Wine T-shirt

I've had this piece of synthetic fabric (I think it's polyester) for about 6 or 7 years. T-shirts are just about the easiest thing to make, but I also wanted to experiment with creating texture and pattern. I made bias strips out of the same fabric. Down the center of each strip, I machine stitched a piece of fuschia trim I bought for 50cents /yard. The trim stiffened the strips, which made them easier to lay into curves. I sewed them by hand onto the shirt.

Since it was a small piece of fabric, I had a seam running down the back of the shirt, so I covered that with the same stripe.

Now I only have about 5 more pieces of old fabric to use up!

Amber Dress

My friend Amber asked me to make her a summer dress in the style of a Splendid sun dress she had borrowed from our friend Jean. I love Splendid's colorful knitwear by the way, but sadly they are usually designed for taller women than I!

Amber picked the fabric and colors for the dress, and here's the result! She's quite discerning when it comes to apparel and styling. Note how her gray suede heels dress up the dress. She even remarked on the hand-sewn blind hem, so I'm happy she likes the dress. She did a good job selecting a print. It was hard to picture what this would look like in the fabric store. Hmm...maybe I should enlist her opinion more often.

Cotton Tweed CC jacket

My mom asked me to make her a jacket to wear to medical conferences, then she decided to retire after practicing medicine for 43 years. I made the jacket anyway out of a beautiful white and black cotton tweed I found online. It has an A-line shape with a 60's vintage style (Butterick B5254). I thought my mom would appreciate that, since she was quite the fashionista as a young intern.

My mom tried it on and decided she no longer needs the jacket, now being completely absorbed with the grandbabies. I was tempted to keep it for myself, especially after my friend Carol remarked that it reminded her of Chanel (one can always count on a best friend to make you feel good, even if it's a stretch of a compliment. Carol earned herself a new jacket with that boost to my confidence). Rather than wear all my own stuff, I had my sister try it on, and she loved it. She can wear it at her executive job, and not worry about holding the babies when she gets home from work. It's cotton!

I discovered a Vintage Patterns catalog on wikia. It has images of hundreds of commercial patterns from the 1920s to the 1970s. It's interesting to see how women's styles from the later decades make reference to earlier decades. I particularly enjoy the Guy Laroche patterns for Vogue. Think early 1960s when women still wore skirts and dresses to attend church or throw dinner parties.

On the topic of vintage patterns, a woman stopped by my sewing class a few months ago to drop off boxes of old commercial patterns from the 1960s to the 1980s that had belonged to her mother. Sadly, her mother could no longer maintain a large house and was moving to a smaller place. But we were grateful to receive the donation of out-of-print patterns that her mother had used to create beautiful dresses, skirts, and blouses for her daughters over two decades. Here are the few I chose.

I love the 1960s wedding gown with the empire waist and cap sleeves. They remind me of old photos of my Mom in 1969. She was 25 and had just met my Dad when they were interns in Chicago.

Obi sash

My friend Ann got married last fall. She and her husband held their ceremony in their front yard, and her mom did a ton of work to landscape and decorate the space. My contribution was making sashes for the flowergirl dresses to match the wedding color.

I made a cumberbund-style front with long ties that could be wrapped around and tied in front like an obi or just tied as a bow in the back.

Lemon Skirt Photo

Lemon Yellow Skirt

My youngest brother got married last summer, and the invitation suggested ladies wear sundresses since the ceremony was outside. I wasn't in the sundress-making mood, so I made this yellow pencil skirt instead.

I used stretch cotton twill from denverfabrics.com. I drafted my own pattern, put in a lining, a back slit, and an invisible zipper. It was great practice. The best part - it's machine washable!

However, I should have made it a little tighter. The fabric stretched a little more than I expected through the day, and it wrinkled quite easily.

I was incredibly flattered when my sister-in-law complimented the skirt, and when I told her I made it, she offered to pay me to make one for her. She was expecting at the time, and now she's probably shedding pregnancy pounds, so I have some time to plan.

Practice jacket

This is the first jacket I attempted since high school. Altered a Vogue pattern (V7975). Took in the princess seams and shortened the length. In terms of fit, it's now my standard for a tailored jacket.

This is first piece I ever made with lining. The jacket is turned inside out, the lining is attached, then the whole thing is turned right side out through a hole in an arm seam of the lining.

Other things I learned on this jacket are lined patch pockets and setting the sleeve into the body. (That was difficult! It took me a few tries, and I'll be practicing that again.)