Happy New Year, everyone! It is with great joy that I share my final project of 2013, completed just in time to wear for the New Year’s Eve soiree chez Wittzler. I was really dubious about finishing this project in December, but with the exception of a belt loop (more on that later), I did it! As the culmination of all my learnings as a seamstress this past year, I decided to tackle the most complicated clothes project I’ve tackled yet–a pair of fitted pants. I hoped to complete them in time to have something special to wear for New Year’s, but when it came to be December 22nd, and I was only just cutting out the material, I wasn’t so certain that I’d finish them in 2013.
All posts tagged The Resource Exchange
Sewing Sunday: September Edition – A New Frock Fit for a Wedding
I have recently returned from a vacation in Northern California, which was motivated by my brother-in-law’s wedding. The wedding was fantastic, and the trip was delightful, and there will be more about that in an upcoming blog post. In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about the dress I made for the wedding. I only have one brother-in-law (and his fiancée–now wife–is awesome), so I figured his wedding was a good occasion for some special attire. It also motivated me to try out a pattern that I was a little intimidated by, partially because it was a Vogue pattern and partially because the bodice construction appeared to be somewhat confusing.
Sewing Sunday: August Edition – Silky and Skirty
I’ve had this lovely material from, you guessed it, The Resource Exchange (Have you noticed this is a theme with my sewing projects?) for a couple of months. It’s a lovely silk that looks olive green in some lights and beige-y in others. It has big flowers on it in brown, orange, gold and olive green, and it makes me think of fall.
I thought the big print might make it too much for a dress, so I decided to make a skirt from it. I had found this great Vogue pattern for a very full skirt with crinoline underneath (see picture at left), but when I measured the amount of material I had, I discovered that I really only had a little over 2 yards, which wasn’t enough to make a super full skirt. Bummer, but I’m sure I’ll find another reason to make that skirt in the future! With my yardage constraint, I went searching for a different option.
From the stash of my grandmother’s patterns at my mom’s house, I had taken an old pattern that my grandmother had used to make me a skirt in high school (see picture at right). I remembered really liking the skirt, but I didn’t have it anymore. It was bias cut, lined, and it had a good twirl factor (meaning I could twirl around in it, and it would flow gracefully around me–this was very important as a kid).