Dreaming of Fall 2008...The Shirt Dress

One of the things I love most about being able to sew is getting ahead of the curve. Well, given my recent spout (er, habitual) of unfinishedness, I like the idea of being ahead. So, let us venture into one of Fall 2008's hottest trends...

The Two Piece Shirt Dress

Burda model 106, from September 2007.


We have one two piece dress which features a high waisted pencil skirt and a chiffon bodice with ruffles and pleats.

Now, let's take a quickie peak at Nordstrom's and see how many retail dresses we can find to match!

In order from left to right we have ABS by Allen Schwartz, Diane VonFurstenburg, Tahari, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren



Two pieces? Check! Pencil Skirt? Check! High waist? Check! Chiffon? Check! Pleats? Check! Ruffle? Check! Need I say more? Cidell made up the Burda is just about an afternoon! And people ask me why I sew. Of the bunch, the DVF is definitely my fave... You?

What a crock! Or, how bad things happen to favorite white shirts...

First off, thanks to everyone for their warm support and condolences. I'm feeling much more positive lately and it's largely due to much mindless surfing of the internet.

In other news, I have been sewing! Lately, the sewing machine has been humming away on McCall's 5624. This is an interesting pattern, featuring a dress in two lengths - mid-knee & maxi - and a jumpsuit. That's right folks: a jumpsuit. I have noticed lately that certain starlets in Hollywood have been seen sporting the jumpsuit in various incarnations. Certainly there are those that argue a jumpsuit really only looks good on WW2 airmen, mechanics in calendars smeared sexily with grease, and Elvis. I would tend to agree and say the modern woman should avoid the jumpsuit at all costs, as demonstrated by the model on the pattern photo... Even ignoring the unfortunate placement of the starburst motifs on the bodice, the jumpsuit does this lovely model no favors by lengthening her crotch, shortening her legs, let along having to get naked to use the loo. Seriously, who wears these?

The interesting details of this particular pattern feature twisted straps, an empire waist and midriff inset. These aren't that noticeable, but if you look closely at the line drawing, you can see the twists. Also, I cut the pattern for the shorter dress out of approximately 1.5 yards of fabric - definitely a nice feature for the odd piece in the stash.

The fabric I chose is a red printed rayon challis that I picked up for about $0.80/yd when the local Hancock's closed it's doors. Score, right? Wrong! Which brings me to the title of this particular post. Now, one of the reasons we should all prewash fabric is because sometimes cheap fabric reveals itself and its evil ways before it enters circulation in your wardrobe. So, I'm sure you're saying, "Rosanne just get to the point already." There was considerable excess dye in the yardage and it has transferred color to everything that has touched it, a problem referred to as "crocking". My fingers, the sewing machine, my ironing board cover, my iron! True, the fabric is rayon and dyes for rayons are notorious non-colorfast. But still...

So Friday morning, while I'm getting ready for work I decided I wanted to wear my favorite white shirt. It fits just so and hits me in all the right places, you know? I pull it from the hanger and realize it could use a good press so I readied the iron and board. From the first touch of hot plate to cloth, I knew I was done for! The impression of my iron in red on my favorite shirt! And this is after two washes and soaks with oxygen bleach and stain remover! Just look!
I'm about 65% completed with the dress. I just have to attach the skirt and midriff lining then it'll be ready for zipper installation. So far, the bodice is "okay," neither bad nor good. The only shaping comes from slight gathers under each bodice half and and I don't believe it's bra friendly on my body. I might end up taking out the straps and resewing the pleats on the bodice and re-twisting the straps. Looking at the photo now, the right side looks slightly off. That color is really red, though, isn't it? I should have known...
So, I'm going to try to do as the infomercials do and soak the shirt in oxyclean for a while and see what happens. I'm really hoping the dye isn't colorfast on my shirt, either...

Out of the blue comes sadness...

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes. Unfortunately, I suffered a miscarriage over the weekend. Needless to say, I'm feeling indescribably sad. I didn't realize how good it felt - both physically and emotionally - to actually be pregnant until I wasn't anymore... Now, as my body returns to its regular self, I'm trying to look forward, stay positive, and realize that it's not the end of the world. We'll try again once the professionals give us the ok.

And the fabulous jacket and dress in August's BWoF are going to have to wait just a little while longer...sigh...

Updates, updates, and more updates...

I've had a few concerned inquiries regarding my month long silence in the blog-o-sphere. There have been many, many changes going on in my life that account for this, I assure you. The biggest of which is that I found out a few weeks ago I am going to have a baby!! I am over joyed, to say the least, and my husband still seems a little shell-shocked. It was planned, but it's still pretty amazing to know there is a little person growing inside right this very minute! My little boy or girl is scheduled to make an appearance March 16th, so we are still pretty early on.

