The Victoire Sundress - In Hopes of Summer.

The weather here keeps flirting with spring - it's snowing one day, then 80 degrees the next! Literally. It makes it a challenge to get dressed in the morning - you never know if you're going to be freezing or sweating! I love spring, it's one of my favorite seasons, but  I'm done with the cold - warm - snow - hot - cold again  pattern we've had this year. At this point I am dreaming of summer; warmth, sun, green trees, sundresses - and hopefully more predictable weather! So, this week, in hopes that the weather will take a hint, I made a sundress. A real, honest-to-goodness sundress that looks cute, can be dressed up for formal occasions or dressed down for everyday wear, and will keep me comfortable on hot days.

While scrolling through Facebook a couple weeks ago, I saw a post that piqued my interest. Laela Jeyne Patterns was in need of testers for their new La Femme pattern collection. As I'm always interested in testing new PDF patterns, I decided to check out the new designs. I looked through a page of pretty dress, shirt, and swimsuit patterns and immediately one pattern caught my eye. The Victoire dress. 

The Victoire Dress is a button front sundress that can be made either mini or tea length, and has inseam pockets! The pockets excited me, but they weren't what really interested me in his pattern. No, what really drew me to this dress was the bodice. The bodice is made up of a midriff piece and shaped cup pieces. This is a look I really like, but have never been able to make for myself. For a design like this you really need the bodice to fit you exactly. If the cups are too large or too small, the bodice will be uncomfortable and not look right at all, that is if it's even wearable!

  

Most patterns are drafted with a single bust cup size in mind - and it's never mine. The Victoire dress, however, is different. The pattern includes 5 different cup sizes; A, B, C, D, and E/DD! So you can make a bodice with cups that will fit and look good on you, without having to do any massive pattern altering. This, this, is the reason I decided to test the Victoire Dress. I really needed a cupped bodice pattern in my collection that would actually fit me, and the Victoire looked like the perfect one!   

Once I was accepted to test the pattern, I looked through my fabric stash to find a suitable material. I quickly unearthed this pretty floral, light and drapey, polyester blend fabric I bought at Wal-Mart last month. It was a fabric I liked and would be happy to wear, but one I wouldn't be heartbroken over wasting if this dress didn't turn out the way I hoped it would. At this point I was still a little skeptical, not sure if the cupped bodice design would actually fit me the way it was supposed to. Well, I needn't have worried.

I made a quick mock-up of the bodice to test out the cup size I thought I needed. All looked good, so I plunged ahead and cut out my dress, then sewed it together the next afternoon. Once the dress was mostly done, just needing buttons, buttonholes, and a hem, I tried it on, pinning it together the front. Did it fit? Did it look good?

It fit!! It actually fit well and was flattering!! At this point I excitedly picked out the perfect buttons from my stash and finished the dress!

I had a new sundress, now I just needed a hot, sunny day to wear it. The weather obliged. Last Thursday the temps soured to 80 degrees, so I happily wore my new dress all day, and was very comfortable.

With the side seam pockets, included in the pattern, I had a place to store my phone and pocket knife. This made the dress very convenient to wear. For just a little extra convenience and comfort, I sewed bra cups into the the dress bodice, between the lining and the outer layer. Thus, I don't have to wear this dress with an uncomfortable strapless bra! In my book, that's a win! 

Now, the pattern doesn't include instructions for how to install bra cups in your bodice, but it's pretty simple to figure out yourself.

If you're interested in having a cupped bodice dress pattern to add to your collection, I encourage you to check out the Victoire Dress! It's on sale until this Friday for only $7!

And hopefully, if you make yourself a sundress from this pattern, your weather will actually cooperate so you can wear it! Here, it doesn't seem like that will be the case anytime soon. After our one day of heat last week, it got cold again. And it actually snowed again yesterday. One day, hopefully, spring will actually, really truely, come - but I am slowly losing hope in that!

A Dress of Sheets, Scallops, and Spring.

Have you ever puzzled over a design for weeks, tried to figure out what patterns you could possibly use to make it, only to discover you've had the perfect pattern in your stash all along and your mental struggle was needless? That is exactly what happened with me and this dress.

But the story doesn't start with the dress design, or the way I agonized over what patterns I might use to recreate it. Oh no, the story starts with the fabric, which began its life as a bedsheet.

