Summertime party outfit!

Last weekend I traveled to New Jersey to celebrate my nephews engagement! It was so much fun to get together with most of the family and lots of friends to celebrate such a wonderful occasion and to have a wonderful and beautiful new addition to our family!

The party was held at my older brothers home in NJ and I knew it was going to be a great weekend! My daughter and I got in the day before and helped with some of the decorating. We all had a lot of fun making it very special for the happy couple.

The lovely couple and some decorations

I, of course, had to make a new outfit to celebrate!
My brain went round and round with a plethora of ideas. I ended up with 2 contenders. 1 was for a dress and the other for a pants outfit. I decided to go for the pants outfit. The fabric that I picked for the top was one that my daughter brought home for me from her trip to Poland this spring. Lucky for me I had a pair of 4-ply silk cropped pants in a perfect color to match already in the closet. YAY!!

my ensemble with the silk pants

I used one of my self drafted designs to sew up this blouse. It was a bit of a puzzle to come up with the best pattern layout due to having only one length of the panel to work with. The panel was 60 " wide and about a meter long with it basically being a floral design that went from white to full color saturation. I played around with the fabric in front of the mirror to see which portion was best near my face. This was the full saturation (which I already knew but having confirmation always helps!) I could also play with the design ease and how full and floaty versus fitted I wanted the top to be.

My mom and I

If I made the top more fitted I could  have fit all of the bodice pieces on the high saturation area. However, it was not really the look I was going for. Plus, I knew there was a high chance of it being hot out for the party. It was 95 all day! I played around with using 2 different fabrics and in the end I sort of used all the fabric on the panel in a sort of color blocked way.

It worked out perfect, I love the end result and it wore wonderfully even in the hot and humid weather!

3 Generations! Plus my older brother photo bombing us!!

So, if you are very observant you may have noticed that my pants have changed part way through the photos... Well, it was a party and as sometimes happens there was a party foul that required me to remove my silk pants and wash them out immediately with club soda! Luckily I had a new pair of summer linen pants in a bright green that also went well with the top. Not quite as fancy but in a pinch they worked. More on those in another post.

All the details! bottom left is a close up of the fabric. A very spongy woven and was quite nice to wear!

Construction of this top was quite simple. I sewed all the vertical seams first on the sewing machine and then serged each seam allowance separately so they could be pressed open. I stabilized the shoulder seams with a small piece of fusible stabilizer tape, used a facing for the neckline with several small catch stitches to hold the facing in place. The sleeve and body hem were done with a tiny rolled hem technique that I like.

We always have a good time together!!

In The Sketchbook-March 2018

Welcome to In the Sketchbook, a monthly look at fashion design sketches that we are working on for ourselves. Sketching garments on a personal croquis is a great way for the individual couture enthusiast to move beyond the use of commercial patterns and into a world of personalized design! It can be intimidating at first, but with a little bit of practice it becomes something you look forward to. Join us for a look of what we have going on In the Sketchbook! Brought to you by Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor and Steph King from Siouxzeegirl Designs.



A little bit of deviation this month. Instead of garment detail I have focused on sketches of using 2 fabrics. A blue silk charmeuse and a guipure lace in different color blues and white flowers.
These were originally sketched as inspirations for an outfit for a spring wedding that I am attending. However, that date is rapidly approaching and I haven't even started! The second part of this challenge is that nice guipure lace is expensive and I only have 1 yard of this lace. It is wide enough to be cut in half lengthwise so could maybe eek out an all lace dress. Maybe... but then that is an expected use! I have plenty of the navy silk charmeuse.

The 'challenge' for the ASG- Chicago chapter annual luncheon and fashion show is Lace. This will fit right into that challenge!

I have included ALL of the sketches that I did... even the ones that I don't like. Sketching for a design is a process and that design process also includes things that make you raise your eyebrows and go no, nooo, nooooo! Sometimes you sketch something and you think wow! I would have never thought I would like that and you really do.
For each sketch I have just added a comment of YES, NO or Maybe which indicates my like/dislike for each sketch.

The guipure lace, silk charmeuse is under it and really makes the lighter blues and whites pop!.

Sketch 1: Maybe

Sketch 2: NO, NO, NO

Sketch 3: YES

Sketch 4: YES

Sketch 5: Strong Maybe...
 Needs some work to look less like a cheap party sash across the chest.

Sketch 6: YES

Sketch 7: No, too expected

Sketch 8: doesn't really count since I never got to adding in the lace
 because I really fell in love with the simplicity and clean lines of silk culottes and a bias drape top!

Make sure to stop by Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor to see what lovely sketches and ideas she is working on. Please feel free to share your sketches and ideas with us.

Happy Sketching!!

Pink draped dress

One of the sketches that I had done for In The Sketchbook was done from an idea that came to me when I draped some of my fabric on my dress form.

It all started when my lovely friend Wendy from Couture Counsellor gave me 2 sets of opera gloves for Christmas. A beautiful hot pink stretch satin pair and a black lace pair. The pink was the most perfect shade of pink for me, it was MY color!!