What this has meant is no more biking to work! I can't seem to regulate my body heat effectively anymore, so the 45 minute ride to work is out. Sadly, I still haven't finished the vintage skirt pattern. I has both feet firmly settled in Frump-town and I don't think even shortening it is worth the effort. Plus, the skirt is both too big and too small the same time! How is this possible? The waistband is just too tight and I had to ease the skirt to fit so it pooches in bad places. I suppose it is possible to actually remove the waistband, alter the darts in the front & back and then cut a new waistband to fit but that's an awful lot of work for a skirt I'm probably not going to even think about wearing until more than a year from now.

Other things being pregnant has meant is a new silhouette; the girls have grown, my friends. The girls have grown. The novelty wore off officially yesterday when the back of my bra kept riding up and I had to adjust 15 times throughout the day. I have no idea when the madness will stop, so I'm almost afraid to buy any new undergarments just yet. While the concept of making my own stuff is appealing, the reality is less so given that I hardly finish stuff people will actually see.

Also, being pregnant has opened up a whole new set of garments to me: baby clothes! Burda World of Fashion has quite the assortment and I willbe trying some of these in the future. Burda does do maternity wear occasionally, I think maybe twice a year, so I'll have some patterns to play with eventually.

Projects currently on hold:
Vogue 1042...I started to make a muslin of the top View A, which has separate bra insets. Wonderful in theory, bullet/cone bra in practice. I posted a query on the boards at Pattern Review and it seems I am not the only one who ran afoul with this pattern. And, referencing my rapidly changing figure, it hardly seems worth the effort given that I am only going to outgrow it to the point of indecency in short order.

Vogue 8178...I actually made this dress and it's about 75% complete. However, it has darts that have to be matched on both the front and back for the bodice and skirt section and it requires further tweaking before being readied for outside wear. It is a work in progress, more or less.

Projects completed:
Vogue 8502...The pants for this pattern are now hanging in my closet. Yes, people it is possible for me to finish something! Hold the applause however as I goofed the zipper and used one that is really too short so I'll have to insert a new one at some point in the future. These are super high-waisted, as in just below the underwire high-waisted. The way I want to style them is with a scoop neck or halter top tucked it with a wide belt cinched around the waist. However, when I saw myself, i thought it a little too much Brenda Walsh circa 1992 and a little less Lucky Magazine's Season's Best Look style page 2008. I plan on making the safari type top as well, but I haven't gotten around to it just yet as I am going through a serious dress phase right now.

Project on the table right now:
McCall's 5466... View C, with the bias A-line skirt. How cute is that?! And the a-line skirt means no real sway back adjustment is needed! Given I have yet to master said alteration, this is a very good thing. My increasing figure has forced me cut a size 14 bodice, morphing to a 16 at the waist because I'd like to wear this dress at least through the fall. The (hopefully) wearable muslin has been cut from a stretch cotton shirting from Joann's Modern Neutrals collection. It's a bit busy, but I think it will work since I'm fairly tall and can carry bold looks.
If the dress works out, I plan on styling this with brown heels and a woven 3" brown leather belt.

Wish me luck!

Finger lickin' good, or why sewing makes a bad day better...

Today was a pretty rotten day at work, I have to say. Probably one of the top five in the past two years. A real doozy, so much so I had to shop, sew, and have a good cry to start feeling better. I went shopping for some new skirts, actually. I picked up a four more to add to the collection and a skort, too! I love those, BTW. It's a girly skirt but you don't have to be all modest and such when moving about since there is no risk of flashing the general public.

Lately, I've been biking the 10 miles to work each way and it's hot here. Imagine biking in a convection oven and you can probably understand (although, I ask no sympathy here; it's true what they say about the humidity being the true villain). I actually find it most comfortable to bike in a skirt. Now, most people are surprised - shocked, even! - when I reveal this, but really, it's great to have freedom of movement and be able to take full advantage of the breeze. Seriously. It does however have it's limitations: I pretty much have to stick to either jersey or a-line, preferably a combo of the two. Straight skirts are doable, they simply require a smidgen of elastane in the fabric and at least a 4" vent plus a relatively uncaring attitude towards being a wrinkled mess. I spend much of my day seated behind a desk so i don't care too much. Mostly. Anyway.

