Give Away

In preparation for my April 1st move date, I began cleaning out my sewing room, and came across several fabrics that I no longer want. I also came across a couple of children's patterns that I have no use for (I think I was going to sew something for my niece when she was 5. She's now 11 and I still haven't made her anything.) 

(I fail as an aunt.)

I would love to give these items away to someone (if you read this, and think someone may be interested, please pass the info along) and not have them go into my Goodwill bag (or use them as muslins vs. having someone use them as main body fabric. 

Anyway. Pass this along if you can/will. I'll ship these out regular snail mail. Leave a comment with any questions, and your info if you're interested. 

One way stretch. Pink, brown, cream. Heavy weight. Suitable for jacket or interior. Maybe a heavy weight pencil skirt. 

Brown, teal, cream. Lightweight rayon blend - maybe (?). Good for a summer weight dress, tunic, maybe a blouse. 

Celery color, blue, teal. Lightweight rayon blend - maybe (?). Good for a summer weight dress, tunic, maybe a blouse

BIRTH.DAY.DRESS

(In my head I'm singing BIRTH.DAY.DRESS to the same tune of Jeremiah's song "Birthday Sex" - random fact I thought you might find interesting.)

I literally finished my birthday dress 30 minutes before dinner reservations at Tapas Barcelona last night. That doesn't mean that the reservation was kept :), but I've never worked on a dress until the very last minute like I did on Saturday.


This dress was a labor of love, and it all began with this pattern:

I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about the outcome because of the reviews I read on patternreview.com. I always do that though. I'm never confident enough in my skillset, and usually put off patterns I think are going to be time consuming, or difficult, or... whatever. Not this time though. My BIRTH.DAY.DRESS was going to be special.

The idea was that I was going to make sure to use mixed materials to get the most interest out of the design elements in this dress. I was drawn to the beautiful lines that the piping created, drawn to the full skirt (though it's not my normal silhouette), drawn to the possibilities that this dress presented.

I had three fabrics that I wanted to use. A beautiful grey, black and royal blue rayon blend from JoAnne's, a textured sheer, and a beautiful black woven material that has a subtle sheen. Now when I bought the rayon, I had no idea what I was going to use it for, but it really jumped out at me.
The other two fabrics were in my stash. Having a stash comes in so handy at times.

I knew that because this dress was special, I wanted to use special techniques on it. Because the shoulder areas were sheer, I finished the seams with a french hem.

This picture makes me dizzy... :(

I hand basted many of the layers together including the areas that needed piping. 

Did I mention I chose to make my own bias vs. my usual easy way of purchasing binding? 

I promise I know how to measure in a straight line!

The outcome is a dress that I'm going to treasure for years to come. It was so fun and flirty, and I can see how easily I can pair it with a cardi for work, or a blazer, OR with a fun clutch and a fab pair of shoes for a night out (which is exactly what I did)!

Shoes: Nine West
Clutch: Claire's Boutique on super sidewalk sale
Earrings: old, old, old. 

At dinner we were so late for our original reservations (due to my last minute sewing and pressing) they cancelled our reservation. We would have had to wait in a popular packed restaurant for an open table. So we left. We ended up at a random little spot that had no wait, and was BYOB. We popped our champagne and enjoyed our delicious meal, including the amazing mussels. 

NOM!

We ended up having a great time with friends who came to celebrate with me. I felt amazing the whole night. The hubs even wore a complementary outfit! 

Me and the hubby (who was looking grown and sexy. I LOVE this man!)

I really had an amazing birthday. I'm glad I took the time out to make something for myself that made me feel like a million dollars. 

Sewing so far.

I'm still way off course with my winter essential challenge. Truth be told, I said screw that challenge! I'm going to let the fabric inspire me! :) And so far this year, I've actually made some pretty great pieces.

Gold lame peplum with exposed back zip; mixed material dress with drop shoulder; emerald green wool pencil skirt with kick pleat; plaid pencil skirt; purple people eater pant.

I love each and every piece. I'm going to admit, I do have a favorite. (You should never say that.) It's the green. I'm biased. It's the color of 2013.  And the fabric is soooo lux. My friend and I had a fabric swap and this was one of my scores. It's a beautiful nubby wool. And the photo doesn't do the color justice. It's such a rich, beautiful, emerald. 

Though I love each piece (un)equally, I notice there is something lacking. Practical, wearable tops. I do realize I have a gold peplum blouse appropriate for a discotheque (love that word - really wish is was used in the US, instead of "club"). But really, is that wearable? In most cases I would say no. But there is a time and place for everything... (I truly believe that you should occasionally wear something inappropriately fabulous on a random Tuesday. I'm talking full blown sequins, or a ball gown.)

I guess my point is, I can't wear that top on a regular day. I need a couple of Monday - Friday tops. Blouses, tunics, tops or something/anything that covers the upper half of my body. 

