Cuz I Said Sew chronicles the adventures of a seamstress and her software engineer alter ego. Join them as they create spooky goth blouses, fun vintage-inspired dresses, and silly costumes.
My life is a wreck again, so I don't have anything new to show off. (I am going to try not to go on hiatus, but I make no promises.) Instead, I am continuing with the McCall's run with another It Came from My Closet entry. This one is 5050, kinda-sorta view E meets A. The fabric is a perennial Halloween favorite from JoAnn's. Who could say no to dancing skeletons?
The pattern is rated as average, but I knocked it out in an afternoon. I did deviate from the pattern pretty significantly: I skipped the lace cut-outs on the sleeves, replaced the elastic necklace with a drawstring ribbon one, and added a little opening for the ribbon (I used the buttonhole foot). I opted for the shorter version of the blouse, but in retrospect, I think I would have preferred the longer one. The lace I used on the cuffs was shorter than what the pattern called for, but I felt too much might distract from the fabric pattern.
The underbust gathering is done with elastic enclosed in bias tape. I used the scraps to make my own, as I usually do. The only atypical part of this pattern is that the sleeves themselves are part of the neckline. It's isn't hard to sew; it just isn't something you see all that often.
Even if you opted for the lace cutouts of view E, this pattern probably shouldn't be rated as average. Views A and B, which feature gathered cuffs on sleeves would probably also be pretty easy. D (tiered sleeves) and C (gathered mid-sleeve) look more difficult, but I would still rate this as a beginner-level pattern.
Using the leftover fabric, I also made a bandanna to wear with this. I'm told it makes me look like a spooky hippie.
Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time has probably already figured out that I am a GIANT NERD. (It's kind of a requirement for a software engineer.) While I definitely have the typical nerdy obsessions (like last week's Ms Pac-Man dress), I also obsess over spooky things as well. Disney's Haunted Mansion is one of those things.
I had been planning on making myself a skirt featuring the Haunted Mansion wallpaper for a while. I do have an embroidery machine, but embroidering enough fabric for a skirt was not a something I wanted to do. My next thought was using a fabric stencil. I went far enough to cut the stencil out of wax paper, but I lost so much detail in the faces that I just gave up. I decided I would just embroider a couple of large faces on the fabric and be done with it. I cut out the fabric for the skirt and it's been sitting in my sewing room for over a year, waiting for me to get around to it.
And then DoomBuggies made an announcement on their Facebook page: Spoonflower had a fabric with the wallpaper design. It isn't cheap, but I couldn't resist, and bought three yards. And that meant digging through the pattern collection to find a dress that used approximately three yards of fabric. The winner was McCall's 6071, a Laura Ashley design, in view B. (This makes four McCall patterns in a row, the last two of which were Laura Ashley. This was unintentional, but now makes me wonder how long I can keep this going.) This view actually calls for 3 1/8 yards of fabric, but considering the feat I pulled off last time, I figured I could do it again.
(Note: if you're even a slight fan of the Haunted Mansion, prepare to lose an afternoon at the DoomBuggies site. And if that still doesn't sate you, head over to Long Forgotten for even more info.)
By not lengthening the skirt, I managed to pull off getting the dress in three yards. I picked contrasting black bands for the straps and tie. I did this partially to skimp on the fabric and partially to break up the pattern.
I'm not sure what you'd call this color. It isn't quite blue, and it isn't quite purple. I suppose that would make it indigo, right? But indigo is usually darker than this, so I'm proclaiming that this color will forevermore be called blurpligo. Blurpligo is a hard color to match. This thread is periwinkle, and while it is in the same color family, it isn't quite dark enough. But it was the closest I could find. (NB: I didn't try all that hard.) As for the zipper, nothing was close. It was a choice between this purple and lilac. In retrospect, black or white probably would have been better.
So, as for the pattern itself, it's fairly straightforward. The bodice has some gathering, but otherwise there's nothing particularly tricky or uncommon here. The way the straps are attached makes it easier to lengthen or shorten them as need be. This does make construction a bit trickier, because you need to leave holes for the straps. I would say this is good for an advanced beginner.
The tie is sewn on over the gathering. I think I actually prefer it untied, and if I made this again, I probably would have made it longer.
