White Eyelet Hazel

In case you haven't noticed, things have been pretty slow around Chez Makizy.  We're currently packing up and moving to temporary digs at the end of the month, which unfortunately doesn't leave me with too much quality sewing time. Oh well, it's just a step toward our dream of owning our own house and me having my own sewing room! Things should pick back up in August.

Ms Macy is always ready to take time off from packing and supervise whatever sewing takes place.

The other good news, my laptop is finally back up an running. I have a sweet new hard drive and reinstalled Adobe, so I'm ready to blog!

This poor Hazel has been in a state of being almost done for about 2 weeks now. I finally finished yesterday:

I have to say that I had the hardest time photographing this dress! There is nothing clean in my apartment at the moment because of my packing. Also my back porch, where I've been taking most of my pictures lately, is being painted and off limits.  This was my best picture, taken before the dress was hemmed.

Pattern: Colette's Hazel 

Fabric: White cotton eyelet with a mint green cotton underlying (quilting cotton and proud of it), both from Joann Fabric

Size and Modifications: For the bodice I cut a size 2 in width, but cut the length of a size 6 (if that makes sense). I really wanted to avoid the bodice appearing too short. I know that's how the pattern is drafted, and I do have a higher waist, but I didn't want to appear cut off or have the dress be too baby-doll like. I cut a size 6 for the skirt but cut the size 18 length. I needed extra length and know I'd never wear it if it was too short.

Instead of gathers, I went with pleats for the skirt. Since my fabric was a bit stiff, I wanted to cut down on some of the bulk at the waist and figured that pleats would work better.

Mint Green Underlining

Thoughts: I still don't think Colette patterns are quite "me". I love them on people, and I am still going to keep trying, but not sure I'm in love with this. I'm definitely "in like" with it.

See how happy I look?  I wasn't kidding when I said earlier that I had a hard time taking good photos of this. This is probably the best front facing shot of me wearing the finished dress.

Guess I'm just more photogenic from the back :)

I read a lot of reviews about the pointy bust darts and yep, those suckers are pointy! I may have to do some further adjustments here.  I also should have cut a larger size skirt.  This one is my fault. It's not tight, but I don't like the way it puffs so much around my hips.  Not that I am against that, in the right dress, but this one should have been more flowy.

I think if I make this again, and I probably will, I'll add a waist band to further lengthen the bodice. I'm happy with the length, but want more. I'll also either cut a larger size skirt or try using a skirt from a different pattern.

Finished Yellow Eyelet Lonsdale

My new camera charger finally arrived! It officially beat the return of my good camera from downstate. And, I was finally able to get my finished Lonsdale photos. (Unfortunately, now my computer with all of my photo editing software is on the fritz, and trying to use Photoshop in safe mode is a pain! Oh well, the show must go on.)

Here are the details:

Pattern: Sewaholic's Lonsdale

Fabric: 1 3/8 yards of yellow cotton eyelet from Joann Fabrics. I'm so proud of myself for getting a Lonsdale out of this. The underlining was white mystery fabric from Vogue Fabrics and the lining was combination of assorted white muslin fabrics.

Size and modifications: I cut a size 6 at the top and scaled to an 8 at the waist. I also made a swayback adjustment and pinched the bodice in a bit.   I made these modifications about two years ago when I made my first Lonsdale (back in my pre-blog days), and blindly followed the pattern this time. Luckily, it still fit perfectly!

I did not have enough fabric for the slash pockets. I really love that design feature, but it did need to be sacrificed. Instead I used the Cambie pocket (View B), but any pocket would work.  In hindsight, I should have checked out Sewaholic's tips for using less fabric.  She suggests making facings for the pockets as an alternative, and I probably would have had enough fabric to do that.

I also had to piece together a few pattern pieces since I was working with so little fabric.  The fashion fabric straps were just too long to layout in one piece, so those are pieced together. The same went for the lining and underlining. I used up a lot of muslin that was lying around, and feel pretty happy with myself for doing that.

Finally, I had to shorten the skirt quite a bit in order to get it to fit on the eyelet. I used the View A skirt pieces, and then shortened by another 4 inches.  I'm very happy with the results.  Still long enough to make me feel comfortable, but short enough to feel very summery.

What I learned trying to piece together a pattern with too little fabric:
1. Non-directional prints are your friend. Or, just don't be too picky about matching patterns.
2. Omit or modify pockets.
3. Splice together long pieces. No one will notice and the sewing police won't haul you away.
4. Shorten the skirt.
5. Keep your fingers crossed that the hack job you're about to do actually works.

