Made by me: Dresses for Megan

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Becky

Steve’s cousin Megan recently commissioned me to make her not one, but two dresses (!). Originally she wanted one for a charity event, (so fancier) and then she thought maybe one for work would be better. I made two based on photo inspirations she sent me and (luckily) she ended up liking both. Since she lives in Vegas, I was creating these dresses based on the measurements she had taken of herself, and it made me really nervous to not have her in front of me while going through the process of making them. It was my second project after being back from NYC…and I was terrified to be perfectly honest. But thankfully we were able to meet up in Seattle a few weeks ago for a final fitting and wah-lah! Two new dresses were completed.

These are photos she sent me of dresses she likes. (The girl has great taste).

One of the muslin versions I created after finalizing the pattern.

The beginning stages of the top portion of the dress.

My first time using boning. It's not as scary as one would think.

Complete except for the zipper and the hem.

Every dress should have pockets.

Boy she's cute.

The second dress is a more casual version of the dress above. It still has pockets, but it got shorter and wool was thrown into the mix. This one was also based on photos Megan sent me.

The wool bodice.

Complete except for the zipper and the hem. (I know, I really need a dress form.)

Megan, you're my hero.

Megan was kind enough to take and send photos of her wearing the dresses. Thanks Megan!

Made by me: Grey silk blouse

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Becky

I made this blouse last year to be worn down the runway at Seattle Fashion Week. I thought about putting in my ‘sample sale‘ section on Etsy…but the longer I looked at it, the more I was bothered by it’s imperfections. So instead I sold it to Buffalo Exchange in Portland for a whopping $15. (Divided by the time spent means I made about negative 10 cents an hour.)

The rest of the ensemble:

Jacket: Made by me
Belt: Gap
Jeans: Forever 21
Shoes: Target
Earrings: Made by me

Made by me: A capelet for fall

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Becky

I’m going to go out on limb here and say this is one of my all time favorite pieces. If I just went too far, if that was too conceited, I’m sorry – I retract the statement. But really. It’s adorable, functional, it’s made of wool and it has pockets. Perfection, I say.

The rest of my outfit:

Pants: J.Crew
Shirt: Banana Republic
Boots: Borrowed
Earrings: Fremont Farmer’s Market

Click here to see this capelet on my Etsy page!

Fun fact: In these photos, all of my hair (minus my bangs) is being held up by one bobby pin. Whether you’re impressed or horrified by that is up to you.

Made by me: Plaid skirt

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Becky

If you read my other blog, you may remember this skirt from a post last week. I needed something to wear the day before an event so I decided rather than spend a bunch of money, I would just make a very simple skirt. If you’re interested, all you need is a piece of 1.5″-2″ wide elastic cut to the same size as your waist, fabric (the width should be about twice the circumference of your waist and as long or as short as you’d like), scrap fabric for the pocket bags and thread. To get the shape of the pocket bags I just drew around my hand as if they were in a pocket:

I used a zig-zag stitch to attach the fabric to the elastic so that there would be some stretch allowance.

I put the pockets in about 4″ from the top of the skirt (that measurement is before the elastic is added).

Made by me: A coat for Katie

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Becky

This coat was so fun to make. It’s basically a longer version of my high collared jacket, but it has a belt, a back flap and patch pockets on the front. Plus it’s made out of an ivory colored wool. Beautiful, but the idea of wearing such a light colored coat terrifies me enough that I just never work with it. Since Katie is much more responsible and lady-like than I am, I’m sure her coat will indeed remain ivory.

Thank you so much Katie!

Made by me: A tiny Blazers dress!

