a big thumbs down.

and i'm not going to take the time to finish the sleeves. i was going to to do petal sleeves like the last one, but i knew that i would NEVER wear this dress anywhere. i feel like i've just wasted a bunch of good fabric. it is going to stay in my "failed" projects suitcase, deep in the closet. here are the problems:

the waistband is too low. i made the mistake of adding in the band last minute without taking anything off the bodice or skirt, so now my body looks disporportioned and the skirt is way long.

the bodice is too big and unflattering. my boobs look huge, and not in a good way.

good things: i've learned a lot this project, including how to make the scalloped hem and invisible zipper. 'tis a pity that they will be hidden from the world....

.... or will they? my next dress i will make is my Christmas dress, made of stretch gray wool and a jewel applique around the neck. i cannot WAIT to make this dress. it too will have scallops, and of course, an invisible zipper. i'll post a fabric swatch when it comes, in the mean time, here is my almost completed hand-stitched jewel neckline:

So-So- Sewing Day

Sundays are meant to be a day of rest, but i hardly rested.

This is my area to sew. as you can see, it is also the living room/steve's office. i have about three feet of space to move around, and with the ironing board, it becomes even more difficult. when i started sewing today, i brought out the ironing board, unfolded it, and all of the sudden a wave of anxiety just washed over me. i started yelliung at steve, who was minding his own business, to help me move the ironing board away from the bike (next to steve in the picture balancing on the back wheel). i started stomping my feet as i collapsed on the couch. steve yelled back at me: "ellen, RELAX". he went and got me an extension cord for the iron so that i wouldnt have to put it close to my desk but more in the kitchen (which is right behind me as i take this picture). Steve opened the door and waved it back and forth to create a breeze as i proceeded to rub my hands up and down my stomach.

I have never really had an anxiety attack before today. and of course later on i knew i had the invisible zipper to put in. geeze louise. i cannot WAIT TO MOVE IN MARCH. that is a severe understatement.

GET A LOAD OF MY TOTALLY INVISIBLE ZIPPER! This is the best zipper i have ever done, and i totally owe it all to Steam-a Seam. It's basically double sided tape that steams on to fabrics to hold seams, or in my case zippers, together. i couldn't believe how well it worked in holding the zipper to the fabric as i sewed. i'll be using it for every zipper from now on. thanks steam-a-seam!

All that is left to do is the sleeves and hemming the lining. and yes, i am lining the entire dress in purple lining material. i know i said i was going to use shantung, but it would have made the dress a little too bulky. I'll be done tomorrow for sure. I know, i know- i'll be a day late but i've got my evening gown to work on too! Until tomorrow then!

Indiana Thanksgiving

Indiana is very rainy right now. My neices, nephews, Steve, and my sister-in-law Traci are all getting ready to go to the city, so i thougth it the perfect time, without my neice Coley taking over the lap-top for facebook purposes, to update on my dress.

I HAVE been sewing, rigourosly. sunday night, the night we got here, i started to sew, but my sister-in-law's machine had some weird tension issues. the poor old beast had its last stitch i think. so Traci went to two of her neighbors and got machines for me to test out. when i woke up on monday, it was like a dream. TWO machines on the table, ready for me to test and try out for my own personal use for the week. Indiana has its charms.

This is the machine i chose, a Brother Pacemaker (odd name). it sews beautifully-- very smooth and fast. And it has all the digital upgrades with embroidery options. If my bernina weren't practicaly my child, i would go buy this machine. I love it.

So for my dress, ive lined the bodice and basted on the skirt so far. the skirt is gathered. It's not as full as a i imagined it, simply becuase the shantung matieral is so light. Hopefully when i line the skirt, it will poof out more. I went crazy and added a scallopped hem. This is my first time doing scallops, and i'm really happy so far.

I still need to turn under the facing, but doesn't it look cute?? I think it goes really well with the femininity of the fabric.

I think i'm going to take off the skirt, however, and add a waistband. The fullness from the bodice with the gathers and then with the skirt isn't helping my figure much. I hope i can make this work. if i'm brave, ill put up a picture of me in the dress so far.

Pray for my invisible zipper insertion!

from Hannah and me.

Happy turkey..

2nd Dress Status Update!

My 2nd Dress has finally begun in construction. I'm using a Vera Wang poly-blend shantung-- i particularly love the floral print, in that it is geometric yet still soft in form. I love shantung material because it makes great stiff shapes while, again, still being soft and flowy. I'm going to fully line the dress in a dark purple material, either shantung or crepeon sheer. I hope you all like it when it's finished!

The picture above is the bodice (hanging on the chair because i don't have a dress form...). the shirring effect comes from the dart leg and graduates to the side seam. I came up with this design in my pattern making class, and made up a sample of it for an assignment. I've wanted to use it again for awhile. 

Here is a close-up of the fabric. i love this print!!

This is the pattern for the Bodice front. I had to slash from the dart leg to the side seam and spread the pieces in order to make the shirring. You have to add more fabric into any pattern in order to make gathers or any added volume.

