My first time wearing Orange …

I do like this fabric. But this is the first time I have had Orange in my closet. I guess it is okay for the warm, sunny summer months? It was just beautiful outside when I started taking photos of my finished Orange dress, until the wind picked up!

For my #sewtogetherforsummer Challenge I asked you which fabric I should use for my wrap dress, you all voted on it here. Since this Orange knit fabric was the runner up by a close margin, I thought I would use it next for my McCalls M5974, view A. A reader was curious to know how I liked this pattern… and I just want to tell you I LOVED it! It went together very easily. I might just make another, except next time I would use a more stable knit than I did this time. The Orange knit I used was in reality more suitable for activewear. But it survived, and so did I!

Seems like this pattern was well-loved on Patternreview too!

Continue reading →

I learned something …

… even though there really wasn’t much sewing this last week. There was a lot of reading and exercising, but not much sewing. I did learn something though!

I participated in the “Makers for Fashion Revolution” daily themes organized by @inthefolds on Instagram. The daily themes made me think seriously about Fashion Revolution Week (April 23 – 29th). Some of the daily themes were easy to interpret and display on my Instagram @nicedressthanksimadeit, for example: “I made my clothes”. Other daily themes took a lot of thought, for example: “Natural Fibres”. As soon as I saw that one, I realized that, although I know the names of many fabrics, I do not know how most are made or which ones are really “sustainable”!

I researched and found a couple of interesting articles on “1 Million Women” and “The Guardian“. Continue reading →

Waiting impatiently …

Perhaps you remember from last week that I asked for some help in choosing my fabric for the #sewtogetherforsummer Wrap Dress Challenge? Well I have my answer now, thank you Kind Readers! It was a pretty close race!

First choice, although it was close, was … the blue Chevron! (for lack or a better description)

Second choice by just 3 votes was … the orange Chevron!

So I have decided to sew both fabrics up … with few slight changes …

Continue reading →

What do you think?

We had a lovely Easter long weekend here – the weather was even acceptable! I hope you had a lovely Easter too.

I didn’t get much accomplished though, but I did manage to browse through some sewing blogs and IG feeds. I discovered @rocco.sienna @sewsarahsmith and @sewing_in_spain have organized #sewtogetherforsummer on IG again! I think this year I’m going to organize myself and my sewing and join in!

Last year the theme for #sewtogetherforsummer was Shirt dresses. I didn’t manage to sew up a Shirt dress, but I have been collecting Shirt dress patterns ever since.

I also managed to recently buy some lovely Shirt dress fabric, 3 meters of 100% rayon. I’m one step closer!

This year I am not missing #sewtogetherforsummer. If you would like to read more about #sewtogetherforsummer you can check out all the details here, but basically:

a. I have to sew a Wrap dress; and

b. by June 21st, I have post it on Instagram, tagging and following properly, of course.

Continue reading →

Stripes!

I’ve had this striped fabric in my stash since my visit to my sister a summer or two ago. It’s a heavier weight knit than what I usually have and I quite like it. The red stripe is quite bright too, which brings the grey, blue and black to life for me.

I had always planned to make this skirt, Vogue 1292, a “Today’s Fit” by Sandra Betzina, and I purchased this striped fabric for that sole purpose.

But you might already know from personal experience how easy it is to get led astray by fabrics and patterns. Continue reading →

Don’t need buttons for this one …

… and I found the perfect buttons for my last project. But before I show them to you, let me show you what I made with the remnants of my paisley Topaz knit. I had some of this lovely fabric – 85% polyester, 10% rayon, 5% spandex – left over, just enough. I think I have made a few of these McCalls tops before – one of the other ones I made is here.

Continue reading →

My Designer me-made Copy …

Happily, I have managed to get everything finished on time and was only waiting for some nice weather to take photos outside. This is not a photo of MY weather but the weather in Calgary, Alberta. I’m so happy we don’t have this kind of snow! We actually have had some pretty good weather here for photographs!

I wanted to copy this Designer Original, this kimono jacket from zasue.com and this dress, but I was hoping I could make it a skirt and top instead of a dress. I have been searching for the name of the dress designer but I must be cursed, whenever I look for it on Pinterest (where I found it) it only circles me back to my blog!

I chose these McCall’s patterns, M7200 and M7574. I love the sleeves on the top/dress pattern. I plan on using both of these patterns again!

How did my Designer me-made Copies turn out?

Continue reading →

… and it’s the last of it!

Last week I made a lovely dress out of my Tower print fabric, here. I purchased enough for a dress and a top so I was determined to get a dress and a top out of it, even if I made an error cutting out the directional print on one of the skirt pieces last week!

This is one of my favourite patterns for piecing tops together. I also have had success with the “By Hand London – Polly Top” and the “Teach Me Fashion – Two Tone Singlet“.

Continue reading →

… future’s so bright I gotta wear shades!

Seriously, it’s been a HOT summer. No rainfall the whole month of July, not a shower or drizzle. The temperatures are supposed to get up to 33 C (91.4 F) this week! It’s a good thing I took the opportunity to run outside today and take my blog photos – I think I will be hiding inside with the fan or an air conditioner the rest of the week!

Let me tell you about my “Tower Dress”. I love that name. I’ve named my dress after one of my favourite prints – called a “Tower” print, 92% polyester, 8% spandex. I love how the odd white leaf POPS out at you.

For my Tower Dress I used this McCall’s pattern, M6503, view B. It has fold back facings for a collar and a wrap bodice. I can’t wait to try some of the other bodice versions. The only pattern changes I made were to omit the side zipper (mine’s made from a knit fabric), lower the waistband about an inch (I’m not fond of high waisted garments), sew shut the wrap bodice (I find them to be a bother), and add piping (my new fetish!). I think this type of dress is available from lots of pattern makers, including the Indie pattern producers.

Continue reading →

Amber takes a break …

Well! We are all packed, ready to go on holidays! Amber, my Singer 421G, finished my swimsuit cover up a few days ago and I’ve packed her up for a little R&R!

I just had to show you the cool stitch that Amber can create, one of many I have yet to discover!

This fabric is a lovely “Dahlia Jacquard”. 51% polyester 46% cotton and 3% spandex. It feels soft and comfortable. I didn’t want the seams to be messy and unfinished on the inside, so I decided to finish them off by folding them to one side and sewing them down with a decorative stitch. I was happy with the results.

Continue reading →