This twin size soft floral cotton flat sheet jumped right off the thrift store shelves and insisted on coming home with me. Well, maybe not quiet, but pretty much. I found this Ralph Lauren sheet in a pile of other sheets. It was soft, yet crisp, 100% cotton, great quality and pretty much brand new - no signs of wear or use at all. Immediately I knew it needed to be a dress and there was no way I was leaving it at the thrift store! Thus, I acquired the fabric, and began the fun task of figuring out the design of my new dress.

As the sheet was a rather crisp fabric, with very little drape, I knew my dress design needed to be rather structured. I also wanted it to have a vintage feel and feminine details. It wasn't long before I happened across the perfect inspirational design on Pinterest - a 1940's pattern for a button up wrap dress..

This design immediately caught my eye, and I knew it was exactly what my floral sheet needed to become. I just needed to figure out what pattern I could adapt to use for this project. Well, that appeared to be easier said than done. I had no similar patterns in my stash and neither the Simplicity, McCall's, Butterick, Burda, nor Vogue pattern books at Joann's yielded anything promising. The sheet was in danger of languishing in my stash for a loooooong time, just waiting for the right pattern to appear, when I discovered I'd actually had the perfect pattern all along - Simplicity 1460. 

A few weeks ago I used this pattern to make myself a blouse. It turned out fabulous, and fit wonderfully! So, once the blouse was done, I started thinking about what else I wanted to make from the pattern. Immediately my floral sheet 1940's dress idea came to mind. By just continuing the angle of the V-neck all the way to the waistline, I was able to quickly and easily draft the wrap bodice I wanted. I love the scalloped detail of the neckline of this pattern, so I continued the scallops (in a pattern of larger and smaller scallops) down the bodice and onto the skirt as well.

With just a little bit of careful measuring, and more tracing of scallops I was able to extend the blouse peplum pattern into skirt pattern to match my new wrap bodice pattern. (How many times is it acceptable to say "pattern" in one sentence??) Once that was done, I drafted waistband, to mimic my inspiration picture, and new facings for both the bodice and skirt (all my pattern changes had rendered the original facings completely useless). Then I was ready to sew!

To show off all the scallops I so carefully traced and cut out, I decided to apply blue piping to the front edges of both the bodice and the skirt, and around the waistband too for good measure. This was the one part of dress construction that took the longest - but it was so worth it! Look at how nicely those scallops pop on the finished dress!

Ok, those white flakes? Yeah, that's snow. The second weekend of April, and we got snow!

Once all the piping was done, the dress went together quickly - until it was time to pick out buttons. I had a card beautiful green buttons that were absolutely perfect for this dress, but, unfortunately, I only had 3 of them. This dress needed at least 4 buttons. So, I searched my button stash for something else, but nothing, nothing, matched the dress as well as those three green buttons. Eventually I decided, darnit, I was going to use those green buttons! After a bit more thinking, I figured out the perfect solution. Three would be enough for the bodice of the dress, I just needed to find a different button to use on the waistband. Nail polish to the rescue!

In my button stash I found a large wooden buttons, just the size I needed for the waistband. Then, I dug through my highschool nail polish collection (good thing I haven't thrown it away) and found the perfect shade of green to match my existing buttons. In under 5 minutes I had a green button for the  waistband, and my button dilemma was solved!

Once the last button was attached, I put on the dress and was immediately excited - it had turned out exactly as I hoped it would!

Attempting to relish the fact that it's snowing, in April, while I'm wearing a spring dress.

The stiff sheet fabric holds the shape of the dress perfectly, and hardly wrinkles at all, making this dress very easy and comfortable to wear!

The scallops, piping, and wrap design are fun, feminine, vintage details that add visual interest, so this simple dress can't be called boring!

Cute, comfortable, vintage inspired, and easy to make (with pockets too, of course!), what more could I want from a dress? Honestly, I don't know. I think this dress is pretty awesome, and I plan on making it again, once I find the perfect fabric, or sheet, to do so!

Thanks for reading, and have a happy spring! I hope yours is warmer than ours has been!

