Color-Blocked Tracy Reese Dress Revamp

I made this dress 6 weeks ago but wasn't quite happy with it. It was a well drafted pattern and the fit was exactly right, but I didn't feel like the proportions worked well with my body. Thanks to some helpful feedback from my readers, I decided to shorted the cropped overlay by an inch. That wasn't too terribly difficult, but I did have to stitch some things by hand that were previously machine stitched.

After that, though, I still wasn't happy with it, so I chopped 5 inches off the length. Now I love it! Sometimes I give up on things that seem like a ton more work because I completely hate altering, but I'm so glad I persevered this time.

More pictures after the jump and don't forget to tell me what you think!

Plaid + Black Color-Blocked Tracy Reese Knit Dress

This dress has now been updated!

The color blocking trend is alive and well. In fact, I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to it. To me, color blocking is using two or more of the same type and weight of fabrics in the same garment. Not to be confused with mixed materials, which is two or more different types of materials used in the same garment. (Of which I also have a Pinterest board for.) This silhouette - cropped top over midi skirt - seams to be a current favorite, and is a look I wanted to try out.

Brown + Hot Pink Double-Breasted Jacket

The only thing good about cold weather is cute outerwear.

I say this every year because I really don't like winter but I really do like coats. They make it bearable, and I have a number of them. You can never have too much outerwear IMO. Yes I live in south Texas. Having a nice wardrobe means being prepared for any occasion and that includes weather.

Vogue 1499 - White striped dress in embroidered cotton

Whew! I'm rushing to get this posted so that I have at least one entry on this blog for August. It has been a super crazy month with all three of my kids starting new schools. The baby is a wild child and is constantly into everything. I'm hoping for more sewing time this fall during his nap time. We shall see.

Anyway, here is my last garment for summer. It's Vogue 1499, an Anne Klein designer dress pattern that came out this past summer. I really liked the changing stripes on the bodice and thought the width of the skirt would make a good day dress. The fabric is a black and white striped floral cotton from MoodFabrics.com. Shortly after I bought the pattern they posted it to their website. I needed a thin stripe to show off the design and thought the embroidered flowers a fun textural element.

I washed and dried my fabric prior to cutting it out and the embroidery crinkled up a bit. It's kind of like a seersucker fabric now, which I quite like for a casual summer dress. Wrinkles do NOT show, and this white is totally opaque. Consequently I decided to forgo the lining.

I cut a straight size 12 - my typical Vogue size - and ended up taking the side seams in a little over an inch from the armpits tapering to nothing at the waist. Early on I knew I wanted to leave off the little cap sleeves. Something about the angle of how they connect to the bodice just bugged my eye. Instead I wanted to add a sporty cut-in sleeve element, so I raised the front and back neckline and used a RTW shirt to guide my scissors as I trimmed out new armholes.

I cut all the pieces out singly and matched the embroidery pattern across the center back bodice and skirt. I also took care that the side panels and skirt were stitched together so that the black lines were perfectly straight. The zipper was probably the most time consuming part of this project. After it was inserted and all the stripes lined up across it I took a gusty sigh of relief.

The neckline and armholes were finished with bias tape. All the inside raw edges were finished with my machine's overlocking foot. It's a nice weight of a dress - not too light to wrinkle or see through but not too heavy to be hot during the summer.  

Dressform pictures:

I have a ton more summer garments planned but of course never am able to sew it all up. Life is too busy. And now I'm tired of looking at my summer wardrobe and I'm ready for a change of color and of fabrics. Bring on the silks and the wools! I'm sewing for fall and winter from here on and already have a cardigan finished. Just have to get some pictures!

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.

Vogue 1027 - Black & neon knit faux wrap dress

I'm eight years late to the party with this pattern from 2008. It's a designer pattern from DKNY and is still in print. I don't think knit wrap dresses ever go out of style. This dress is drafted to be quite a bit longer, but I wanted more of a casual look, so I cut it out to fall right below the knee.