In the time since I have started biking to work, I have gone through the few skirts I willing to subject to the abuse of 20 miles on a bike rather quickly. What else to do but sew up a few more? In that vein, I cracked my very first vintage pattern: Simplicity 5454, copy write 1972, Misses and Women's Jacket, Skirt & Pants.
It does have a bit of a vintage feel in that the pants and skirt are seated just at the waist. Otherwise, it's pretty classic. The jacket is a princess seamed, slightly wider (though in the line drawing not so much it is dated). Plus, it's the only pattern I own with a box pleat in the front. Cute, right? And, look! The directions are printed in two colors for my viewing ease!
How great is that?! Also, as much as I understand multi-sized patterns revolutionized the home sewing experience in terms of fit, really, it's pretty awesome to have the seam lines printed on the pattern.

Since I'm on a (sort of) fabric diet until the end of the year, the stash was shopped for choice of fabric. The winner ended up being a seasonless poly-blend olive with variegated pin stripes woven without any stretch. It has decent drape and I thought the stripes would add good visual interest in the box pleat. Perhaps non-traditional, but if it doesn't work, I'll consider it a muslin. I have 5 yards of the stuff and I haven't touched it since it came home from SAS Fabrics Tempe, where I found it for $1.99/yd.
I started it yesterday and expected to finish it tonight, but I had a little sewing accident that I would imagine every sewer will experience eventually: yes, I basically sewed through my fingertip. It didn't hurt that bad, actually. The needle just sort of sliced the tip of my index finger as I was easing the waistband on to the skirt. You can see my bandaged finger in the photo of the pattern piece. It did make me cry a little bit, though, which I rather needed.

Tomorrow, I'll be finishing the waistband and hemming the skirt. The line drawing shows mid-knee, but right now it's a pretty dreadful and stumpifying mid-calf. Normally, this is not a bad length on me, but the cut of the skirt with the pleat serves to make me look somewhat squat :( I think I'll have to chop at least an inch off and then turn the hem the given 2.5" on the pattern.

The moral of my story is this: it's good to have a task that I can forget myself totally in. I hope you have one, too!

Fit Happens, or Reason #3148 Why I love the Internet

Thanks to Pattern Review, I've finally connected with fellow sewers here in the Phoenix area! It took long enough, but better late than never, right?

Anyway, we had our first meeting yesterday and it was very enlightening. Out little group is called "Fit Happens" (cheeky, no?) and in line with this, we measured, outlined, talked about darts, finishes, each other, etc. I now have a full set of measurements thank to the fortitude and patience of Linda. Kathy actually traced out my body graph on the wall (on newsprint taped up) a la Fit For Real People. This alone was incredible! I learned so much about my body that I never knew. For example, the asymmetry I've always suspected was there is now clearly defined. It's subtle, but my sloping shoulders and high hip are now documented so that I can compensate to my heart's content.

Unfortunately, in my rush to get out of the house, I forgot my camera so I wasn't able to get any fun photos :( Next month, I'm hosting, so there will be pics aplenty. Since our theme is "fit" we have decided to sew up muslins of a pants pattern for the next meeting. Our plan is to evaluate fit, help with alterations, construction, techniques, etc, for each other.

Also, Jessie was kind enough to loan me her August 07 edition of Patrones. There is a trench coat pattern that I absolutely covet and have the perfect fabric to create it.

Next post will be patterns & fabric choices for your viewing pleasure and input.

You like me! You really like me!

So, not too long ago, I started receiving the random spam comments on the blog. Since I really, really, really love comments (did I mention I love your comments?) these annoy me to no end since my initial excitement deflates to major disappointment as they are not from real readers. I did my research and decided to turn on the moderator option in blogger. For those not familiar, as a moderator, you have the option to preview before the comments go public. Great, right? Well, for the past month I've been sort of silent on blogger. Also, I hadn't received the usual emails regarding comments posted to my blog during this time. Basically, I figured people were reading elsewhere...

Long story short: I completely forgot I had turned on the moderator feature and thought my public had abandoned me. Oh happy day today when I decided to post about the goings on in my life!!! There were comments aplenty waiting for me to approve and post them! Anyway, I'm grateful for all the birthday wishes :) I've now posted all your comments.

Updates on the sewing front...

In the past month, I sewed quite a bit. In just the past two weeks, i finished two skirts (really great and love them very much) and the top and skirt in Simplicity 4074 but it really didn't turn out well for me at all and purchased way more fabric than my closet can hold.

At some point I'll post a review for them all, but in the mean while...here is a pic of my bursting at the seams fabric closet. I've been forced to promise that I'll be going on a fabric fast through the end of 2008...


the skirt from New Look 6813 that was supremely easy to make and wear...

Burda 06-2007-123, which wasn't as hard to make as I thought it was going to be but considerably less interesting than their plaid model...

Also, I must say that my dress form seems to be getting smaller and smaller compared to my waistline. I had to use the old GAP window dressing trick of pinching the clothes in back for fit to get the skirts to even stay on her hips! Good thing my husband bought me a bike so I can commute to work now and actually get some exercise!