Sewing * Handmade * Eco-Conscious
It’s the first post of 2018!!! I know towards the end of last year when I was busy with lots of holiday travel and releasing my first pattern my regular project posts really fell to a lull. SO… in order to make it up to you I wanted to start this year off with a bang!
You’ve seen me post about this on instagram a couple of times but it definitely deserves its own blog post because… sequins! I’m also including a quick diagram of how I drafted the skirt.
Y’all…. we’ve actually been having some not-so-hot aka almost-fall-like weather down here! Its been so beautiful I’ve wanted to be outside every day. Unfortunately I’ve also been hustling my little booty off so I haven’t had much outdoors time. Feeling thankful for my sweet pup that gives me a reason to at least take a little break in the sun every day. Speaking of my pup… he makes a little cameo appearance in this post. Keep reading for his sweet face and (a lot!) more pictures of this AMAZING dress.
I love a good challenge. From time to time I get friends and family members asking me “hey can you make me this: (insert picture of cute outfit found on pinterest here)?” Often the question is hypothetical, every now and then its serious. When my cousin Tessa sent me a picture of a cute summer dress from one of those horrible cheap clothing sites where everything made in China and asked if she could pay me to replicate it for her honey moon in Greece… I gladly accepted the challenge. Plus.. it had tassels! Keep reading to see the inspiration for this dress and all the details.
How bad of a host am I to JUST NOW be posting the restyle I received for the Restyling Exchange 2017!? I have to admit it was a bit of poor planning on my part. I was out of town for the reveal weekend and once I missed the posting party I just let it all fall by the wayside. Never the less I am so excited to share this with you. Last week, my restyler Sophie shared her process for restyling this dress for me. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already. Read on for my take of this fun refashioned vintage dress.
Back again for round 2! If you caught me last week I was sharing my view B Alder which I made the bold claim of being my new favorite dress. So I guess that would make this my second new favorite dress (because it’s still pretty awesome)! What makes this dress extra special is the fabric! Keep reading for all the details.
Ok seriously… this is me officially saying I’ve learned my lesson. When a new pattern comes out, and it looks amazing, and it’s totally you, and everyone is RAVING about it… DON’T put it at the end of your TBS (to be sewn) list for goodness sake! Jump on the dang bandwagon and move that baby to the top!!
In other words… may I introduce to you my new favorite dress.
Just a short and sweet one today guys! I’m sorry I haven’t been around the last couple weeks. Things at the restaurant have been crazy but I have some very fun stuff coming your way soon.
I wanted to share this simple alteration I made to this cute vintage shirt dress. I love vintage shirt dresses like this one. I feel like they are so classic, timeless, and charming. However, I am not at all a fan of the vintage fit, especially around the shoulders and armholes. It seems the style back then was to have very tight, modest shoulders and armholes. I’m unsure how they even moved! If you’ve been following me for a while you know I prefer a very low armhole… its kind of a neurotic thing of mine but thats how it is. Tight armholes make me feel very constricted and border line panicky. Am I alone in this?
I’ve had this dress forever. I bought it at a thrift shop a few years ago when we still lived in NY. I had already hemmed it (which I wish I would have left it a bit longer, now that the longer cut skirts are in style). But I wasn’t wearing it very often and I realized it was because the shoulder seems came out far and even visually made me look constricted, plus the under arms were very tight. I finally got around to fixing that.
If you follow me on instagram I hinted at doing this tutorial a little while back and well… here it is! One of my many side gigs is doing alterations for the locals in our small town. Recently I had a rush of bridesmaid clients and this is the second time I’ve had to do this particular alteration so I figured it would make a nice tutorial.
This particular alteration is helpful when you need to let out a dress in the bust/torso area but there is no room in the seam allowance to do so. One solution would be to find a matching fabric and add panels on the sides. But rarely is it possible to find a perfect match and this solution does not always look great. If the wearer is up for it, I’ve found a great solution is to add a corseted back in place of the zipper. This gives the wearer adjustable breathing room and doesn’t look like an awkward addition to the dress.
Want to see how its done? Keep reading!
I had such great feedback from my post about my “Double Hacked” cut-out back Colette Laurel dress that I decided to make a tutorial post for you guys. This tutorial will help you create a simple shift dress with a open back cut out using some simple pattern manipulation techniques. As I said, this is a double hacked Laurel. So before you get going with this tutorial, you will first need to download Sarai’s free Mod-ified Laurel hack here. Follow her instructions to modify the original pattern, and before cutting out any pieces in fabric, follow my instructions below.
What really made the Laurel catch my eye was Sarai’s “Mod-ified” hack which adds the pockets and hip seam. Because duh…. Throw pockets on something and I’m bound to make it at some point. I also seem to have trouble not wanting to hack the back out of everything (literally), so with this Laurel I didn’t resist that temptation. I guess you could say that makes it a double hacked Laurel then!
I mostly followed Sarai’s tutorial to add the hip seam and pockets. The only difference is I made the pocket pieces all in one with the dress pieces instead of cutting them separately. I also kept the original Laurel neckline instead of doing the split neck and center seem as in the Mod-ified version. For the back, I think I will have to do a separate post that goes into full detail on how I cut the pattern pieces. But basically I made a seam along the outer dart legs for the side back pieces and followed the inner dart legs for the center back piece. I measured the distance for the shoulder strap (though I ended up having to make it shorter), which I sewed into the back facings that I drafted.
As far as fit alterations go, I cut the pattern in a size 0. The opening in the back was doing some serious gaping, which would’ve provided anyone standing behind me in a line a direct view to my skivvies. It was also generally too loose around the hips, so I just took it in at the side seams from the under arm down into the hip area and back to normal at the hemline.
Fabric is another score that I got from one of my internships in NYC. It has a slight stretch to it and a beautiful woven texture. If I would’ve had more yardage this fabric would be lovely for full pleated skirt. It’s really difficult to photograph but I absolutely love the fabric details and the way the simple shape of the dress lets it shine.
It’s gotten a little too hot to wear this dress during the day. As the cooler months are upon us however, this will definitely be getting a lot of wear as it’s both comfortable and polished.
Pattern: Colette Laurel with Modified Hack
Fabric: Textured white stretch woven
Notions: None! Another great thing about this hack (and this fabric) – no zippers!
Difficulty: A little tricky – again, I hope to post a tutorial of my pattern changes soon, but this ones more of an intermediate project.
Adjustments: Hacked the back, took in side seams at hips.
Finishes: Serged seams (in contrast thread because I was too lazy to change my serger thread), bias finished front neck, facings on back openings.
Sew it again? Yes! I love this dress. I think I could get away with doing this in a non-stretch woven and still no zipper. I’m debating making a sleeveless version but I kind of like the longline sleeves. I think it could look really fun with the bottom piece color blocked.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
Happy Sewing!
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