sewing saturday no. 8.. a 1950's style swiss dot dress from start to finish

Hey, I sewed my second dress!

As I told you guys last week, I used an old 1950's Simplicity pattern with a full skirt and no sleeves. I felt like moving from the 60's jumper I finished last week to this dress was a good way to go.. most of the steps were the same, but some things were a bit more complicated this time around. I also learned how to do armhole facing, skirt gathering, and different kinds of darts.

First, I cut the pattern pieces and marked them.

Once the pieces were marked with seam allowances and other markings, I started sewing (for those of you who wanted to know what kind of sewing machine I use, it's a Brother CE 4000 and I highly recommend it!). The bodice had eight darts in all, including two neck darts in the back. Once I finished sewing the darts, I attached the two bodice back pieces to the front bodice piece at the shoulders, then attached the neck facing and armhole facings. I sewed the side seams to finish.

Once the bodice was done, I sewed the skirt pieces together and got to work on gathering the top of the skirt. By the way.. thanks for all of your suggestions and links to skirt gathering tutorials! With your help, I figured it out. I did two rows of stitching like you guys said and pulled the bottom threads, pushing the fabric along the threads. Once the skirt was gathered evenly, I pinned the bodice and skirt together, right sides facing one another, and sewed them. Then, I attached the zipper.

Here's the finished product!

I actually have a couple of things to do to the dress before I can wear it to the wedding tomorrow afternoon. I have to cut the skirt shorter and finish the hem at the bottom. Also, I want to add some sort of detail at the collar. Eventually, I want to line the dress, but not before tomorrow.

And I'm already planning my next Sewing Saturday. It will be a much smaller project than the last two! I'm excited to be able to start and finish something within just a couple hours, maybe less.

Last note.. I'm updating my blog roll on the right hand side of my page. If you have a blog and would like to share the URL on my site, leave a comment with your blog URL on this post and let me know that you'd like to share it!

It's nearly 3 in the morning and I am beat. Apparently watching South Park and sewing dresses takes it out of you? Bedtime.

lula snapshots and a dotted swiss sewing project

It's that time again.. Issue 10 of Lula is out! I picked it up earlier in the week when Neil and I were having a Borders date. Here are some snapshots of a few of my favorite things.

Issue 10 is beautiful as always, filled with polka dots, bow ties, and plenty of hair inspiration. A highlight is its birthday spread. Lula just turned 5 this year, and there's a lovely celebration shoot complete with party dresses and vintage inspired swimsuits.

When we hit up Borders, I also read a bit of the latest issue of Nylon as well as Elle Magazine's Spring/Summer 2010 Collections issue. I'm not a big collection or runway person.. they can get overwhelming. Smaller designers and collections, I tend to like more.

But I gave Elle a shot and read through it to see if anything caught my interest. The layout was great. Ralph Lauren S/S 2010 surprisingly had a lot I was into.. mismatched chambray and denim, liberty print, 1920's glamorous flapper meets tailored golfer looks. Overalls and sheer baby blue tops. Mostly, the prairie style look that's hard to avoid right now and even harder to dislike.

There were interviews with interesting people liking interesting things.. specifically for me, pastels and bloomers. I'm still on a furious search for a bloomer sewing pattern that's high waisted and not too long so I can make some out of my tan velvet fabric I bought recently.

Nylon was sort of a bust. Not much I was into, and words like "fierce" (when used to describe something cool, not used to describe a lion) and "Lady Gaga" (self explanatory) make me turn the page pretty fast. But there were some good parts to the issue - such as its homage to white lace, which I still can't get enough of, and some pretty underwire gingham swimsuits (also in Lula) that immediately became my ideal suit to compare all future bathing suits to this summer.

I wanted to share my future sewing project with you guys, due to start soon.. I bought this lovely pattern from Myra Melinda, a fun Etsy shop filled with vintage greats (free shipping on sewing patterns!). It's a 1950's dress pattern with a full skirt and three variations. I'll be making the sleeveless version (can't decide if I want to make the detachable collar or not) in the pink dotted swiss fabric for a spring wedding coming up. The catch? The wedding is a week from Sunday. If I'm going to be making this in time, I'll have to work quickly.

And I have to announce this because I can't wait much longer.. I have finished my handmade jumper! I ironed it out today and it's ready to be worn. I'll be posting plenty of pictures on Saturday.

Mule Days, a country festival in Columbia, Tennessee, is happening tomorrow, so Neil and I are going to meet up with my mom and enjoy some flea market shopping, carnival food, and fun (and of course cheesy) fair events. I've decided to wear the jumper to the festival and take some photos there! There might even be a clogging dance.. although I don't exactly know what that is. We'll find out!