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I'm officially putting out the SOS for help on my wedding dress.

A little over a month ago I wrote this post, which shared some of the inspiration for the dress and since then I've been MIA on the blog front. I promise I haven't forgotten about you my dears but I've been in the throws of working on the dress, moving everything in our house to replace all the carpet, moving everything back, and then finding a gorgeous new house that we're closing on in exactly one month. I'm in love. Also I'll have a huge attic sewing room. CAN'T WAIT to tell you more about that, but first I need some help...

So where we last left off I was pondering draping options for the bodice of my dress. I finally decided on a swoopy pleat thing (obviously an official term) like the dress below that I tried on last summer. I saw this tutorial on Burdastyle that seemed pretty do-able so that's the road I started down.

I first made a muslin of the Bombshell Dress from Gertie's Craftsy course with measurements to fit the crazy corset thing from the bridal shop that I'll be wearing under the dress. Below is a picture of how the muslin turned out. After I made a few fitting adjustments I remade the bodice, with underlining for structure, out of a mid weight cotton but I didn't sew the side seams together so I could drape the front and two back pieces separately.

This is the lace I'm using for the overlay, which I'm totally in love with and was cheap from JoAnns. (because I am not the girl who needs to spend a million dollars on fabric for a dress I'm wearing once) The one downside is that it's a little stiff, which might be the problem.

Once the bodice base (not sure that's the right word) was done I pinned it to my dress form and started draping. This is what it looked like when I finished. I love the way it looks on the dress form, but when I got down to actually sewing all of those pleats on to the bodice the trouble began. Because the fabric is a little stiff it doesn't hold the pleats without tacking them down every few inches. (hence all the pins on the dress form to hold them in place) I basically was doing a running stitch down every pleat with a stitch every inch or so. I got about half way through the process and I realized that I didn't like the way it was turning out. All the pleats looked really flat and smushed and not as

3-D and swoopy as they did on the dress form. I don't have a picture of how this looks because in a moment of stress and desperation I pulled the whole thing apart.

In the midst of this, the March BurdaStyle came in the mail and included this darling wedding dress which is similar in idea to what I was going for in that it's a strapless, sweetheart bodice with pleating. However, although you can't see it in the pictures, (here's a link to the line drawing so you can see it better) this bodice consists of two long panels that are cut on the bias and gathered on each side and sewn together, resulting in a seam down the middle of the bodice and no swoopy effect like my first version. The Burda dress has a different set up for the bodice underneath but I think I could make it work with the bodice I already have so I don't have to re-fit. I haven't pulled the trigger on it because I still like the way the original draping looked on the dress form and I just can't decide if the fabric will do any better with this plan. Plus, because this pattern is cut on the bias, I'll be using up a lot of the fabric I have left, which will limit my options should it not work out.

So I guess the question is, is there some secret to draping that I'm missing? Is there a way to make the pleats pretty and not flat looking? Or should I give up and use the Burda bodice? I've already traced and cut out the pieces, which is the most daunting part of using BurdaStyle patterns in my opinion, so it would be pretty fast to put the bodice together.

HELP! And also, thank you in advance for your sage advice. Y'all are the best :)

Source: google.com via Forrest on Pinterest

I've been practicing this thought a lot lately. Perhaps to my detriment...

Sewing machine acting up? Give up and have a margarita.
House/sewing area dirty? Give up and have a margarita.
Take a bunch of pictures of a bunch of things you've made for your blog and then realize they all turned out fuzzy? Give up and have a margarita.
Feel guilty about not blogging for forever? Give up and have a margarita.

So basically, sorry I've been a big jerk and have ignored my blog for a while. I've been busy drinking margaritas. And sometimes red wine. And sometimes home brew beer. (yes, we brewed our own beer using this kit! it's awesome!)

Also, it's going to get worse before it gets better. The fiance and I finally decided to move in together, so I'm spending the next 1.5 weeks packing and moving and not sewing. Then a trip to Dallas that will hopefully include fabric shopping. Then unpacking and organizing my new sewing room! Then maybe I'll get over my laziness and retake all the pictures I mentioned above? The point is, give me a few more weeks and then I'll hopefully have oodles to show you! In the meantime, I'm still reading all your blogs and drooling over their greatness. Definitely inspiring me to pack faster so I can get back to sewing soon!

XOXO

I'm just going to come out and say it. I think I look like a child in this dress.

This is the dress I was originally going for(on the right), from the Spring/Summer Clarks advertisements...

Source: thestyleconfessions.com via Forrest on Pinterest

And here's what happened...

