Yarn Debacle

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What do you do when your knitting something and don't like the yarn? I bought three skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Royal in azure online and I am not in love with the color in person. This yarn was not cheap, and feels really soft. The picture from the Blue Sky Website is a pretty, light color blue, which would really bring out my eyes, but it reality it looks sort of muddy, and not as light as the picture. Am I being crazy and should just knit it or should figure out another option?

The pattern is a really cute scoop cardigan with a knot sleeve detail, also by Blue Sky Alpacas. Every time I pick it up to knit it, I finish a row and throw it down, annoyed by the muddy color. Blue Sky Alpaca is truly my favorite yarn company, and I have never been disappointed by a yarn. The royal yarn is decadent, just like it is described, I just wish the color was the same.

Purple Dress : Butterick 6582

Last week I posted about the unflattering dress I made, which I turned into a new creation, retro butterick pattern 6582. I kept the skirt from the vintage pattern and married it to the new/retro pattern, using view c. It has a faux front wrap and gathered shoulders. I had to move the zipper form the center back to the side to accommodate the skirt which already had an opening on the side.

The fabric is a silk and rayon crepe blend. It is very lightweight, and very mailable. It was a challenge to get it to stay the same shape after I cut it. The skirt was the perfect opportunity to use french seams, and make a clean look. The fabric is very sheer, so I interlined it with the same fabric. Interlining it with the same fabric, made it easier to sew, rather than trying to force the silk to fit another type of interlining fabric (which is what I tried to do with the first dress). I hemmed it using the serger rolled hem, which was very easy to do, and looks great for this flowy skirt.  

The belt is a great detail at the waist, and the matching belt is the perfect vintage accessory. This belt was custom made for me at Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts. I love this service so much! I'm wearing this dress with my layer cake crinoline, which so cute. The only problem with wearing a crinoline this fun, is the desire to lift up my skirt!

Simplicity 3473

This is what I have been working on for the past week or so. It is a vintage pattern, Simplicity 3473. I bought this beautiful purple silk and rayon blend crepe fabric from Mood to make a dress for my fiance's police academy graduation. I was very excited and originally intended to make the new pattern vogue 1044. I even ordered a custom belt and buttons from Pat's custom buttons and belts in Lodi, Ca. I made the muslin for v1044 and the pattern was way too small, and I was worried about the pleats exaggerating my bust.

So I threw that idea out the window and cut out the pieces for simplicity 3473. The crepe fabric  is very thin, and I decided to underline it with cotton. Well, sometimes projects just don't want to work out. The darts are weird, the fit is big, the neckline is too high, the top is boxy and unflattering. It is not nearly as cute as the picture. I still have some leftover purple, enough to make a different top for the skirt. Something with a little more drape will suit the fabric better.

My Mom let me borrow her dress for the graduation, but I still wore my belt with it! I was crying during most of the ceremony, I was so proud. Anyway, isn't my fiance cute?

Vintage Sewing Contest

I've entered my dress in pattern review's vintage sewing contest. Please take a minute and vote for me! The voting ends on the 25th.

In other news I'm working on finishing my next vintage sewing patternm Simplicity 3473. So far it's not as cute as the picture. I was planning on wearing it tonight, for my fiance's police academy graduation but, I just don't feel right in it. It's too big right now, and the darts aren't acting right, and I feel a little bit frumpy in it. I will finish it today and see how it looks. Anyone else ever have this problem?

Burda Style

Good morning everyone! My latest project simplicity 5707, made it to the front page featured projects on burdastyle.com. I'm very excited, please go check it out!

Vintage Simplicity 5707 again

I had a dinner to go to for my fiance, so you know what that means, sewing another dress. This one is my second version of Simplicity 5707, a pattern from 1964. (see my first version here). I used a hot pink silk dupioni, from my local fabric store. The dupioni had a shiny side and a more matte textured side, I chose the latter, for a more casual look.

I was planning on making version 3 which has sleeves, but as soon as I put the sleeves on, it looked like a bridesmaid dress. So off with the sleeves and went with just the simple sleeveless look.

The bodice is lined with leftover rayon bemberg, and I even added a waist stay. I used the quick lining method from threads.com. It looks very neat and professional. I wanted to wear the dress inside out.

I started cutting out this dress on Sunday night, thinking I had plenty of time to finish it for the event on Thursday. While I was cutting out the last piece of facing, I must have pulled my back, and could barely move. I couldn't sew again until Tuesday, and had to recruit my Mom's help to cut the bodice lining. Somehow I finished on Wednesday, and my sewing injury had healed. I think this dress was worth the pain! Ever have a sewing injury?

Giveaway winner

It's a bright sunny day here and time to announce the winner of the giveaway!

Using the random number generator, I pulled up the lucky number 13. The winner of the tailoring book and supplies is ... Vanessa from Sew Filled to the Brim!  Thank you to everyone that entered.Congrats Vanessa, and please email me your address and I will mail your prize to you A.S.A.P.