The fabric was an impulse buy from JoAnn's and is a rayon/polyester blend. I rarely get fabric there anymore but I was running in during a pattern sale and stopped in my tracks when I spotted it. The colors are SO saturated and practically glow in person. I'd never seen anything like it.

After doing some pattern research on patternreview.com, I decided to cut the size 8. My typical Vogue size in knits is a 10, so this design runs a little big. I added 1.5" to the length of the bodice before cutting out my fabric. The belt is drafted to sit above the waistline which I didn't want, and I have a long torso.

The pattern of the fabric looked random when I bought it but when I went to cut it out I found that there was a definite line of symmetry down the middle. Luckily I had purchased enough to accommodate this mirroring.

I added 3/8" clear elastic to the neckline to prevent any gapping. I can bend over and grab things without exposing anything so that decision was a total win. The armholes are finished with shaped facings included with the pattern which I quite like. There is also a piece of elastic sewn under the belt which keeps the dress right at the waist. This fabric is white on the wrong side, so my belt was stitched right sides together and turned, which also saved me from having to topstitch on a single layer of knit.

I enjoy wearing comfortable day dresses during the summer, and I'm happy to add another one to my wardrobe. I will definitely be using this pattern again in the future. Now that I've got the fit down and have more experience with putting elastic in necklines, the next one should be a really quick project.

Vogue 1425 - Pamella Roland white & black lace dress

I got started on my Easter dress early this year so I wouldn’t run out of time like I usually do.

I fell in love with this Pamella Roland designer Vogue pattern the minute I laid eyes on it. I had to have THE EXACT SAME DRESS as the example on the envelope. But, you know, I have a lot of projects swimming around in my head at any given time, and I was willing to wait for just the right fabric to come along. When Mood Fabrics posted this Theory black cotton guipure lace a while back, I shouted “perfection!” at my computer monitor and snapped up 3 yards. Sadly it sold out while I was swatching the other fabrics I used for this project and there’s nothing else comparable listed at the moment. They do post them from time to time, so keep your eyes peeled if you are interested in making this pattern.

The body is made from Mood’s Jason Wu whisper white blended double faced crepe, of which only the blue colorway is currently available. (It must have sold out yesterday because I just checked on it on Friday in preparation for this post. This just proves yet again that if you like something on Mood’s website you’d better buy it quickly. It won’t be there for long!) Crepe remains one of my favorite fabrics to work with and wear. This one is made from a blend of viscose, cotton and nylon and is really beefy but drapes beautifully too. Because of that thickness I was able to leave off all the interfacing, underlining and horsehair braid the pattern calls for.

This pattern is fairly straightforward. I muslined the top and had only a few slight tweaks to get a perfect fit. I added 5/8″ to the bottom of the bodice for a long torso adjustment but probably could have done without the extra length. This dress is heavy, and the weight is pulling the bodice down slightly. I also took about 10 inches out of the width of the skirt due to fabric limitations from a cutting error. I sewed the top of the lace invisibly by hand to the bodice, a necessary step that is not addressed in the directions.

Vogue’s example dress has lace that is twinning on the back bodice which makes my eyes twitch, so I was careful to match mine up so that at least the top edge of the lace is uninterrupted from one side of the zipper to the other. My eyes also twitched from the lace that is swinging about below the hem of the dress, but after making this garment I can tell you that it is somewhat unavoidable. The lace is simply too heavy. I cut mine to so that the longest edges would be 1 inch above the hemline, but you can see it dipping down to the bottom edge in the first picture.

I love the pockets on this dress. I’ve not always seen the point of them but I’m coming around to the pockets-in-dress loving side.

The trickiest part of making this dress was attaching the skirt to the bodice. There is so much fabric to wrangle and it is a super thick seam. I had to aggressively grade the fabric so that it would lay as flat as possible against my waist. You can kind of see the various layers on the inside through the lining, which was made from Mood’s antique white silk habotai.

