Kwik Sew 3611 - Mini Tunic Dress

I've been trying to expand my wardrobe options a bit by making some of my warm weather pieces work for cooler days. I have a mini dress from Velvet (purchased a few years back at Anthropologie) that I love and wear often during the summer. Last week I decided to pair it with leggings, a long cardigan and tall boots and it was a perfect casual outfit for the office. Not only was it cute, but it was so incredibly comfortable, that I decided to make a few more for my closet.

Kwik Sew 3611 was a great base pattern as it already had the right general shape and the upper bodice section was perfect.

I took measurements from the Velvet dress and added a narrow midriff band to the bodice and re-drew the skirt pieces to more closely match the inspiration dress. Instead of the skirt pieces being just plain rectangles, they are now an a-line shape with some gentle shaping at the bottom.

I was able to eke out a wearable muslin using the leftover fabric from this DVF dress I made last year. I forgot how stretchy the fabric is, though, and the midriff band stretched out a bit more than I had planned. While the dress generally fits well, for the next version I will add about a half inch to the length of the upper bodice and will decrease the width of midriff band by about an inch.

All in all though, I really like it and it's great to have another tunic-type dress that will work with leggings and boots or flats. Even though this version is a bit looser than I had hoped, I figure that won't be such a problem in the next few months as my expanding belly fills in the extra space. ;)

Yup, we're expecting a new member of the family this fall! We're very excited and are still in a bit of disbelief that it's actually happening. After a couple of shopping trips this weekend where I started looking at maternity stuff, expect a lot more posts like this. I think I'll be making a lot of my clothing for the next few months - it'll not only be less expensive, but I think I'll have a higher likelihood of actually enjoying what I'm wearing that way, too. ;)

Simplicity 3503 - The silk jersey gown

Note to self - jersey dresses are totally the way to go for formal events with short sewing deadlines. The fitting is easier, the dresses are more comfortable (at least for me) and if you make it in something as luxe as silk jersey, the drape and movement is just beautiful. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with this gown. :)

After attaching the skirt to the muslin bodice, I realized I had actually mis-judged my size and needed to jump down one. Thankfully, re-tracing the pieces was quick and then it was a breeze to cut out the dress pieces from that beautiful silk jersey and sew it up. I did a self-lining for the upper bodice portion and then used a thick beefy rayon jersey to line the midriff band and the skirt. This made the dress feel nice and stable and provided an extra layer of warmth against the legs - especially nice since we had a real cold spell this weekend in Los Angeles. Aside from lining the skirt, I sewed the dress exactly per the pattern instructions. Such a wonderfully drafted pattern and one that I'm sure to revisit this summer.

My friend Rachael, that owns Charmed Beauty came up and did my hair and make-up. After putting in the time on a great dress, it was well worth it to splurge for professional hair and make-up to boot. She did a fabulous job and I felt so pretty and chic.

The event itself was lovely. The food was delicious, the decor delightful and the whole vibe of the event happy and uplifting. Shaun Robinson from Access Hollywood hosted the auction portion of the event and she was great. I always knew she was pretty, but in person, she is tiny and drop dead gorgeous. Wow.

The California Science Center does some amazing work for our community. The science outreach they do to kids of all ages, but especially minority and lower income students is really fantastic and much needed. As a science nerd myself, anything that fosters a love of science in children gets a huge kudos from me.

Here is one last picture from the night with my cutie pie husband Jim. Such a fun evening!

The downside to sewing

So hi! I'm still here. Hope folks are still reading. Heh. I swear I'm in a post-holiday fit of lazy because unless it's working, hitting the gym or playing in the sewing room, I'm not doing too much. I have cute things to show from the sewing room, but my photographer (aka Jim) has been slammed at work and photoshoots have taken a back burner. Ah well, I'm sure I'll catch up eventually.

Anyways, back to the point of this post. We were fortunate enough to be invited to the California Science Center's Discovery Ball again this year. While I love the dress I made for last year's event, I wanted something new - both because that dress is now a little too big and with food being a huge focus this year, I really want a jersey gown so that I'm comfy from cocktail hour through dessert. ;)

While I've been toying around the sewing room here and there, I was kind of hoping that I could just cop out actually making a dress and just buy one. I had a little extra time before the gym one day and ran next door to Macys, one with a huge dress department. I found dresses that fell into one (or more) of the following categories:
a) OMG, that is ugly as sin!
b) Wait, they want HOW MUCH for that?!
c) Well, that'll only $200 of alterations, but I'm sure it will look fine afterwards

Le sigh. Needless to say, I left realizing I should really just suck it up and make something. Sure, it wouldn't be inexpensive, per se, but it would still be less money than a RTW dress, it would be simple, something that fit me well and that I would feel good in. And that is when I came to the conclusion that as many upsides as the world of sewing has, it pretty much completely removes ones ability to dash into a store and settle on any old garment. Because, unlike most shoppers, sewists actually have options and the make-it-yourself one is most often much better than the RTW one.

