Sunday Strategy 2/24/13

Last week recap:

1. Make my muslin for my Sew For Victory Dress.

• I got really far on my muslin and it fit really well. I decided to make it into an actual dress. I added a lining and some ric rac. I ran out before I was done so I have to pick up some more tomorrow so I can finish. 
2. Fitting adjustments made and transferred to pattern paper.
• Nothing much  to change. It fits really well. I might shorten the bodice at the waist 1/4 of an inch but I will decide that after wearing the dress for a day.
3. Choose fabric for my dress.
• I didn't get around to picking out my fabric. If my wearable muslin turns out as well as I think it will I don't have to pick out any more fabric anyway.

This week:

1. Finish up my wearable muslin for my Sew For Victory dress.
2. Finish putting trim on my Sweetheart Dress. I had this dress almost finished a few weeks ago. When I was putting the final strips of bias binding on the sleeves, it got all wrinkly and refused to lie flat. Turns out, the tape wasn't actually cut on the bias. I had to rip it all out. I got a new pack and should be able to finish in a few hours.

Sunday Strategy 2/17/13

Last week recap:

1. Find inspiration for the Sew For Victory Sew Along. I was originally just going to make the newly released Simplicity 1692. Then I saw all the Sew For Victory Inspiration posts popping up all over with glorious clothes. I think I want to try and make something a bit more exciting. If I have time and the inclination I can make the top too at a later time.
• Blogged here.
• Pinterest Sew for Victory Inspiration board here.
2. Start drafting up a pattern if I choose something that I don't have a pattern for. I really can't justify buying any new patterns and I have been reading a ton about pattern drafting lately. I should probably put that information to good use.
• Blogged here.

Next Week:

1. Make my muslin for my Sew For Victory Dress.
2. Fitting adjustments made and transferred to pattern paper.
3. Choose fabric for my dress.

       

Sew For Victory - Drafting the dress

I decided I would like to knock off the Du Barry 6542 pattern.

I have never made anything with a yoke so I will have to branch out a bit. I also have only made one dress where I use contrasting fabrics. I need to do more projects like this that help me move out of my comfort zone (aka rut.) I am not sure whether to make this from cotton or linen. I know that is not historically accurate since Nylon, Viscose and Rayon were the in thing. I love my cottons and linens not only for how they feel but also the amazing variety of prints available. I also think the cotton would be best to get the nice crisp pleats on the skirt.

I am not sure if I am going to do the yoke as 2 separate pieces (a bodice top and bottom) or just make a regular bodice front and then make an overlay for the yoke parts. I will try it one way on the muslin and if it doesn't work well I will try it the other way on the next go around.

I am using the new book I got for Christmas from my mother in law to help with drafting the pattern. It is called Practical Pattern Designing, originally published in 1947. I have a reprint from the 80's. It is a great resource filled with tons of useful information, diagrams and step by step instructions on how to recreate 1940's fashions from basic blocks.

This will be another dress for my 52 Dresses participation.

Sew for Victory Inspiration

Du Barry 5642 form the 1940's. I especially like the contrast yoke. I usually make everything with the same fabric for the whole project so I need to change it up a bit.

Image from etsy.com

 It seems that something similar to this would actually be a practical addition to my wardrobe.

Overalls image from SewCountryChick.com

This cute dress would be a great addition to my wardrobe. I think it would also be easy to draft. I like the button up back quite a lot. 

Image from http://filmfataleevents.blogspot.com

I absolutely love the gingham with the wide contrasting ric rac. Just adorable little feminine details. Image from http://www.liverpoolblitz70.co.uk/

To see more inspiration, visit my Pinterest board Sew For Victory Inspiration.

Sunday Strategy # 6

This week:

• The Thanksgiving dress. 

• I am using Vogue 8664 from my stash. 
• Both my main and lining fabrics are from my stash also! 
• Hooray for Stash Busting. 
• Also counts toward 52 Dresses Project. I am not sure what number it is, but I know I am not close to finished.

Last Week Recap:

1. Finish my dress for Rose's birthday party. 
• Blogged here.

       

Victorian Dress So Far

Rose is having a Victorian Musical Soiree to celebrate her 18th birthday. We are all supposed to come in costume. I am making a beautiful ball gown for myself! I have never done a project that has embellishments on it. I am not sure why I waited so long to try. They add such dimension to the piece.

Here is the basic dress before so you can see the silhouette. I have a 6 hoop underskirt underneath to give the dress volume. The pink fabric is a light weight home dec fabric that was given to me by a lady at a curtain shop in Philadelphia. They just throw all the fabric that people leave there in the trash so the woman loaded up a few trash bags and sent me on my way. This was about 5 years ago and I am still working my way through all of it. This counts towards my Stash Busting and also my 52 Dresses. I am so going to wear this dress after the party!

Front view (and Punkin.)

Back view

Front view with ribbon flowers pinned on. I am not sure I really like the flowers on the skirt. 

What do you think? Is it just to much?

I do like the flowers on the bodice though. Maybe I will just do this part with the embellishments.

The ribbon flowers and scallops around the bottom of the dress. 

Should I add some lace to the bottom hem?

     

52 Dresses Project - Initial Analysis

Following a massive purge of my closet in which I got rid of 25ish dresses, I have 17 left. 9 are thrifted, 3 are bought new (Oh, Modcloth.com) and 5 are me made. I haven't managed to blog about them all yet though. I think for this challenge, I will try to have at least 1/2 of my dresses made by me and rest store bought. I love the Modcloth dresses but they are just so expensive. I will have to just look at them for inspiration. Maybe I can do a bunch of the Make This Look knock off's from the Sew Weekly.

The 52 Dresses Project

The 52 Dresses Project. How could I resist? Of course I want to have 52 dresses in my wardrobe! At least this one gives me a very long time to participate. I will have to count up all my dresses and see where I stand. I have tons of patterns that I want to try. (And more that I want to buy and try but we don't really have to talk about that...)