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Becky

The theme for this week is apparently miniature clothes for small children. It wasn’t planned that way, but I have definitely been enjoying it. They’re just so tiny and fun to make!
Anyway. My friend Claire asked me if I would make a Trail Blazers dress for her adorable daughter Addie. She requested a pillow case dress, and once I did a google image search for what that was, I whipped this baby up. (Because I don’t regularly hang out with small children I was unaware that the thing to do for little girls is to cut the top off of a pillow case, add elastic or ribbon to it, and bada bing bada boom - it’s a dress. Genius, I say. However, I didn’t use an actual pillow case for mine because I happened to have most of the necessary fabric.) I researched the measurements on the interenets for a 12-18 month old baby…and I’m pretty sure I ended up making this dress way too big anyway. But I folded the hem up an extra 2″ and am hoping that little Addie will be able to wear it now and of course when she grows into it as well. (I’m also hoping to score a picture of Addie wearing it. Believe me when I say that she’s the cutest baby ever. )

All supplies purchased at Joann Fabrics.

DIY: Repair that hole

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Becky

Does anyone else end up with mysterious little holes in their garments? Last year I noticed that I had a ton of shirts with little holes at the waist line. After many a sleepless night trying to figure out what the heck was going on, I finally realized that they were from leaning against the pattern making tables at school. My belt + high table = holes in knit shirts. But I also end up with other legitimately inexplicable holes. For example, the hole in the white shirt in the photo below. I can deduce that maybe it’s from me pulling on my sleeves when I get nervous or awkward. But is that even a thing I do? I don’t know. The hole in the black dress in the photo below is from when I was opening the box it was in and cut into it with my scissors on accident. That was the only fatality from my move across the country though, so I guess it could have been a lot worse.

I decided to document how I fixed these two particular holes because in my opinion, it’s the easiest way to do it.

Visual: The holes.

Step 1: Place sticky side of fusible interfacing to wrong side of garment. Make sure the piece of interfacing is big enough to cover the hole. Iron to the garment following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Step two: Sew the hole closed. I used my sewing machine to create a zig-zag stitch, but hand sewing would work just as well. Make sure to use small, neat stitches.

They’re not *perfect*, but it’s way better than throwing a garment away, right?

Made by me: Size large wool herringbone jacket

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Becky

I finally finished the size large pattern for the high-collared jacket! Hallelujah.

(The orange hanger is awesome, but I am working on getting a dress form to properly display the sizes that don’t fit me.)

The details: Women’s size Large high fold-over asymmetrical collar jacket with a dark brown print lining, a button-up closure and single welt pockets at the front. It has a back box pleat and 1/4″ top stitching. It is made of navy wool herringbone and is fully lined.

Length (from high point shoulder to hem): 23″
Sleeve length: 24″
Shoulder Width: 15.5″
Bust (1″ below armhole): 39″
Waist (6″ below armhole): 38″
Width at hem (with pleat closed): 41″
Length of box pleat at back: 11″

Shell: Wool
Lining: Polyester & cotton
Sleeve lining: Polyester

Check it out on Etsy.

Made by me: Baby shoes for Amy

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Becky

Brace yourself for the cutest thing you’ll ever see.

My friend Amy is adorably pregnant right now. Since she’s waiting to find out the sex of the baby I aimed for ‘unisex’ with the shoes. They sort of say “boy” to me, but if you picture them on a girl they get even cuter. AmIrightoramIright?

Congrats Amy and Mitch!

Edit: I forgot to say in the original post that I used Simplicity pattern 2491 to make these little guys.

Made by me: More burp cloths

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Becky

Let’s face it, a burp cloth is used to protect your shoulder from baby spit-up. They need to be washable, durable, soft and big enough to ensure that the occasional projectile vomit still doesn’t get you. The cute part? Totally unnecessary. But why not add a little fanciness to them? I mean really. Why not.

These burp cloths are for my friend Sarah to give as a gift to a friend of hers who just had a baby. Sarah sent me pictures of Parker’s room (adorable), which is where I got the color scheme.

See these on my Etsy page. If you’d like some for your own or to give as a gift, they’re 12″ X 22″ and are 4 for $20. (That includes the embroidered name).

Monthly Archives: October 2010