My Daughter's Birthday Dress

June 7th is my daughter's birthday. It's one of those Big O birthdays. She's going to Las Vegas with her dad and some friends for the big day. We'll celebrate with a party when she comes home for a visit at the end of June.
I just went to the Post office to send her dress off and I just hope she gets it on time.
Tamara really loves knit dresses so we came up with View E of this pattern.



Neither one of us likes cap sleeves so I ended up making three versions before I came up with this length.





View E had a twisted band detail and I tried it in both plain black and with the self fabric. I wish I had thought of taking a picture. In any case ,it didn't do a thing for this dress. We decided I would go for simple and just leave the midriff plain.



The fabric is a poly/lycra and only took about two metres to make.The skirt had no back seam and the midriff isn't faced. That bothered me a bit and I almost decided to line it but then I thought the dress would be a lot cooler to wear if I just left it out.

This is a really easy pattern to make up,well if you don't make three versions of the sleeve that is. I would recommend it as a good project for those of you who would like to try working with knits but are a little leary.

I decided to post this project today because My DD doesn't check my blog out the way she use to so she probably won't see this and she'll still get a surprise when she opens her package.So here is the dress.

Final Pictures of Swap

Although I've already added a link to my post on the right side of my blog (I know there's probably a name for that part of a blog but...) I thought I'd post composites of my final choices.I just realized that at some point after taking these photos I changed the burgundy printed lycra top for the yellow geometric print top. Whoops!



Here ignore the burgundy print top at left.



On either end are my two extra pieces, the jacket to my little black suit
on the left and my bburgundy felted wool jacket. on the right.



Swap was a great experience and I'm glad to have participated and to have seen it through.

There has been an unexpected benefit as well. It has made me think about how much I really do wear (or in some cases don't wear ) what I make. It has made me realize that I want to concentrate on making special items from now on or at least to sew only garments that I'll be sure to enjoy.

I've added a section on the sidebar,if that's the right term,called

A Few of my Favorite Things.

The items you will see there are the clothes that I love and wear often. You can click on any one and see a few more shots of each piece.

I'd love to see others do this as well. I'd really be interested in seeing your favorite things.

One UFO Finished...Adri V2976

Just a quick post on this one.A couple of years ago, I bought this black and white herringbone (yes, herringbone again) linen and I made culottes. They didn't fit well and I just cast them aside and decided to make the jacket from this pattern:



Well, I started it but it was late August and I decided to leave it for spring (2008). Here it is spring 2009 and I decided it had to be done before I can go on to a new project. My new thing is to alternate one new garment with a UFO. So this is what Adri 2976 looks like.
The culottes have now morphed into wide legged cropped pants, by the way.






The fit isn't great (the jacket is snug across the bust ) and if my daughter likes it , she can have it. But,Tamara be forewarned that this is linen and although I washed and dried the fabric three times in hot water and hot dryer respectively a la Sandra Betzina, it is still quite wrinkly.



More pics here.

Adri Times Two

Does anyone else have this pattern?

I made this jacket last spring as a store display. I made it out of metallic linen and I loved it.



It is a great pattern for top-stitching and as you know, I love to top-stitch!



I also made the tank but out of a light cotton.



The pants are made from linen , They're cropped and I used an old favorite TNT.



Of course being linen, the outfit is very wrinkly but I love it anyway!



Now back to the present.The minute I had finished my Swap, I cut out and made this version of the same Adri jacket.




The fabric is a two-sided denim so what could be better? The collar and lapels have
only one layer and you turn the seam allowances to the outside. I used two spools of polyester thread for the top-stitching. I threaded one of my extra machines with the green thread and that made it very convenient.
Also, I wanted buttonholes instead of the loops, so I added an inch to both. front pieces at the centre line.

For the pants, I used this Pattern.

I had used this pattern for my grey Swap jeans and I knew they were a little big. I used View B and since I thought this style could stand to be a little roomier, I just cut the size C with no alterations and they fit perfectly!.



The back pockets were another Top-stitching Opp.The colour in this photo is terrible though.



I used the contrast side for the sides and the label is to cover up an"oops".



This is the kind of outfit that I love to wear and that will fit very well into my lifestyle.My husband and I are going to Vancouver next week and I'll be taking this with me.




More photos here.

Now on to a UFO, another Adri Pattern.