Another Frankendress

July 7, 2014 Erin6 Comments

So this is the same pattern (or lack thereof) as the last dress, only in this Liberty fabric that I adore. Look, they’re little matches! (It’s called “Strike” and Shaukat still has some in the green colorway which is *almost* as adorable.)

Because Tana lawn is so light, I piped the pockets:

The zipper’s not terrible:

Unfortunately, this dress suffers from some of the same problems as the last version. Plus a few more, for variety!

Something is wonky with the back neck:

And oh lord the hem. This is terribly wrong:

This bodice is the one from my old friend Simplicity 1577, minus the collar, plus this new heavily-altered Simplicity 5238 skirt that I am obsessed with. (You can see yet another version here.)

I haven’t yet followed through on all the suggestions from the last post (THANK YOU THEY ARE SO HELPFUL) with the exception of having purchased and read the Betzina Fast Fit book, which I think will be very useful. Especially for that back hem thing, which is even slightly worse on, if you can imagine it.

I managed to take a lot of long-overdue pictures this past Sunday, so you’ll be seeing some new dresses this week!

Conscious Incompetence

June 3, 2014 Erin32 Comments

This photo was taken last Friday by the very nice Leslie Dela Vega, of OZY, for this article. She was super-nice about taking photos, and I hope I was nice back, even though I really really hate having my picture taken.

I’m glad she took this photo, even though I don’t think it’s all that flattering, because now I can show you this style of dress I’ve been working on, badly!

So for year and years and years I’ve been doing really only minor alterations to patterns, switching out a skirt here, adding pockets there. But lately I’ve been SERIOUSLY modding patterns, and doing it … badly. In other words, I am at the stage of “Conscious Incompetence” as laid out here.

The dress above (in a just-enough remnant of Liberty poplin) is the bodice from Simplicity 1577, with added length (and sadly, added girth, more on that in a minute) and the skirt from Simplicity 5238, with added front-slash pockets AND added girth AND added depth of front pleat AND a slight adjustment to the back skirt length to account for some junk-in-the-trunk issues.

If you can ignore the fact that I’m pulling the side seams askew by shoving my hands in my pockets like that, you can see that this dress is still a little off. I don’t think I’m good at the alterations I’m trying yet, and it’s irritating. I know that the only thing to do is to DO IT MORE, and PRACTICE MORE, and READ MORE TUTORIALS ON THE INTERNET, but … I don’t have that much time, and I had to update my wardrobe a bit because of some aforementioned girth issues.

[Short aside on girth issues … I had some back/hip pain, which led me to start lifting weights to strengthen what they so cheerfully call my “core”, which always makes me think of nuclear reactors, somehow, which led to me slacking off on running, which means … girth. Back pain is mostly gone, hip flexor pain is mostly gone — if I don’t do stupid things — and I now can back squat and deadlift 200 lbs, always fun at parties … but I’m a good bit heavier than I’d like to be. All my extra fat seems to have huddled in my midsection for warmth and protection.]

And it’s remarkably hard to find instructions on how to adjust bodice patterns for a large waist! It’s not quite just adding inches to the side seams, somehow. I think there must be some way to add to the center front and back as well without messing with the bust darts too much, but it’s eluding me (and my large library of alterations books). Conscious Incompetence, again! Anyone have any hints, pointers, lovingly-created diagrams?

After doing about half a dozen of these full-teardown altered pattern mashups, I think I really, really have to put in the time and effort to make a sloper. (And relatedly, start running again!) I think a lot of what I’d like to make would just be easier if I were working from a sloper, instead of sort-of-sloping-off a bodice pattern I like. Any pointers to the most painless sloper creation, while I’m here asking for helpful suggestions?

I’ll try to get a few more pictures taken this weekend of some of the other teardown/mashups — I’ve done three now with a collar (pattern reference eluding me at the moment), and two with the bodice from this pattern (the no-collar version), which is really nice.

As abashed as I am about the not-quite-rightness of these new mashup dresses, it is a little exciting to be trying new things again. I love a challenge, even when I’m not exactly rising to meet it …

Kicking the tires

February 19, 2014 Erin11 Comments

Hey, a new dress:

This is Simplicity 5238, with a few little changes. Mainly, pockets:

I tried plain side-seam pockets first, but they hung badly, and lately I’ve been really into this style of pockets (inset? not actually sure what to call them). They can be a bit of a pain to add, especially if the skirt has pleats or gathers, but they’re worth the munging and hacking.

