Author: Erin

Mutton, Lamb, etc.

Erin47 Comments

Here's the (slightly) age-inappropriate dress I wore last week Friday for my 40th birthday:

Pinkdotted_August2011

 

It's Vogue 8728 again, obvs. I have one more cut out (bright green, alphabet print!) and am planning at least one more, in a black laser-cut geometric eyelet. I also have THREE other pieces of dotted swiss (one blue floral pattern, one pale pink, and one black) that might turn into this dress. (This pattern really makes up well in dotted swiss; it allows for very soft gathers.)

Here's the bodice: 

Pinkdotted_bodiceAugust2011

Possibly hot.jpgnk dotted swiss in this particular pattern is not appropriate for someone of my advanced years, but, really, I'd like to encourage us all to ignore that mental noise. This dress made me happy the whole day (lots of nice birthday wishes, cake, and some lovely phone calls from friends helped too)!

I forgot to get someone to take a picture of me in it — I'll try to wear it again soon (or the Liberty one) and see if I can't get one of my co-workers to point a cell phone at me. 

Today's Pattern Story: Simplicity 1114

Erin11 Comments

Simplicity_1114

Blue: I see an opening. You go in hard, and I'll follow.

White: That could work … but it's still risky. 

Blue: We've been training for months. It's as easy now as it will ever be.

White: All I'm saying is, we don't have to go through with this. Nobody would blame us.

Blue: You want to sit through this whole women's club meeting without a stiff G&T? Let's move, or we'll never get through to the bar before Wanda starts pounding that damn gavel.

White: All right then. Let's do this thing. But if I get seven-layer dip on this dress, you're paying the dry-cleaning bill.

 

Pattern from Sheila at Out of the Ashes. And thanks so much to Janet, who let me know that A Dress A Day was featured on The Budget Fashionista on Sunday! 

Gratuitous Shoes Post

Erin7 Comments

Blue Shoes

I finally finished another one of these in this, and only after I put it on to head out the door did I realize that I don't really have any brown flat shoes. (Or any mauve shoes at all, which is surprising given the number of different pairs of pink shoes I DO own.) Thank goodness for those hoarding tendencies, because I realized that I could haul out these blue-and-cream numbers (which I love, but never wear). They're very comfortable (you can't see the 2+ heel height from this "point the cell phone at your feet" vantage point).

Not sure what I will wear this dress with for non-heels occasions. I suppose there's always these or these … 

Vogue 8728: This Time It's Liberty

Erin17 Comments

So Vogue 8728, which I posted about the other day, looks even better (I think) in Liberty "Mark": 

Mark_BodiceJuly2011

 

Here's a fuzzier full-length view:

Mark_FullJuly2011

And a close-up of the neck binding:

Mark_bindingJuly2011

You can't really see the fabric's lusciousness in those pictures, so looky here:

Mark_fabricJuly2011

And for the more technically-inclined among you, here's how I reinforced the pocket opening on the zipper side with organza (the midriff is also underlined with organza):

Mark_PocketJuly2011

The best part is that this dress matches the shoes in this post (from yonks ago). Yep, I now have TWO outfits that are Liberty-print-with-matching-shoes. Because I'm obsessive that way. (The other is a dress in the Enchanted Garden print, which J.Crew did flats in a few years back. That link is to the skirt I made in Enchanted Garden, can't find the dress link … )

Actually, no, the best part is that I wore this dress last weekend and on my way to the restaurant, a woman came out of a (different) restaurant JUST to comment on my dress. She knew the fabric was Liberty and so assumed I'd made the dress, and she wanted to see how I did the hem (answer: machine blindstitch), which was basically the best compliment, ever. It's so nice to run into fellow Liberty-enthusiasts! 

I also have a piece of fabric in this design in the pink colorway that Liberty used for their Target collaboration, but it's heavier (almost a poplin), so I'm saving it for a shirtdress. 

Do I have another 8728 cut out? That would be telling … 

A Bunch of Links

Erin4 Comments

That's what this is.

For instance, here's a link to Diana Eng's laser-cut (with REAL LASERS!) t-shirts. (I feel as if we should all support any sartorial endeavor that involves REAL LASERS.)

Here's an absurdly complicated Adrian pattern that is going for an absurdly low price on eBay. Adrian! 

I feel like this woman, recently captured by the Sartorialist, would be a kindred spirit.

