Lemon Dress Finished!

The pattern is Simplicity 4782.

Total cost- $27.77

The daylight is fading, so I'll take some picture wearing it tomorrow.

My changes:

I shortened the bodice an inch, which was perfect.

I folded up the skirt about 5 inches, and ended up cutting off three more. I am very short, but I also wanted just below knee length instead of tea length.

I ended up taking in 2 inches from the center back seam, since it was pretty baggy. That fixed that.

I also rolled the hem under twice about 1/2 " each time, and hemmed it on the machine. This was in part because I am lazy and the prospect of hemming a circle skirt by hand bored my brain-box, and to give it some extra body. It now stands out a little by itself. It's too hot in Louisiana for crinolines- especially with my car with the broken a/c...

Updates from all sides!

Look! My baby lemon tree has baby lemons! And yes, that is my pasty white hand!

I have cut out all the skirt pieces for the lemon dress last night, and I also graded a mountain of papers- all while watching law and order, of course.

Here's the view I am copying- and as soon as I am finished I am going to J Crew to buy a matching sweater. Yes, I am obsessed with 3/4 length sleeve cardigans. Love... (It's in a ziplock bag, that's why it says Johnson over her face)

Look! I just bought these online! Except mine will say "Fashioned by Molly M" namemaker.com 28 bucks for 40 labels. So cool!

Lisette had a good point- she said "duh, if it's a back button blouse, where is a picture of the blouse!?!?" Haha, no she was nice about it, but she has a point. I blame the self-timer and take no responsibility. I do love all my comments and followers! Everyone is always nice and constructive. Other than nonsense comments written in Chinese, everyone has always been wonderful. Sewing blogs are an oasis of sanity and niceness on the interwebs.

The beginnings of my Spring garden, and Sexy T-Rexy of course.

I ran out of pots and need more, but so far I planted strawberries, asparagus, basil, chives and dill. The balcony will be an herb garden and the raised beds in the backyard will have bigger viney veggies. I'm excited- please encourage me to remember to water them so they don't all immediately die!

I don't know what I'm doing today but who cares?- it's spring break!

p.s.- the teachers always giggle that the students can't wait for break, but they have no idea how much their teachers are looking forward to it! LOL!

Advance 4832- Blouse that buttons up the back

The pattern:

This turned out to be a cute blouse, and a pattern that I could use again. With little adjustments, it could be made again and again. Since I also plan to wear it with the blue chinos I just bought, it forced me to hem the pants now, rather than months from now.

Total Cost: $15.32

Changes to the pattern:

1. Left out the shoulder pads

2. Replaced the lace with fabric ruffles

I attempted to learn a rolled hem, but I sincerely doubt I did it correctly.

I did discover you can still dress yourself with the back buttons. I just left the two middle ones done, and slipped it over my head. Then, I could reach behind me and button the top two and the bottom two. Ta da!

How I plan on wearing it:

Sleeve detail:

The collar: It keeps curling up, so I might tack it down.

T-Rex modeling the shoulder pads I decided not to use:

I made excellent buttonholes using my attachment, and I made fabric-covered buttons, which are adorable. A new obsession....

I think the pants balance out the frou-frou girlishness of the blouse.

Next up: the lemon dress

The Blue Dress is Finished!!!!

Having finished my dress, which took over a month (gasp!), and having posed in the mirror last night examining it, I have some conclusions.

Total cost: $25.26 (not including labor, because my precious sewing time is worth one million dollars an hour ;) )

Overall, I like it.

I am very satisfied with my belt and covered button.

If I were to make it again, the only thing I would change is to make the sleeve part into a separate bolero. The pattern wants it to be attached. I think that contributed greatly to the lumpy back (see below), and that it would look better separate.

Oh, and I would do a normal side-boob dart (oh, excuse me, underarm) instead of the three poofy tucks the pattern wants.

My changes: shorten hem, lengthened all darts (skirt front and back, all darts on jacket back)

Posing (for my self-timer)

Close-up of tie and belt detail.

See how the upper back is so lumpy? I managed to lessen it, but couldn't get rid of it completely.

Front view- It fits like a glove.

I wanted a shot of my hair. I call this the "Mormon bride." It reminds me of of the hairstyle of all the women who were on the polygamous compound in Texas. It is the only hairstyle I've ever discovered where I can hold up all of my hair with 2 big bobby pins.

