Christmas Dress + Make A Garment A Month Challenge + Pattern Review

Every year for the past few years I've made something red to wear to church the Sunday before Christmas. Back in October while shopping at Joann, I saw the prettiest red brocade fabric I've ever seen and immediately knew it would be my Christmas dress.

(Maxi) Circle Skirt Tutorial Roundup

As I mentioned in my Party Dress post, I took information from several sources to get a full understanding of what I needed to do to make a maxi-length full circle skirt. I thought since I've done all the leg work, I might as well share the wealth. There's a plethora of information on the web about making circle skirts. However, most of these sources (that I've found) would have you to limit the length of your skirt by the width of your fabric. So the following is all the information I combined that helped me to create a maxi length circle skirt.

Party Dress + Pattern Review | Vogue 8630

Our church had a holiday party this past weekend. Attire was formal. I've known about it for several months now. I purchased fabric back in October. Oh how plans change.

I originally planned to make Vogue 2237. This pattern is quite a few years old but is still in print.

Make a Garment a Month | To be Continued...

Where did November go? Ugh! The last few weeks have been hectic and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. While I did manage to complete a garment in November, it was not my OFFICIAL challenge entry. Well I partially completed it. I made the bolero but never got to cutting out the actual gown. I apologize it is quite wrinkled. But if I waited to find time to steam it, it would never get posted. At this point I'm trying to remain committed to posting regularly so this has to be it.

Pattern Review | Vogue 2091 (OOP)

I cut this dress out several weeks ago hoping to wear it some place we were going. (I don't even remember where now.) At any rate, it was too big and required too much fitting so I set it aside and wore something else. I finally finished it and wore it to a wedding reception Saturday evening.

Here's a review for my fellow sewers.

Pattern Review | Butterick 5950

I saw this amazing fabric at Joann a couple of weeks ago and completely fell in love with it. As I stated several weeks back, I have been on a self-imposed challenge to not buy any fabric for the rest of the year. When I saw this fabric, I had it in my shopping cart, walked around the store with it, put it back and left the store. Then I went home and dreamed about it. I went back within the week and purchased the fabric LOL.

Make a Garment a Month Challenge | November Garment

For my November garment I'm choosing Vogue 2237. It is a strapless floor-length gown with a long sleeved bolero.

 

This dress will be for a formal we're going to in mid-December. I'm starting early because I've never made anything like this. The dress includes a foundation complete with boning. Plus we're going out of town the week of Thanksgiving. When we get back I'll have a week until the event. My hope is to get it pretty much finished prior to leaving. And I can take it with me to do any hand sewing that needs to be done. I need to put my machine in the shop for overdue maintenance while we're away so taking the sewing machine with me is not an option.

 

Make a Garment a Month Challenge | My Completed Garment + Pattern Review

I actually managed to complete 2 other garments this month but this one is my official garment for the Make a Garment a Month Challenge.

I worked on this a little bit here and there (and then made a couple other garments in between) but this is definitely a pattern that can easily be completed in a few hours. This pattern is out-of-print. If you have it in your stash, this is a quick gratification project.

 

UPDATED TO INCLUDE A PIC FROM WHEN I ACTUALLY WORE THE DRESS OUT. THE PREVIOUS PICS WERE JUST TAKEN AT HOME. HUBBY TOOK ME TO SEE THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA FOR MY BIRTHDAY.

What was I thinking? | Pattern Review: Vogue 8789

Ever ask yourself this question after you've taken on a task? Last Sunday my husband and I decided we would attend a banquet that upcoming Saturday. And of course of course of course I wanted to make something to wear. It had to be a fairly simple pattern because I didn't have very many sewing days. The event I previously posted about was on Friday of the same week. I finished the tutu on Tuesday, cut out the pattern on Wednesday and got started. I worked on the dress in the evenings after work so that really only gave me Wednesday & Thursday. Friday evening was the Trunk or Treat event at church. Saturday morning I had a meeting and then the banquet was that evening.

Saturday afternoon as I was hemming the dress while sitting under the hair dryer I asked myself repeatedly "What was I thinking?"

I did manage to finish the dress but it needs some tweaking before I'll wear it again. I wanted to make a petticoat to wear underneath but I just didn't have enough time. Here is a pic of the dress as worn and a review for my fellow sewers.

When I Grow Up...

I often (jokingly) say to people:

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a ballerina, a Dallas Cowgirl and a racecar driver".

So when the time came that I needed a costume, of course I had to be one of those things, right?

At our church we offered our children a safe alternative to Trick or Treat called TRUNK or Treat. The adults wore costumes. We were SUPPOSED to decorate our cars and pass out candy from our open trunks (hence the name). I think all the adults got caught up in the excitement of wearing a costume and only one person decorated their car LOL.

