Category Archives: finished project

Laurel, The Gatsby-Hacked Version

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It took way longer than it should have, but I finally finished my version of Laurel. I finished reading The Great Gatsby on my commute the other week, and I wanted something that would capture the decadent, opulent, lush feel of the novel.

Btw, I didn’t realize how sheer this dress was. I’m lucky there’s a brown fence behind most of me.

Edit: Thanks for reminding me guys, I am entering this in the Colette Patterns contest.

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Pattern Description: Loosely fitted basic sheath dress or top.

Pattern Sizing: 0-18. I cut a 4 on top and tapered to a 6 on the bottom.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, sort of.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I have on idea, I didn’t read the directions.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like how versatile and simple this pattern is.

Fabric Used: Sheer crushed velvet.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I changed this pattern a lot. I dropped the neckline, took out the front and back darts, and raised the hem. I wanted a 60s-inspired does 20s-inspired version. I serged the side seams and hem and used seam binding to finish the neckline and armholes. I removed the darts since I didn’t think the crushed velvet could handle it, and I wanted to keep it simple.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes. I’d really like to sew this so it would actually look like Laurel version, and not severely modified.

Conclusion: I’d definitely make this again.

Simplicity 5601: Skull & Roses Tote Bag

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I’m back to taking pictures inside my living room, but hopefully not for long, since I could barely get decent pictures of this project.

This year’s first finished sewing project is a tote bag. I actually finished this last year, a few days ago, but only had a chance to post about it now.

I’ve wanted a really cute tote bag to bring when I do errands for a few months now. I almost bought one on etsy, when I realized I could make one myself for a fraction of the price. I used leftover black denim for the bottom piece and some quilting cotton skull and roses fabric for the main piece. I lined it with the quilting cotton. It’s lightweight and folds up nicely. I’ve used this already to bring my gym things and so far, so good.

The Casual Suspender Skirt

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Pattern used:

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Fabric: Lightweight blue denim, $5/yd, 2 yds
Pattern: McCalls 3730
Year: 1956
Notions: two covered buttons, one invisible zipper, $1
Time to complete: 3 weekday evenings
First worn: I haven’t worn this yet
Wear again? Yes!
Total price: $11

I wanted to emphasize the casual nature of this skirt, since it’s made in light blue denim, so I paired it with a jersey t-shirt and flats.

I’ve wanted a suspender skirt for a long time, and finally got around to making it. However I don’t own a lot of unsaturated colors, so I had a hard time trying to find something to pair it with.

For the most part I stuck with the pattern, but added some changes:

+ shortened the hem
+ adjusted the waist and hips
+ tacked on the suspenders to the covered button instead of making a buttonhole, since making a buttonhole through 2 layers of fabric seemed cumbersome
+ changed the back slit to a back vent
+ adjusted suspender length
+ hand-sewn the inner waistband facing so it wouldn’t flap around when wearing it
+ serged the seams

( crossposted from Sew Weekly )

The Sons of Anarchy Macaron

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Front view.

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This is my first time doing side-seam pockets. Not bad!

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Sitting down. The skirt is very pouffy.

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Checking for pockets.

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Bracelets, snake & roses, closeup.

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Standing next to some shrubbery. You can almost see the bodice contrast here of eyelet vs. lined eyelet, but not really.

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Alright, so this has nothing to do with Sons of Anarchy but I watched a lot of it over the weekend.

I finished Macaron over the long weekend and I like it a lot. I haven’t worn it anywhere yet but it’s very comfortable. I used a cotton tomato warm red eyelet underlined with a cool blue-based red cotton broadcloth, and for the contrast I just used the eyelet as is. It worked out pretty well, but I think I killed all design detail with the bodice since it didn’t have enough contrast.

Adjustments:
+ Re-drafted the waist part to be a straight waist
+ Added gathered skirt with side-seam pockets
+ Removed the sleeves
+ Removed the back neck darts
+ Changed the zipper to be a center back zipper
+ Used invisible zipper

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Pattern used:

Macaron.

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Pattern Review

Pattern Description:
Dress with cap sleeve, contrast fitted bodice, side invisible zipper, pleated skirt with hidden pockets.

