Lady in Red





When I first saw the July 2010 Burda Style on someone's blog (I'm not sure who, it's been so long), I knew that I had to have it. I wanted to make this dress, in red.







Gorgeous

  
Now, I've never made anything from Burda Style magazine, so I didn't know what to expect...

This is NOT what I was expecting.



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After finally figuring out where the patterns were, I carefully cut out the pieces, stitched the dress together and made....doll cothes.

In my excitement to make this dress, I forgot to read the directions. The directions clearly state that there are no seam allowances. *#$@&^*&%#%&*^@^#%**&!!!!

And so the pattern sat, forgotten, in the corner of my sewing room until I rediscovered it. This time I was determined to get it right. I carefully read the directions and sewed up this beauty! Better late than never, I suppose.

Moral of the story, read the directions first!

Fabric: Joanns

Pattern: BurdaStyle Magazine 07-2010-111

Interfacing: Whoops, totally forgot some. Somebody forgot to read the directions, yet again! Haha! Oh well, it still looks great!

Now if only I could find that model's shoes...

That Time When Being A Sewing Rebel Actually Paid Off!

I've had Vogue 8631 in my stash for a long time. I liked the curved shaped of this cute dress. So when I finally decided to sew it, I went to a fabric warehouse in Dallas to find the perfect flowy fabric.





And all I could find was swimwear fabric.





Ok, so that's not completely true. There were hundreds of other fabrics to choose from, but I was drawn to that swimwear fabric.



I had to have it. I would make it work.



Let's face it, when I want to do something, I'm going to do it! I'm just a rebel like that!!



lol, this is what happens when a fly is buzzing around when taking pictures



And I'm glad I did. The bodice is really low cut and drapey. The stiffer fabric allows me to get away with wearing the dress without a cami underneath.





Do I get bonus points if it can double as an awesome swim coverup?





The pattern itself is fairly easy and straight forward (it's very easy vogue, afterall). I recommend going down a size or 2 because it's HUGE! Thank goodness I read the reviews beforehand. Other than that, the only changes I made were fabric selection (obviously) and I added a decorative clip on the outside to keep it together instead of the inside snap.



Close up on the closure



Pendrell Blues

I've made 2 Pendrells so far. While I think the pattern is great, neither version is working for me anymore. Let’s take a moment to review these beauties before they are shipped off to the local Salvation Army. 







The first unfortunate case, in it’s final hoorah, is the brown polka dotted Pendrell. I made view B in a mystery fabric In February 2011. It fit like a dream! It was my favorite shirt for a short while. 











Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was pregnant with my son. Now, sadly, the shirt just doesn’t fit me comfortably. Every time I put it on, it feels like the shirt is trying to strangle me. It’s time to let go, and hopefully somebody else will appreciate it properly.   











The next sad, sad case is this pendrell. Post pregnancy, I wanted to make another Pendrell (you know, one that I could actually breathe in). So I decided on version A, and off to the store I went. That’s where I fell in love with this beautiful blue printed QUILTING cotton (what can I say? I’m a sucker for blue!). I know I shouldn’t have chosen a quilting cotton for a drapey blouse, but I’m a rebel. There was no talking me out of it. 





EEK!



  





Ok, so it’s really not that bad. I get complimented on it every time I wear it (I’ve only wore it twice). It’s just so stiff…. and LOUD. I really didn’t realize just how loud the print was until I wore it. 





Double EEK!









Next time, I’m going to get it right.

Heather Feather's Anthropologie Knockoff... Knocked-off

I knocked off a knock off.



Way back in January, I saw this post from Heather Feather from Feather's Flights (Isn't she the coolest?). I remember seeing the original Conductor Top at Anthropologie a while back, and I didn't think much of it. But I really like Heather's spin on it. I like her knock off much better than the original!


I picked up a large men's shirt from the local Salvation Army, and a "lace" knit remnant from Joanns and followed the tutorial (it's an excellent tutorial).

Close up of the Lacy Knit from Joanns

Sleeve Cuff



Neck Binding

Feather's Flights is awesome! You should check it out!