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!

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!

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!

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"~

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!

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.