Pattern Sizing:
0-18. My sizing was all over the place. I cut a size 4 bodice, size 10 waist, size 6 hips.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
The bodice did, yes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I really liked the unique bodice. Next time I’ll definitely take advantage of this design detail and use a more contrasting fabric.

Fabric Used:
Red cotton eyelet, underlined with red cotton broadcloth

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Plenty. Re-drafted the waist part to be a straight waist, added gathered skirt with side-seam pockets, removed the sleeves, removed the back neck darts, changed the zipper to be a center back zipper.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes and yes. I definitely want to make a second version of this, but with more contrast on the bodice pieces.

Conclusion:
I really like it! Very comfortable to wear.

The Secret Garden Skirt

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Shirt: little hearts on black background, my mom’s
Skirt: homemade
Shoes: Born sandals
Accessories: faux bakelites
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Closeup.

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Closeup on bracelets. (And remote, since Esteemed Sewing Assistant can’t hold a camera yet.)

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Sitting down. Note the voluminous poofiness.

The Facts

Fabric: Teal seersucker with large roses and small roses, $5/yd, 2 yards

Pattern: Self-drafted (come on, it’s two rectangles!)
Year: 1950s inspired
Notions: one invisible zipper, teal, $1
Time to complete: 2 weekday evenings
First worn: I’ve worn this four times now
Wear again? Yes!
Total price: $11

This project is inspired by the children’s novel The Secret Garden. I read this book a long time ago, and I always loved the elements in it: romantic English garden, suspense, childhood exploring.

The fabric for this was originally intended to be the dress part of a Macaron. I bought this fabric during my lunch break at the garment district, so I was in a hurry to get back to work, however when I returned home I realized that the roses fall in a grid pattern: large red roses vertically, small pink roses horizontally. I draped it over my dressform to notice that the roses would look … very odd … when placed over the bodice area. I wadded up the fabric and threw it in the closet in disgust, then realized that it would make a good enough gathered skirt.

I’m trying to sew or wear all black, all the time, so this teal skirt was bit of an experiment for me. I didn’t think I’d like it so much. It’s easily the 50s equivalent of sweatpants, since it is that comfortable. The hips are free and it only fits at the waist. I must have measured wrong since the waist is a tad big. I’ve already worn this to work twice and to a picnic in Prospect Park once.

I also feel like a princess when I sit down, and I notice people on the subway scoot over if they think they’re about to sit on my very voluminous skirt.

All in all, a success! I’m not afraid of color anymore. It doesn’t mean I’m losing my edge or dressing like everyone else. It’s all about the styling. More color, more flowers, bring it on.

( cross-posted on Sew Weekly )

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Btw guys, I took your advice into account, changed the camera angle to head-on, and left my house to take photographs. It wasn’t as traumatizing as I thought. Does anyone have any ideas on how to check depth of field when you’re shooting alone? I usually focus on something then stand right in front of it, but sometimes I just want to stand in front of empty space.

The Rose Print Blouse: Simplicity 1554

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Still not sure how flattering rolls are with my thick hair, but this will have to do for now. I think I’ve finally gotten over my vintage fashion-rebellion and am going back to what I’ve been sewing before. I’m slowly getting over my fear of color as well, but so far have been sticking to dark background prints, red, and black.

I finally this blouse a week or so ago and only had a chance to write about it now. Shown here with Wearing History shorts, I think it’s very versatile and should hopefully work long past Summer and straight into Fall.

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Fabric: Rayon, $7/yd, 2 yards
Pattern: Simplicity 1554
Year: 1945
Notions: black plastic buttons, $1
Time to complete: one week, working on it mostly on evenings
First worn: Hasn’t been worn yet!
Wear again? Yes
Total price: $15

Pattern used:

Simplicity 1554. I made View C, with the peter pan collar.

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I’ve made this before, but only once in View C. It’s hard to see the collar there under all that hair, but it’s there! I used rose print rayon that felt very 40s to me. It was a dream to sew and has great drape.

This is one of my favorite patterns since it can look different with very few pieces and I’d like to make it View D, the only one I haven’t made yet.

Oh. I know I said “no more vintage patterns”, but I should probably be more careful of absolutes from now on. Vintage patterns are definitely back.

