Thursday, May 16, 2013

Midsummer's Night Dream!




My Midsummer's Night Dream dress by Papercut Patterns! 

Let me just say first of all, THAT I LOVE THIS DRESS. Its a wrap dress, with adjustable straps, so it was easy to get the right fit. I cut a small, and due to fabric restrictions, the hem comes up in the front vs  staying level like in the original.

This was a dress of firsts for me!

1. Working with such a slippery material. I took Andrea of FourSquareWalls advice and used lots and lots of starch and pins. Thankfully the underside of fabric is not nearly as frictionless, otherwise cutting would have been an absolute nightmare.

2. Making bias binding.

 This was again, a bit of adventure due to the slipperiness, but LOTS of starch and ironing were my best friend on this guy.

3. I finally use my serger to do a rolled hem! I was going to wait until I had orange thread, but I thought black might look cool in a dramatic sort of way. I'm glad I trucked ahead because I actually really like it!

Sorry that my face is blurry in EVERY photo. I propped my camera up on the counter, and with the timer it could either focus on the dress or my face. I chose the dress. 

There is a good amount of overlap in the front too, I wore it outside today, where it is fairly windy, and no unwelcome surprises. 

I was loosing my balance...

THE BACK IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE PART. The way the skirt drapes is such a beautiful shape!! 

I love the details of the little ties too :)

Ah! Little rebel string there!
Fabric is just from FabricLand, mystery blend. In terms of changes to the pattern I just took it in by an inch and a half under my armpit to stop some of the sideboob (bra) showing. 

This is one of my first projects in a while that I have been really pleased with! Yay! Gettin' my mojo back I do think.


Friday, May 3, 2013

Briar Take Two/ MMM!



Side view

Another brair! This one is a. a cardigan and b. white! It feels so comfy and soft :) I'm really happy with it. Also what you can't see from this photo is the small family walking by, and children asking if I was a statue while I posed for the timer to go off. 

My sewing machine got really upset making buttonholes in this fabric though! Oi! Error after error message kept flashing. They looked okay though, so I just marched forward making them. 





I could not get a decent shot of the front buttoned up to save my life. I propped my camera up in trees, on stools, and tried selfies to no avail. 


I really love these buttons though with the white knit! They seem so regal! Additionally all I had in the house was brown thread, and I REALLY wanted to finish this project before I left for Japan, so brown thread I used! I think the contrast actually looks pretty cool.