My favorite dress

Have you ever had that feeling when you first starting sewing something that it was going to be a winner?  That's what happened with this dress.  I have made it before here, and loved it, but this version is much classier I think.  This is Butterick 5353 on top with New Look 6224 on the bottom and once again, it is a winner!!

All fabrics were again from my stash.  From left to right: black and white polka dot cotton for the lining of the bodice portion, crazy swirl cotton I used for piping, lightweight cotton for the skirt lining and black linen for the public side of the dress.

The piping was fun to make and it just kept getting better and better the more I sewed.  Here is the neckband and the waistline band with their piping sewn on.

Then I started sewing the bodice together and that little pop of color sandwiched between the black was fabulous!

Close-up - yes!!  Look at that!!  Ooh-la-la!

Close up of the finished neck band.

And finished waistband.

The inside bodice polka dots ads a bit of fun too.

I wanted to nice transition between the bodice and the skirt lining so I decided to edge it with a bit of rick rack.

Here are the fronts inside and out....

And the backs inside and out....

 Me again....

Left side inside and out....

And right side inside and out...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Now I just need the weather to warm up just a bit so I can wear it out in the wild...

Stashbustin continues!  Here are the totals for this dress:

Linen = 2 yards
Lining cottons = 2 yards
Piping = .5 yards
Total = 4.5 yards
YTD Total = 11.875

Happy sewing everyone!
Star

February MAGAM Determined

The theme for February's MAGAM Challenge is Freaky Fearful February - meaning - sew something that scares you.

My particular sewing fear is working with lycra fabric to make workout wear.  I attempted it once, but was unhappy with the results and was a bit fearful during my yoga practice that my backside would rip out and I'd be showing off more than my inability to hold Plank for longer than a few seconds.  Well - since that time, I'm happy to say that my yoga has improved and we'll see if my sewing ability has too!

So - I guess it's time to now face that workout wear fear and give it another go.  I have several fabrics to select from already in the stash.  I have quite a bit of the black and white fabric on the left so I might use that one for my practice pair.

As far as patterns to choose from, I just purchased two new ones to try.  Kwik Sew 4163:



And Butterick 6295:


I like the cell phone pocket on the Butterick pants and the top as well, but I might start with the Kwik Sew pants first and avoid the complication of the pocket for my first try.

Anyways, just a short post today.

Wish me luck!

Star

Burda "French" Skirt with Godet

This skirt is from the Burda Magazine - August 2012 issue - #112.  I call it my "French" skirt because I remember this issue of the magazine was focusing on French style at the time. I've made this skirt twice before using a plain black wool and a woven plaid wool.  This version however, has been lurking in the closet as a UFO in the project bin for quite awhile.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to finish because I found the perfect piece of jewelry to compliment it a few years ago.... I mean really - could a necklace match better than this with all of those different colors??

The skirt is fully lined.  I used a plain black rayon lining on this one so nothing fancy this time to show on the inside.

I bought the "fabric" from a thrift store and at the time, it was a women's jumpsuit.  Here's the right side of the fabric - rather boring I think...

When I looked at the inside of the jumpsuit - this is what the wrong side looked like - much, much more interesting.  

There are so many colors in the skirt, the color pairing options are endless.  Here it is with a purple sweater and McCall's 6844 cardigan.

The skirt pattern is a variation on a pencil skirt.  You can see from the back the pencil shape.  The godet added to the front gives it more room to move than the average pencil skirt.  

I decided to cut the godet fabric against the grainline to add a little more interest.  Sorry - it's a bit wrinkly but this is after wearing it all day at work. 

I made this skirt about 2 inches shorter than my other two versions.  Here's a comparison of all three skirts.  Black one is a bit wrinkly from being smashed in the closet....

 On the plaid skirt, I used a reverse on the godet portion too.

Voila!  Another completed alien!!

I'm counting this towards the stashbustin total too.  Total guesstimate on the yardage is 1.5 for the skirt and 1.5 for the lining = 3 yards total for the skirt.  This brings the YTD total to 7.375 yards.  A bit of a slow start to the year, but I'm getting there.

That's it for now.
Happy Sewing everyone!
Star