Houndstooth Dress - Moving On

Today I finally got the bodice on my houndstooth dress ALMOST done. I really should have pushed my self and finished the whole bodice but I was tired and I gave in to my laziness. I understitched the bodice and it doesnt say in the instructions but I think I need to stitch around the neckline. When I finish the bodice I'll just need to put the skirt together, attacth it to the bodice, put in the zipper and hem it. Seems like a lot but thats just because I am lazy. I wanted to finish before the end of this month but I dont see that happening. Hopefully before I go out of town on the 11th! I will post pictures soon! (I still need to post pictures of the BJ stuff too don't I? crap. I am behind this month.)

January 25 was my veganaversay (great word right?) so I went to this vegan restaurant and OMJ the food there was SO amazing! It was all vegan and organic. It felt very heathy but also tasted amazing! It was a bit expensive but I definently want to go back ASAP!


How has your guys' month been? overwhelming like mine?

Good News/Bad News

Bad News: The Betsey Johnson store in my town is closing down! I was so completely upset when I pulled up to the store and saw a big sign that said "STORE  CLOSING"

Good News: Becasue of the store closing the clothing is 80% off and the  purses are 50% off! So needless to say I got a few new BJ things :D Perhaps I'll upload photos later...

Bad News: I am moving so slowly with my dress. I finally finished the bodice lining today and I tried to start working on the shell lining but with this fabric the markings for the darts are so hard to see and I am getting so frustrated. If I can only get past the bodice then I think I can move a lot faster with the skirt. I was also consitering adding a layer of tulle in the skirt because I like really poofy skirts but I have no experience with tulle...anyone have any advice?

Good News: On Tuesday, it will be a complete year of me being a vegan! I don't think I have brought this up before but I am a vegan (for those of you that dont know what that is, it's a way of eating similar to vegetarianism but not only do I not eat meat but I also don't eat milk or eggs or anything from animals) For my celebration I plan on going to a vegan resturant for dinner and hand out vegan cookies to my class I am super excited!

My first client job!

Okay, maybe the title of this post was a little exaterative, I am just patching up some jeans for a friend. But! I am getting paid $5 a pair so thats a total of $10 dollars and I am quite proud!

I have always felt weird sewing for others because I feel like the expect some extravagant dress when in reality I am still a beginner! I am still working on perfecting even the simple things! (like darts :) ) I think also since I am a beginner I am still caught up in the awesomeness of making my own clothes, so I don't want to waste time sewing for others. Selfish? I don't think so.

Do you guys sew for others? Do you like it?

Darts

Am I the only one who darts like to piss off? Darts have always been a stuggle for me, trying to line them up perfectly. I was trying to work on them in my houndstooth dress and it wasn't working. It was the lining so it might have been because the fabric was slippery but it made me get up and walk away from the machine. Hopefully when I get back to it, it will work better.


On a happy note, isn't this Betsey Johnson dress adorable??

Houndstooth Dress - In the Making

Hey!

     Keeping up with my current obsession with houndstooth, I am making a houndstooth dress. I have made 2 muslins, cut out the fabric, and overcast the edges.

The lining I chose to go with it is a hot pink polyester silky satin, I think. I thought the classic hot pink/black/white color combination would look great with this dress



Overcasting this fabric was simpler than I thought it would be. It frayed A LOT, but thankfully the overcasting did its job without any difficulties.

I am using the Vogue 8615 pattern

I loved the vintagy feel of this dress! The V-shaped back was very elegant but its not too low that its unmodest because we all know... Modest is Hottest! :D

     This dress pattern has the A,B,C, and D cup options and for my first muslin I cut out a 10, grading to a 12 at the waist with the A cup. This was too small and just had many difficulties. So, for my second muslin, I decided to just give myself a lot of extra room and cut a 14 (still with the A cup) which fit perfectly fine. Perhaps a smidge big but, I do need room to breathe!

