Vogue 8972 for my Momma

It is super hard to find cute dresses out there people. That's how I got guilted into making this dress for my mother. Last September my parents had a wedding to go to. She was looking for a dress for over a month and couldn't find anything. We live 15 minutes from three different malls. She looked in Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, like everywhere. She was getting so desperate she was trying on $500 dresses just to see! There are no dresses out there. Ok, the dresses that are out there are either navy, which doesn't look good on her, looks like a Real Housewife dress or are totally frumpy. So finally I said "UGH, fine I guess I have to make you a dress".  Aren't I just the sweetest?

We choose this fabric Rayon asian inspired fabric from Fabricland in NJ. They even had the perfect crinkley silk chiffon print for a luxurious wrap to match. After searching in the pattern books for a while we finally settled on Vogue 8972. It is a simple shape, I like how it has the different cup sizes, so it would be easy to fit. 

I'm so used to fitting myself it's weird doing it to someone else. I cut out the C cup bodice, and made her a muslin. After a little tweaking, the dress came together quickly. It's fully lined in rayon bemberg, and all the seams are topstitched. I used my new edgestitch foot to get the seams perfect. 

The wrap is a yard and a half of fabric, and I just used the narrow hem foot all the way around to finish it. 

She had another wedding to go to this past weekend so I finally got a chance to take her picture. The fabric has a sheen to it so it seems lumpy in places, but I promise the fit is perfect. There are a lot of seams in this dress, and they intercept at the hips, so I had to go back and trim some more before she wore it again and everything lays flat now.  Well I think she looks very glamorous, and she feels good in it too! Don't get used to it Mom, it's back to selfish sewing for me!

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I'm a Mrs!

Photographer :Christopher Lane

I'm back! I got married over a month ago, and finally back in the swing of things. We had the most beautiful, perfect, and fun day. And now I can show you my dress! You may remember that I won my wedding gown from my favorite designer Amsale.

I was lucky enough to go to the New York showroom, and pick out exactly what I wanted. My dress is Amsale Cagney, from the Spring 2011 collection. It is a beautiful shimmery jacquard fabric, with a sweetheart neckline and a oversized broach and bow and the waist. I love it so much. My veil is also from Amsale and it is a cathedral length veil with white piping around the edges. It was very dramatic.

Doesn't my Mom look gorgeous? I loved her dress too!

If you follow me on twitter or instagram (erikamadeit) you may have seen some pictures from our honeymoon in Italy. I wore a lot of my handmade dresses. It was the best trip ever. We are now happy to be in our new home, and getting back to normal.

 

Our getaway car! Happened to match the girl's dresses.

 

 

My Brother and I

 

Thanks for looking! If you wanna see more you can check out my shutterfly album.

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I'm Getting Married Tomorrow!

This last couple of months has been a whirlwind of craziness. I haven't sewn anything in over 2 months! I'm sure you all understand because tomorrow is my wedding day! I'm a little nervous, and not really sure why. Anyway, I thought I would share a little sneak peek into some of the details from my big day!

The invitations are letterpress, and have a gorgeous hydrangea, I just love them. I LOVE the stationary store we used. Cambridge Street Papers in Madison, NJ were so helpful and had such an amazing selection, they made everything so much fun!

 

We also got this personalized stationary from Cambridge Street, so cute!

 

 

These are the welcome gifts we put together for the hotel guests. They are gable boxes, with adorable bows my Aunt helped with. The artwork with our faces is from a shop on etsy: lilimandrill. She made a custom stamp for us, and I used the proof she emailed me for a different things with the wedding. It really does look like us!

 

 

We used it on the favors too. They are little bottles of flavored olive oil. Meyer lemon or basil...yummm. They are from Carter and Cavero in Summit, NJ.

 

 

And finally for your viewing pleasure...MY SHOES!! Love them. They have been on display in the china cabinet for months, just so I could look at them everyday and not get them dirty.

 

Ok that's all I can show you for now. The day after the wedding we are off on our honeymoon, and I'll post something new in October. Wish me luck!

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Sew in Love Bridal Shower

A few weeks ago my Bridesmaids threw me a sewing themed bridal shower! It was a gorgerous day, with so many special details and I am such a lucky girl. I have posted a few of the pictures from the day, but to see the whole story check out my Maid of Honor's blog: Verbena Knits to see more about the day.  

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Sewing inspired Home

I'm getting married in September and gathering things for our future home. I've been searching for some casual dinnerware, that I like for a while now. It's been hard to find something that wasn't just plain white, or there is a trend to have birds or bugs on dinnerware (has anyone else noticed this?), which I'm not really into. But then I discovered that the English fabric brand Sanderson, produced dinnerware based on their fabric designs. What could be better?

 

Source: Sanderson Dandelion Clocks dinnerware

Dandelion Clocks Fabric

Of course I found out that my beloved dinnerware is only available in the UK, and then discovered it is being discontinued. I searched the internet and bought the last of it at Havens, they were great, and I got 30% off. As you can see, I was very excited to get it.