Making the 1888 Ladies Kitchen Apron

The Historical Sew Monthly challenge for March? Comfort at home. Make something to wear around the (historical) house. I was stumped on what to make. None of my planned historical sewing projects really fit that theme. The one that could have fit the theme would have been a massive undertaking, which I really didn't have time to do. So, I started brainstorming.

I quickly dismissed most of my ideas as they would either take too much time or require materials I didn't have on hand. Eventually, after considering all my options, I settled on a project. Something quite simple, very practical, and incredibly "homey". An item that I did need in my collection of historical clothing, but I'd never bothered to make for my self. An apron.

Once that was decided, I was faced with another decision - what type of apron would I make? A half apron? A full apron? What fabric would I use? After mulling this over in the back of my mind for a while, and looking at all sorts of pictures on Pinterest, I finally figured it out. 

In my fabric stash I found 4 yards of blue calico, on Pinterest I found an 1888 Ladies Kitchen Apron pattern. So, I put the two together.

The national garment cutter book of diagrams (1888)

Ladies' Kitchen Apron 1888

I pulled out some clear plastic and my 1" gridboard to size up the pattern. That went surprisingly quick and easy!

Once I cut out my pattern, I pinned together the darts and seams. This essentially gave me half a plastic apron, which I proceeded to fit to myself by pinning the center front of the apron to the center front of my shirt and adjusting things as necessary. I cut and pinned the plastic, adding width and length where needed, until that half of an apron fit me reasonably well. 

After that was done, I plunged right in, cut out my fabric, and made my apron. Typically I make mockups of all my historical sewing projects, but I decided the apron was simple enough, it wouldn't be necessary this time. Thankfully, I was mostly right.

I bound the pockets and straps in homemade striped bias binding, sewed the apron together, dressed up in my 1890's clothes, then tried it on.

It fit! Well, almost, the waistband was actually a little too short. Thankfully, that was easy enough to extend, and doesn't affect the functionality of the apron at all.

Now, after only one evening and one afternoon of work, I have an easily washable garment. It's perfect for protecting my less washable historical clothing from dirt and grease while I go about day-to-day activities - and it works for protecting my modern clothes too! While it's not the most exciting of projects, I certainly needed this apron, and this month's challenge was just the push I needed to make it! 

Ladies Kitchen Apron

Challenge: Comfort at Home 

Material: Cotton calico and a striped cotton for making bias tape.

Pattern: Sized up from an image of an 1888 Ladies kitchen apron pattern I found online.

Year: 1888, but I will wear it with my 1890s outfits.

Notions: thread and homemade bias tape.

How historically accurate is it? The pattern is accurate, the construction is all by machine, which is fine for this era. The pattern on the fabric is questionable, so let's say 90%

Time: About 5 hours. 2 for patterning, 3 for sewing.

First Worn: 3/31, for pictures.

Cost: All stash, so $0!

The Fancy Otari Hoodie

Did I need a new hoodie? No, not particularly. I just made myself a new hoodie in January, I like it and it serves its purpose well. But did I want a new hoodie? I did once I saw that The Dreamstress was releasing a new pattern, the Otari Hoodie, and needed testers!

I applied to test the pattern, and, while waiting to hear if I'd been accepted or not, I began to think about the fabrics I would to use for my new hoodie. I knew I wanted it to look completely different from my gray hoodie, a more "dressed up" version, if you will. So, once I was accepted to test the pattern, I went fabric shopping with this in mind, and you would not believe how hard it was to find just the right fabric! 

The first several fabrics I was drawn to were all gray. Some were light gray, some dark, some metallic, but all gray! That wasn't gonna work! I needed something more colorful, something that did not resemble the hoodie I'd already made! Finally, after finding yet another tempting gray fabric, I saw it; a faux wool knit in olive green. It wasn't gray, it was a color I loved, and it was sooo soft and stretchy. It was perfect.

Once I decided on my main fabric, I wandered around Joann's for quite some time trying to find just the right fabric for my cuffs and hem band. I'd picked out a bright and cheerful floral rayon jersey for the pocket and hood lining, so I needed the band material to tie that together with my more subdued olive green faux wool. Eventually, I decided on a coral textured knit. It matched the largest flowers on my lining fabric and was a fun contrast to the green!