Home Stretch - Lonsdale Progress

Almost finished!

I'm so happy with the progress on my Lonsdale.  I just have a few tasks remaining: cut out and sew a skirt lining because the eyelet and underlining is still too sheer for comfort, sew the zipper and hem everything.  Depending on how much sewing time I can fit in today, it should be ready in another day or two.

I recycled and pieced together all I could from muslin that I had lying around for the lining and underling. I still did not have enough for a skirt lining and had to make a trek to Joann Fabric. I know, poor me had to go to the fabric store.

I'm so glad I did! There was a 50% off sale! (I know, when do they not have a sale?) I was so appalled by the evil conditions that the fabric was being kept in that I had to liberate some from Joann's. (And by evil conditions, I mean it wasn't home with me yet.)

LOOK! EYELET!!!!

I usually try to stay away from all white because I'm afraid it will get dirty, but I just couldn't say no to this! I've been staring longingly at the Hazel's that have been popping up in the blog world and think this would be perfect for one.  Check out the amazingly blue eyelet Hazel made by Gail at Today's Agenda, or the white embroidered Hazel on the Colette blog.  When the time comes, I'll be underlining this with the light green fabric pictured above.

Also, I this beautiful Swiss Dot needed a good home.

I'm sure I've seen this fabric on at least one blogger's site already. (I'm sorry I can't remember where, but I remember it being beautiful!)  I don't know what's to become of it yet, but I think I might be starting a Lonsdale phase. Or maybe another Cambie? Or, can I squeeze a Chantilly from this?  So many choices, which is such a good problem to have :)

Finished Eyelet Cambie

As promised, here are more pictures of my finished eyelet Cambie:

Check out the pattern matching on the back! I wasn't even trying! I think I just got lucky because I took so much care to keep the fabric on grain when cutting out the pattern pieces.

Action shot.  I tried to style this with my red belt, but I think it's a bit too wide for this dress.  Oh well, this just gives me an excuse to buy/make something that works better.

Construction notes:

I used Sewaholic's Cambie pattern, View B.  The fabric is the fabulous navy eyelet that I purchased from Britex on a recent trip to San Francisco. I used the solid selvage edge of the eyelet for the waist band. The underlining and bodice lining were mystery polyester/synthetic blends purchased from Jo-Ann's

I cut out a size 6 and graded the pattern to a size 8 at the waist.  I also made a swayback adjustment, which is standard for me on most dress patterns, and took in the upper back shoulder about an inch. The pattern looks kind of crazy, but it works for me.

I underlined the eyelet fabric and only added lining to the bodice. I omitted the skirt lining because I worried that the dress was becoming too bulky. I decided that the fabric was opaque enough with the underlining to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions.

A change that I did not make intentionally -  at one point my mind decided to take a vacation and I switched some of my seam allowances from 1.5cm to 2cm.  It wasn't by design, but that's why this Cambie is a bit tighter than my first one and why the waistband is narrower than it should be.

Final thoughts? I love the dress. I still wish I had used a lighter weight fabric with more drape for the underlining to avoid the extra bulk at the waist, but I'll get used to it :)   Knowing me, I'd do it again because it was the exact color fabric that I wanted.

This officially means I can cross another project off of "The List"!

Progress on Eyelet Cambie

I love that point in the sewing process when you see the garment start to come together and actually look like something. That's what happened to me early Sunday afternoon while working on my Cambie.

Prior to that, it was just a bunch of pattern pieces:

(Since Ms Flooz won't move, she might as well help model my fabric.)
 
But Sunday afternoon, a skirt emerged! I could start to see the finish product.

I also have this amazing ability to pick out the most unsuitable fabric combinations for shells and underlinings.  I did this over a year ago when I sewed the Lonsdale dress pattern from Sewaholic. My fabric choices were this wonderful gauzy fabric for the shell, and crazy stretch fabric for underlining.  In the end it worked out beautifully, but it involved many hours and much swearing to get to that point.

My eyelet, while beautiful, was tough to keep on grain.  It didn't help that I decided to go with the satin mystery fabric as the underlining.  I struggled to keep both fabrics lined up enough to baste together.  I think I've managed so far, but it definitely slowed down the project.  If I had been patient and waited until some nice cotton in the perfect color came along, I probably would be finished already.  Oh well, onward and upward...

I was also having a bit of difficulty with my skirt gathers.  I guess I'm just not used to making and wearing something this gathered at the waist.  It almost felt too gathered and I worried I did something wrong.  Contributing to this is the fact that the skirt is getting heavy with both fabrics. I'll admit that I had a few panic moments where I thought that this dress going to be a puffy mess and that I had wasted good fabric.

