Sewing Projects (January to July 2012)
It's been ages since I've posted on Live Journal. My poor blog hasn't seen any action recently.
On the other hand... Stitch (my sewing machine) has seen a lot of action this year - almost non-stop action, in fact. From January to July, a good chunk of my free time was taken up with dressmaking. My brother got married eariler this month - and I was asked to make three of the flower girl dresses. Then after I finished those, I was asked if I could make the formal dresses for the mother of the bride and for the mother of the groom. I also made three "sample" dresses, before I made the final flower girl dresses.
In all, I made eight dresses since the beginning of the year!
(3 sample dresses + 3 flower girl dresses + 2 formal dresses for the moms)
Whew!
To get everything done in time, I set up a folding card table in the living room for dining and then I took over the kitchen table and turned it into my sewing area for the entire summer. Hubby was so happy when I finished that last dress and we could eat on our kitchen table again!
Anyways, now that the wedding is done and the kids have settled back into their regular school routine, I have some time to make updates.
Here's what I've been working on...
Dress #1: sample dress with turquoise sash and fabric flower
Completed: January 20, 2012
WIP photo: bodice - made of ivory satin
WIP photo: skirt and sash - because I wasn't sure what the colors for the wedding would be, I chose a pretty turquoise color for fun. ^_^
Finished dress:
Close-up of the fabric flower:
My thoughts: It's pretty! I like the ivory and turquoise combination. It also fit Alysson perfectly - which was awesome because I was working off of measurements only and didn't actually do any fittings with her.
Dress #2: sample dress, pink cotton with white polka dots and built-in petticoat
Completed: April 18, 2012
At this point, Dai-Fu (my new sister-in-law) still hadn't made up her mind about what style(s) she wanted the flower girl dresses to be. So I picked a cute style with a poofy skirt. Little girls love poofy skirts! I chose an easy-care cotton fabric in pink because little girls love pink, too. Plus, I only wanted to show Dai-Fu the dress style.
WIP photo: bodice and sleeves - in pink cotton with white dots
WIP photo: yards and yards of tulle to be gathered for the petticoat - the ruffles!
WIP photo: attaching petticoat ruffles to the lining...
WIP photo: skirt
WIP photo: the almost finished dress
WIP photo: the details, flower accents on a white ribbon sash
Finished dress:
My thoughts: Cute! I also like how the petticoat ruffles peek out at the bottom. The dress fit Megan perfectly, too. Dai-Fu liked it. We decided to use this style of dress for Megan - except in ivory satin, of course.
Dress #3: sample dress with pleated shoulder straps
Completed: June 7, 2012
Originally, Dai-Fu wanted one of the flower girl dresses to be a strappy dress. However, since the dress would be worn by a little girl, we decided against spaghetti straps. Instead, we chose a pattern with a wider, pleated shoulder strap.
WIP photo: front of dress - attaching bodice to skirt panel
WIP photo: back of dress - attaching back zipper
WIP photo: back of dress - attaching sash
WIP photo: incomplete dress
WIP photo: wide, pleated shoulder straps
Finished dress:
Strappy dresses don't look right on a clothes hangar. They look limp when they're not filled out. So I stuffed one of Talia's small pillows into the dress to fill it out and took a photo of it on her bed.
My thoughts: I don't like it. It's so plain and boring. Booooring! Bleh. We scrapped the strappy dress idea - and I made another dress for Alysson, instead.
To be continued...
On the other hand... Stitch (my sewing machine) has seen a lot of action this year - almost non-stop action, in fact. From January to July, a good chunk of my free time was taken up with dressmaking. My brother got married eariler this month - and I was asked to make three of the flower girl dresses. Then after I finished those, I was asked if I could make the formal dresses for the mother of the bride and for the mother of the groom. I also made three "sample" dresses, before I made the final flower girl dresses.
In all, I made eight dresses since the beginning of the year!
(3 sample dresses + 3 flower girl dresses + 2 formal dresses for the moms)
Whew!
To get everything done in time, I set up a folding card table in the living room for dining and then I took over the kitchen table and turned it into my sewing area for the entire summer. Hubby was so happy when I finished that last dress and we could eat on our kitchen table again!
Anyways, now that the wedding is done and the kids have settled back into their regular school routine, I have some time to make updates.
Here's what I've been working on...
Dress #1: sample dress with turquoise sash and fabric flower
Completed: January 20, 2012
WIP photo: bodice - made of ivory satin
WIP photo: skirt and sash - because I wasn't sure what the colors for the wedding would be, I chose a pretty turquoise color for fun. ^_^
Finished dress:
Close-up of the fabric flower:
My thoughts: It's pretty! I like the ivory and turquoise combination. It also fit Alysson perfectly - which was awesome because I was working off of measurements only and didn't actually do any fittings with her.
Dress #2: sample dress, pink cotton with white polka dots and built-in petticoat
Completed: April 18, 2012
At this point, Dai-Fu (my new sister-in-law) still hadn't made up her mind about what style(s) she wanted the flower girl dresses to be. So I picked a cute style with a poofy skirt. Little girls love poofy skirts! I chose an easy-care cotton fabric in pink because little girls love pink, too. Plus, I only wanted to show Dai-Fu the dress style.
WIP photo: bodice and sleeves - in pink cotton with white dots
WIP photo: yards and yards of tulle to be gathered for the petticoat - the ruffles!
WIP photo: attaching petticoat ruffles to the lining...
WIP photo: skirt
WIP photo: the almost finished dress
WIP photo: the details, flower accents on a white ribbon sash
Finished dress:
My thoughts: Cute! I also like how the petticoat ruffles peek out at the bottom. The dress fit Megan perfectly, too. Dai-Fu liked it. We decided to use this style of dress for Megan - except in ivory satin, of course.
Dress #3: sample dress with pleated shoulder straps
Completed: June 7, 2012
Originally, Dai-Fu wanted one of the flower girl dresses to be a strappy dress. However, since the dress would be worn by a little girl, we decided against spaghetti straps. Instead, we chose a pattern with a wider, pleated shoulder strap.
WIP photo: front of dress - attaching bodice to skirt panel
WIP photo: back of dress - attaching back zipper
WIP photo: back of dress - attaching sash
WIP photo: incomplete dress
WIP photo: wide, pleated shoulder straps
Finished dress:
Strappy dresses don't look right on a clothes hangar. They look limp when they're not filled out. So I stuffed one of Talia's small pillows into the dress to fill it out and took a photo of it on her bed.
My thoughts: I don't like it. It's so plain and boring. Booooring! Bleh. We scrapped the strappy dress idea - and I made another dress for Alysson, instead.
To be continued...