Friday Flowers

Happy Friday ladies and gents!

I've been in serious prom-dress-mode, but took a break to make this little number for an event I have on Saturday (which I'm not sure is a surprise or not so I will not be specific as to what it is).

Here's the sketch:

Here's the terribly-lit instagram:

I'll try to get a pic snapped tomorrow of yours truly wearing it.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Sketching

Here are some sketches for a project I have coming up over the next year.  I'll keep it mum for now, but  its going to be pretty darn awesome.

Caroline in Blue

I started sketching for Caroline's prom dress a few weeks (months?) ago and we finally decided on a design:

Can't wait to get started!

*In sketching news, I've decided to try my hand at watercoloring my sketches....fun weekend project? Or disaster waiting to happen?

Bitsy's Prom: Phase 1

I can't believe my baby sister is having her senior prom.

But you better believe she's going to be the most stunning gal there!

She was pretty specific about what she wanted to wear, but it was still a collaborative process to get down to these two options.  Ultimately, she chose the strapless... and she's going to look dynamite!   I just feel bad for all those other girls....

*personal goal met: drawing back views.  I'm just as bad at drawing back views as I am at feet and hands.

A Peplum Success!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Caitlin, sporting her very own Lacey Peplum:

Caitlin contacted me after seeing Sarah's blog post, and I was so excited to get started on another custom project.  That is one of my favorite things about what I do - getting to know a new person and creating something specifically for them.  She was also kind enough to send me this pic of her wearing it this weekend, and I think she looks just smashing, don't you?

Thanks Caitlin!

A little something for Cat

This is a dress I am going to make for myself, starting tonight.

This is me if I was three feet taller and, oh, just a few ounces thinner.

This is me if I were slightly tanned.

But those are definitely my glasses.

And The Crowd (me) Goes Wild!

There are more images coming, but here is the always-lovely Jenna wearing the (finally) completed Black & White Striped gown.  I will admit, there were some fit challenges with this one, but we were able to work through it and as you can see, she looks dynamite.

I love the way she styled the gown with bold jewelry - It's always interesting to see how people accessories the dresses I make.  I may make myself a shorter version for a summer wedding this year, and I may go with a sock bun, red lipstick and some gold cluster earrings.  How would you style this gown? 

 earrings | Robin McCormick, shoes | GoJane

I will post new pictures as I get them!

Tunic Tuesday (on Wednesday)

A good easy outfit for me is a pair of leggings, boots, and a tunic-y top.  I'm sure this is as man-repelling as they come, but I love it and it makes me feel stylish.  I noticed this shape of top on someone that works in my office and decided to give it a whirl on this snowy weekend.  I had a yard of soft wool that was bought for a skirt in mind, but clearly its fate lay in the world of tunic tops.  It was a quick pattern-less project that even the most inexperienced sewist can take on.  

(I'm still trying to cope with the dreary light in the mornings while photographing. My photoshop skills clearly lie mainly in the Exposure,  Color Balance and Hue/Saturation features. The color is really a pretty rich burgundy.  (My skin-tone, however, is really this pale.)

Flip This Dress: Minty Vintage

Happy Monday!


It is cold.  It is rainy.  It is gloomy.  My train was cancelled this morning.

BUT, it is Chinese New Year and I only got a ten emails in my work inbox this morning, so I'm feelin' fine.   And I also was super productive this weekend:

Before:

After:

So clearly I did a total overhaul on this dress.  I just loved the color and texture of it so much.  Mint is totally trending people.  

I removed the sleeves, and cut the dress in half basically, then took out the old crummy zipper.  I added some darts in front, and taking the bottom part of the dress, added a little peplum bottom with some pleats and vents at the sides and back. I had to take in the sides a little bit, and then also had to add a new zipper (which brings me to no zippers in my stock so I will have to venture out in the rain today to replenish - there is nothing worse than being at the end of a project and coming up zipper-less).

The finishing touch was taking in the shoulder width a bit so it didn't cut my arms off in a strange way, and adding black bias tape to trim them.  It came out so super cute, don't you think?  If you are interested, she's over in the Shop...

Shop Update: Dallas Pouch

 Go on, go check her out.

Out of Order

Chris's job requires him to be in a courtroom from time to time (he's a criminal. jk.), and in my head everything is like an episode of Law and Order, with people screaming, "You're out of order!"  Apparently, it's nothing like this.  Allegedly, it's very boring.  Lame.

So normally for a project, you would sketch before you start making the dress, right?  Meh.  Sometimes I just like to get down to business, and then do the sketch later.  I'm sort of excited for the impending snowstorm this weekend, and plan to do nothing by sew.  So, to take a little break last night, I decided to sketch up Jenna's dress and also start planning what I'm going to do with my vintage finds from last week.

(I loved the way this one came out!)