     Like I mentioned before I am taking a trip to the east coast in April and this is another outfit I am taking. One of the tours I am going on requires us to dress nicely and of course I wanted to make the dress! I followed the fabric choices of the drawing because I just thought the houndstooth really was perfect for this dress and it worked out perfectly! The fabric is thicker so it will keep me somewhat warm!

     I will keep updating about this project, I am super excited about it! Not to toot my own horn but I know it will look amazing in the end, but I am fearing my least favorite part of all sewing : THE HEM!!eek!!

Coach bags and Kate Spade boots

     Since I hope one day to have a successful career in fashion designing, I thought it best to familiarate myself with fashion designers. Bad idea. I had never had an urge to have designer clothing...until I knew what I was missing!!

     My favorite fashion designer is Betsey Johnson. I have been a fan of hers since after I saw some of  her abnormal wedding dresses on TV a few years ago. I love the girly punkiness of her clothing. Some of her things you really have to be brave to wear.
    I saw these Kate Spade Randi rain boots in a magazine I was reading and I thought they were the cutest boots ever.

Aren't they adorable?

The bow was really what sold me, its the perfect way to dress up anything

I'll be taking a trip to the East Coast, Washington D.C., New York, Virgina, etc., in April and I am expecting for it to be raining so if I am going to the fashion capitol of the world, what better shoes are there besides Converse :D? The price of $125 if quite a lot to pay but hopefully with the eBay discounts I can get them in time for my trip!

One thing I had never gotten into was Coach bags. I thought the "C" that covers all their bags was obnoxious and unnecessary. However, in the hopes of familiarizing myself, I looked at thier website and just as I thought everything was covered in the C EXCEPT this one line of bags, the Poppy line. And let me say, I really liked the Poppy line!

Not a obnoxious, I really like the flowers and the girliness of it.

So, what are your favorite designers?

Houndstooth Pullover

     I recently made this pullover sweatshirt or sweater, whatever you would like to call it. My current obsession is houndstooth and I saw this material at Jo Anns fabric a while ago and instantly knew what I wanted to make with it. In the photo, which I had to take with my phone so I apoligize for the crappy quality, the fabric looks more like an orangy/poopy pink and black but, its actually bright magentaish pink and black. I was so excited to make it, it was my first project that I got to make with my new sewing machine that was a Christmas gift.

     I used the pattern McCalls 4261 jacket A. The jacket was a zip-up hoodie so I obviously made some adjustments. First, I cut the front piece on the fold. I didn't, however, take out the extra fabric allowed to put the zipper in, thinking it would just be a little bit of extra room. Pullovers are suppoed to be roomy anyways. What I didn't realize was that would create a slightly drooping neckline. It looked like a small cowl. This was taken care of by simply bringing it in about an inch on the neckline. Speaking of the neckline, I lowered it to more of a boat neck, also. Then, I cut out 2 15in. by 2in rectangles and added it to the neckline to finish it. I also added 2 1/2 inches to the hem. I had made this jacket before and it was short so I knew I needed to add this.

     One thing that I had been wanting to add to my clothes are labels. As much as I wanted beautiful embroidered labels, I looked up where to buy them online and they were pretty expensive. I thought this was the perfect item to start adding labels to my clothes because I couldn't tell which side was the front and which side was the back! I just needed a quick label so I took an extra piece of knit fabric (I didn't want to have to fold the sides under so I chose a fabric that didn't fray) and cut a rectangle and wrote in black sharpie "KAYLA ROSE" it was the most sophisticated thing I could make :). I was quite proud of it.

 

So, what are your current fabric obsessions?

Welcome to my Blog

Dear Readers,

 Welcome to my blog, Sew Facetious! This is a blog about sewing, fashion and what ever else I feel important enough to talk about.

facetious (fuh-see-shus) adj.- treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor

Take on life with a facetious attitude along with me through life and sewing adventures