Black Gabardine Ginger

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I finally finished the Ginger skirt. Black is very hard to photograph, but it’s comfortable and has great clean lines.

Pattern used:

Colette Ginger.

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Pattern Description:
A-line skirt with back zipper.

Pattern Sizing:
I cut a 10 at the waist and tapered to a 6 at the hips.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I read the first page of the instructions, then stopped reading and did my own thing.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like that it’s very versatile, and has great lines reminiscent of the 40s.

Fabric Used:
Black gabardine. Sewing with plain black always makes a really boring project, but these are the projects that get the most wear from my closet. Hopefully I can upgrade to plain red or plain dark green soon as a base color.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
None. I did the waistband/zipper differently since the directions looks confusing to me. I attached the waistband facing, then stitched in the ditch at the waistband to tack it down.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes.

Conclusion:
Awesome skirt. I can’t believe I waited more than a year to try this.

Vogue 8805: The Black Lace Potato Sack Dress of Fail

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Smurfette is wearing it, so this must be a bad sign.

I finished this dress a few weeks ago, wore it once the day after. It actually didn’t look that bad on Smurfette so I thought I could pull it off.

Then I took pictures of it over the weekend and realized what an ill-fitting, lumpy, potato sack dress of fail it was. The bodice is loosely fitted by design which means the sleeves are baggy and there is no waist definition, also by design. After trying it the way it was meant to be worn it was severely unflattering, so I tried to salvage it by adding a belt that ties in the back. It looked somewhat fine on Smurfette, but what actually happens on me is that since the bodice is so loose and unstructured, it just looks like I put on a black pillowcase and stuck a belt on it.

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Pros
- it’s black
- it has lace

Cons
- No waist definition, so you have to be the right body type (rectangle?) to wear this
- Unfortunately, for those of us not of the right body type, it just makes you look like a lumpy, shapeless mass. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
- High collar is ridiculous and makes me look frumpy
- Not fitted in the shoulders (due to style of the dress) which makes me look like a large potato

I might end up salvaging the top part and turning it into a blouse, since I really like the lace yoke idea.

Merciless pattern review below.

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Pattern Review

Pattern Description:
Pullover dress (semi-fitted through bust) has back neck slit, hook/eye closing and narrow hem. Purchased bias tape finishes neckline. A, B, C, D cup sizes.

Pattern Sizing:
B5(8-10-12-14-16), F5(16-18-20-22-24). I made a size 10. Looking back now, this was probably too big and I should have made an 8, but I didn’t think it would be able to go on over my head if so.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I didn’t read the instructions.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
See above.

Fabric Used:
Black lace, $5/yd
Black rayon, $5/yd

It kinds of breaks my heart to waste the black rayon on this, but I can always get more.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
After I saw how unflattering this was, I tried to salvage it by adding a belt that you can belt at the back. It didn’t work.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Hell no. Sew this only if you are the perfect rectangle type with no curves, or else you will regret it.

Conclusion:
It’s been two weeks since this fail of a dress, so I’m over it now. Lesson learned: pictures don’t lie, make clothes for your body type.

The Leopard Print Dress

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This week’s Sew Weekly theme is to make something inspired by nature, which to me means leopard print. I’ve made McCall’s 6559 many times now, and it’s an easy reliable pattern when your sewing needs some sort of confidence boost.

Fabric: 2 yd, jersey
Pattern: McCall’s 6559
Year: 2012
Notions: none
Time to complete: 3 hours?
First worn: two weeks ago
Wear again: yes!
Total price: $5/yd, for 2 yards = $10

This project was exactly what I needed to make up for last week’s project which wasn’t very flattering. I’ve worn this once already and it’s been very comfortable.

Me and Smurfette, test shot. I hate it when my favorites from the batch turn out to be test shots.

( cross-posted at Sew Weekly )

McCalls 6559: Grey High Low Dress

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Two finished projects in a week, I love knits.

I finished this project back in May as well and only had a chance to post about it now. The best picture from the batch happened to be the front view one, but it looks just like it does on the dressform (on me), and I was too lazy to wait another Saturday to photograph it, especially since I’d finished it more than a month ago.

So far I’ve made a striped version, a black version, and a grey version, and hopefully that will be all the versions I need.