I have several projects planned, but planned projects don't  always work well for me.   

Maybe I'll finally finish this top which I started and never finished. 

[must remember to iron garments prior to photoing. Also should start using my real camera vs. camera phone, but its soooo easy to upload with my phone] 

It really would look great with several of the skirts that I recently started/finished.

Or maybe I'll work on this top, this top, or this top.

I never can decide.  

Detour/Reroute

This is the route my "love my winter wardrobe" project has gone. 

If you want to be literal about the whole thing, I haven't exactly made the garments that I planned on making, but I have been sewing! I do believe I reserved the right to change my mind. :)

I think I mentioned in my last post finishing the gold peplum shirt and a dress. Since then, I've also made a fun pair of slim leg purple flowered pants. That I LOVE. I've worn them twice already. They have added both color, and fun into my drab winter wardrobe. In this picture, they look like someone's grandmother's pants (saggy butt and all), but they actually fit me really well. 

I'm also working on this dress: 

I found a beautiful grey, black and royal blue patterned fabric at the local JoAnne Fabrics, and have paired it with a sheer black (upper bodice, shoulders and godets - not to worry, the entire dress is lined), and solid black piping. 

I've been reading Couture Sewing Techniques which has really made me think twice about the way I construct my garments. I'm usually so impatient and want my pretty new things NOW. I'm trying to shift my mindset to think about constructing quality, lasting garments with techniques that will improve the fit and durability, rather than something cute that will fall apart in just a few wears. I can't wait to finish the dress so I can detail my process on here! I've used hand basting, french seams, french hybrid binding, reinforced seams, the works! 

AND, even though I'm trying to shift my mindset, it's still easy enough to whip up a lined or unlined pencil skirt. and that's what I plan on doing to keep that little thing inside me that screams INSTANT GRATIFICATION, pacified. :)

(Echo chamber)

Hello there. I feel like I hear one giant echo. Probably because I do this mostly for myself. I don't have any followers, and really don't know how to go about getting any. Ah well, it is what it is. This blog is to hold myself accountable, and maybe, just maybe one day have a group of virtual sewing buddies who will learn, share and experiment with me.

So guess what??!! I finished my first piece! Except that it's obviously GOLD LAME instead of brightly colored and festively colored. Oh well, Gold is a color.
I decided upon the exposed black zipper, which I'm so glad I chose. I really like the modern look with the shiny, shiny (did I mention shiny?) gold fabric.

I also detoured from the course and completed this dress.

Which is actually this dress, with sleeves added.

I think I have at least 3 variations of this dress. Different hems, different sleeves. It's just such a quick, easy comfortable dress! Add a belt or a jacket/sweater and you're good to go!

B5211 with bubble sleeves

And, the dress isn't completed completed. I still need to hem the sleeves, and put binding on the neckline, and I can't decide if I want to add a narrow sequins trim to the seam line of the contrast fabric, but I'm pretty much done. The sleeve hem and binding should only take about 15 minutes, and to trim, or not to trim... Still up for debate. [And it needs to be pressed properly.]

Next up is the mixed media raglan sweater. I'm a bit behind because I was out of town visiting with my family over the weekend, and didn't get to work on any sewing projects. And I know I was thinking more sweater-ish materials, but I'm kinda loving the idea of leather and sweat-shirt. Thoughts?

Love the look on both of these ladies. Hate Alicia Keys white turtleneck under the cute top. Love J. Huds entire look, though I wish they woulda took a steamer to that top. 

The case of bad planning

The peplum top, which I've recently become re-obsessed with (it was a small obsession over the summer, but have re-lodged it's flouncy image in my head lately) is almost complete. If you recall, this garment is one of my winter essential items. You know - something for my closet that I love. However, my winter essential item was actually a fun colorful peplum top. And somehow it turned into a gold lame peplum top. Is that OK?

I think so. I did reserve the right to change my mind. Right? Right.

YOU: How did fun, colorful turn into gold lame?
ME: Well, after drafting the pattern, I noticed a piece of gold lame laying around that I was 50/50 about not being interested in. 50% of me said that I would NEVER want a gold lame shirt, because that was just TOO much. the other 50% of me was secretly in love with the idea of a gold lame top. And the fit of the top was niiiice. So I lined it, and now I have a new gold lame peplum top.

I'm loving this, with the exception of two things.
1. This isn't exactly colorful. Sure, I'm kinda (currently) obsessed with gold, but I really need the colorful top to work with the rest of my closet and
2. Because of poor planning on my part - this was after-all only suppose to be a muslin, not a working garment, I didn't think out fully how this garment should be closed.

