Handy Trick

A useful tutorial for when you have several yards of fabric straps to turn and you don't want your hands turning into withered claws.

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Lace Overlay Dress - Completed

I’ve actually finished this dress a while ago, just now posting the results. I’ve also added elastic to the sleeve tops to keep everything in place and it’s working like a charm so far. Overall, I’m quite pleased with how everything turned out.

This dress is actually based off of the Presidential Personality dress from Modcloth. Unfortunately, while they had my size (the floral print version), I currently lack the $200 that it costs. The pattern I used to create this dress was Anne Kline (V1192) dress from Vogue (scored from JoAnns at a deep discount during a sale). With the fabrics and invisible zipper that I had purchased separately, everything came to less than $30.00.
Most of the pattern modifications were in the bodice, and I had to lengthen the hemline several inches in order for it to hit below the knees. I’ve also had to taper said hemline to give it that pencil silhouette (tho I think it could do with a bit more tapering, IMO). 3/4 sleeve patterns also had to be drafted, which thankfully turned out well. Everything was tested successfully with a muslin mockup before I actually took the scissors to the good fabrics. While the pattern states that the dress can be fully lined, I’ve only lined the bodice since the stretch bengaline and lace were plenty thick enough as is.
I definitely intend on making another one of these dresses sometime in the near future should I ever stumble upon a couple yards of uniquely patterned stretch woven fabric.

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Dress Update

Dress is 90% done at the time the pics were taken. Just need to add the sleeves.

I did actually finish the dress just last night, but will still need to get pics.

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New Dress

WIP of current dress I’m making for myself. Fabrics consist of the following: Ruby red stretch bengaline (base), black floral lace (overlay), red stretch knit for the bodice lining. I would’ve done a full lining, but I feel that it would make the dress too heavy and thick for my liking. The stretch bengaline alone is a pretty “beefy” fabric and paired with said lace fabric, should suffice in covering up any lumps and bumps.

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Anglomania Knock-Off Striped Jersey Dress: Version 2.0

Read about my first attempt in my previous blog post.

I got it right this time around! Learning from my previous mistakes, I made sure to double, triple, and quadruple check to make sure that the ruchings went on opposite sides from each other.  I've also sized up the top half of the tunic pattern in order to get the slouchy fit just right. I can't say it's 100% identical to the actual Anglomania striped dress, but it looks pretty damn close enough.

Fabric is navy blue and silver peony striped jersey fabric from Girl Charlee. Said fabric has surprisingly little stretch for a knit fabric, but it still fits me well enough. It's a little sheer, so I will need to use a slip underneath.
  
On a closing note, I must stress that I do not condone making knock-off designer clothing and accessories for profit. The dresses pictured above and in my previous post were created strictly for personal use and nothing more, as I was unable to find the actual designer dress to purchase.

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Butterick Retro 60s Pattern B6582 (Dresses A & B)

Pattern can be purchased here.

A while back, I've mentioned that I was on a quest to replenish my pitifully bare wardrobe with new, self-made cute clothes. To date, I've since made several more pieces of clothing, with two of them featured below.

Both of the Butterick 6582 dresses, thankfully, did not require any modification to the pattern, making the process more expedient. Unless you're using a heavyweight fabric, I highly recommend adding a lining for durability. The included step-by-step instructions were easy to follow.

Dress A was made late last autumn, using navy floral print cotton fabric that I snapped up on clearance the from Equilter. It's lined with black medium-weight crepe fabric I already have on hand.

With Dress B, I splurged a bit and bought some gorgeous monarch butterfly wing cotton sateen fabric from the talented C'est La Viv on Spoonflower and lined it with red lightweight silky fabric I already have in my stash.

Overall, the fit feels fabulous for both dresses. The vertical darts on the front and back, in particular, gave the illusion of hips to my rectangular body type. I highly recommend this retro dress pattern for spring and summer wear!

Dress A (back view)

Dress A (front view)

Dress B (back view)

Dress B (front view)

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Vogue V1378 Pattern (Jersey Top Portion)

(Please note that I was not, nor ever, endorsed by the McCall Pattern Company to blog about their patterns. I'm just one of their many customers who enjoys sewing.)

This pattern gave me a great excuse to finally use the ivory jersey fabric I had in my stash for several years...yes, yeh heard me. Several. Years.

The top looks much better when actually worn than on the dress form, I swear. With McCall Company's patterns for stretchy fabrics, I always go one size down than usual for a better fit. The only alteration I made in this pattern was that I made 3/4 sleeves instead of long sleeves, due to the fact that I didn't have much of the fabric left over.



The top is quite flattering and looks fantastic paired with leggings or skinny jeans. My only complaint is that the surplice wraparound neckline is somewhat loose, which can cause some potential wardrobe malfunctions if worn alone. The issue was easily fixed by wearing a tank top or camisole underneath. At some point down the road when I get the motivation, I'll sew on some snaps to keep the neckline secured.

You can buy Vogue V1378 pattern here.

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"Botched" Knock-Off Anglomania Dress

A few months ago, during my perusal of eye candy on Pinterest, I stumbled upon this striped little jersey number from Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania collection:

The draping, the gathers - how they affect the pattern to gracefully draw the eye all over the garment...I must have it! Unfortunately, after some extensive browsing all over the internet, I was bummed to find that this particular stripey style dress has been sold out for some time. There are similar dresses from her collection that are available in a few different prints (and solid colors), but they were far too out of my price range. *Le sigh* Some day, I'll be able to afford a Vivienne Westwood piece.

In the mean time, I decided to make a knock-off of the Anglomania jersey dress. I purchased an out-of-print Butterick pattern off of Ebay that had a similar look and drape:

Butterick B5035 Tunic Pattern A.

The pattern for tunic A was a bit tricky to modify, as it was one single piece, with both sides mirrored together in sort of a "butterfly" formation, which is the best description I could come with off the top of my head. The wiggle skirt portion was from a self-drafted pattern of mine.

For the fabric, I chose a lovely 5-6 oz. striped bamboo cotton jersey, lined with similar weight ivory cotton modal jersey for modesty. I was super excited to put these fabrics to use...until I totally futched up the pattern cut-out.

The ruching in the back is supposed to go on the opposite side so that the dress can be flipped either way around. The top half is also supposed to be more slouchy (the curvature of my ribcage on the left in the pics is actually more aligned with the side seam, so I'm not actually that wide on the top!). Instead, both ruched portions ended up on the same side! Crap.

Frustrated, I debated on whether to buy more fabric and wind up with two knockoff dresses, or just learn from my mistake and finish up the "botched" dress. I ultimately went with the latter to save money and was surprised that my mistake didn't turn out as bad as I'd initially thought.

I didn't bother to brush my hair. Oh well.

Also, I hate my love handles...they're always the last to go.

The dress was form-fitting around the skirt portion as it should be, but wasn't as slouchy as I wanted to be on top. I liked how the ruching keeps one of the sleeves hanging off the shoulder in a tasteful manner, and the overall fit was comfy and breathed well. It would be great paired with a bright, wide belt and matching leather flats for a weekend outing, or just chilling at an outdoor cafe with an almond latte and good book to read. I would love to create a second Anglomania knock-off dress sometime in the near future, but will make absolutely certain that I get things down correctly the next time.

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