A cute little custom order

I love boleros and I love brown & pink. This is custom request that I probably won't be getting to it until November well hopefully sooner.

Hurry Hurry only a little time left on a Audrey Hepburn GIVENCHY Pattern!

OMG I want it but it is out of my price range so I'm sharing it with you all. It is ending soon. No it's not my auction and I'm going to be jealous of whoever wins it. Click here for the link.

Here is the gorgerous pattern.

Front and back (only 9 pieces)

Get the look without paying the price

So I'm going through pages of vintage patterns and I came across this 1960's pattern that is really cute but $30.00!
Mod Vintage 1960s Vogue Americana Pattern for a Dress designed by Chuck Howard, Pattern # 1873

Well instead of paying $30.00 I think I will wait for a 99 cent sale at Joanne's and just get this McCall's pattern 6028. Would just have to flare out the skirt a little.

Finally after dreaming of making this dress for over a year

I get to make it! Yeah!!! Grace Kelly, icon of fashion. So beautiful so elegant so beyond words. She's only second to my favorite Audrey Hepburn. Here is the dress. Stay tuned I have an Oct. 20th deadline so I have to get busy.

Who watches Project Runway and is disappointed?

Last season and the season before I couldn't wait until Thursday to watch the designers. This season is a total bore to me. Anyone else agree or I'm just being partial to Seth who rocked last season!

I missed last week and didn't even watch tonight's episode.

Completed PS I Love You Dress...I'm pretty happy

I love this dress so much! I need to make myself one. As you can tell from my picture I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Front and back view on form:

Can anyone find my mistake from my previous bodice post?

It is unfortunate that a shop on Etsy has been using my blog and my reviews on patterns.com to list the same items as me. It is flattering but at the same time irritating especially when the same pictures are used.

I really love sharing how I hack patterns, make my own pieces to create, recreate garments but at the same time I'm trying to run a business and giving away your secrets sometimes hurts.

After all the work I did with this dress I found an actual pattern that would make this dress entirely except for the pockets. Message me if you just want to make this dress for yourself and I will give you the pattern number.

More Bodice Views

Aside from the buttons the bodice is complete. Here is the front and back view:

Got to love the line up of the plaid!



PS I Love You Bodice Progress

OMG TOO CUTE! She can't have it I changed my mind j/k This would be an adorable top too. I think I got the darts figured out. The pockets after taking them off once turned out really nice. The button holes are sewn but not cut yet.

I love the wrap style. Hard to tell from the back there is a strap because I actually got it to line up...but I guess that would depend on how tight she puts it on so I guess I shouldn't be too proud. I probably will post more later but I was anxious to show the progress.

Front & Back View

With Ties

Grey & Pink 40's Dress

With each time I make this dress it turns out better and better. There was some confusion at first because I thought my customer wanted the dress pink with grey contrast pieces. Lucky she caught it on my website before I started cutting.

Though I really think SHE NEEDS TO HAVE SOMETHING MADE IN PINK!!!! Yes I know you are reading this. I would even be willing to give you a discount on your next order. Think cute little 50's diner dress. Pink with a white collar, cuffs and pockets.

It does look great with the grey and pink. I'm happy with it and hope she will be happy with it too.

Tomorrow I work more on the PS I Love You dress. Have some shipments so that is going to take some time away from my projects.

My sister's WOW Mad Hatter Costume

I think she surpasses me in skills...well sometimes in this case her costume is so amazing I had to share it. Here is (for my mom and sisters MINE! they'll know what I mean.) Johnny Depp in all his glory WOOF!

Here is her costume hopefully the person who commissioned her to make it sends some pictures of her little boy in it.

The coat lining & pin cushion ring. No she left out no details.

 

She made every little bit of this costume including the hat! All she needs is the rabbit which we have our little Cadbury Bunny...but I'm sure her customer wouldn't appreciate bunny hair on their costume.

I should be working on a 40's dress...but I get to make PS I Love You Dress

I can't help myself. I need to get this 40's dress done and shipped by Monday but I did not have enough fabric and me, my mom and sis are going to the fabric store tomorrow so I didn't want to make two trips. I did most of the contrast pieces of it, the godets, the bow and collar. I can't do the piping until it's stitched so I have an exact measurement. Anyways I had some time on my hands so I figured I would work on another order...the PS I love you. Right now I have to say I hate plaid  not really but it is a pain to line up.

Of course I'm studying the pictures and finding all kinds of details that I missed. Like there are pockets and the pockets have a fold to them. I haven't decided if I want to do snaps or buttons. More than likely I will do the buttons as I have a perfect set for this dress. But I love the looks of the pearl snaps. I'm not sure if you know what i mean by them.  Oh and I really don't know how I missed that the dress has a collar lol. I really need to just print the picture and hang it over my sewing machine instead of going by memory.