Wendy and I at the Lyric Opera House

I took those gloves home and went right to my fabric closet and ran those pink gloves up against my hanging fabric and BAM!  Hot pink silk dupioni and hot pink and black lace on  netting jumped out at me. I really had no idea what I wanted to do with them just that I wanted to use them.

My new opera gloves along with several options of fabrics that I pulled from my fabric collection.

 So I draped them on my dress form and let them take their time in talking to me. Thinking about the free form draping workshop that I did with Sarah Veblen, I was inspired to look over my notes and photos from that workshop. Then I decided to just let my fingers play with the lace fabric. No right, no wrong, no  judgement, just playing. I ended up with the lace draped as one single long piece, with tucks around the body from front to back on each side, I then wrapped the silk around the top to simulate a bodice.

My fabric choices draped on my dress form in a loose idea of what I was 'seeing' in my head.

Leaving that on my dressform, I took some photos and then decided to make a couple of sketches to fill in the details. My first idea was that it would be a knee length sleeveless dress with a defined waistband with the lace attached to the waistband and a bolero type jacket/topper. I spent some time thinking about the silhouette and realized that I had a dress pattern already that I could use as a starting point. In fact, I still had the muslin. This was from the black/red/later cut scuba dress that I made last year. I quickly tried on the muslin and in the mirror drew some changes on the muslin in sharpie. I took the muslin off, snipped here and there and pinned some other muslin on. From here I transferred the changes From the muslin to a newly traced pattern and made a new muslin. With this second muslin I took a piece of muslin that was the exact measurements of the piece of lace. I marked it up with the grain lines and pinned this to the muslin in several ways until I came up with the perfect size of pleats to make a symmetrical drape. The drape was originally inspired by how Balenciaga used and constructed Fabrics in his dresses my brain made the leap to draping and from there it is all history.

Muslin on the dress form. You can see the grid ,arks that I drew on the muslin prior to draping.

Back to my process, I made the changes to the pattern for the princess dress. specifically to the neckline and the amount of ease. I wanted something that was slightly more relaxed so I wouldn’t have to wear shaper wear underneath ( I don’t mind a smoother to smooth out the appearance of the.. ahem, rolls..but , I really don’t like wearing spanx or. Similar garments!) with these changes I took the dress muslin and literally cut it in half at a high waist level, sewed in the giant piece of pleated fabric and sewed the dress back together and that was the muslin.

Final iteration of the muslin in the fitting and design stages.

Making that muslin really helped with a couple of things. I was able to know exactly how the ace fabric would attach and I was able to work out the construction method. In order to make this lace insert the easiest or more practically, the method with the most control was to construct the top of the dress. Each piece of dupioni was underlined in silk organza and lined in a deep purple ambiance lining. Wit the top constructed, I moved to the bottom half of the dress. Thee were also underlined in organza, however not all the way to the hemline. I only did it that way because I didn’t have enough silk organza and since the bottom of the dress was going to have the lace overlay, I wasn’t too worried about it!

Dress details: sweetheart neckline shape, view of the purple Ambiance lining (this helped keep a strong pink color). Bottom 2 photos show detail of the skirt front. I was careful to keep the front panel flat with the pleats not starting until the side front. This minimized some of the bulk at the front.

Once the bottom was constructed I basted the pleased lace to the it and then sandwiched the top over it and sewed it all together. With some trimming and pressing everything laid quite nicely. The zipper was next to go in. I had a 22 inch invisible pink zipper that I installed by hand with a small back stitch. I was originally a little nervous about putting an invisible zipper in by hand! There was NO need for that nervousness, putting that zipper in by hand was so easy and afforded me much more control.

The dress in a final try on prior to adding the hooks/eyes and snaps for the bustle. I am just holding it up in these pictures with my hands. 

The lining was sewed together at the neckline, clipped, graded and  under-stitched and the pressed the neckline. I’m not 100% happy with the neckline. The shape is gorgeous but for some reason the lining wants to peek out. I pressed again and realy let is set and this seems to have helped. The lining was attached to the zipper by hand and for the armhole I tried a different technique. I trimmed the lining back to the seam-line and then hand rolled the fashion fabric around to the inside and hand stitched it down. I really like how it looks and the lack of bulk.

The invisible zipper was set in by hand, such amazing control when done this way! The lining was then hand stitched to the zipper tape. My label and bra strap keepers were added as the final details.

With the dress lined and all the finishes done the last thing I needed to do was to figure out how to bustle the lace. This gave it the distinctive shape that I was looking for with the deep draped sides. Playing with pins, I figured that I needed 4 hooks and thread bars. 2 on each side of the zipper with the thread bars being just at the level of where the lace attached into the dress. After my first wearing I realized that this was not going to work… unlike were a wedding dress is bustled which is usually at the butt level or below, this was at my high waist so every time I sat down the fabric would push up and come right out of the thread bars. I had to carefully smooth the fabric down before sitting and that was a bit better. The next day I added 2 clear plastic snaps. One on each side just above the outer most thread bars and this helped greatly to give it just the extra security it needed to keep the hooks in.

