Dress Project: Finished Product!!

On Friday, we had our little "fashion show," to present our finished garments.

My creation!

I ended up changing some things last minute, like the sleeves. The sheer fabric I bought turn out to be delicate to the extreme, so I redrafted a sleeve I could do in cotton so that she'd actually be able to wash her dress like a normal piece of clothing.

This is my favorite picture from the day :)

I'm really pleased with how the dress I made turned out; it fits her really well AND she likes it. Also, I'm in LOVE with the one she made me! It's so adorable, with that floral skirt and the details on the bodice.

I can't wait for summer when we can wear theeese.

Dress Project: Part 1 (the mock-up)

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY

Draftingdraftingdrafting

All cut out and traced!

My little buddy keeps me company

Top half done

Both halves done!

Rach and I are the same measurements so I tried it on

Skirt came out perfectly :)

Practicing with sheer fabric for the sleeves

Also known as "satan fabric" (this stuff at least)

On the actual model!

Sleeves came out TOO poofy, that'll be toned down

That's the first half done!
I just spent 11 hours in the studio today working on the dress in the real fabric. It's going to be niiiiice. It's due on Friday, so I'll post a final version soon after that!

((All photos taken by my craptastic camera phone))

To Sew This Summer

1. Knock-off AA lace bra
2. Panel Skirt
3. Panel Skirt with fly zipper (OH GOD)
4. Flowy Skirt (off white, sheer overlay)
5. "Modern Dartless Shape" Top

I think that's a big enough list for now...

(coming soon: [aka once I get motivated enough to organize the photos] the saga of my first drafting project!)

Summer Projects

My new roomie this summer is also in Costume Studies at Dal, and we've made an agreement. We will actually do summer projects. I want to make myself things I like! I have a giant folder on my computer of images I've grabbed from everywhere for inspiration... so it's finally time to put them to good use.

I know I need to ease myself into it, get used to sewing in my room instead of the lovely studio, so I've picked two starter projects that I want to make before I leave for the Czech Republic in June.

Nice, big + flowy, but w/ fitted sleeves.
[forgotten where this is from]

Light + summer-y, also flowy.
[Modcloth]

That's pretty much the perfect skirt I envision with my new boots. Wear it with some sheer grey tights and slouchy cardigan or a leather bomber jacket, depending on the weather, and I'd be happy as a clam.

Only Schoolwork I Want To Do

Our final project for our pattern drafting class is finally coming up! It's really the only thing left in this school year that I want to do.
We picked partners at the start of term and drafted basic patterns to fit them. Now, we get to pick out a dress or jacket to make for them. It has to have certain things (just so we don't all make something really easy) but we basically just get to pick a picture of something we like from a magazine, then make it!

I picked this, found it on Karmaloop

My partner really likes wrap dresses, so this was a good choice for her. I think it looks a bit like a dressing gown, though, so i'm going to change some things when I make it. I'm going to make the skirt all one piece, without that rise at center front, and I'm not going to make it out of a silky fabric. I'm leaving it up to my partner whether she wants the sash.

We went out on Friday to pick out fabric for our projects, and actually having the fabric is making me so excited to get started.

Fabric for the dress!

The solid pink is cotton, and going to make up most of the dress. The pretty (so so so pretty) sheer pink fabric with the little gems is going to be for the sleeves. I'll also probably use it to cover the waistband and the cuffs. There'll be am invisible zipper on the side, so the back will still look clean and uninterrupted.

Ooooo, I just can't wait to start this!

The Perfect Jeans

Many years ago I found the perfect pair of jeans. They slouched casually on my hips and hugged my thighs. It was a wonderful love affair.
But I was hard on them, and they grew holes, and then skinny jeans came and knocked all the bell bottoms out of my closet.I kept my favorite jeans though, remembering their wonderful fit. They languished in the rear of my closet for a while, then were rescued momentarily last summer and cut up to become my new favorite jean shorts! But I got lazy and never got around to hemming them (cut offs sadly weren't an option due to the upper thigh holes I had worn into them).

This Saturday I'm headed to a show by one of my favorite bands. Like any good kid who's into the local scene, I need to rep and obscure and/or broken up band with my shirt, but I had no idea what to were for bottoms! The show was supposed to be outside but the venue can't afford it anymore and now it's going to be in a small concrete cube, which I know gets sweaty as balls. Quite literally. Sweaty as sweat-dripping balls.Answer? JEAN SHORTTSSSS. They'll match my Risky Business shirt well, since I was forced to buy a kid's size at their last show and I need a pair of jeans that won't give me a horrendous muffin top, but will also hold out to me moshing my little heart out.

My new shorts, all hemmed and more wonderful than I remembered.
(Also a new bracelet! Blog post to come about my love for it.)