattern for the top). I used two layers of cardboard to give stiffen the top and give it shape.

By the way have you seen the news..., There's snow in Colorado and lots of it!

Fabric Stash & Butterick 5216

(I had to take my own pictures, my photographer decided to go to a Rockies game - SMILE).

Well, here's another one from my fabric stash. This was a border print that I purchased a couple of years ago for about 50 cents a yard. It took 4 yards, because the border was actually crosswise (printed like panels); so it only costs me $2 in fabric. You can't buy a top that cheaply from the store.

I just wanted a quick little top to wear with jeans, and it definitely was quick, took maybe 2 hours to make.

The neckline was plunging to say the least. More, than I needed to show, so I took one of the diamond motifs and placed in the opening.

I'll probably make it again in a solid print and use a piece of lace for the inset (no way am I wearing this top without an inset!)

Next blog, a vintage dress I made from a pattern given to me by my mom!

Butterick 5033 and my fabric stash

Well I went thru my stash, and found a nice piece of fabric to make Butterick 5033 vintage dress from.

It was a very easy dress and I am loving the flowiness of the skirt. The fabric I made it from was in my stash, so not really sure what the content is (purchased before I got wise enough to start recording the fabrics in my stash - SMILE). Its a very lightweight fabric, and the skirt hangs beautifully.