As you can see, the pattern would also make a cute strapless party dress.

Finally, look at how much of my blouse I've put together today! I plan on finishing it tonight!

fin.

New Projects for Spring Break!

I am pretty much done with the blue dress. It only needs the hidden straps to be sewn on in the front. Last weekend we watched The Hangover, which is hilarious, while I did all the hand sewing.

The belt is draped around the dummy's neck. As you can see, the hidden straps will hold it up on a hanger, if nothing else.

On to new projects:

I found a cute lightweight cotton print to try out the 40's blouse pattern.

Blouse pattern:

Here is a nice print for a dress. Summery, and I bought 2 1/2 yards.

I don't know about the pattern yet.

Here are the lemons and the pattern I decided to use. I think it will be super-cute!

Now for a laid-back break from school- and as a teacher for the first time! :)

Anyone else have some fun spring projects?

Frankenstein Dress Pictures

Well I wore the Frankenstein dress to work today and Andrew was home when I got home, so I finally took some pictures of the dress on.

I don't know about you, but I like seeing the clothes on people, instead of a dress form or a hanger. It just looks so much more interesting!

We took these in the vacant lot next door. Our neighborhood flooded during hurricane Katrina, although we didn't live over here then. So the house was torn down, but there are still kitchen and bathroom tiled spots on the ground and the "stairs that go nowhere."

Oh New Orleans, always lookin' so sketchy.

I probably should have shortened the bodice a bit, because it looks so slouchy. My sewing should compensate for my slouching, not accentuate it.

I do really like the neckline. It is very flattering. I was thinking about making the lemon fabric up in this dress' pattern, but looking at the pictures I don't know. I want something fresher and more summery.

Also, it must be sleeveless! My car has no a/c because it is so old it's not worth the cost to fix it ($1000). So I need dresses where I can wear a little sweater inside, and then be sleeveless for the 30 min drive home! Groan. I have maybe another month and a half before the 90 degree torture begins.

Any thoughts on:

styles for the lemon dress?

or

driving an old (but not vintage) car?

Lemons and Vanity Sizing

Random thoughts for the week:

1. I went to Joann to get covered buttons for my blue dress. I spent hours last night putting n the zipper. I just couldn't get it right! Operator error or the fact the fabric is kinda stretchy, it was seriously aggravating. It now looks ok, not even great. But I am done with it.

2. I had thought I would do my blouse pattern next, since I am obsessed with making buttonholes now. There was no fabric that I liked for it. No offense if you like loud, bright geometric prints, but ICK.

3. I saw this fabric and need to decide on a dress to make with it. How cute would that be? Then I'll go back and buy some.

4. Then I went to the mall. All I can wonder is does vanity sizing really make women feel better about themselves? Is anyone really that stupid?

All I can think of is when I was in middle school (maybe 97) I grew out of a 0 and became a 1/3. Now I can honestly say, at the age of 26, I am not thinner than when I was a flat-chested baby middle schooler. I am the same height and I weight maybe 5 lbs more.

So if my weight has remained consistent for the last decade, how is that I now cannot find clothes that fit? Or, they are absurd sizes, like the Express work pants I bought- a 00. Or a 0P (petite) at Banana Republic.

What happens 10 years from now when they have resized clothes again and none of them fit me? I can't sew all my clothes; it's a hobby, not a job. Should I have to dress in Junior's clothes for the rest of my life?

I'm not a martyr and I know other have fit issues.

Any thoughts on clothes that don't fit

or

new clothes for Spring?

Blue Dress Progress

Now that I have all the parts, I tried out my buttonhole attachment. It took me 20 minutes of bumbling to get it attached correctly, and then I busted out a perfect button hole in 10 seconds! Awesome! Why was I ever afraid of making these??????

Here is my menacing attachment. I love how shiny and black and cool looking it all is.

(I was just talking to my sewing machine telling it how pretty it is with its shiny blackness and fancy gold writing. Don't worry, I talk to the car and the dog too, comparing them to other cars/dogs and giving them compliments.)

Tonight I fit the skirt of my dress, because I didn't need any help pinning the back, unlike the bodice. It fit pretty well, but I lengthened all the darts about 2-3 inches. It had a weird poofiness between my waist and hips, and that fixed it. I also interfaced and made the belt. Since self-covered belt buckle kits are obnoxiously hard to find and don't meet my standards of "cheap", I decided it will just button. Which was an excuse to figure out this contraption.