While I like how the dress turned out, I was a bit disappointed by the fabric. It's thin and a bit scratchy. When I washed it, the blurpligo faded a bit unevenly. I would have to really be in love with a fabric to buy from them again.
The Pac-Man fabric returns! You may recall this was originally going to be Butterick 4790 (instead, I used a dot fabric and it became the disastrous Skittles dress). I briefly considered making McCall's 6024 in this fabric, and even went so far as to cut out the pattern, which I promptly refolded and stuck back in the envelope. The fabric has been sitting, folded and forlorn, in my stash, just waiting... Watching... Judging me...
So after more than a year of this, and with Red & Black Week approaching, I figured it was time to get this sewn and stopped being judged by a non-sentient object. I started flipping through the pattern stash and came across McCall's 4444, a Laura Ashley halter sundress moondress. A chose a combination of views B (for the contrast bands) and C (for the length). View C actually calls for 3 and 3/4 yards of fabric, but I was hoping that since I was using the contrast instead of the main fabric for the bands that I would be able to squeeze the pattern into the smaller amount. I managed to do it, but it took some creative laying of the pattern pieces and doing something I've never done before: I shortened the dress by an inch. (Normally I need to lengthen the dress by at least 1.5 inches.)
This back is too low to wear a regular convertible bra
I guess I am losing my touch because this dress (and the previous one) took me quite a while to make and I struggled with the bands a lot. McCall's rates this pattern as easy, yet it took me a week of evenings to finish this. (By way of contrast, 5050, which is rated as average, I sewed in one weekend afternoon, which included an unexpected voyage to JoAnn's to purchase lace.) The main body of the dress (essentially, the Pac-Man part) came together quickly. There are no tricky parts to it, except perhaps the gathering in the bust and the zipper. The instructions for the bands on the front are poor, so I think I ended up sewing them on inside-out. You can't really tell except up close, but I know.
Perhaps it is because I am not used to sewing halter straps (my evening gown is the only time that comes immediately to mind), but the construction of these was really odd. It wasn't really hard, but it was weird. At least the instructions for this part were clear. I did make the change of closing the halter with a heavy-duty locking hook-and-eye because I don't trust buttons (what the pattern called for) to the stress of holding a halter shut. I didn't want to flash my cupcakes at an inopportune moment (or any moment, really).
Other than the changes I already mentioned, the alterations used the contrast fabric for the loop over the gathering, shorten the straps (typical for me), and add the Ms Pac-Man buttons. (They were custom made for me by Brittany of microwavedtofu on Etsy.) Because they are made of polymer clay, I didn't want them to go through the washing machine, so I attached them to snaps so I can remove them before laundering. I still have one left, as well as some of the original fabric, so I will likely make a hair accessory out of it.
So after all the rigmarole I went through for this, I would recommend this one for an intermediate. Or I am really losing my skillz and this is actually an easy pattern.
To make up for the lost inch, I think I might add some lace trim to the hem.
My brother got married last weekend, and I finished my dress with time to spare (very little time to spare, but still a little). I didn't manage to get any pictures of the full outfit, so you'll have to settle for Azzurra as a model. The dress was McCall's 5269, view A. I originally was going to do view B, but changed my mind for no discernible reason.
Sorry that the dress looks so wrinkly. After I wore it, it got crumpled up in the laundry bag on the ride back.
The dress fabric is black glitter satin from the Casa Collection from JoAnn's, which is nearly as heavy as bridal satin. (You might recall that I used the same fabric in blue for my Jareth coat.) The pattern calls for crepe, silk, and and taffetta, which are much lighter. Due to the heaviness, I decided to skip the lining. Then I read the instructions and decided I needed to at least line the bodice and sleeves. I chose a plain black cotton because I try to avoid close-fitting synthetics.
I cut out and constructed the dress (except the bottom hem and sleeves) in an afternoon. Since the lining was made from the same pieces, and I was only lining the bodice and sleeves, it should have taken even less time, right? Of course not. I can't fathom why, but it took a whole afternoon just to cut out the lining, another to construct it, and yet another to attach it to the dress.