Nevertheless, when I gave my "when I grow up" speech to explain why I was going to be a ballerina, my sister-in-law challenged me to figure out a way to incorporate all 3. Hey no problem. As long as I get to wear a tutu.

And of course the tutu is DIY. I had 40 yards of white tulle left over from my wedding decorations. (Don't ask). Now that would have been plenty to make a tutu but I mean what's the point in wearing a tutu if there's no pink on it? I purchased 8 yards of pink tulle from Joann. The tulle is approx. 54 inches wide. The white tulle was the same width. I had made a tutu before for my niece. I pretty much used the same method to make mine. There's a ton of tutorials out there so I won't bother. I Googled and found this post from Momdot.com

I simply cut my tulle into 6-inch strips and left it WOF. I should have shortened it but I had another project on the horizon and needed to finish the tutu quickly. I completed the tutu in the time it took to watch a movie.

Anyhow, here is the finished project. My cowgirls (t-shirt) ballerina (tutu) racecar driver (driving gloves) costume.

 



Everyone had a blast - young and old. And I got to wear a tutu. :-)

Even though I did purchase pink tulle, I'm counting this project as part of my stash buster challenge. I used 9 yards of the white tulle I had in my stash.

Make a Garment a Month Challenge .:||:. My Garment for October

Well I'm off to a bit of a late start in the challenge. Luckily the garment I've chosen is a UFO and I already cut it out - about a year ago.

I have chosen Vogue 8305 (View C). I believe this one is now out of print.

Challenges

A couple of months ago, I realized I have entirely too much fabric. And even though I haven't been finding much time to sew (for myself) , I kept buying fabric. I looked at my stash and decided to go on a Fabric Fast.

Bonus Dress + Pattern Review | Simplicity 2582

I'm calling this dress a "bonus" because it wasn't initially intended for me.  It was supposed to be for someone else however they didn't follow thru to pay for it. I recently lost 10 lbs. so the dress fits me. BONUS. Fortunately I was only out of less than $20 for fabric + shipping (BONUS) but it was definitely a lesson learned.

UFO + Pattern Review | New Look 6124

I recently challenged myself to two things:
(1) A fabric fast until the end of the year. I have ENTIRELY too much fabric in my stash. So from now until the end of the year, anything I make, the fabric has to come from my stash (other than lining/notions).

(2) To finish up some Unfinished Objects (UFOs). This is one of those UFOs.

Singing The Blues | Pattern Review: Butterick 5880

Yesterday at my church we had a "Sunday's Best" day where all of the women wore hats. This is our second year doing this and I must say I quite enjoyed it.

Pattern Review | Kwik Sew 3183 - Men's Accessories & Ties

I made this bowtie for my brother in law using a scrap of fabric I found in the bottom of my scraps basket.

Kwik Sew 3183

Here's my review:

Pattern Description:

Men's Accessories. Bias-cut neck ties in three widths: 3 1/2" (9 cm), 4" (10 cm) and 4 1/2" (11 cm).  Bow tie and pre-tied bow tie have adjustable button closure on neckbands.  Cummerbund and Vest include sizes S-M-L.  Pleated cummerbund has adjustable Velcro® closure on back belt.  Vest has front button closure, adjustable button closure at the back neck and adjustable Velcro® closure on back belt.

I made both the bowtie and the pre-tied bowtie.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes. Very straight-forward

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

The only thing I don't like about the pattern is that it calls for buttons on the bowties rather than hooks. I'm not sure how big of a deal that is for the men.

Fabric Used:

The bowtie was made from a brocade I purchased at Joann's a couple years ago. I had made my husband a necktie and my brother in law loved the print/color. When I went back to look for more, there was none to be found. I found a remnant that was just enough to make the bowtie and a pocket hankie.

Picnic Dress: Vogue 8380

( 1-Apr-13: I found this draft from July. Not sure why I never published it.)

I don't know what it is but right now I just have this thing for plaids. I ran across this darling fabric on etsy and saved it to my favorites. When I decided to make a dress for our church picnic I immediately knew I wanted this fabric. It's a blend of 100% linen and cotton. I went thru my pattern stash, decided on Vogue 8380 and ordered this lovely linen/silk blend fabric from Fabrics and Trimmings on Etsy.

My Easter Ensemble

I saw a pic of a lace skirt on Pinterest (I think) a while back and INSTANTLY fell in love. I decided to make my own version to wear for Easter Sunday.

On A Natural High...

Lately I've been obsessed with natural hair and body products. I've been experimenting and trying out some recipes I've found online. Here is my haul from this weekend.