Blog Archives

50 years for a 60's dress!

6/28/2018

What a fun client and fun puzzle I have to share with you today! My new client, a delightful lady, got married in June 1968 and is revving up to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary! Congratulations to her and her husband! And since she still has the wedding dress, she'd like to wear it again for their anniversary party. However, her figure has changed a bit since she was wed; that's where I come in.

Notice: tiny waist, and lining cut slimmer than skirt

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Attitude Tees

6/25/2018

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an attitude tee

Well, Melania Trump has once again set off a storm with her wardrobe choices. However, her jacket with graffiti-like writing on it, unlike her stilettos, cannot be construed as innocent. See, shoes may be a message or may not. And if shoes do mean something, it's debatable what they mean. But English words written down are definitely a message, and the message is what the words say. The only thing to debate is the context.

Since the internet is full of people debating just that, I won't be redundant. Instead, I'll go a different direction, and talk about a related topic: "attitude tees".

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Still Sewing from Stash

6/21/2018

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Saints have been canonized for less forbearance and dedication than I have shown in keeping my New Years Resolution to sew from stash! Every day I see desirable fabric (and imagine projects I'd make with it), and every day I leave said fabric uncut at the store. At Fabric Depot, I put on blinders and get only the notions or interfacing I need. At the Mill End Store, I marshal myself like a woman and a Roy and remind myself that if I want any of their delicious wool, or printed cottons, or textured silks, I will simply have to whittle my stash down to size! At Goodwill, I don't even walk by the section next to curtains and linens that has their fabrics.

Fabric Merchant of Samarkand. The Library of Congress [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

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Glamor shots of a costume...

6/18/2018

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Photo by Alec Eagon

A few years ago, before I started blogging, I made this costume for a musician to use in a music video. The costume came out great! The music video got moved to a back burner and hasn't been finished yet. However, he recently donned the costume for a photoshoot, supplying me with some lovely close-up pics of the construction details! So today: pretty pictures but no sewing pictures.

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Crazy Yellow Skirt (2015-2016)

6/14/2018

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My preference for the color yellow was established early in my sewing adventures and soon led to a bag full of yellow scraps that I didn't want to throw away because of ill-considered thriftiness. (Not all thriftiness is ill-considered, of course, but I had three trash bags full of scraps in my closet before I realized I wasn't saving; I was hoarding!) So I fished out the scraps I would use for this project, and then gave the rest away on Freecycle to someone who did crazy quilting.

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1919 Dress - FINISHED!

6/11/2018

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Photo by NT Yang

For my 1919 dress, I began by draping an idea on my dress form, then draping a pattern on my friend. Next, I put a bunch of work into sewing the bodice. So far, so thoughtful and meticulous.

By contrast, the skirt is quickly applied, the waistband hurriedly top-stitched, and the finishing touches done at breakneck speed with my friend standing around in stockings and our ride waiting in the car!

Which is to say that I finish just in time for the murder mystery evening...

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Alteration: Sparkling Wedding Gown!

6/7/2018

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The task is three-fold:

take in the back zipper
hem the bottom to make it shorter and to remove the stained bits
do a 3-point French bustle.

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TUTORIAL - A French Bustle

6/4/2018

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I recently made a French bustle for a wedding dress. Let me show you how I made it, and show the bridesmaid(s) how to bustle it on the day of the wedding!

A bustle on a trained dress is a way of lifting the train off the floor so the wearer can dance or move in a crowd without disaster. The first dance is usually a ballroom dance, so the woman walks backward the whole time. She doesn't want to step on her train!

There are different types of bustles, and in-consistent nomenclature. The type of bustle your dress gets is partially determined by the type of skirt and train you have.

I'll be showing the French bustle, also called an under-bustle. It looks a bit like the robe a la polonaise and works well with dresses that have details at the top of the skirt. I like it especially when the train is full and long; when the train is not very full, the French bustle starts looking more like the bride went to the bathroom and caught her skirt in her undies...

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50 years for a 60's dress!

Attitude Tees

Still Sewing from Stash

Glamor shots of a costume...

Crazy Yellow Skirt (2015-2016)

1919 Dress - FINISHED!

Alteration: Sparkling Wedding Gown!

TUTORIAL - A French Bustle

Karen Roy

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