What I'm Reading: Sewing for Special Occasions

Thank goodness for spell check. I haven't been able to spell "occasion" in my entire life. Or "restaurant". And yes, I have a college degree in English. I do know how to spell fail (B-E-T-H).

Tomorrow I'll be sharing the flower girl dress I made for AB for a wedding this past weekend. It was my first time making a fancy dress, so it helped to have this book on hand.

I picked this up at a used books store, although I had previously checked it out from the library (so I knew it was worth buying). Pay no attention to the obviously dated photo on the front cover. All these Singer Sewing Library books look dated, but the information is great.

Like all the Singer Library books, the information is very specific (special occasions, knits, sergers) but that means you can quickly find what you need. If you want to brush up on invisible zippers, you can review the (excellent) photographs and the accompanying text.

This is the only book I've read that goes over intricate details like button looping trim, lace sleeves, and button cuffs. There are explanations of the types of special occasion fabrics and how best to work with them (seams, finishes, etc.). It also covers speciality items like netting and lace.

Before I started on AB's dress, I was very intimidated by the world of special occasion sewing. Reading this book made me feel confident enough that I could handle it, and I think I have a lovely dress to show for my efforts! Stay tuned until tomorrow for all the details!

Tuesday Tips: Marking with Stickers

When working with a hard to mark fabric, try using stickers for dots or notches. They're easy to see and you don't have to struggle with chalk or marking pens.

Make sure to place stickers on the wrong side of your fabric, or test first for remove-ability (is that a word?). I use smiley-face stickers that come with my Better Homes and Gardens magazines ("free gift!") and they're just right in terms of stickiness.

This method works particularly well on textured fabrics (like the one pictured above) that can be hard to mark consistently. The fabric in the photo is my brocade for the Fear Fabric Challenge. Are you working with your Fear Fabrics? Make sure you join the Flickr group to upload your photos! We'll be posting our projects at the end of the month.

Mend It Monday: Dress Hem

Have you ever had to mend one of your own me-made creations? Bummer. Remember my first maxi dress?

It was super long, so when I hemmed it I had a lot of extra fabric to trim. I seem to recall talking and gesturing and not paying attention to what I was doing...and snip. A hole in the bottom of the skirt. Nothing like "finishing" a garment and immediately ruining it.

Repaired hole, right side.

It took me a few weeks to get around to it, but this was an easy repair. Not that pretty, but easy. This particular knit is very lightweight (sheer, if you want to know the truth) and it did ravel a bit. To prevent the hole from getting worse, I cut a small scrap and laid it over the hole's wrong side. Because this is a striped fabric, I carefully positioned the scrap so that the stripes would match.

Repaired hole, wrong side.

Using a coordinating thread, and working with the right side up, I zig-zagged around the edges of the hole to secure the dress to the scrap, then trimmed off any excess. Since this repair is in the hem of the garment (which is typically on the floor) it's more of a structural fix than a cosmetic one. I didn't want to step on the hem and hear a pleasant riiiiiiiiiip. So far so good!

Have you been doing any repairs lately? Time to pull out those winter clothes and check for damage!

Project Runway rehash!

Have you looked at the cast list for Project Runway All-Stars 3? Insane. THREE winners (Seth Aaron, Jeffrey, Irina) and everyone else placed 2nd-4th. Oh, and then there's Elena from last season. Odd lady out (she finished 6th). My love for Seth Aaron trumps my hatred for Irina, otherwise I might consider passing on this season just to avoid her. Who am I kidding. I'll watch this show 4-EVR.

Also, I failed to say yesterday that it was my wedding anniversary. I wish I could have used that as an excuse to make a lovely new dress and have a fancy dinner, but we have another wedding this weekend. You'll have to be content with AB's flower girl dress, which I'll be posting next week. It's terribly cute, if I do say so myself!

(And yes, we did watch PR live on our anniversary...did I mention my husband loves me?) Spoilers to follow...

Things I loved:

I LOVED the home visit with Alexandria. Seeing her camp and those kids...let's all say it together: AAAWWWW. And I laughed SO HARD at all the "ugly dolls". So spot on. 

Justin's story behind his collection was unique and made a lot of sense with his designs. I liked it.

Things I hated:

Tim falling down subway stairs! He should have made up a fantastical story about getting into a bar fight or something.

At first I hated the requirement for an unconventional material, but they all did so well with it that I can forgive the show.

Ahhhhhhhh neck braids!! Helen! WTF!

Tonight's reason why I love Tim Gunn:

He did a great job with everyone's critiques. I LOVE home visits because we get to see how polite and generally awesome Tim can be.

Favorite garment:

Heidi's reaction to Justin's dress ("ohhhhhh wow") was exactly how I felt. Insane. He was smart to go with a showstopper in his mini-collection. It seems like someone always underwhelms the judges in their mini-collection and goes home for it. Glad to see that it didn't happen this time around.

I almost lost my mind every time I saw Alexandria's pants-with-gloves. WANT. NOW. Zac and Nina are probably right with their criticisms, but that doesn't mean I don't love her collection.

Least favorite garment:

Helen's print was interesting, but combined with the red it was jarring. And that off the shoulder cape-dress-straight-jacket...ugh.