Once my fabric was picked out, the rest was smooth sailing! I grabbed a shiny gold zipper, some coral and metallic cord for the drawstring, some green cotton tape for the zipper facing, and I was ready for the fun part - actually making the hoodie!

The Otari Hoodie pattern has some fun options - a pointed hood, or a normal hood and scalloped pockets or traditional "kangaroo" type pockets. Since I wanted this hoodie to be a bit fancier than my last one, I opted to test the scalloped pockets, but decided to stick with the normal hood rather than the fun pointed one. 

The hoodie came together easily (the instructions have fantastic helpful diagrams and lead to professional looking results) and the end result it everything I hoped it would be! It's an everyday hoodie, slightly fancier than my other hoodies, that fits well and looks great! It's my current favorite lightweight jacket.

I have been wearing this hoodie almost non-stop since finishing it! Did I need a new hoodie? Maybe not, strictly speaking, but I sure am glad I made one! 

 If you're interested in making your own Otari Hoodie, you can get the pattern here. I received the pattern for free in exchange for testing it, but all thoughts and opinions shared here are my own, and this post was in no way sponsored by the pattern designer. The pattern was lots of fun to make, and is even more fun to wear!

The Stubborn 1940's Silk Easter Dress

Some items just seem to want to be made and come together easily, with no major hassles. Other items don't. My Easter dress this year was in the later category.  This had nothing to do with the pattern or fabric I chose, and everything to do with the fitting I did halfway through making the dress.

I began this project with plenty of enthusiasm. I bought the pattern, Simplicity 8249, a re-print of a 1940's pattern, back before Christmas. I loved the asymmetry of the design and the silhouette was similar to that of my map dress, which I absolutely love. I decided the dress would look best made out of a solid fabric to really showcase the design elements, so I kept my eyes open for something suitable. It didn't take long before I happened upon this lime green silk dupioni on the clearance rack at Joann's. I decided that the fabric and the pattern were the perfect pairing. So I stuck them on a shelf together in my sewing room to wait for spring, when they would become my Easter dress.    

Last week they came down off the shelves and landed on my cutting table, it was Easter dress time! Everything was going well, until I tried on the mostly finished, and fully lined, bodice prior to making the skirt. It looked horrible. The pretty tulip sleeves included in the pattern were much too tight, barely fit over my bicep, and pulled the entire bodice out of whack. It was bad. Really bad. After messing with the sleeves for quite a while, I finally had to conclude there was no saving them. They had to go.

Once the sleeves were gone the bodice fit much better and looked way better when worn, but I wan't sure I liked the design as much without the sleeves. At this point my enthusiasm for the project waned, and it was a real struggle to finish it. Would I even like the finished product?

Despite my lack of motivation, I plunged ahead, just hoping that this green silk would turn into something wearable. I made and attached the skirt. I put in an exposed zipper (just because I happened to have a vintage metal zipper just the right color in my stash). Then I tried on the dress again, prior to hemming.

And I hated it. The pockets didn't lay right and I felt the length was unflattering. I pinned up the hem several inches shorter, but that didn't look good either; it unbalanced the proportions of the entire dress. At this point I just threw the dress on a chair in my sewing room and abandoned it for several days.

After a couple days, I decided I did indeed want a new Easter dress, and since I didn't have time to make a completely different dress, I was going to finish this one and make it work. So, I pulled the dress off the chair and tried it on again, this time with the one pair of high heels in my closet (blue sandals) and a belt. I stood in front of the mirror and analyzed the dress. 

I decided that with heels, the length was perfect, and the belt added some much needed waist definition. I found myself actually liking the dress! So, I took it off, hemmed it with a deep hem facing (made from teal cotton to match the shoes), fixed the pockets until they lay decently well, and made a matching teal and green belt to tie the whole look together. 

The result was a dress I was excited to wear to church on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of my Savior! After a week of a love-hate relationship with this dress, I was firmly in love with the finished, cheery, springy, look ! The weather, unfortunately, was not as springy as my dress. Oh, no. Easter afternoon, it snowed.

Yes, April 1, Easter Sunday, we got snow. So, after church and before Easter dinner, my high heeled sandals got replaced with tights and boots. I fought with this dress all week and emerged triumphant, there was no way I was going to let a little snow keep me from wearing my Easter dress all day!

Happy Easter!