Eva Dress Croquette Blouse, or, way too many sewing challenges

Eva Dress, the company that reproduces vintage and antique sewing patterns hosted their contest again this year and I entered!

I sewed this 1920s blouse for Category 4 - vintage patterns as modern wear.

Now, I don't expect to win. I realize I didn't choose the most challenging pattern but I really loved this pattern and how well it works for a modern style.

I may not have used the most difficult pattern but I used a super difficult fabric - white stonewashed charmuese (which is also difficult to photograph).

 

The contest has four categories and so many of the projects are absolutely stunning! You can read more about the rules for voting on the Eva Dress blog and you can view all the entries here. If you want to vote for me I'll be very happy but, please, vote for who you think deserves to win, whether it's me or someone else.

And on the topic of sewing challenges- this month has been full of them. Not all are contests like this but I'm doing a Sew Weekly challenge, Tilly's One Week, One Pattern challenge (I'm drafting my own top pattern), then there's Pattern Review's Swim Wear contest and Julia's Mad Men Challenge. All this before the end of March! And later this month through April five bloggers are hosting That's Sew Cinematic - a challenge to sew something inspired by the silver screen. Uh, can anyone say "striped dress from Breathless"!?! Yes, please!

I don't think I can do it all and I think Mad Men is going to have to take a back seat, unfortunately.

Ugh, it's a lot on my plate for one month. Are you doing any challenges this spring??

Darling Ranges Redux, or, things are alway better the second time

The Goal: I wanted a comfy and easy to wear dress and because this was the second time I sewed this pattern I finished in half the time!

The Pattern: Megan Nielsen's Darling Ranges Dress. You can take a look at my first version for comparison.

The Fabric: An Anna Maria Horner voile from The Common Thread (also where these pics were taken!). I worried that the fabric would be transparent but luckily that's not the case. I planned on sewing a half slip for this but maybe I don't need to after all. As for the buttons - sure, they don't really match but I'm starting to realize that I *love* wooden buttons for some reason.

The Changes: I incorporated many changes to this version compared to my first. Like the last time I lengthened the bodice by 2in. This time I raised the neckline by about 2in, too. I made sure to stay stitch the neckline (important!). I kept the original skirt length but used a slightly smaller hem than the pattern called for. So the overall length is still a couple inches longer than the pattern is. I'm 5'6" if you're wondering.

I left out the back ties in case I want to wear a belt with it. I added more buttons than necessary for extra "peep protection."

I also nixed the elastic arm and chose instead to make a small cuff and gather the sleeve into it. This is just a personal preference. I don't really like the feel of elastic on my arms.

The Results: I love it! I like it a lot more than the other dress, partly due to changes I made but also I really like this fabric.

One difference I noticed between dresses - I think the bust dart is a little short for me on this version. It keeps folding over itself which tells me that the fabric has a mind of its own and is trying to form it own longer dart. Funny because I didn't have this problem with the other dress, perhaps because that fabric was heavier and pulled down more.

I can always go back and make the dart longer and I doubt it'll will make the overall bust ease too small. This dress is comfortably roomy at a size M.

***I usually don't make a pattern more than once (ok, there are a couple of exception, like this pattern) but I'm glad I did for this dress. I'll probably make a few more with tweaks to the design here and there because it is such a versatile design!

Shorts and Shirts Summer Wardrobe Planning

(Oh, look at that! I made myself a fancy graphic.)

I'm jumping on the mini-wardrobe sewing bandwagon and planning a set of 10 (yep, 10!) pieces to make for this summer.

Now, I know you'd might ask, "Hey, Dixie, can you really make ten garments for this summer? Isn't that a lot!?"

But then I'd tell you "Well, two pieces are already made. And besides, summer in Texas means the majority of the year so it's March right now - I reasonably have about 8 months to make all of this stuff before I'll have to go back to wearing pants again." And then I'd give you a wink. ;)

That doesn't mean I'm limited to only making the things in this wardrobe plan. I'm still going to sew lots of other stuff for fun but I like the idea of a handful of clothes that can easily interact with one another and that I can wear all summer.

I'm calling this mini-collection my Shorts and Shirts Summer Wardrobe because, as you'll see, it's all shirts and shorts with a couple extras. No, I don't hate dresses but dresses are outfits in themselves. There's not much mixing and matching going. And last summer I realized that nearly all I wore was a few tops and a couple shorts!

How to decide what to make: After doing my wardrobe catalogue earlier this year I figured out what I wear most, what I wear least, and what gaps I need to fill. Because I practically live in shorts in the hot Texas summer I'm making (or using) some versatile shorts. I also need solid color tops that aren't too plain. I need more blazers - ok, maybe I just want more blazers...

But I also wanted to incorporate some trends that I like - bright colors, bow blouses, chambray/denim, scallops, 70s vintage, and stripes. I also thought about what would be comfy in the summer - loose fitting, flowy tops that don't stick to my skin.

The Color Scheme: I'm going with neutrals mixed with brights - I've got one bright top, one bright pair of shorts and a bright printed scarf. The rest are pretty neutral - gray, black, white, navy, and blue. I love using neutrals as a base and then spicing things up when I want to with a little color. I definitely wanted to incorporate some of the Spring 2012 Pantone colors.

The Shorts

• The sailor shorts - in navy twill, already made with Kwik Sew 3854
• The tangerine shorts - in dyed twill, just finished sewing with New Look 6100
• The chambray shorts - in blue chambray with bias tape trim, self drafted
• The black shorts - in twill or underlined cotton, Pattern Runway Scalloped Hem Shorts

The Shirts

• The tennis tee - in white seersucker, a vintage McCall's pattern from the 70s, #5526, I call it the tennis tee because when I first saw the image it reminded me of something someone would wear to tennis practice in the 70s.
• The bow blouse - in floral rayon, self-drafted
• The pearl snap button down - in gray chambray, possibly from BurdaStyle Magazine 3/12
• The drop shoulder tee - in rayon knit stripe, also self drafted

The Extras

• The printed scarf - in floral gauze, self drafted (probably just a big square)
• The white blazer - in a white floral damask, haven't found a pattern yet

Image Sources: bow blouse, drop shoulder tee, button down, orange shorts, chambray shorts, pattern runway shorts, white blazer, scarf.

The Extras are like support staff - just in case I want to mix it up or I need a summer blazer for cool restaurants.

Fabric sources: Stripe knit for the drop shoulder tee, Rayon Challis for the bow blouse.

There are some rules: each item has to work with at least three other items or outfits. Most of the tops work with most of the bottoms. I probably wouldn't wear the scarf with the bow blouse because the bow is sort of a scarf in itself. Since I'm making the pearl snap button down out of a gray chambray I probably wouldn't wear it with the chambray shorts but it would work with all the other shorts.

What about accessories? Since I began making nearly all my own clothes the only thing I get to enjoy shopping for are shoes and bags! I plan on buying a couple pairs of shoes for summer to replace old worn out shoes and maybe I'll even make a couple bags?
 
Progress: I'm working on drafting the drop shoulder tee right now and if all goes well I plan on making a PDF pattern for it. Yay more patterns!


***I've been getting inspiration by looking at others people's wardrobe plans. Are you doing a spring wardrobe this year? Let me know and I'll check it out!

Also, a woman in my sewing group came up with the idea of doing a small workshop of sorts to plan a seasonal mini-wardrobe. Would you be interested in attending something like that and what would you want covered in the workshop?