so, here’s the dress!

I used McCall’s 3436. My criteria for making this dress were– modesty (it is so hard to find dresses with sleeves and enough cleavage coverage), simplicity, and something I could put a big flower around the waist. The advantage of this pattern was that it was in 2 pieces so that I could make the top a smaller size than the bottom. That meant I had to buy 2 copies of the pattern since it came in sizes 6-7-8 and 12-14-16. I think I said in the last post that I’m lucky I made the top in muslin (twice) first because the measurements on the pattern said I needed a size 12 top which was way too big. Then I went back and bought the smaller patten and tried a 10, which was just right. After looking at the finished measurements chart on the pattern they included something like 4 inches of ease around the bust and waist. Who wants 4 extra inches? Totally weird to me. I also added about 2 1/2 inches to the bottom of the top to make the length of it a little more modern. The skirt worked fine in a size 16 (Seriously? I’ve gained a lot of weight since I stopped nursing.), but I had to shorten it by nearly a foot.

I used pretty buttons down the back and made a flower for my hair.

The entire dress is lined in a navy china silk. I serged rolled edge hems along both sides of a strip of it, then made a line of gathering stitches down the center, to make a ribbon for my waist. I used scraps of both fabrics and the peony pattern from Martha Stewart weddings to make my flowers. I used the smallest template for my big flower and then copied it at 75% to make my smaller one. To make sure that the petals didn’t unravel I put fray check around the edge of each flower I cut out. That was time consuming and stinky! It stiffened the silk up a bit and made the petals hold their shaped well, though.

It was so comfortable! I didn’t have to worry about things shifting the wrong way and showing all my under clothes, and china silk against my skin was truly luxurious. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a polyester dress from David’s Bridal again.

Now, I know you all want to see pictures of Barry in his mess dress, right?

Sorry I didn’t notice I needed to straighten his tie.

Now, I wasn’t the only one who did some sewing. Behold the party shirt–

When all the formalities are over and the dancing gets going the guys take those hot jackets off. And, if you’re a cool Air Force guy you have a party shirt. So, Barry ordered some spacey fabric (that has glow in the dark stars) and borrowed my seam ripper, then used the old pieces as a pattern.

He needed a little coaching, but he did all the sewing himself. Pretty awesome, huh?

It was a pretty inspirational evening and I left feeling really proud of my husband. What he does is pretty crucial to the well being of our country, those soldiers on the ground, and the whole world.

all week long

I’ve been sewing.

There is an anniversary gala tonight for Barry’s program at work. Somehow I can’t fit into any of my gala worthy dresses, so this time around I decided to make one. I found a gorgeous blue/black silk linen blend at an amazing store called Denver Fabrics. This is the first time I’ve ever taken on a clothing project like this. Pattern sizing is CONFUSING! By my measurements I needed to make a size 12 top– luckily I made it in muslin first and it was way too big. The size 10 fits just right, though. For the skirt I had to make a size 16, though I wear a size 6 or 8 if I buy clothes at the store. I have been cutting and sewing for hours and hours and up until midnight most nights this week, but all I have left to do today is hem the sleeves and add the finishing touches to my accessories.

I’ll show you the whole thing on Monday.

and now, with no itch!

So, nearly a year ago I made my first Shalom. It was (well, is) super cute, but oh, so itchy. Last Christmas I invested my Christmas money in some Malabrigo chunky Azul Profundo yarn at the good ol’ Fancy Tiger and got to work on a new one. I worked a little here and there, and now, since the weather has finally dropped below 70 degrees, I decided it was time to weave in my yarn ends and add some buttons so I could wear it.

It’s soft! Not itchy! Hooray! It is a little on the baggy side because of the chunkier yarn, but really comfy. I’ve worn it 4 out of the 7 days since I finished it.

I do kinda wish it had sleeves, but I miscalculated the amount of yarn I’d need and ended up with just half a ball. As the weather cools off, though, I may take a chance at ordering some more yarn (the Fancy Tiger was all out of this color last time I checked) and add some if the dye lot looks similar enough. Even half sleeves would be cute. I think 3/4 would be the ideal length– long enough to be warm without the need to roll up for messy jobs. Believe it or not, my days are pretty full of messy jobs.

We’ll see. It’s pretty good how it is.

Halloween 2010

This year we just dressed up for our ward (church congregation) Halloween carnival and Trunk-or-Treat. We skipped the Trick-or-Treating yesterday because it was Sunday. It really was nice to do the dressing up just once.

Ian was Spider Man with a costume from the dress up box. Dad did the face paint while I whipped up a SweetPea pilot cap.