more [old] projects

all of my time and energy these days has been channeled into the house, so i haven’t been sewing hardly at all. which is not to say that i don’t want to – just that i feel guilty devoting time to such a hobby (unless it is house-related). so here are some old projects that i really enjoyed making and wearing:

this dress is the same see & sew pattern as this one, only i decided to face the armscyes and neckline. at the time, the idea was to preserve the stretch characteristic of the fabric, because i thought the dress would be more comfortable with a bit of extra give across the bust. i’m not sure where i was going with that, because it’s not an uncomfortable pattern by any stretch of the imagination. (the pattern calls for lining the bodice but not the skirt – the easter dress is fully lined, though.) next time i will trust the experts and my mother and just line the bodice even if i think it ought to be faced. it just makes a nicer garment and i hate facings anyways. i think this is a really fun print (world monuments like the coliseum, eiffel tower, leaning tower of pisa, et cetera, if you can’t tell - along with dapper men and stylish ladies walking poodles) and i like how the piping turned out:



this dress is an old butterick pattern (# 4042) that i tweaked ever so slightly. i just love shift dresses. they are so insanely comfortable and so easy to make. one view of this shift had a cute decorative little ribbon at the "waist," so I decided to put a little bit of elastic in to accent the narrowest part of my waist (thank you, stacy and clinton). however the pattern did not account for that and i neglected to alter the pattern, so the narrower "waist" created by the elastic made a bit of a pooch in the fabric, unflatteringly right where my tummy is. i think waist darts could alleviate this problem on a future dress, but at the moment i'm not sure how to put them in and keep the fullness at the bust without cutting the front piece into two and joining them at that waist seam. i still really really like this dress, and i love the gathered ribbon trim, and with the batiste lining it is nice and cool:



this is an old butterick pattern also, # 4393. it was supposed to zip down the front but i like buttons instead, and i thought the print was too summery for full-length sleeves. i also took off the nehru collar in favor of the gathered ribbon trim:



eventually there will also be a circle skirt in that antique rose print – i have it cut out and ready to go except for the lining. it’s part of the same butterick pattern as the jacket, which is also this fun tropical skirt. i love circle skirts – they’re universally flattering (imho) and super-easy to make. two seams, a zipper, and a waistband facing:



i love this bias skirt too (simplicity # 4881) which again i think is (almost) universally flattering. also super-easy – two seams and elastic at the waist. i was initially not sure about the plaid (i thought it was kind of an odd color combination) but it has really grown on me. it feels kind of retro to me:



here is one of my favorite dresses ever, vintage vogue # 2902. in the future i would take out some of the fullness in the skirt, because it is very full – a complete circle, i think, and maybe then some (in contrast to the circle skirt above which is only about ¾ of a circle):