Vogue 1086

 

 

 

Pattern Description: Slightly flared dress, mid-knee, has princess seams, very loose-fitting bodice with yokes, forming cap sleeves, above waist midriff and left side zipper closure.

Pattern Sizing: Misses 8-24.  I made my usual size 12

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? yes. Although I generally just look at the photos as a guide.

 What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked everything about this dress, the gathers, yoke, the nipped in waist.

Fabric Used: this is a Vera Wang fabric from the recent Fabric.com clearance. It was a buck ninety eight a yard as was the lining!  It is a poly that has a really nice sheen and texture. I ended up going back and buying more the minute my order arrived because I liked it so much. I also lined this dress entirely with another VW poly in a tan color. Not sure how all this poly is going to feel, but it sure is pretty! I generally don't use a polyester, but it was so pretty, I couldn't resist.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: The only thing I did differently is lined the entire dress. I love having my dresses completely lined.  It makes for a nicer neckline- sew it RST and flip it out and edge stitch the lining down. Otherwise, this pattern wants you to use binding around the neck which is ok for a tee, but not a dress, IMHO. I also didn't do the topstitching. My machine with nice stitching is in for repairs, and the machine I am using doesn't have a really nice stitch, so I didn't want to take a chance with ruining it with crappy top stitching.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I would sew this again. It's a cute summer dress.

Conclusion:
I wish I had a wedding or shower to go to, this would be the perfect dress.

Three-Day Weekend and 80+ Degrees

When it's so beautiful outside it's hard for me to sit inside and sew!  I gotta get out.  Yesterday my sisters, their families, and I went for a hike up Haines Canyon.  Haines is in the San Gabriels and was devasted by the Station Fire.  At the mouth of Haines there's a debris basin which has trucks and excavators working around the clock to keep it clean and clear to protect the homes below.  We hike up Haines about 3 miles.  It's barren, black, and ash.  The rocks and everything burned, and what hadn't burned has been moved, and moved some more by the mud flows of the recent storms.  The road is filled with deep (2-3 feet) rain gulleys, the check dams (I suspect that were built during the 1930's by the Conservation Corp) are blown out, and boulders precariously hang over the trail.   But, under all this devastation is lots of things that had been hidden for years.  Bottles, fence posts, pottery, utensils, cans, toys, house foundations, an old army camp, tools, and Buffalo nickles just to name a few.  You walk up the trail looking down for things half buried, and looking up for what may have been a house. 

This collage shows my nephew sitting on a wall on what used to be a house.  The stove in the background.  I wonder who lived there?  We spotted the stove hanging over the edge above and hiked up to it and found the foundation of what used to be a fairly good size house, with a great view of the San Fernando Valley.    You can also see in the photo pictures of new growth coming out of the burned area, trail markings, the dams, and the view down the canyon.

 

I love having these mountains in my "front" yard and the Verdugo Mountains in my "back" yard.  It's another beautiful day, not sure I'll sit inside to sew, but I know I'll be back out exploring. 

 

Jeans are done!

I finished my jeans and am wearing them today.   I hope to have pictures of me wearing them up this weekend.  DH took a couple of photos this morning, but they didn't turn out well, so I need to redo them.

I have to tell you, and I've said this a zillion times, I really prefer the buttonholder on my cir. 1950 Singer 301 much much better than my 200X Pfaff.  It just does beautiful bottonholes.  

It just amazes me that this little buttonholer contraption can take a straight stitch only machine and make a beautifully zig zagged buttonhole and my computerized top of the line with over 350 stitches cannot.  

 

Look at it!  It's beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a 3 day weekend, and I'll be home, so you know what that means.... lots of sewing!  Happy President's Day!

 

 

Working my way through Jeans No. 4

I got the front and back pockets and fly zipper done on my jeans.

Here's the Jalie line drawing of the jeans.

 

I'm making a modified low rise version.  I lined the back pockets.  I saw this idea on another blog (can't remember which one) and thought I'd try it.  I didn't put any fancy stitching on the back pockets as I kinda like the way DKNY does her's... plain and simple.

 

 

 

Here's the pockets.  I used a rust colored Japanese cotton.  I like brown and blue together, and since this will sorta peak out, it will match the top stitching

 

 

 

I think I will add another row of top stitching on the yoke.  It looks  a bit too plain now that I see it photographed.

 

 

 

Here's the pockets inside front.   I used the edges with white which was the color already in the serger.   I was too lazy to change thread, and no one will see the inside anyway.

I interfaced where the zip goes and used Sandra Betzina's method to install it.   http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3831/video-an-easy-flat-fly-front-zipper

Trudy at Hot Patterns has another similar method located here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBzdoV2jT0   I think I will try this method on jeans no. 5 (can you really have too many pair of jeans).

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also think I will add another row of topstitching on the zipper and the pockets.   

Tonite... maybe I'll get them finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Projects in the "Q"

I have a couple of things that I've cut out and are ready for sewing....

First up is another pair of Jalie jeans.

 This will be my 4th pair.  First pair, too small and too low; second pair, too big; third pair, too high... fourth pair... hopefully - just right.

Here's the jeans ready to be cut

I wasn't initially happy with Jalie's choice of waistband.  It is just a strip cut on the bias.  I found the bias too stretchy and it gapped in the back.  The second pair, I cut it on the grain, but it was still too straight and gapped, for the third, I used Hot Patterns' jeans waistband which is 4 parts, but that was too curvy.   I think this version will have some sort of combination of the two.  The pockets and waistband facing will be made from a cotton.  I also think I am going to line the back pockets on this version.  I noticed that some of the more expensive RTW jeans have their back pockets lined.

 

 

 

This dress is cut and ready to sew

 

using Vera Wang fabric recently purchased from Fabric.com. 

 

 

I also have this jacket ready to cut

 

using another Vera Wang fabric: Techno Satin in Black

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, and I also have a sun dress cut and ready for sewing.  It's a Burda.

 

I'm using some cotton voile in 3 different, but coordinating prints.  We are going to Hawaii next month and I'll need a sun dress or 2!

 

 

It's raining again today, say a prayer for the people that live in my area who recently lost their homes in the mudslides.  I hope this rain isn't so intense! I usually enjoy the rain as it makes for a nice "sew day", but not lately!