I also found some storage containers, featuring a ric rac design! Fishs Eddy in NYC, is making these ric rac containers, with some of the proceeds going to the Food Bank. I also think these would be great to stow sewing odds and ends. I love sewing and adding hints of my hobby into everyday items is an easy way to bring a smile to my face. Do you have any great sewing/home finds?

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My December

Sorry for the lapse in posts, it's been a crazy month! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Not only have I been knitting up a storm for some Christmas presents, but I also went wedding dress shopping! Remember a while back when I won the wedding dress from Amsale, well I finally went to go pick it out. It was such a memorable experience and I had such a fun time with my Mom and Maid of Honor. The dresses are amazing, and it was so fun to see actual gowns, inside and out. It was interesting to see the sewing techniques I use on "couture". There is a lot of horsehair braiding in the dresses. Anyway, I'm keeping my choice a surprise so you'll have to wait until the Fall to see!

 


My Mom and I outside of the Amsale Flagship Store



After all of that excitement I was ready to do some knitting for Christmas! I took my time on the first hat, for my brother, which ended in DISASTER! The "Weekend in the Country Hat"  by Mimi Hill, is a interesting hat. A plaid colorwork hat, was simple to make just a bit time consuming with the color changes. Somehow it came out too small and too long! The only person it would fit is the life size reindeer in the kitchen. Good thing he looks good in it.

The Strib hat was the perfect solution to my problem. It is quick, easy, free pattern, and manly. I made four of them using different worsted weight I had in my stash. They were a big hit!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

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Simplicity 5707

I finished my dress in time for our engagement party. Vintage Simplicity pattern 5707, made with a burgundy silk charmeuse and a detachable velvet flocked tulle overlay skirt. It's the perfect party dress, it felt so special.

I didn't have to change much to this pattern. It was already cut out, and whoever owned it before me had elongated the bodice, so I made the muslin with that alteration. All that needed to be done was take up the shoulders a bit and make the back smaller at the zipper! So easy.

I was very careful while sewing the silk, I used silk thread and held the fabric taught while sewing. The finished product doesn't have any dimples. The hardest part about sewing this dress was gathering the tulle for the skirt. I sewed through the velvet polka dots and the gathering stitches were stuck in the velvet and broke. So I had to make several rows of gathering stitches. 

The only thing I don't like about this dress is that the facings around the armhole won't stay down. After I put the dress on I have to tuck them in. I did understich them and tack them down at the seams. But over all I'm glad I made my dress for this occasion, I think it made it even more special.

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Engagement Photos

Hello Ladies!

I haven't sewn a thing this week... I've been taking posing for pictures. My best friend Lindsay (I wrote about her patterns here) took our engagement photos, she's the best. We used my Dad's 65' mustang, and I wore my gingham ceylon and my orange engagement dress. The pictures came out very cute and retro.

Wanna see?

I'm having an engagement party next month and I have to think of a cute way to display them. Any ideas?
More pictures here:
http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=lindsayisphotogallery&page=lindsayisphotogallery/pictures&album=84 Pin It Now!

Amsale Wedding Gown

I have fantastic news and I can't hold it in anymore! I won a wedding dress, but not just any wedding dress. AN AMSALE GOWN!! Amsale has always been my favorite wedding dress designer, all the dress are completely gorgeous. Anytime I've seen a gorgeous gown in a movie,a TV show or in print it has always been Amsale. 27 Dresses, When in Rome, Grey's Anatomy, The Hangover and Runaway Bride all featured beautiful Amsale dresses. America Ferrera just got married last weekend in a Christos by Amsale gown. I get to have one too!

We TV has a new wedding show Amsale Girls (Sunday nights at 10pm), which features the ladies that work in the Amsale flagship salon in NYC. It puts other wedding dress shows to shame. When they announced the show I was so excited to get an inside peek into these modern wedding dresses. Then I got engaged (yay!) and then they announced a dream dress giveaway, so I knew I had to enter. I started my twitter account and tweeted the message that popped up during the show, and the day after I got a message that I won. I still can't believe it! I get to go to the flagship salon on Madison ave and pick out a gown I love. My own personal couture!

Let's look at the dresses!


Blakely, Faille de Soie fabric (does anyone know what that means?)



Calista made of Windsor Duchess and Tulle.

Amelie made of silk faille and crystal buttons. I loved this dress since it was on an episode of My Fair Wedding, maybe two years ago.

Kendall dress made with silk radzmir, not sure what kind of silk that is either. So much to learn about fabric.

Aren't they gorgeous? All pictures are from the Amsale Website.

Be sure to watch it this Sunday July 3rd, and get a sneak peek into the Amsale Runway show, and hopefully some of the construction of the gowns. I'm not sure what I will choose, but I'm keeping my mind open, to see what looks best.





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