Uploads from carrieoke13

What I Wore, May 20: My Crepe dress

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:27:51 -0700

Dress: Colette Crepe, made by me!
Fabric: Cotton Lawn from Denver Fabrics for dress and sash and a blue cotton batiste for the underlining.

I love, love, love this dress, but it was kind of a pain to get it right. This is listed as a beginner pattern, and it doesn't have any zippers/buttons, but OMG THE FACINGS.

First of all, if you want to make this, I highly recommend checking out Gertie's Sew Along posts about this pattern. I referred to this a bunch, and she has some videos and pictures that are incredibly helpful. She underlined her entire Crepe and I did the same (basically I cut out the bodice and skirt in the main fabric but also a cotton batiste, and laid them together and treated them as one fabric.) I think it helps the dress lay nicely.

I had to do four bodice muslins to get the bodice fitted. I started with the size 6 based on my measurements, and it was way too baggy. I used the advice in Colette Sewing Handbook to make fit adjustments (this book is SUPER HELPFUL, btw. basically they show you what kind of wrinkles to look for and how to fix them - like, horizontal wrinkles = too baggy in width, etc, and then show you how to pin to remove the wrinkles and then transfer that to your pattern.)

I decided to go down two sizes based on my pinning. so I traced the size 2 bodice and it fit WAY better, but I still had to take out some length and width. (I trace my pattern pieces onto freezer paper.) So the final bodice is a size 2 with adjustments. The fit is pretty good but it ended up a good bit shorter than the pattern originally called for. I dealt with this by sewing a narrower seam when I attached the bodice to the skirt (the pattern calls for 5/8 inch seams everywhere) but it could still be longer. So MAKE A MUSLIN if you sew this!

The facings are very curvy so it was a little fiddly to get them on and to lay flat. The instructions are very good about telling you how to clip your curves/notches, and they also tell you to understitch some of the facings which helped with some of the flippiness. Gertie recommends hand stitching the facings down at the shoulder seams/underarm seams. I did that and also hand stitched them down in other places - it was the only way I could get the facings to stop flipping out.

For the skirt, I traced the size 2 at the waist since that's what my bodice is, and then sloped it out to the size 4 since I didn't think the 2 would be okay for my hips. heh. that seems to have worked fine. The skirt is pretty full so I might've been okay just tracing the entire size 2 skirt.

Once I had the bodice completed, it came together pretty quickly. I did a good bit of handsewing to finish it but I think I'll be happy I did because I won't have to constantly flip the facings in. It is incredibly comfortable and this cotton lawn is really soft and surprisingly isn't wrinkling that badly!

So, I guess it's a beginner pattern if you've sewn before and you're comfortable with darts, facings, sewing curves, and understitching. If I had tried this as my FIRST dress, I think I would've given up. ha. I think the Washi Dress is a better first pattern, honestly. BUT I think I would make this again now that I have the pieces cut out ;)

At Brady's birthday

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:40 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

More progress.

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:55:23 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

I fixed the wonkiness in the skirt - There are three panels that have to be sewn together and I attached the left panel in the center accidentally, so my side seams weren't matching up. Now they are!

All I have left to do is hem the skirt and hand sew the facings down. I might actually get to wear this to work this week! Once it's done, I will post about the pattern because I have MANY OPINIONS.

12:19 am

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:21:32 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

taking off my eye makeup before bed. good night!

11:30 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:43:32 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

oops. still sewing.

10:30 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:54:56 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

I really need to go to bed, but I'm just going to work on this dress for a little while.

9:15

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:37 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Blurry post-bath Superman.

8:30 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:49:23 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

the slinky is endless fun.

7:30 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:47:28 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

home at last. doing some important online things while Jacob makes dinner.

6:30 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:32:13 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

still driving home. we hit two different road closings so we had to take back roads.

5:30 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:25:36 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

On our way back to Athens. Knitting on my Caeles.

4:15 pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:52:29 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Hanging out with Cat at the party.

3:30pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:27:58 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Playing with other people's toys = awesome.

2:30pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:50:29 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

happy birthday Brady!

1:26pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:28:29 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant before we head to Brady's birthday. Picture by Charlie :)

12:36pm

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:39:07 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Checking out Mae's walker.

11:28 am

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:03:10 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Hanging out with Mae.

10:23 am

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 07:52:30 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

a little more awake now, post coffee and makeup. Sleepy toddler behind me.

9:12 am

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Sun, 19 May 2013 07:47:43 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

on the way to see Mae, Charlie's great great grandmother. She is 97.

What I Wore, May 15: My new Washi Dress!

nobody@flickr.com (carrieoke13) — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:31:40 -0700

carrieoke13 posted a photo:

Sweater: Banana Republi
Shoes: Saltwater Sandals
Necklace: Three Dots on etsy
Dress:

New Washi Dress, made by me! I used this Anna Maria Horner Pastry Line cotton voile that is SO SOFT and lovely to sew with. It also wrinkles pretty fast, as you can see :) but I'm okay with that.

This is my third Washi, and I made it pretty much exactly like my second Washi, with a minor change - since I modified the bodice to be just a little bit longer, I also decided to lower where the elastic is on the back this time. I'm happy with that mod. I use the medium bodice and the small skirt when I make Washis and that fits me great.

One other thing - I wasn't going to match the stripes in front and then I saw how noticeable it would be, so I matched the three middle stripes when I was pinning the bodice to the skirt, and then adjusted the waist tucks accordingly. It worked out, I think. The bust darts on this one aren't as perfect as the bust darts on my second Washi but still wearable and comfy. I love it!