Watercolor Elisalex Dress

This post is rather overdue! I made this dress long ago and absolutely love wearing it, both during the day while running errands as well as out for date night with a pair of heels. The shape of the bodice is gorgeous the way it sweeps out over the shoulders and dips down in the back! However, as much as I enjoy wearing it, the light colored fabric hasn't enjoyed my attempts at photography until now.

My By Hand London Elisalex Dress has the original bodice from the pattern and a simple gathered skirt since my fabric was too flimsy for the tulip shape. To make the skirt a bit more interesting, I added pleats just above the hem.

Is anyone else excited to get their paws on the new Victoria Blazer Pattern from By Hand London? I'm super into the idea of a sleeveless version and especially love the one they sewed up in plaid!

Elizabeth II

Trips to the fabric store are mostly for zippers and thread since I have a pretty big fabric stash that needs attention. However, my favorite local shop keeps bringing in woven fabrics that I just can't resist! After buying a few yards of this gorgeous stuff, I decided to create another variation of the Elizabeth Gathered Waist Dress from BurdaStyle's Sewing Vintage Modern. Remember the first one I made?

This Elizabeth has split shoulders with button closures, one side seam pocket, invisible side zip, and an altered neckline in the front and the back. Once again, I enjoyed working with this pattern. The fit is wonderful and flattering, yet simple enough to make all sorts of fun variations. I definitely recommend trying it out!

These photos were taken with my cow friends outside the Denver Art Museum. I was in Colorado this past week with my family for my big sister's graduation from CU Boulder. I'm so proud of my sister, Dr. Clare!

Sewing for the home

This project combines two things that I almost never work on, home sewing and quilting. And even though these pillows are out of my ordinary sewing habits, I really enjoyed making them.

After it was decided that my family was going to sell my grandparent's house, I asked if I could have one of my favorite pieces of furniture from their house. It's a wood frame modern danish couch with dark blue cushions. While I was living with my grandma the past few years this couch was in front of the living room picture window overlooking the park. I loved sitting there with a blanket, book, and cup of tea while my grandma read the newspaper in her go-to arm chair. (Pictured in the project photos is the desk chair that matches the couch).

Once I moved to my boyfriend's apartment, I decided to make some pillows to go with my favorite couch. I used some of my own tie dye cotton plus a thin linen curtain I found in my grandma's closet while we were clearing out the house. I played around with some triangles and tried my hand at quilting! Quite fun actually! Both have linen for the back with an overlapping flap and bronze snap closure. 

If you would like to make a zig zag pillow, head over to the blog Oh, Fransson! by Elizabeth Hartman. My interest in trying out some quilting was sparked by the tutorial on Piano Pillows.

My heart aches when I think about how I will no longer be able to visit my grandparent's house. However, I'm happy to incorporate some of their furniture with my own as a reminder of all the wonderful times I had there with them.

Archer goes camping!

 I love Grainline Studio patterns, and the Archer Button Up Shirt pattern has already been added to my list of favorites! I've used it twice and took my wool version camping (and boating!) with me the past few days. The shirt is made from thrifted plaid wool and buttons from a creative reuse center.

Art deco print with a splash of pink

I was recently asked if I would like to do another project with Britex Fabrics (remember the dress I made for them last year?). Of course I jumped at the opportunity!

To make these pants I altered Grainline Studio's Maritime Shorts pattern and used some fantastic stretch cotton and wool from Britex Fabrics.

Check out all the details over on the Britex Fabrics blog!

A sneak peek at my By Hand London Elisalex Dress

I've been busy lately... searching for housing, crossing my fingers that I get the job I was recently interviewed for, and finding a few spare moments to work on some sewing. 

Although I haven't taken any photos with this dress on yet, I thought I would drop by to share this and encourage you all to join the Elisalex Dress Sewalong over on the By Hand London Blog! They are kicking things off today, so head on over and check it out! The pattern was really fun to work with, and I especially love the way that the back scoops down. Unfortunately, my fabric choice was a bit too flimsy for the tulip skirt of the dress, so I changed it up a bit. I'm on the lookout for tulip-worthy fabric now so I can make a second Elisalex Dress following the pattern directly, in all of it's flowery glory!

I know I said I was back in the blogging world, but of course big life changes have gotten in the way. 

My grandparents house, which I have called home for the past few years, is going to be sold, so I have been facing the big task of packing. 

Hopefully I will have a new place to set up my sewing machine soon! I'm itching to get back to sewing.

Check it out! My Elizabeth Gathered-Waist dress is featured on BurdaStyle!