I used a white with pink polka dot quilting cotton I thrifted a few months back. I also used Simplicity 1873, a Cynthia Rowley pattern. Here's the good news. It fits really well in the bust and I think I did a pretty good job making it, if I do say so myself. It's fully lined with white cotton and I think that, combined with the thickness of the outer fabric and the pleated skirt, is my one problem with the construction. The skirt feels a little heavy and I think the pleats hang a little funny because of the weight. I probably should have just gathered the skirt, instead of using the typical, weird Cynthia Rowley pleated skirt. (is this just me? I feel like every dress I make with her patterns has a weird pleated skirt, either asymmetrical pleats, or just a lot of them. It's never just a gathered or simply pleated skirt. I'm not really complaining though, I usually think they're cute, just not with this fabric)

So, when I comes to the pattern, I will most likely be using it again. In fact I think I already have some fabric in mind for a fall version. I like the shape and I think it fits well. But with this specific dress, something (maybe the polka dots?) makes me look like a little girl. It just feels sort of juvenile, so I haven't actually worn it yet. I was hoping it would be a great work dress but, I'm already pretty young for my field and my position so I usually try to dress a bit older and I feel like this has the opposite effect. I can't figure out why it looks so cute in the advertisement but I don't love it in real life...

What do you think? Mid-20's working lady or 5 year old going to a birthday party?

You may remember my post on Friday showing off my Lonsdale that I was planning to wear to a wedding this weekend. Many of you left super lovely comments. You are all fabulous and I love you for being such self esteem builders!

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Here's what happened and what I actually ended up wearing this weekend...

So the wedding was at 2pm on Saturday at a church in downtown San Angelo, TX. The fiancé was a groomsman, so he had to be there at 12:45 for pictures. Our hotel was a good 15-20 minutes away from the church and based on some strolling around before the rehearsal dinner the night before, the downtown seemed to have several cute shops, so I decided to get dressed with the fiancé, drop him off, park the car with my heels inside, don some flip-flops and spend an hour browsing before the wedding.

I hit up a cute dress shop and bought a fun necklace, then walked next door to a great old fashioned soda fountain, where one of the lovely ladies working there complimented my dress. Turns out she sews too so I told her all about Sewaholic patterns, so hopefully she'll become a new customer! Next, I headed to a cute antique store run by half a dozen ladies who reminded me of my grandmother. I was at the counter purchasing a great vintage tablecloth when one of the ladies complimented my dress. When I told her I made it, all the ladies came over to see it and asked me to show them the back with the cute bow.

I turned around and to my horror heard one of them say "honey that dress is really cute but its split up the back and I can see your pink underwear"! WHAT??? Oh, by the way, at this point it's 1:30, 30 minutes before the wedding. A few of the sweet women who worked there tried to help but it turned out the zipper had split open under the pull and it would not cooperate at all. I ran to the store's bathroom and tried to work with it to no avail. Luckily, the ladies had safety pins, so I pinned the dress back up and ran to my car, where I hightailed it to the hotel to change. Luckily I brought the following dress with me to wear to lunch with the fiancé’s parents on Sunday, so I didn't have to show up at the wedding in my jeans and I actually ended up only being 5 minutes late to the ceremony. In the end I think it was divine intervention. We danced the night away at the reception and the shoes I was planning to wear with the Lonsdale would have KILLED my feet. I went with a comfy pair of wedges to match this dress. Much better.
Anyway, on to the dress!

I only wonder how many people in San Angelo saw my underwear before that lady pointed it out!

This fabric came from Etsy sometime last year. It's a 1940's pink cotton lawn with tiny white flowers with navy stems. I love love love it but had a hard time figuring out what to do with it. It was only 36" inches wide and I had about 2.5 yards, so I figured it would have to be a short, strapless dress. I ended up using Simplicity 1876, from the Leanne Marshall line. I used the top from view B and the skirt from view A. It went together really easily and I even got to use some techniques from Gertie's Bombshell course (namely, inserting boning and using twill tape to shape the cups). The only problem is I cut a size 10, hoping it would fit snugly and it's a little too big. I took in the bust seams along the top about 1/4 of an inch each, which helped a little but the waistline is still too big and makes me look wider than I am.

I was hoping I would be able to wear it sans belt, but I think it makes up for the too-big waistline. Plus, looking at the pictures, I think it's necessary to break up all the pinkness.

Here's a shot of the inside with the lining and boning.

All in all I definitely like this dress and will make it again. The skirt has a cute gathering detail on the side seams that you can't really see with this print but I really like. But next time I make it I'll cut an 8 so I can avoid the lack of waist definition.