Now I'm wrestling with how I should close this. My first instinct is a black exposed zipper. But I've done that. Not sure if I love that idea since I've done it before. AND, the finished dimension of this is 26.5" L. I'd have to search out a 26.5" zipper. I'm sure I could find it if I looked hard enough, but again, I don't really love the idea of the exposed back zipper.

Maybe a clean finished back? An invisible zip through the bodice? Clean finish the peplum? That might work.
Gotta get a 16" invisible zipper and this one is finished.

In the meantime, I need to search for colorful in my fabric stash (or do I?).
As an aside, this will probably a fail. I'm not really a "colorful" girl. Though I want to be.

Will this work? Kinda colorful? Mostly purple-ish. It could be really pretty for my mixed media raglan sweater though.

OK. Project #1, almost done. On to project #2 until I have notions to finish #1.

(This whole "winter essentials project" may have been a case of bad planning. Wrong fabric, rushed projects. Unfinished patterns, no notions. Using this as a learning lesson.)

Top Ten Friday

Two of my favorite things are Beyonce, and countdown shows. Well, Beyonce isn't a thing, but you know what I mean. :)

Both are run, and exciting and leave me anticipating what's next! 

And though I'm a LOT less exciting than a countdown show or Beyonce, I think it will be fun to count down to the top ten things on my mind lately.

NUMBER TEN: DRINK MO' WATER

It's a must. Water is possibly the most boring of beverages. I literally will be sitting at work so thirsty, I can barely swallow. I force myself to drink water. Maybe I should start making a game of it in order to get my 64 oz in per day.

NUMBER NINE: DRINK LESS LIQUORS

Unfortunately for me, my favorite beverage is champagne. It doesn't even have to be expensive. I never have to force myself to drink champagne. Maybe I should start drinking water out of a champagne glass.

NUMBER EIGHT: PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT.
My portfolio is completely out of date. I need to update it to include garments, and jewelry. I need to research professional portfolios to see what they really look like, and not what I think they look like. I took a portfolio development class while in school, so I have a strong idea, but I have a portfolio that includes 3 very specific types of items: garment, jewelry, and leather goods. I'd love ideas of how to divide these up in a professional  attractive, way.

NUMBER SEVEN: COOKING.

This year, I want to eat better, and learn how to prepare meals that are restaurant quality. I'm a pretty good cook, but I want to experiment with various techniques, and flavors. 

NUMBER SIX: CLOSET MAINTENANCE

I stumbled across this great little app - Stylish Girl. It's a closet maintenance app. I'm in love. It works great on my HTC Amaze.

NUMBER FIVE: CLEAN EDGE BINDINGS

In persual of continuous learning, I'm always looking for new ways to do things. I found this great tutorial on bindings. French couture bias binding with a bit of an American swing. (Couture and American in the same sentence. Yeah, an oxymoron.)

Click here for the French/American binding tutorial. 

This is a pretty good tutorial for binding the neck edge of a knit garment. 

NUMBER FOUR: RESURGENCE OF POLYVORE
I forgot just how much I love Polyvore. It's so fun to create collages, and look through pretty clothing.

NUMBER THREE: GOLD

Gold Lame by currentlydarci featuring a metallic pleated skirt

L'Agence silk maxi dress, $835 / A|Wear sleeveless dress, $44 / Vionnet wrap top / STEFFEN SCHRAUT gold silk blouse / Oasis party shirt, $19 / Etro gold coat, $2,245 / Miss Selfridge / Jean Paul Gaultier / Ted Baker / Enza Costa metallic pleated skirt, $425 / J Brand mid rise jeans, $480 / Temperley London , $865 / Hervé Léger bandage skirt / Jimmy Choo peep toe heels, $780 / Rose gold sandals, $955 / Rebecca Minkoff / Juicy Couture / Yellow gold jewelry, $63 / Oasis tear drop earrings, $13 / Alexis Bittar yellow gold jewelry / Noir Jewelry , $165 / Bonnie Star yellow gold bracelet / Giuseppe Zanotti / River Island metal ring, $16 / Noir Jewelry stud earrings, $99 / Hervé Van Der Straeten cuff bracelet / Dorothy Perkins two tone jewelry / H&M , $6.40

'Nuff said.

NUMBER TWO: PEPLUM'S

Peplum by currentlydarci featuring miss selfridge

Mary Katrantzou off the shoulder dress, $3,880 / Hakaan bordeaux dress / Julien Macdonald peplum dress / Lipsy peplum dress, $52 / Lipsy , $96 / Alexander McQueen black peplum shirt / Bardot peplum top, $42 / Miu Miu peplum top, $360 / Miss Selfridge / Haider Ackermann , $1,890 / Burberry trench coat / Haider Ackermann wool blazer, $1,195 / Brick Boulevard 11.25 in. x 12 in. Stone and Stainless Mosaic Wall...

I went a little collage crazy.

NUMBER ONE: BEST YEAR YET