Close ups of the bustle hardware. the top shows the 4 thread bars and the 2 plastic snaps at the back of the dress on either side of the zipper. (double click on the photo to see it in a larger view) The bottom photos show the hooks sewn on to the lace. I used tiny bits of silk organza under the hooks to give them a little bit of stabilization.

I didn’t make the bolero topper. 2 reasons. 1- I tried on one that I made for a different project, different fabric but just to see how it would look. Not good. Remember I used a high waist to attach the lace drape and it would have had to be so very short and look fairly ridiculous and with the regular bolero length it was way to much. Pleated fabric all around my waist and then a bolero. Took away any shape that I had. The second reason that I was secretly happy about the bolero was not good was a time factor, I was just about out of time!

Close up of the shawl. the top shows the fussy cut portion. I only tacked down the lace in several areas and caught it in the side seam. This left the bottom scalloped edges free and the fussy cut portion just tacked.

With the bolero out I went and got a one of my shawls and this was a much better option! I had enough silk dupioni left to makes long shawl and just enough lace to fussy cut and add it to the ends of the shawl. I love it!,

The dress and shawl hanging. I am leaving the bustle down while hanging to minimize the pull on the hooks/eyes and snaps.

The final dress on my dress form. Top show front and back. Bottom photo shows side front and side.

The entire outfit along with the elbow length hot pink gloves looks amazing! I wore this dress to the opera on a Saturday night. I am just loving living downtown Chicago, so close to so many of the things that I have always wanted to be a part of.

At intermission during the opera.

One of the nicest things was that several other opera goers had commented on how nice my dress was! It really felt nice to bring this cool garment to life!!

Some fun candid shots!!

Special thanks to Wendy for the hot pink gloves, Sarah Veblen for the draping knowledge and to Balenciaga for the inspiration. 😊

Happy Sewing!!

Kisses from my girls!! 

Vogue 1291: bat wing shirt in silk

I realize I have been a bit behind in my blogging! There are several items/outfits that I have not blogged and will probably just do a quick recap blog of them. Mostly so that I can keep track of what I have made!

In my closet I have 2 tops that are quite old that I have been wanting to replicate. Both are made from chiffon, poly chiffon I believe and both are oversized with a blouson effect. I have really been wanting to add some of these to my wardrobe. 

Vogue 1291 was a pattern that caught my eye as a great contender. It is an oversized loose top that is supposed to be tighter at the hips to have blouson effect. 

I had several issues with this pattern right from the start. The recommended fabrics are both knit and woven yet the pattern sizing is clearly for a stretch knit.... Beware when you make this top and take careful flat pattern measurements! 

I was going to make a muslin but realized that regular muslin fabric just would not be a good idea due to no drape. So instead, I used the yellow butterfly print silk charmeuse that I got from Fabricmart.com on a super sale. 

I started off with very careful flat pattern measurements and made an adjustment for the hip. I needed to add width at this area when compared to the rest of the pattern size. 

I followed the directions carefully and they were quite simply to follow. Attaching the back sleeve overlay could be tricky if you don't pay close attention. I skipped the step of finishing the neck until the end because I had a feeling that I was going to need to cut it down. Once it came to the side seams I just basted them with a 5.0 stitch length and tried the top on. At this point, armed with pins and my hand mirror, I stood in front of my full length mirror and pinned in the side seams and where I thought I would like the new neckline to be. For all the seams I used a 2.5 stitch length and then serge finished the seams together to reduce any bulk. All of the hems were done on my regular machine using the small hemmer foot. This mostly worked out great! I had one or two spots that the 'roll' did not roll under but I'm not worried about it. The neckline is a narrow bias band. 

With these marks I went back to my work table and made some changes. I left the hip where I originally basted it. However, from there up and along the bottom of the 2 part sleeve I took off an additional 5/8". There just seemed to be too much fabric!

Using my French curve, I redrew the neckline about 3 1/2 inches lower. It made a big difference! I felt that there was just too much yellow fabric and that it was overwhelming me. The lowered neckline helps. I also think that making this in a chiffon would make a big difference where you can actually see the silhouette of the body through the fabric woud be a better choice.

Imagine this neckline way up high.... Ugh.

All that said, there is something about this top that quickly grew on me. Even my husband felt that as he took my photos that the top grew on him. Ten top felt great out of this lightweight charmeuse and will be lovely to wear on a hot day. Nice and cool but still plenty covered up.

I will probably have to wear a light camisole under this because if you hold your arm out just right you can see right in. It would not be an often occurrence but, knowing me it will happen at the worst possible time!!!! LOL!!

Will I make this again?

Possibly.....

In a woven

- maybe add an elastic casing to better keep the blouson effect OR make a separate hip pattern piece out of a coordinating knit fabric.

- definitely out of a chiffon! 

In a knit it would need to be a very light knit or it will just be too much fabric sitting on the body.

My sewing work table is chocked full of projects :) mostly stuff to enhance my work wardrobe. 

Here is my happy granddaughter, Princess V, learning to pick up and eat food. She has 2 little front teeth now. :)