Ok, now that I've shared my visible underwear horror story with you, has anyone else had something similarly embarrassing happen to them?

Warning. The following pictures contain:

a. greasy mullet hair
b. a too tight, old, grimey white t-shirt
c. visible bra lines
d. my midriff
e. incredible expanding pants

Still here? You're brave. Ok, let's disuss my pink clovers. Ironically, I was planning on posting these pants today anyway, but was validated when I saw this post by Mika of Savory Stitches. So here's the deal. My pants are growing. Just like Mika's. I used exactly the same pattern as my black clovers, along with some pink stretch corduroy from Gorgeous Fabrics and they are stretching out like crazy! Even after washing them in hot water and sticking them in the dryer!

They start out sort of normal fitting in the morning, then they become this mess by lunch...

I'm sorry you have to see this. It's for scientific purposes only...

If only this problem was due to weight loss. I mean, this could seriously be in an ad for some Kardashian-promoted diet pill.

Please ignore my dying basil plant in the background. Why do I insist on trying to grow plants when my aparment is a dark cave?

So the plan for now is, like Mika, to take apart the waistband and take them in on the outside leg seams until they fit correctly again. I really don't wan't to take them apart entirely, and I certainly don't want to deal with the inseam or crotch seam. Does anyone have any other suggestions for this craziness? Or is this basically an excuse for me to eat ice cream until I grow into them?

Or, how many bow tie blouse patterns is it reasonable for one person to own?

Because I think I own 10. At least 10. It's kind of a problem. So much so that the other day I discovered I had purchased the same bow tie blouse pattern twice from Etsy. Yikes.

Anyway, I'm giving one to you dear readers! The pattern is size 14, 36 inch bust and it's clearly very cute since I bought it twice!

Leave me a comment letting me know what type of garment you have multiple patterns for (or if you're a person who can settle for just one version of a bow tie blouse!). I'll pick someone on Friday, May 11th and let you know!

Ever since PayPal introduced it's Bill Me Later feature, I've been pretty sure that it's been trying to ruin my life. Now Etsy purchases are just a click away, without the stress of figuring out if I have money in my bank account to cover it! I don't actually carry a huge balance, I pay it off pretty much every paycheck, but I just found out they upped my credit limit. Uh oh... I see some wedding related Etsy purchases in my future.

In the meantime here's what Bill Me Later has convinced me I need lately:

A DIY cross stitch Iphone case from this store. I've been wanting one of these forever!

I've had my eye on this fabric for probably a year! It was my engagement present to myself and I think I'll use it to make a dress for our engagement pictures. I used an Instagram filter so the colors aren't showing as bright but it's gorgeous and I can't wait for it come in the mail! This shop has a ton of great fabrics, almost don't want to share it though because I'm afraid you'll buy up some of my other favorite pieces!

These are from this shop. I also have my eye on this cross stitch pattern...

In other news, my sister got to meet Elsie from A Beautiful Mess last night! We both totally adore her blog and text each other all the time about her posts. She was in Houston last night with her husband's band, so my sister went to see them and got a picture. Couldn't be more jealous...

Remember you have until midnight Central time to enter my giveaway for one of the new Colette Patterns! Good luck loves!

Over the past few days I've been sewing, packing and cleaning up a storm in preparation for my New York trip and I've actually finished a few pieces but the weather has been horrible so photographing hasn't really been an option... In the meantime, I thought I'd show you this weird top I made a few weeks ago out of a piece of fabric from my neighborhood thrift store.

I love the crazy print but here's the issue, this wasn't actually a piece of yardage. I'm pretty sure it was the back piece of a jacket lining that never got sewn together. I thought I had pictures of the original piece but I can't find them so you'll just have to imagine. It was pretty large so I figured I could at least get a Sorbetto out of it. The fabric is a crazy shiny polyester I'm assuming from the 70's?

I added sleeves and had to add a seam on the back in order to make it work with the small amount of fabric. Luckily the print is so crazy you can't really tell...

Here it is with a blazer, which is how I'll normally wear it due to the picture below...

This neckline is gaping like crazy! I think it could be caused by one of two reasons:

a. I forgot to staystich the edge of the blouse.

b. I used a bias facing but it wasn't actually cut on the bias because I didn't have enough fabric for that.

I intended this top to be something worn under blazers or cardigans because the print is kind of wacky and overwhelming, so I guess it will still work in that capacity.

Here's a close-up of the fabric. Can you see the ladies with crazy hair in the print? They're why I bought it...