(avoid drawing feet at all costs)

Vintage Haul

Chris and I went to brunch in Brooklyn yesterday with some great friends, and then hit one of my go-to vintage stores for dress-flipping.  We were on a time crunch (aka: I had to pee and there were no bathrooms.  I blame the mimosas), so it was a quick look through the racks.  I grabbed these three dresses and can't wait to get flipping!

 Another great beaded sack  - I'm thinking of a peplum for this.

  A lovely maroon & white prairie frock:  this is going to make a light and airy sundress or layering piece.  

  My favorite find - its very simple, but its in my new favorite color - mint! NO idea what I'm doing with this, so I'm going to have to give this one a good think. I'm open to your ideas!

Sugar-Free Oatmeal is Disgusting.

I've been trying to eat better and work out more, and this has actually been a good week - I've been patting myself on the back.  But this morning I opened a box of sugar-free maple-cinnamon oatmeal.  I thought it was going to be delicious.  I was so hungry.  Now I'm still hungry, and completely grossed out.  But I will not go down to the lobby and get a bagel.  I will NOT.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I've also discovered I have some of the oatmeal stuck to my sweater.


Back to business.  I don't have a Thursday DIY for you today because I've been working on Jenna's dress!

One day I'll have a table big enough so I don't need to cut out large patterns on the floor.

I have the whole pattern cut out,  so tonight I'll be putting it together - this is my favorite part.  First I'm going to stabilize the front and back center seams.  Since this dress is cut on the bias, these seam points will stretch if they aren't sewn to a straight piece of fabric.  Next I'll sew the bodice together.  Those are my goals for this evening - lets do this!

 In other news, I just bought a pattern.  I actually never use patterns, so I'm nervous/excited about this.  I think its going to be a fun Winter/Spring transition coat.  Thoughts?

 

(The words "very easy" are prominently displayed, so I don't think it'll be so bad.)

Now the fun part is picking a fabric for this.  I'm going to do it in wool, but I'm torn between doing the safe Black, or something a little sassier.  What do you guys think?

DIY Thursday / Flip this Sweater

Guys.  We are one day away from Friday.

So this DIY Thursday is actually a flip that is very easy to do-it-yourself.

I got this sweater a few months ago from Cotton On and I thought I loved it.  I wore it once for Thanksgiving, and clearly did not love it as much:

 

Its just very droopy and the sleeves are too long, and so you'd think it was a more oversized look, only its too short for that.  Its just an odd shape all around.  

So let's make a cardigan!

 

Step 1:  Take a look at your odd sweater one last time.  Find the center of the front (I just used a stitch line for guidance) and cut that sucker down the middle.

 

Step 2: Cut off the sleeves at the seam.  Now you can see just how much extra room there is at the sides of this sweater.  Sew with serger or zig-zag stitch excess fullness off the sides.  I took about 2" off each side.

 

Step 3:  Sew the sleeves back on.

Step 4: Try on the almost-finished project and mark where you want to cut off those go-go gadget sleeves.  Finish the sleeves and the front edges of the sweater with serger and fold over.  Press (I put a piece of cotton over it just in case the metallic melted) and hem with zig-zag stitch.

Tada!

 

You can easily do this with any old sweater you have lying around that isn't getting as much wear as it should.  This way, I can pair an awesome gold cardigan with any blah outfit and I have instant sparkle.

 

(eyeballing Lady)

Have fun sweater-flipping.

Friday DIY - Headband

After my resolution post, my two besties gave me some awesome ideas.  Its really amazing to have friends that will inspire you and challenge you.  And they are really good looking too. 

Anyway, Michelle gave me the idea to start incorporating some simple DIY projects (that's do-it-yourself, if you're not up on the lingo), and that's what I'm going to (try to) do every Friday. 

Here's a super duper simple DIY project involving no sewing machine skills at all - so no excuses!

Ribbon Headband:

1. Get your supplies together:

 - elastic (mine is about 3/4" wide)

 - some pretty ribbon trim 

 - a pair of scissors

 - a needle & thread

 - *measuring tape is helpful too, but not necessary

 

2. Measure on your head how long you'd like the ribbon to be.  (Basically from behind-right-ear to behind-left-ear - the rest will be elastic!)

 

3. Add 1/2" to this measurement and cut your pretty ribbon to that.

4. Fold over 1/4" and press down.  (I gave it a quick iron for a crisp fold.)

 

 5.  Cut a piece of elastic that is just slightly smaller that the rest of that head measurement of yours.  You want it to stretch a bit when you put on the headband so that it stays in place.  Sew the end of the elastic to the wrong side of the ribbon.  Fold over the corners so that it forms a little wrap over the elastic.  Sew securely in place.  Repeat on the other end.

 

6. Enjoy your sick headband and show it off to all of your friends.  Then, go make them some matching headbands to say sorry for being such a show-off.

(awesome photography by Chris, which is why I'm making silly faces)