I opted to hem the lining and outer skirt separate from each other. There are certain times when it makes sense to hem the skirt to the skirt lining, but for the most part it is a recipe for disaster. Different fabrics drape differently, and unless you get it just perfect the hem will look bubbled and home-made. For this dress I whip-stitched the skirt invisibly by hand and machine stitched the lining. Oh, I forgot to mention that I took a 2″ hem without adding anything to the hemline. Per the pattern directions it is only suppose to be a 5/8″ hem, so my dress is 1 3/8″ shorter then drafted.

Dressform pictures:

 

Whew! That was a ton of work! I wish I had sewn some sort of waist stay during construction to help with the weight. I might still do it if I can figure out how to add one without creating more bulk in the waist area. However I am really pleased with how this dress turned out. It feels expensive and is well fitting. Black and white is timeless, and I plan to be wearing it for years to come.

Note: All fabrics were purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.

Vogue 1389 again - Maroon wool knit baseball top

I am continuing to enjoy using up fabric from my scrap pile and making tops. Here is my latest creation from Vogue 1389, a Donna Karan designer pattern.

I first made this pattern back in December and it has seen lots of wear during this mild winter, so I decided to make another one using up a big scrap of maroon wool knit. Four LONG years ago (before I had many gray hairs - sob!) I used this fabric for a top with a draped neckline and wore it for Christmas. It was donated a year or so later because I really hate to wear anything fussy around my neck. But the fabric was perfectly lovely and I'm glad I had a big piece of it to make something that will actually get some wear.

This time I used an exposed seam detail throughout the shirt and love the outcome. It is achieved by stitching the pieces together with the wrong sides facing it, then ironing them flat and topstitching from the outside about 1/8" on either side of the seam. Then I carefully cut away the excess fabric. It looks really cool on fabrics with a terry like texture on the inside.

This is a very fitted pattern. Where I usually size down to a 10 on knits, I cut a straight size 12. I also dropped the armholes an inch like last time, as they are drafted really high. The sleeve bands were thick and dumpy looking so I oped to hem the sleeves right above the elbow. All hems were sewn with a wide set twin needle.

The neckline stretched out a bit when I was making this top so I sprayed it with water and threw it in the dryer with a damp towel. Twenty minutes later I took it out and the neckline had shrunk to a point where it lays nice and flat against my chest.

Even though I'm an Aggie I don't really own a ton of maroon stuff. Well, now I've got a least one top to wear with this cap. Whoop! Also Gig 'em.

Vogue 8859 - Slim brown pants in quilted cotton

Here's a quick little post to show y'all some pants I made to match an orphan tunic in my closet. Not loving to make pants patterns - even though I keep buying them - I searched around various stores for a brown pair and had no luck. I swatched this chocolate cotton double knit from Mood fabrics and loved the ridges and texture. I also thought a cotton/poly might hold up better then a ponte knit, which in my experience tends to pill after a few washes. 

I used Vogue 8859, a Marci Tilton design which is now sadly out of print. This was the first time I’ve used one of her patterns; most of them aren’t really my style. What I liked about this design was the pleated knee treatment and back yoke. With the fabric being rather thick I decided to leave off the knee pleats on this pair, but will certainly use that design feature in the future.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fit of these pants. The crotch is drafted much more toward the front, which I think helps alleviate those pesky whiskers on the backs of the legs. I cut a straight size 12, my typical Vogue size, but had to cut the waist height down by an inch. These pants are drafted to be VERY high waisted. I have a long torso, so I shudder to think what they would be like on a shorter waisted person. When I make these again I will shorted them below the back yoke before cutting out. For these I had to cut off a good portion of the yoke to not feel like Steve Urkel.

I picked this pattern so that I could play with the ridges in the fabric. From the back of the knee down I turned the fabric horizontal. I topstitched every seam and then graded the fabric to keep the seams from being too lumpy. The hems and waistband I stitched with a wide twin needle.

The waistband is elastic, which is perfectly fine for being worn under a tunic.

This was a simple and quick project, and now I can get some wear out of my top. I am definitely making this pattern up again. With a few tweaks it will become my fitted pants TNT (tried and true).

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.

