Weekly Dress project - Week #10 - tribute to Jack Skellington

(I'm actually on week 12... little behind on the blogging! oops. We'll just pretend that I typed this two weeks ago and catch up from there)

Dress #10 was a custom request from a friend. She wanted to have a fun dress to wear to Disney that was a Jack Skellington theme.

We went with Simplicity 2062 but didn't do the bubble skirt thing and changed it to a simpler, more modest knee-length gathered skirt instead. I wasn't sure about fit, so instead of making a muslin, I dug into my fabric stash and just made the dress exactly as the pattern said (except for the skirt modification)and had her try on the dress to see what needed to be changed. (that dress is for sale here)

Turns out it was perfect except that we added a teeny-tiny small dart at the top of the bust so that it didn't gape open at her cleavage. I think this pattern was meant to be worn super tight, low and with a push up bra. My friend wasn't going for the sexy hooker Halloween costume look, just something fun. The main issue that we had was with the freakin' fabric! After scouring the internet and local stores to find a black with white pinstripes (why is this not available? pin stripes are awesome!), we ordered some shirting fabric that arrived only 1 day before she was to leave town and it wasn't black like it was supposed to be, but gray! What do we do? I run out and buy some awesome suiting fabric in solid black, quickly make the dress and then she pin striped it herself with paint! Luckily she is a henna artist and has mad skills, so she put the paint into her henna cone and striped her own dress. All the night before she left for Disney.

As you can see.... we got it done and it was a huge success! Fit was perfect and I didn't have any trouble with the pattern whatsoever.  In fact, the pattern was so fun and quick, that I decided to make a third!  I've been hoarding this Halloween print since last year and thought it would be fun.

(This dress is for sale here)

Weekly Dress Project - week 3 - Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 1802

Week 3 is complete and I'm even more inspired than I was on week 1. I am trilled with the result of this dress.

I have made a ton of things over the years and I think this may just be my best work ever. Typical me would have made this dress without the piping because piping is tedious work. You have to make sure everything lines up perfectly or else your lines come out squigly and on the finished product, it draws the eye right to your mistakes.

For the piping, the pattern gave an option of using regular packaged piping or making your own "flat" piping. It called for 4 packages of piping and I am a cheapskate, so I went with the DIY version. At the fabric store, I couldn't find a color combo that I liked so I decided that I would use the same dress fabric for the piping. This dress called for a 3 3/4 yards of fabric and 7/8 yards of lining with another 1 1/2 yard for the piping. Altogether, the fabric, thread and zipper (on sale and using a coupon) came out to $36.00.

As mentioned before... cheapskate over here! I pretty much choked about spending that much on the supplies for just one dress. The next day I had a girlfriend over and we were talking about dresses and what we were going to wear to the reunion and she showed me a dress online that she was considering for the event. After seeing the almost two hundred dollar price tag on her dress, I don't feel so bad about my less than forty dollar fabric expense. I went with a sateen in a soft avocado green. I purposefully looked for green because I realized the other day that I don't have any green in my wardrobe whatsoever and it would look great with the shoes I want to wear.

Before cutting I shortened the dress by 4" and changed my mind about using the dress fabric for the piping and ended up with a full two yards of fabric left over.

Hooray, enough for another (simpler) future dress!

I took my time with the piping. Measuring and pinning and in some places, basting carefully before putting in stitches and successfully completed ALL of the piping without having to pick out any stitches. I'm so proud of myself.

At the point where I attached the very top yolk piece on the bodice, I held it up to myself and realized that it was not going to fit right. The waist was going to sit way up higher than my actual waist so I cut out a new yolk piece but this time added one inch in length at the shoulder. Good thing I had all that extra fabric! I cut a new yolk piece for the back too but for the lining pieces, just added a 1" strip of fabric. This was a little tricky, but I went slow and measured out seam allowances and everything and it was a success. Making this adjustment made the armpit hole an inch larger too. This wasn't something I thought about when I did it, but it turned out to be a happy accident too because I can't stand to have things tight in my armpits and I don't think it looks like the arm holes are too big.

At this try-on stage I was super excited. Here I could tell that everything was going to fit right. It was hard to continue to go slow and precise because I was so excited about finally making a perfect fitting dress. I had changed my mind about the piping and used the fabric that I had purchased for the lining as piping instead and used the regular dress fabric as lining so this dress looks pretty sweet on the inside too.

For now, I'm just going to post this poor-lighting mannequin pic of the dress and later, I'll update with pictures from my reunion because finally this is the one.

Oh, and by the way... I found a similar, less detailed version of this dress on the designer's website for $395, so yeah, $36 for fabric isn't so bad.

Next week, Lissette Simplicity 1419 with Avengers fabric.

Extra Super Cheap Cross Stitch Pattern for fans of the X-files

Lately I've become obsessed with Cross Stitching.  I used to cross stitch all the time when I was a kid but pretty much abandoned it as I grew up mainly because I hated the design options.  I hate the country style stuff and teddy bears and although I like flowers, hate floral prints and most cross stitching patterns fit into these categories.
I made this one in college...

I have no idea what sparked me to try it, but I decided that I'd try my hand at making my own cross stitch patterns so I could stitch something I actually like.  The first one came out great and I've gone nuts!  I've drafted up about a dozen patterns and have so many ideas for more.  I've only had time to stitch one of them so far and I'm about 3/4 of the way through a second one.  Here is the first (excuse the fact that it is wrinkly and isn't framed yet) ..........

I don't have a bunch of finished projects to show, but that has never stopped me from sharing!  So here are a few patterns that I have created so far....

I've posted a few up for sale on eBay, but I am so excited to share these that I'm offering up my first design for crazy super cheap. Only a buck.  This one...

If you liked the X-files or UFOs, and you like to cross stitch and you have a dollar, click the button below.  The finished design will be just under 5"x7" if you use 14 count aida cloth.  It uses 15 colors and the DMC color chart is included with the pattern.

7/10/14 UPDATE:  I have removed the offer for the cheap pattern.  I gave out way more of these at a buck than I ever intended because I kept forgetting to come back and shut this post down.   Sorry.... but the deal is over so if you'd like to purchase a pattern, they are still pretty cheap at only $4.99  in my Etsy store.