Vogue Summer Dress

I bought this pattern and fabric at Hancock last weekend on sale, since there is no way I would pay $30 for a pattern. I really liked the back detail and thought that I would maybe make up my red silk in this pattern.

I made it out of rayon challis, which is quite nice for the 70-80 degree spring in New Orleans. We went to French Quarter and took pictures in Jackson Square.
I shortened the skirt 4-5 inches, but I did not take into consideration the narrow hem for a circle skirt. It is too long for my taste, especially for a summer dress. It is very comfortable, though!
It has a slightly raised waist, but not quite empire-waisted. I think I need more waist definition. I did see a pregnant woman wearing a romper, which made me shudder.
The back is really pretty and I hand-picked the zipper like usual. We were going to go to the horse races, but apparently racing season is over! I was convinced it went Thanksgiving to Easter every year, and now I am sad.
So, while I will not be making this out of beautiful red silk, it is certainly a nice summer dress that will get a lot of use!

Any thoughts for a beautiful pattern for 3 yards of red silk?

Vogue 1044 pictures, finally!

Here is my pattern, in case you have forgotten since I started it in November! It is Vintage Vogue 1044. This is another pattern that I became fixated on the picture on the front. I made the 3/4 sleeve version for winter, also in a deep purple cotton sateen from Jo-Ann.

The pictures are from my ipod and Andrew's phone, and I really like all of them. It amazes me that phone camera are now as good as my first digital camera. LOL.

The front:

Here is a close-up of the pleats. As you can see, and I discovered from wearing it once, it needs a hook and eye to cinch the waist closed all the way. I did a great job on the pleats; they are perfectly even. The buttons were some vintage ones from my Aunt Sherry.

The back is fairly simple and plain.
I tried to add pockets, but didn't think about where the seams would end up with all of the gathering and pleating at the waist. So really, this is the creepy "my hands are both directly over my underwear" face. So no standing around with my hands in my pockets, I guess. :(

Sad and angry, commiserating with the lion. We took the pictures at City Park, and the weather was beautiful and sunny! Yay!

I am overall pretty happy with this dress. My mom hemmed it for me over Xmas, and that is what got me to finally finish it. Now all of my November goals are complete! Eeek.

I just finished a 70s sundress, so I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.

Thanks-gloving

Andrew and I had a fun Thanksgiving here, with just us and the dog. We still made a whole dinner, of course!! We made my mom's stuffing, his mom's stuffing, a turkey, cranberries, yams, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole and gravy. I think gravy is my favorite food...

Earlier in the day, I decided to use the stove-top dyeing method on my Rit box. It would have worked perfectly except I used way too much dye so they look more black than green, and....

the gloves were leather! Duh! I am a moron. When I fished them out, they had shrunk to little toddler-hands size. I can only give myself a duh for that one. I forgot to take a picture, I'll post one later.

The purple dress is ALMOST finished. I tried to hem it on the machine and it looks like absolute shit. So now I am going to have to hem the whole *((%$@% by hand! It is like 12 feet of fabric! I was going to do some of it yesterday because I thought I was getting 2 Closer episodes in the mail from Netflix, but I had the queue all wrong. I got Rome season on for Andrew because he is obsessed with Roman military history. He will talk your ear off if you get him started... He is so funny because little details that are wrong or illogical make him crazy. For example, we were watching Pirates of the Caribbean on tv and they run back and forth and succeed in flipping the ship upside down. Then when they turn right-side-up, they try to shoot each other and Andrew says "Ugh that wouldn't work. The powder in the guns is wet." LOL!

I was going to use fabric covered buttons, but they were not working. Instead I am going to use these cloudy red vintage buttons. The contrast is much less noticeable in person.

And, I made a waist stay like I said. I love purple and red together. I had a purple and red swimsuit when I was maybe 8 and I loved that thing!

I used some of my credit card miles to get a ipod. It's one of those things that I would like, but never have the money for, or the desire to save up for it. I have been playing Angry Birds for hours, so that explains why I have very little sewing done for the week.

Look what I just slapped together in about an hour. I need to buy a zipper tomorrow, but other than that it's finished. I love the fabric! I used an old pattern that fits well and has nice sleeves and I redrafted the neckline to get more of a scoop. I also used my gathering foot on the skirt, which was AMAZING! Such a time saver!

I hope everyone else had a good Thanksgiving!

My week in pictures

This is the pattern I am currently working on, with the 3/4 sleeves.

Bodice.The thread matches pretty well, I think the flash just made it look weird. The pattern does not call for interfacing for the front yoke, but I read a really helpful review on pattern review, and decided to interface it. It is super stiff, so I know it will hold even after the dress is washed several times.
It needs button closures for the bodice and hooks for the front flap. I am also going to try Tasia's advice and make a waist stay. Since I used cotton sateen, the skirt is incredibly heavy. Try to ignore the filthy living room in the background.
Then I murdered my first two lemon babies to make a pie. They are super juicy- two lemons gave me over 1/2 cup of juice!
Andrew was playing with fire making a sauce au poivre for the steaks.
Here is some hilarious student work. Sometime I just can't resist taking a picture. Here are some intriguing, anatomical-looking fireworks...
And, I can't even begin to imagine what an iron pillow is? (Plus, the question should say history, instead of religion)
Hope you liked the pictures! I get all of this week off for Thanksgiving, so I will be sewing and hopefully finishing both of the dresses for my November goals!