Here’s the pattern pieces (the dress above has v1):

Oh I suppose you want to see the (badly pressed) back, huh? I don’t usually do a center back zipper, but:

I also had some fun with the neck and sleeve facings:

This is an incredibly comfortable dress — really easy to wear (especially with the deeper pockets). I have also made it in dark denim and am thinking about another color of denim, or maybe even liberating some of my stash of Liberty twill.

I’m also looking for a dress with similar lines to this one to make in softer fabrics, like silk — something with scoop pockets but gathers, I think, and a soft kimono-sleeved bodice. Anything come to mind? (Remember, I’m awfully lazy and hate drafting things …)

(Also! This is the first post at my new blog host, the very very nice WPEngine.com. Highly recommended. With any luck this should solve some of the “stuck” posts issues and commenting problems … please let me know if not!)

Paisley, Why Not?

January 27, 2014 Erin4 Comments

So here’s a dress I made a while back but haven’t posted yet.

The bodice is from 1577, again. The skirt is the skirt from W3, so essentially, it’s the same dress as this one. But different. The fabric is from Mood; it was a bit on the pricey side, but then again I think their fabric is usually a bit on the pricey side …

Here you can see the black bias tape I used to finish the sleeves (also the neck):

And here’s the back:

It’s a remarkably comfortable dress … I have been wearing it quite a bit.

Oh, also, while I’m thinking about it — I recently updated this blog to a new version of WordPress and a few folks are having trouble getting to the most recent posts. I’m hoping this post gives WordPress a kick and wakes it up …

Party Dress!

December 15, 2013 Erin13 Comments

My company party was last night and I made a new dress for it:

The bodice is good ol’ 1577 again, and the skirt is adapted from Advance 2751. The fabric is a bronzy-coppery coated poly denim, which I don’t think I would have ever picked up except that it was on super-super-sale at Fabric Outlet in the Mission last week, and because I already bought this other laminated denim I didn’t know what to do with, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and have both a wearable party dress AND a muslin. Woot!

The fabric is REALLY heavy but despite that is very easy to sew with, and although I used a press cloth I don’t think I really needed one — there was no transfer to my (hot) iron or the ironing board.

Next time I will probably make the patch pocket a bit deeper, and possibly extend it to the side seam (might have to see what that does to the zipper):

Speaking of zippers:

I just did my standard finish-the-neck with bias tape:

Here’s the sleeve binding — also, since the fabric is so heavy and plasticky, I didn’t feel the need to zig-zag the seam allowances as I usually do:

And here’s the back:

This is a pretty weird dress, even by my standards, but I kind of love it. I wore it with black tights and black ankle boots and a black cardigan, and a heavy black necklace, and was really comfortable all night, which I’m usually not in party clothes.

One of the things we were celebrating (besides having fun working together) was the launch of our new discovery reading app in the App Store … if you have an iPad running iOS 7 or later, would you consider downloading it and giving it a try? It’s free, it will help you find cool new articles about topics and concepts interesting to you (as well as articles shared by your friends on Twitter and Facebook and top news) and if you need a recommendation other than mine, Bono said it was his new favorite app. (!)

I’m already planning to wear this dress again for New Year’s Eve …

Would you like to see a new dress?

December 8, 2013 Erin18 Comments

I hope so, because I have one:

This is the bodice from my old friend Simplicity 1577, sans collar — I finally traced the darn thing off and even added an inch to the length. I don’t know why, but I seem to have more length from my shoulder-to-waist than previously. (Is that even possible? I thought I was supposed to be shrinking with age.) The skirt is from that “W3” pattern from a million years ago.

Here’s the back:

Here’s the sleeve binding (the hem facing is the same color):

And the zipper, which is 1) terrible and 2) on the wrong side! I was pretty sick with the flu over Thanksgiving but couldn’t face the thought of a four-day weekend with no sewing in it … but people, I have to tell you: do NOT operate sewing patterns while under the influence of cold medicine.

Luckily it doesn’t affect the wearability of the dress, I just have had one or two bad moments where I couldn’t figure out why something was off. Perhaps I’ll switch up my zipper sides from now on, just to give myself a little cognitive agility? (Probably not.)