I draped it on my dress form and pinned the sleeve/straps to their correct position.

Then, Magic:

I LOVE IT.  It has a wonderful vintage vibe.  It's beautiful.  No more worries.  I can't wait to finish.

Next steps - I need to insert the zipper and bodice lining. I think I'm going to omit the skirt lining. The fabric is opaque enough to leave it out and I am still a bit concerned about the extra weight and bulk.

Navy Eyelet Dress - Getting the Party Started!

Chantilly, I just can't quit you.  I was so set in my decision to go with the Cambie pattern for my eyelet.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of hanging my the Chantilly bodice muslin on my dress form. I've been staring at it for a day now wondering if I made the right decision.

"Pst...You know you want me. I'm so pretty!  Just cut me out!"

No.  I made my decision.  If I don't stick with it, I run the risk of agonizing over the pattern for months. Cambie it is!

Don't worry Chantilly, I have an awesome consolation fabric in mind for you:

 

 

That's right, it's Dr. Who Toile from Spoonflower.com! I'm eying up the cotton voile mainly because it comes in a wider width than the cotton silk (54" width vs. 40" width). And since this fabric is expensive and the pattern does take up a decent amount of yardage, the wider option is more economical. 

This fabric will be perfect. The pattern is subtle enough for daily wear but nerdly enough for events like ComicCon. I'd call this a win win all around.  And, the purchase shall be my reward for finishing a few projects.

Now, on to Cambie!

I started cutting out the shell last night and I have to say that cutting this eyelet was a bitch! I was trying to be very careful to make sure it stayed on grain. This meant lining up the circles every few inches and pining them in place. I also had to decided if I wanted the circles aligned vertically or horizontally. It's subtle, but I know if I didn't keep this consistent it would drive me nuts. (Horizontal alignment won.)

As always, my dedicated helper was there to supervise.

" You might want to consider pattern weights instead of pins"

She is really annoyed in this picture that I have the nerve to try to move her! Check out those ears.

I need to cut underlining and lining next, but I anticipate that these will go much faster as long as I don't get any more feline help.

Pattern Dilemma

Have you ever have this problem?  You have some amazing fabric that you're saving for the perfect pattern. Then one day that perfect pattern finally comes along.  You debate long and hard over whether or not it really is perfect before finally deciding that it is in fact "the one" and you can't live without it.

Then, just before you're about to start cutting, you get cold feet and wonder if you've made the right decision.  Is it really "the one"?

This is the dilemma I'm having right now.  I want to start working on my blue eyelet dress.  I've decided that the perfect lining was flesh colored mystery fabric that I found at Joann's this weekend. It's probably 100% polyester or very close.  Not ideal, but I don't care because it fits my vision:

I've envisioned a flowing dress that would be perfect for warm weather.  I usually gravitate toward skin tight or A-line, but wanted something a bit fluffier with this. I wanted fun and girly......or did I?

Enter Colette's Chantilly pattern.  I decided that this would be perfect. It's was "the one" for this fabric.

I even made a muslin of the bodice last night. The fit is great, but now I'm completely second guessing my pattern choice.  I'm not sure if the style is me and I'm not sure if it does the fabric justice. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely beautiful pattern, but something is stopping me.

I want the fabric to be the star of this, not necessarily the design.  I'm worried that all of the gathers on Chantilly will take away from the eyelet pattern, and that's what I really want to highlight. 

I'm also second guessing the dress design on me.  I love how it looks on others, but not sure if it's completely right for me because it's not what I usually choose.

I'm thinking of making another Cambie instead. "But didn't you just make one?"  Why yes I did, but that was the A-line version. I think that if I make the full skirt version with this fabric, I'll be happier. I'll get a more fitted bodice, which will be the perfect canvas to display the eyelet pattern, achieving my main goal. And, I'll also get the fluffy skirt that I want, but won't feel like the bodice gathers, the skirt gathers and the fabric are all competing.

I do want to sew a Chantilly, because I do think it would be fun to wear.  Maybe I'll just use it as an excuse to purchase more fabric next week!

I'd love to hear what other people do in this situation.  What happens when you have what you think is the perfect pattern and then second guess yourself.  Do you just go ahead with the original pattern?  Run out to the store and purchase more pattern-appropriate fabric? Or, do you agonize over the decision so much that nothing gets made? (I'm trying not to be guilty of the last one.)