My pictures may look orange but it really is red and black. Here is my attempts to line up the plaid on the pockets. I may have to take some of the darts out for the pockets. I will try one with the darts in place and if it looks ok I will leave them the way they are.

If anyone has some pointers to lining up plaid to the darts I would appreciate it!

Black with Blue Lace 50's Skirt and Top

So I couldn't capture the lace at all but it isn't as bright as it looks in the pictures. The more I make this outfit the better the outcome. This time insteat of t-shirt length sleeves my customer want 3/4" sleeves with 50's cuffs that buttoned.

Here what the lace actually looks like I purchased it at Belraf Fabics. They have a beautiful selection of lace but be forwarned it shinks a lot. I ended up being short about a yard. So if you purchase some buy extra for the shrinking. You never know how much lace is going to shrink until you pre treat it.

Ok enough about fabrics here is the outfit:

I love the cuffs and the rose.

Opened New Shop to Clean Up Some Patterns

I finally started listing some patterns I don't need on a new Etsy Shop. If you are interested in it please click here. If you have any that you may want to trade let me know. I'm not looking to make a business out of selling patterns so it would have to be something I wanted for myself. Feel free to e-mail me if you have something to trade.

Tomorrow  I'm hoping to wrap up a 50's lace skirt and top and posting it here. It is turning out so great. There I go again patting myself on the back :)

Adorable 1940's Dress Child's Version

I am amazed how cute this is! If I had a little girl she would be the "Retro Queen". It is so little lol can you tell I don't make kids clothes that often.
Here it is. It is a 50's blue/green though I probably didn't capture that well, with white contrast pieces. Instead of doing two pearl buttons at the bottom of the godets I did little hearts. Yes I'm a dork :)

The lady I did this for is a professional photographer. Hallie Westcott Photography. She is going to let me post some pictures after she does her photo shoot. I don't have a model so a hanger will have to do until then.

No word from bride to be but here is the dress

I think it is very pretty & I hope she did too. I guess no news is good news?!?

Front & side view

Back & bodice detail.

The bride to be wanted some tummy room and also a very long tie. This dress weighed almost 5 lbs. It is fully lined with a petticoat though she is purchasing an additional petticoat. I love the hint of shimmer of the organza.

An Interesting Skirt Request

This is a interesting little skirt. I'm going to have to think it out quite a bit. It almost looks like a wrap skirt but it isn't. I do love the lace under it. I won't be getting to it for a little bit to fulfill orders before it but I thought I would share it.

Nervous as can be...

I shipped the wedding dress on Tuesday priority mail. She may get it tomorrow or for sure on Friday. I can't post any pictures yet because I feel the bride to be should be the first person to see the gown. In fact I didn't even send her pictures. There is nothing like opening your gown and seeing it for the first time. A picture unless it's taken by someone who knows how to take pictures will never do it justice. Imagine the mail, the box, then opening your dream dress....then putting it on and don't fit. YIKES!!!!

I truly love to make wedding dresses but they are the ones that stress me out the most. If it doesn't fit then I've just ruined one of the most happiest days of someones life. It is such an honor to be a part of someones big day and I know someday I will be bawling because the dress did not work out.

This gown was such short notice and I got it down quick just in case any alterations needed to be done.

Stay tuned I will share the outcome.

Child's Size 40's Dress

So how cute is this going to be? I'm recreating a dress that is pretty popular in my shop. In case you missed it here is the original inspiration picture.

I received a custom request to make a little girl's dress about a size 5 or 6. She is a photographer and wanted bright vibrant colors. I found this beautiful herringbone in aqua. The contrast pieces will be in white. Here are the pieces laid out.

It is weird working with such little pieces but I started sewing with Barbie Doll clothes so I'm no stranger to working with small pieces. I can't wait to see this on the little girl. It is an adorable dress. The white strip in the middle is just scrap for picture purposes. I will make piping to go around the bodice area.

I also really loved working with a bright color. My usual orders for this dress is black with either white or off white contrast pieces. Though for an upcoming order for this same dress I get to do pink with grey contrast pieces. I think it is going to really stand out.

PS I Love You inspired dress

Who doesn't love that movie? For an upcoming order I will be recreating Hilary Swank's red & black plaid dress.

Well after a lot of searching I found some fabric. I figured with fall coming I wouldn't have any problem finding a red and black plaid! Here is what I'm getting for the dress.

New Site for Existing & New Customers

It is good to be busy~ I am working on a website to keep track of my current orders and also to keep my clients informed and potential clients a estimate of when they can expect their item. You can visit it here.

It is a work in progress and when I have time I will make it lots better :)