My beautiful belt (don't look at the inside) and my perfect trial button hole.

This is my next project, which I blame entirely on Gertie's blog. She had a post about the necessity of owning a perfect blouse that buttons up the back. Thus, I HAD to buy one on ebay. It was preordained, meant to be, karmic. lol, excuses, excuses.

Isn't it cute?

Does anyone else have a Singer buttonholer and thinks it's awesome?

or

uses advice on other blogs to make impulse buys?

A vintage, yet modern car

I saw one of these on my drive to work the other day, and I am obsessed. I followed it for awhile trying to figure out what kind of car it was. You can see more pictures at the Dodge website, here. I do love most things that are vintage and that includes cars.

I have wanted a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia since I was about ten or so. I love old 50's cars with fins. This car is awesome. It looks like a vintage muscle car, but with a modern spin to it.

Plus, then you get all the modern things like power steering, and power windows and locks, and most importantly A/C! (Since it's Louisiana....)

So, if you win the Powerball this Saturday, think of me! ;) It's "only" $24,000!

P.S. Now that is not to say my 1996 Oldsmobile 88 is not a sexy beast, it is! Please don't break Oldsmobile, I am too poor to buy a new car!!! xoxoxoox, Molly

Blue dress update

This week has been stressful and work-filled, so I have made barely any progress. Most of this was done last Saturday morning. The bodice needs to be fitted on me, but I need my boyfriend to pin the back up for me. Then, adjustments can be made and then the process can be repeated for attaching the skirt..... then all it needs is a zipper and a hem!

This week has been stressful and work-filled, so I have made barely any progress. Most of this was done last Saturday morning. The bodice needs to be fitted on me, but I need my boyfriend to pin the back up for me. Then, adjustments can be made and then the process can be repeated for attaching the skirt..... then all it needs is a zipper and a hem!

Dress Update and Friday's Outfit

Here's the smidgen of progress I made this week. Basically, all I did was the neckline facing and the straps. It's all just pinned right now; after I make both parts, I will fit it on me and adjust it. It's starting to look good, I think.

Here's a scary picture where I look like a giant. Today's outfit, my zebra dress. More pix of it here.
Lots of the students really liked that I had made all my dresses this week. I also like talking about sewing, one of the other teachers sews crafty stuff, one of the secretaries quilts by hand.... Next year, I might see if anyone would join a sewing club....it would be fun encouraging young people to sew!

They did point out I wore a lot of green this week. It also made me realize i need more shoes and cardigan sweaters. The mall may be in my forecast for the weekend.

Thursday's Outfit

I wore the little house on the prairie monstrosity to work. Many middle schoolers liked it. One girl I don't even know came up at lunch to tell me how much she liked it?!? Kooky!

Anyhoo, I still don't like it and I don't feel pretty wearing it, so I think I'll sell it on etsy. Sometime. When I get some free time.

Wednesday Outfit

Green dress that I made and a cardigan from Banana Rep outlet. Today, adults liked this dress.

Andrew took this shot, and while it ain't pretty, it is funny!

Tuesday What I'm Wearing

This is my outfit for today. I had planned this out on Sunday when it was in the 70s, and now its getting cold. Oh well, I'll stick it out. Once again, sorry for the terrible self-timer pictures.

I wore this dress with my cute green shoes (from Payless) and my pink coat (from Nordstrom's). And yes, it is identical to my green coat, but in a different color!!

Inside, I wore it with my blazer from Banana Republic. I know I should sew myself some more blazers, they are so practical. Plus, it wouldn't be $180. However, blazers are hard and I doubt it would fit like this one, which is a petite. It's my lucky blazer, I wore it to my job interview when I got my job!:)
Just the outfit. My 2nd period class liked yesterday's dress. Today, 4th period liked my outfit. Yesterday, they sang me happy birthday. Today, a few girls complimented my outfit and then the whole class got into it, just to be ridiculous.

Monday Outfit- What I'm Wearing

This is my outfit for Monday. I decided this weekend that I would wear a dress I have sewn to work every day this week.

Today's dress was the Frankenstein dress. Sorry the pictures suck, I had to do a self-timer.

These are not the heels I wore, but I did wear heels and now my feet hurt.
Here's outfit + coat, since I have outside lunch duty making sure kids don't fight each other...

Tomorrow....I don't know yet...