This dress has less ease than most patterns. I didn't make a muslin (I so rarely do, and didn't have time for it), but it was stupid of me not to check the finished measurements. For comparison, the plaid dress I just made, which is of a similar fit, from the same company, and I sewed in the same size, had an extra inch of ease in the bust. Though the hip measurement was the same, the plaid dress had sections cut on the bias in the hips, so it stretched a little.
So anyway, this dress was quite tight. (It also didn't help that I ate a whole pizza for lunch the day of the wedding. I jokingly said to Mr Husband that my dress wouldn't fit after that, and then it almost didn't.) It wasn't uncomfortably tight, except in the shoulders and arms. I quite muscular, and it worked against me here. I couldn't really raise my arms much above my waist. If I had had the foresight to check the ease, I probably would have gone up a size.
Also, be wary if you have any chest at all or are self-conscious about decolletage. This dress is a bit low-cut, and tight enough to push everything up and out. Even I had cleavage.
Now, as for the difficulty, I am going to attribute the inexplicably lengthy construction to me freaking out over the deadline. I imagine that if I didn't have a deadline, I could have knocked it off in a weekend. While the yoke lines up to the dress oddly and that took a bit of fiddling, the main body of the dress was pretty easy. It's just princess lines, so it's a matter of snipping your seams appropriately. The pleats in the sleeves were a bit tricky, especially because satin is slippery. It wasn't really hard, but it was time-consuming to get it just right. In fact, it was so time-consuming that I ended up nixing lining the sleeves and hand-sewed the hem up. (So for those of you playing along at home, I went from not lining, to bodice and sleeve lining, to just bodice lining.) So I'm going to rate this as an average-level pattern. If someone who hasn't attained that level wants to tackle this, I would suggest using a non-slippery cotton.
The wrap was just glitter organza (also from the Casa Collection) that I sewed together with French seams. Since brooches have a tendency to damage fabrics, I attached two ribbon loops to feed the brooch through. I just happened two have two tiny pieces of ribbon in my stash that were just long enough (why I had them, I don't know; normally I would have tossed such tiny pieces). If I hadn't had those pieces already cut, I probably would have used a narrower ribbon. It worked out okay with the brooch I chose, but it had a pretty long back.
If you choose to use this glitter organza, beware that it sheds its sparkles LIKE CRAZY.
McCall's summer collection for 2013 has just been released. I am not abundantly impressed, though this dress (in view D, the long, sleeveless on) is kind of cute.
McCall's 6770 gives me a bit of pause. I suppose one would describe this as steampunk or neo-Victorian? Or perhaps even colonial? Don't get me wrong, I really love that jacket and the skirt (though the fabric appalls me), and I appreciate that they showed a more modern take on some of the items. I guess it's really the terrible "I just rolled out of bed" hair that is distracting me.
The McCall's 2012 fall collection is out. Um, what the heck were they thinking when they put out this? I can honestly say that is the ugliest pattern I have seen in quite some time.
We're in the home stretch of Sophisitque Noir's Red & Black week, and I have a final blast from the past for you (today's) and a new outfit (tomorrow). I apologize for the quality of pictures for today and tomorrow: the batteries in the camera were dying and I had to take them as quickly as possible.
The pattern here is McCall's 5094 in view F; if that sounds familiar to you, it might be because I used the straps from this in the SpaceInvadersdress.
I believe that I made this last spring, and I wanted to make it out of just one fabric (view D, basically). However, when I went shopping for fabric, nothing really struck my fancy. (Must have been before JoAnn's releases their Halloween fabrics for the year. :D) This cherry and dot print I finally picked was cute, but I thought an entire dress would have been overwhelming. I couldn't resist its cute rockabilly/gothabilly charm though, so I went with view F.
Though a dress entirely out of that print would have been too much, I thought just the band and straps weren't enough, hence the ruffles in the polka dots. They came from Simplicity 2325, an Alice in Wonderland costume that I adapted into Daisy-Head Mayzie for a friend of mine.
