Make this Look!

The Make This Look challenge was a lot of fun! The dress I made turned out beautifully! It was my contribution this week on The Sew Weekly Site. I am having so much fun being a part of it.This was my inspiration. I used a dark blue fabric with tiny square dots. I also lined the skirt to give it more body and opacity.

Best Buttons Ever!

Yes, I covered my own buttons and made a 1969 vintage dress out of corduroy.

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This was my Sew Weekly Challenge for January 16!
I used this pattern: and this is how I covered the buttons.

Oh My Goodnes! 1948 Simplicity Sewing Pattern Tutorial! “Pattern for Smartness” It’s so dated,that it’s interesting to watch. We’ve come along way baby!

The African Bead Belt

I am a Sew Weekly Contributor this year! Besides pledging to not buy any clothes retail, I also plan to do as many sewing challenges that I can on The Sew Weekly. I successfully finished and uploaded my contribution this week. It took awhile to figure out the right picture sizes, but finally I was able to post with some pictures that were pretty nice. One daughter helped take the pictures and another helped me edit. All the details of the dress are posted on the Sew Weekly Site here.

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Happy New Year Dress!

I decided to use some brocade fabric that I’ve had around for over ten years. KayUnger for Vogue was the pattern that I used to make this holiday dress. It has interesting details on the sleeves and bodice. It is fully lined so it took some time to put it together, actually it took all day! I was able to finish just before my husband and I went to visit friends for a little get together and holiday cheer. It fits a little loose, so ideally I should take out the zipper and pinch it in a bit. However, since it’s a holiday dress, I probably won’t do that any time soon. I have had this beautiful blue brocade fabric for about 10 years or so. I used thrifted satin fabric for the lining, thrifted zipper and some vintage buttons that my mother-in-law Georgia gave me just a few days ago. A good year of sewing and now another year starts tomorrow. My resolution is to not buy any articles of clothing retail. It must be hand-made, or thrifted. Can I do it for a whole year!? I’m going to try! Happy New Year!

The Christmas Dress

As you can see, my Christmas dress got a lot of wear over the holidays: from my granddaughter’s performance in the Nutcracker to celebrating Christmas with all of my family. I didn’t post anything for the “freeforall” challenge on The Sew Weekly, but literally, I must have altered something for everyone (free for all). We decided to exchange only thrifted or hand-made items this year, so I had quite a few vintage dresses to alter for the girls. Happy New Year to all!

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Sweet Buttercup 1950′s Vintage Sheet Dress

I made this dress out of a thrifted sheet. I used old pillowcases for the lining and made my own piping out of thrifted bias tape. I used that handy-dandy Coats and Clarks invisible zipperfoot to get in close to the cording. My talented daughter took the great photos and also taught me a few tips and tricks in photoshop editing. I’m really happy with how it turned out and I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to wear it. McCall’s M6466.

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Green Dress for Jess!

Here is the 1950′s McCalls evening dress that we’ve been working on for a few weeks. I visited my daughter for the final fitting. We took a few pics to share with all. There are a few minor adjustments that we need to make, but we considered our final product an overall success.

The Christmas Dress

I revisited NewLook pattern 6000. I have made view C in a lightweight synthetic and again in a lightweight polyester and have previously posted pics. This time I made view E, but with the short sleeves of view D. The fabric of this dress is a double-knit polyester. At least that’s what I think it is. I bought it for about $2.00 at the local senior center thrift store. I made my own bias tape out of the same fabric. My new “body double” arrived from Overstock.com so it was fun to use it for the first time. I could precisely adjust the side-seams and see exactly how it would look on me. I also learned how to sew in an invisible zipper using a CLARKS invisible zipper attachment. Oh my gosh, It was a miracle! Who ever invented these small plastic pieces that attach to any sewing machine and sell for less than $2.00 at the local Walmart, is an absolute genius!

Pin Up Girl

This week, over at The Sew Weekly, the theme was to make something that a Pin Up Girl might wear. I did my research and found that most wore almost nothing. I had to come up with something that a respectable grandma might wear and that wouldn’t embarrass the family. Here’s what I did. I made a silky, sleeveless low neck blouse and paired it with a gorgeous blue pencil skirt. The material for the blouse was a thrift store find. The skirt, belt and shoes are also upcycled from thrift stores. The most fun was posing while my hubby took the pictures. Later I spent a few hours in photoshop getting the pics just right. I love how you can erase wrinkles! I used a great pattern: NewLook 6808. I believe the poses look a lot like the pin up style, but I’m not overly exposed.

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