Friday, April 29, 2011

Sheer Skirt Madness



I have been wanting to make a maxi skirt for awhile now but not quite knowing what material to go with.  I decided on this sheer satin ribbon chiffon that I have had for at least 10 years now as I loved this material when I bought it but never new what really to make with it.  I did make a few lavender sachets with it but the other 8 meters sat folded untouched.  I have been on a sheer skirt making madness lately...the tulle skirt....the lace skirt. 


This was easy to make & here is my mini tutorial.....I measured & used about 2 meters of fabric & I serged the hem.  I used wooly nylon on the upper looper in metallic pink to give it a bit more strength on the hem.


Sew the one seam together

Fold 1" to make a waist band & iron.

Sew the waist band all around leaving about 2" to insert elastic.

I use the best quality elastic so it will not twist & turn inside the casing.

I always use a zig zag & triple stitch the elastic ends together.  Sew the rest of casing up & your done!

I will be making more skirts with this fabric in different designs....this is my first test design....to see how this fabric wears. 

I like the sheer with the pale pink stripe.



Have a fabulous weekend!


Saturday, April 23, 2011

Hot Pink Tulle Cape


A tulle cape?  I have never heard of this either.....but this is what mini-me wanted me to make.  She had originally asked for a long skirt but changed her mind when she saw the length.  I was about to cut it for a skirt when she came up with this.


This was easy to make....just sew 2 long stitches & pull to gather...OK.. so not so easy,  it was a long process to try & get my stitches straight with that much fabric!

I used about 8 meters of this hot pink tulle!

She picked out the pink polka dot ribbon for the front ties.


She has always had her own style & is quite creative about it & her posing I don't know where she gets that from! lol!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Difficult Dress



I finished sewing my dress that I made out of Italian Silk....finally!  It is true what most seamstresses say about sewing with silk, it is a difficult material to work with.  This was one of the hardest projects for me to sew even with the easiest pattern.  I chose a New Look easy pattern  because of the style. 
So details...the bad....the hem was the most difficult part me....I am going to unpick this & try again.  The material kept slipping as I was sewing even though I was sewing so slow.  Sewing around the sleeves also gave me a little trouble.

The good.....the zipper went in smoothly, but that was because remember.... I sewed a muslin for this dress!  Thanks Vintage Sew Along 2011 for advising to always make a muslin first!  O.K so it is not perfect but no problems!

The skirt vent was easier for me this time...Yeah Me!



I sewed another waist tie as the blush chiffon seemed to blend into the dress.

I like this tangerine one better and was really the style I was going for. So silk dress is done...I have sewn with dupioni silk many times & never had issues like I had with this silk. I do love the feel of this dress and the drape. I will be using this fabric again but to maybe sew a top..... to gain more experience.


Hope you have a Fabulous weekend!




Sunday, April 17, 2011

Powder Blue Nautical Dress



After a rainy week it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in Vancouver.  I had some quiet sewing time on Saturday to finish this blue stripe dress that has been lying around for a month now... left unfinished. 
This started out as a top but evolved to this dress by a happy accident.  I had originally made the top too small & started anew....I did not want to use the seam ripper on this fashion knit/cotton blend fabric.  


After I had finished the top I looked at it and felt it needed more.......so I added the black bias trim......then I added the top to the bottom...have I lost you yet?   I thought it made this elegant drop waist with a sort of Mermaid bottom on the dress. 


 It was perfect to wear on a romantic drive with "the husband" to my fave beach in White Rock, BC ... I needed the wind in my hair....the fresh salt water in the air.....the hot sun....and some time with the person I love. 


~photos by the "husband"~

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

from my dressing room......



Hi everyone - hope your day is going fabulous...... from my dressing room today I am wearing a capelet top & skirt that are both  made by me.  The skirt is my own design (an A line skirt) & I used some gorgeous chocolate dupioni silk for the front & charmeuse for the back.  Two different types of fabric for one skirt!




I started this skirt in March but only finished now because I made my first hand sewn zipper or also called a hand picked zipper.  This is where you hand sew in the zipper instead of using a machine.  It was a technique that I had been wanting to try & this fabric was perfect for it because of its delicacy.    I used Threads tutorial & it was very well written & easy to understand.  I like this way of inserting zippers & I will definitely use this technique again.


 I also tried to make a box pleat in the front. It turned out o.k. for my first try!  I serged the hems of the skirt in black thread.  The capelet top is also my own design which I wrote about in a previous post so I wont bore you again with the details!

I am wearing this to work today!

Monday, April 4, 2011

My Romantic Lace Skirt


This months projects are going to be skirts for me!  With warm weather that should be here already & Easter fast approaching I need some skirts!  Also my 3 daughters like wearing skirts too so this is a perfect time to design & create some new ones.

 I love lace so I chose to sew a romantic skirt for my first skirt this month!  This is a very easy project that I did this weekend.   I cut out two rectangle pieces of fabric, measured of course & added a elastic for the waist. 
 I set my machine on a high tension so when I sewed the elastic to the lace fabric it would ruffle.  I also had to pull gently on the elastic as I was sewing.

I always iron my seams!

I used my straight denim skirt as my underlay!



I initially just had a hem as you can see from the above pic but decided to add the black bias for contrast.
I purchased this fabric because of the pretty lace flower design.