The next week I drove my still slightly frustrated self down to Mood and happily found my favorite gal working. She helped me select the fabrics for last year's silk number and has been great fun to work with on other more mundane shopping trips, as well. She listened to my initial thoughts, pretty much confirmed that I was on the right track and 30 minutes later, I marched out with a bag of lining fabric and interfacing and an order for 4 yards of a beautiful navy silk jersey. It's a nice alternative to black, but should look great with my bronze heels and bronze-gold jewelry.

This past weekend, since the fabric is still in route, I made a wearable muslin of the selected pattern - Simplicity 3503, view E.

Save for nipping it in a bit on the sides of the bodice, it fits beautifully right out of the envelope. Love that!! I just have to finish up the skirt on the wearable muslin and then I will have a dress I can wear to work and that will easily transition to spring with a change of shoes and accessories. This design is so well drafted and since it's fully lined, it just feels really good to wear. I am guessing I will be making several more of these this summer.

Now, I just need to get the real fabric, get it cut out and sewn up. Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, I'll have a finished dress and will be all ready for the ball. And yes, pictures of the final look are forthcoming. I'll actually have my photographer at the event, so it should make it easier to convince him to snap a pic. ;)

Holiday Wrap-up

So yeah, I kinda took a bit of a blogging break there, huh? After a crazy Fall, I tried to keep December as stress-free as possible and that basically meant that sewing and blogging got to take a backseat to all of the other holiday activities. While I may not have been sewing, I was spending enough time in the kitchen to more than make up for it.

This year, I spent a full 3 day weekend baking and making sweet treats for co-workers and other friends and family. The goodies were packed into individual boxes and delivered over several days. I think I made somewhere around 600+ white chocolate pretzels snacks, 5 dozen gingerbread snowflakes, 20 dozen cakeballs, 5 dozen gingerbread cakes and a tray of brownies. Yeah, it was nuts. Pictures from the kitchen madness:

Two weeks later, we had my mom and brother over for a small Christmas Eve dinner before we opened gifts and generally made merry. I grabbed the ham from Honey Baked Ham shop so I could focus on the sides - slow cooker gratin potatoes, creamed spinach, roasted carrots with dill and roasted asparagus. For dessert, homemade pumpkin pie.

Add to that a ton of beer, wine and other spirits and we had a great night.

The next morning, Jim and I were up super early to head off to his parent's house for Christmas breakfast and more gift opening. The breakfast spread is always yummy and expansive including pancakes, breakfast casserole, fruit, muffins, bacon, eggs and a variety of beverages. That afternoon, we had the rest of the extended family (including my mom and brother) over for a full Christmas dinner. The average group is 40+ folks and I'm always amazed that we're able to get everyone seated in the house. See?

I had been asked to make a couple of appetizers, so I made mini caprese bites and a gigantor cheeseball (thanks again Winnie!).

The cheeseball was the hit of the pre-dinner hour. That sucker was gobbled up and only a few dregs were left by the end of the night. Guess I'll file that one in the "tried and true" favorites box. ;) Another rollicking good time was had by everyone, but I was pretty much exhausted by the end of the weekend. It had been a looong month.

We were the definition of boring for NYE, hanging out at the house with a homemade dinner, a bottle of wine and the countdown on television. Even though it wasn't terribly exciting, it was just what we needed. We managed to catch up on some sleep and get the house all put back together before returning to work that Monday, so I'm calling it a win.

And now, here we are in 2011. Crazy! I'm not one for resolutions, but this feels like it's going to be a good year. I figure if it's anywhere close to as awesome as 2010 was, then I will be more than thrilled. I'm back in the sewing room, which I missed terribly and am happy to be back to a normal schedule. Hope the holidays treated everyone well and that 2011 is starting off on the right foot for ya!

Butterick 5397: Easy tunic dress

While it feels like all I've sewn this fall is baby clothes, I have managed to squeeze in a few things for me. I've tired to focus on softball projects that would go together quickly so I could get back to gift sewing. I'm in dire need of dresses for fall/winter, so this Fast & Easy tunic pattern was a no-brainer.

