The Maxi Dress Sew-Along-My Dress (Simplicity 7484)

August 15, 2016August 16, 2016 by Ashley ♥ 11 Comments

I'm still trying to figure out photos, hush. — I’m still trying to figure out photos, hush.

How are your maxis coming? I wrapped mine up yesterday, and I have to say, I fucking love this dress. I’d say it’s up there in my top 5 favorite makes. I was really unsure about a vintage pattern, as I’ve never sewn one, but I’m really very happy with the results. It feels a bit Mistress of the Dark glam, you know? Right up my alley!

And who doesn't love a backless dress? — And who doesn’t love a backless dress?

The fabric is a black linen (possibly a linen blend, I can’t remember which one I grabbed) from Joann’s, and the pattern is Simplicity 7484, circa 1976. When I was sewing it up, I was worried that the linen would be too heavy, a maxi length wrap skirt does use a lot of fabric, but I think it came out well. It’s not fluttery, but I love the structure it gives. The pattern includes pockets, which is always a win in my book. The pattern also includes a ruffle at the hem, which I omitted. I’m just not a ruffle girl. To compensate, I did add 6 inches to the bottom of the skirt.

This is why I don't smile in pictures, folks. — This is why I don’t smile in pictures, folks.

It was a bit strange, sewing up a backless dress. It twisted my brain up a bit, but I just went slow and worked through it, I think it came out fine. The pattern calls for elastic along the side back of the bodice, which I totally thought was the front. Derp. Makes more sense along the back, right? There’s only one princess seam on the bodice, and I do think I could stand to take that in just a bit. Wrapping tight does help, but nevertheless, it needs fixing.

Blurry yet sassy pose. The humidity struggle is real, kids. The foggy lens are a problem. — Blurry yet sassy pose. The humidity struggle is real, kids. Foggy lens are a problem.

Speaking of wrapping, I had some problems there. This is the fourth wrap dress I’ve made, the others being here, here, and here. So far, all of them have featured a small slit in on side seam, to slide the tie band through. With this pattern, that slit is located on the waistband. I don’t know if I did something wrong here or if it was the pattern, but this slit was WAY too narrow. It took some widening on my part to get the tie band through. It’s a minor thing, but frustrating and worth mentioning anyway. Overall, though, it’s a great pattern. You should make this dress. As far as vintage patterns go, it’s pretty affordable and easy to find. No excuses!

Have you finished your #maxisewalong2016 dress yet? The deadline is fast approaching! I can’t wait to see all your makes. To enter, make sure you either: join the Maxi Sew-Along Group, send me or Amy an email, or tag your photos on social media using the #maxisewalong2016 hashtag. Happy sewing! 🙂

Fail February-A Harry Potter dress (Simplicity 1418)

February 22, 2016 by Ashley ♥ 4 Comments

Just casually reading, no big deal... — Just casually reading, no big deal…

You know how sometimes you just get SO EXCITED to work on a project that you completely ignore all the warning signs? That’s what happened here. When I stumbled upon some Harry Potter fabric at Joann’s in December, I was crazy stoked. I have been looking for this stuff for years, so it was a big deal folks. As soon as I got home, I grabbed a pattern that I thought would work and immediately started.

You know you're excited about something when you take cart pictures. — You know you’re excited about something when you take cart pictures.

The pattern I grabbed was Simplicity 1418, and I’ll be honest, I knew it was the wrong size when I cut it. Based on my bust alone, I should have been between a 14-16, the largest size I has was a 12. But hey, the big 4 always run a bit too big, right!? I could grade the seams and it would totally be okay, I said to myself. LIES!!! Who cares that the fabric is crummy quilting cotton, with absolutely no give. This would magically work.

This dress is WAY too tight. I’m an hourglass shape, but I somehow managed to make my bust look minuscule here. The shoulder pleats on the dress are truly lovely, but this ill-fitted one sits horribly and causes my shoulders to look extra wide. I’m sure it doesn’t help that I decided to forgo facings and fully lined the entire bodice, sleeves included.

At least the cute back detail is kind of almost okay?

Notice how I said I started this dress in December? Well, that’s when I finished it. Once I realized the travesty I’d created, I threw it in the corner and pouted for two months. Enter Sew Red-y’s Fail February. What a fun idea! If Rachel can show her fails, why couldn’t I? I’m still super stoked on the fabric, and hey, and least the length is right? Looking at it in a positive light, it’s a reminder of why it’s important to sew slowly. This dress could have been saved if I’d used my brain and grabbed a pattern that fits, maybe even a TNT. I should have tried it on more often during construction, I should have made a fucking muslin. All ridiculous beginner errors. But hey, it’s still a Harry Potter dress, and I did wear it (semi-comfortably) for an entire day. Plus, I’m losing weight, so who knows, it could fit in the coming months. Whatever happens, it’s just clothes, and at least I can get a laugh out of it. Happy sewing! 🙂

Me-Made-May’15 Weeks 1 & 2

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 by Ashley ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

So I must confess: I only wore one me-made item the first week of May 🙁 In my defense, that week was only two days long, though…

Week one also happened to be half priced frap week!