A typical Saturday morning. "Sewing immerses me in the pleasure of making something, and reminds me that not everything is made up of pixels" - Meribah Knight, O Magazine

An Essay for SFL 105

this is an essay i wrote about the first dress i made for the blog. i thought i'd share it with the world.

Learning Activity 3- Sew a Dress without a Pattern… deep breath…

In my creative projects class, I made my own individualized slopers for my body type. Slopers are what seamstresses use to make patterns, and they are usually a basic size that are not individualized. Big dress companies use these slopers, which is why when a dress or jacket is bought, it never fits perfectly. So, now that I have my own individualized slopers (which took me a total of 35 hours to make), I wanted to just jump right in and try them. Sewing can be a scary task because so much money goes into a project, like the fabric for a dress, a sewing machine, etc., not to mention the time it takes to make a well-fitting dress. It is sometimes hard to separate one’s fears with trying new things in general, and I feel like I have had these fears my whole life. Trying new things and actually completing them is hard for me to do, so I knew I needed to just close my eyes, breathe, and cut.

The fabric cost me about $45, which I bought online, and the notions (thread, zippers, etc) cost another $10. $55 total is not much when the dress being made would cost about $200 in a store (including alterations), especially since it is specifically made for my body. Thankfully my wonderful husband gives me a unlimited (within reason) budget for fabric because he knows how much sewing means to me and how much it is strengthening my confidence in my ability to complete tasks. I can’t explain the anxiety and worry of cutting out a pattern with the fabric that seems so flat and life-like lying on the floor. You think to yourself: how is this two-dimensional object going to wrap around my body, fitting perfectly, and still make me look skinny? It’s like cutting down a tree and trying to imagine it as a house. Faith is required in every project. Not all of them work out—over half of my projects are stuffed in my “failure” suitcase in a closet. Miraculously, my dress came out and makes me look pretty skinny.

With price aside, it took me two weeks to finish the dress with having to go to school. The dress also inspired me to start my own blog of my chronicles in sewing. I have now challenged myself to make a dress without a pattern every two weeks, hoping none of them end up in that unfinished, failure pile. I just have to jump in these projects if I ever want to see results in my sewing capabilities. Even though I will never know the results of all my efforts until the last stitch is sewn, every single project I have ever made I have learned something new. I’ve learned that the progression toward perfection never stops. I actually want to keep trying.

Once we are baptized, get married, have a family, and continue to live our covenants, our progression toward perfection is continuous. We may never know the results of our efforts until the last day, minute, hour, but every little lesson we have learned or blessing we have witnessed will make all the heartache and trouble worth it. Heavenly Father is always challenging us. It may seem like we will never finish or succeed, but we just have to close our eyes, have faith, and cut.

I Have a New Dress!

Here is my dress. My husband took the pictures, and got a little too into it. How adorable.

I'm really happy with the outcome. The dress is NOT perfect AT ALL; there are so many things that could have done better. Like, such as:
- The invisible zipper is totally visible. invisible zippers are my vice. I had to sew in three separate zippers because one broke, one was too short, and the next one is hardly perfect.
- The hem was tricky. for some reason as i hemmed it on the machine, the part that is turned up underneath kept bubbling since it is a bigger circumference than the hemline (that must be so hard to understand if you don't sew. Just take my word for it-- it was difficult).
- the fabric in general was a beast. It frayed like crazy and is also really thick, making it bulky in some areas with lots of seams, like the yoke.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy. Take a looksy:

The clips are, of course, Fleur and Feather.

finished.

i finally have finished my first dress! i came home from school today, sat down, put in that zipper and hemmed the skirt, and now i'm done. im putting up pics tomorrow! thank the heavens its the weekend. am i right or am i right?

dress number two... here i come.

If i were asked to describe my own personal style in so many words, i would say:

Ten Year Old Victorian School Girl

I recently bought this knock-off Victorian locket and companion pin off of ebay, after i saw much-too-big version at Banana Republic. Bows are everywhere these days, but i will say that I LOVED THEM FIRST. nanananana (a ten year old, remember). I have never been afraid of looking like too much of a girly girl, and i think more women should take more femininity into their style. The pin sits nicely on my favorite coat from nordstrom, with many school-girl Victorian aspects, such as the large flat collar and the puff sleeves. I get so many compliments when i wear this coat, and i'm trying to not let go to my head! very unsuccessful.


I also recently just bought a Victorian PATTERN BOOK (eeek!) and photographic survey at an online museum store called Victoriana. This place has the COOLEST stuff. this is what i bought and i am particularly inspiried by the children's uniforms (no surprise).






This last photo is from an old 1925 catalogue that the museum sells as a PDF, so anyone can buy it straight online and save it on the computer, ready for your inspiring needs at a moment's notice! Below is an example of one of the children's patterns that i LOVE and i'm dying to recreate it. I love the little butt-flap, or whatever that peice is. Victorian's loved their butts. i really want button-up boots, too. Totally gorge.




The dress i coming along, i promise. i'm in school too, ya know! i'll post pictures of my other projects that i'm working on at school, such as my bathing suit and my senior project, an evening gown. are we excited yet???

kate spade is a genius.

now, i know she was famous in the 90's for her bags, but her CLOTHES are what kill me. she is my idol. if i weren't in college and in mild poverty, i would be a self proclaimed model. see for one's self:

ps. currently i am in the BYU library shopping online for fabric, posting, and not doing homework. technology distracts me.

by the way...

shabby apple's new line 1943 is amazing.

i still kinda think my fabric looks like curtains (scroll down). that is all.

