Two Garments for Tamara

Tamara is home this weekend. She is spending the next week with her best friends at a cottage on the beach. We both thought that it would be nice if I made her something she could use for her beach vacation. I picked out the patterns and fabrics, she agreed with my choices  and I went ahead and had them ready for when she arrived on Thursday.

First is a maxi dress that we both love. I used McCall's 6744, View C  and I can't recommend this pattern enough.

Here it is....

The fabric is a poly/lycra. The pattern features dolman sleeves and the shoulder seams are used to form a casing  and are elasticized. I love that look and it is very flattering.

This dress is wrap style.The bodice is overlapped and basted together. The same for the skirt. The bodice is then sewed to the skirt. This makes the wrap very stable and modest with no chance of wardrobe malfunction which is one of the best features of this pattern.

The waistline seam is suppose to form the casing for elastic but instead, I used darts. For more detail, please look here at Diana's Sewing Lessons.

Tamara loves her maxi dress and looks so pretty in it ,I think!

The second garment DD wanted was a cover-up for her bathing suit. For this, I used B5815

I used a fabric that looks like a transparent, textured fish net and I think is a cotton blend.The colour is a light denim blue with white and dark blue yarns throughout. I bought it at Fabricville.

 Although very plain, this piece is surprisingly flattering on, although Tamara wouldn't let me photograph her in it.

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The sleeves are the focal point and are very pretty.

The only change to the pattern was to lower the front neckline by an inch.

I added a self tie belt for an alternate look.

We were both pleased with these two garments and I'm hoping Tamara has great weather for the next week but, given what we've experienced here the rest of the summer, it is highly unlikely.

I do hope you found time to sew this week.

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A Colour Blocked Top a la Yves Saint Laurent.

The top I'm showing today came as a result of an idea that came to me after I was in bed one night. It wouldn't go away ,so I got up, made this sketch , and then went to sleep.

The next morning , I ,of course,realized that my drawing resembled the famous designer's creation of the 60's. I googled Saint Laurent, found his Mondrian Dress, and considered copying it. However, I decided I'd try my idea first. Here it is.

I love it! Especially the yellow and green shades!

And here is the original Saint Laurent dress.

Doesn't it just make you drool?

I used Vogue 8792 as my starting point for my top , made a copy and then proceeded to draw the design on it.For all the details , please visit Diana's Sewing Lessons.

The fabric is a stable cotton knit. I made it to skim over the body rather than fitted because as I've mentioned before, that's how I prefer to wear my clothes.


I had planned on adding the neck and armhole bands to my top in black but, I ended up not liking the way that looked so I left them out.That left the neckline and armholes  a little too open. Next time I would use more of a boat neck for the neckline.

 I used facings which I carefully slip stitched to the garment so they would stay put and the stitching is almost invisible.

At the back I added a little extra something .just because,which I think is cute.

I like it with black....

and I like it with white.

What do you think ?

For fall, I'd like to copy the original in tan, black and beige, but we'll see.

Hope you found time to sew this weekend !

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Dress # 2 for Sister #1 and a Top for Moi

I'm hesitating to show the two additional dresses I've completed for my sisters as I have no modeled photos but I want to post something  I can always add pics later.

Pauline picked up her second dress this week and I was very happy with how really well it fit her. She really like this one and wore it to the morning Coffee With the Artist  event at our local library.

Here is the dress.

The pattern is New Look 6000. View A minus the sleeves. which I made for myself here.

The fabric is a medium weight striated cotton knit bought at Fabricville which I've used for several garments these past two summers and which I love. It has only a little bit of stretch but I love  the hand of this one.

I used my tested pattern ,made it one size smaller, and like for my dress I added neck and armhole bands. I made Pauline's dress closer to the body by using the front waist darts . She likes her clothes to fit closer to the body while I like mine to skim over things.

My camera battery gave out after just one pic and it wasn't a flattering one so I cropped it but you can see how well it fit. We were both very pleased about that.

The top I made for myself is Vogue 8710  .

 It's  a Katherine Tilton top which I've made before here. This time, I changed the sleeves to regular set ins and I sewed in cute little functional pockets into the seams at the bottom of the side panels..

The fabric is the same cotton knit as the dress above and my previous V8710. I made it to wear with my Marci Tilton skirt for which I've never been able to find just the right partner.

I'm working on a really cute colour blocked tunic a la Yves Saint Laurent which I'm really having fun making. I needed a creative outlet after four dresses (for the sisters)that I didn't dare change up too much. I have two more dresses and then am making stuff for Tamara for when she comes for a visit next week. I'll be quite happy to get back to the things for myself that are lingering in my head.

Hope you found time to sew this week.

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Dress for Sister #2 Silhouette Swing Dress

I'm making a series of dresses for my sisters because my own closets are bulging at the seams.

This one is for Gloria who tried on my version of the Silhouette Swing Dress from last year. Two of my sisters have chosen this design for their made-by-me dresses.

I want to point out that my version of the Swing Dress is very different from the original and if ,like my sisters, you want to make one like mine, please visit this blog post to see how I achieved this look.

Here is Sister #2 , Gloria's dress. I couldn't help accessorizing it!

The fabric is a rayon jersey that has a bit of extra weight so it drapes beautifully. With no need for a zipper,it's very easy to make and to wear.