Best line of the night:

"I mean, uhm, I guess...capes are mysterious..." --Helen


I'm half-way satisfied with the final four (although I prefer 3 contestants going into Fashion Week). Their collections seem interesting and I'm anxious to see them next week. Justin might have some issues with fit, Bradon might skew too old, Alexandria's show might be too boring (for the judges) and I hope Dom actually finishes (2 weeks to go and she didn't have her fabric!). Just the right amount of drama for a finale.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to watch The Little Mermaid on blu-ray, which was part of my anniversary present. YES!

Thermal Pajama Set

Don't you hate it when a garment starts off in one direction, then ends up somewhere totally different (in a bad way)? That's what happened when I tried New Look 6216:

Being a New Look pattern, I debated long and hard before spending my hard-earned $3 on it (did you know they're $2.99 at Wal-Mart?), but it fit my general pattern deal-breakers: 1) I would make more than one view on the envelope 2) I would actually wear the finished product. It also had kimono sleeves (OBSESSED MUCH?) so I could see myself sewing it frequently because it would be so speedy.

Whomp whomp. This was a lot cuter in my head. The fabric is a mystery thermal knit that I got at Wal-Mart for a crazy-low price. The quality of the fabric is not bad, but this is a size 8 (the smallest size in the envelope) and it's huge. Like, 5" of ease (which I REALLY need to start checking BEFORE I sew) Something about a slouchy thermal knit says "homeless" instead of "purposefully oversized".

I added some contrast thermal knit (leftover from these jammies for AB) on the pocket and the sleeve cuffs. I thought it would be cute, but instead it's kind of dumb and juvenile in a bad way. I didn't even bother to hem the shirt.

Believe it or not, I intended to wear this shirt out in the real world. Only when it was finished did I realize that it had to become pajamas instead. Since I had a bunch of the fabric leftover, I went ahead and made some shorts to complete the set.

I used Simplicity 1879 as a base for the shorts (like I did with my knit culottes), adding a little over 2" to the tops of the pattern pieces to make a 1" waistband. I used my serger on the shorts and even serged the elastic before turning down the waistband and topstitching. This was my first time serging elastic and it went pretty well (just remember to disengage/remove your cutting knife!).

I used my 3-step zig-zag stitch to sew down the waistband. Still in love with that stitch. I'd like to say I used teal thread on purpose...but it just happened to be on my machine.

I DID add this charm on purpose, as a tag in the shorts. Isn't it cute? I got a bag of them at Jo-Ann's (they're in the jewelry making section) and they're fun to add into AB's clothes. And, I guess, mine! Hey, I can sew with love for myself, right??

I don't know if I'm going to make this pattern again. A more stable fabric would probably work better, but I feel like I need to grade the entire pattern down 2 sizes. Le sigh. Anyone else had a pattern derailment recently?

Today for Thrifty Thursday, score the Adele 3-Tier Ruffle Skirt pattern for half off, only $4! Head to Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and pick up this deal!

What I'm Reading: New Dress A Day

I'm running out of closet space, and I've only been sewing for a year and half. Can you image if you were making one new dress a day for a whole year? That's exactly what Marisa Lynch did, on her popular blog New Dress A Day. After completing her challenge, Marisa wrote a book with all her tips and tricks!

New Dress A Day

I've read a bunch of books about upcycling/thrifting/refashioning, but I think this one was the most fun. Not exactly the most practical/useful (that award goes to Little Green Dresses) but still fun. It's a pretty standard before-and-after here's-how-I-did-it book, but Marisa's energy and writing style make it worth reading, instead of just skimming the photos.

What made me snatch up this book was the section on refashioning bridesmaids' dresses. I find myself in possession of two such dresses and no ideas about what to do with them. After reading this book, I have a few thoughts other than "rip it apart".

Although there were some good ideas in here, I'm not thrilled with some of the methods. A bit of a rant: there are a LOT of books/tutorials/websites aimed at DIY fashion that promote no-sew methods. Why? You wouldn't attempt a home remodel without a drill, why would you try your hand at fashion without a sewing machine? Are we really all that lazy? You can buy a decent enough machine for the cost of one weekend of eating out, drinks, and entertainment. It's not that hard to learn, if you try. So why so much love for no-sew techniques that suck? This book shows how to hem a dress...with tape. No, not with fusible tape (although that's in here, too) with TAPE. Like, grab it out of your junk drawer and get cracking. What??

But I digress. Let's go back to the parts I liked. There was a great section on Halloween costumes, and a chapter on dyeing. Dyeing is something I haven't tried, but I'm definitely going to follow Marisa's tips and try it soon. I have a pair of almost-white jeans (ugh, I know) that are just DYEING to be emerald (har har, get it? dyeing?).

If you're an experienced seamstress looking for some fresh inspiration, you'll like the transformations in this book. If you're a beginner and want to practice sewing via refashioning, you'll find a lot here. And I think every blogger will appreciate Marisa's introduction where she talks about losing her job and starting her blog. Pick this up just for that : )

Tuesday Tips: Pinking Interfacing

If interfacing will be next to the skin (for example, when reinforcing a zipper), cut the edges with pinking shears. This softens the interfacing so it won't be as scratchy. Better yet, consider using muslin when a pattern calls for interfacing. While not fusible like traditional interfacings, muslin is soft and can provide stability when needed.