As for the pattern itself, it wasn't too bad at all. I would recommend this for an advanced beginner. The technical challenges were:
inserting a zipper
a lining
a bit of gathering under the bust
a lot of gathering if you go my route and add ruffles
I wish I could have taken pictures of the full outfit, but the husband wasn't at home and my self-photography skills are quite lacking. The pictures don't show how fun this dress really is. I get a lot of flattering comments whenever I wear it, which I inevitably follow with "...and it's fun for twirling!" and then promptly spin around in a few circles. And then I get some weird looks (which, to be honest, is not a rare occurrence for me).
As the sewing nerd that I am, it should come as no surprise that I am on the mailing list for McCall's patterns (as well as Butterick, Vogue, New Look, and Simplicity). This morning, they released their summer 2012 collection. They've got some cool new patterns, including this dress and this swim suit - but what I liked the most was this dress in view E. Too bad it's in child sizes. Though I do occasionally wear a youth large or extra large t shirt, I'm not sure I could wear something that doesn't have some stretch. I wonder if I could alter the largest child size to fit me. Hmm...
Our story begins with Butterick 4790. It's a reprint of a pattern designed in 1952 with modern sizing. I go in and out of vintage phases, and was in one when I bought this pattern. I was itching to make it as soon as I could, but I was in the middle of other projects that I couldn't stop. Around the same time, fabric.com (one of my fave fabric sites) had this fabric on sale:
That's Geeks Gone Wild's Pac-Man fabric. I had to have it! Had to! I just needed to decide which pattern I would use it for and then buy the appropriate yardage. I remembered that pattern and thought it would be perfect. The incongruity of a 50s dress meeting 80s pop culture was too good to pass up. I even had some mega-cute Ms. Pac-Man buttons made for me on Etsy. I was ready and raring to go, all I needed was the time to make the dress!
Well, my projects all finished up (after months, harumph), and I finally was back to sewing for myself. I kept going to that pattern and fabric and then shying away from it. Something was making me hesitate. Was it the humor of a 50s/80s matchup wearing thin? Was it the thought of trying to explain the humor daunting? Concern over how the fabric would look cut on the bias? I think what finally changed my mind was those damn buttons. They're made of polymer clay and probably shouldn't be put through the washing machine. Even washing the dress by hand would be a risky prospect. I began thinking of ways to make the buttons removable without having to re-sew them whenever I wore the dress (such as sewing the buttons to snaps, sewing them to a Velcro strip, etc.). Ultimately, I decided that if I had doubts about such awesome fabric, then this probably wasn't the pattern to go with. You can always re-use the pattern, but you can't re-use the fabric.
So with that idea shelved, there was the question of what fabric I should make the dress in. It just so happens that I had McCall's 6024 and fabric already purchased - AND both patterns used the same amount! I'm going to take this as kismet and sew the Butterick pattern in the second fabric. I can't find the fabric on the Joann's site, but it's black with lavender, pink, yellow, and green dots - which is why it reminds me of Skittles.
I can't eat Skittles because they have gelatin. (Or at least they used to. I haven't checked in a while.)
I also know regular Skittles don't have a pink flavor and the purple is dark, rather than light. But Skittles were the first thing that popped in my head, so that's what I'm sticking with.
So next time, I'll feature the actual sewing of the dress. I imagine that post will be shorter than this one.
My life is a wreck again, so I don't have anything new to show off. (I am going to try not to go on hiatus, but I make no promises.) Instead, I am continuing with the McCall's run with another It Came from My Closet entry. This one is 5050, kinda-sorta view E meets A. The fabric is a perennial Halloween favorite from JoAnn's. Who could say no to dancing skeletons?
The pattern is rated as average, but I knocked it out in an afternoon. I did deviate from the pattern pretty significantly: I skipped the lace cut-outs on the sleeves, replaced the elastic necklace with a drawstring ribbon one, and added a little opening for the ribbon (I used the buttonhole foot). I opted for the shorter version of the blouse, but in retrospect, I think I would have preferred the longer one. The lace I used on the cuffs was shorter than what the pattern called for, but I felt too much might distract from the fabric pattern.
Even if you opted for the lace cutouts of view E, this pattern probably shouldn't be rated as average. Views A and B, which feature gathered cuffs on sleeves would probably also be pretty easy. D (tiered sleeves) and C (gathered mid-sleeve) look more difficult, but I would still rate this as a beginner-level pattern.