I finished the neckline  with my favorite method....a narrow band finished with top stitching.

Like me, Gloria prefers 3/4 sleeves and we decided on a couple of inches below the knee for the length. At a slim 5'6, this is a good length for her. She was suppose to send me a pic of herself wearing the dress but that hasn't happened so I'll just show you another photo with differnt accessorie.

Gloria was so apparently happy with this dress that it did my heart good and made me realize that sharing my skills with others is important.

 On Sunday at church, I was asked to make 25 "choir scarves" and although it means hours of boring sewing, I feel surprisingly happy to have been asked!

Since I have no person in a dress picture to show you, I thought I'd show you my latest Riley and Poppy pics.                                                  
                                                          My Little Pixie

                                                             and My Little Munchkin

I have an update. My sister sent me this picture so here is Gloria in her made-by-me dress.

I hope you've found time to sew this week! More later from

A Dress for Sister #1 New Look 6000

I have too many clothes and my three sisters are always envious of my dresses. I said why don't I make you all some.

 We all went to Fabricville and drove poor Anthony at the cutting tables (I love that guy) crazy , but when we left we had fabric for all.


My first sister Pauline is an artist and needed a dress for an afternoon art opening. She decided on New Look 6000 after trying  on my version.Luckily, we're close to the same size so I was able to put this dress together without too much struggle.I made it to be snug on me and it fit Pauline very well.

Not much to say about this one. It's View B minus the collar. Here's a close-up of the side pleating.

I absolutely could not get the neck facing to stop peeping out regardless of careful understitching. I finally had to do ,what in my mind is a no-no, and stitch it down.

I wanted to use a photo of my sister at the art show but I forgot my camera so luckily I had taken some here before we left.She loves her dress and it fits her very well. Pauline has always been known as the pretty one in our family and I think she looks great.

Come back next week for my sister #2's dress.

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Vogue 1352, A Maxi Dress for a Baby Boomer??

They say if you're old enough to have worn it once, you're too old to wear it now. I usually agree with that. But of course, there are always exceptions, right?

Tonight I'm showing you a maxi dress I made using Vogue 1352.

And I think it's so cute! Don't you just love the fabric?

The fabric is very Messoni- like . I don't remember where I got it, maybe Montreal on Rue St. Hubert or maybe Ottawa. It doesn't matter. It's just very soft, expensive looking, not too light weight and has a nice drape. Very 70's, don't you think? I don't know the fiber content but there's probably some acrylic, or rayon in there. Here's a closer look.

This was a very easy sew. The style is very simple for a Vogue Designer pattern. It took me an hour to cut out because of the need to match the linear pattern and exactly three hours to sew. I highly suggest it for  quick fix sewing project.

The neckline is gathered and then the neckband is added and hand stitched to the inside.

The top is sewn to the skirt,then the seam serves as the casing for the elastic.

I added side pockets   and am so glad I did. You automatically look for pockets to put your hand into when you wear this dress! I also added an inch to the length of the bodice so it would blouson a bit.

The sleeve  hems are done by machine and I used the pretty selvedge as the hem at the bottom of the dress..

Now about the Baby Boomer thing. I wouldn't feel at ease wearing this maxi in public. I'm really quite sensitive about age appropriate dressing, but I'll enjoy having it to wear for barbecues and get togethers this summer with friends and family. It will also be a fun at-home-dinner-date-with-my-husband outfit.

It's also a fun piece to accessorize and I have a plethora of necklaces, belts, and of course just the right shoes. Look here  if you want to see.

My husband thinks it looks like a Hippie dress!

Oh My Goodness! I have too many clothes! I have three sisters and for a while,I'm going to be sewing for them.They'll each get a dress or maybe two. I'll show them as I get each one finished.

Thank you for dropping by. Please leave a comment!!

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McCall's 6280

Thank You so much to those of you who were so kind as to leave a comment on my last post.

For the past few months, I've been carefully trying to not sew anything too faddish (is that a word,I wonder?) or too outlandish, This week, I decided to make an exception because sometimes ,you just have to go for a little fun.

I 've been wanting to try McCall's 6280 for a couple of years and this fabric has been wanting to become something for just as long.



 It's a cotton knit (no lycra) that looks like a batik print. I decided to try colour blocking. I had a bit of leftover matching stripes from the same fabric collection.. I also found a piece of very stretchy cotton denim that matched quite well.

This is what I came up with. Cute, I think

I did have to make some changes to this pattern.

I looked on Pattern Review and found one review which suggested that this was a loose dress, very roomy so I new I'd want to shape it to my body.

I made View C and ended up cutting size 10 above the chest and 12 below. I made a smaller than usual FBA.

 I didn't need any extra at the side seams . I sewed the back darts deeper and shaped the center back seam as well as the .side seams at the waist.

I raised the armholes about 3/4" and the neckline  1/2" and added and changed the facings to bands.

The length was perfect for my 5'4" height.

I do like this dress but am not in love with the odd pocket. Another time, I'd replace it with some other style of pocket and put one on each side.

I would like to try View A without the one sided shawl collar ,this one in colour blocked solid colours so I could take advantage of the opportunity to do lots of top stitching.

I hope you'll let me know what you think and that you've found time to sew this weekend!

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