Week one I opted for the lace tank from the Back With a Peplum post. At work, I cover up my half sleeves, so…also features a rtw cardigan. You’ll notice, I finally got around to finishing the neckline and arms with bias tape. Also, I have spectacles now! Though I don’t really need to wear them all the time, you’ll be seeing them often, as I’ve always wanted glasses.

For week two, I opted to wear two versions of McCall’s M6754, my go-to pattern. Expect to see more of these in the future, and probably a blog post about them 😉

On the way to work, no cardigan. No spectacles, because check out that eyeliner. — On the way to work, no cardigan. No spectacles, but so much makeup.

Bathroom selfie and and the return of the spectacles.

The hardest part for me has been getting decent photos, obviously! My apologies for the low grade cell phone photography, I need to recruit someone to take photos for me. I hope you’re all having as much fun with this as I am! Happy sewing 🙂

Throwback to the “Va Va Voom” Dress

April 9, 2015April 21, 2015 by Ashley ♥ 6 Comments

As you can tell by my limited amount on posts, I haven’t been blogging for very long! Since I’m busy this week doing lots and lots of mending, I thought I’d share one of my favorite pre-blog makes.

"Sewn by Ashley: a history of bad posing" — “Sewn by Ashley: a history of bad posing”

I love this dress. I mean really love. I’d sewn this dress with Amy from That’s Sew Amy. From cutting the fabric to finishing the dress, we got both of our dresses done in one day!! Now that’s a win! Not to mention, we were sewing these from the Frankenpattern contest., so there was a decent bit of “winging it”. I think sewing with others is just so much easier, don’t you? I find fitting and working out pattern issues are much less problematic!

So my version of this dress was a mixture of Simplicity 1426 and Gertie’s Pencil Skirt. To combine the two, I made the pencil skirt but omitted the waistband, and just added to the width of the bottom band for the top. Then I added a center back zipper to hold it all together. Easy peasy. I did size down the top, if you follow the pattern guides, I’ve found the top to be too loose not at all like the pattern cover.

I made this one out of a patterned stretch twill, which was fantastic to work with, and black gabardine, which I had purchased by accident. The gabardine was just meh to work with. This being the first time I’ve used it, though, it may have just been the wrong material for this project. Still turned out what I think is fabulous dress, which I am still trying to find a reason to wear!

Back with a peplum

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 by Ashley ♥ 12 Comments

Holy hiatus!!!!! My apologies for my absence, life has been very crazy lately. But we’re settling back into normalcy now, and spring is here (aka sewing season). It doesn’t hurt that my mentor started a sewing bloggers group on Facebook this week,either. So…about the sewing. I’m in love with the Simplicity 1425. I stretched it out over three days of lazy sewing, but it could easily have been completed in one day. That’s including all the alterations I made. I will absolutely being sewing this one again.

Speaking of the some alterations, let’s get down to that. I cut the lace for view E, and cut the black lining for view B. To be blunt, I just love a bit of cleavage. For the pleats, I decided to sew the lace and black cotton together, so as to not have an overly poofy peplum (almost like an underlining). NOW, Simplicity calls for three buttons to hold this bad boy together. THREE! Fuck that noise, I have no faith in buttons to keep me from being naked in public. Based on what I saw seemingly every other sewist do, I decided to do an exposed separating zipper in the back. This baby is secure. The neckline is just serged, and will be eventually treated with bias tape. My lace has a scalloped edge, so I left that as is. I feel like all this black needs that touch of femininity, ya know?

Seriously, what am I supposed to do with my hands?

Buying fabric in my area is a sad, sad endeavor. It’s basically Joann’s or Hancock. Also, I’m just absurdly cheap. I’m telling you this to justify making this top from the cheapest quilting cotton in my stash, and lace leftover from a previous project. Despite all of that, I like the way this top came out. Admittedly, I need to do some fitting here. There’s puckering in the back needs love, and the waist needs to be a bit more fitted. Give this pattern a go, I’m sure you’ll love it!

The floral top/sewing from the stash

January 10, 2015April 21, 2015 by Ashley ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It's dark in my house — It’s dark in my house

For January, I’ve decided to try to curb my fabric and pattern hoarding by sewing ONLY from my stash. We’ll see if I make it!!

I had actually made this top for my momma for Christmas, in a silver satin. Fun fact, my mom is nearly impossible to photograph. There will never be a picture of her in that garment, all i have are pictures of patterning!

HOWEVER, I liked it, so…fuck it I’ll make one for myself!! The pattern is actually Simplicity 1280. But I did make some edits. For starters, the fit was just much, much to loose for my liking, so I actually cut an extra small instead of a medium. I also slimmed down the sleeves a bit, and tapered them instead of doing a bell sleeve. I intended to add the elastic, but honestly, I like it without. I added 3 inches to the sleeves again, as I usually do. For the neck binding, I’m fairly certain you just make your bias tape, which was kinda fun. The pattern also instructs you to sew the front sections together, on the diagonal edges. I skipped that bit, because I like a bit of cleavage 😉

The fabric is an old clearance (chablis?) fabric from Fabric.com. I had used it previously on a dress, with a circle skirt.

I think I purchased around four yards originally, so this top truly doesn’t take a lot of fabric! The pattern also comes with a ton of variations, including pants/tights, I honestly think it’s worth the buy. It’s also a super quick sew! Happy sewing!!!