November Giveaway!

Well, I know I have been slacking at blogging lately and I have forgotten to do a giveaway for quite a while...but I put one together! It helps that today is Veteran's day and I have a day off!

You have two choices: patterns or fabric.

Choice A:

Five patterns (and then winner will get all of them) Simplicity 6078, a dropped waist A-line dress (34 bust), McCalls 6087, a boyfriend jacket (S_M_L uncut), Mccalls 5676, stuffed dogs, Simplicity 5653, a 60s sheath dress (34 bust), and Butterick 2137, a sheath dresses with a collar option (34 bust).

 So they all fit a 34 bust or can be cut to fit one!

Choice B is fabric:

The winner gets both pieces of fabric. The ruffled sheer fabric is in two pieces, 35 by 15 inches and 22 by 70 inches. The orange boobs fabric is in two pieces, 35 by 26 inches and a tail of 25 by 10 inches on one side.

Just leave a comment saying which choice you would like, the patterns or the fabric. Leave a comment by midnight on Wednesday and I will choose two winners on Thursday!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Fabric for my test wedding dress

I went to vogue fabrics and discount textile outlet last Sunday and found absolutely no black lace or sheers that fit what I had in mind.

This is really just to practice boning a bodice and to have a dress to wear to a friend's wedding in a little over a week. I spent a lot of time browsing nordstrom's cocktail dresses online and decided black lace and sheers are really popular right now, so that's what I was aiming for.

Anyways, I am still working every day of the week so I don't have time to go check out fishman's yet or the vogue in Evanston. In conclusion, I went to Joann with a coupon on my phone to see what was up.

Almost everything was awful, but then I found this sheer black fabric that has tiny gold dots on it. They are metallic and very tiny and subtle. I really like it!

Now I need to go buy some shoes to match on zappos!

Wedding Planning and Halloween in NOLA

We went to New Orleans last week to do some in-person wedding planning stuff. We checked out our venue and the guy explained how everything will be set up. This is where we will be getting married!

 The reception is in the same place, which I prefer. Everyone is already travelling to attend our wedding, this just makes it easier for everyone!

We also chose and ordered the cake, which will look like this:

Source

Minus the roses, my flowers are different, but the cake topper will be flowers. Also, not fondant so the edges will be crisper and it will actually taste good! The inside is white cake and then layers of filling in almond cream and sliced strawberries and cream.

Source

We also figured out the flowers as well. I really want peonies, but she said we have to wait and see. Sometimes they can get them from Israel in March, but not always. It's going to be lilac, white hydrangea, white peonies (or roses if not) and stephanotis. It should be really pretty! Sort of like these:

Source

So we made a lot of progress. We still have to choose a photographer (which is horrifyingly difficult) and a dj and the order and send out invites. Bam, done!

We were also there for Halloween, so I went as the Miller High Life girl in the moon, which is the best costume I have ever made. A random person emailed me once to see if they could rent it, but I love it too much. Andrew went as Mitt Romney and had his binder full of women and made some pink slips to fire people. It was very amusing.

Pink slips

High life girl in the moon and Mitt Romney

We had a lot of fun and got to see our good friends, so it was a fun and productive trip!

Wedding Dress Bodice Muslin

Oh look at the dress I chose! Isn't it lovely?!?

Hahahahahah, no. That skirt is a monster of ugly. I did want a princess seam, sweetheart neckline pattern, so I went to Joann on a sale day and found this one for 99 cents. Perfection. 

Then I spent about a billion hours thinking...and sketching...and looking at endless google searches for "open back lace wedding dress"...and thinking...

and this is what I decided upon. 

The bodice will have princess seams and a sweetheart neckline out of lace, lined of course. The "straps" will just be sheer lace. The lower back part will be lined lace and the upper part will be sheer lace. Mainly like the one on the right, but without cap sleeves. 

 They didn't need me as a substitute yesterday, so I was feeling peppier than usual tonight. I thought I should just bust out a muslin and see how that pattern fits. I cut out a six and with about 1/8th of an inch taken off the cups, it fits like a glove. If you went by measurements I should be an 8 or 10, but the geniuses at McCalls decided a strapless wedding dress should have four inches of ease in the bust. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

Note: this one is unlined, so you need to mentally subtract seam allowances from the neckline, armholes, my fake straps and upper back!