I had originally wanted to make it in a remnant of grey doubleknit in my stash, but there wasn't enough to make it work. Instead, I copied the pattern photos and used a deep red doubleknit - so original. Ha! The construction was a breeze though I did have to alter the pattern a bit to fit my pear-shaped body, cutting an XS on top and tapering to a M in the hips. I had added a few inches to the length, then cut off too much when I went to hem it, so it's a bit shorter than I would have like. Not a huge issue since it will always be worn with tights or leggings.

I wore it to work a few times this fall, but after picking up a classic leopard print scarf, it made a perfect Thanksgiving outfit. Comfy and cute - my kind of holiday dress!

Baby Clothes Bonanza for Blondie's little girl

Much like I did for Vino, I stitched up a bunch of clothes for Blondie's little princess. Even though I love pink, I specifically shied away from sewing pink clothes for her figuring that she would get more pink stuff than she knew what to do with at the shower. Let's just say I wasn't incorrect in my assumption. ;)

First up, my favorite baby gift of late - a minky blanket and coordinating Bedtime Story Pajamas from Oliver + S. I fell in love with this ladybug minky fabric last year and bought a ton of it for my stash. It was nice to use some of it for my bff.

I chose a coordinating red and black quilting cotton for the pajamas. While I thought it might have been too loud at first, it got rave reviews from my co-workers, and Blondie liked them as well.

Blondie and Chaz are huge Chargers fans and I thought it was only right that their little girl have an appropriate outfit to wear to help cheer on the team next year. I've made Butterick 3782 before and I still think it's a winner. This particular version was made from a mid-weight white stretch denim and Chargers quilting cotton. I cut everything on single layer to get the patterns situated just so, although I miscalculated a bit on the back. Oh well, at least I made sure to get the logo right on the booty of the diaper cover. ;) Blondie reported back that this was Chaz's favorite gift. I can't imagine why....

Lastly, I wanted to make a quintessential summer dress for the little gal. I stumbled across Heather Ross Mendocino Swim Class fabric in Pacific and absolutely fell in love with it. It screamed summer, but also felt chic and not too childish. The problem, of course, is that this fabric is now discontinued and only sold on the secondary market. Hmph. I really tried to find something else, but I kept coming back to the Swim Class fabric. I finally just bit the bullet and ordered 2 yards from an Etsy seller - one for this dress and one for my stash. Hey, if I was going to go to all the trouble to get this fabric, I wanted some for me, too.

Can I just tell you that not only is this print adorable in person, but the fabric itself is amazing. It's a beautiful crisp cotton with a slightly brushed feel. Even after a tumble in the washer and dryer, it maintained it's character. I really wish I had been sewing when this line was first released. I think I would have bought the entire line, no joke.

Anyways... the dress. I knew I wanted a classic sundress - round neck, sleeveless, big gathered skirt - and ultimately settled on Simplicity 3854. When I first cut out and sewed up the skirt portion, I really thought I had made a mistake. I could have worn the thing as a (very short!) skirt, it was that wide around. However, once I started the gathering and got it attached to the bodice, I fell in love. LOVE! You guys, I think this might be my favorite thing I've sewn to date. Like, I've already warned Blondie that if we ever have a daughter, I totally want to borrow this back from her. I made sure to finish everything with french seams or bias tape so there isn't a raw seam to be found. I really love the juxtaposition of the formal dress shape with the casual quirky cotton fabric. The deep machine hem on the skirt also adds to the balance. This really feels like something that would be sold in a baby boutique, so I was pretty much thrilled to be able to give it as a gift.

One last touch was adding a baby bolero (from the same pattern) in aqua cotton. I think a bit of piping might have dressed it up, but I was very under the gun, so self-bias tape had to do.

Not clothing and I had to break my "no pink" rule here, but I did make her a set of flannel-backed burp clothes. I knew that the nursery was pink and brown and thought she might appreciate that at least one thing that I made matched her theme. Again, this is becoming a favorite baby gift item - easy to make, useful and super cute!

So, it is a damn good thing we had Blondie's shower when we did. The following Saturday morning, at 36 weeks, her water broke and by lunch that day, she was cradling her daughter MJ in her arms. :) I was able to go and see her after Thanksgiving and OMG, she is so teeny tiny and absolutely precious. Blondie and Chaz are smitten and I can see why. Blondie is a trooper and we still made it out for a bit of Black Friday shopping with Sporty where she was able to get a bag of tiny little clothes for MJ. Needless to say, they didn't have a whole lot of newborn stuff on hand so now she is all set for winter. I figure it's only a few years before Blondie's daughter will start to join us on our crazy after-Thanksgiving shopping excursions. Puts a smile on my face just thinking about it. :)