Thursday, January 31, 2013

RTW


So, I'm joining this PR contest.  It's not my first.  I like to join them to push myself.  This one is perfectly timed because Pinterest drew me in the other day and I found this most AHMAZINGLY Divine creation.  I told my partner in crime that we MUST create this and ad to our blog.  Next thing I know, there is a contest demanding that I join. 

This is a Givenchy and I think it's $2025.00@ Barney's!  I cannot even say that out loud!
Stay Tuned.....
(By the way, Repeat is supposed to be joining the contest too!)

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Engagement!

FIRST of all I don't want to hear it... I already know... I'm late as hell.... okay now that's out of the way let's move on....

I'm ENGAGED!! WOW.... that's even weird for me to type it... I'm not the hyper type with things like that! 

Anywho I'm really excited and I must admit have a GREAT guy to take this next step with.



SOOOO with engagement comes protocol and stuff you have to do and the first "event" was our wonderful engagement party. It was hosted by my in-laws to be and we had a wonderful time. All of my friends that were able to make it out made the night hilarious as only they can!! 
So with an opportunity to grace the public with my presence I HAD to make something fun and fabo!! So I opted for a wrap dress and the pattern of choice was McCall's 6024 Laura Ashley. 

I must say a wrap dress is typically a very simple thing to complete and my inspiration came from my second addiction is PINTREST!! This post GAVE ME LIFE!! Once I saw it my mind and my world was set on recreating it!!! I wanted everything in the picture, the dress, the shoes, the jewelry and the purse! It was a ridiculous obsession that would not be calmed until I made it!! LOL (pretty deep huh?!?)
Well on the fabric search I found this GREAT deep purple sheer silk blend fabric. Now I loved the fabric but wanted to make sure I could find something to act as an underlining. (I secretly hate to line garments but I have to) SO in comes JoAnn's to the rescue! I went and got a few yards of jet set in purple. I underlined each section and again I created FABULOUSNESS!!! 



HAPPY SEWING!!  
     

My new love....

Ok this pattern and dress are my new love of the week!! 
Although I love a challenging pattern like the rest of us... :-( THIS one was a breath of fresh air for the ease and the amazing fit! 

CLEARLY, these days I act like I'm in a state of mourning! Everything I've made recently has been black. I went back to "the closet" and noticed that my dress section (yes it's a section) is getting closer everyday to becoming all black! I think I should begin to have a personal mantra to wear it all the time. Maybe I could seem real deep and profound....... 


ok moving back to reality.... 

I gotta stop buying BLACK!! Is there a rehab for too much black fabric?? I digress...... 
So the topic of the evening my WONDERFUL Very Easy Vogue V8825. I once again made this in a wonderful black matte jersey that has a VERY nice hand (oooo I sound like Joanna Coles!!) It's a slightly heavyweight jersey that I figured would work well with the silhouette of the dress. The pattern offers a tunic & pants option, but I opted for the dress. 



Well IF I SAY SO MYSELF it turned out simply FABULOUS and it truly "GAVE ME LIFE" to wear! I got a couple of double takes while wearing it so that confirms it's a KEEPER!! :-) 

HAPPY SEWING!! 

Fun times with Vogue

OMG!! I've done it!! 


Maybe now B.L. will stop fussing at me! (In our family that's how we express our love!LOL) 

Anywhooooo After looking in my closet and counting my projects I'm realizing that I really have completed a WHOLE LOT of beautiful projects. 

So, let's start with the reviews!! 

I posted this one on patternreview.com and I can't express enough how much I love this DKNY Vogue V1250!! This was a pleasant surprise to open up! When I looked and saw that the pattern is only 2 pieces I swear I thought I was going to have a tent on my hands when I finished. Well I couldn't have been more WRONG! This dress fit perfectly and not only did I make it once I made it TWICE!! 

My first tackle I found this great red matte jersey material that looked almost exactly like the picture on the envelope. 

 

My second tackle was a blue knit material that actually was a remnant I found at "our fabric store" (I'll explain that one later!) 

 

I've gotten so many compliments when wearing this and it has truly become a wardrobe staple! I love pairing it with a jacket for work and then wearing it with a cute waist belt for date nights!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

It's Been Crazy!

Well, it's 2013 and it appears this is the year my children will contribute to the concerted effort to drive me mad!  First, my youngest daughter had me making a ball gown for her. That's not a big deal, as I have done it before.
This dress, Simplicity 2253, was her gown for last year's ball at school. The "fun" part of this was that I made it without her ever being present for a fitting. I made a muslin, sent it to her and then we Skyped the fit. I made the dress and mailed it to her. You would think after all of that, I would have learned my lesson. But no. This year, she wanted this dress. And this year, there was no pattern.  I looked and tried to find something, but there was nothing that was close enough. This looked pretty simple so I thought, with a muslin, I could make it happen.


So, I managed a "pretty close to it".  It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but given the fact that I AGAIN had to make this without her being physically present, it was a pretty good effort.

 
And that was just what happened the first week of January with my precious time.  I also had some personal projects of my own.  I needed a red suit.  Well, since I can be perfectly candid here, I have two red suits, one of which would have been fine for this event, but that never works for an obsessive sewists.  So, one afternoon I head off to Hancocks to find a suitable pattern (because they had a sale of course).  My daughter (the sewists) sent me several Vogue pattern options to check out.  I happened to thumb through the Vogue magazine and this took my breath! I loved everything about this suit!
 

The funny thing is this is what Vogue put in the catalog. I would NEVER have given this pattern a second thought. The zipper openings seem weird to me, I don't really care for what looks like a coat, but again, has the weird opening and the suit version with the knee pants (what are those?) would not have motivated me to add this to my collection.And the skirt isn't even on the pattern drawing.  BUT, this white suit version (above) was simply DIVINE to me and I had to have it for my event the weekend of the 26th! It had to be red. And as luck would have it, I had several pieces of red fabric in my stash that I thought would work. I settled on some stretch twill and it was perfect.
 It really turned out well. I'm not sure why my collar looks like the wind is blowing, but it didn't look like that before the picture.
I knew I had to have these "fashion zippers" but good grief, they are expensive!  I sure hate I don't live in or near New York or LA or Atlanta!  I know I could have found these for a song in a more "fashionable city".  Oh well, there is always sacrifice for one's art! :-)
I do like the pants on this pattern and will probably make them soon as well.
Time to think about the next project.  I think it's going to be a blazer.  I have this neat fabric I purchased from JoAnn's and it keeps beckoning me to come hither!