A Few More Retail Goodies

I've hate the word "goodies."  I had an aunt that always used this word to refer to candy and there was something in the way she said it that would make my skin crawl.  Otherwise, she was a wonderful aunt, but every time she said "goodies," I wanted to poke ice picks in my ears.  Just thought I'd share that bit of family trivia before I get to the point today.

Now, onward to the point...

What with all the double knit/ponte knit/RPL knit love that has been going around on sewing blogs lately, I was inspired to pick up a couple of pieces of Sophia Knit in Sweet Violet and Teal from Fabric.com (20% off sale, dontcha know).  These puppies will become some fabu knit dresses in my future professional winter wardrobe.

And, in other news, aside from the fabric, I also picked up the knitting pattern book, Thrown Together, by Kim Hargreaves.  I was inspired into single-minded obsession for this book after seeing Amy's version of the Aimee Shrug (which is pictured on the book's cover).  For a peek at the other fab patterns in this book, check out this link.

Oh, so you didn't know that I can knit?  Yesiree bub, it's just another of my varied and spectacular skills.  I truly am a domestic goddess!

Falling off the Wagon

I have been such a good girl this year - oh, yes I have! I have exercised extreme reserve in my fabric buying habits. In the past few years, I have added around 275 m to my fabric stash, every single year. This year, I am actually on the negative side of things. Can you imagine that? I am sewing down my stash - what a novel concept!

In honour of my super human efforts of the last several months, I decided I needed a reward. And what better reward is there than yards and yards (or metres and metres, as the case may be) of fabric?

I decided that Fabric.com would be the site of my debauchery. The following are the spoils of my fabric feeding frenzy:



All the fabrics are wool or wool blends. The first three fabrics are slated to become super cute jackets, while the last two will grace my lower half as some fa-boo pants. C'mon USPS, hurry up, mama needs a fix!

Bead There, Done That - Part Three

Skirt: The skirt is a full circle skirt, cut in three sections - one large piece for the front and two pieces for the back, which allows for a back zipper. The skirt was lined/underlined using silk organza and my TNT method (see Construction section).

Since so much of the skirt has a hem on the bias, it was allowed to hang overnight. Although the dupioni remained stable, the organza underlining did droop a bit. The organza was then trimmed to match the length of the dupioni. To hem the skirt, I attached rayon seam binding around the entire bottom perimeter. With a skirt this full it is difficult to turn up a nice smooth hem because so much fabric must be eased in. One way to remedy this is through the application of the seam binding (or actual hem tape). Apply the binding along the hem edge (on the right side of the fabric) and be sure to pull it taut as you sew, leaving the fashion fabric relaxed. Place the fashion fabric against the feed dogs. The combination of the taut binding and the natural easing ability of the feed dogs against the fashion fabric will slightly gather the bottom edge of the hem. Thus, when the hem is turned up (1" in my case), the excess fabric has already been dealt with and a nice smooth, perfectly eased hem results. I also choose to trim away the excess fashion fabric from beneath the seam binding to reduce bulk and produce a clean edge (see photo at right).

As an afterthought, just before I began to hem, I decided to jazz up the bottom of the skirt a bit. The hem is sewn to the organza underlining to create an invisible hem. However, every 1.5", a small seed bead was tacked to the front of the hem (see photo at left). I like how it provides another subtle embellished element to this dress.

Project Photos:
Conclusion: With the completion of this dress, I am officially done my SWAP. Hallelujah! Now, I just need pictures and a write up to send to Julie by April 16th. Hopefully, the weather in my part of the world will cooperate. It seems like it has been rainy and cold forever and I want to take photos outside, as there are no good places inside to do them.

Bead There, Done That

Pattern: Vogue 4209 (copyright date 1961)

Size: size 10 (bust 31", waist 24.5", hip 33")

Fabric: For the bodice - beaded and embroidered silk from Emma One Sock and for the skirt - orange silk dupioni from Fabric.com (this picture makes the dupioni look far more red than it is in real life - it actually perfectly matches some of the embroidery on the EOS silk).









Inspiration:
As soon as I saw this dress at Vintageous, I knew I had to do a "knock-off" of it for my SWAP. I love the full skirt, the nipped-in, belted waist and the fitted bodice with small cap sleeves. I like the difference in texture and lustre between the bodice and skirt fabrics.

However, I knew I would look washed out in head to toe creamy white. When I saw the paisley beaded silk at EOS, I decided to make a dress based on the orange in this fabric.

Although the Vogue pattern I choose is not exactly shaped like the inspiration dress (although it is pretty darn close), I really liked the interesting lines. The points at the top of the front bodice intersecting the sleeves is such a nifty detail, rather more unique than the typical set in sleeve.

Up Next: Preparation and Construction of the Bodice

It Called My Name

This fabric has been singing its siren song to me ever since I first laid eyes on it at Emma One Sock. After days of resisting temptation, I couldn't stand it any longer - I had to have it.














Since I also had a 40% off coupon to Fabric.com, I figured I really should use it. It seemed like a shame to let it go to waste. So here are my acquisitions:


A beautiful silk dupioni called "Autumn Sunset". I'm thinking a full skirted party dress with a bodice of the EOS fabric (above). I should also be able to get a small bolero jacket out of the silk.









I also picked up a luscious chocolate silk dupioni (ETA: I was just informed that the brown silk has sold out, so I won't get any - oh well, you win some, you lose some) and a coordinating scalloped lace. I think I must have been in a lace kind of mood, because I also got two others. The first is a champagne coloured scalloped lace and the other is a black stretch lace:

While I was there, I couldn't resist this nifty embroidered pleather:












All in all, not a bad haul. Ahh, I love online shopping!