domingo, 8 de septiembre de 2013

I started a dress - I finished a skirt

Last weekend I started on my next project for The Monthly Stitch, a vintage pattern. I have a 70s pattern for a knit dress that seems very promising on the envelope. I also had this fabric from my latest fabric binge. I thought they would be a perfect match. In my opinion they still are. My sewing skills are just not good enough when it comes to knits. A lot of changes and tweaking is going to be necessary on this one... I hope I can get it right before Summer 2014.

All this got me in a negative sewing-mojo-spiral, so I decided to abandon this project and start on a new. A rebound-project if you will.
In red, because I would say any rebound is worthy of that colour.

I wanted a pencil skirt like Rachel Zane wears all the time in Suits. For those of you drooling over the amazing dresses in Mad Men, you should really check out Suits! They have fabulousness draped all over their bodies but very contemporary, honestly, they have dresses I would actually commit several crimes for. The costume designer shops at Prada, Burberry, Victoria Beckham, Boss, Prada, Donna Karan, Dior and the list goes on and on. One of the Donna Karan dresses featured on the show can be yours, if you buy lovely red fabric, this pattern and invest a good amount of time in stitching it together. If I had an occasion to wear it to, I would...Could I get away with wearing this around the house?

Jessica Pearson in a stunning red Donna Karan dress
Check out this site for more goodies!

For my skirt, I used this pattern. The reason I bought it is because there are a few variations, including one with gathers, which I am so going to make one day soon.
I made a muslin first, because I bought my pattern in the small sizes when actually I needed the big sizes. Blame it on my vanity. In the end I added 6 cm to the back (3 cm on both center back panels) and did no other alterations. I think it would be nice if it was a bit rounder in the butt-area, but I'll leave it as is, because those side panels are topstitched and the stitches sink to deep for easy unpicking. Next time...

I cut the long version, so I could decide what I wanted later on, but went for the shorter version anyway. Dress your age and all that crap.


I have always wanted a high-waist skirt and this is just perfect. I love the fact that there is no waistband and thanks to the side panels there are NO darts. I actually prefer princess seams because if I can avoid darts, I will, I hate sewing darts.
There was a Lamborghini in the street and my nerd husband insisted on taking a picture with it...


I inserted a lapped zipper! I learned to do that from the free Craftsy class Zipper Techniques. I love free classes!

Don't worry, I did have fun!


It's not as pencilly as I would like, but still, it looks great. I will be wearing this A LOT this winter. Just not with my Watson-cape, ´cause those two fabrics would look like a devil's spawn together...

So, did you ever abandon a project that was getting you down to get a quick win? And what 'architectural' dress would you sew if time, money, occasion to wear and difficulty were no objection?

12 comentarios:

  1. Great skirt! The fabric is pretty cool. And oh I also started watching the zipper classes but never got around finishing them

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    1. The class is a bit boring I think. I didn't watch it entirely either, but I use it as a reminder and watch only the chapter I need/want, because I usually only sew in invisible zippers.

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  2. Cool skirt! I read your post yesterday just after watching Suits! Really made me laugh, and the styling is indeed great on the show!

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    1. They have a cool storyline, but the styling is amazing!

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  3. Great skirt! looks like it will be a fabulous basic, in such a cheerful colour! hehe, and I recognised that Donna Karan for Vogue pattern instantly!

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    1. Thanks, I hope to get a lot of wear out of it, although I don't really like wearing skirts (or pants). I went crazy and bought the pattern in the latest Vogue sale... Now to decide what color to use...

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  4. Love the colour and the pattern! It looks great on you.
    I have problems with garments that need many pattern pieces...finally it bores me...because many times I have to alter the pattern and if I have problems in this part and there are many pieces, I feel very disillusioned!!!!!

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    1. Thanks Maider!
      I like easy patterns like simple dresses most, but once in a while I like to make a more intricate pattern that needs some figuring out, it keeps me challenged...

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  5. Great skirt - the colour is fab and it makes a great wardrobe addition.
    I sometimes miss the plot of Suits because I am so busy trying to work out if I could recreate Jessica's entire wardrobe (of course, as I am not 5 foot 10 inches tall and a size 2 it might all look a little different on me...)

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    1. Thanks, I hope to wear it a lot this fall/winter, but I'm not sure yet, because I usually don't wear red... We'll see how it turns out... And I always fall behind on the storyline too, because I am too wrapped up in the details of the clothes. Jessica's is my favorite too!

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  6. Haha I try to avoid darts as much as possible too! And have always preferred princess seams over darts - all my first dresses when I was learning were princess seams; I didn't know to be scared of them and have never understood why people shy away from them.

    I've been wanting a pencil style skirt for a while now - have made several in the past (when I thought, it it does it, it fits) which haven't fit that well and have been putting off drafting/making one, even though I have my dream pencil skirt fabric. I should just bloody well get on to it!!

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    1. I'm glad I'm not alone!
      I should have drafted my own pencil skirt instead of scrambling my way through a pattern alteration for this skirt, would probably been faster... I'm curious to see your perfect pencil skirt fabric, made up as a pencil skirt, of course!

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