Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

When we were in Brisbane I fell in love with a Hell Bunny dress. At the time it was too much money and I didn't have time to try it on so decided to copy cat it. Its a real frankenpattern, the skirt is the pavlova circle skirt and the bodice started life as Newlook 6408. I'm not sure how much of that pattern is left though! I used my bodice block to adjust the princess seams, added a midriff band and shirred the back. I added on the bodice collar band too (is that what they are called?) The fabric is from fabric.com its a little thicker than I would have liked, almost feels like a soft quilting cotton but it did sew up beautifully and has a nice drape on the skirt. I self lined the bodice and left the skirt unlined I cheated and got the piping from fabric.com too and the buttons are self cover ones. I'm really happy with the fit, I did a couple of muslins for the bodice - I'm finally realising they take less time than fiddling with the fit later on! Its the first time ...

Y'all.  I can no longer hide from my sins. First, the sin of insufficient gratitude!  I have been blessed with an abundance of gifts and I have not properly thanked the givers.  Please forgive my terrible manners!!! When Melissa  came to Baltimore we met up for a fabulous dinner  *and* she came bearing gifts.  How much do I love this silk cotton?  The colors and print are so incredibly me.  I was thinking about for McCall 6507 , but I don't know how the bias top will look with the directional print.   It could be too weird.  Any pattern ideas or suggestions? Ms. McCall of Brown Paper Patterns  is doing some preeeetttty awesome lingerie sewing these days.  I fantasize about sewing a bra, yet do nothing about it (I do make all my knickers these days, if that counts for anything).  She picked up a big load of plush elastic and did a giveaway.  Well, not only did she send me plush elastic, but also some narrower pic...

Vogue 1329 has taken the sewing world by storm!  I've seen so many great versions of it.  It has a ton of elements that make it flattering to any size or shape: -Princess seams for easy fitting -Colorblock possibility.  The sinuous shape of the side front panel coaxes even the most non-existent curves out of the closet. -Suggested for ponte double knit (which most people have chosen), which has enough stretch to make fitting easier but is thick enough to smooth over lumps and bumps -Pleating on center front panel offers some tummy disguise Basically, this is pretty much the most flattering pattern ever devised for a fitted dress. So I pretty much had to have one.  This sort of sheath dress is the kind of thing I need for networking events and other not-quite-suit-level work-related events, but I don't have many of them because they are not bikeable.  In the ponte, this one actually is bikeable so it's a win-win! I got the black/white/red houndstooth from the G ...

I've been holding onto this fabric since we had the Melbourne social sewing shop back in February. Its from the Alannah Hill outlet and is lovely and soft to touch (I did a burn test and I am guessing its a silk cotton). It is fairly see through so I decided to underline it with a quilting cotton from my stash to give it some body and to stop the seams showing through. I haven't underlined anything this thin and shifty before. It wasn't as bad as I thought though, I cut it  in a single layer and then machine basted around the pieces. I was worried about the top layer shifting or bagging out but it all seems to be sitting smoothly now its sewn.   I did let it hang overnight and then thread basted it around on the hem line before turning under and stitching. Probably overkill but at least it sat nice and smooth when I sewed it. Adjustment wise, we muslined up the dress first, its a sz 14 with the bust raised by 1", the waistline raised by 1/2" and the side se...

I've had Vogue 8631 in the pattern drawer for several years now, waiting patiently to be made.  It's been in there so long that it is unfortunately now out of print. Soprano Faux Wrap, Nordstrom Anthropologie This style has shown up in RTW fairly often the past couple years (both of these items are from last year). I saw a girl walking down the street wearing a dress in that style a couple of weeks ago and it was so cute I decided the time had come!  As usual for wrap styles, I took out 2 1/2 inches of length along the front diagonal neck opening.  For Burdas I do about 1 1/2 inches but I find the Big 4 need much more.  Here, 2 1/2 inches still wasn't enough.  I took up some of the extra length by slightly stretching clear elastic while serging it in place, but I finally had to resort to the Universal Symbol of Sewist Surrender:  tacking the crossover closed where the left and right front intersect at the neckline to prevent gapage.   For next time, I...