Anyway, two more days before I leave for NYC! Hopefully I'll get some more finished objects up in the meantime, but get ready for some fabric porn after my trip to the Garment District on Tuesday!

or, an example of why you should always check your email...

I, like many of you I'm sure, have been desperately waiting for Gertie's second Sew Retro course on Craftsy since it was announced in their email a month ago. As soon as I saw the email this morning I immediately purchased it...

Then, about 5 minutes later on a whim, I decided to also purchase the Jean-ius class with Kenneth D. King, which shows you how to draft a pattern for jeans based on ones you already own. I don't have a pair of jeans I love right now, but I thought this would be useful to have in the future and I wanted to take advantage of the sale...

$39.99 each didn't seem too bad until I went back to read the confirmation email from Craftsy and saw this!

Pretty sure this means I could have gotten the Jean-ius class for $25 instead of $40... Ugh. I'm looking on the bright side and considering the $15 as a donation to Craftsy for having awesome classes. The other downside to this is that now I can't focus on work because I can't wait to get home and watch these classes! Why won't someone just pay me to sew clothes for myself so I don't have to have a real job?

Happy Thursday Lovelies!

First of all, sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately. There are a few things in my life right now that are kind of a bummer, so rather than sewing and blogging lately I've been laying on the couch and watching Downton Abbey. I'm hoping to be out of my funk soon, but in the mean time I realized I need to finish up showing you my handmade Christmas gifts!

This is the second gift I made for my sister and now I doubt she'll ever wear anything I make her again since both things I made ended up with a proportion/fitting problem! This is why I'm selfish and don't normally sew for other people. Things that I would just live with on my clothes make me feel guily on clothes for someone else! Anyway, I saw her pin this skirt a few months ago...

Source: flickr.com via Forrest on Pinterest

Coincidentally, I had purchased a really similar fabric from an estate sale a few weeks before so I decided to make it for her using the Sewaholic Crescent skirt pattern. Construction wise the skirt is pretty well made, the only issue is that I think I should have chosen the less full skirt view to replicate the original skirt. (view A instead of view B) This one is a little puffy, due to the thickness and drape of the material and needs to be worn with heels so it doesn't make the wearer look shorter...

This is the third Sewaholic pattern I've made and as always, her instructions were spot on and the skirt was really well drafted. I loved the french seaming on the pockets and the technique she uses for inserting the zipper. I will definitely be using that again!

Hope all is well with y'all!

Taking the day off tomorrow for a haircut in the morning and this in the afternoon...

That's right, 2 estates sales, each with a room FULL of vintage fabric and patterns. Paycheck, prepare to be blown...

Then, when I'm finally able to drag myself away, I promise I'll work on the bridesmaids dress I have to wear NEXT WEEKEND! Yikes... If I spent as much time sewing as I do buying fabric I would have a million new garments!

But seriously, how awesome is my Friday going to be?

First of all, thanks for all your sweet comments about the Minoru jacket. It was so fun to make and I'm really enjoying wearing it!

Now on to my debilitating desire to purchase fabric supplies... The boyfriend and I took a trip to the Fort Worth area this weekend to visit some of his family, so I of course took every opportunity to continue my hoarding tendencies.

First up, at a cute little quilting store in downtown Grandbury, I bought 3 yards of too expensive cotton lawn in crazy bright colors. Clearly I'm forgetting that it's actually November. The hot pink will be for a pencil skirt (because I'm bound and determined to have one in every color of the rainbow) and I'm thinking I'll use the crazy tropical print for my bombshell dress. It just screams 1950's Hawaii. Which clearly means I will have absolutely no where to wear it in my decidedly unglamourous, un-50's, un-tropical life. But a girl's got to have a few aspirational garments right?

Secondly, we stopped at Ikea on the way back to continue the quest to turn the boyfriend's house from "sad bachelor pad with no furniture" to "rockin bachelor pad with some furniture". I showed great restraint and did not even enter the kitchen/dining section, but I couldn't resist heading over to fabric. I spied 4 packs of thread for $1.99 as well as some hefty looking fabric shears. Having had good results with other sharp things Ikea sells (aka my kitchen knives) I decided to grab a pair for only $5.99. I liked the weight of them and upon getting them home I discovered they cut like a dream. They move through fabric like a hot knife through butter. I'm in serious love. I snapped up a pair of pinking shears as well, because, although I didn't believe it was possible, I think I dulled my old ones...

Moral of the story, Ikea fabric scissors are the bees knees and I can't control my addiction to buying fabric and notions, even though I haven't worked on a garment in over a week. This is why Americans are in debt...

