The One Where I Thought "Uh Oh" and Did It Anyway

Aka, Butterick 5639, why did you have to be difficult?

Have you seen this dress? I pinned it 33 weeks ago. It's been sitting in my "clothes to make" board. The link goes to her Flickr site but there are only three pictures of her version, none of which is her wearing it. I did a search and she seemed to be the only one who'd made and shown it. I never thought to look on Pattern Review......

Gorgeous, isn't it?

I purchased the pattern about four months ago. When I got it home and really looked at it, I thought... Uh Oh. 

The pattern front as they show it is kinda meh, but obviously from the picture above can be very cute with the right fabric. I wanted to make the same view, down there, on the left. For some reason, I thought the back view would be similar to the front. 

Then I turned it over. Moo, straps. I so did not want straps. I know, I live in the land of heat and sunshine, but strappy dresses will never be work appropriate for me. You may think that's silly and that's ok. 

So, I said all of that to say, it took me until two weeks ago to try and make this pattern how I wanted it to be. It's made with a linen look fabric from Joann's. I used the same basic pieces from the front bodice for the back. 

I think it turned out pretty well. It did take a bit  a lot a whole lot of tweaking and it is not perfect by any means.

After I finished this today, in preparation for blogging it, I did another search for this dress. That's when I found the link to the reviews on Pattern Review. The beautiful dress I showed you for my inspiration? She says the back was so bad that it was not salvageable. As in train wreck and wadder pile, her words not mine. It was only then that I read the fabric suggestions. Linen or even a linen look like mine was not recommended. Hmmm, I am even happier with my choice to alter the back and how it turned out after reading that. 

 I made my guy take me to the beach this evening for a sunset photo shoot. I guess the next few pictures are as much about me having fun as they are about the dress. It is utilitarian yet feminine. The princess line fit and flare are flattering to my, ahem, shape. The pockets are amazingly usable. Seriously. 

All in all I think it is a pretty and comfortable dress to wear. Appropriate for both beach and office.

Evenings like this make me wonder why I don't go jump in the water more often. 

Oh and no, I do not mind being the crazy person jumping in the water while people walk by wondering why is the crazy woman jumping around in the water in a dress....

A Pillowcase Dress

A month or so ago Jess and I decided to make some dresses for Bella Boo. We started with a dress that had been gifted to Jess. It was super long. probably a christening type gown. I convinced Jess that we could make it into something Bella could wear. Copying a dress from Baby Gap, in about a hour, we had a dress. It took that long because sometimes I can not get around doing things the hard way....

The hem of the old dress was a very pretty border of embroidered flowers. It was so easy to make, we ended up making two more. Getting pictures is the hard part. I used a soft cotton twill tape for the shoulder straps. the front and back panels have a casing at the neck with elastic through it. I like that you don't have to have actual ties to hold the dress on.

She has already grown so much, that it is more of a top than a dress! That's the nice things about clothing like this, it can go through several growth spurts before being too small. We'll try to show the other versions soon!

Girl Stuff

There are a lot of dresses in the queue for our Isabella. 

A LOT. 

This fabric decided to be another Simplicity 4243. I made the first one in a 3-6 month size and she is wearing it now. She is quickly growing out of it. She's our little big girl.

The fabric is Weekend Lollies in Peach by Erin McMorris. 

The trim is a jumbo rick-rack from Joann, in raspberry. 

I decided to go with a button closure instead of a zipper and I made my own bias tape for the arm openings.

By the time she wears this, she should be running around on her own. Guess I should make something smaller next time....

Birthday Party Dress

I hope you're not tired of little girl's dresses, because I am not tired of making them yet! Have I mentioned lately that I love the Oliver + S patterns?? Hm, maybe once or twice I think.

I have been hoarding some of my Anna Maria Horner Voile hoping to find the perfect thing to make with it. I think it works well with this pattern. It's light but crisp enough for the pleats. I used Little Honey in Meadow and Pastry Line in Marine

I found a small vintage button in my stash that seemed to be meant for the front. 

 More vintage-y goodness on the back.

 I hope our little miss likes this one!

Reversible Dress In The Most Awkward Way

During the time when we weren't blogging because other things were going on, I was still managing to sew some. I'm not sure it was wise operating machinery and all.... and obviously, judging from these pictures, I've forgotten how to use my camera. Just sayin, I know they are sort of blurry and all that. 

Anyway.

Jess and I started this one day when we weren't thinking with even one brain between us. We wanted it reversible, she suggested just binding it, I wanted to make two sided piping, she didn't want the buttoned shoulders that the pattern (old pattern) called for. We thought, we'll just sew it together and flip it right side out!! Those of you using all of your brains will know why we were wrong. You can't do that unless you leave the sides of the dress completely open. See it has that criss cross thing going on.

Silly us. 

Now we know what we already knew.

We laughed at ourselves. 

Then I preceded to hand-sew the sides of the dress together.

The End. 

Swiss Dot Love

I found this lovely Swiss dot at Joann's a few weeks back. I couldn't wait to show it to Jessica and I really hoped that it was something she'd like for Isabella. Thank goodness she did or I might have cried. I let her choose the pattern, McCalls 4424 and then added my own touches.

I almost decided to drive myself crazy and match the side seams but  then decided not to. I did trim the bottom in a black batiste. I think it adds a bit of sophistication. 

Can a baby be sophisticated?

The bodice is lined with white Kona cotton. Finding two matt black buttons the right size made me very happy.

There is a very cute pair of bloomers to match.

Under no circumstances do I want to rush this baby, but I will really enjoy it when she is here and I can see her in these dresses!

A Dress For The Girl

Not long after finding out that she was having a girl, Jess found this fabric.  It's one of the Lisette fabrics sold at Joann's. It's a sweet pink (slightly salmon) lawn, that's very easy to sew. She let me choose Simplicity 4243 for the pattern. 

It's a very simple pattern. Hopefully easy for a wee one to wear. I did change the back closure to three buttons instead of a zipper.

The sizing was kind  of aggravating. It's one of those xxs, xs, s, m, l deals, I'd rather they use pounds or months or something like that.

The front has small pleats that give it just enough fullness without being fussy. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against fussy. I'm sure I'll indulge in fussy later.

Ice Cream Dress

I wanted a gift for a young friend and decided on the Ice Cream Dress. It's the first time I've used this pattern. I love Oliver + S patterns and this one is no exception. 

 The fabric is Fleur d'Paris for Henry Glass.

I hope she likes it!

A Remake

A few years back while traveling in Italy I saw this dress in a window. It was cheap and I thought it was a perfect summer dress. 

I didn't try it on.

My bad, because it didn't work for me. Guess I was channeling my 20 something self.....

I showed it to Jessica and she loved it, which is funny because it is much more color than she ever wears at once. Some days I cause her to cringe with my colorful clothing. 

Poor baby.

Before the little guy came along she wore it a couple of times but after little guy, some changes needed to be made. It happens when you are blessed with children, things change. 

Before.

Sorry for the mediocre photos, I think we were supposed to be making dinner?? Poor guys.

After.

Mom friendly but gorgeous!

Even better than the original, don't you think?

Simplicity Dress- modified

YEAH! My second dress is complete... after sitting around in my to do pile for weeks!

It's another Simplicity 2975

Mum of course supervised 

The fabric is Chestnut Hill Ironwork

Pockets were added 

and this time we modified the straps to have buttons ... for easy access

I really love it...