So I messed up. What else is new.

I think i can only remember one project where i made no mistakes and just sewed the thing up in a day. It was a gray shift dress with 3/4 puff sleeves. That was a few months ago, and i attribute the success to the wool fabric and unhurried attitude, which included a big, deep breath at the beginning of sewing the darn thing.

if big deep breaths and wool fabric were the solution to my sewing problems/lack of patience, then i should have more straight forward successes in sewing. i love sewing with wool, and i *usually* remember to breathe when i sew... a true mystery.

So for my dress right now, i've had a few issues.

first off, i sewed the petal sleeve facing on one of the sleeves backwards. if you notice, the seam allowances are completely mismatched. apparently i thought i was sewing "right sides together" (the right side being the outside of the fabric. crazy sewing jargon.)



Notice how the interfacing is completely wrong again, and the seam allowance is on the outside of the fabric.



picking out the seams to resew the sleeve correctly.



sewing it once again..... and wa la, complete.

My second mistake was the pleats in the skirt. since i made the pattern for this dress (the first pattern i've ever made, mind you), i'm not exactly sure how the pleats go so skee-wampus (spelling, anyone?). Another mystery of pattern making. I think it may be because the pleats weren't ironed on-grain. Any other explanations out there?

this is the front. notice how the dart on the right sort of pops out? it was buggin. So i took them all out yesterday and put in gathers, and it hangs magically. Yay. Magic. look at the sleeves! they are great, i promise.

But despite all the mistakes, the headaches from forgetting to breathe, i am still creating something pretty cool, i think. how many 21-year-old girls do YOU know, do i know for that matter, that can make a pattern and actually finish the dress? please say "not many" or "no one else, ellen. you are great!"

say it, dang it.

i want to succeed. i want to be a wonderful seamstress/designer/fashion guru. i need to finish what i start.

Diet Coke and Food Network

Diet Coke takes a special place in my heart. I'm not necessarily proud of that, but it's just a fact. My mother drinks diet coke too, and i believe the love is genetic. It helps me a lot during late night sewing. A brand new can of diet coke-- cold, fizzy, fresh-- ahhh. There is nothing better. Plus i like the little, red, heart disease dress on the side.

That sounds bad...

Now, I need to have some sort of noise on in the background when I sew. It helps to have one's mind distracted just a titch when sewing time exceeds 3 to 4 hours. I like to feel part of the world when I have to focus. I only sit in the talking section of the library, too. Ironically, the noise helps me focus more.

Today is Sunday, so I didn't do much sewing. HA. I took off the entire skirt of my dress, took out the pleats, and am currently putting in gathers. The pleats weren't hanging right. I had already edge stitched the yoke facing and everything. It took me over two hours to redo it all. Pretty good time, no champ status mind you, but a decent 2nd place.

When will I be first in the giant sewing race? Is there a race, or have I made it up in my mind, due to my tendency to compare myself to others? When will I be just an impeccable sewer like Dr. Burnham and all those girls in beginning sewing right now who are simply born with the "patient seamstress" gene?

That statement is impatient! crap! I'm already getting frustrated. More Diet Coke.

You know when your are ripping seams.....

...and you accidentally pull a string of fabric, instead? and then there is a pucker in the fabric for good, and you have to iron it and iron it and pray that it doesn't get worse??

i hate that. It happens to me all the time.

Sneak Peak for my first Project!

"Marilla! Look at the puffs!" Not just puffed sleeves, but petal sleeves. I LOVE how they look in my dress! what a cliffhanger...

Fabric swatches. This jacquard fabric is mustard yellow and olive green. I was a little worried in the beginning that it looked liked curtains-- my husband definitley agrees with that assessment. The fabric is 59% polyester, 24% cotton, and 17% silk, and bought from fabric.com.

My Tools

These are my wonderful Gingher Designer Series 8 inch scissors. I bought them off ebay when i had break-down at Jo-Ann's when they were sold out. I got them cheaper anyway, no loss!

This is my sewing desk, located IN MY LIVING ROOM...tight much? extremely. How do I even cut out? Well, on the floor, naturally!

Ahhhh, my sewing machine. Activa 240 Bernina. Lovely, Lovely, Lovely. My wonderful mother bought it for me this past January for my birthday.

These little babies are my individualized slopers, that took me 35 hours to create. I had to start with a fitting dress and just alter, alter, alter until it was perfect. Then i transferred that pattern to paper, creating slopers! it sounds easy, but my sanity would tell you otherwise. Special thanks to Dr. Burnham at BYU for helping me tirelessly to get these done. I have so many pieces because my body is completely asymmetrical. Freak of nature. Figures.

A Journey

This is a Journey. I am going to *try* (the golden word) to sew a dress every other weekend, and I'll post a picture here, with techniques, mistakes, etc. Hopefully i will accomplish, hopefully I wont break the rules and use a pattern.