Vogue 1389 - Casual coral sweatshirt

After making two lined dresses in a row I decided I needed an easy project. For me, the easy projects I undertake usually end up being a lot more work than I think they’ll be. Not this time, though. I whipped up this fitted top in just a few hours. The fabric, a Thakoon coral sweatshirt cotton, was purchased from Mood fabrics a few years (!) ago and has long since sold out. Mood has a number of similar cotton terrycloth options available. My personal favorite is the grey and metallic terry knit, which I’ll probably get for another one of these tops.

Originally I had a large piece of this fabric which I cut into for a casual dress. Unfortunately it was not matched well to the pattern, and the project ended up in a trash can. I had a large scrap piece left over and loved the color, so I saved it until I could find a way to use it up. I used Vogue 1389, a Donna Karan designer pattern. It’s a bit of a sleeper pattern that hasn’t been made much by the online sewing community. The example garments are all gray and a bit boring but the design lines are really nice.

This is a well fitted top. The sides wrap around to the back and are angled in such a way that they provide some nice waist definition. I cut my usual Vogue size 12 but lowered the armholes by an inch. They are super high as drafted! The wide neckband and sleevebands I sewed using the opposite side of the fabric for a little contrast. I had to piece my back together because I was short on fabric.

That back seam and the side seams were sewn with the wrong sides together, then ironed flat and topstitched so that the wrong sides show on the outside. This is a fun finish that I used on a project a long time ago. I contemplated using it to finish the arm seams as well, but thought it might be too distracting with the contrast along the neckline. Now I wish I’d done it.

I adore the length of these sleeves. Unless it’s really cold, I find myself pushing up my long sleeve tops to just below my elbows. They would be really easy to lengthen if you prefer the longer length.

I finished all the inside seams with the overlocking stitch on my machine. The neckline and sleeve bands were topstitched down to prevent the seam from twisting or flipping out.

The hem was sewn with a wide twin needle.

I first made this top up in a silk jersey and it did not have enough stretch recovery to make the neckline lay flat. The result was not flattering, so keep that in mind if you want to make this pattern up. Also the neckline will get stretched out when being attached and will need to be washed and dried to shrink it back, so a wool knit might not be the best choice of fabric.

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.

Vogue 1283 - Navy viscose knit asymmetric dress

This is the garment I made in October for the Mood Sewing Network. I kept putting off posting it here, thinking I would find some time to take some interior/closeup pictures. Alas it has been an extremely busy month and is about to get even busier with the holidays upon us, so I'm just going to write this post with the pictures I already have.

I used Vogue 1283, a Tom and Linda Platt designer pattern from 2012 that now looks to be out of print. I always thought this design was really interesting with its asymmetrical gathers on the front and back of the dress. The cut-in-one sleeves were never my favorite though. Extra fabric folded up under my armpit is not a look I enjoy. I thought I might be able to modify the pattern to have set-in sleeves instead, and traced the armhole curves from another long sleeved knit dress pattern. I also used the sleeve pattern piece from that pattern. Success! I always love when a frankenpattern comes together.

I knew I’d need something thin to handle all the gathers and I also wanted a fabric with some weight so that the dress would drape nicely. Enter this midnight blue solid viscose knit from Mood Fabrics. I swatched it since I’d never worked with viscose knit before. The description on Mood’s website is accurate, it is a dense fabric with a beautiful drape.

This pattern is lined with the same fabric as the dress. If planning to make this design, don’t do what I did and think you don’t need the stay tape along the gathers and neckline. I don’t know if it was the fabric or not, but those gathered areas and neckline really stretched out when they came in contact with my iron. I went back with clear elastic to reinforce those areas. I added 2.5″ to the hemline and then took a 1.5″ hem whip-stitched by hand in place. I also whip-stitched the sleeve hems. I usually hem knits with a twin needle but wanted a cleaner finish for this dress.

This fabric will show iron marks so iron on the reverse side or use a press cloth with it. It was easy to work with and very luxurious feeling – almost like a thick silk jersey. I also already laundered this dress by washing it on the handwash setting and laying it flat to dry. Other than needing a slight pressing it came out without any change in appearance.

I'm super pleased to add another long sleeved dress to my closet. Here's my little photo-bomber:

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.