Muah! Hope you're week will be as fabulous as you!

Wish I would have seen this when I was making my striped pencil skirt! Mine worked out okay but hers is super cute too!

PS you should read this blog... LOVE discovering new blogs!

These aprons are taking WAY longer than I thought! First of all, despite my previous delusions, making seven aprons was never going to be fast. Secondly, my machine is trying to sabatoge me by skipping stiches and breaking threads right and left despite changing needles, adjusting tension, etc. Third, I'm having weird gapping issues in the bib of the apron. It will not lay flat! Who knew I would have fitting issues on an apron! I only have one completely finished, the rest are complete except for the red piece on top and the bias tape on the sides, so I can still play with the straps to try to fix this problem, but I'm not totally sure what to do. Thoughts anyone?

So ready to get these done so I can go back to sewing things for me! Speaking of, adding another thing to the list of birthday presents I'm buying myself this year:

Source: craftsy.com via Forrest on Pinterest

I'll admit, the reason I'm HORRIBLY broke right now has a lot to do with several unnecessary, impulse, splurge-like purchases in the last few weeks (True Blood Season 3, I'm looking at you...). However, when I realized I didn't have the right elastic for my fabulously 80's green polka dot dress, I thought, rather than running to the fabric store and being tempted to buy tons of things I don't need when I pretty much can only afford to eat rice and air sandwiches until next Tuesday (aka payday), I'll just start some other sewing projects that I can make entirely with stuff from my stash and in the process, clear out some room for new purchases.

So I start working on the Sorbetto top from Colette Patterns since I NEVER sew separates and I figured all I needed was fabric and thread, which I have plenty of!

Due to my current obsession with Pintrest/Polyvore, I found this fabulous top and decided to modify the Sorbetto pattern with a ruffle and use the remenants of a gray bedsheet I had in my stash to imitate it...

Source: polyvore.com via Forrest on Pinterest

After carefully cutting, gathering and attaching the new ruffle to near perfection, I ran completely out of gray thread!!! Looks like this whole "sewing from my stash" plan is going to be more difficult than I thought and this potentially cute top will be added to the stack of things that will get finished after payday...

I was working on the green polka dot dress last night and I got thisclose to finishing it when I realized I didn't have the right elastic and I'm trying to avoid JoAnn's until
a)I have a good list of all the fastenings I need for my next several projects so I don't have to run back and forth to the store and
b)I get paid because I am broke as joke right now.

So as it stands now the dress is without elastic, so it can't be hemmed properly and I can't decide if I need to move the buttons because I won't be able to tell what the finished bodice will look like. So here's its sad state...

Until I allow myself to go to the fabric store, I will be working on clothes either without fastenings or with buttons I already have. First up, inspired by Threads and Thoughts and Things I Love, I'm going to make a Sorbetto tank top from Colette patterns out of a gray sheet I have and maybe some pink broadcloth. Then we'll see where the wind takes me...

I finished an usual amount of projects in the last 2 weeks and I promise I'll post about them soon but I had to share my shock! I was checking out BurdaStyle this morning and to my horror I saw, on the main page, an article instructing one on how to make SCRUNCHIES!

Now don't get me wrong, as a child of the 90's I wore my fair share of scrunchies, but, for me at least, they went the way of the dinosaur around the time I stopped being obsessed with JC from NSYNC (although Justin Timberlake turned out to be a sleeper hit for me, didn't start to love him until my 20's). I don't care how cool the American Apparel girls are, the scrunchies don't do it for me...

I'm all for hair decoration (i.e. headbands, hats, fascinators, scarves) but a rubber band wrapped in relatively unattractive fabric should forever remain holding up Mary Kate and Ashley's ponytails in their 90's music videos about sleepovers. Do you hear me inappropriately aged American Apparel models?

I adore Burda and usually find their designs to be modern and cute but today, the pastel scrunchie has confused and repulsed me. What are you thinking Burda?

Images courtesy of BurdaStyle, American Apparel and Amazon

presserfoot propaganda

SOS! I Need Your Help!

Bad Blogger Award

Polka Dot Dilemma

What I Actually Wore This Weekend...

The Incredible Expanding Pink Clovers

Obsession...

Why PayPal is trying to ruin my life...

Crazy Lady Top

You're Welcome Craftsy!

Sewing for Other People Part 2

What I'm Doing Tomorrow...

Hoarding Weekend

Annoying...

A is for AHHHHHHHH!

The Universe is Consipiring Against Me...

Speedbump...

Scrunchies? Really Burda?

Forrest Nicole

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