This fabric was from Superbuzzy — I bought it last spring, right as it got a little too warm for a deep teal dress. But now the weather is perfect, and it also has a little bit of a Christmassy feel, I think.

Sorry for the blog hiatus — I still need to move this blog to a new host, as it’s starting to get so large that my current host is groaning. But I should be able to squeeze a post or two in while I’m packing the boxes!

The Hundred Dresses: Day 100

September 10, 2013 Erin31 Comments

And so we come to the end … the Duro! The Duro is actually one of the Hundred Dresses in The-Hundred-Dresses-the-book, and it’s named for Duro Olowu, who designed it. I fell in love … found a reasonable facsimile … and I made it a lot. To wit:

I don’t know if I ever posted this one:

This next one has some video:

There’s this one:

Then I started making them shorter:

And this one:

(Those last three and the green one above? All Liberty.)

This one has two posts (the second one is a play):

I have never gotten over how nicely these two prints matched, considering I bought them ages apart and in different places:

And, of course, the Vader Duro:

(Plus there’s this one and this one, and this one, none of which I even have any more, and the one I’m wearing in this video, which I know I still have but I never wear anymore, because I wore it in that video. Crazy.)

I will post some wrapups after this loooooong series … I know there are questions in the comments that have gone unanswered, plus there’s all sorts of statistical fun to be had, and of course a “closet picture” and some dresses that maybe didn’t make the cut for the full 100 … but if you’ve liked this series, may I ask that you perhaps consider picking up the book that inspired it? If you have already, and enjoyed it, I’d love to see your review, and of course it makes a lovely present for just about anyone …

Thanks so much for all the encouraging comments and fun links you’ve shared, too!

The Hundred Dresses: Day 99

September 9, 2013 Erin6 Comments

We’re gonna go out with a bang … or at least, two very very long posts. Today: the Duro Junior!

The Duro Junior is also known as Simplicity 3875, and looks like this:

Or this:

Essentially, it’s just a quick and simple kimono-y dress with contrasting bands at the waist and neckline, but boy, is it comfy. I haven’t worn these in a while (they’re a little too short & the skirts are a little narrow for biking) but looking at these photos makes me want to take these out again, or, better yet, work out a new version with a fuller skirt.

The Hundred Dresses: Day 98

September 8, 2013 Erin5 Comments

For no real reason, here are two corduroy dresses:

This dress is a Simplicity 5232; here’s a better look at the bodice:

It’s Liberty, of course, but I don’t remember the name of the pattern. (I really have to get better about that … of course, my purchase predated Pinterest, which I now use as a fabric catalog.) Here’s the previous post about it.

I didn’t do the neck button/buttonhole; I knew I’d never button it up that high, since the fabric is so thick (choking … can’t breathe …):

The cuff:

The back:

Here’s the other corduroy dress, also Liberty (this print is called “Robin”), a Vogue 9929:

The side zip (and pocket, which you can’t see):

I made the pockets in this one in a fabric that is just too lightweight, and the contrast between the too fabrics is a bit too harsh, and has led to some stress fraying at the seam. I’ve had to fix it twice. Not great.

The bias trim on the neckline (my favorite part):

And the back:

I was going to add one more corduroy dress to this post, but it was so darn hot when I was pressing them for photos that I just couldn’t bear it. So here’s the link to it, just in case you’re curious.

The Hundred Dresses: Day 97

September 7, 2013 Erin4 Comments

This dress is one of the first dresses I ever made from a vintage pattern (the exact pattern is lost to memory). I posted about it a few years back and it was old even then — and I know it’s older than my son, which puts it firmly in the grunge era.

I do really like the collar and the lines of the bodice. I remember clearly that this was a newspaper pattern … Anne Adams or Marian Martin or some such:

Covered buttons — this is before I knew the trick of using white fabric (batiste or organza) underneath the patterned fabric if you don’t want the metal of the button form to show through:

Bias trim on the sleeves:

The back view:

And a closeup view of the back … the only thing I can say is WTH? Where did those seams go? If I weren’t a life-long teetotaler, I would assume that I was drunk when I made this:

And the belt-kit belt, which hasn’t aged well at all:

I should really find the pattern in my stash and make it up again today, and show the two dresses side by side … just so people can see that, just as with everything else, sewing gets better with practice!

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A Dress A Day

A dress, nearly every day.

Category: Erin_Sewing