 You need to use your imagination, but picture it in white lace, with more of a dip in the center, with sheer straps...

 and a sheer upper back, perhaps in a different shape. That all depends on the contours of whatever lace I end up buying.

 The armholes will be looser too when it is lined.

So, I am making progress finally. I am going to make a version up in black lace to wear to a friend from college's wedding (evening, fancy, cocktail attire) to perfect the fit and see how it looks.

I know it looks lumpy and weird on Dolly, but she is not the exact same proportions as I am. It fits me nicely.

And on a parting note, my drying tomato plants that are "ripening on the vine" in the dining room. The landlord makes us remove all plants by Oct 20th, so this was my solution. It still had so many green tomatoes on it, I couldn't throw it away. This is only 2/3s too, I gave a bunch to the neighbors!

For scale, it's about 6 feet long.

Anyways, tell me your thoughts on the dress and if you have any suggestions for nice lace!

A Pleasing Project!

I made this skirt at the same time as the grey corduroy one. I cut them both out at the same time and then just did every step twice and made them simultaneously. While exactly the same (size and construction-wise), I very much prefer this one.

The fabric:

Front seam detail and gathers. 

I bought the fabric at an estate sale with Emma. If you recall, that was when we went to an appointment-only sale on Craigslist and did not get murdered! It was 66 cents, according to my past calculations. It's a beautiful print and I had been hoarding it for something good. 

I did wear shoes to work, I swear. Substituting has made me reacquainted with how god awful uncomfortable many of my "work" shoes are.

So it's comfortable, has pockets and is fairly flattering. I am pleased!

So there! I finally posted my skirt a week or two later than I said. Forgive me, I have been working waay too much. 

I might need some pants advice later in the week...

A Corduroy Crescent Skirt

I am currently making corduroy pants and I bought the fabric on a whim at Joann, somehow thinking that 2 yards would be enough for pants. And it was, for everything except the fronts of the pants. Haha. So I had to go back, but my brother was rushing me and I bought 1.5 yards of more grey corduroy. 

Now, did I bring a piece to match? No.

Did I get home and wash it before checking? Yes.

Did they match? No.

The second piece is slightly darker and a finer wale, so in the end I made it into a skirt. It's a Sewaholic Crescent skirt in view B in a size 2. I made no changes and didn't bother trying it on until I was done. It fit, of course. 

Here is the back:

 The corduroy sometimes looks weird in different light, on the yoke because the lines are pointing in different directions. It is also very poofy.

 Half the day, I wore my shirt tucked in and felt like a doof. The other half, I untucked my sweater but felt like a lumpy tube. I am very undecided about this skirt.

Look at that face! Gross. 

 T-Rex broke off an entire toenail charging through the door and then getting his foot run over by the door. It really hurt him and he spent two days limping and moping, but now he has pepped back up!

Two Weekends of Loot

This is last weekend and this weekend's loot. I have finally found a schedule of going to bed that makes substitute teaching Mon-Fri and then working Fri-Sun at the restaurant bearable. Thus, I have finished two sewing projects and almost a third! I'll post those later in the week! I am not yet motivated to take pictures, the house is really cold. It's that awkward time of year where it's cool outside, but the radiators have not yet turned on. I can't wait for the fiery inferno the house becomes with the radiators cranking!

I bought two hats and a pair of mittens, a National Geographic, and a gyroscope and sunglasses for Andrew. 

 I bought this wooden sewing box. I have no plans for it yet. With that big built-in cabinet in the dining room, I am not lacking in storage space.

 I bought four pairs of flats at Payless Shoe Source.

 This weekend I bought the dress pattern for myself and the baby pattern to make stuff for Anna's baby. We find out this week if it's a boy or a girl!

 These will go on Etsy, they are all in a bust 36. Email me if you want me to list one now.

 I also bought three zippers (brown, black and white) and the tool that makes rivets! Booyeah! And I tried it out and it makes rivets perfectly.                                                              

Rivet success. 

All of today's sewing stuff was two dollars. That's almost cheaper than one new zipper!