Finished Dress: The Coffee Date Dress!

Another Finished project for 2012!

Remember this post? Well I had to wait until I was off this week to even start working on my second "test" dress because work has been insane (late late nights and weekend work took over my life for a few weeks).  But luckily I booked this week off knowing that i'd need some time away from that place and a few days to sew before Ange's wedding!

I had all the pieces for the larger pattern size cut out, and after taking all day Monday to do nothing I started sewing on Tuesday and finished it in just a few hours.  This was the first picture I took after finishing the bodice, and the skirt wasn't really attached yet, I just used the belt to hold it up.

The next few shots are horrible, but at least you can see the full dress. 

Front - I still don't know how to stand to show off the clothes and not look like a goof.  

Modifications from my first test dress: I went up two sizes to a 36, the first size 32 was way to small. Turns out I just didn't measure myself properly (aka at all).  I've learned so much in this process about making clothes and proper measurements and fit.

I also included the ruffle on this dress vs. the previous test dress, and I'm really glad I did, it was super easy and I think it just dresses it up a bit more.

Back - this was before I hand sewed the lining down to the zipper.  The pins are now gone and its looking great. 

I still have to hem the bottom of the skirt.  I think I'm going to bring the bottom up to just above my knee. The other change I made from the pattern was to attach a full bodice lining. (vs. just the facings)  This made a huge difference in the look in my opinion.  In the previous test dress the fabric was so thin that you could see the facings which I really didn't like. Plus although I didn't make any size modifications to the bodice, I think having the extra thickness throughout helped with the fit.  It seriously is the perfect fit up top.

Side View 

A close up view with the ruffle, so glad I included it!

So if you remember this was suppose to be a second "test" dress.  I made it out of some cotton broadcloth that I got at Fabricland for I think $20. However I really love the colour, and minus a few minor issues (the ironing job sucked when i did the darts and there is a slight pintuck in the skirt top) its pretty good.  And I've decided that I'll just wear this one to the wedding, instead of making a whole other dress.

That all said - I did still get Paul to drive me down to the workroom this week to look at fabric and patterns, because this dress has made me want to sew even more.  So because it was only Wed and I still had the rest of the week off, I picked up this pattern. 

And some Quilters linen by Robert Kaufman in a yellow (its actually called Ochre) - which I love!  I'm going to do another post with the progress of this dress - which i'm hoping to have finished today - then I'll be able to have two choices for the wedding! 

Only two days of holidays left :(.  And the sewing to-do list is still pretty long.  Its going to be another late night of sewing and i'm just fine with that !

Making a Dress - Attempt #1

So this past week after looking at lots of patterns online I decided that instead of making my own pattern (right away) I was going to try out this pattern as it was written first.

Since my luck with clothes to this point hasn't been overly successful I still knew that I was going to need to make a "test" dress first. On Friday we headed up to Paul's Moms to spend the night and I brought my new tiny serger, since I knew she would be interested in seeing it.  Paul said I should also bring my sewing.  So I packed my dress pattern and some cheap broadcloth in case we had a chance to work on it.

Singer Tiny Serger - Bought of Kijiji For $30!

We were only going to spend Friday night and come home on Saturday night since it was my birthday but Paul's mom was excited to help out with sewing so we decided to stay until today.

Yesterday we set out to put the pattern together and sew the "test" dress.  I also decided to attempt to "serge" all the edges.  This was definitely the longest part as the tiny serger is "finicky". So as I worked on serging all the pieces, Paul's mom started the assembly of he bodice.  I learned some really good tips from her - she has made several dresses and clothes before.

So here is what we learned.  I am not a 32 petite. LOL  I measured myself before hand and I thought I was "close enough" to the original pattern size.  Ummm when making clothes, close enough does not cut it. The bodice is about 4 inches too small at the sides/ back. Luckily we found the pattern in "multi-sizes" online so i'm going to have to start all over again this weekend.

But it was a good first attempt.  I wasn't sure of the style before we started, but I think it will look nice. I like the way the top is fitting and with a little sweater and possibly a belt it should look great for the weddings we have this year.

Adjustments that i'm going to make on the 2nd attempt will be to make a fully lined bodice.  The pattern just has the bodice facings lined, but I going to fully line the whole thing to prevent it from being see-through if i chose a light weight fabric.  I'm also going to make the skirt a bit longer and hem it to just above my knee i think. I think i'm also going to leave the ruffle off, but i'm not sure yet. I think its going to depend on what I choose for my final fabric choice.

So my next step is to try and get to fabric land some time this week to pick up some more broadcloth for attempt number two. By the time I get to making the actual dress i'll be a pro at this pattern!

To sew or not to sew

I'm going to *attempt* to make my own dress.

I've been sewing for a long time (self-taught), however I will be the first one to admit that sewing clothing has not been something I've excelled at.  In fact the very few things I have made, I rarely wear.

I do love the school house tunic pattern, and until about 20 minutes ago when I put it on, I thought the size and fit was good.  However, my choice of fabric was so way off that I never wear it. In fact I just changed out of my pj's for the first time all day to put it on to take a few pics since I realized I didn't have any of it completely finished. 

But this shirt is not what I came to blog about.  Its about trying new things.  And i'm going to attempt to make a dress for my cousin's wedding in May. 

Now I've found a few patterns that I like, however I'm *contemplating* making my own pattern.  This is a crazy idea cause I've never made my own pattern before and I'm not good at math.  I think I'd be better to adjust a pattern to myself but even that is taking a risk.  Specially for a dress that I have to wear out in public and my entire family will see. 

My biggest fear is picking a style that works for my body and will fit well. I think the most frustrating part of sewing clothing for myself is that it never seems to work out the way I envisioned and I never know how to fix it once its done. 

Enough of that, lets get to the details, here are some of patterns that I've been thinking about.

This first dress that I've been thinking of modifying is actually a kids dress, but I think it could be adjusted to look a little more adult-like.

Photo from The Cottage home

Although I like that style I'm worried that since it is a kids dress, I might just look a well a kid. I really like this next dress pattern, but it might be a bit to simple for a dress to wear to a wedding. 

Photo from Sewing in no Mans Land

And this last one I just found tonight, it's a free pattern I found on Burda Style and could be fancy enough for the wedding, but simple enough to throw together. I'm not 100% sold on the ruffle, but it could be cute. 

Photo from Kylie Burrowes on Burda Style

So given all of these are free patterns, i'm thinking that I could make a few copies out of broadcloth and give them or at least one of them a test try first to see if the fit and style are right.  I'm also going to look at a few books at Indigo on my lunch break tomorrow to see if I can find anything on adjusting patterns could be something good to have on hand.

Ultimately If I had time in my crazy life, had extra money, or lets face it was smart enough I'd just go take the pattern making class at The Workroom and learn the proper way to do this. But part of me thinks learning on my own and figuring this out will be much more satisfying then just reading a pattern or someone teaching  me.  

Wish me luck.