The New York Times does its annual "women wear dresses in the summer!" article. (But it's a nice one.)

Who makes spacesuits? The heroic seamstresses of Playtex. No kidding.

Has anyone been to the new roller-skating rink by the High Line? Please do tell!

Here's a creepy-cool fashion necklace from ModCloth. (It's like wearing a pattern story around your neck.)

And if you're wondering what I've been up to lately (aside from this blog), it's basically just been all thermogeddon and kispet around here. 

Keep 'em coming, folks … 

Vogue 8728: True Love

Erin25 Comments

I posted about Vogue 8728 a couple of weeks ago:

  Vogue_8728_June2011

And since then I've actually made it up. (Twice, but I only have one photographed.)

Vogue 8728

Here's a better view of the bodice: 

Bodice_Vogue8728

And the neck binding/gathers: 

Gathers_Vogue8728

And the zipper (not the best job I've ever done, but serviceable):

Zipper_Vogue8728

And the back view:

Back_vogue8728

And the inside of the midriff, which I underlined in silk organza to give it a little strength & anti-wrinkle mojo:

Innerwaist_Vogue8728

So: pattern notes. The gathers will make you look bustier than you are; decide whether this is a bug or a feature and act accordingly. This one is cut one size smaller in the neckline, but for the second version, I ended up cutting two sizes down in the shoulder/neck — either the neckline is very wide, or my shoulders are narrow, not sure which. I did a four-inch hem (folded two inches, folded again, blindstitched on the machine) because this voile fabric is so lightweight that you need a heavy hem to make it hang right … and it turned out to be the right length.

Oh, and I added pockets.

This dress is really fun to wear; it's light and airy and goes well with sneakers and with sandals, and it is PERFECT for Liberty Tana Lawn (I made a second one in Tana Lawn that I haven't photographed yet). The gathers would be trickier in heavier fabric — I think even quilting cotton would be too stiff. (I've also cut one out in dotted Swiss; we'll see how that goes.)

I've seriously had this flower fabric for one kajillion years, and probably part of my joy in finding this pattern is that it will work for several OTHER pieces of fabric of roughly the same geological era — all of which were too beautiful not to purchase, but too lightweight to make into shirtdresses. I feel so justified moving them all to California now … 

A Comic-Con Post

Erin17 Comments

No, I didn't go (sigh) — but Kristen did. In this dress:

Dalek_July2011

See how awesome it is on? (And it has pockets!) 

Exterminate_dress_July2011

The fabric (from Spoonflower) is here.

Can't get enough Dalek dresses? Scope the one in this pic.

(And did you Whovians know Chameleon Circuit has a new album out? You probably did. The eleven-year-old fanboy in my house has been playing it for me all week. It's really good! I think you can hear it here; my favorite I think is "Everything is Ending".)

Bee-yoo-ti-ful Suit

Erin21 Comments

Bullocks_suitJuly2011

This suit is listed on eBay (and it's crazy expensive). But it's oh-so-gorgeous … 

To me, this feels like the kind of suit worn in novels by heroines who take jobs as governesses, etc. before returning to their prior station. A conservative cut in a fabric that is just slightly too attention-getting, yes? (And of course it goes without saying that in the kind of novel I'm talking about, this suit would call attention to the heroine's startling blue or violet eyes …)

 

[Thanks to Robin for the link!]

Today's Pattern Story: Vogue 9747

Erin15 Comments

Vogue_9747_July2011

All the action here is with Pink Dress Lady. What the heck is that in her hand? Camera? Lorgnette? Laser sight? Smoked glass for viewing an eclipse? I just don't know.

Obviously, Blue and Black are sisters, with Black being the hard-charging executive running the business Daddy left them, and Blue sort of sweetly dim and willing to go along. Pink is … their ambitious cousin? Ambitious marketing executive? Ambitious next-door-neighbor?

I love how the wide black belt on Black's dress makes her torso look square, like a Lego minifig. (You can pull the top right off and put it on another pair of legs! Very cool.)

Here's what the three of them are thinking right this minute:

Pink: Won't be long now. They won't even know what hit them. Stupid cows.

Black: Quarterly earnings should be good. Got to figure out what to do with Doug in the Western Region. He's not pulling his weight. Jerry better have the new prototype ready tomorrow.

Blue: Puppies! 

(Today's pattern from Janet at Lanetz Living.)