aiming for the stars

From the moment I saw this dress, I knew I have to make it. However, the pattern calls for stretch double knit jersey, something I haven't seen here so is the walking foot and stretch needles that are required for sewing knits.

 Aim for the stars, right?

Luckily, it is reachable. Around 6 weeks ago, I went to my favorite fabric shop and I found 4 or 5 rolls of textured stretch knit in yummy and beautiful colors. I chose fushia, of course. I ordered a walking foot and stretch needles online as soon as I got home.

Once it came, I printed the pattern and grade down the bodice by 2 sizes and the skirt to a size. I also shortened the bodice by an inch and half. I read somewhere that, Burda makes knit patterns too small so, I added an inch for side and back seam allowance for good measure. It was a good call: knit is knit - it hugs to your body too damn well it would require me to wear multi-layers of shapeware.

Honestly, I struggled a bit when I was sewing the neck facing - with those seam allowances, it simply became too thick. Perseverance had prevailed.

I took these pictures in my dining room - it wasn't too messy and has a good light though, pardon me for all the serveware in the background :D

Pretty godets!

I initially thought, I would be using invisible zip but I wasn't able to find a zip of the same color. There was zipper I found of the same color however, it was an old fashioned one. But a lap or center zipper looked odd to me so,  I dug deeper into my stash and found this metal zipper. It worked.

I handpicked a 5/8" grossgrain ribbon as zipper guard. Here's a closer look:

By the way, I used an inch wide woven fusible interlining - just to prevent the knit from stretching as I sew the zipper.

Off to a dinner party:

The dress is too pretty so I didn't want to wear so much accessories. I think I should have shortened the skirt by 1 1/2 to 2 inches - - maybe next time.

I like this pic; its blurry though :(


Thank you so much for reading...!

Wishing my Muslim readers a Ramadan Kareem...!

Happy sewing, everyone..!

kiss from a rose

I made another variation of New Look 6401 for my sister. This is in View B without the drape. I made this with the fabric I have in my stash for a long while, so I only bought the lace and the notions required.

What you see is the wrong side of the fabric. The fabric is a polyester blend and it has a shine that it'll make the dress look cheap. The dress looks a little wonky on Izzie - - it made that way. My sister's torso doesn't have the perfect symmetry, so whatever adjustment need on the right side not necessary mean its the exactly the same on the left side. It made this simple project a bit complicated.

Last time I made her a fully lined dress, it became heavy and stiff - so I decided to partially lined this dress to keep it light and flow-y.

That's the right side of the fabric, too shiny no?

All the hand work...

And on to my sister...

Thank you so much for reading...!

Until then,

xox

inspired

As you may recall, I did some fabric shopping last month. But what I didn't show you was this trim I found:

I was also shopping for some *inspiration* I could use to make a dress for a wedding my sister and I have to attend. This trim simply caught my eye and reminded me of the Bollywood-themed engagement party I have attended early this year. As soon as I reached home, I tried it on Izzie (my dressform - I named after my maternal grandmother's first name: Isidra):

I thought of a column dress having the bodice covered with the trim, but my family gave a very cold response to it. Second option was, since I have a little *ehem* endowment, I was confident I could wear a very deep V-neckline dress. When my family saw this, they made faces as if they were watching a scene from horror film. Hence, both options were thrown out. Then this:

This made them smile - proved that this is the most appealing. So I went ahead, use my go to pattern for the bodice, bought meters of silk crepe and silk, and some notions needed.  After some hours of cutting, sewing and pressing later, the shell or base of my gown was made (I maybe sewing for some years but I still don't talk sewing fluently so I *sincerely* hope you get what I mean) and looks more like a long sheath dress. Eventually it will, after A LOT of patience and hand stitching:

The bodice has a cotton lawn or batiste (I really have no idea how to tell one from the other) underlining, the seams were pressed open, sewn with herringbone stitch. The padding was sewn together with a zigzag stitch and hand-sewn to the bodice with herringbone stitch.

The gown has a silk overlay to the skirt - so I did that first, before the trim was pinned and sewn onto the bodice with tiny fell stitches. If you notice the top bodice has an inch of seam allowance - this is folded and serve as facing. I used an old-fashion zipper for this since the bodice is quite thick for an invisible zipper - and is also hand-picked.

I sew some rigilene boning to the lining. I have made a couple of big projects  not knowing that this type of boning can or should be sewn directly to the fabric - lesson learnt! The lining is sewn with fell stitches and finished the neckline with pickstitches (around a quarter of an inch from the edge). I finished the hem both silk and silk crepe, and added a waist stay. 

Off to the wedding...!

 Thank you so much for reading!

Until then, 

xox