Petticoat Excitement!

 I've wanted to make a petticoat ever since I first started sewing. After seeing the petticoat variation project for the Elizabeth Gathered-Waist Dress in BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern, I decided to go for it and finally make one!

I searched for petticoat and tutu pictures for inspiration and read through a few different tutorials (including the variation project in the book). In the end though, I mostly improvised and played around with the fabric as I sewed.

I'm pretty excited about this latest addition to my wardrobe because now I can make any skirt pouffy!

SPLIT BACK TINY POCKET TANK : THE TUTORIAL

 Anyone remember the Split Back Tiny Pocket Tank that I wrote about way back in July? I had at least one comment requesting a tutorial, so here we go!

The first thing that you will need is Grainline's Tiny Pocket Tank pattern, which is available for purchase online in a print at home format. This is seriously one of my all time favorite patterns. I have used it and altered it more times than I can count and I've never been disappointed with the results. 

STEP ONE : ALTER THE PATTERN

The best part of this tank variation is that you really only need to alter one pattern piece: the back. Begin by tracing the tank back face up on pattern paper. Next, flip the tank back face down and line up the center back of the pattern piece with the center back that you just traced. With the tank back face down, trace again along the neckline and up across the shoulder seam.

Using your straightedge, draw a line 3 inches away from the center back, shown above in red.

Using your straightedge, draw a line that is perpendicular to the red line and goes through the part of the pattern where the armhole and side seam meet. This line is shown above in gray. Note where the red line and gray line meet. This point of intersection will be used as a starting point for a curve.

Draw a curve from the intersection point mentioned above, to the bottom of the side seam. 

STEP TWO : CUT YOUR FABRIC

 Cut 1x center front on fold

Cut 2x altered back pattern piece. Place the original center back on the straight grain of the fabric. Also, make a mark along the neckline of each back piece to represent the placement of the original center back line. These marks will be lined up when we overlap the split back pieces.

Cut 1x neckline binding on bias grain.

Cut 2x armhole binding on bias grain.

 STEP THREE : SEW

For most of the sewing, you can follow the sewing tutorial from Grainline, but I will summarize my steps below.

Sew front darts and press. 

Use French seams to sew the sides and shoulders. 

Follow Grainline's tutorial to insert armhole bias binding on both sides.

At this point you will finish the hem of the tank. Don't forget that the "hem" of this variation runs all the way up along the curve that we made in the altered back pattern piece. I finished this hem using bias binding and Grainline's tutorial, but you can use your preferred hemming technique.

At this point all the edges will be finished, except the neckline, and the back will be open. Locate the marks that you made while cutting the back pattern pieces. Line up the marks and baste along the neckline where the two back pattern pieces overlap.

Finally, follow Grainline's tutorial to insert the neckline bias binding.

At this point you may also sew along the "hem" where the two back pattern pieces overlap. This will keep the split back from flying open.

STEP FOUR : ADMIRE YOUR WORK

Let me know if you end up making your own split back tiny pocket tank!

Happy sewing!

Hello Again!

Hello! I'm back and hopefully this time it will stick! 

So let's dive right in, shall we?

Late last year I got an email from the lovely Jamie Lau of BurdaStyle, who is one of the authors of the new BurdaStyle book, Sewing Vintage Modern. In her email she asked me if I would like to try out one of the patterns from the book. I happen to be a sucker for dresses, especially when they are styled with a 1950s aesthetic, so of course I asked to do the Elizabeth Gathered-Waist Dress.

Awhile back, my mom gave me a set of vintage bandanas that she found while thrifting. I have been meaning to use them in a sewing project ever since, and the simple bodice of this dress pattern seemed like the perfect opportunity. To incorporate the bandana, I started by rounding off the square neckline of the pattern. Once the pattern pieces were cut in the main fabric, I positioned the bandana to my liking and cut it to match the pattern. Last I basted the neckline and straight stitched along the edges. 

After attaching the skirt to the bodice, I decided to add some pleats above the hem to make it a bit more interesting. I will admit that I wasn't very precise with this part and just eyeballed it as I sewed. Surprisingly it didn't turn into a disaster, and I'm super happy with the result!

I would definitely recommend this dress pattern. It is simple with a flattering fit, plus it is easy to alter and sew. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other variations for this pattern that are in the book, including the adorable Lillian Blouse.

BurdaStyle's new book was released back in December and they had a party at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco that I was lucky to attend. I wore this dress, purchased a copy of the book, and got to meet Jamie!